Disclaimer: I don't own Negima or Ranma 1/2.
Rise of Prodigies
Chapter Seventy-Four: Epilogue - Date Night - Girls Only Edition
"Do you think it's too uncomfortable?" Sayo-chan asked as she floated along beside Kazumi, poking the little pet carrier the redhead was carrying.
The two were taking Kitty, their massive draco-lich for a walk. But since walking him around the Mahora campus in his usual form wouldn't do - Because of magical law, go figure - they had stuffed him into a pet carrier. It was not just any ol' pet carrier though! Nay! That wouldn't be good enough for their precious Kitty! And it wouldn't have been big enough to fit him anyway. So instead, his pet carrier was a special one they had ordered from over the Net whose inside was enchanted with spatial magic that allowed it to fit his gigantic frame inside the itty bitty space. It was just like Eva-chan's resort, but portable.
Perhaps understanding how incredible his carrier was, Kitty didn't seem to have a problem with it too. Not if the happy cat noises he made at each new sight was anything to go by.
"Aw, Kazumi-san, did you get a pet?" One of Kazumi and Sayo-chan's yearmates at Mahora Junior High asked as the girl and two of her friends, all their acquaintances, wandered by.
Their approach seemed to intrigue Kitty and he let out a curious meow.
"It sounds like a kitten!" Another of the girls said as they came closer to take a look.
"Um, well…" The journalist trailed off with a grimace in anticipation of what was to come.
Expectedly, the moment that the three normal school girls - Which Kazumi was honest enough to admit she no longer classified as - set their eyes on the horrific skeletal dragon in miniature that Kazumi was carrying, they all screamed in horror and fled like the devil itself was after their bubbly souls.
"Yeah, that. Oh well!" She shrugged, hardly bothered by it. A necromancer was going to necromance! Or, at least that was what BTN-sensei told her.
She just had to roll with the punches.
This is my life now, after all. Kazumi thought as she sighed with resignation.
"There there, Kitty. The mean girls didn't mean to hurt your feelings, did they?" Sayo-chan asked their pet soothingly, who no doubt felt down at the rejection from the cute middle school girls.
Kazumi patted the carrier to offer her own comfort to her undead dragon.
To add to her ever increasing misery, that was exactly when BTN-sensei teleported in front of her.
"Kazumi, my favorite apprentice!" He cheered and pulled her into a bear hug.
It was just one of those days.
Where did her young journalist life go?
Eva, wearing a darling lolita dress in black and holding a parasol to block out the pesky sun, walked side to side with her lovely mate. A mate who was wearing an identical dress in white.
And as they walked through the beautiful orange tinted streets of Mahora during sunset, Eva pulled her love closer, snuggling into her solid frame as they just walked in comfortable silence. It was a nice and wholesome way to spend the evening after an afternoon of raunchy activities that they had engaged in before they had set out for dinner.
Only for it to be ruined! Because fate hated her and she could not have good things!
This date ruining event took the form of a man in a dirty academic robe, a t-shirt, and a pair of jeans. A man that, much to her chagrin, Eva recognized as that crazy fool, Bob the Necromancer, the psycho that famously went mad after becoming Grandmaster of Necromancy at Unseen University before proceeding to flee to the jungles of Mundus Magicus where he met and became the master of that wannabe journalist classmate of hers, Asakura.
A man who bowed to her in deference and held out a tome. "Lady McDowell, I am such a huge fan! You are an inspiration! Please, sign my grimoire!"
This grimoire took the form of an old worn out introductory piece to necromancy. Something that just a few centuries ago would have had the Church burning both it and its owner at the stake.
She would know, she had allowed herself to be caught for owning something similar and sentenced to be burned to death once. For the laughs. And when she got bored of the whole thing, she killed all of those idiots who had tried to kill her.
Ah, memories. She thought in bliss as she took the tome. Ignoring as she did the amused look that Ranma shot her as her reminiscing leaked across their pseudo-mating bond.
"I always attract the crazies. Still, nice catch Paparazzi Girl." Eva said to Asakura who was trailing behind her apparent master.
By the hangdog look on her face, the little budding death magic user didn't feel lucky. All this despite the ghost that was her guardian spirit doing her best to comfort her mistress/lover. In fact… Yes! The ghost was actually using unseen pseudopods of her ectoplasm that she had phased through Asakura's clothes to play with her lover's body as part of said attempt at comfort.
"Now who am I making this out to?" Eva asked, hiding a smile and pulling out a pen from nowhere.
"Bob the Necromancer!"
"Of course." Eva deadpanned and signed it with a flourish of her wrist. "To Bob, keep on raising the dead and scaring people. From Evangline A.K. McDowell, the Girl Queen of Darkness."
Ranma, the minx that she was, found the entire thing hilarious if her giggles and the sheer amusement she was feeling were anything to go by.
Eva would get her revenge later.
A most sexy and passionate revenge!
"Ojou-I mean, Kono-chan," Setsuna hastily corrected at the look that her Magistra and girlfriend shot her as they were halfway up the long flight of stairs they were climbing. "Why are we climbing the stairs? If you want, I could fly us up to the compound."
"Don't be silly, Set-chan." Ojou-sama retorted in a regal tone. "If I wanted to avoid climbing the stairs I'd have used Shundō (Instant Movement) to just teleport directly to the compound. No. It's been so long since we've been back home during the Kyoto Trip that I want the whole experience of being back. That includes climbing the stairs back home."
Setsuna just nodded with an amused smile. That kind of insane logic was just like her precious ojou-sama. Though glancing at the long set of stairs that passed under hundreds of torii gates, creating an effect not unlike that could more famously be found at the Fushimi Inari Shrine, the crow hanyō couldn't help but feel a little exasperated as well. The steps up to the Kansai Magic Association headquarters that they both called home were insanely long and she simply could not muster her beloved's enthusiasm for climbing them, no matter how long they had been away.
"I mean, the only reason we can even be back home like this is because Summer Vacation got extended because of all the chaos caused by the end of war against Cosmo Entelecheia." Ojou-chan added as they continued their climb up the mountain on the top of which sat the Kansai Magic Association headquarters. "Let's make the best of it."
"Whatever you say, Kono-chan." Setsuna agreed with a sigh. It was better than to argue with her girlfriend. She knew she could not win, so it was best to not even try.
"You don't agree, Set-chan?" Ojou-sama asked with a frown. "You know you can tell me if you don't, right?"
"I honestly think this is a waste of time but I don't really care enough to disagree." Setsuna said with a shrug. "If you want to climb the stairs, then let us climb the stairs."
That was the right answer it seems, at least if the brilliant smile that Ojou-sama offered her in response was any indication. All whilst she skipped over to wrap her arms around one of Setsuna's own and began pulling her close to her side before proceeding to happily lead them up the stairs. Something that they did in a comfortable, loving silence that lasted for the ten or so minutes that they needed to reach the top of the stairs.
And as they stepped over the top stair, Setsuna's eyes widened as she saw what had been set up at the small courtyard in front of the gate of the Kansai Magic Association headquarters. On the cobblestones of the yard in front of the traditional Japanese manor gate of the Association compound was a large magic circle drawn in chalk.
A magic circle that Setsuna recognized from her research on Pactios on the nights when she let her fantasies get the better of her. A ritual circle that would complete a Pactio and transform a temporary contract into a permanent one. The sight of which left Setsuna in absolute shock.
"Chamo-kun, you got it done in time. Thank you!" Ojou-sama told the ermine fairy standing in the shade by the side of the courtyard and smoking a chocolate cigar whilst Setsuna continued to stare at the magic circle in shock.
"Only because you bought me enough time." The fae said as he took a long 'drag' on his candy cigarette. "Good job with that, you slave driver!"
"Oh! Hush, you! You're getting well paid for this so don't complain."
"Yeah, yeah." Negi-sensei's familiar said with a shrug. "Just hurry and get things started already before your girlfriend passes out from shock."
Ojou-sama rolled her eyes, but nevertheless turned away from the fairy and directed her full attention to Setsuna.
"Set-chan, would you be willing to make our Pactio Permanent?" Ojou-sama asked with a faux airiness.
Setsuna knew her girlfriend well enough to know she would not be blasé about something this important. After all, a Permanent Pactio was a lifetime commitment. It was a literal contract that lasted till death did them part. As if that was not enough, a Permanent Pactio often led to a marriage between the partners.
Which means she has something even more important to ask me… Setsuna realized, her heart racing as her mind ran wild with possibilities. However, even as she thought so, she contained her excitement and offered her girlfriend a pleased smile.
"Of course I would, Kono-chan." Setsuna informed Ojou-sama, prompting the other girl to smile brilliantly and begin dragging her into the center of the magic circle that Chamo-kun had prepared for them. All with a happy cheer!
"Yaaay~!" Ojou-sama trailed off as they reached the required place in the circle for the ritual. "Then let's kiss and seal that Permanent Pactio~!"
Blushing lightly, Setsuna nodded and leaned in as her girlfriend pulled her close. A blush that only proceeded to grow even brighter as their lips met and she and Ojou-sama shared a passionate kiss. A meeting of lips that was backlit by brilliant golden light from the ritual circle and she felt the magic it had triggered wrap around both of them, binding them together for the rest of their lives. When it was done, the light coalesced into a pair of new Pactio cards, similar but not quite the same as the Pactio cards from their Temporary Pactio. Cards that the couple happily picked from the air as they finally pulled out of their kiss and examined them happily for a long moment.
"Is that all, Kono-chan?" Setsuna asked when she was finished happily admiring her new Pactio card. "Or is there more?"
Offering her a smile, Ojou-sama quickly put away her copy of their Pactio card and nodded.
"Yes. Just one more thing." Ojou-sama said as she proceeded to get onto one knee.
Setsuna gasped. She had imagined Ojou-sama had something else more than just forming a Permanent Pactio with her but she could not believe it was this!
Pulling out a ring box, she proceeded to pop it open and reveal a white gold ring with an oval diamond as a centerpiece that was surrounded by a halo of smaller diamonds even as even more of the jewels studded the entire outer edge of the band. A ring that she offered to Setsuna whilst looking at her lovingly and proposed. "Set-chan, would you marry me?"
Left speechless, Setsuna struggled to reply. All she could do was open and close her mouth without being able to voice a coherent word. A stupor that prompted Ojou-sama to desperately explain herself.
"I know we're young but I want you, Set-chan." Ojou-sama said with absolute certainty and without a hint of embarrassment. "And I won't settle for anyone else."
Seeing as she was still unable to muster anything beyond unintelligible mutterings, Ojou-sama kept going in her attempt to convince Setsuna to agree.
"Of course, we don't need to get married straight away. In fact, we probably shouldn't since we're so young and it might get us in trouble. But! We can definitely get engaged! So won't you say yes, Set-chan?"
Deciding that she should get her act together and finally give Ojou-sama her answer, Setsuna took a deep breath. Breathing out and focusing on the effort as a means to focus her thoughts so as to allow her to calm her mind, Setsuna finally regained her wits.
"O-Ojo- No, Kono-chan," Setsuna replied with as much calm as she could manage whilst her heart was skipping a mile a minute in absolute joy whilst she stretched out her left hand towards Ojou-sama. "Yes. Yes, of course I'll marry you."
Smiling so brightly that she, in Setsuna's eyes, rivaled the sun, Kono-chan pulled the ring from its box and slipped it onto the fourth finger on the left hand. And the moment that it was secure, Setsuna's fiancée - Her fiancée! - looked up and stared at the hanyō lovingly. Looking so beautiful as she did that the Shinmei-ryū swordswoman couldn't resist reaching down, grabbing Kono-chan by her shoulders and pulling her to her feet and into the most toe curlingly passionate kiss they had ever shared.
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
Kazumi, gurl, you thought you would have an easier time now? Ha! You are a Necromancer, nothing is going to go right until you make backup plans for your backup plans. It's the law of the universe for undead summoners. At least you have Sayo and Kitty to help out. And Master Bob, if he isn't being a simpering fanboy for Eva lolz.
Nameless: Indeed. And since E4E has addressed Kazumi and Sayo whilst Ranma and Eva were basically addressed in an earlier chapter in the epilogue arc, I'll just mention that I think having Konoka and Setsuna basically having their happily ever after is something they deserved. Hope you agree.
Ah, the fluff. The sweet sweet fluff of some yuri yuri time. Truly one of the cutest yuri couples I know. It gives me NanoFate vibes. All hail! All hail KonoSetsu!
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!
