well...things aren't looking too good for young Negi are they?
Nothing like a little trauma to get the whole comedy routine going eh?
17th period
Silence hung in the air, save for the mocking cackles of the crows as they took wing into the skies of yester-year.
If words could describe the look on Negi's face at his father's admission they would be completely, absolutely, undeniably flabbergasted. He kept gaping at the man in shock, like it was all some big joke and Nagi was about to start laughing.
Ever since he'd been little he'd been told nothing but good about his father and all the brave, heroic things he did for the world. With the Exception of Stan-jichan, no one had ill to speak of the Thousand Master, hailing him as the greatest wizard of his generation.
Now as one grows up one learns that preconceived perceptions of an idol are open to debate, maybe even rewriting. But this never happened for Negi, so enawed by the campfire stories and legends that had sprung up around his illustrious sire he had naturally assumed the man was made of pure gold.
It was rather surprising to find that most of it was only painted on, and the bits that were real made your skin turn green.
Kuwabara tried comforting the boy, but just what could you say to someone who's role model, who just happened to be the boy's own father, turned out to be a sham? He instead drew the boy's attention to the conversation between the two mages, watching as Eva struggled in the water, wondering why she didn't just climb out.
"L-Look! Thousand Master!" the chibi-nosferatu called out earnestly, a desperately chibified look on her face "Maybe we could cut some sort of deal!"
"I don't cut deals with kids." Nagi replied with a deadpan expression, sweat dropping at the look of flustered outrage on his opponent's face.
"Kid?" Evangeline snapped, looking insulted at the, understandale, mis-assumption "I'll have you know I'm well over a century in age!"
"HA!" Negi cackled, a manic grin on his face as he titled his head back "A kid AND an old maid to boot!"
Evangeline's face turned red as she flailed her arms in the water "I AM NOT AN OLD MAID!"
"Calm down mistress, you're sinking faster!" the puppet opined concernedly, only to be ignored by the irate vampire as she raged at the indignity.
"You want a deal?" Nagi asked, looking down at his opponent "Okay: You stop chasing me and renounce evil forever, howzat?"
"NEVER!" Evangeline snapped, only to shiver as Nagi's features shadowed into a look of comical EVIL.
"Figured as much," he noted wryly, "On to plan B; I'll place a chaos curse on you, confining you to bodies that will prevent you from doing anyone harm ever again."
Eva blanched, looking understandably nervous, and not because of the man's threat. "A third-rate wizard…accessing top level power?" she stammered, before renewing her endeavors to climb out of the pit "You're opening a door for total disaster, beyond anything you're intending!"
"Hmm, the old man at Mahora definitely wanted a security guard." Nagi noted, as if the Vampire had said nothing "Lessee…Manman-Terrotero…Christ this spell's long…"
"H-HELP ME!" Eva squealed, tears spurting comically from her face as she tried to get out of the pit "S-SOMEONE HELP ME!"
"Mistress, are we in trouble?" the puppet asked, even as the magical energies surged around them like raw ozone.
"YOU HAVE TO ASK?" Evangeline snapped, whipping round to snap at her enemy as he raised his staff "STOP YOU SON OF A-!"
Whatever the dreaded vampire Evangeline had been about to say was cut off as a bolt of magical lighting crashed into her severing her ties to magic and binding her form into its infantile state.
"INFERNUS SCHOLASTICUS!"
Whoo! Headtrip!
Evangeline awoke with a gasp, shivering as she caught her breath. She hated that dream, the most humiliating defeat of her life from the man she had chased all over the world and back. She could never forget the horror when she realized she couldn't summon her magic, how not even Chachazero could react to her, merely lying around like a, well, puppet with its strings cut, though its mouth seemed to operate just fine.
A snort drew her attention to the foot of the bed, near leaping out of it at the sight of the two senseis slumped against it, dozing lightly. Kuwabara, with his hand on Negi's shoulder, seemed to be drooling on the sheets.
"What the hell are they doing here?" she wondered, settling herself quickly, glaring at Negi in particular "Hmmph, I said I'd kill him." She frowned, a light blush adorning her cheeks "But…are they nursing me back to health?"
Negi awoke with a jolt, Kuwabara falling off the bed with a snort, his skull making contact with the floor. "Are you okay, Eva-san?" Negi insisted, flushing slightly as he realized she'd woken up before them.
"Yeah fine." Eva deadpanned, not looking a the son of her old enemy "Listen…how abut you leave now…I rest up…and we pretend this day never happened."
"Uh…yeah!" Negi replied, looking flustered, "Fine, it never happened, and we'll pretend this letter of challenge never happened either! S'long!"
He barely made it three feet from the bed when Eva noticed the staff in his hands, more specifically how tight he was holding it. "HOLD IT!" she called out, frowning suspiciously "Why were you holding that staff in your sleep?" He flush grew, as did her ire, power soaring off her subconsciously as she glared at him "Don't tell me…you weren't watching my dreams? Well? WERE YOU?" The look on Negi's face was all the answer the Nosferatu needed. "YOU WERE! WHAT DID YOU SEE?"
"Nothing interesting!" Negi insisted, waving his arms frantically as he tried to ward off his shrieking student/nemesis with his staff.
"LIAR!" Eva snarled, somehow lifting the bed above her head in her ire "FATHER AND SON! I'LL KILL YOU BOTH TOGETHER!"
It was only the timely arrival of Chachamaru that enabled Negi to escape with his life, the youth brushing past the gynoid as she opened the door, a seething Evangeline standing there as she watched him go. "I am glad to see you're doing better master." The gynoid noted, setting the antibiotics on the table as she guided the enraged vampire to the stairs "I see your fever has gone down too."
Eva huffed, letting out a long, annoyed breath as she allowed herself to be led back to her room, where Kuwabara was still lying recumbent on the floor. "How long does he intend to sleep there?" she wondered bitterly, wondering if he'd been dragged into her dream as well.
"Master?" Chachamaru enquired, looking over her master carefully "Have you grown?"
Eva glared at the automaton in annoyance; her height and appearance were tender areas that her servants knew to avoid at all costs. Not even Chachazero, her former partner and the most maniacal piece of timber in existence, had the gall to bring it up. "I hope for your sake that isn't an attempt at humor Chachamaru." She grit out, employing all her powers of self-control not to rend the gynoid limb from limb, "You know that vampires of my caliber do not age."
"Nonetheless, you appear to have grown since I left." Chachamaru insisted, a clicking noise that the vampire had grown to associate with her optics scanning an image sounding out "Indeed, a whole inch by my estimations."
Eva frowned, looking at herself in a mirror carefully. She certainly didn't FEEL any different, but now that she looked closer she could see that her pajamas seemed a little shorter than they had before.
A snort from Kuwabara alerted them to his rise from slumber, the professor sitting up and wiping drool from his chin. "Man, what a weird dream." The tantei muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly "Vampires and fake wizards…" he shook himself, looking into the eyes of his students.
"You're awake." Eva noted, frowning as Kuwabara seemed to tense, but the look of hostility from before was gone "Sleep well sensei?"
Kuwabara got to his feet, eyeing the duo carefully. A part of him, most likely the remnants of his days as a street fighter, was berating himself for falling asleep when a vampire was in the room, but the more rational side noted that if they had wanted him dead they could have done so while he was asleep. "Where's Negi-bozu?" he asked instead, trying to draw attention away from himself, only for Eva to scoff and Chachamaru to bow.
"Negi-sensei left the cottage in a hurry." The gynoid replied honestly "I believe he seemed quite desperate to get away."
"Nosy little dream peeping brat." Eva muttered under her breath, looking oddly flustered as she did so. Kuwabara looked between the two and sighed in relief.
"That's alright then." He noted, getting to his feet, "So long as he's alright there isn't a problem."
Evangeline cocked an eyebrow, blinking at the look on the Tantei's face, or more accurately, his eyes. The face was genial, but there was steel in those eyes, the steel that had been tempered in battles to the death. She knew that look well, she saw it every time she looked in a mirror.
"Anyways, you'd better rest up Eva-chan." The tantei insisted, patting the blonde on the head and carrying her back to bed, despite her protests, "Can't having you missing class anymore."
Eva was about to snap a reply when she noted the bandage on the man's arm, raising an eyebrow in interest as she was tucked into bed. "You fed me?" she asked, regarding the man in honest surprise.
"Yeah well," Kuwabara replied, flustered at the vampire's stare "Didn't seem right ta let you feed off a kid…and I got more ta spare anyways."
"So what now?" Eva asked, looking over the man carefully, "I suppose you'll be looking for a crucifix in the near future."
Kuwabara blinked, looking over the girl carefully, before chuckling and ruffling her head. "You've got me for a roommate, I think that's more than enough punishment."
He turned his back on the girl, bowing to Chachamaru as he made his way out of the room and down the stairs, missing the flustered look on the vampires face.
Elsewhere...
"A vampire huh?" Genkai noted sipping at her tea thoughtfully as she sat on her sofa in the hotel room "And Dark Evangel to boot?"
"You know her Genkai shihan?" Botan wondered, regarding the aged reiki master in confusion. While it wasn't unlike her to have associates among demons, she didn't strike the ferry-girl as the type to allow a threat to humanity run loose.
"Indeed, we met a few times in my youth." Genkai noted, "Though it was mostly the result of chance and notoriety, neither of us actively sought the other out." She regarded the ferry girl carefully "That said, she definitely isn't someone you take lightly."
"And Kuwabara-kun is living with her!" Botan exclaimed, gripping her head as she tried to get the facts straight "What are we going to do?"
"Nothing." Genkai replied "Konoe, that's the dean, assured me that the measures keeping her from calling up her powers are still intact." She smirked at the girl "And even if she did somehow break loose, I think it would do Kuwabara some good."
"Good?" Botan replied, looking terrified at the thought "The Dark Evangel regaining her powers in the human world is the furthest thing from 'good'!"
"On the contrary," Genkai countered, "Kuwabara has never experience a true trial by fire, he's never had to make such heavy hearted decisions as Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei have." She sighed "He's always been a sheltered one, but as tantei he can't afford to hold onto that side anymore, something has to go, and what better way for it than in battle?"
"I hope you're right," Botan muttered, looking out the window in concern "I hope you're right."
With Eva...
There was no doubt about it. She didn't know how it had happened but there was no denying it.
Evangeline gazed at herself in the mirror, biting her lip idly as she ran her eyes over her petite figure, dressed for that morning's classes. 'A whole inch taller.' She noted 'And not only that, I'm starting to fill out a bit as well.'
This was true, evident in the way her uniform, which hadn't required adjustments since she first received it, was now slightly tight around certain parts. Her shoes were also noticeably tighter, though thankfully her underwear and socks didn't require much change.
'How is this possible?' She muttered, 'It's true lower class vampires age if they don't drink regularly, but a high-daylight walker like myself shouldn't be able to, even if I can only feed during a full moon my body isn't affected.' She glowered at herself, not unappreciatively, 'How did this happen?'
"Master?" Chachamaru called out, entering the room with a polite bow as per the norm "Kuwabara-sensei is waiting for us below."
"Tell that Neanderthal I'm coming." Eva replied, blinking as a sudden thought came to mind "Chachamaru, did I drink or eat anything at all since I fell sick yesterday?"
"No, unless you fed whilst I was away, mistress." The gynoid replied honestly, her tone neutral.
'Which means that the only thing I've had since then was that Neanderthal's blood.' The dark evangel muttered, a smirk crossing her features 'Kukukuku…interesting…'
"OI!" Kuwabara barked out from the doorway, startling the duo "You may have been sick but that's no reason for making us late!"
Evangeline didn't even have time to argue before Kuwabara grabbed her, slung her over his arm and dashed down the stairs and out the door, Chachamaru using her thrusters to keep up, bags in hand.
Later...
'I'll murder him!' Evangeline hissed, gripping her arm tightly as she watched Chachamaru type away at the computer.
The Neanderthal had ignored her demands to release her, barging into Negi's class to deposit her in her seat, heedless of the comments the girls were making! He'd even had the GALL to pat her on the head and tell her not to cause trouble, like some overprotective father!
'Trouble? I'll kill everyone here and use their corpses as marionettes!' the former mistress of darkness swore 'I'll drain the brat until he's a husk! Then I'll drain that bastard and turn him into a ghoul!'
"Anything?" she grit out, glaring at the figures on the screen as if they were the culprits, the sub-zero aura she was giving off enabling the computer to run incredibly fast.
"As I thought." Chachamaru reported, "There appears to be a barrier around the campus that is suppressing your magic master, most likely part of the Thousand Master's Infernus Scholasticus curse." She nodded and more information appeared on-screen "The barrier surrounds the entire academy, and is a considerable electrical drain."
"I'm surprised we didn't realize it sooner." Evangeline muttered, though it was no fault of her own, Chachamaru had only been her partner for the last three years. "It's because we kept focusing on magical solutions, rather than high tech ones."
"I'm pretty high tech myself." Chachamaru opined, shutting down the computer and subtly erasing any signs that they had accessed the grid through it.
"Still," Eva snorted, as they moved to the roof "some 'wizard' that Thousand Master." She scoffed "Anyway, now we can implement our endgame." The smirk on her face grew "Heh, I can just picture the surprised look that's going to be on that boy's face!" she threw her head back and laughed "HA! It's hilarious!"
Chachamaru eyed her master as she cackled away on the roof, warring within her processor as she tried to reach a decision, her higher programming winning in the end. "You should know mistress," she reported "That Negi-sensei had made a probationary contract with a partner."
"WHAT?" Eva snapped, rounding on the gynoid in alarm "You knew this? Why didn't you tell me!" she frowned thoughtfully "Who is it?"
"Kagurazaka Asuna." The gynoid reported, looking down in disgrace "As for way…I do not know myself. At least I told you now." She bowed "Sumimasen."
Eva regarded the gynoid carefully, before sighing and shrugging it off "I'm not thrilled…but okay." She reasoned, "Having a partner won't help him anyway." She frowned "The main concern is that baka Kuwabara, if he interferes it could be trouble." She frowned, before smirking, fangs glinting in the morning light "I think I have an idea…come get me in five hours."
With that she leapt into the air, only to blink as her foot caught the edge of the roof, sending her crashing face first into it.
"You're taller now master." Chachamaru reminded the cursing vampire "You need to be more careful when you leap."
That Night...
Kuwabara sighed as he patrolled the halls, Sayo hovering alongside him comfortingly. No matter how many years it had been the idea of being inside a school after hours still gave him the creeps. True Mahora was nothing like Sarayashiki jr. high, for one thing the guy that had designed it had some serious class and obviously a degree in architecture, but the same haunted feeling hung in the air. Were it not for the fact one was hovering beside him right now, the tantei was sure he'd have suspected spirits walked the halls at night.
"You sure you're okay Sayo-chan?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at the spectral girl "I know this can't be very exciting for you."
Sayo shook her head, though internally she was nervous. She dimly recalled all the times she'd wander the halls, looking for someone who'd notice her, driving off three caretakers, including that one with the cat who'd screamed something about 'Peeves' before heading back to Britain. In truth she'd been terrified of the empty hallways, regardless of the fact there was little that could harm a ghost, to have someone with her now was comforting.
Movement off to the right startled Kuwabara, who spun his flashlight to the right to find someone had left a window open, the blinds rattling in the wind. "I'm getting pretty jumpy huh?" he muttered, earning a giggle from Sayo, turning the beam back only to find the naked form of Okochi Akira standing before him "GAH!"
"Kuwabara…sensei…" the swim star called out dazedly, her eyes glazed as she staggered towards the tantei as if she was drunk "Need…help…"
"Akira-san!" Kuwabara stammered, catching the tall girl and wrapping her in his jacket carefully, before gripping her shoulders "What happened? Why're you in school at this hour?"
"Makie-san…wanted a bath." Akira replied, looking dazed, "power went out…everything went black…something…in bath."
'Shit! A demon?' Kuwabara swore, holding the girl gently as she seemed to zone out, glaring up at the path to the baths 'How'd it get past me?'
"Sensei." Sayo muttered nervously, regarding the slumped form of Akira nervously as the man lay her against the wall "What should we do?"
"My job." Kuwabara replied, clenching his fist as he spun up the path, face set into a line of grim determination as the spectral girl followed him. The tantei burst into the bathroom; shoulder rushing the door and sending it flying off its hinges with a yell.
"So glad you could make it…" A cultured voice purred, drawing his attention to the small pagoda in the bath hall, atop which sat a woman in a familiar leather choker and bodysuit, sitting with one leg crossed over the other, resting her chin on the back of her hand "Kuwabara-sensei."
Kuwabara gaped at the woman, feeling an odd note of familiarity in her features, wondering where on earth he could have seen such a creature and why the hell he had the sudden vision of towering castles, thunder, lightning and candlelit dinners with lots of red wine. "You look surprised sensei." The apparition noted coyly, quirking a delicate eyebrow in his direction "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"
"E-Eva-chan?" Kuwabara stammered, finally noting the resemblance to the vampire, the tail end of the dream he'd seen coming back to him "But…the barrier…the spell!"
"You saw all that?" Evangeline noted, sounding slightly annoyed "Another thing to add to the list of crimes I've suffered at the hands of the Springfields." She smiled, a dangerous one that promised pain and ecstasy in copious amounts "Still, enough about that, what brings you here on this wondrous night?"
"You know exactly why I'm here!" Kuwabara shot back, snapping out of his daze as his mental barriers shot up, the effect of the glamour fading "You attacked Akira! And Makie-chan too by th' sound of it!"
"Makie?" Eva repeated "Oh, Baka-pink, that was some time ago sensei." She waved a delicate hand dismissively "Barely counted as a pick me up." She smirked "But then again, didn't you already KNOW that?"
Kuwabara grit his teeth, recalling the vision from before with a grimace. So Evangeline HAD been involved with that, but he'd been too stupid to put two and two together. Even if he HADN'T had his brain bashed in he should have realized afterwards that 'fangs' and 'vampire' went hand in hand.
"Don't be too hard on yourself sensei." Evangeline assured him, "In fact, why don't you join me for a drink?"
Kuwabara blinked as something, make that two somethings, grabbed his legs, blinking down at the sight of Makie and Ako, their eyes glimmering in the darkness, a single fang poking out from under their upper lips as they held on like limpets. "What th'-?" he swore, struggling to throw them off but hesitant to use too much force in case he hurt them "What'd you do ta them?"
"Don't you know?" Evangeline remarked, floating down to stand on the water "Those bitten by vampires can either be turned, changed into ghouls or made into unwitting thralls." She smirked "The first two are too much of a hassle to watch over, and the whole 'virginity thing' really isn't something I tend to look for, but thralls?" the smirk widened "Well, all you need to do is order them and they do as they're told."
Kuwabara continued to struggle, almost succeeding in pulling the girls off when a pair of arms wrapped under his own, pulling him upright. He turned to look into the impassive face of Chachamaru, blinking as he noticed Akira walking into view; The swim team captain unbuckled the holster for Sayo's tablet, tossing it aside even as Yuna began unbuttoning his shirt.
"There's something I have to admit sensei." Evangeline noted, prowling forwards as her thralls and partner held the mortified tantei down, "I've lived for well over a century, I've tasted many things in that time, bitter and sweet, foul and savory, all things one does when time isn't an issue." She smirked as she stroked his neck with a delicate fingernail. "And while it is true that I need a specific type of blood to lift the curse in full…" she leaned in close "I have NEVER tasted blood as delicious as yours."
Kuwabara's eyes widened as he felt the fangs sink into his neck, his struggles dying as his vision swam before him, falling into darkness amidst the sound of the giggling thralls and Sayo's frantic screams.
Que Nadesico music.
What ho! Kuwabara has fallen prey to the dark temptress!
(Slurping noise, as if through a straw)
Kuwabara: GUWARGH!
What foul deeds shall evangeline sow across the campus? What fate awaits Poor Negi-kun!
(Slurping noise continues)
Oh the agony! of the indignity!
Next time on reikai sensei-kuwabara: Twighlight interlude!
Adult Evangeline: Open your eyes to the twighlight.
R&r for more sultry vampire action.