Chapter 4 – A Girl's Idol?

January 10, 2003

Mahora Academy – 2-D Classroom

Makoto Kikuchi gave a sigh as she listened to the lesson that Akuro was giving. She had this problem ever since she started middle school at Mahora Academy, but even though it's calmed down a bit, it was still unnerving to her. To this day, she's been trying to think up of a solution to her problem, with not much success.

Due to her looks and personality, some people tend to mistake her for a boy, and even though she wore Mahora's uniform, her looks sometimes got her into trouble due to misunderstandings. It wasn't her fault she supposed, that she was raised like a boy due to her father, who wanted to have a son instead. Her mother was a bit against it, but in the end, she let it go, in order to keep her husband happy. However, if there was one thing Makoto's mom got word in, was that Makoto be educated at Mahora Academy, the same place where she got her education. So Makoto enrolled at Mahora after completing elementary school, and things were fairly good, with 2-D not really questioning her looks, something she was grateful for.

That didn't mean there were a few misunderstandings between her and them though, but the most notable one was one between her and Yukiho. The shy girl sometimes freaked out whenever Makoto interacted with her, due to her boyish looks. However, after an incident which involved Makoto saving Yukiho from a bunch of guys, they became good friends, and Yukiho managed to look past Makoto's boyish looks to boot.

Now to her problem, which was mainly about her looks and a bit of her tomboy instincts, it tended to attract a bit of attention from the girls, and considering it was an all-girls school…well you imagine. Anyway, this earned her a few admirers, though it seemed to increase overtime. However, things really got bad for her due to the play she had to perform in at her first MahoraFest. She was busy helping with the Drama Club, since Yukiho had promised to help out, but asked Makoto to go in her place after something important came up. So Makoto ended up as an understudy for the role of Romeo in the Romeo and Juliet in the play, but after the main actor injured himself a day before MahoraFest showed up so she ended up taking the role. After the play however, the actress clung to Makoto for the rest of the day, apparently smitten with her, ending the day with a kiss. To say that it was Makoto's worst day was an understatement, not that the actress in question wasn't pretty. The Mahora Newspaper had a field day with it though, more or less as a joke, one couldn't tell.

Eventually, things started calming down, though there was an admirer here and there, but Makoto tolerated them. However, ever since the third term started, she started to think on how to be more feminine after a talk with Sawako during New Years Day.

'Haa…I don't know what to do, maybe I should ask Yamanaka-sensei for help again or something…'

Makoto was busy thinking to herself that she didn't notice Akuro was calling on her to answer a question. Even the person poking her, Yui, didn't help as he walked over to Makoto's desk and asked, "Kikuchi-san, can you hear me?'

When there was no response, Akuro sighed and lightly tapped Makoto on the head with his textbook. That jerked Makoto out of it with a "Wha-?" before realizing that Akuro was right beside her desk.

"Kikuchi-san, is there something wrong with my teaching? I know I've only been here for a few days, but if you find them boring already…"

Akuro sounded like he was reminiscing about something, that it made a few girls raise an eyebrow. Meanwhile, Makoto blushed a bit being the center of attention as she quickly shook her head, "Ah, sorry Sakuragi-sensei, I was just thinking of something!"

"Hmm, fine, I'll let you off if you can answer this question…"

Class went along as usual after that, though Akuro wondered if there was something wrong with Makoto, not knowing about her problem. Makoto still looked troubled for some reason, though she did keep her focus in class until it was over. Looking at the rest, everything seemed fine, but Akuro just thought that he was just over thinking things too much.

Mahora Academy – Campus

Around lunchtime, Makoto was still in thought over how to become more feminine. She wandered around the campus after eating, ignoring the blushing looks some of the other students gave her, 'Hmm, maybe I can ask someone for some tips. Everyone in my class might help, but asking the Futami twins might be too much…'

That's when she heard shouting, and Makoto heard, "Who'd share with a bunch of grannies like you?"

Looking in the direction that the shout came from, Makoto saw that there were some high school seniors fighting with some students she recognized as part of 2-A. She also saw Negi nearby panicking and after a moment of observation, decided to rush over to help him. From what she could tell, it was a case of semi-bullying, and she was one of those against bullying.

However, it wasn't necessary as Takamichi showed up and diffused the situation after pulling Asuna and Ayaka back from the fray. As he told off the High Schoolers, Makoto went up to Negi asking, "Springfield-sensei, are you alright?"

"Ah, yes I'm fine, um, Kikuchi-san." Negi replied before turning his attention to Takamichi, "Takamichi's incredible, he solved the whole thing in seconds!"

"Yeah, Takahata-sensei's like that." Makoto agreed, "I heard that he took down a gang that formed in Mahora last year, but no one's sure about that."

"Wow…" Negi looked awed as Takamichi came over to them. He immediately said to Takamichi, "U-um… Thanks for the help, Takamichi!"

"Well…stuff like this is pretty common around here," Takamichi ruffled Negi's head before turning to Makoto, "And how are you doing today Kikuchi-san?"

"I'm alright Takahata-sensei, I was just about to come over and help Springfield-sensei." Makoto replied.

"I see…well, I'd better get going now. See you later Negi-kun, Kikuchi-san." Takamichi gave a wave before walking off. Negi looked at his watch and said, "Ah, it's almost time for the next class to start!"

"Ah, really? Shoot, I have gym next!" Makoto looked concerned and ran off shouting, "See you later Springfield-sensei!"

All Negi did was wave and as he watched Makoto run towards the school building, he suddenly thought, 'Wait, Kikuchi-san said she had gym next, but 2-A has gym next period…ah that's right, it's a double class booking. Something to do with an odd schedule, I think…"

Mahora Academy – Rooftop

Classes 2-A and 2-D met up with each other up the stairs, and the two classes started socializing with each other about interests and in some cases, what happened during lunch.

"Eh? Some of the seniors attacked you?"

"Yeah, it was pretty rough before Takahata-sensei showed up."

"Negi-sensei tried to stop it, but he had a hard time, especially since the seniors were all over him."

"I won't forgive them for putting their hands on Negi-sensei!"

"You really need to tone it down Yukihiro-san, you make it sound like he was being kidnapped."

"It almost wound up like that Akizuki-san!"

"You know, isn't putting two classes together for a gym period too much? I mean, there's over fifty of us here."

"Yeah, just because this school doesn't have enough courts for all the students, even though the grounds are so big."

"Isn't it due to the school being old?"

The talking stopped when the girls opened the door, only to find the seniors that harassed some of them earlier on the rooftop courts. The 2-A girls that were involved earlier rushed to the front to confront them, while everyone in 2-D shuffled to the side to watch. It was interesting to hear what was going on, but most of them wondered if they should intervene before things got out of hand.

Mahora Academy – Staffroom

A bit earlier, at the start of his free period, Akuro was trying to relax while marking a few assignments. Grading papers was something he never thought he would do, and admits that he finds it a bit awkward despite what he and Negi learned at Oxford. Suddenly, someone poked his shoulder and he whipped around, only to find Takamichi and Shizuna behind him, "Ah, Takamichi, Shizuna-san, what's up?"

"Nothing really, we were just going to go and check on Negi, see how he's doing teaching a double class in one period," Takamichi replied, "Want to come check it out?"

A moment of silence passed before Akuro replied, "Eh, why not, gives me an excuse to get away from marking these papers…"

As the three of them walked, Akuro asked, "Negi's teaching gym this period as a sub if I remember, so which classes are he teaching?"

"Yours and his, if I remember right," Takamichi replied, "That's why Shizuna-sensei and I wanted to check up on him, see if he's handling things alright."

"Uh huh…" Akuro nodded, and Shizuna commented, "He's quite mature for his age, yet sometimes I still see a young boy when I look at him."

"His cousin tends to say that sometimes too." Akuro added, as the three of them started walking up the stairs.

Mahora Academy – Rooftop

As the three got closer to the roof, they heard shouts coming from the roof, and when they reached the top, they peeked through the exit only to find the seniors and 2-A trash talking to each other again. From the looks of things, 2-A had challenged the seniors to a dodge ball game and were setting up, with 2-D sitting on the sidelines.

"Oh dear, looks like the seniors are here too." Shizuna said as she put a hand to her mouth, "Though it looks like Negi-kun's got the situation under control somewhat."

"Should we do something?" Akuro asked, turning to Takamichi.

"No, let's see how things will turn out." Takamichi replied, and all Akuro did was just look at him for a few seconds before turning to watch the match.

2-D, as they had nothing against the high school students at the moment, were sitting on the sidelines as Haruka turned to Ritsuko, "Ne Ritsuko-iincho, shouldn't we stop something like this?"

"It's no problem," Ritsuko calmly replied, "Since Springfield-sensei thought of this up to settle things, all we can do is sit back and wait, though I am a bit worried what would happen if 2-A actually loses this match."

There were a few nods at that as the match started, and with Negi thinking of naïve thoughts, got hit first in the head with enough force to knock off his glasses and stun him. Some of the 2-D girls winced slightly at that as Akari said, "Headshot."

As Asuna returned the ball full force, half of 2-D looked at Akari funny before Kureha said, "Never mind her, she tends to comment on odd things."

The girls just shrugged as they turned their attention back to the match. As Haruna, Chizuru, and Fuuka were taken out of the game, Makoto whispered, "You know, how long do you think they'll notice?"

The next shot from the high school team took out Kazumi, Satomi, Natsumi, and Satsuki, as Takane overheard Makoto and asked, "Notice what, Kikuchi-san?"

"Their handicap." Makoto pointed out. The rest of 2-D wondered about that when they took a good look at the playing field and figured out what Makoto was talking about. That's when the 2-A team figured it out too that having more players on the team was a disadvantage with a small playing field, and Fumika was taken out, prompting Akari to say, "Headshot."

The match went on, until the high school students revealed themselves as Kanto's Regional Dodgeball Tournament Champions, the Black Lillies. At that, practically all of 2-D started giggling, loudly enough that the high schoolers looked at them and the leader shouted, "What's so funny?"

"They can't be serious; a high school dodge ball team?"

"I thought that it was just a rumor from the high school division…"

"Fufufu, I can't believe that they introduced themselves so boldly."

"They were wearing that under their uniforms…?"

Apparently, 2-A wasn't the only class to think that this turn of events was as absurd as they thought. The giggles lasted awhile, and it didn't get any better when the Black Lillies' leader ordered for a 'Triangle Attack'.

"Okay, who gets that reference?" Ritsuko manage to put out while trying to suppress her own giggles.

Back with the teachers, even Akuro nearly tripped on himself as he heard the Black Lillies introduce themselves, "Ugh…are they serious?"

"It's true," Shizuna assured him, "It's not well known, but there are high schools around Japan that still support the playing of Dodgeball, though it's more like an underground tournament. It's pretty much the reason why little is known about it."

All Akuro could do was look at Shizuna oddly until Takamichi said, "Don't think so hard about it Akuro-kun. If it helps, I had a bit of trouble believing it myself when I first heard of it."

A nod came from Akuro as he put himself back together to watch the match. 2-A's numbers kept on dwindling, with the latest being Asuna, who was hit twice. When the leader talked about the Black Lillies' policy, Miki commented, "Afuu, so the Black Lillies cheated their way to become champions? That's what it sounds like to Miki."

Another wave of giggles from both middle school classes erupted and the leader was about to say something when a gust of wind started blowing up. Akuro narrowed his eyes when he saw what was happening, but stopped when Asuna bopped him on the head, stopping Negi's spell in it's tracks. Sighing a breath of relief, he muttered, "That was a close one…"

In the end, 2-A managed to win against the high school team with a number of odd maneuvers and they were currently celebrating when the leader tried to take a shot at Asuna's back. Negi dashed over to intercept, but before he could catch the ball, it collided with something long and black, catching everyone's attention as the two items crashed onto the floor. As everyone eyed the black cloth that was wrapped around Yatsusuna and Ryuhana, Negi and Asuna looked in the direction that it came from, but they found nothing. However, Negi and 2-D recognized the cloth as Akuro's, and picked it up.

Meanwhile, the three high school girls that were left on the field snapped out of their surprised state after what had happened, when Ritsuko suddenly shouted out, "Hey Makoto-san, those senpais look like they're going to bully Springfield-sensei and the girls again!"

"What? That's not cool!" Makoto shouted, jumping to her feet. All of the high school girls turned to her and she suddenly froze, having a really bad feeling about what was going to happen next.

"Hey, isn't that…?"

"I think so, that person said 'Makoto', didn't she?"

Suddenly, there was a shout from one of the high school girls, "Kyaa! It's Makoto-kun!"

"Makoto-kun?"

Everyone looked at Makoto as she started to run towards one of the other exits in a panic shouting, "Damn it Ritsuko-iincho! I'll get you back for this!"

All of the high school girls started chasing after her, leaving surprised looks on some of the students of 2-A. Negi in particular asked, "W-what just happened?"

"Ah, you don't know, do you sensei?" Haruka asked as everyone from 2-D got up and walked towards him. When Negi nodded, Haruka explained, "Well, I won't tell the whole story, since it's kind of embarrassing, but simply put, Makoto-san a bit…popular within the school."

Negi looked confused, while 2-A knew what Haruka was talking about when Ami spoke up, "It's because of that kiss!"

"Yup, from that play!" Mami added.

The Futami twins were about to say something else when Takane covered their mouths and said, "That's enough you two."

"Hai, Ohimechin!" The twins replied, while Elis pointed towards the black cloth and asked, "Isn't that Sakuragi-sensei's?"

"He must've been watching, if he's the one that threw it." Kanako commented. She was looking at the cloth like something was bothering her, but no one noticed.

Meanwhile, Makoto had already run down the stairs and was currently hiding under the staircase as the high school girls ran past her. She ducked out when the coast was clear but nearly jumped when someone called out, "Kikuchi-san? What are you doing?"

Whipping around in fright, Makoto was ready to bolt when she found herself facing Akuro, who had just come down from the other exit. She sighed a breath of relief as she said, "Sakuragi-sensei, it's just you…"

"…You look like you just ran away from a mob though." Akuro observed, having a slightly amused look on his face.

Makoto blushed lightly at that, but managed to say, "You saw everything, didn't you?"

"Not really, just those high school girls calling out for 'Makoto-kun'. They're going to get caught by the other teachers if they keep making a racket though," Akuro replied, "Anyway, aren't you going to head back to class now?"

"Oh, uh, yeah… Uh, see you later Sakuragi-sensei." Makoto managed to speak before she ran back up the stairs towards the rooftop. Akuro just sighed and thought, 'Well, might as well get back to work. Negi's doing a good job, and I'm sure he'll hold onto my blades until school ends…'

Mahora Academy – Staff Room

At the end of the day, both Akuro and Negi were at their desks preparing to go home. As Negi handed Akuro his nodachis the older boy asked, "So, how was your day Negi?"

"Exhausting, but I'm pretty sure that you already know that." Negi replied as he stuffed his papers in a folder.

"I know; wasn't expecting that high school group to be there either," Akuro managed to finish packing everything he needed as he threw his bookbag over his shoulder, "Still, alls well that ends well. It hasn't been a week and things are already like this…"

Meanwhile, Makoto was busy heading towards the staff room, looking for Sawako, "I hope she's still here…"

When Makoto reached the entrance, she was about to open the door when she heard Akuro say, "By the way, how was Kikuchi-san during gym? She looked a bit uneasy after I pulled her away from those high schoolers."

"Um, she seemed fine, from what I can tell," Negi thought back to that certain period, "Though there was a bit of uneasiness between her and Akizuki-san."

"I see…" Akuro checked himself to see if he had everything, just as Negi was picking up his own things, "Still, those fangirl reactions from the high schoolers were a bit weird…"

"I heard that Kikuchi-san is popular with many of the girls here for her, um, what did Akizuki-san say, her tomboy looks?" Negi supplied as he fetched his coat.

Makoto couldn't help but slump at that, while wishing that Ritsuko would trip on her own feet one day. Figuring that Sawako wasn't in, she was about to leave when she heard Akuro say, "Still, I think that Kikuchi-san is a cute girl. She definitely has that feminine charm in my opinion."

"I agree," Makoto her footsteps and she instinctively ran around the corner to hide as Akuro and Negi came out of the staff room, with Negi asking, "By the way, what are you doing for dinner?"

"Eh, I was going to go out to a restaurant for dinner," Makoto watched as the two walked towards the entrance, hearing Akuro say, "Want to come with me?"

"Sure, I don't mind."

As the two teachers left her line of sight, Makoto couldn't help but feel happier after hearing those two talk about her, 'They think I'm cute…'

Smiling to herself, Makoto decided to look for Sawako later and head back to the dorms. She just remembered that Ritsuko was going to cook something for her as her way of apologizing, something she mentioned during the gym period.

Notes: Okay, this chapter didn't come out as well as I hoped because of one thing; the dodgeball chapters. I just couldn't think of an effective way to integrate the two classes into the scene so I just put them on the sidelines as commentators. Another thing is that this is more of a character chapter for Makoto. Why? I don't know, it just came to me and I rolled with it. This isn't something that should be happening early in the story, but stuff happens.

Oh yes, there is something that I need help with from the readers. It's nothing huge, but it's more about the clubs that each of the 2-D girls would be in. I still haven't managed to put some of the girls into at least one club, simply because I don't know where they would best fit in. The girls I'm having trouble with are Hibiki Ganaha, Ai Hidaka, Miki Hoshi, and Iori Minase. Suggestions are appreciated, but if nothing comes up by the time the appropriate chapter come up, I'll just wing it. Also, I'm open to suggestions for the other girls too, just saying.

One more thing, to dad90, I'm not sure if you already read the note that's on top of my profile page, but for some reason, I can't respond to any of your messages. Please check if your Private Messaging feature is enabled, 'cause I don't know any other way to contact you at the moment. I'll be able to answer your questions by then.