WolfGear Presents: Negima? The mage and the Gunslinger
Pairings: Negi X ku-Fei Kaede X OC
Chapter 42: The beginning of the longest week
I don't own Negima!
It's been about a week since the date at the Emperor's palace and a lot had happened. It was time for the final exams before summer break. All the girls studied hard except Sayo who didn't have to take the exam because of her 'transferring' so late into the year. What really happen was that Jack asked the dean (At gun point) to use Sayo's score from 1945, so she didn't have to struggle to learn everything in a week. She may have been in school for sixty years, but that didn't mean she paid attention.
So well everyone else was hitting the books and sweating over the answers. Sayo was hitting Jack's empty beer bottles with a .22 caliber luger pistol. It would take longer to learn how to be a crack shoot, but right now Jack just wanted to see where she was in skill.
Turns out she wasn't that bad. Jack was very impressed. He counted every four out of five shots she would hit the target, which wasn't too bad although the bottles weren't shooting back.
Raising another bottle that he emptied he throw it up in the air and watched it shatter into shards of glass in flight, another excellent shot. Sayo had the accuracy of an expert marksman… no an expert markswoman, Jack corrected himself. He was about to throw another round of bottles when he saw the former ghost staring at him a little sullenly.
Jack raised an eyebrow. "What wrong? Out of ammo already," he asked the ghost girl. He gave her about fifty round of ammo, which was a lot for what they were doing.
Sayo shook her head. "I'm just feeling a guilty. All of my classmates are taking exams, but I'm out here having fun. It's a little unfair." She said genuinely honest, though Jack could tell that she wasn't sad about missing the exams. Really what teenager wouldn't?
"Life isn't fair," Jack replied. "So you should let it go and get back training. Have faith in you classmates I'm sure they'll pass with flying colors."
"How can you be so sure?" Sayo inquired, but this time someone else answered.
"Because they're my students," The voice said. Sayo and Jack turned and saw Negi in his usual green suit walking towards them.
"Negi-sensei what are you doing here?" The former ghost asked. She had thought he would want to stand by the classroom where her classmate where testing for moral support. Not that any of the girls would see him.
Negi smiled. "I have faith that everyone will do just fine with or without me standing by the door. It's not as if I can hold their hands forever. Neither Jack nor Sayo could contain the chuckle that emerged from their mouths. The thought of Negi having to hold the girls hands all through their lives was quite humorous.
"We'll you right about that my friend." Jack said between laughs. "Thought I think some of them girls would let go of you hand if you did that."
Negi glimpsed. That statement probably wasn't far from the truth. The sheer thought of spending his whole life watching over thirty one girls was bleak to say the least, not that he wouldn't do if it was necessary, but he rather like his personal time.
Checking his watch Negi realized that it was almost one o'clock! The girls would be finishing their tests any minute and he promised that he would be there to greet them, and see the results.
"Bloody hell look at the time! I must be going," Negi exclaimed. If he didn't hurry he was going to miss the results ceremony.
"We'll tag along too." Jack proclaimed rising from his seat. "I want to personally congratulate Kaede personally, and I'm sure Sayo wants to attend the party that the girls will be throwing."
"Fine, fine, but we have to get there first." Negi said hurrying them along.
They arrived at the gym where they were announcing the results with just seconds to spare. Quickly they moved among the crowd of students till they found 3-A. The girls were about to do their usual tradition of grope the teacher when the announcer girl began announcing the results. (If your wonder how they got the results so fast, when in real life it takes weeks or months, let's just leave it at most of the teachers are mages so I'll sure they have some way to make possible.) In the end 3-A place third which gave the girls a good reason to party! Not that they ever needed one anyways.
The party its self was held in the classroom, all the desks were moved to the side and formed into a large table that held the many boxes of pizza the girls ordered (under Ayaka's name) and the root beer fountain provided by Jack, and finally a stereo system with Chachamaru as the DJ playing all the girls favorite hits. Over all it was a pretty rock in party even some of the other students from other classes showed and some boys from the university, who had no trouble finding a girl to dance with.
Meanwhile up on the roof Negi and Jack where having their own party the two foreigners each had a bottle of rum in their hands and a shot glass. Together they fill the glasses to the brim then jug them down in one gulp! Between the two of them they had already finished half the bottle.
Negi gulped down his glass with a satisfied "ahhh" it had been months since he had been able to have a drink, but with end of exams and summer vacation starting he figured he could allow himself a little taste of his favorite drink.
"So next week we start our (hiccup!) training," Negi said red faced. He started to think that he may have had too much rum.
"Yup! Everything taken care of. Eva made the adjustments just like we requested." Jack looked down the neck of his now empty bottle sadly. "More importantly we need more rum."
"I think you've had enough Jack, and how did you convince Eva to help us anyways?" Negi asked bemused. Whenever he asked the vampire for something there was always some condition that needed to be met, but when Jack asks there is none.
Jack smiled. "Bribery."
Negi raised an eyebrow. "Bribery? What in bloodily hell did you bribe her with?"
"Oh nothing much just a picture of you in your teen form wearing a pair of swimming trunks, I also had Chachamaru edit Eva herself into the picture. She was really quite taken with it if you know what I mean." Jack winked causing the younger man to sigh. Really with friends like these, he thought to himself.
The next morning Negi awoke atop the highest branch of the world tree. He had no recreation of the night before or what transpired, but thankfully he was still fully clothed and Jack was at the base of the tree.
"Now I remember why I don't go out drinking with Jack." He muttered to himself. The cowboy truly was a world class drinker. In fact Negi remembered when they were on a mission in Germany Jack participated in the town's annual drinking contest. Needless to say he won, but he was so out of it he burned half the town down after he threw one of his still light cigarettes into a hay barn. Luckily no one was hurt and no body remembered who they were thanks to everyone being so drunk.
Looking at the morning sun Negi figured it was about eight o'clock in the morning. Digging through his pockets he pulled out his cellphone and sent a text for Ku-Fei, Kaede, Setsuna, Konoka, Sayo and the twins to meet him at Evangeline's cottage in an hour. He figure he could have Jack up and moving by then, though he would have to endure the cowboy's complains about his hang over.
Ku-Fei stood outside Eva's cottage she and Kaede where the first to arrive after they received Negi's text. Though she thought the vampire wasn't pleased about being awakened so early in the morning form the annoyed look she was giving them. Suddenly she heard the sound of childish laughter that could be none other than Fuuka and Fumika, and not far behind was a sleepy eyed Konoka, Setsuna, and Sayo. Ku figured that the pinkettes must have waked everyone up after receiving the text; no doubt they used abnormal means to do so.
"So what (yawn) was so important that we had to wake up at eight on a weekend?" Konoka said rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and tried to ignore the ringing in her ears from when the twins blew a trumpet in her ears; which for some reason woke up Setsuna who was down the hall and not Asuna who was sleeping on the top bunk above her.
"Don't know Negi-Kun just say come to Evangeline's as soon as possible, but I no see him here or Jack." Ku said in her broken Japanese. She had gotten better since Negi started giving her private lessons, but sometimes she slips up.
"Knowing Jack Negi is probably dragging him here because of a case of over drinking." A voice said from the trees. Recognizing who was Sayo leap in to the air like a cannonball and right in to the arms of her foster mother Rubi.
"Your back!" She exclaimed excitedly hugging the mercenary. A gentle hand patted her head.
"Yes, yes sorry for taking so long," Rubi apologized. "But you seem to be forgetting your other family members." Emerging from the trees was Thomas and Kataro who have just returned from a short father/son bonding trip.
"Howdy! Bet you were wondering where we were huh?" Thomas greeted.
"Actually we didn't know you were gone Thomas-san." Kaede said politely. A dark cloud appeared over the ice users head as he sulked at the base of a tree.
"Nobody noticed we were gone? You gals are so cruel just like my brothers!" He wallowed, drawing circles in the dirt. Kataro Just faced palmed. His father could be so embarrassing it kind of made him glad he didn't find him right away.
Thankfully Kataro didn't have to be embarrassed about his father anymore because Jack came stumbling out of the trees. The only reason the cowboy was still standing was because he was leaning all of his weight on to the child sized mage. Which was really hard on the said mage's back.
"Dammit Jack your too heavy!" Negi yelled frustrated from dragging his friend across the vast campus of Mahora. Falling to his knees from exhaustion he dropped Jack on the ground laying face up. Then as if to spite Negi's efforts Jack jumped to his feet completely resorted and lit a cigarette.
Jack quirked an eyebrow at the prone mage, then blew a cloud of gray smoke into the air making everyone down wind that didn't smoke plug their nose. "Come Negi we got work to do can't sleep the whole day away my friend." He said picking the small mage up by the scurf of his shirt. Negi moaned and glared up at his friend. It wasn't him that tried to sleep the day away, but he dropped the matter when they walked through the front door of the cottage and Negi felt himself falling into a pile of fluffy pillows, no doubt Eva's doll collection.
"You just rest there for a minute Negi. I'll do the talkin'," Jack told his friend. He figured it was the least he could do after Negi dragged him here. He saw the younger man give a nod of understanding before curling up with the dolls. Not one to miss out on a blackmail-I mean lavage opportunity Jack pulled a camera out of his satchel bag and took a picture.
"Too easy," He chuckled taking a seat at the table. "Now for those of you that don't know Negi and I are planning to go on a little trip to the magic world. Now before you start asking a million questions at once I would like to say that at your present level of strength none of you can come with." Before Kataro and the girls could protest Jack silenced them. "That's why we arranged for a week's worth of training in the villa or roughly 169 days. (Don't trust this number I have a D- in math!) Plenty of time to get you gals and guy whipped into shape. Sayo, Fuuka, and Fumika you'll be training with Rubi, and Chachamaru. Rubi will teach you gals how to be gunslingers and Chachamaru will teach you magic. Thomas will be training Kataro. As for Kaede, Ku-Fei, Setsuna and Konoka you'll all be training with Evangeline."
"Only because it will get you annoying humans out of my hair for at least a little while." The vampire snipped, but her attempts to look angry just made her seem like an angry kitty. Making everyone share a silent chuckle that only seemed to anger the vampire even more! "Oh shut up!" She snipped making everyone laugh even harder!
"Anyways I think it's time we get started," Jack suggested as the laughter died down. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Negi was done with his nap. Standing up he gestured for everyone to follow him down to the basement.
Downstairs was cramped with everyone, but the five extra glass containers didn't help space out the tiny basement. Not liking her personal space violated Evangeline activated the spell that would send them into the villa; trapping them in there for the whole week.
Inside the villa Evangeline gathered everyone on the sandy white beach located at the base of the castle, and explained how things were going to work. The five extra chambers were set up so everyone could focus on their own training without slowing down the others. The first group which consisted of Rubi, Sayo, Chachamaru, and the twins would be entering the first chamber, which was a complete copy of Rubi's junkyard home. The second Chamber was for Thomas and Kataro was designed as an endless desert with a house filled with the bare essentials for living. The third chamber was for Konoka and Setsuna which had a dojo, a forest and mountains. The fourth Chamber which was Kaede's and Ku-Fei's was filled based of a Ku's homeland filled with high cliffs, valleys, and trees. The fifth and final Chamber was actually spilt into two so Negi and Jack could train separately. On Negi's side had high plains, forests, and mountains, and on Jack's side was an endless ice filled mountains with gurgling winds and temperatures below zero.
With a snap of her fingers Evangeline teleported everyone to their respected chambers, and thus the 169 days of training begin.