Updates for this one might take longer coming out folks, but don't worry, I fully intend to get up to the Chao ark.
Mana: Good, *cocks desert eagle against my head* Now about my screen time...
40th period.
Life had always had it's ups and downs for one Murakami Natsumi. For one thing, she had, after much trial and error, manage to enroll at the prestigious all-girls academy at Mahora, something that set her apart from her old friends at elementary school. The downside was that, in a class full of admittedly cute, and several exotic, girls, she was undeniably plain and average, and the fact she was insecure about her freckles didn't help.
Another downside to her enrollment was that, considering the distance between the campus and her hometown, she was forced to reside in the dorms, which had been a nerve-wracking experience when she'd heard of it, as she'd never even been to a sleepover before. However, the fact she'd landed two pleasant, make that ideal roommates, had more than made up for this. Yukihiro Ayaka, while a little domineering and eccentric, was nonetheless the type of person that went out of their way to comfort others, and Naba Chizuru was a veritable goddess with her gentle ways and firm stance on ethics. Though truth be told, between Ayaka's bouts of fancy and Chizuru's 'dark-side', Natsumi honestly couldn't tell which was worse.
Now however, as she was held hostage by a cute, admittedly strange boy that may or may not have once been a puppy they'd rescued, the freckled girl was idly wondering if there was something out to get her.
"Wh-who are you?!" the freckled teen demanded, her eyes little spirals of terror as she struggled against her captor, the fact he was panting in her ear doing nothing for her state of mental terror "and what're you doin-!"
"Quiet!" the youth panted, earning a terrified squeal from the girl as he leant in closer, pressing his claws closer to her neck, "Y-you over there…" he panted, addressing the surprisingly calm Chizuru with a glare "I'll need something to eat…and also something to wear…"
Chizuru, who was taking in the scene before her rather well for someone who's roommate was being used as a meat shield, suddenly smiled and drew closer "What's your name?" she asked ever advancing "And where'd you come from? Won't you tell us? Maybe we can help you."
"My n-name you say?!" the youth repeated, seeming to flinch, as if unable to comprehend what she was talking about, the hand aimed at Natsumi's throat rising to cover his face "I…I know I must have one but…what could it…?" he shook his head "N-NO. First I gotta find hi-!"
"Find 'HIM' did you say?" Chizuru asked politely, now standing well within reach of the surprisingly strong boy, close enough to startle him apparently, as he lashed out at her with his claws, opening a small wound on her collarbone, neatly severing one of her bra straps in the process, though the sight of her blood startled him.
"Chizu-ne!" Natsumi gasped, her hands tensing in shock, only to blink as her right hand apparently tightened around something instinctively, her face turning red as she leapt away from the youth, whose face had turned pale with horror as he clasped both hands over his abused parts "S-sorry!"
"Oh my…" Chizuru noted, sounding concerned as she hugged the traumatized youth to her chest, his face mashed between her heavenly peaks, his confused, mortified expression looking up at her as she beamed down at him "That must have hurt a lot…and you've already got a high fever as it is, you should really lie down before you faint…we should check on that arm too."
The youth, either a result of exhaustion, the shock of having his package crushed, or near suffocation from being pressed into the no.1 cleavage of class 3-A, collapsed to his knees in a dead faint, only Chizuru's gentle hands keeping him from falling on his face, the last thing he heard being Natsumi's praising of her roommate, before freaking out at the blood still trailing down her neck.
*******
Meanwhile...
While all this had been going on, back at Evangeline's cottage, or rather, inside the magical resort hidden in the basement, the group that had come to spy on Negi were getting their fingers into everything they could, including Evangeline's special cask of snacks, much to her ire.
"You want ME to teach YOU magic?!" Evangeline repeated, looking over the insistent forms of Yue and Nodoka in disbelief, a little flushed from yelling at the bluenette for trying to drink her personal 'juice' supply, which was in actual fact a type of fermented tropical wine. "Now why'd I do something as mundane as that?" she muttered, shooing the dup away "Go ask the boya, he's your sensei isn't he?"
"N-Negi-sensei's sparring with K-Kuwabara-sensei and K-Kino-sensei." Nodoka replied back nervously, earning an inquisitive stare from the maga nosferatu "Apparently Kino-sensei wants to use the time here to improve on her skills."
"A woman after my own heart." Evangeline noted with mock approval, her lips twisting sardonically as she turned to watch the fight, noting with distaste that Kuwabara and the Boya were holding back a LOT, at least in terms of overall brute force. It showed because Negi kept getting sent flying, despite the fact he should've been easily been able to counter her blows, and the fact that Kuwabara was fighting her toe to toe without injuring her.
Though this was no insult to the woman's skill, every blow was timed and coordinated with such precision it was actually making Ku Fei, who'd been acting as referee, drool buckets, the odd Chinese Kempo practitioner literally chomping at the bit, only Chachamaru and Kazumi keeping her from leaping into the fray.
'Both she and Kuwabara are holding back their full power.' Evangeline noted, sensing the duo's movements and energy levels with the ease of practice, 'power wise she isn't anywhere NEAR Kuwabara's level, but in terms of skill…'
"HYAKURETSU!" Makoto yelled, delivering a veritable storm of kicks to Kuwabara's chest that sent the man skidding backwards, her face flushed as she grinned at him in approval "You weren't kidding Kuwabara…you've never lasted this long before." She smirked at him "and I see you got over the whole 'Women are weak' thing."
"I never thought women were weak." Kuwabara countered, smirking as he settled back into a stance "Hell, anyone that spent any amount o' time with Shizuru-ne should know that," he smirked at her "I don't like hitting women, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna let 'em walk all over me."
"Good to hear." Makoto acknowledged, shifting into a lower pose, before launching herself forward with a spear-kick that spun her whole body in mid-air like a drill "It's more fun when you fight back!"
"UOH! CAN NO HOLD BACK ARU!" Ku Fei roared, Baka Yellow's eyes practically glowing with eagerness as she slipped past her restraints and landed in front of Negi, who was groggily getting back to his feet "DISCIPLE! YOU SPARRING NOW ARU!"
"WAH! KU-ROSHI! WAIT-!" Negi yelped, the young magi trying to make his student/martial arts master see reason, only to instinctively slip into a defensive stance as he fended off the blonde's strikes "HIIEEE!! MASTER! HELP!"
"Such a bothersome disciple…" Evangeline muttered, shaking her head in disbelief as she watched Nagi's son get launched through the air, Kuwabara and Makoto too focused on their own duel to pay his screams for mercy any mind.
*******
Several minutes later...
"You want me to teach you magic?" Negi repeated, looking at the girls in disbelief as he sipped a mana replenishing concoction of Evangeline's, allowing Konoka and Chachamaru to see to his wounds "I don't know…Master?"
"Do what you want." The Shinso muttered, her feet kicking in the air as she lay on her belly, reading a book "May as well take attendance while you're at it. The air here's so saturated with magic that even an amateur can probably pull off a trick or two."
"That's what powers ME while we're here!" Chachazero admitted with a cackle, earning nervous looks from the girls, who all wisely decided to sidle warily away from Evangeline's psychopathic puppet partner.
"Well…okay!" Negi agreed, leading them away from Evangeline so she could relax in peace, setting a bunch of wands on the ground before him "Let's start with something simple, pick a starter wand from here, and while wielding it, chant: Practibigi Naru Ardescat!"
The group, which included an intrigued Makoto and Kuwabara, looked on in awe as a tiny, candle-like flame burst into being on the tip of Negi's wand, earning a round of applause from them all.
"Obviously it'd be a lot easier to just use a lighter." Negi reasoned, the young magi blushing in embarrassment at the praise he was getting for something hardly anyone used "But for a beginner this is a pretty good spell to learn."
"I think I'll give that a go." Makoto chuckled, earning a confused look from the group, and a knowing smirk from Evangeline, as she nudged Kuwabara with her elbow "Whadd'ya say Kuwabara? You up for it?"
"What the hell, why not." Kuwabara muttered, the ponytailed Tantei accepting the moon wand from Negi and looking it over suspiciously, while Makoto picked up the one that looked like Saturn, twirling it like her henshin pen in her hand "On three?"
"Practibigi Naru Ardescat!" Makoto chanted, twirling the wand in a rough imitation of Negi's own movements, a smile coming to her face as the flame popped into existence, though for some reason a small electrical spark had preceded it "Hey, I did it!"
"And on your first time too!" Negi noted, the stunned western wizard applauding along with the rest of his students, "That's impressive Makoto-san! Even I had to practice like crazy before I could do that!"
"Ardescat!" Kuwabara cried out, the pontailed Tantei thrusting the moon wand out irritably again and again, his brows furrowing as the flame refused to light "Dammit, maybe I'm just not suited for magic…"
"Don't say that sensei!" Konoka insisted, the daughter of Eishun beaming at her lanky, first pactio partner encouragingly even as the others eagerly took up the gauntlet "There's always eastern magic, right?"
"Indeed." Setsuna agreed, walking up beside Konoka, looking on with interest as Yue actually put more effort into trying to perform the spell than anything else "For example, I may not know western sorcery…" she chanted a word and a flame popped into existence over her finger "But I can perform a similar, less taxing spell nonetheless."
"Might look into that…" Kuwabara noted, the Tantei nodding his head with interest as Konoka glomped the flustered swordswoman in glee "Maybe Eishun-san's got a few hints…he's the elder of Kyoto after all…"
"Ku Fei you cheater!" the group cried out, Kuwabara looking round just in time to see them dog-piling on Baka Yellow, who'd apparently taken Negi's words to heart, and was taking the easy way out of using a lighter.
Needless to say, between breaking the fight, wrangling hints on eastern magic out of a flustered Setsuna, and a follow-up free-for all spar between him, Makoto, Evangeline, Chachamaru, Negi and Ku Fei, the tantei was well and truly exhausted come nightfall.
*******
Back with Natsumi and Chizuru...
"What should we do with him?" Natsumi wondered aloud, the freckled girl looking up from the prone, slumbering form of the cute, but strange boy that they had unwittingly brought back to their home, as she knelt by his side.
"Oh my," Naba Chizuru chuckled aloud, her face lined with good cheer as she set about tidying the room, looking for all the world like a mother cleaning up after her kids "I wonder what Ayaka will say when she comes back?"
Natsumi, who had no doubt that their roommate would have a LOT to say when she learned of their taking in a stray, blinked as said stray began to whimper in his sleep, leaning in close to hear what he was talking about "Now he's talking about 'Negi' in his sleep!" she cried out, wondering just what on earth the kid could be dreaming of.
"Oh! Perhaps he's talking about how they lower fevers with suppositories of Negi!" Chizuru reasoned, the bustiest member of 3A looking ever so chipper as she pulled one of the aforementioned japanese leeks out of thin air, rolling up her sleeves as she advanced on the comatose teen "And what do you know! I happen to have one right here! Shall we-?"
"Y-YOU CAN'T CHIZU-NE!" Natsumi shrieked, horrified at what her roommate was planning to do to the poor boy, as you could never tell when Chizuru was kidding "NOT TO A BOY YOU'VE JUST MET!"
"…have to…tell him…" said boy whimpered, turning fitfully in his sleep, unaware of the violation he'd narrowly escaped "Danger…coming closer…"
*******
Mahora grounds...
Out in the streets of Mahora, amidst the shadows and falling rain, a set of eyes loomed out of a nearby puddle, taking in the empty streets soullessly, before retreating back into the darkness.
"Negi Springfield…" a set of voices called out in tandem, almost ephemeral as they echoed down the long abandoned streets "Kagurazaka Asuna…"
*******
Evangeline's Resort, Night...
Kuwabara awoke with a snort, sitting upright on the bed that had been set aside for him, looking blearily up at the stars as he yawned, only to blink at the sight of Makoto sitting on the steps, fiddling with a wand. "Ardescat…" the brunette muttered, smiling as the flame crackled into existence again, though it was still heralded by a burst of static, unlike the others.
"You're getting pretty good at that." Kuwabara noted, the lanky professor walking up to her barefoot, dressed in his tracksuit pants and a vest as he sat next to her "Maybe you should look into a few more spells?"
"Might just do that." Makoto admitted, twirling the wand between her fingers expertly as she smiled up at her old college buddy, her eyes dancing coyly "After all, at least ONE of us has to pull this off."
"Oi, you trying to start a fight?" Kuwabara growled, swatting her good-naturedly on the shoulder and earning a dig to the ribs for his trouble "I'm just not suited to western magic…or maybe I've no magic at all."
"Don't say that," Makoto insisted, looking up at the big lug with a reproving expression, as it wasn't like him to quit so easily "After all, how many times was it you showed up Rei whenever she challenged your sixth sense?"
"Five hundred and ninety-nine times, what's your point?" Kuwabara asked with a grin, earning a bark of guilty laughter from the brunette as she slapped him on the back giddily, the two of the revelling in their memories.
"Don't ever change Kuwabara." Makoto chuckled, the brunette wiping a tear of mirth out of her eyes, only to blink as she caught sight of movement down in the square "Hello? Is that…Negi-kun? With Asuna-san?"
"She's probably ragging on the brat for training late." Kuwabara reasoned, having gotten a decent understanding of Asuna's character during the duration of his stay at Mahora "Good thing she did, otherwise the kid would burn himself out, training at the pace he does."
"Young love." Makoto chuckled, earning a snort from the tantei, who rolled his eyes at the idea of the two ever shacking up, the brunette slowly getting to her feet, smiling down at her college buddy daringly "Wanna go tease them?"
"You women are evil." Kuwabara muttered, though he rose grudgingly to follow after the brunette as she skipped eagerly towards the duo, smirking wryly at Negi as they came upon the duo in the middle of their talk "Evenin' Bozu."
"Kuwabara-san, Kino-san." Negi greeted, even as Asuna bowed to the sensei duo respectfully, earning a smile from Makoto "I was just talking to Asuna san about…well…the reason I'm so focused on becoming a Magister Magi."
"Sorta like Merlin or a Fairy Godparent." Kuwabara explained to the confused Makoto, who nodded in understanding "I gotta admit, I've been curious about that too…" he muttered, turning to Negi with a nod :I mean besides th' whole wantin' ta find yer father bit."
"Well, the more the merrier I say!" Chamo called out, the pervin' Ermine having already chalked a magical circle on the marble floor with his usual swiftness "All set aniki! I even drew up an extra large one for the sensei here!"
"This ain't another Pactio circle is it?" Kuwabara muttered, glaring at the Ermine suspiciously, having learned that HE had been the one behind most of the Pactio rituals thus far, and his ulterior motives for doing so.
"Nope!" Chamo assured the man, knowing exactly why the man was so supicious of him, and not wanting to be strangled so soon after the last time "This circle's designed to take all those inside on a journey through Aniki's memory! Sort of like a movie, only you're walking alongside the cast!"
"Sounds trippy…count me in!" Makoto cheered, the energetic brunette kneeling eagerly down next to Asuna, before grinning up at the understandably nervous Kuwabara, patting the ground next to her invitingly "C'mon ya big lug."
"I just know I'm gonna regret this…" Kuwabara muttered, kneeling into the circle, shooting one last glare at Chamo, even as Negi's magic caused a light to go off behind his eyeballs. When the lights cleared, the tantei found himself standing in the middle of a European town, snow falling gently around him, as naked as the day he was born.
"I knew it…" he muttered exasperatedly, even as Makoto and Asuna's twin shrieks of mortification filled the air "Magic is nothin' but trouble!"
*******
Evangeline's Resort, ten seconds after memory spell begins...
"Hey…" Kazumi called out, drawing everyone's attention away from Nodoka's artifact as she held her chin pensively, "I'm all for hearing about Negi-kun's past…but what about Kuwabara-sensei or Kino-sensei?"
"You and your muck-raking…" Evangeline muttered, shooting the paparazzi a deadpan expression "you're already peeping uninvited into the boya's past, I have an excuse as his master and Nodoka's the one using the artifact, the rest of you are just nosy."
"C'mon, don't tell me you haven't wondered how they know one another?" Kazumi insisted, trying tonder the vampire's skin "After all, they may be college buddies, but they seem pretty close even for just being friends…"
"They could be having kinky monkey sex in the bathtub for all I care." Evangeline muttered dismissively, earning mortified looks from some of the girls "If you feel the need to satisfy your perverse hunger for knowledge, do it AFTER I'm done checking on my disciple."
*******
Negi's memories...
"On a scale of one to ten that was the most retarded thing I've ever seen, Bozu." Kuwabara muttered, the tantei watching as Negi's uncle hauled the then four year-old Negi out of the freezing lake water.
"I understand that now." Negi's astral voice admitted, his tone subdued as they watched Nekane, Negi's cousin, collapse onto his bed, crying out of grief at how her innocent words had driven the boy to such action "But back then I honestly thought that if I was in great enough danger, my father would come to save me."
"The ignorance of mortality…" Makoto muttered, shaking her in pity and understanding as chibi-Negi tried to comfort his weeping cousin "Children don't believe in death…it can lead to some harsh lessons."
"None so harsh as the one that was to follow…" Negi agreed, his tone layered with a hint of foreboding as the scene changed to a shot of the boy fishing at a lake, the snow still falling gently all around him. Makoto and Asuna, completely smitten with the child's cuteness, giggled as they watched him run towards the village, only to gape at the sight that awaited them all.
Fire, the entire village had been set alight, casting an angry, murderous red glow over the countryside, dark smoke rising into the suddenly darkened sky.
"Whoa what th' hell!?" Kuwabara gaped, the naked tantei looking around in alarm as he took in the carnage that was raging all around him, only to blink as Chibi-Negi raced deeper into the flames "OI! BOZU!"
"Uncle!" the memory of the youth cried out in English, the onlookers able to comprehend the language due to their being in Negi's mind, as the spell acted as a type of translator "Uncle! Nekane! Un…cle…?"
"Oh God…" Makoto gasped, looking upon the sight of the mass of statues barring the boy's path, recognizing them immediately as victims of a mass petrification spell, having faced off against a Youma with similar abilities once before.
"Th-this is MY fault!" Chibi-Negi cried, the memroy of the young western wizard falling on his knees and crying his eyes out as the flames raged unchecked around him, like a scene from Dante's Inferno "I made this happen!"
"Don't be stupid!" Asuna yelled, the astral form of Baka Red hovering unseen before the memory of Negi's past self, her arms spread wide as she tried to get his attention "There's no way in hell this is your fault! Quit talking like-!"
"We got company…" Kuwabara growled, the redhead whipping round just in time to see the sensei facing off against a veritable horde of demons, some human shaped, some nothing more than balls of goo. One, a particularly beefy looking creature with cloven hooves and tusks, reared an arm back as if to smash the little boy, Kuwabara letting out a snarl as he lashed out, his internal instinct to protect the child overriding the fact this was merely a memory. Therefore it came as quite a shock when the demon's blow came to a halt as he punched it.
'What th' hell?' the tantei wondered, gaping at his incorporeal fist in shock, only to realize it WASN'T him that stopped the blow, turning his head to the side to see a tall, familiar figure with spiky brown hair and a staff standing next to him, warding off the blow with one hand 'That's-!'
The silent figure pushed the demon back, a smirk on his face as several words in Latin exited it, even as a bolt of lightning descended from on high, vivisecting the demon with one strike. The horde, as if enraged by their comrade's death, swarmed the man from all sides, only to be beaten back by a combination of high speed blows and spells that made them easier to deal with, even as the incorporeal onlookers gaped at him in awe.
'Wha-what the hell?' Kuwabara stammered, easily recognizing the man from Evangeline's dream 'I thought Negi's old man was a fake!? A dropout that relied on tricks!' he gaped as the man launched a Jovis Tempestas right into the horde's main body, decimating them and punching a hole through the countryside 'This power sure as hell ain't fake!'
"S-so you're him-!" a voice called out, the Tantei's gaze snapping towards the sight of Nagi, or whoever the hell the caped figure was, holding a demon off the ground by it's neck, his features hidden in shadow "The…degree of your power…" the demon noted with a hint of mockery in its tone "Tough to tell which of us is the monster…"
Kuwabara, who had caught the look on the man's face in time, leapt in front of Makoto and Asuna, even as the sickening crack of snapping vertebrae filled the air, glaring over his shoulder at the man 'Now I know somethin's up.' He muttered, even as Asuna demanded he get out of the way 'Someone who can kill with that kinda face…'
The last time Kuwabara had seen that face on a human being had been when Sensui Shinobu had apparently killed Yusuke, for no other reason than the fact the Tantei had stood in his predecessor's way. On the one hand, it was almost sad, like he pitied the person he was killing, but on the other…
Sadly, Chibi-Negi, being a memory, had not been given the luxury of avoiding that look on his supposed savior's face, and had run off into the night, forcing the group to float after him in concern.
"Slow down Negi-kun!' Makoto called out, the astral form of the Senshi of Jupiter trying to reason with the traumatized, childhood memory of her young colleague fruitlessly "There may still be demons lurking in the-!"
Sure enough, a horned demon, clad in something akin to a breastplate loomed out of the fire, perched on a piece of blazing rubble as he looked upon the youth, his mouth opening wide as a beam of white light fired at the terrified youth.
"NEGI!"
God I'm a bastard aren't I?
BLAM!
HEAD SHOT
Mana: Indeed you are.
Cue the Nadesico music!
Narrator: A Sneak Attack!
Demon: I'MA FIRIN' MAH LAYZAR! BWAAAAAAAAAARGHH!!!
Kuwabara: WE DID THIS ALREADY!
Narrator: But a sacrifice of age ensures the youthes are spared!
Stan: YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS! MAFUUBA!
Narrator: But what dark presence stalks the halls of Mahora?!
???: Hm...so this is where they're holed up...
Narrator: Can our heroes survive this latest threat on their doorstep?!
Next time on Reikai Sensei Kuwabara: Childhood's End! The Return of the Nightmare!
Herrmann: You are cordially invited (Tips his hat, mouth glowing) To the End of Days...
Note: No animals were harmed during the making of this chapter...Kotaro's nuts aside, but then he's not an animal...most of the time...