Chapter 2 – Magical Mishap

January 7, 2003

Mahora Academy – Akuro's cabin

Having settled in and unpacked most of his stuff last night, Akuro got up early in the morning from the couch that he slept on. For a moment, he looked disoriented as he sat up and looked at his surroundings, until his memories rebooted themselves and they reminded him where he was, 'That's right, I'm a new teacher here at Mahora…'

Getting up, Akuro wobbled around a bit that he nearly tripped over one of his bags as he moved around awkwardly. Apparently, jet lag still resided within Akuro as he cursed it, 'Ugh, I hate jet lag. I wonder how Negi's taking it…'

What he didn't know was that Negi had found himself a Nekane substitute in the form of Asuna to sleep with, and it apparently has the magical ability to wash away jet lag from a person. Too bad the feeling wasn't mutual for Akuro, who finally tripped over another bag on his way to the kitchen. The pain however, finally snapped him wide awake as he groaned getting up, "Argh, gotta make breakfast…"

After eating, Akuro got dressed before heading out, picking up his book bag and two nodachis since he was heading straight for the academy after taking a look around. Opening the door, a blast of chilly wind greeted his face, causing him to look away before it subsided, and taking in the dark landscape ahead, since the sun wasn't even up yet.

'Brrrr, a bit chilly, but still warmer than usual at this time of the year…' Akuro thought to himself as he set out to explore the surroundings.

As he looked around the area surrounding the dormitories, Akuro thought of getting Negi, but realized that he was inside the dorms themselves and had no clue what room he was in. A part of him in the very back of his mind suggested a stakeout, but his discipline quickly reaffirmed control and dismissed the thought as he walked around.

It took a while, but by the time Akuro wound up back near the dorms, it was a bit before seven according to his mini-watch that he kept in his pocket. Stretching, he couldn't help but comment, "This is quite a big campus…"

Deciding to head for the academy building, Akuro was about to leave when he heard sudden barking and a voice shouting, "Oi! Get back here Inumi!"

Spinning around towards the source, Akuro found himself surprised when a little dog came up to him and started sniffing him around his feet, a leash connected to the collar. Hearing footsteps running towards him, he looked up to see a student with long black hair tied up in a ponytail that fanned out, along with aqua blue eyes. One notable thing was that her skin had a light tan, despite it being January, and wearing a winter coat over what Akuro figured was her uniform, if the skirt was anything to go by. She looked at him and was slightly surprised when she appeared that she recognized him, "Ah, you're Sakuragi-sensei! I wasn't expecting you to be up so early!"

"You're…Hibiki Ganaha-san…right?" Akuro had to scrounge his memory of the roster and hoped that he got the name right.

"Yup, that's me!" Hibiki nodded as she looked down at the dog, which was still sniffing around Akuro's legs excitedly. She picked him up saying, "Bad dog Inumi! You know you shouldn't run off like that!"

Inumi just barked energetically and Hibiki sighed as she turned to Akuro, "So sensei, enjoying the sights while the sun rises?"

"Nah, just getting a feel for the area," Akuro replied, "Don't want to get lost and wind up somewhere where I shouldn't be."

"Hahaha…must be tough being a new teacher, eh?" Hibiki smirked, and Akuro sighed, "You've got that right. Anyway, what are you doing out here Ganaha-san? Taking out your dog for a quick walk before school starts?"

Hibiki gave a nod as she put down Inumi on the ground, holding onto the dog's leash tightly, "Yes, I do this every morning with Inumi. It helps to wake up early in the morning, especially when you have someone licking your face every morning."

Both of them laughed lightly as Akuro nodded, "I guess that's true…"

That's when Hibiki noticed something about Akuro and pointed it out, "Hey Sakuragi-sensei, aren't you supposed to be wearing glasses?"

Biting his lip, Akuro knew that no one would probably see him when he first woke up in the morning, and went outside without the glasses. Also, he found them a bit uncomfortable as he wasn't used to them, which was another reason he left them off. He quickly came up with an explanation on the fly that he hoped that she would buy, "My eyesight's been a bit weird ever since I was young, though generally I need to wear glasses when I have to read something. My sight's generally farsighted, but it tends to bug out occasionally."

The explanation completely flew over Hibiki's head, that all she could do was nod, "Okay, I guess…"

Looking at her own watch on her arm, Hibiki saw the time, "Oh, I need to go wake up Miki and Takane now, so I'll see you later in class Sakuragi-sensei. It's especially hard to wake up Miki around this time too…"

"Alright, see you later Ganaha-san." Akuro gave a wave as he watched Hibiki run back into the dorms with Inumi running right beside her. He looked one more time at his watch before walking off in the direction of the academy's main building.

Mahora Academy – 2-D classroom

The girls that arrived early were surprised to find that Akuro was already in, reading a book at the podium, glasses on. They greeted him politely, and he returned them, still a bit wary of him since he was new and slightly older than them. If it was Negi, then they would probably be friendlier since he was only ten, but now the girls were only acting a bit shy towards him since he's new and not used to them yet.

The time past and the class slowly started to fill up; though Akuro ignored them as he continued to read the book he had in his hands. Some of the girls talked to each other, though most of them gave occasional glances at Akuro, most of them still curious. He was quite sure that the news that he was staying in the cabin beside the dorms would've reached all the ears of 2-D, but he wasn't quite certain.

The time passed, and soon it was almost time to start classes, and from the number of students he counted, only three were missing; Haruka, Yukiho, and Yayoi. It was getting dangerously close to starting homeroom when the doors opened and both Yukiho and Yayoi ran through it panting, with Yayoi saying, "Made it on time!"

Akuro looked at them before turning to the roster that he had on the podium open to him, something that he took out a few minutes earlier, "I see that you two made it, but where's Amami-san?"

Yukiho froze up for a second hearing Akuro's voice, while Yayoi was the one to respond, "She's coming, she was right behind us."

"Wait for me!" Haruka's shout came from the hallways. Yukiho and Yayoi quickly made their way to their seats as Haruka came in, promptly tripping and fell flat on her face.

Akuro quickly went over to her side as Haruka's classmates looked over to see if she was alright. Haruka picked herself up as Akuro went over and held out a hand towards her, "You okay Amami-san?"

Haruka looked up at Akuro's concerned face and couldn't help but produce a light blush before taking his hand, and being helped up by him, "I-I'm alright Sakuragi-sensei. It happens all the time, so it's no big deal."

"…If you say so…" Akuro looked at Haruka with skepticism, and it seemed to show in his voice. It was dismissed as Haruka quickly made her way to her seat, when suddenly Akuro asked, "Does that tripping thing happen often Amami-san?"

"Eh?" Haruka looked confused by that sudden question, when Yayoi decided to respond to it, "It always happens at least once a day Sakuragi-sensei!"

The rest of the class nodded in agreement, something that made Haruka feel embarrassed as she took her seat. Akuro raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything about that, instead focusing on starting class.

Halfway through class, Akuro was teaching when he started to hear a commotion coming from next door again and it made him wonder what the heck was going on. He put down the textbook in his hands and headed out the door, "I'm going to step out for a few minutes, okay ladies?"

"Okay Sakuragi-sensei." The girls replied in unison as they started talking to each other before Akuro left the classroom.

Wondering what Negi was doing, Akuro opened the door to 2-A's classroom, "Hey, what's going on-?"

There was a moment of silence as everyone turned to Akuro's presence, as the older teacher was treated to the sight of Asuna in her undergarments in front of the classroom. Negi looked at Akuro with shock, as Asuna's look of embarrassment deepened as she wished that she'd vanish right there and now. Akuro blushed at the sight politely excused himself, "I think I'll come back later…"

Closing the door, Akuro headed back to this class, and when he reentered, they noticed the blush that was on his face. That made Yui ask, "What happened Sakuragi-sensei?"

"…It's nothing, just a minor disturbance from next door." Akuro wiped the blush off his face and continued teaching like nothing ever happened, while things went a bit crazy next door.

Mahora Academy – campus

During the lunch period, Akuro was wandering around the main building's perimeter looking for Negi, since he wondered what happened earlier. A scantily clad Asuna was still fresh in his mind, though he pushed the image to the back of his mind as he searched for the boy mage. That's when he saw a flustered Nodoka run by followed by Yue and Haruna, something that made him wonder until he saw Negi up ahead looking down in the dumps.

"Hey Negi, what's the matter?" Akuro called out to Negi, at the same time something fell out of Negi's bag and hit the ground.

Negi didn't notice as he looked up at Akuro with a smile, before returning to his depressed behavior, "Hi Akuro…"

Seeing the vial containing seven little spheres lying on the ground, Akuro picked it up while asking, "What happened earlier today? The last thing I expected to see was a scantily clad…Kagurazaka-san in your class."

"Uuuh, what do I do Akuro? I made Asuna-san mad at me and I don't know how to make it up to her!" Negi cried out, looking desperate for an answer.

Looking at Negi, Akuro eyed the vial out of the corner of his eye, "What that heck did you do to her? Wait, does this have something to do with what I saw earlier?"

All Negi did was nod and the boy looked like he wanted to bury himself. Akuro kept on looking at the vial and finally asked, "By the way Negi, what is this thing? I don't recognize it."

"Huh?" Negi looked up and eyed the vial in Akuro's hand. Instantly he jumped up and grabbed it out of Akuro's hands so quickly that he was a bit surprised at how fast Negi reacted, "T-this is…! This is the set of Seven Colored Magic Pills that grandfather gave me all those years ago!"

Raising an eyebrow, Akuro continued to listen to Negi, "If I have these, maybe I really can make that love potion! Sis must have slipped it into my bag, all right!"

'Love potion? What the heck would Negi want to make that for?' The situation was starting to get weird, and Akuro smelled a situation going on. That's when he heard Negi mumble, "I don't think it's enough for her to forgive me…but this is all I really can do…"

"Negi…?" Akuro wondered about the 'her' part, and knew that he needed to figure out what the heck was going on. Negi, on his part, wasn't thinking logically at the moment and turned to Akuro, "Akuro, I need you to keep a lookout for me while I prepare the potion, please?"

"Uh…okay…" Akuro was led to a small clearing in the trees, where Negi set up a small beaker and started making the love potion.

"Ras tel Ma Scir Magister, age nascatur potio amoris!"

There was a light explosion before things calmed down. Both mages looked at the beaker, and Negi picked it up gently as he looked at it with surprise, "I've…I've done it!"

Putting a cork on beaker, Negi quickly packed everything up and ran off before Akuro could say anything, "This will make anyone popular with the opposite sex! Asuna-san will be overjoyed!"

"Asuna-san…?" Akuro was finding everything to be weird and now wanted a very good explanation for everything, 'Jeez, we were only here for what, a day and a half now? And already it sounds like Negi got busted…'

Sighing to himself, Akuro headed back towards the academy so he could prepare for his next class, 'I think a small talk with Negi is in order later. I really need to know what's going on around here!'

2-A Classroom

Negi had entered the classroom finding an angry Asuna, and though he tried to give the potion to her, Negi ended up drinking the whole thing. Even though it had no effect on Asuna due to her ability, soon enough, the other girls in 2-A started falling under the effect of the potion. If that wasn't bad enough, a few 2-D girls walked in, looking for Negi so they could ask a question. They were, Kureha Akabane, who had long, bluish purple hair and matching eyes, and Elis Shihou, who had short purple hair that framed her face at the front, along with dull green eyes.

The two 2-D students entered with Kureha asking, "Excuse me Springfield-sensei, but we-." The question never came around as both Kureha and Elis fell under the effects of the potion too, and they were currently cuddling him and calling him cute among other things.

Somehow, Negi broke free and ran away, with the girls hot on his heels, leaving behind a bewildered Asuna who put Ayaka out of her misery. A moment later, Akuro showed up, finding the scene and Asuna tried to make up an excuse, "Oh Sakuragi-sensei, this is, um, Iincho walked into the wall and fell unconscious, um…"

"…Right…" Akuro had a hard time believing that as Asuna made Ayaka more comfortable leaning against the wall in the classroom, "Anyway, where's Negi?"

As Asuna didn't know that Akuro was a mage like Negi, among other things, she had a hard time thinking up a response that didn't involve mentioning magic, "He, um, ran off because some of the girls got, uh, energetic about his presence?"

There was a moment of silence, before Akuro gave a sigh, something that Asuna took as him buying her explanation. He looked around and asked, "Which way did he go?"

"He went that way!" Asuna pointed in the direction Negi ran off in, "I'm coming too, just in case, um, he's hurt or something."

All Akuro did was nod, and the two of them ran off together, following the cries of 'Negi-sensei!' and other various sounds. In the back of his mind, Akuro was pretty sure that Asuna knew of Negi's mage identity, but he needed to be sure by talking to him first.

Mahora Academy – middle school library

Meanwhile, Nodoka led Negi to the middle school library in order to escape the love crazy girls that were chasing them. However, they thought they were alone when they heard an 'Eep!' when Nodoka closed the door. They looked around and found Yukiho in front of one of the bookshelves, with a book at her feet. Apparently, she got spooked when Negi and Nodoka suddenly entered the room. Seeing who it was, she quickly picked up the book that she dropped while saying, "Oh, it's just you Miyazaki-san…"

"Ah, hello Hagiwara-san." Nodoka greeted with a small bow. That's when they both looked at Negi, and they slowly started to fall under the effect of the love potion emanating from him, though oddly enough, it was a slow gradual process for them, that they didn't work on them first.

As Negi and Nodoka walked around the library, Yukiho watched them from behind bookshelves, a weird feeling forming up in her chest. She wondered what was going on, since she never felt this way before, and her curiosity made her follow them, closing the distance with each step.

All of a sudden, Negi looked past Nodoka and right at Yukiho, and she gave another 'Eep!' and ran to hide behind one of the shelves. Nodoka frowned at Yukiho's behavior, since she's never seen her act that way, even if they only see each other occasionally; both she and Yue are in the Children's Literature Research Society so they see each other from time to time. It's kind of scary how the two are a bit alike, if only just a bit, their friends commented once.

That's when Negi started running away from Nodoka when she tried to get close, and ran around the library when he saw her chasing him. Unfortunately he wasn't watching where he was going and ran into Yukiho, with the two of them crashing down to the ground, spilling a few books.

Negi landed on top of Yukiho and the two stared at each other for a few seconds, Yukiho sporting a blush on her face. Negi had one too when Yukiho cupped Negi's cheek in a fascinating manner, "Springfield-sensei…you look really cute, you know that?"

"W-what?" Negi looked alarmed as Yukiho suddenly got closer, when suddenly, Nodoka was on top of Negi, lying on his back. That essentially put Negi in a spot most guys would kill to be in, but this is a ten year old we're talking about, and a teacher to boot, so naturally he'd be in a panicking bind. Yukiho had a curious look on her face when she saw Nodoka as Negi turned to Nodoka and asked, "Um…Miyazaki-san…p-please get off of me…"

"O-okay…" Despite saying that, Nodoka just got closer, with Negi pressed against Yukiho's chest. He started squirming around trying to get free, but being pinned down by Nodoka made him careful, since he didn't want to accidentally hurt either of the girls trying to escape.

However, Nodoka was getting closer and Negi tried reasoning with her, "Mi-Miyazaki-san, we can't! A teacher and student shouldn't do things like this! Sis says that…"

"Y-yes…" Nodoka interrupted Negi, "…That's right, isn't it?"

Negi was freaking out when his head suddenly turned, Yukiho had a hand on his cheek, and Negi saw that her eyes looked a bit glazed as she too leaned in for a kiss. Suddenly he heard a shout on the other side of the door, who he recognized as Akuro's, "Hey Negi, you in there?"

"No time for that!" Asuna shouted.

"Wait, what-?" Suddenly the library doors blew off their hinges, one of them nearly hitting Nodoka, but the force of the flying door hit her and she rolled off of Negi, fainting. The door itself actually hit the shelf above where the three were, and when Negi rolled off of Yukiho, a few books fell and hit her on the head, knocking her unconscious too.

Asuna looked in and when he saw Negi on the floor, with Nodoka and Yukiho unconscious, she went over to check on both of them as she muttered, "Sheesh, you're nothing but trouble!"

"…Sure seems to be the case." Akuro made his appearance, looking at the broken doors with worry. He then looked at Negi and the two unconscious students, recognizing Yukiho, "Oh boy, let's get them to the infirmary Kagurazaka-san."

"Right Sakuragi-sensei." Asuna went over to pick Nodoka up, while Akuro cleared the books away from Yukiho's face. Negi thanked Asuna when Akuro went over and whispered, "We need to talk later Negi. After school, meet me in front of the cabin behind the dorms."

All Negi did was nod as Akuro picked up Yukiho gently, and the three left the library, but not before Akuro asked, "Um, should we call someone to clean that up?"

Mahora Academy – Akuro's cabin

Later, Negi, Asuna, and Konoka showed up at Akuro's cabin, though the two students were surprised to find that the cabin was in prime condition. Asuna eyed it, "So it is true, this old place was fixed up…"

Negi went up to the cabin front and sat down on the steps, "I'll wait here Asuna-san, Konoka-san. I'm sure Akuro won't take long."

"You know, I've been wondering," Asuna started, "What's your connection to Sakuragi-sensei? You two act quite friendly with each other."

"Oh! Um, we've known each other for about four years, and we've attended Oxford together." Negi replied, though he looked a bit reluctant to give anymore information. Asuna looked at Negi suspiciously, while Konoka looked at the cabin curiously.

A few minutes passed before Akuro arrived, "Hey Negi, sorry I'm late; had to file a few things…"

"It's alright." Negi replied happily. Asuna and Konoka left already, so Akuro just missed them. He took out the key to the cabin and opened the door, "C'mon in Negi, just don't mind the mess. I haven't finished sorting things out yet."

When Negi entered the cabin, he looked around curiously and with a bit of excitement. He could see that there were various things here and there, though overall, settling in only looked partially done. After the two settled in, Akuro led Negi to a couple of chairs and they sat down, Akuro looking at Negi, though the boy mage swore that the older teenager was giving him a full piercing body scan for some reason.

"I better get us something warm to drink first, before we talk." Akuro got up and prepared hot chocolate, and after giving a cup to Negi, the two drank before Akuro got straight to the point, "So, before anything else, I need to ask; you got exposed as a mage to someone, didn't you?"

Negi looked like he was squirming, but with Akuro's calm attitude, he told him the truth, though reluctantly, "Yes…"

"And I take it that this person is Kagurazaka-san, right? I heard you say her name before you ran off with the love potion." Akuro prodded on.

"Yes…" Negi looked dejected and ashamed like he had just broken under interrogation. Akuro couldn't help but cough, faking a laugh until he asked one more question, "She only knows that you're a mage, right? She doesn't know anything about me or anything else, right?"

"Yes, she only knows that I'm a mage…" Negi replied.

Giving a sigh of relief, Negi was confused with Akuro's expression and he noticed it, "I'm not mad at you Negi, if that's what you're thinking. Though I would like to know the full story, if you don't mind?"

After Negi told Akuro the whole story from yesterday to now, all the older boy did was sip his chocolate before saying, "Well, at least that explains a lot. You know, I should be surprised by all this, but for some reason, I'm not."

"Uuuh, that's mean Akuro…" Negi whined, but Akuro raised a hand, "Don't worry Negi, as long as no one else finds out, it should be okay. Anyway, don't tell Asuna or anyone else that I'm a mage-in-training too, and I'll do the same for you if I get figured out by a student, okay?"

"Y-yes, of course Akuro!" Negi's attitude changed to a brighter one as Akuro got up and went over to the area where his things were scattered. Most of them were still in his bags as he got lazy while unpacking last night.

Looking over to Negi, Akuro asked, "Hey Negi, could you help me with a few of these things? It would really speed things up."

Negi gave a nod, and with that, he and Akuro spent an hour taking things out and securing anything magic-related, in case of non-magical visitors. After that, Negi had to leave for the dorms, since he wanted to apologize to Asuna for earlier again. As Akuro watched him leave, he couldn't help but think, 'Well, I better be extra careful from now on, especially around 2-A since Kagurazaka-san is in that class…'

Note: Okay, before I say anything, Yukiho was acting way OOC due to the love potion; magic can make a person go wacko. Now with that out of the way, I did say that I'll show everyone the four series that I used to make Class D. Instead, here's a list of where each character came from:

Kureha Akabane (Night Wizard)

Mio Akiyama (K-On)

Ritsuko Akizuki (Idolmaster)

Haruka Amami (Idolmaster)

Ami Futami (Idolmaster)

Mami Futami (Idolmaster)

Hibiki Ganaha (Idolmaster)

Yukiho Hagiwara (Idolmaster)

Ai Hidaka (Idolmaster)

Akari Himuro (Night Wizard)

Yui Hirasawa (K-On)

Miki Hoshi (Idolmaster)

Makoto Kikuchi (Idolmaster)

Chihaya Kisaragi (Idolmaster)

Kanako Konoe (Original Character)

Tsumugi Kotobuki (K-On)

Nodoka Manabe (K-On)

Iori Minase (Idolmaster)

Azusa Miura (Idolmaster)

Eri Mizutani (Idolmaster)

Ran Otonashi (Rosario+Vampire)

Ren Otonashi (Rosario+Vampire)

Rin Otonashi (Rosario+Vampire)

Shihou Elis (Night Wizard)

Takane Shijou (Idolmaster)

Ritsu Tainaka (K-On)

Yayoi Takatsuki (Idolmaster)

Night Wizard, K-On, Idolmaster, and Rosario+Vampire, the four series I used. K-On's a bit of a given, considering I've seen their characters used in other Negima stories, but I really had to look hard though other series, else I'd come up with a very small class. Anyway, if you look up each character, I'm pretty sure you'll find a picture of them, and the Idolmaster girls are using their pre-Idolmaster 2 looks, just to point it out.

Oh, one more thing; this story will be using a visual timeline, so anyone reading can tell what day an event takes place on. The Negima timeline is a bit skewered in my opinion, since it looked like Negi arrived in Japan around the start of the third term, which starts around January, but by the time it reaches the Library Island arc, it's implied that only a week or two had passed, and the last exams take place around near the end of March. Believe me when I say that I had to research how the Japanese school years are structure for things to be accurate and believable.

Well, that's it for now, and if anyone has a question, give a review or PM. Other then that, see everyone next chapter!

P.S.: I'll probably take a look over this chapter and see how it can be improved on a future date.