Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 13: The Date
Sunday, June 28th, 2009, Morning
A tired, roadworn woman in a ragged robe with a hood staggered along the road. She looked at the road signs as she passed them, wondering what the intricate little symbols meant, but it was only a minor distraction, something to take her mind off of the sheer exhaustion she felt after so long on the road in a world she didn't even understand. That, and the inexplicable need to go there, wherever 'there' was, that had driven her back to the old world for the first time since the death of her parents in her infancy had taken her from it; it had taken time, but she had ultimately admitted to herself that this need to go 'there' was what had driven her from her home in Mundus Magicus and the life of a member of a fallen royal family. It had led her to a life of wandering, never feeling content, always moving on...and then she had met the man who introduced her to Misora, and she had met Ruden, and, for a time, she had forgotten. She had been content, she had allowed herself to think perhaps she had finally found what she had been looking for...and then she had appeared: Dani Ellesane, half-breed cat girl from Zephyria. Or Hasegawa Chisame, as she had later learned was the girl's true name. Chisame had come into her life and ripped everything apart, destroyed the connections between the members of the group, forced them all to separate and go their own way. Ava had been lost without Ruden, but with the splintering of the group the need to go had come back to her with a vengeance; she had had no choice, and Chisame had provided her with a direction: Mundus Vetus, the old world, Earth. A certain country, a certain city, a certain person. And so she had returned to the world of her birth an outlaw, with no friends, no home, not a dime in her pocket, just an irresistible need to go and a feeling in her head that told her direction. She had come to Mundus Vetus by a portal in a small island nation; she had crossed sea and forest, mountains and deserts, battlefields and desolate wastes, and finally arrived here, on this other small island nation almost on the other side of the world; she had come to this city, and the sensation that she was almost there was overwhelming. She was almost there; her long, long journey was coming to an end.
'Almost there,' she thought as she paused beside the road to rest for a moment, ignoring the other people and the cars driving by as she looked at the top of an enormous tree just visible in the distance over the next hill. She limped along, tired, exhausted, and yet driven on by the sense that wherever 'there' was, it was close.
It wouldn't be long now.
Negi surreptitiously wiped the sweat from his forehead with his handkerchief and took a series of deep breaths in a useless attempt to calm himself. Thus far, the third day of the festival had been full of action; from a young gang of youkai making trouble everywhere they went in the morning to finally recovering his long-missing student Possum Cade barely half an hour ago, it seemed he had been running to take care of one situation or another since he had climbed out of his bed...but all of that was now in the past, and he had something much bigger to worry about now.
Negi was about to go on his first real date.
He walked up to the designated meeting place, a certain bench in front of a small cafe, and checked his watch. Satisfied that he was properly early, he smiled to himself and settled in for a long wait. He held out for as long as he could, but three minutes later he had already begun to fidget. Perhaps forty five minutes had been too early...? He checked his watch again.
"Um, I think this is fine..." Nodoka said, but Yue was having none of it.
"No, this would be better," Yue said as she pulled a frilly top from Nodoka's closet and held it up to Nodoka's chest to get an idea of what it would look like.
Nodoka smiled helplessly. Personally, she preferred the one she had chosen earlier; it was simple, comfortable in this hot weather, and quite pretty, in her opinion. But then Yue had shown up to, as the shorter woman had put it, 'Help you make a good impression on your date'. Nodoka had thought she was ready to go, but Yue had quickly pointed out various flaws in her clothing choices, and, perhaps foolishly, Nodoka now realized, she had asked Yue for help, having forgotten that Yue's tastes tended toward men's clothing on one hand and excessively frilly girls' clothing on the other; Nodoka herself preferred clothing that was simple, pretty, and comfortable: simple print shirts or solid color tops, pants or skirts that went to the knee, the occasional pretty sundress or shorter skirt when she knew she was going to be around Negi-kun...
Nodoka checked the time on her cell phone and turned back to Yue. "I think this is fine," she said hopefully as she picked up a skirt and blouse Yue had discarded half an hour before.
"That one's not nearly cute enough," Yue said, trying to pull the blouse from Nodoka's hands while reaching for the frilliest top in Nodoka's closet, a lace covered thing that had been hanging there unmolested since Nodoka moved into her apartment. Nodoka, seeing her chance to make a break for it, abruptly released the blouse and shut the closet door behind Yue, trapping her inside. She grabbed a nearby chair and propped it up under the doorknob, effectively locking Yue in.
"Hey! Nodoka, let me out...!" Yue called out as she pounded on the door. "Nodoka! Nodoka!"
"I'm sorry Yue! I'll call Paru to let you out later!" she called out as she snatched up her purse on the way to the door. She paused in the entryway to check her reflection in the mirror, and slipped on a pair of shoes that would be comfortable enough to walk around all day in, and looked back one last time at the closet door, sending a silent apology to Yue, and left her apartment, pulling the door shut behind her. 'I'm going to be late...!'
"Let me out! Nodoka! Nodoka? ...are you there?" Yue asked to the now empty room.
"...Nodoka?"
'Is my tie straight? The collar of my shirt? I knew I should have worn something more casual...! My hair isn't sticking up in the back again, is it? Oh God it is...! Oh no now it's even worse...!' Negi had spent a lot of time alone with Nodoka over the years, especially this past year at the dig site in Tibet, but that was different...! That was just two friends working together; this was a date, an actual date...! 'Come on, Negi, you have to calm down! You are a Springfield! You mustn't play the fool!'
He shut his eyes and tried to ignore the ridiculousness of what he had just thought as he took a deep breath, held it, let it out slowly. 'That's better, isn't it? Yes, of course. I must remain calm; I must be a proper gentleman. I must-' He opened his eyes mid-thought and saw her standing there a short distance away, looking around worriedly until she happened to look in his direction and smiled brilliantly, waving. He blinked once, twice, realized his mouth was hanging open, and promptly shut it and stood up a little straighter as he waved back at her. "Nodoka-san...!"
Nodoka trotted up, smiling prettily at him in a way that drove everything else out of his mind, and he couldn't help but smile back, his earlier worries temporarily forgotten.
"Ah, I'm sorry I'm a little late," Nodoka said.
"Ah, no, you're right on time," Negi said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "You... you look really nice," he said, unable to think of anything more fitting. It was true, too: she really did look nice. He must have seen her in that same shirt and skirt a hundred times, but today...today they were on a date, and that added a mysterious 'something' to the situation that, as he was most uncomfortably discovering, made him aware of her far more strongly than he had any other time they were alone. He realized she was talking, a light blush on her cheeks, and mentally berated himself for letting his mind wander as he tried to follow her response.
Their feeble attempts at small talk quickly dwindled down to nothing, and Negi found himself at a loss as to what to do next. Nodoka was smiling at him expectantly, and that, combined with the fact that he and Nodoka were on a date—a date...!—pushed aside any other thought.
Nodoka was giddy with excitement—'He likes my outfit, he likes it!'—and more nervous than she had been around him in years, maybe even since she had first realized her interest in him. She realized she was grinning nervously and tried to tear her gaze away, but he was just so pretty when he was smiling at her that way...
She knew they must look like a couple of weirdos, standing here in front of a cafe and smiling at each other, but all of the carefully planned comments and conversation starters she had agonized over for days had fled and all she could think about was his face, his smile, and he was right there, and they were on a date...!
Negi smiled. He smiled until his face started to hurt; he couldn't help it. The hard work and research he had done in the process of planning out his date with Nodoka was all for naught; his mind had gone blank when she started smiling at him.
They smiled blankly at each other until Negi's cell phone began to ring.
"Ah!" Negi said, startled. "Oh, I'm sorry Nodoka-san, I'll just-" he said, fumbling with his cell phone.
"Oh, don't worry about me! It's okay..." Nodoka said shyly, finally averting her gaze.
Negi, somewhat relieved that something had happened to snap the both of them out of it and yet somehow feeling quite disappointed, turned away from his date and answered his phone. "Yes?"
'Come on aniki, you've gotta do better than that!' a familiar voice said. 'What happened to all your planning?'
"Kamo-kun? Is that you?" Negi whispered into the phone.
'Who else would it be, Chachazero? Oh, she's over here too, by the way; she says "Take her down now while her back is turned!",' Kamo said in a fairly credible imitation of Chachazero's voice, snorting laughter.
Negi quickly scanned his surroundings, blushing furiously at Chachazero's order, but couldn't see the two interlopers anywhere. Damn.
'Of course I told her you've gotta wait for that till the end. Hey, tell me aniki, are you bringing her to your place, or are you going to hers? Should I find somewhere else to stay tonight?' Kamo asked, his voice more full of sheer lechery than Negi had ever heard it. Knowing that it was Kamo-kun he was talking to, that was really saying a lot.
Luckily, it got his mind working again.
"I'm hanging up now, Kamo-kun," Negi said firmly, then ended the call and turned back to Nodoka, who was smiling more normally now, and laughed nervously. "Ah, that was just Kamo-kun..." he said, trailing off with a sigh.
A look of understanding flashed across Nodoka's face, and she nodded. "So what should we do now?"
Negi made a confident smile. "Let's have some lunch, shall we? I know the perfect place."
Natsumi's cafe, while in a somewhat out of the way location, nevertheless was rarely empty; this was due to a combination of good food—though not nearly as good as 'Satsuki's', a restaurant with three locations in Mahora—a friendly atmosphere, and the presence of the manager, a friendly young woman who, when she was on the clock, seemed to brighten up the whole place and turned a run-of-the-mill diner into a nice place to eat.
Negi pushed open the door and held it for Nodoka, then entered the diner.
"Welcome to Natsumi's Diner! How can we help...you...?"
Negi found himself staring. He couldn't help it.
Kotarou, having botched his welcome, sent his best death glare at Negi, though it was weakened somewhat by the heavy blush of embarrassment on his cheeks, the goofy paper hat perched on his head, the long apron, and the white shirt and bow tie that completed the ensemble.
"If you say a word, I will kill you," Kotarou growled.
Negi quickly averted his gaze, trying his best not to make a comment, but his eyes landed on Nodoka's face, and her eyes were shining as she struggled to hold back a fit of giggles.
He turned back to Kotarou, struggling to contain the laughter that was just aching to get out, and spoke in a somewhat credible 1920s American accent.
"Hey, soda jerk! Egg cream for me and the miss, and get a wiggle on! What're you looking at? You're giving me the heebie-jeebies! Say, you're not on the lam, are you? I hear this place is the bee's knees, the cat's pajamas, the-"
"You do know I'm gonna kill ya, right?" Kotarou said.
"Kotarou-kun, you know better than to behave like that! Show them to a nice table!" Natsumi scolded from behind the counter. "I'll be right with you!"
Kotarou deflated, sent one last baleful glare at Negi, just daring him to speak up about Natsumi ordering him around, and led them to a table.
When Kotarou had left with their orders, Nodoka fiddled with her purse for a moment to give her hands something to do.
"When I first met him, I never thought he'd ever be able to do anything like this," Negi said, watching Kotarou get yelled at by Natsumi. Kotarou was a good six feet tall at this point, fairly thin though wide shouldered, and to watch him berated by Natsumi, 5'1" and less than a hundred pounds was, to put it honestly, bloody freakin' hilarious, especially with the way he shyly rubbed the back of his head now and then throughout the scolding.
Nodoka smiled. "Yes. Paru was talking about them a week ago; she said...well..."
"As if she has a leash on him?" Negi suggested. Nodoka quickly looked away, stifling a giggle, but nodded.
Kotarou returned a moment later with their food, which they ate in a companionable silence, with occasional pauses to comment on the cheery atmosphere of the place and what looked suspiciously like bullet holes in one of the windows.
"So, are they...together?" Negi asked awkwardly. Nodoka gave him such a shocked look that he started babbling, his first instinct when a girl looked at him in such a way being to apologize.
It took a moment, but Nodoka managed to calm him down enough to answer his question. "I thought everyone knew; they're madly in love," she said, blushing, her eyes shining as she looked at Kotarou and Natsumi as they worked together behind the counter. Even though Kotarou was clearly an amateur at the sort of work he was doing, he never got in Natsumi's way, and Natsumi helped him out almost constantly without even appearing to notice. The two of them worked so well together that she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. She and Negi had never managed that sort of unconscious cooperation; there had been times when they came close, such as the many times someone decided to attack Mahora and even a few times on the dig site in Tibet, but it was nowhere near the level of the two currently working behind the counter.
Nowhere near the level of of Negi and Asuna.
Nodoka took a deep breath to clear her head of the sudden sharp jealousy she felt at that thought and took another sip of her drink.
"Is something wrong?" Negi asked gently, as if afraid she would break if he spoke too loudly.
Nodoka shook her head, trying to get rid of the unwarranted spike of spite she suddenly felt for the red head who shared Negi's apartment. It wasn't right of her to be angry at Asuna like this; it wasn't fair to her. They were old friends; they had fought alongside each other a hundred times, and she should be ashamed to be thinking in such a way about Asuna...! "I'm fine," Nodoka said absently. "This is really quite good," she said, finishing up the last of her order.
"Yes, it is quite good," Negi said as he pushed his empty plate back from the edge of the table. They fell into an awkward silence.
Asuna walked along on her patrol, her mind a million miles away.
'I wonder what they're doing now...?'
While she had supported Negi and Nodoka's date one hundred percent, right from the beginning, she couldn't help but be curious. What was Negi's idea of a date? Would he take her to a museum, or would he go along with what the dating-advice books said and take her to dinner and a movie? Or...and she shivered at the thought...would Negi follow Eva's advice and skip all the preamble to take her straight to a love hotel?
She shook her head to clear it. 'Come on Asuna, don't be thinking about things like that! No matter how interesting of a thought it is, it's...pretty interesting actually...um, where was I...?' She paused in her walk and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself enough to slow her heart rate a little. 'Why am I so nervous? It's not like I'm the one on a date with him...!' she thought. Her traitorous mind brought up the idea of a love hotel again, only with her in place of Nodoka.
"No. Stop," she said aloud, coming to a complete stop. "Bad thoughts; don't do that."
Negi wouldn't take her to a love hotel on their first date. Perhaps more to the point, it wasn't her on a date with Negi, it was Honya. "Honya deserves this; she's loved him pretty much forever," Asuna said aloud, unaware of the curious looks she was receiving from passersby. "I probably just ate something weird this morning, that's why I'm thinking weird things like this."
'Come on Asuna, snap out of it! You're on patrol!' she told herself.
"Thief! Hey, that guy stole my wallet!" someone yelled, pointing at a suspicious man running from the scene.
Asuna grinned. 'Just what I needed!' "I'll get him!" she called out as she took off after the wallet thief.
"Oh, isn't that cute?" Nodoka said absently, looking at a giant stuffed leek hanging on the wall in a carnival booth as the two of them walked by.
"...really?" Negi asked as he paused to look at it, cocking his head to the side. 'A giant leek? ...why would she think something like that was cute? Wait, she thinks it's cute, according to the "Hey, Get A Grip!: Complete Loser's Guide to Dating", that means I should show my mastery of this carnival game to win it for her...!' he thought; he promptly turned to Nodoka, pasting on a confident smirk as he looked at her, just like the example presented in the book. "Don't worry, I'll win it for you," he said, then slapped down a hundred-yen coin on the counter. "Three shots, mister!"
Nodoka cocked her head to the side. '...huh?'
"Three more shots!"
"Three more!"
"Three!"
"...three more!"
Ten minutes later, Negi lay collapsed against the counter, keenly feeling his failure. 'It's...it's impossible...! The ping pong balls just keep bouncing out of the bowls! Why? Why...?' He peered closely at the shallow bowls he was supposed to get the ping pong balls into. 'Wait, if I use a minor wind spell to adjust the trajectory just right while giving the ball just the slightest counterspin to correct for the shape of the inside of the bowl while throwing it in such a manner that the angle and force of impact is reduced enough to induce a roll rather than a bounce—'
"I...it's okay, Negi-kun, I didn't really..." Nodoka said; she was well aware of how he was feeling at the moment, but she had no idea of what she could do to snap him out of it.
Negi heaved a sigh and dragged himself back upright, vastly aware of the lightness of his wallet. 'There goes that new movie I overheard her mentioning casually to Yue three days ago...' he thought as he tried patting down his pockets. 'I can't believe I spent almost twenty thousand yen trying to win a giant stuffed leek,' he thought, recoiling in horror as he realized the full extent of his folly. 'And I stalled our date, too! I am a horrible failure...I'll apologize to Nodoka-san and take her back home. Perhaps I will be able to make up for it some day...' He felt a sudden coolness on his hand and looked down to see Nodoka had taken his hand in hers. He looked up at her face and was struck by her smile.
"How about you show me your class's project for the festival?" Nodoka suggested helpfully.
"Yes; you are right as always, Nodoka-san," Negi said, nodding to himself as he stepped back from the counter and squeezed her hand gently before letting go. 'It appears I have underestimated her yet again,' he thought, unable to hide the smile growing on his face as he looked at her. Their eyes met and he quickly looked away before he could fall into the same trap again. "Let's go."
"Thanks again, young man! Come back anytime!" the guy running the stand said, a huge smile on his face for some reason Negi didn't care to think about as he dropped the last of Negi's money into the cash box.
The visit to Negi's classroom-turned-art-gallery went smoothly, as expected, but due to the small size of the art display, they were soon at a loss again and, after wandering through a few more classrooms equipped with the usual haunted houses and terrible student films, the two of them found themselves back outside.
As they paused in the shade of a tree, Nodoka happened to glance over at Negi just in time to catch him checking his watch. She stiffened a little. 'Am I...really that boring?' was the first thought that went through her head, but she quickly shook it off. 'Come on, Nodoka! It's probably a misunderstanding! Like that time with Chizuru or that other time with Misora. Or all those times with Misa. And that time with Asuna's underwear. And that time with-wait, no! Stop thinking like that Nodoka! Focus!' She turned to him, smiling sweetly. "Am I really that boring?" she asked.
'Why did I say that? Why?' she mentally berated herself, carefully maintaining her sweet smile. 'I didn't mean to say that! I wanted to ask if he had to be somewhere...! Why am I making so many mistakes today? I haven't been like this since...since...' She realized Negi was looking at her, wide eyed and panicking, and felt like screaming in frustration. 'WHY?'
Negi's mind went into overdrive. 'Oh my God I've insulted her! What should I do? What can I do? Oh why can't I remember any advice from that dating book I found in the bargain bin at the station?' He started trying to apologize, but with the way his mind was racing and the fact that he was starting to panic, it started out as something akin to babbling and only went downhill from there, a tragic downward spiral that only ended when his cell phone again rang. Negi pulled it out and whipped around to face the opposite direction to save Nodoka from the embarrassment of listening in.
"Oh thank God, Kamo-kun!" Negi hissed into the phone. "I need help! I insulted Nodoka-san in a terrible way! Please tell me, what should I do?"
'Tsk tsk tsk. Now see aniki, that's the sort of thing I was warning you about,' Kamo said in an I-told-you-so sort of way.
"I know I'm such a fool for saying something so thoughtless...I don't deserve a nice girl like Nodoka-san! Please, Kamo-kun, help me make it up to her...!"
'If you stop babbling and LISTEN to what I'm trying to say,' Kamo said testily. 'Ahem. Have you thought that maybe you are mistaken?'
"...eh?"
'Aniki...' Kamo said, exasperation clear in his voice. 'What did you do?'
Negi paused and thought about the situation. What had he done? They had exited the school building and he had paused to check his watch, and then Nodoka-san had asked... Oh...oh. Oh! Had that been Nodoka-san's attempt at a joke? He shook his head in amusement and no small measure of relief. 'Ah, I truly am playing the fool today,' he thought regretfully. "Thank you Kamo-kun! Goodbye!" he said, hanging up the phone. He took a deep breath to calm himself, thinking idly that he seemed to have done that quite often today, and turned back to Nodoka, who seemed to be frozen in place, staring off into space.
"Nodoka-san!"
Nodoka was trapped in the throes of irritation at herself for her own stupid mistake. 'What is wrong with me today? This was supposed to be my first date with Negi-kun...! It was supposed to be romantic! But instead I'm making mistake after mistake, and now I have even made Negi-kun think he has insulted me...this isn't romantic at all...!'
"Nodoka-san!"
'Is it perhaps because I have never been on a date before...? I probably should have taken Paru up on her offer of a group date with Misa-san and the others when we entered high school...'
"Nodoka-san?"
Nodoka blinked as she shot back to reality. "E-eh? Ah! Wait, no, um... Yes, Negi-kun?" she asked, smiling sweetly again, just the way she had practiced in her mirror in preparation for the date.
Negi smiled confidently at her, making her heart flutter in her chest, and then took her hands in his as he stepped closer, looking her in the eyes with his best 'Nagi' gaze. "I am sorry for my disgraceful behavior earlier. I was mistaken; it was a very amusing joke."
Nodoka blinked as her mind reeled. '...what?'
"In any case," Negi said, abruptly letting go of her hands as he rubbed the back of his head, "the final day's event will start in thirty minutes; would you like to participate with me?"
Nodoka blinked again. '...joke? Wait, no, the final day's event! What was it this year? I never found out...! Was it a scavenger hunt again? I think I heard someone say it was...' "Ah, yes! I would love to!" she said.
'WHY?' Nodoka's mind screamed as she stood next to Negi with a cheap plastic rain poncho draped over her. 'I thought they weren't going to do this kind of thing anymore! WHY? I wish I could just fly away...' The heavy weight of the bag in her left hand kept her well grounded in reality, however, as did the smaller weight of the water balloon in her right.
"Are you ready, Nodoka-san? It won't be long now," Negi said excitedly, next to her.
'WHY?'
"All participants must remain in the plaza at all times! Getting hit by a water balloon fired by a member of the opposing team will result in disqualification! You can use anything for cover, but if you go into a building or car you will be disqualified! Also, no fighting! Additional water balloons may be obtained from the water balloon dispensers in the safe zones at the north and south ends of the plaza. In addition to this, please remember that this most wonderful of events is made possible by the rich, beautiful, and amazing dual princesses of Molmol, Amalla and Kaolla Su! Everyone, give them a hand!" the announcer said over the loudspeakers in the large plaza, where several giant screens had been installed to show an image of the princesses in question, two beautiful dark skinned blondes, enchantingly exotic, while the younger of the two who, for some unexplained reason, had a turtle riding on her head, waved and smiled at the camera.
"Is everybody ready?" the announcer said. "Go!"
Nodoka ducked the first water balloon to fly at her and quickly twisted aside, narrowly dodging the second. 'I can't get these clothes wet...!' she thought frantically as she tossed a water balloon at the nearest member of the opposing team, a boy from the high school. It hit him and exploded, and Nodoka's eyes went wide, one thought coursing through her mind: 'PAINT...?'
There was no time to waste in questioning the apparently insane reasoning of the officials behind the event, however, so Nodoka kept moving, throwing water balloons at any target that offered. However, being such a good shot, she quickly became a target and was forced to duck behind a car to avoid getting hit; just in time, too: she heard half a dozen water balloons impact against the other side of the car. Negi joined her a moment later, smiling excitedly, the same way he did when facing a strong opponent...it was a side of him that always stirred up excitement in Nodoka and, as usual, it sent her heart racing.
"Hello, Nodoka-san," Negi said. "I'm sorry we got separated...How many do you have left?" he asked, tossing a water balloon high in the air over the car to land on the head of an opposing player who had been trying to sneak around and get them from behind.
Nodoka quickly checked her bag. "Three. You?"
"Two. We'll need to restock," he said. He drew another out of his bag, and Nodoka did the same. "Are you ready?" he asked, looking at her again. Nodoka nodded, her eyes bright at the prospect of the two of them working together as a team again.
The two of them leaped from cover in sync, each throwing their water balloon and hitting their selected targets before taking off for the safe zone and water balloon dispenser at the north end of the plaza, ignoring the cries of the wounded and fallen.
Ayaka smiled cheerily as Negi and Nodoka trotted up, completely out of water balloons. "Negi-kun, Nodoka-san! Did you need refreshments?" she asked, holding out a water bottle and a towel.
"Not yet, Iincho-san," Negi said, using the same form of address he had used for her since they first met. "We need more water balloons..." he said, holding up his empty bag. Nodoka held up hers as well.
Ayaka smiled at the two of them. "Then you want Asuna; she's right over there," she said, pointing the way.
"Thank you, Iincho-san!" Negi said over his shoulder, already trotting off toward the other woman, who was already surrounded by a small crowd waiting for more water balloons.
"Thank you, Ayaka-san," Nodoka said. She turned and was about to set off after Negi when Ayaka spoke.
"Nodoka-san?"
Nodoka paused and turned back to her old friend. "Yes?"
Ayaka looked at her for a moment and gave her a lopsided smile. "Good luck."
Nodoka smiled in return, wondering if Ayaka had been wishing her luck in the event, or in her date. After a moment's thought, she decided it was both. "Thank you, Ayaka-san."
"Oh no!" the announcer said. "The evil forces of King Zed have arrived! The golems are breaking through the barricades, and the only thing that can stop them are water balloons! Quick, everyone! You must stop fighting each other, and focus on these new enemies!"
Negi sighed from behind his temporary cover, a hedge behind a park bench.
Nodoka couldn't help but roll her eyes. "He's calling himself a 'king' now?" she asked absently. 'King' Zed was a crazy local who had worked out how to create golems in large batches, and popped up from time to time to cause trouble. Normally, a golem invasion would be a terrible thing, but in 'King' Zed's case, since the powdery material he insisted on using for his golems, which was quite cheap and easy to acquire, was also easily soluble in just about anything as long as it was a liquid... A normal person with a garden hose equipped with a sprayer could put up a good fight, and Zed was always defeated quickly; nevertheless, he always seemed to take it in stride.
"AH ha ha ha ha ha!"
Nodoka had to bite back a groan as a familiar man with a bath towel cape, rubber gloves, and a bucket on his head stepped up on the hood of a small car and put one leg up on the roof to give himself a more appropriate image.
"Behold! IT IS I!" he said, gesturing out at the crowd, which had generally stopped fighting in order to gather around and see what was going on. "I am...KING ZED! For too long I have waited, lurking in the shadows, while others laugh and play in the light of day! For too long, I have focused on building my armies. For too long, I have waited..." he said, lowering his head in an exaggerated manner, as if recalling some terrible past. "I have been laughed at, ridiculed, taken lightly... Well," he said, raising his head and looking out at the crowd through the eye holes in his bucket, "you have taken me lightly...LONG ENOUGH!"
As if on cue, rows and rows of four-foot sugar golems marched forward and came to a stop just behind him as he put his hands on his hips and his chest swelled with pride. "My time is now, and I WILL SEIZE IT WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS! Go, my fearsome and terrible golems, ATTACK!"
Negi and Nodoka looked at each other, eyes wide, and burst into laughter, an act mirrored by most of the crowd...at least, until the sugar golems got moving, at which point a massive amount of water balloons went flying through the air and struck down the majority of the first wave, leaving behind a sticky, multicolored mess in the street.
"My comrades...! Do not worry, you won't be forgotten!" King Zed declared. He stood up a little straighter and puffed out his chest. "Second wave! Attack!" he said, moving his arm in a swift, sweeping gesture.
The second wave of sugar golems, larger than the first, came on and the water balloons began to fly more sporadically as the remaining players began to run out of ammunition.
"My golems! It is time! NOW!" King Zed declared. The remaining sugar golems of the second wave knelt down, pointed the ends of their stubby arms at the players, and let fly with big blobs of sticky sugar.
"No...! Kotarou-kun!"
Negi and Nodoka turned to see Natsumi, kneeling over a fallen Kotarou, who seemed to be glued to the pavement by a huge blob of sugar.
"Natsumi! Run!" Kotarou said an instant too late as another blob hit Natsumi in the side. She fell over Kotarou as the blob grew and cemented the two of them together.
"I'm...sorry Kotarou-kun; I wasn't fast enough..." she said, trying to tug her hand away from where it had just been glued to Kotarou's chest. It wouldn't budge and she quickly stopped trying; besides, Kotarou had instinctively wrapped his free arm around her when she fell, and his hand was now glued to the blob on her side, effectively trapping her in a hug.
Kotarou heaved a sigh, looking around the battlefield at the others who had been unlucky enough to receive direct hits. It was then that he spotted Negi and Nodoka, both quite red and looking as if they were struggling to hold back laughter.
"Say a word about this and I'll kill you both!"
Ava took a good long look around the street she had found herself in. That tiny feeling in her head, the one that told her what she was looking for was nearby, was quickly becoming overpowering; she was short of breath, her heart was pounding, and she knew that the one she was looking for was a mere hundred yards away. The sensation was overwhelming, and it was all she could do to keep from throwing off her ragged, road-worn wizard robe and breaking into a sprint. She peered through the crowd, trying to get a glimpse of the one she was looking for, and just managed to catch a flash of long black hair that set her heart racing even faster. Unable to contain herself any longer, she pushed through the crowd toward where she had seen the one, ignoring everyone's protests at being shoved aside, and finally broke through the crowd and caught her first good look at the one she had been searching for.
Long, long legs in a pair of jeans that fit snugly at the hips and rear, a light t-shirt with some character printed on the front, just barely visible as she stood there with her side toward Ava, smiling at a tall man who stood beside her. A big chest, long, beautiful black hair that went all the way down her back, pale, pretty skin...those eyes, so, so deep and blue.
Ava swallowed, her throat suddenly dry, and broken into a stumbling run. She had crossed a fraction of the distance between them, a mere twenty yards, before the woman noticed her movement and glanced over at her. Their eyes met, she started to run faster, her hood fell back, and she saw the beautiful woman's eyes widen in alarm. Ava distantly realized she was crying as she came to within ten yards, eight, five -the woman she had been searching for was right there...!- and then the big man stepped between them. Ava gathered her power and swatted him aside, and then she was there, her arms wrapped around the woman, her face buried in the crook of the woman's neck, sobbing, and she could feel it, this was right, this was good, she was finally in a place she belonged...! After so long on the road, after all she had been through, she was finally there, and she would never leave again...! She was dimly aware of the woman hesitantly trying to pry her hands loose from where they grasped handfuls of her shirt, but she didn't care. She was just so tired, exhausted, worn out and soul-weary after so long on the road without Ruden... She felt as if she was going to faint, but she didn't care; she was there, she was finally there...! Her vision began to fill with little black spots and the world began to disappear until all she could feel was the warmth, the rightness, of the woman she was clinging to, and then, slowly, that too faded, and she knew nothing more.
Negi unlocked the door of his apartment and held it open for Nodoka. "Sorry about the water balloon..." he said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head as she took off her shoes in the entryway and set them neatly aside.
"It's okay," Nodoka said as she took the rare opportunity presented to peer at anything and everything in sight. To be honest, she didn't really care that Negi had accidentally hit her with a water balloon during the chaotic final moments of the event; she was more interesting in being invited into Negi's apartment. She had rarely had the opportunity to come inside, and she couldn't help but wonder what he might have, hidden away... She paused in her initial sweep of the room as she spotted a rather feminine t-shirt draped over the back of one of the two chairs under the small table by the window, and her spirits dipped as she realized just how close Negi and Asuna must be for Asuna to be comfortable with leaving her clothes lying around. She continued her sweep of the room, noting the position of the various doors that opened off of either side. She knew the small kitchen was past that open doorway on the right, while Negi's room was on the other side of the one on the left. The bathroom was beside the kitchen, which meant...there was only one bedroom? Did they sleep in the same room...? Nodoka kept careful control of her expression to keep her curiosity from showing while Negi took off his own shoes and placed them beside Nodoka's in the entryway, apologizing the whole time.
"Where does Asuna-san keep her clothes?" Nodoka asked, looking back at Negi and giving him the best smile she could conjure up under the circumstances.
"Oh...I insisted she put her things in the bedroom closet," Negi said. "I insisted she take the bedroom, after all; it was the only polite thing to do. The couch can be quite comfortable..." he added awkwardly, looking down at the couch, which was rather short and most assuredly not of the fold-out type.
"I...I see," Nodoka said as she eyed the bedroom door. "Are you sure Asuna-san won't mind if I borrow some of her clothes?"
"I am sure she won't mind," Negi said as he trotted over to the kitchen and began rooting around in one of the cabinets. "I'll get a plastic bag for your wet clothes."
"Okay..." Nodoka said as she approached the bedroom door. She reached for the doorknob, but hesitated. Inside the room was the bed Negi had slept in for close to six years; she wondered briefly if the room would smell like him, and found herself blushing over the weird thought. 'Come on Nodoka! Be strong! You're not a child anymore; it is just a friend's bedroom.' And, with that thought, she turned the doorknob and opened the door.
Inside...the room was a mess. Dirty clothes lay in several heaps on the floor, and pieces of women's underwear lay out in the open. Nodoka heaved a sigh as she made her way over to the closet. Whoever had slept in the room in the past, now it was without a doubt Asuna's room. She stepped over a tall boot that had been tossed aside and forgotten and opened the closet door, fully expecting to find little left inside. Fortunately, it seemed that Asuna had a lot of clothes; in spite of the dirty clothes lying around the room, there was quite a bit still left behind in the closet. She thumbed through the few dresses, but they were all too large for her; Asuna was several inches taller, as well as far more athletic and, in spite of both of them being twenty one, Nodoka had to reluctantly admit that Asuna was more blessed in certain anatomical areas than she was herself. She skipped the cluster of winter clothes and moved on to the dozen or so t-shirts, where she found one that wasn't too big for her. That done, she moved over to the dresser, where she hesitated. 'What should I do about underwear...?' she wondered. Her own was still wet after the soaking she had received at Negi's hands during the Third Day Event's finale against 'King' Zed's sugar golem army. She pulled open the top drawer, which was, as she had expected, filled with Asuna's underthings, and quickly pushed it shut. No, old friends or not, that was going too far. "I will just have to deal with it," she said aloud as she pulled open the second drawer, which was full of folded pairs of pants. She poked around for a moment before finding a pair that didn't look too long and didn't clash too badly with the t-shirt she had chosen from the closet. It wasn't quite the right size, but... 'This will do.'
Negi, idly holding the forgotten trash bag he had found for Nodoka's clothes, watched the door Nodoka had disappeared through mere moments before. His heart was pounding, his eyes were darting around, and his mouth had gone dry, all because of a single, simple thought: behind that door, Nodoka was changing her clothes. A mere ten feet away was the girl—no, the woman—with whom he was currently on a date, taking her clothes off. He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and tore his eyes away from the door, then turned his back to it.
"Come on Negi, get a hold of yourself," he mumbled. 'Sure, she's in there, changing her clothes, but...but...uh...where was I...?' he paused again as his teenage hormones raged and his thoughts ran wild.
"No! No no no no no! This is not right!" he said aloud, clenching his eyes shut. "Come on Negi, take a deep breath and clear your mind, just like Ku-sensei taught you!" He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, held it, let it out, then did it again and finally a third time. When he opened his eyes, his heart rate had slowed considerably, and he felt as if he might just get through the date without his heart jumping out of his chest or up through his throat. "Okay. Am I calm? I am calm," he said to the room at large. "Cool and calm. Calm and cool. Cool as a cucumber, that's me; the coolest cucumber in the garden. Yes, totally and completely-"
"...Negi-kun? Who are you talking to?"
"GYAAH!" Negi screeched as he whirled around to face Nodoka, who had emerged from the bedroom in a surprisingly cute t-shirt and jeans combo that sent his heart racing again.
"Is that for my clothes?" Nodoka asked.
Negi blinked stupidly for a moment and looked down at the plastic trash bag he was holding, entirely forgotten, in his left hand. "Oh, ah...yes, yes it is. Here you go," he said, handing it over.
Nodoka took it, smiled, and put her wet clothes inside.
"Well then," Negi said when everything was squared away a moment later. "Let us go to the concert, shall we?"
Ava clung to the warmth of the body next to her. It moved, but she only cuddled in closer, trying to lose herself in that soft warmth. She was just so tired, weary down to her soul, and the warmth she felt right here, right now, was just like how she imagined home would be to an exhausted child. She had never had that luxury; even after the remains of her once-proud, once-noble family took her in, there were no warm hugs from a mother, no one to comfort her when a favorite toy was lost or broken. Instead, there were strict rules, strict teachers, and strict coldness from everyone around her. Here, she felt right, here, clinging to the warm figure next to her, she felt as if she had come home. The figure moved again and she clung even more tightly, her eyes squeezed shut.
"Hey, I think she's waking up," someone said nearby. Ava moaned and buried her face in the figure's shoulder, not thin or frail but strong, athletic, and definitely feminine. She felt someone gently lay a hand on the back of her head, and tears came unbidden.
"Why are you crying?" a gentle voice asked. Ava didn't know why, but something about that voice rocked her down to her core; it just felt so...right.
"I don't know," Ava mumbled into the figure's shoulder.
"Can you look at me?"
Ava reluctantly opened her eyes to let the harsh light of the afternoon sun bring color back to her vision, and there, right next to her, sat a girl several years younger than she was herself, her hair long and black, her eyes blue like the depths of the sea, and it was all Ava could do to loosen her grip and finally draw away, feeling as she had when she had torn herself away from Ruden back in Mundus Magicus. "I finally found you," she said, smiling helplessly as tears again began to fall.
Akira didn't quite know how to react when the strange woman came running out of the crowd, swatted Max aside without even looking at him, and all but tackled her to the ground, but something about the woman clinging to her had kept her from pushing her away; she didn't quite understand it, but...the woman just seemed so content that she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she had been left virtually helpless, looking to the others for some idea of what to do.
"Why aren't you listening to me?" a young man demanded nearby, fury in his tone.
"Because here in Japan, we don't murder people for existing!" Max bellowed back.
"I'm telling you she's dangerous!" the young man, Akira thought his name was Sear or something like it, continued. He had been hanging around with Max for days and shooting glares at her, and Negi's old friend Anya seemed to be always hanging around him. For some reason, Anya and Sear or Cyrr or whatever his name was had been quite embarrassed when they met Jennifer...Akira didn't quite understand it, but it seemed that the three had met up earlier and had some sort of embarrassing experience; though with the way Jennifer was always grinning at them when she wasn't at her new job in that jewelry store, it seemed she had merely witnessed the incident.
"You think she's dangerous? You try anything and you'll see she's a little pussycat next to me," Max replied while Anya stood off to the side, rubbing her forehead as if she felt a migraine coming on.
Akira turned her attention away from the three fire mages and back toward the strange woman and the unusual sensation her close proximity had stirred. It was almost as if...as if they were long lost sisters, family that had been separated for a lifetime. She cradled the woman as she sat leaning against the short wall she had been pushed against by the woman's tackle, and gently laid her hand on the back of the woman's head, smoothing her hair.
"Hey, I think she's waking up," Anya suddenly said, peering at the strange woman's face. The stranger moaned and buried her face into Akira's shoulder, moistening her shirt with her tears.
Akira brushed the strange woman's hair out of her face. "Why are you crying?"
Much to her surprise, the strange woman spoke, still clinging to her and hiding her face. "I don't know."
Akira frowned thoughtfully as she looked down at the top of the woman's head, and her odd, bluish hair. "Can you look at me?"
The woman reluctantly opened her eyes, clearly exhausted, and looked deep into Akira's own. She pulled back from Akira, only loosening her grip with real reluctance until the two of them were at arm's length, and smiled helplessly as her tears started up again. "I finally found you," she said, that same smile in place and clearly showing how helpless and out of place the woman felt.
"So, what's your name?" Max asked.
Akira gaped at the sudden change in the woman's expresion. It was as if someone had flipped a switch in her; one moment she was docile, helpless, clinging to Akira like a child, and the next she was up on her feet and Akira somehow knew that she was reaching for Max's water, just as she herself could.
Max grunted, his face twisting into a snarl as he set his feet as if under an unexpected weight. "No!" Cyrr bellowed as he darted forward, reaching for the woman. Anya screamed and collapsed to the ground, clutching her stomach as she writhed in agony, and then Max stood up straight, stiff-armed Cyrr in the face, knocking him to the ground before he could attack, and sent one hell of a glare at the woman. Akira felt his fire flare up, stronger than she had ever felt it before, and it set her heart racing in barely understood excitement; he was furious. The woman's eyes got huge and she fell back into Akira, scrambling backward as Max approached.
Akira put her arms around the woman in a comforting hug from behind and half-turned her away from Max so she wouldn't have to face his fury directly. The woman flinched at her touch and clung to her, sobbing.
"He's so strong," she said, terror in her voice as she tried to get away. A huge shape loomed over her and she flinched back again, almost tearing herself from Akira's grip.
"Shh, it's okay," Akira murmured into her ear as she held her in place, her grip strong as steel.
"Who are you?" Max demanded, his voice low and dangerous in a way Akira hadn't heard in years; it brought feelings bubbling to the surface she hadn't even been aware of before.
The woman tried to strike out at him again, but Akira used her own ability to block the attempt, turning the woman's reach in on itself, something she hadn't even been aware was possible. The woman's shocked, betrayed gaze turned to Akira. "Why did you stop me? He's dangerous! He's...he's going to kill me!" she whispered.
Akira just shook her head, trying to ignore the crowds moving around them as she smiled crookedly at the woman. "Of course he's dangerous; so am I. And so are you, I think," she said gently. She looked around at the others; Anya had regained her feet, though she looked very, very gray, as did Cyrr, who was decidedly unsteady on his feet, though whether that unsteadiness was from the strange woman's attack or Max's blow to the face, Akira wasn't sure. In any case, the look the woman was giving her was almost heartbreaking. Confusion, anger, fear, but most of all, betrayal... Akira didn't know why she herself felt so strongly for this woman, but she couldn't just let her go on thinking the wrong thing. "He's a friend, a very important one, and if you try to hurt him, I...I won't be able to forgive you," Akira said, not unkindly.
"You're a water elemental, aren't you?" Max asked quietly, glancing around at the increasing numbers of people standing around, watching the altercation. He locked eyes with Akira for an instant, and she stood up, pulling the woman up with her.
"Come on, we need to go somewhere else," Akira said. She glanced at Max again, but he was already moving off, Anya right behind him looking back at Cyrr, who followed along sulkily behind. She couldn't help but smile; she and Max knew each other so well...Jennifer too, for that matter. The three of them sometimes didn't even need to speak at all. She led the strange woman along, making sure to stay several steps behind Cyrr, who kept turning to glare back at them. It was obvious he didn't want the woman behind him, but he knew well enough to keep from trying to attack her again; Akira wasn't so sure this strange woman was in any condition to exert such self control at the moment, however; it was safer to have her in the back, so she had the fire mages in clear sight and didn't have to worry about being attacked from behind. She glanced over and saw the woman had once again pulled her hood up, hiding her face in shadow, and Akira took her hand. The woman gave her a startled look that she quickly focused on the ground before her as they walked, and allowed Akira to lead the way.
"You..." Kotarou growled, flat on his back on the floor of the small diner Natsumi managed, clenching his teeth as he glared in the harsh light.
The strange woman's own gaze said everything that needed to be said; Kotarou was nothing more than a stain on the bottom of her shoe. She pressed her blade down with all her strength, trying to lever it far enough up to tilt over the other blade, the one Natsumi held with all her strength and Kotarou was currently supporting with his own shadow-based magic, building up around his hands as he focused his power into keeping his small shield up.
Natsumi tried her best to hold back the stranger's blade, something that looked for all the world like a light saber, with her own, a poor copy hastily created with her own light magic after seeing the other woman. The stranger was obviously some sort of swordmaster, and it was all Kotarou and Natsumi could do to keep her blade from pivoting over and cutting into Kotarou's face. 'Why is this happening?' she thought frantically. They had just come back to the diner after the water balloon battle to get something she had forgotten, when a pale woman with a long white ponytail seated quietly at a table in the corner had waited until Natsumi was behind the counter and Kotarou had his back turned and then jumped him with almost feline grace and some bizarre sword made out of what looked like nothing but light magic...it was all but a miracle that Kotarou had managed to react in time and get a shield up. His first shield, however, had only managed to deflect the blade, the impact of which had disintegrated it with ease; the second one had faired only marginally better, but that was all the time Natsumi had needed to scramble over the counter and interpose her own sword between the two combatants, resulting in the current situation. Natsumi was no swordswoman, however, though she knew, from watching and participating in many practice sessions involving other sword users, that her current position left her wide open to attack; if the attacker wanted to hurt her, she could have done so at any time.
"Damn you...!" Kotarou growled again.
The woman grinned unpleasantly, showing her clean white teeth and pointy canines. "Scum," she spat.
"He...is...not...SCUM!" Natsumi screamed as she heaved her blade up with a tremendous effort, actually forcing the woman off balance.
Her eyes widened in surprise as she lost her stance for an instant, but that was all it took for Kotarou to bury his fist in her stomach, driving her back. The woman recovered quickly, however, far too quickly for the force he had used, and darted forward, sword poised to run him through...and then Natsumi jumped in front of him, her arms out to the sides blocking any attempt at going around her, and the woman abruptly halted, the tip of her blade half an inch from Natsumi's chest, her eyes boring into Natsumi's.
"Move," the woman said, her voice cold, her gaze promising violence.
Natsumi met her gaze and held it with little trouble. "No," she said.
"I will run you through, don't think I won't," the woman replied.
Natsumi watched her for a long, long moment, saw the sweat drop run down from the woman's hairline, and smiled gently. "No, you won't," she said. She started to move forward, and the woman reluctantly took a step back. "Who are you?" Natsumi asked. "Why did you attack Kotarou-kun?"
Another sweat drop rolled down the woman's cheek as she took another step back. Natsumi held her gaze, the woman's eyes a dark, beautiful blue, but a normal blue, not like Akira's, and took another step forward, and the white haired woman closed her eyes, sighed, and dismissed her blade. "It was a test."
Natsumi relaxed and cocked her head to the side, curious. "A test? What do you mean?"
"That's what I'd like to know," Kotarou said as he moved up to stand beside Natsumi, glaring at the woman. "You know I was ready to kill you, right?"
The woman met his glare, her gaze level. "You would not have found it easy." She turned her attention back to Natsumi, the edges of her mouth quirked upward in the merest ghost of a smile, and she went down on one knee and bowed her head.
"What...?" Natsumi asked cautiously. The woman just kept insisting on doing all of these strange things...she didn't know what to make of her at all.
Then, the woman began to speak and Natsumi's eyes bugged out.
"I am called the White Tiger, Linda Cale. My lady, the Queen of Light, I swear to follow you for the rest of my life, to do my best to protect you from harm, and to help you in any way I can and never betray you; this I swear to you, my lady."
Natsumi went very, very quiet for a long moment. When she finally spoke, her voice was low and serious, so much so that even Kotarou gave her a strange look.
"How do you know that name?" Natsumi asked. Linda looked up, and her eyes widened slightly at the deathly serious expression on the other woman's face. "Tell me, how do you know that name?" Natsumi asked, her tone intense.
Linda's eyes narrowed as she calculated the distance to the exits and any obstacles in the way. "Someone I know referred to you by that name-"
"What is his name?" Natsumi demanded.
Linda paused, considering how to continue, Kotarou thought. "He said you would-"
"TELL. ME. HIS. NAME," Natsumi said, her eyes flaring silvery white even through her colored contacts.
Linda frowned, the stern expression she had worn the whole time finally starting to falter. "His name is Alexander," Linda said. "Alexander Stratos, Fifth among the Great Vampire Lor—hrk!"
Linda was cut off as Kotarou shot forward and knocked her to the ground and put her in a choke hold. "You should think very carefully about what you say next," Kotarou growled into her ear, shadowy power gathering around the finger he held against the side of her head while Natsumi knelt down in front of her.
"Did he send you here?" Natsumi asked, any trace of gentleness gone from her voice.
Linda nodded, her face starting to go red from the restricted blood flow.
"Why?"
Linda tried to mouth words, but Kotarou's choke hold was too tight for any sound. Natsumi looked up at him, and he loosened the hold slightly. He gave her a moment to gasp for breath, then tightened the hold again. "Answer her."
Linda looked at Natsumi, her eyes narrow and hiding any emotion as she tried to fight back the panic that threatened to overwhelm her at the sight of that blank expression. Stratos had told her these two were dangerous, but she hadn't known just how dangerous they could be. Still, she had taken precautions; she had watched their movements for three weeks, she had trained almost constantly to ensure her skills remained as sharp as they could be, she had waited until the perfect moment for her attack...and still she had been stopped with relative ease. Sure, she hadn't expected to actually be able to kill the one the Queen of Light had chosen as her lover, shadow user that he was, but now she was lying on the floor, helpless, only alive thanks to the whim of the two...such a crushing defeat had been utterly unexpected, and it sent her heart racing in excitement in anticipation of future fighting. The Queen of Light...when Linda had first heard about her, she had taken a good look at the unassuming, mousy young woman in the picture Stratos had given her and dismissed her as any sort of a threat, even with Stratos' warnings. Boy, had that ever been a mistake...! This looked like it might be interesting after all...
She looked up at Natsumi. "He sent me..."
"...to make sure you survive."
Natsumi and Kotarou shared a quick look. "Did he tell you what he did to me two years ago?" Natsumi asked, looking back down at Linda, her expression stern, no longer the blank mask that had so obviously disturbed the woman a mere moment before.
Linda shook her head as far as Kotarou's loosened choke hold would allow. "No, he did not; he did warn me that you would be angry to hear his name, however."
"So...you just came here because he told you to?" Kotarou said.
The corner of Linda's mouth twitched in what might have been amusement. "No, not for that reason alone." She focused on Natsumi again. "I gave you my oath, and I will follow it. I am a light elemental, and you are my queen. I have been waiting for your awakening my whole life; imagine my joy on that day two years ago when it finally happened," she said, her gaze going distant at the memory. "Stratos is looking for the elementals. I was the first he'd found; he told me what was happening, why I felt the need to come to Mundus Vetus. I would imagine that since the other elemental kings are awakening, the same thing is happening to them, though I would imagine most of those who feel the need to go to their kings have no idea what is going on."
Kotarou and Natsumi glanced at each other for a moment.
Kotarou cocked an eyebrow. Let her go?
Natsumi looked from Kotarou down to Linda's face and back up, and dipped her head a fraction of an inch. Do it, but be careful.
When Kotarou had released her, Linda stood up and Natsumi got her first good look at the woman. She was quite tall and long legged; the long skirt she wore had a slit in the side that went most of the way up, though evidently it was more for ease of movement than any aesthetic purpose. She also wore a modest blouse and a pair of low heels; Natsumi spotted a small purple purse lying on the table the woman had been seated at earlier. Her strange, silvery-white hair was quite long; even in its high ponytail her hair reached down to her waist, and her eyes were a deep, dark, yet ordinary shade of blue that appeared quite striking contrasted with her pale skin and white hair. Natsumi couldn't be sure of her age, but thought she might have been in her late twenties. Overall, Linda Cale couldn't be called beautiful or even very pretty, but she was far from unattractive and did have a very striking appearance, even by Mahora's standards; Natsumi thought she might have been quite cute as a child. Still, she had seen more striking people; some among her own circle of friends. But in any case, what was the woman planning to do? She had sworn fealty to Natsumi...so Natsumi figured at the very least, she had to make sure the woman had a place to stay.
"Linda...san," Natsumi said awkwardly, unsure of how to speak to the woman.
"Yes, my queen?" Linda replied. Natsumi couldn't help but feel that the woman seemed somehow amused, though her expression was tightly controlled, serious.
"Do you have a place to stay? And you can just call me Natsumi, or Murakami if you want," she added.
"Of course, Murakami," Linda replied. "I am currently living in a small apartment overlooking the river and warehouse district; don't worry about me, my living quarters are quite adequate."
Natsumi and Kotarou shared a quick look. A small apartment near the river and the warehouse district? If ever Mahora had an area that could be considered the 'wrong side of the tracks', that was it. "Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to live somewhere more...more..." Natsumi trailed off, unsure of how to continue.
"Safe?" Linda supplied. "I have lived in far worse places; as I said, don't worry about me. Ever since the first night when I left my attacker in need of medical assistance, I haven't had a problem."
Natsumi and Kotarou looked at each other.
"That's..." Kotarou started.
"...nice," Natsumi said. "I think, um... are you sure you don't want to live somewhere else?"
Linda gave her a curious look. "No...I must continue my training, or I could grow soft and unable to follow you."
Kotarou sighed and rolled his eyes as he stepped forward and smacked her on the back; she gave him a wary look. "Well if it's training you're talking about, there's no problem with getting as much of that as you can stomach." He glanced over at Natsumi. "Wanna introduce her to Eva?"
"It is now seven o'clock, and you know what that means!" the man in the in the sunglasses and nifty hat said as he stood in front of the microphone on the big band stage. The audience area was packed, the crowd extending out through the far end with a large number of people watching from windows, rooftops, and even tree branches, waiting for what came next. He waited for them to quiet down before speaking again. "Now, our next band is a group of four local girls you all know and love. They need no introduction, but that's what I'm getting paid for so here's DEKOPIN ROCKET!"
The crowd went wild as four figures trotted out onto the stage. One long haired woman stepped up to the microphone.
"Hello Mahora!" Misa said. The crowd went crazy, prompting her to smile hugely. "Are you ready to ROCK?" The crowd screamed even more loudly. "I couldn't hear you!" The crowd got even louder and Misa was about to continue on in the same manner when Madoka trotted over.
"Come on, wrap it up; we have a time limit," she said.
Misa grinned at her. "You're right; let's do this." She turned to beam at the crowd as Madoka trotted back to her place, raised her guitar pick high in the air, and dove into the first song of their set.
Negi and Nodoka, having been forced to go halfway across town to Negi's apartment for a change of clothes, was unfortunately too late to get a good spot to watch their friends play up on stage, and were instead forced to resort to climbing up a tree to be able to see the stage.
Negi reached the highest branch he felt could hold his weight and looked down at Nodoka, who was searching for a handhold. He smiled at her, reached down, and took her hand, pulling her up to sit beside him. He couldn't help but stare at her pleasantly flushed face for a moment, but quickly looked away when she turned to look at him. Seated together on the branch as they were, there was no room for personal space; their shoulders and the sides of their legs were touching, and Negi realized his own face was probably as red as his date's.
"Ooh, here they come!" Nodoka said excitedly while the band members walked out on stage.
"Ako-san isn't there..." Negi said, squinting. "Who...?" He couldn't quite make out who it was holding that oddly familiar blue instrument, but it most certainly was not Izumi Ako. Ako-san wasn't quite that... that gifted...in certain anatomical areas.
"Isn't that...one of your students?" Nodoka asked, squinting as well. "That American girl?"
"Really? Which one?" Negi asked; he had several in his class this year. He called up a simple far-seeing spell and nodded, surprised. "That is Kara Stride; she plays the bass guitar in another band. I wonder what she is doing here?"
"They must not have been able to find Ako-chan," Nodoka said.
Negi felt her tense up and, recalling Asuna's advice and the videos she had shown him, reached up and slipped his arm around her back, pulling her close enough to close the already miniscule gap between them. Nodoka tensed up further for an instant, but quickly relaxed and leaned into him.
'She's...she so soft!' he thought, his heart racing as the faint remains of her perfume drifted through his senses. She reached up and put her hand on his. 'I...I must be the luckiest man on the planet,' he thought to himself, lost in the sheer innocent joy of sitting beside a girl who obviously liked him.
Then the band on stage broke into a wild punk-like song that had the crowd roaring and completely ruined the moment. Nodoka reluctantly released Negi's hand and he drew his arm away, accidentally letting his fingers run across Nodoka's back as he pulled his arm back, his body slow and unwilling to break contact so soon. He felt her shiver as she clamped her hands together between her knees, and quickly looked away.
Needless to say, they didn't get much out of the first song.
Misa smiled back at Kara, then turned back to the microphone, finishing up the last lines of the song. She was really quite proud of the girl; so young, and already such a good bassist! There was no way Kara could replace Ako, but she made a great substitute in a pinch. For that matter, Ayumi would make a great substitute for Madoka, if she ever got sick or had to take time off...both Kara and Ayumi were amazing with their instruments for their age; not at Dekopin Rocket's level, but perhaps, in the future... She finished singing, concentrated on the brief guitar solo at the end, and then the song was done and she was grinning out at the audience as they screamed. She glanced back at Kara again, looking incredibly shy and cute as she stood well back in what little shadow was offered by the raised platform containing Sakurako's drum set, all but hiding behind her bass, and grinned even wider as she took the microphone from its stand and walked up to the edge of the stage. She glanced back at her friends and couldn't help but smirk at Madoka's suddenly annoyed expression, and then turned her attention out to the audience and raised the microphone to her lips.
"Now I know you guys all liked that, right?" She paused while they screamed for a moment. "Well, I liked it too. Of course, I wrote that one, so yeah. But anyway!" she said, pointing up at the sky in a rather distracting pose that drew attention to her curves. "As you may have noticed, Ako, our normal bassist, isn't here with us tonight. Yeah yeah, I know, it's sad," she said, looking down at group of heartbroken twenty-something guys in the front row wearing t-shirts with 'I Heart Ako-chan' printed on them. "Something came up and she just couldn't make it. But, temporarily taking her place, introducing Dekopin Rocket's official back-up bass player, the bassist of the No Name Band, winner of the Day One Fan Favorite award, Kara Stride! Give her a hand, everybody! C'mere Kara-chan, say something to these nice people," Misa said, grinning at the girl in question, who looked horrified.
Negi and Nodoka watched, curious, as Kara said something to Misa that wasn't picked up by the microphone. Misa thrust the microphone into her hands, however, and gestured out at the crowd as if to tell her 'get on with it', and stepped back to give her some space, clapping.
Kara stepped forward into the center of the stage, and one of the spotlights moved to focus on her. She jerked nervously, looking out over the enormous crowd, and brought the microphone up, holding it with both hands. "U-um...I'm...I'm Kara, it's...it's really..."
Negi had a sudden urge to rub his eyes. Nodoka moved beside him and he saw she was already rubbing hers. The temperature seemed to have jumped a few degrees, and he realized he was a little short of breath. What on Earth...? He had a sudden urge to...have kids? A dozen perhaps, give or take a few? Sure, he had thought about it over the years, but...
Meanwhile, Kara continued on and he realized the crowd had grown oddly quiet and fidgety; Negi rubbed his eyes again and looked out over them. It seemed every face was focused directly on the girl up on stage.
"S-so, um, I...I'd like to thank e-everyone for this opportunity," Kara said, so nervous that her voice wavered the whole time and almost cracked at the end.
Misa shook herself out of her stupor and rubbed her eyes. 'A dozen kids, give or take a few...' she thought, then shook her head to clear it. That had been kinda strange...Kara hesitantly held the microphone out to her, and she pushed away the odd feeling that had come over her while the other girl moved back to stand near her previous spot, though not so far back in the shadows as before. Misa took a moment to collect herself and turned back to the crowd, lifted the microphone, and began to speak. "S-so there you go, Kara Stride, bassist of the No Name Band! Give her a hand!" The crowd did as it was told, but remained oddly shifting and subdued. Misa had never seen anything like it. When you got twenty thousand people together, there was just no such thing as quiet. She shook it off and glanced at Madoka, who shook her head. "Okay then, I know you guys know this next one! Let's go!"
Negi watched the band dive into another song, this one one of their more famous ones, fitting distinctly into the rock genre, and the crowd quickly shook off whatever had been wrong with it and was soon cheering just as loudly as before.
Still...that whole incident was strange. He frowned and glanced at Nodoka, who quickly met his gaze.
"You...felt that, right?" she asked.
Negi nodded. "Everyone else did as well; it happened when Kara-san was speaking. It felt almost like the effect of some sort of spell... I wonder what it was?"
Nodoka looked around at the crowd. "It looks like everyone is back to normal..."
"Yes; let's just enjoy the rest of the show," Negi said, filing away the unusual incident for future investigation.
Misa watched in admiration as Kara tackled a simplified version of the extremely difficult bass solo Ako had perfected for their current song, and actually did a pretty good job of it. Not nearly as good as Ako could do it, but still very, very good for someone who had just barely been able to do it during practice. The girl wasn't up to her standards yet, but if she continued on like this, Misa knew she would get there eventually. Not a bad way to end their set, actually...though they had actually planned on Ako doing it; there was no telling what kind of response Kara would get from the crowd, though, from what Misa could see, they liked her quite a bit. Sakurako started up on her drums, working into the solo, followed a moment later by Madoka on rhythm guitar, and then it was Misa's turn, and she no longer had any time for contemplation as she blazed into the hardest guitar riff in the song.
"That was great! I can't believe how much the crowd loved you!" Misa said as she grabbed Kara's hands when they had all made their way backstage.
"Eh? Really?" Kara replied, her eyes wide in surprise.
"Yeah, really! What I said up on stage, about you being our backup bassist, I meant it, Kara-chan. If you want, you can join us whenever Ako can't make it."
Kara looked from Misa to Sakurako and finally Madoka, both of whom smiled confidently at her and nodded, and back to Misa. "I...I will! Thank you, oh thank you...!" she said, forgetting herself for a moment as she threw her arms around Misa and hugged her. "Thank you thank you oh thank you!"
Sakurako shot a sly glance at Madoka, who stood gaping as she watched, her hands twitching, and stifled a giggle.
"Thank you! You don't have any idea how much this means to me! Just wait until I tell Ayumi, she'll be thrilled!" Kara said, smiling at Misa in such a joyous manner that Misa couldn't help but reciprocate. Kara was just so enthusiastic... it brought her back to the old days, back when they first formed the band back in middle school, back when Sakurako and Madoka swapped bass duties back and forth until they finally convinced Ako to join; everything had clicked together from almost the first time the four of them practiced together, and except for a short time in high school, they hadn't ever stopped playing.
Misa smiled crookedly at the enthusiastic girl; she kinda wanted to hug her again...she glanced back at Madoka and smiled more widely as she went to stand beside her, surreptitiously taking her hand. "You probably have other things you wanted to do, right?" Misa said. "Go on and have fun. Keep your cell phone on though; we might need to contact you later."
Kara nodded, smiling wide at Misa in a way that made her feel strangely warm. "I will! Thank you!" she said, all but skipping toward the door, guitar case in hand. She paused at the door to turn back and wave. Misa, Madoka, and Sakurako all waved back, and then Kara was off through the doorway and gone.
When the door swung shut, Madoka turned toward Misa, squeezing her hand gently. "Well that went better than I thought...but you probably should've told her her to tell the others they can play with us too when—mmph?"
Sakurako blinked at the two figures on the floor for a moment. "Um...yeah. Okay, I think I'm going to go...somewhere else. Have fun~!" she said, trotting toward the door.
"Mmph! Puah, gah! Get off of me, Misa! Hey! Where are you going Sakurako! You traitor, you—mmph!"
"Kara-san is really quite good," Negi said idly as they approached the apartment building where Nodoka lived. He barely even felt the weight of the plastic bag he was holding, containing a handful of items he and Nodoka had picked up at the various temporary booths that dotted the streets during the festival.
"Mm-hmm," Nodoka said, nodding as she walked along, her hands clutched together behind her as she looked up at the late evening sky. "I'm worried about Ako, though..."
Negi nodded. He noted idly that their walking pace had slowed considerably since they had turned on to Nodoka's street. "I hope she contacts someone soon...I heard she wasn't answering her cell phone."
An awkward silence fell between them for a long moment and they slowed further still.
"It was fun," Nodoka said after a moment as they reached the corner of her building.
"Yes, it really was," Negi said absently, smiling gently up at the sky. Nodoka glanced at him, blushed, and turned her attention to the sidewalk in front of her. Their walking pace slowed almost to a crawl.
They walked along in silence, neither one knowing what to say until they arrived at the front door of the apartment building. Nodoka typed in the code to open the door, and led the way inside. The two of them wandered over to the elevator. Negi pressed the button and they waited for an extremely awkward twenty seconds while the elevator made its way down. When the door finally slid open, they tried to step inside at the same time, but the narrow doorway forced their arms to brush together.
"Ah, I'm sorry," Negi said as he paused to allow Nodoka to go first.
"No, it's okay," she mumbled as she slipped by and moved to stand in the far corner of the elevator, holding her small purse demurely in front of her.
Negi slipped inside and stood by the panel, diagonally across from Nodoka. "Which floor was it?" he asked, glancing over at her. She looked up and he quickly looked away.
"It's the eighth floor..."
"Okay," Negi said. He pressed the button and stood back, waiting. A moment later, the doors slid shut and the elevator shuddered to life. Thirty seconds passed in awkward silence as the elevator made its slow, slow way up to the eighth floor.
"King Zed seemed to enjoy the role he played in today's event," Negi said. It was a real stretch as far as conversation topics went, but he was desperate enough to try anything.
"Mmhmm," Nodoka said, her eyes darting to Negi's for one glorious instant and then away. "I wonder if-"
Negi never found out what she was wondering about, because the elevator beeped and opened on the eighth floor. The two of them shuffled out, and Nodoka led the way down the hall. She stopped in front of a door, but Negi's heart was racing too fast for him to even think about looking at the room number, the hallway itself, or anything at all but Nodoka, blushing as she dug around in her small purse for her key.
He stood there, knowing that it was a little rude to stare at her but unable to stop himself, and then the moment was broken when she pulled the key ring out of her purse. She fumbled with it for a moment before she found the correct key, and inserted it into the keyhole. She paused for a moment, looking at her hands.
"Ah..." Negi said.
Nodoka turned around, smiling helplessly at him. "I...I love you," she said. Before Negi had time to realize what she had said, she stood up on her toes, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him on the lips. She had just started to pull away when Negi's arms went around her waist and he kissed her back, drawing a startled noise from her that was quickly smothered.
Nodoka wasn't much of a kisser; having had no practice beyond the time she had made a pactio with Negi, this was to be expected. Negi, though...Negi had honed his skills through half a decade of pactios with overzealous girls of all ages and, though he wouldn't ever admit to it, one guy. To say he was experienced in the field of kissing was like saying birds can fly or fish can swim.
They stood there together for a long, long moment, their bodies pressed together, before breaking away for air, both blushing furiously as they looked away, gasping for breath.
"I..." Negi said.
Nodoka quickly turned her attention back to her door, unlocked it, opened it and slipped inside, pushing it shut after her.
"I...I...I..." Negi mumbled as he blinked at Nodoka's door. The click of a lock startled him back to some semblance of intelligence, so he slowly turned around, pointed himself in the general direction of the elevators, and stumbled off, still trying to figure out what had just happened. 'She...she said she loves me? Really? Me? Nodoka-san...loves me? Nodoka-san loves me? Wait, Nodoka-san...loves me...?"
He found himself out in the street without even recalling how he had gotten there, and wandered along in a daze. He had a brief recollection of running into Natsumi, Kotaoru, and a foreign woman he didn't know, and then he realized he was unlocking the door to his own place. 'Nodoka-san...she loves me, me...!' he thought yet again, the joyous thought leaving him grinning like an idiot as he flopped down on the couch. He broke into a fit of giggles and tossed his arm over his eyes, his leg hanging off the edge.
"Hehehe..."
"Oh? What's this? I leave you alone for a few hours and I come back to find you giggling like a schoolgirl?" Kamo said as he sauntered in from the bedroom, where he had been rearranging his panty-nest.
Negi couldn't help but grin like an idiot as he laid on the couch. "Hehe, she said she loves me!"
"And? What happened after that?" Kamo asked as he climbed up to stand on the armrest by Negi's head. "You didn't let the opportunity pass, did you? Come on, did she take you up to her room? She did, didn't she?"
Negi blinked at Kamo. "...huh?"
"Did you do drooly drooly or googly googly or fooly cooly?" Kamo asked, waggling his eyebrows. "Did she put her tongue inside?"
"...what?" Negi asked, finally drawn out of the daze he had been in since the kiss.
"You heard me," Kamo said, grinning elbow Negi. "Eh? Eh? Eeeeeh?"
"...what are you even talking about?"
Omake
Nodoka shut the door and leaned against it, not trusting her legs to hold her up. Her heart was pounding in her chest; she had just had her first date, her very first date, and it had been with Negi-kun...! Not only that, but she had told him she loved him and had actually k-k-kissed him! She shivered, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside as she reached up and lightly touched her lips with the tip of her finger. A stray thought passed through her mind and she shivered again: Negi-kun might still be on the other side of the door...! The thought was strangely intriguing, but when she pulled herself erect and looked out through the peephole, he was no longer there...she couldn't help but feel a little let down at the discovery. Nevertheless, the mild disappointment was enough to let her clear her head a little.
The date had been fun, but it hadn't been at all what she had expected... 'No plan ever survives first contact,' she thought absently as she looked down at the clothes she had borrowed from Asuna. She took off her shoes and walked over to the couch and sat down, trying to come to grips with reality while her heart fluttered around in her chest.
She had just been on a date...! With Negi-kun...!
She realized she was grinning like an idiot and shook her head to clear it. "Come on Nodoka, get a grip!" she said aloud, clenching her fists to prove her resolve. Feeling significantly more down to Earth, she stood up from the couch, leaving her small handbag behind, and drifted over to the closet to get a change of clothes that actually fit. 'I will have to wash these and return them to Asuna-san soon...' she thought absently as she removed the chair from under the doorknob without even thinking about why it was there and pulled the door open to reveal Yue, curled up in the corner with an old coat draped over her head, pouting at her.
Nodoka froze in the middle of reaching out for a nightshirt and her eyes widened as she realized that she had utterly forgotten about her long time friend. "Ah...ah! Yue!"
Yue gave her a petulant stare. "You forgot about me."
"Ah! I'm sorry Yue!"
Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay on this chapter, but that's how things go sometimes. Anyway, this marks the end of the 2009 Mahorafest; next chapter: The Youkai Festival! Don't worry; that festival's only one chapter. Enjoy!