Chapter 3 – Lost and Found

Mahora Academy – Akuro's cabin

After Negi left, Akuro continued to sort out his things, though the first thing that he did was hide everything magic-related in case someone decided on a surprise visit later; he upped the secrecy paranoia ever since he learned that Negi got caught on the first day of all things. Now the only thing left that was magic-related was a book of spells that had a title in Latin, though in English it would be called 'The Book of Latin Spells Vol.1', a graduation present that Akuro received from Nekane back in September. He wondered why Nekane gave him this book when he remembered the answer that she gave him when he actually asked back then, 'You look like you need the book more then Negi does, Akuro.'

Picking up the book, Akuro was about to bring it upstairs when the doorbell rang. Hastily stuffing the book into his book bag, Akuro went over to the door and opened it, finding Kureha and Elis standing at the door. Recognizing the girls as two of his students from 2-D, Akuro greeted them, "Hello, um…"

"Kureha Akabane and Elis Shihou." Kureha introduced themselves, pointing to herself and Elis respectively as they bowed to him.

"Right, sorry about that girls. I haven't been able to memorize everyone's names yet." Akuro apologized.

Elis was the one who shook her head saying, "It's alright Sakuragi-sensei, you've been only here for two days so it's only natural."

"Uh huh, so what can I do for you ladies?" Akuro looked at both of them, noticing that they both had an English textbook in their hands.

"We have a few questions regarding English, and we were recommended by Springfield-sensei to come to you, since he was busy with something," Kureha explained, "We did try to ask him at lunch earlier today, but we can't seem to remember what happened though…"

'They must've gotten caught up in the love potion incident, though Akabane-san sounds a bit off for some reason.' Akuro looked at both of them before nodding, "Alright, come on in girls, but please don't mind the mess. I'm still in the process of settling in properly."

Akuro wondered what Negi was doing that Kureha and Elis had to come to him for help in English. Little did he know, the boy mage was currently caught up in a certain bath incident that ended rather painfully for Asuna, but he didn't know that as he helped Kureha and Elis with their English. He found out a bit about the two as he talked with them, like how Kureha worked part-time at Tatsumiya shrine every few days, and how Elis talked about her guardian, Anzelotte Shihou.

Halfway through, there was another ring of the doorbell, and Akuro had to stop halfway through his lecture to answer the door. When he opened it, Akuro found Hibiki standing outside with a smile on her face, along with two others 2-D students. Surprised at their appearance, Akuro greeted, "Ah, Ganaha-san. This is a surprise…"

"Hehe, we heard that someone was actually living here, but I didn't expect it to be you Sakuragi-sensei!" Hibiki had an amused look on her face while her two friends looked at the cabin with amazement.

"Well, why don't you three come in," Akuro invited the three girls inside, while looking at Hibiki's two friends, "The two of you are…Miki Hoshi-san and…Takane Shijou-san, right?"

Miki, who had long, blond hair and green eyes, looked surprised that Akuro got her name right, "Wow, Miki's surprised that you got Miki's name right Sakuragi-sensei!"

"Yes, I didn't think that you would be able to memorize our names on the second day either." Takane said in a smooth voice, her having long, silvery(?) hair and wearing a headband, with her eyes a light violet. Her looks caught Akuro's attention for a second, since both her hair and eye color weren't exactly normal, but he put the thought in the back of his mind as he closed the door.

Entertaining the girls was a bit hard, especially since Hibiki and Miki were being a bit nosy and curious as they looked around the cabin. Takane sat down at the table where Kureha and Elis was sitting at, exchanging polite conversations with each other. After that, Akuro continued teaching, though he had to stop every now and again because Hibiki and Miki tried to sneak upstairs to take a look, and Akuro hadn't put away all the magic-related items properly yet.

'Wouldn't want to get busted in my own home…' Akuro thought to himself.

Soon, the girls left after Kureha and Elis understood Negi's lesson, and they took Miki, Hibiki, and Takane with them. After they left, Akuro couldn't help but slump a bit in relaxation as he thought, 'Whew, that was harder than it looked…'

January 8, 2003

Mahora Academy – Dormitory

All was quiet in the middle school dorms this morning, but that was about to be broken. Asuna was in the shower after finishing her paper route, when Negi came by and tried to help her by bewitching her bath items to clean her by themselves. Unfortunately Asuna didn't take that very well and she came out wearing a towel and chasing after Negi shouting, "Get the hell out of here, you jerk!"

Negi screamed for his life, not wanting to be near an angry Asuna that he ran into the first open door that he could see. Too bad he forgot that there were other girls living in the dorm at the moment and an open door usually leads to another occupied room.

Jumping back to just a bit earlier, Haruka woke up with a yawn, before looking down at her roommate Yukiho, who was sleeping on the bottom bunk. Not wanting to wake her up, Haruka got down and started preparing breakfast, as part of her routine every morning. However, she heard shouting and curiosity took over as she went over to the door and opened it to take a look.

Haruka wasn't prepared for what was next as a blur suddenly ran past her, making her trip and fall. She landed with a thud and was a bit disoriented when she heard a door slam shut, and when Haruka got up, she wondered, 'W-what was that all about?'

Thinking that she it must've been a hallucination or something, Haruka was about to close the door when she saw a lump shaking in Yukiho's bed. Forgetting about the door, Haruka went over to Yukiho's bedside and opened the covers. There, beside a still sleeping Yukiho was a cowering Negi, curled up into a ball in fright. Haruka stared at him for a moment before calling out to him, "Um…Springfield-sensei, right? What are you doing?"

Negi snapped out of his scared state and looked up rather carefully, as if expecting a demon Asuna to be right behind Haruka. When that wasn't the case, he sat up timidly saying, "Oh, I'm so sorry for intruding, um, Amami-san?"

"Um, yes, that's my name Springfield-sensei," Haruka looked a bit lost, finding Negi in Yukiho's bed of all places, "Um, what are you doing in here?"

"I, uh, made Asuna-san mad accidentally," That was an understatement, considering what happened, "And, well, she chased me out of the room…"

"I see…Kagurazaka-san huh…?" Haruka managed to put the pieces together before she went over to the kitchen, "You know, since you're here and all, do you want to have breakfast? I was just about to cook something up."

Negi's face brightened up as he nodded, "Yes please!"

Haruka just smiled and she started preparing things to cook. Like Akuro, Haruka and the other 2-D students found Negi interesting, mainly because of the fact that he was a ten year old teaching them English, and he was quite good at it despite only just arriving.

If Haruka paid a bit more attention, she would've realized that Negi was still sitting on Yukiho's bed, and the lack of a blanket was causing her to wake up. She gave a yawn and sat up muttering, "Haruka, why did you remove the blanket…?"

That's when Yukiho saw Negi sitting on her bed, and he turned around, greeting her politely, "Ah, good morning…Hagiwara-san, was it?"

There was a moment of silence as Yukiho stared at Negi and his oh so happy smile, while Haruka continued to prepare breakfast in a Konoka-ish manner. Yukiho's eyes seemed to widen in shock and surprise when she was able to identify Negi properly, which snapped her wide awake and wild thoughts ran through her brain, most likely because there was a boy right beside her this instant.

A boy was on her bed.

A boy…

…

What happened next was the loudest scream ever heard within the dormitories, as it snapped everyone who was still sleeping wide awake, wondering what the heck happened. Interestingly enough, half of 2-D knew that it was Yukiho's voice shouting and they ran to the room in worry, only to find a scandalized-looking Yukiho, and Haruka comforting a shocked Negi. It was a good thing 2-D was able to keep things on the down low, or else the other students, particularly 2-A and their paparazzi and gossip queens, would've had a field day with the situation.

Mahora Academy – 2-D Classroom

Class just started, though Akuro and his students noticed that there were two people missing: Chihaya Kisaragi and Azusa Miura. Akuro was about to mark them absent when the two in question burst through the door, both of them panting very hard, though Chihaya looked more out of breath then Azusa. Akuro looked at them and calmly asked, "Hello ladies, something happen?"

Chihaya took a deep breath before looking up at Akuro, "No, we just got sidetracked and took a wrong turn Sakuragi-sensei."

"I see…well, might as well sit down Kisaragi-san, Miura-san. The two of you are lucky that I didn't mark down lates or absentees yet." Akuro looked at the two calmly, though he did give a glance towards Yukiho who still looked distressed. He had heard from both Ritsuko and Negi about the incident earlier in the morning, though he wasn't around at the time, having taken a walk. He gave a sigh as Chihaya gave Akuro a nod, while Azusa bowed and gave him a smile before they went to their seats.

As 2-D was working on an assignment that he had handed out, Akuro was busy studying the 2-D guide that Ritsuko gave him, the book open to a particular page. After hearing about the now titled, 'Screaming Terror' incident, he wondered what the heck exactly happened. All Ritsuko said was that half the class only saw the result, and Negi, well, he didn't want to say much, saying something about respect and other things Akuro couldn't understand.

The book itself was opened up to Yukiho's profile, and Akuro read a few interesting things that were written down. One of those was that she's afraid of boys and that her fear was greater than that of Nodoka's, though only by a small gap. Other than that she was also afraid of dogs and had a love for tea, especially making it. Akuro himself didn't like tea very much; he could drink it if he had to, but the only kind of tea he would prefer to drink was ice tea. Staying in a foreign country for a few years can do that to a person.

'Okay, the thing about being scared of boys makes sense, considering how nervous she tends to act around me. Let's see what the others are like…'

The time passed, and soon class ended on a normal note. Akuro sighed and assigned the class homework, and he was about to leave when he saw Kanako's stare on him again. He quickly left the room, but not before thinking, 'I swear, the glasses aren't working as well on her, and it's a matter of time before she remembers me…'

After Akuro left, it let some of the students have some time to talk to each other and both Haruka and Makoto went over to Yukiho's side, with Haruka asking, "Are you alright Yukiho?"

"Y-yes, I'm fine Haruka." Yukiho still looked a bit shaken up, but other than that, she really was okay.

"That was a pretty loud scream though. Much more effective than an alarm clock." Makoto joked.

"Please don't say something like that Makoto," Yukiho looked uncomfortable hearing that, "I need to apologize to Springfield-sensei for this morning though…"

"Don't worry, I'm sure that he understands Yukiho." Makoto assured her, with Haruka nodding in agreement, "Yeah, and he did apologize for startling you this morning Yukiho, so I'm sure that it isn't necessary."

Before Yukiho could say anything more, the door opened and their next teacher came in. Everyone returned to their seats as class started, though Yukiho was a bit distracted, thinking of how she should apologize to Negi.

January 9, 2003

The next day started off well enough, though Akuro noticed that Chihaya and Azusa were missing again. This was the second time that it happened and he started to wonder if it was a coincidence that it happened again. The time passed and class was about to start and Akuro expected Chihaya and Azusa to burst into the room like last time, when Chihaya suddenly burst into the class by herself, startling everyone, breathing very deeply like she ran a marathon.

Wondering what was going on, Akuro was about to go up to her when she ran up to him saying, "Sensei, please help me find Azusa-san. We got separated on our way to school and I can't find her by myself."

A look of puzzlement was on Akuro's face for a second before he nodded, "Alright Kisaragi-san," He turned to the class, "This is a self study period until I get back, okay?"

"Hai Sakuragi-sensei." The class shouted back and Akuro held a hand out, "Please lead the way Kisaragi-san."

Chihaya just nodded and the two of them rushed out of the room. Quickly walking down the hall, Akuro asked, "What happened Kisaragi-san?'

"We were just walking from the train station when Azusa-san just disappeared on me during the rush. I tried looking for her, but she has a bad sense of direction and tends to wander from place to place, making it hard to find her." Chihaya explained.

Akuro looked at her, "Miura-san has a bad sense of direction? Never expected that from her…"

"Yes, and I'm a bit worried that she might get into trouble or something." Chihaya started to look a bit distressed as she and Akuro cleared the front doors.

Outside, Chihaya and Akuro stopped at the bottom of the steps with Chihaya looking around, "Where do we start looking?"

Both of them thought about it for a moment when a thought came to Akuro, "…Hey, does Miura-san have a cellphone on her? Did you try calling her?"

Chihaya froze for a moment in thought before she slapped her forehead, "Yes, she does actually. I can't believe I forgot about that…"

Akuro stayed silent as Chihaya took out her cell and dialed Azusa's number. A moment passed before Chihaya said, "Azusa-san? Thank goodness, where are you right now?"

A moment of silence passed before Chihaya spoke again, "I see, you're there? Please don't move, Sakuragi-sensei and I will pick you up. Bye."

Hanging up, Chihaya turned to Akuro and said, "Azusa-san's in the shopping district. She's waiting by the cake shop."

"That's a bit far from here," Akuro mused as he and Chihaya started heading towards the shopping district. As they ran, Akuro suddenly said, "You know Kisaragi-san, I'm going to have to mark the both of you as late for this, just to let you know."

There was a moment of silence before Chihaya reluctantly replied, "…Of course sensei."

Mahora – Shopping District

By the time Akuro and Chihaya reached the shopping district, it was already past homeroom and Akuro looked at Chihaya, "Do you know where this cake shop is? I'm still a bit unfamiliar with the area."

"Yes I do," Chihaya pointed in a certain direction, "It's that way, Haruka-san tends to go there, and she sometimes brings Azusa-san and I along with a few others."

Akuro gave a nod and he followed Chihaya to the cake shop, while taking in the sights in order to familiarize with the area. Eventually, Chihaya led him to the front of the cake shop, where they saw Azusa waiting outside patiently, her bag in her hands. Chihaya called out to her, "Azusa-san, we're here!"

"Ah Chihaya, I'm sorry again. I saw something interesting and just had to take a look." Azusa calmly explained as she walked over to Chihaya and Akuro, "Ah, Sakuragi-sensei, I'm sorry about all this."

"Uh, it's alright, as long as you're okay Miura-san." Akuro looked puzzled at Azusa's attitude, but shook it off as he nodded towards the direction of the school building, "Let's just head back to class now, alright?"

As the three headed back to the school, Azusa suddenly asked, "Are you going to mark us late sensei?"

"Unfortunately, I have too Miura-san, regardless of the circumstances, unless you were getting kidnapped or something." Akuro casually replied.

There was a moment of silence before Akuro jumped at the sound of Azusa lightly screaming, "Ah, help me sensei! Chihaya's attempting to kidnap me!"

"A-Azusa-san!" Chihaya sounded scandalized, as Azusa latched herself on to her. Akuro didn't bother looking around as he said, "Alright ladies, let's just head to class. Oh, and by the way Miura-san, I would've been half-convinced if you didn't sound so playful."

"Ara, I guess I'll have to step up on my acting skills then." Azusa giggled, while Chihaya just sighed, hiding a small smile.

Mahora Academy – Staff Room

After classes, Akuro and Negi were going through a number of papers, though Akuro looked frustrated, "Why did the scroll tell me to be a teacher again? Heck, being a bodyguard's better than this!"

"I'm sure that you'll get the hang of it eventually Akuro." Negi assured him, going through his own work like he's been doing it for months.

Akuro couldn't help but look at Negi with a hint of disbelief when a voice behind him asked, "Um, excuse me, but are you Akuro Sakuragi-sensei of 2-D?"

"Uh, yeah I am," Akuro turned around in his seat, only to be looking up at a woman who had long brown hair and light brown eyes behind a pair of glasses. Wearing a beige sweater and work skirt with a belt, Akuro thought he felt a librarian's aura coming from her, "And you are…?"

"Oh, I'm Sawako Yamanaka, 2-D's previous homeroom teacher." Sawako introduced herself, "I teach some the music classes here at Mahora Academy."

"Ah, it's nice to meet you Yamanaka-sensei." Akuro shook hands with her as Negi turned to watch the scene going on. However, that caught Sawako's attention and she couldn't help but give a light squeal, "Ah, and this must be Negi Springfield, the ten year old teacher I've been hearing about!"

"Nice to know his name's getting around." Akuro muttered, while Negi smiled and said, "It's nice to meet you Yamanaka-sensei."

"Ah, you're so cute!" Sawako surprised both teachers by smothering Negi, "I can't believe that you're actually at teacher!"

Akuro couldn't tell if he should be jealous or relieved that it wasn't happening to him, but what he could tell was that Negi wasn't able to breathe, "Please don't suffocate Negi, Yamanaka-sensei. 2-A still needs him."

Sawako let go of Negi, who breathed deeply for some air, while Sawako apologized, "Ah, I'm sorry, I couldn't help it since you're so cute!"

"Let's just hope that it doesn't happen too often, eh Yamanaka-sensei?" Takamichi's voice said from the side as he walked up to him.

"Ah, don't worry about that Takahata-sensei, I was just greeting both Sakuragi-sensei and Springfield-sensei." Sawako had a smile on her face as she said that, while Akuro looked at Negi worriedly, 'A part of me feels sorry for Negi if all his greetings are going to be like that…'

"Anyway, I wanted to talk to you Sakuragi-sensei about 2-D," Sawako's attention suddenly shifted to Akuro, making him jump a bit, "I take it that they gave you their own handmade roster, right?"

"Uh, yeah they did," Akuro replied, as Takamichi started talking to Negi about something, "Something wrong with that?"

"Eh? No no, actually, I just came by to give you this," Sawako had a thin notebook in her hand, something that Akuro didn't realize she had on her, "It's 2-D's grades record Sakuragi-sensei. This'll tell you who in 2-D are doing good and those…not so much, though just to tell you, everyone's passing."

"Really? I'll look into it later." Akuro said as he received the notebook Sawako handed to him. However, before she left, she gave him a small hint, "Oh, and before I forget, the ones that you should really look into are Yayoi Takatsuki, Yui Hirasawa, Ritsu Tainaka, and Hibiki Ganaha. They're the lowest scorers, but all four of them are passing, last I checked."

"I'll look into it." Akuro replied, and Sawako just nodded before leaving. As she left however, he couldn't help but feel something off about her, but shook it off as being paranoid and thinking too much, before returning to the dreaded mess called paperwork.

Mahora – Akuro's cabin

Later at night, Akuro looked at the notebook that Sawako gave him and indeed he saw that the four she mentioned were the lowest scorers, despite still passing overall. In order they were Hibiki, Yui, Ritsu, then Yayoi, and from the marks, it looked like Yayoi was struggling here and there.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Akuro went over to open it, only to find Negi and Takamichi at the door, "Oh, hey you two, come on in."

"Thanks Akuro." Negi said while Takamichi just nodded and the two walked in.

Following tradition, the two guests made their way towards the living room area and as they sat down Takamichi commented, "You could use a bit more stuff in here Akuro-kun."

"Eh, it's good enough, I'd rather not go crazy with my money, or else I'd go broke in a week." Akuro handed Negi and Takamichi their drinks and he sat down on the couch opposite them, "So, what's going on?"

"Nothing serious, just that the Dean asked me to check up on you and Negi-kun here," Takamichi replied, while Negi looked a bit embarrassed, "So, you doing alright for the first few days?"

"…Yeah, the girls have been pretty well behaved for the most part," Akuro though for a moment as he sipped his drink, "By the way, do you know where I could find a map of Mahora? I still don't know my way around the place."

"I'd like that too." Negi spoke up.

Takamichi thought about it for a moment before he replied, "…You should go talk to the Dean's secretary. I think a few are kept around there."

"We'll do that." Akuro replied, with Negi nodding in agreement.

They spent some time catching up after that, telling jokes and stories before the two had to leave for dinner. Akuro walked them out, he himself going out for dinner, and as he left, he thought, 'Ha…still need to adjust back to Japanese ways… I wonder how everyone else is doing…I haven't seen them in a while…'

Notes: Ending this chapter's was a bit odd in my opinion. I was struggling to find a way to end it properly, and this is the result that came up. Anyway, I'm going to be introducing the Idolmaster girls first, if any of you notice, though if you want an idea of their profiles, not to mention looks, 'cause I admit that I suck at accurate descriptions, go to project-imas dot com, you'll find them there.

Oh, and if any of you readers read through the whole story again (which isn't that much), and find anything out of place, like missing borders or odd grammar, please mention it to me. I've been hearing that has been doing something to people's stories unintentionally (I think) in those terms, so I would appreciate a heads up and I'll check in on it.

Ah, and please review if you have any comments or ideas for this story, they would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for the two reviewers that have commented so far too. Well, that's it for now, until the next chapter, which is giving me trouble since it's a different version of the dodge ball chapters in vol.1.