Disclaimer: I don't own Negima or Ranma 1/2.

Rise of Prodigies

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Epilogue - The Birth of House Springfield

"So you're going on a date with that Chisame girl, Negi?" Negi heard Father ask from where he was lounging on a sofa in the living room of the home that they now shared with Albireo Imma-san underneath Mahora, whilst watching the child teacher as he tidied up his appearance for his outing with Chisame-san before he set off.

"It's not a date, Father." Negi retorted. "She just invited me to spend some time with her whilst she does a Chiu photoshoot."

"Sounds like a date to me." Father teased, only to have Albireo-san smack him over the head as he wandered into the living room from the kitchen.

"Don't tease Negi, Nagi." Albireo-san chided Father with a twinkle in his eye.

"Okay, I'll stop." Father said, rubbing the back of his head where he'd been smacked. "But Negi, I do have a question. What's Chiu exactly? And what does that have to do with a photoshoot?"

"It's my alter ego." Chisame-san said as she entered the chamber of Mahora's labyrinthine underground ruins that served as their living room. "She's a famous Net Idol, specifically a glamor model and blog writer, that I created using my cosplay and computer skills."

"Albireo, I think we need a door." Father said, shooting his fellow member of Ala Rubra an amused look.

"Yes, I agree." Albireo-san said with a smile of amusement. "I never had these kinds of problems through the decade I lived here before you and your son moved in with me, Nagi."

"Only because you were hiding and nobody knew you were here."

"True."

Shaking his head in amusement at his father and his old friend's antics, Negi glanced at his watch, confirming that his suspicion was correct before turning his attention to Chisame-san.

"You're early, Chisame-san." Negi told his student. "We weren't supposed to be heading out for another ten minutes."

"And it takes more than ten minutes to get down here from the surface." Chisame-san shot back. "You were running late so I came down to fetch you."

Negi nodded. Chisame had a point there.

"Alright. So let-"

"Wait!" Father shouted suddenly, cutting Negi off.

"Father?" Negi asked, looking at his father questioningly.

"What is it?" Chisame-san asked, sounding annoyed.

"Hasegawa-san, I have an important question for you before I let you go with my son."

"Oh? And what's that?" Chisame-san asked, crossing her arms and cocking an eyebrow.

"Are you two going on a date? I mean, you two are certainly dressed like it is." Father asked, gesturing towards Negi and Chisame-san.

Negi could see where Father was coming from. Chisame-san was dressed quite nicely today. Wearing a yellow puff shoulder top, yellow and green check skirt, and a stylish pair of white sandals, she was looking very, very pretty. It certainly seemed like she was going out on a date.

And matching her, Negi had dressed up for the occasion as well and was wearing a blue three piece suit that he had paired with a light purple dress shirt, a tie in a color that matched his suit, and a pair of brown leather shoes. In other words, he was dressed very formally indeed.

"We're dressed well because we're going for a photo shoot." Chisame-san said with a nod as he patted the over-large tote bag she was carrying. "I've three other outfits for it here."

"And you need Negi for your photoshoot?"

Chisame-san shrugged. "He acted as an extra in a few past shoots and I got a lot of positive responses for them so I asked for his help for this shoot too."

"You need the boost in your numbers, Hasegawa-san?" Albireo-san asked, looking curious.

"Yeah." Chisame-san admitted with a huff. "I was offline for too long whilst I was stuck in Mundus Magicus and lost a lot of followers. I need something big to boost things and put me back on track towards recovery."

"So you're just exploiting my son?" Father asked, looking at Negi's student accusingly.

"Nothing of the sort, Father. I volunteered."

"That doesn't mean she isn't exploiting you, Negi." Father countered. "She could be manipulating you into helping her."

Chisame-san looked affronted by the accusation and seemed ready to retort but Negi preempted her. "Father, that's too much! Chisame-san would never do that!"

Father didn't seem convinced and continued to look at Chisame-san searchingly. "Well, what do you have to say, Hasegawa-san?"

"Believe what you want, Springfield-san." Chisame-san said with a roll of her eyes before she spun around to face the exit. "Negi-sensei, are you ready to go?"

"Yes!" Negi said, hurrying to her side. "Let's go, Chisame-san."

"Let's," Chisame-san agreed as she started walking, leading the both of them out of the 'house'.

"Those two are definitely going on a date." Nagi opined to Albireo as the couple in question walked out of hearing range.

"Indeed." His old friend agreed.

"You think I should spy on them?"

"Please don't." Albireo said with a shake of his head. "You'll probably end up getting caught and spoiling things for Negi."

"You have so little faith in my abilities, Albireo?"

"Considering how out of practice you are from being possessed by the Mage for a decade? Yes."

Nagi pouted. "You're hurtful, buddy."

"No, I'm just honest." Albireo retorted as he wandered back into the kitchen. "Now, let's go prepare dinner. Negi is not joining us for it, correct?"

"Nope. He's eating out on his date." Nagi confirmed as he followed after his friend, hands folded behind his head.

"Then it's just the two of us." Albireo said with a smirk as he walked over to the fridge, opened it and pulled out a couple bottles of beer. "Fancy some drinks over dinner to celebrate Negi-kun getting a girlfriend?"

"Hell yeah!" Nagi said, a matching smirk spreading across his face as he snatched one of the beer bottles. "To Negi getting a girlfriend!"

"To Negi getting a girlfriend," Albireo echoed, still sporting a smirk as they clinked their bottles and promptly proceeded to down the first of many bottles of beer that night. Something as important as commemorating his son getting his first girlfriend deserved at least getting smashed for one night in celebration!

"You always look good, Chisame-san. Not only were you so pretty in that yellow and green outfit you started the day with, but in that red dress too!" Chisame heard Negi-sensei comment as she finished changing into her last outfit for the day, a swimsuit, in the changing rooms of the Mahora Junior High pool.

"Yeah, and you look good as my extra in those shots we took too." Chisame replied as she recalled the shots she had taken whilst wearing the deep red pleated dress with velvet collar and pearl belt that was her second outfit of the shoot.

"You are giving me too much credit, Chisame-san." Negi-sensei demurred as he presumably continued scrolling through the photos that they had previously taken during the ongoing shoot from the cloud server which she had given him access to.

"And you give yourself too little credit. You looked good in all those shots we took."

"But I didn't even change my outfit and you keep changing yours." Negi-sensei countered. "I mean, look at how nice you look in this black pants suit for the third set of photos we took!"

"I only pulled that off because I was taking shots alongside you." Chisame retorted as her mind's eye was filled with recollections of the two of them, with her dressed up in the third outfit of their shoot which consisted of a black notched collared jacket with a single breasted closure and fitted pants, and posing as a pair of professionals doing research whilst in a private room in Library Island.

"I can't pull off the professional look on my own." Chisame said as she carefully folded the aforementioned pants suit and put it away into her tote bag. "You might be a kid, but you definitely radiate professionalism."

"I'm sure you could if you needed to."

"Probably." Chisame said with a shrug even if her homeroom teacher could not see it and having already slipped on her swimsuit, she picked up her tote bag full of her other outfits for the day and headed out of the changing rooms. "But it would have taken a lot more effort to pull it off without your help. That said, I won't be needing your help with this last outfit for the day."

"Considering it's a swimsuit, I imagine not. But why did you want to include that as one of the outfits for today's shoot anyway?"

"Why don't you take a guess, Sensei?" Chisame asked with a teasing smile as she stepped out of the changing rooms.

Upon hearing her voice, Negi-sensei turned to look at her and justified Chisame's decision to include a swimsuit in today's photo shoot.

Choosing to wear this was the right choice! Chisame thought triumphantly as she saw her crush being rendered slack jawed at the sight of her in the u-neck, blue and white striped bikini that she was wearing. Seeing that look on his face just made my week!

"So~! Sensei, what do you think? Do I look good?"

Negi-sensei just nodded, still too stunned by Chisame being in a bikini to formulate words.

Smiling like the cat that got the cream, Chisame left Negi-sensei to recover his wits and instead turned her attention towards the seven electronic spirits that were the familiars granted to her by her Artifact, Idolum Virtuale. Spirits that had been using the humanoid mice shaped drones that they usually reserved for combat to set up her recording equipment for the shoot whilst she had been changing.

"Are we ready to go?"

"Yup." Kincha said, as he offered her a thumbs up.

"Good! Then let's get started! We have a photo shoot to finish!"

A couple hours later, Negi and Chisame-san, now once more dressed in the yellow and green outfit that she had started the day in, had finished up the photo shoot and were heading for dinner.

"Any preference for what to eat, Chisame-san?" Negi asked his student as they walked from the Mahora Junior High Sports Center where she had wrapped up her photo shoot and towards the nearest tram station. Wherever they headed for their meal, they would first have to grab a ride from the station, so heading in its direction was the natural course of action. "My treat."

"Since I was the one who invited you, shouldn't I be the one to pay?" Chisame-san asked, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure that's how these things work."

"Well, I just got my paycheck the other day so it's no issue if I treat you today." Negi said with a shrug. "Besides, you're my student. It wouldn't be right for me to have you treat me."

"Fair enough, I guess." Chisame-san said with a shrug. "Okay, then, how about we hit that new restaurant that opened up downtown?"

The only new restaurant in Mahora that immediately came to mind was the one opened up by a family of migrants from the Hellas Empire that had fled their homeland on Mundus Magicus to escape its anti-human discrimination. Apparently, they hadn't wanted to go to the equally anti-beastmen Megalomesembria either, as they didn't want to flee one racist country for another. And with the other Mundus Magicus nations being either one flavor of the other or closed to most outsiders, they had leapt at the chance to move to Earth, and Mahora in particular, created by the veil of secrecy around magic having been lifted and the accompanying loosening of restrictions to travel, and migration, to it from the magical world.

"You mean the one started by those migrants from Hellas?"

"Yeah, that's the one." Chisame-san nodded. "I haven't tried it yet, but apparently a number of girls from class have and said it was good. I'm thinking we could go give it a try."

"Sounds like a plan." Negi agreed with a smile. "I've not tried Hellas cuisine myself so I'm curious what it's like."

"Iincho says it reminds her of Turkish food." His student informed him with a shrug. "Not that I know what Turkish food tastes like either. You?"

"Unfortunately not." Negi said with a shake of his head as they neared the tram station.

As they did, the duo spotted something surprising in the distance as just stepping off the tram was none other than a pair of Negi's students and Chisame's classmates, Tatsumiya-san and Zazie-san, and they were not alone. They were accompanied by the latter's elder sister, and Tatsumiya-san's cousin, Poyo-san, who they seemed to be showing around.

"What's she doing here?" Chisame-san hissed as she froze on the spot and glared at Poyo-san as she and her two relatives wandered away from the tram station and in a direction that by Negi's estimate would take them to the Tatsumiya Shrine, that was, as it's name suggested, run by Tatsumiya-san's family and served as Mahora's premiere Shinto shrine. "Shouldn't she be locked up like the rest of Cosmo Entelecheia?"

"Poyo-san got away with a slap on the wrist." Negi informed her with a shake of his head. "She was given ten years probation for supporting Cosmo Entelecheia due to her limited involvement with them and her status as Crown Princess of the Demonfolk."

"Crown Princess!? And she's Zazie-san's sister? Doesn't that mean that Zazie-san is a princess?" Chisame asked, shocked. "How many ojou-sama types do we have in class?!"

"Yes," Negi nodded. "Not that her being a princess should change how you treat her, Chisame-san."

"Like it would." Chisame-san scoffed as she finally started moving again. "I'm just surprised. And to be honest? A little miffed too. I mean Poyo-san getting off lightly because of her political connections? That's just bullshit!"

"It's what it is," Negi replied with a shrug and followed her lead in continuing their journey.

"Like I said, it's bullshit. That's what it is." Chisame-san insisted. "But whatever! Not like we can change the world being like that. What I am curious about though is why Poyo-san is in Mahora?"

"From what I heard from Headmaster-sama, she apparently decided to come visit with Tatsumiya-san and Zazie-san."

"Visit them? Is that all?" Chisame-san asked with a knowing look as they made it to the platform at the tram station and began waiting for the next tram.

Spotting that there's more to the story so easily. She really is so very insightful.

"Well, she hasn't said anything, but it's pretty clear to everyone that she's still upset that Zazie-san never told Tatsumiya-san that they were related. She might also want to make it up to Tatsumiya-san by spoiling her a little. At least that's what the grapevine in the Kantō Magic Association is saying."

"I bet Tatsumiya-san is loving that." Chisame-san said with a laugh. "Suddenly being spoiled, by someone she barely knows no less, must be hell."

Negi thought on the matter for a moment before wincing. For someone as independent as Tatsumiya-san, Poyo-san spoiling her would really be, like Chisame-san said, hell.

"And as for Zazie-san, she honestly deserves whatever scolding or punishment her sister levies. I mean, she and Tatsumiya-san were in the same class for more than two years! As tongue tied as she can be, surely she'd have managed to tell her about them being related at some point!"

Again, Negi could not fault his student's logic.

"You're right." He conceded even as he desperately searched for a change of topic. The conversation was dangerously close to becoming one revolving around bashing another of his students, something he was at once uncomfortable with and had as an obligation as a teacher to shut down.

Fortunately, this was exactly when the tram they were waiting for arrived and provided him with the distraction he needed.

"The tram's here, Chisame-san."

His student shot him a look, clearly knowing his ploy. She did not call him out on it however and just nodded before following his lead to board the tram, where their conversation shifted to safer topics like what they could expect from their chosen restaurant for the evening.

"You know you don't have to follow me here, right, Sensei?" Chisame asked, shooting her crush an exasperated look. "You could've headed home after dinner."

Negi-sensei shrugged. "I was curious what might bring you to visit Hakase-san's lab."

Chisame honestly couldn't tell if he was being serious or just joking. Either way, she just shot him an unimpressed look.

"I'm visiting 3-A's resident mad scientist, can't you guess?"

"I might." Sensei said with a playful smile. "But you know what they say, making assumptions makes an ass out of you and me. It's better to just see for myself and be sure."

"Was that a joke?" Chisame asked, blinking in surprise.

The boy teacher pouted. A sight that made Chisame feel hot and bothered. She however suppressed her lust, and the desire it stirred within her to jump her homeroom teacher's bones right there and then. She did not want to be sent to jail for statutory rape thank you very much. She had enough self-control that she could wait a few years for Negi-sensei to reach the age of consent before sealing the deal. She hoped so at least.

"Is my sense of humor really that bad?"

"Yes, it is, Sensei." Hakase-san said as she stepped out of her lab to meet them in the corridor they were walking down whilst heading towards it. "It's like you've never made a joke in your life."

"Like you're any better, Hakase-san?" Chisame shot back as she instinctively rose to defend her crush.

The mad scientist cocked an eyebrow at this before looking between Chisame and Negi-sensei for a moment before smirking as if realizing something.

"I think I see what everyone is talking about now."

"Hakase-san?" The adorably naive, wilfully so Chisame imagined, Negi-sensei asked.

Chisame's classmate just waved the question aside however and turned on her heel. Gesturing at them to follow, she began walking further down the corridor and away from her lab.

"Your Rakanator is this way, Chisame-san."

"Did you finish installing all the upgrades?"

"Chachamaru-san should be finishing with the last of them about now."

"Chachamaru is here?"

Hakase-san shot Chisame a look, clearly having caught her lack of use of an honorific. Thankfully, beyond a knowing grin, she did not make any other acknowledgement of the fact.

"Yes, she just happened to be here to get some maintenance. A precaution after a recent unexpected malfunction. When I mentioned you had the Rakanator in for some upgrades, she insisted on helping."

"That was nice of Chachamaru-san." Negi-sensei said with a smile that seemed to indicate he missed all of the subtext of the conversation so far. Considering how smart he was, Chisame doubted that. Then again, he was only ten years old…

But the mystery of whether he knows and is acting dumb or just misses things right in front of him because of youthful ignorance is one of his biggest selling points. Chisame fawned, her face flush.

"Thank you, Negi-sensei." Chachamaru said as they all entered the hangar where the Rakanator was being refurbished. Her superior gynoid sensors had undoubtedly allowed her to hear their conversation despite the distance. She was also blushing up a storm, either at the praise their mutual crush had offered her or by her thoughts going in a similar direction as Chisame's own.

Speaking of our mutual crush… Chisame noted, looking between Negi-sensei and Chachamaru. I think it's about time I had a proper talk with Chachamaru about that.

"Hakase-san has Sensei suitably distracted talking about the Rakanator's upgrades and her scientific research in general. We're safe to talk freely, Chisame." Chachamaru told her best friend as they lurked in one corner of the hangar storing the Tchnomage's mecha. One that was as far away from their classmate and homeroom teacher as possible. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Our relationship with each other and Negi-sensei." Chisame said, bluntly.

"What about it?" Chachamaru asked, blinking in confusion.

"I think it's time to spell out exactly how we want things to play out." Chisame explained. "I know we kinda have an idea but it's high time we firmed it up."

Chachamaru honestly did not see the need, but if this somehow put her friend at ease, she would humor her.

"Very well. We agree on sharing Negi-sensei's affections, correct?"

Chisame nodded firmly. "Yes. Subject, of course, to Negi-sensei's acceptance of our feelings."

The gynoid nodded. Yes, they could not forget Sensei's right to choose in this matter as well.

"But beyond that…"

"Yes, Chisame?"

"Beyond that, we need to settle who is the alpha woman in this relationship. Normally that should be up to Sensei, as the man, to decide but…"

"Sensei would never be able to choose." Chachamaru added with a sigh. Their mutual crush's kind heart was one of the big reasons why they loved him but it could also be a massive source of frustration at times. "And besides, I would not like to just let him choose something for us. It does not feel right."

"Of course it isn't. It's the twenty-first century and we're strong, independent women. We can make our own decisions." Chisame said before blinking and deflating slightly. "I can't believe I just said that in reference to deciding which of us is the alpha woman in a harem! One I am willingly working to create no less!"

"That just shows how much we love Negi-sensei, does it not?"

As Chachamaru predicted, that was the right thing to say. Perked up by the gynoid's words, the Technomage quickly recovered her poise.

"Yeah, you're right." Chisame agreed. "Okay, so about who should be the alpha-"

"I yield the position to you, Chisame."

"Wha-"

"I have no intention to fight you for it and I am more of a follower than anything else. I was literally built that way."

"Chachamaru, that might be some truth to that but you totally can lead if you need to. Just look at how well you took care of everyone back when we were in Erímou Póli."

"Perhaps, but leading does not come naturally to me." Chachamaru confessed. "Not when I can follow instead. Thus, I stand by my decision. You may be the alpha of Negi-sensei's harem."

Blushing, Chisame nodded. "Thank you, Chachamaru."

"Think nothing of it, Chisame. I know you will lead us well."

After their stop at Hakase's lab, it was finally time for Negi to head home. Being older, it was Chisame's job to make sure he got back alright. Even if he wasn't in any danger and more than capable of taking care of himself, it was still the right thing to do.

"Well, here you are." She said, leading them back to Imma-san's weird library hobbit hole.

Being located a good distance beneath Mahora proper, it was a nice and long walk. Honestly, it was a pain to get to without using high speed movement techniques but this was a date - Yes, in the privacy of her mind, Chisame was honest enough to admit the true nature of their outing - and she didn't want it to end earlier than it needed to.

"Yes, thank you, my lady." Negi-sensei replied whilst offering her a small playful bow. His little act teasing a giggle from her.

She smothered it quickly though and putting a hand on her hip, she smirked as she retorted. "You are a dainty thing, it's only right to make sure you get home safe."

"D-Dainty?" He sputtered with a blush and pout, making her laugh a little.

Unable to resist, she leaned in and pinched his cheek. "Yes, but you're my dainty guy."

Before he could reply, she pressed her lips against his, stealing a goodnight kiss. One that as she pulled away, she observed had managed to leave him dazed. A state of affairs that left her feeling quite smug.

"Later Negi~" She said before he could recover even as with a wiggle her fingers, she skipped away, "Have a good night~"

Chachamaru ran her calculations again, pondering how such an event happened.

Ah, yes, Chisame-san. "You are going on a date with Negi-sensei and you're going to enjoy it." Was what her friend had told her.

And that was how she found herself working alongside her crush as they helped out with the Great Mahora Cat Evacuation. The latter was a movement that all the cat lovers of Mahora had organized in order to save the very Felidae family from being wiped from existence.

Due to Ranma-sama's sheer aversion to all things feline, there was a very real fear that it was only a matter of time before she would suffer one ailurophobia triggered episode too many and lose her patience with catkind in general and she would use her Outsider power to erase them from the very fabric of reality! A fear that was supported by how the Mage of the Abyss had already 'accidentally' consigned several cats to oblivion upon seeing them cross her path within the campus.

To prevent such a disaster from befalling felinekind as a whole, the Great Mahora Cat Evacuation had submitted petitions with thousands of signatories to Ranma-sama begging the Mage of the Abyss to show catkind leniency. However, these efforts had so far proved fruitless as the Outsider refused to even respond.

Thankfully, the movement had suspected this might be the case, so they had an alternative plan. One that involved over three hundred volunteers who were staunch cat lovers - At least, those brave enough to proclaim their love for the feline race against Ranma-sama's hate for them. - encouraging all cat owners to be more mindful of their pets whilst reminding them of the potential consequences of letting their cats cross Ranma-sama's path. These same volunteers also sacrificed their free time to round up Mahora's stray cat population for rehoming as far away from the ailurophobic Outsider as possible. A task that Chachamaru had chosen as the activity to share with Negi-sensei during their first date together.

"Over there! A pair of bengals!" Someone pointed out.

In response to the cry, several students made their way to attempt to capture the pair of lovely exotic cats. Nets swung, but despite the volunteers' best efforts, their agile targets made fools of them as they gracefully evaded every attempt to capture them.

That is until Chachamaru rocketed forth on the jets built into her legs, and scooped up the two startled bengals in her arms in mid-leap as they tried to escape. Secured against her chest, she looked to her side where Negi-sensei held a pair of carriers for her.

"Thank you." She said, loading the cats into them.

A college student took them gingerly from Negi, bowing to them as she hurried off before as gently as possible, proceeded to place the carriers into a van owned by an animal shelter that held several more carriers.

It was slow going, Chachamaru mused. Most of the strays on campus had special spots they frequented that she had mapped out as one of the heads of the initiative. Some that even the most ardent of cat lovers here in Mahora didn't know about. Yet, whilst these spots had been picked clean of most of their feline regulars, the rest of the cat population had scattered to the ends of the earth or at least the campus in this case. As a result, it was all the harder to find them.

Thankfully, thanks to a tracking spell that Negi-sensei had cast, they were quickly tracking down the few remnants. Truly, without her beloved Sensei's aid, they would likely not have been able to save these stragglers. The cats owed the child teacher their lives. Especially when, seeing his example, the other Mages among the volunteers followed his lead.

Chachamaru might have wished they had been more proactive in doing so from the beginning but she understood their position. They were right to be cautious. The laws on the usage of magic out in the open were murky at this time and no one wanted to spend time as an ermine for breaking them. Even with the existence of magic now known to all, and thus making the prohibition against its use pointless, it would still take time before the laws could be updated to account for the new reality.

"I got one!" A high schooler student said, face scratched up but holding a beautiful Russian Blue.

"Got a Munchkin here with a bummed leg. Can we have a vet check them?" A middle school girl asked, carrying the poor dear.

"Got a group of Shorthairs fleeing south. Get the trackers on it." A teacher said, speaking into a walkie-talkie.

While she and Negi-sensei worked in tandem to save what cats they could, Chachamaru felt her mechanical heart swell at the sheer effort and fervor of her small sensei.

Her core heat increased by ten percent knowing he was going to such lengths for her.

"We've got a Bobtail escaping!" Another volunteer shouted out from nearby, pulling Chachamaru from her thoughts.

The beast was nimble and quick. Leaping here and there as it evaded nets and grasping hands. There was a twinkle of intelligence in its eye that suggested that it might perhaps be a Mage's runaway familiar.

"Target locked." She declared, the jets on her back jutting out and propelling her forward.

The Bobtail moved swiftly, but using the data from her sensor suite, she projected the most likely path that the cat would take. It was heading to the van holding its feline brethren. No doubt with the intent to free them however it could.

No, we are saving you, fool! Do you wish to court your erasure so earnestly?! Chachamaru fretted as she closed with the clever cat. Her magical sensors detected magic honing the edges of its claws as it prepared to swipe the carriers open.

With a sharp burst of the thrusters in her legs, she came to a halt at the drop of a yen and reaching forward caught the leader of the Mahora cats by the scruff of its neck. And in so doing narrowly saved it from being skewered by a lance of ice.

Looking up, she saw Master hovering in the air over the van and sneering down at the cat Chachamaru was holding. A cat that was petrified stiff by the intense bloodlust directed towards it by the Dark Evangel.

"What do you think you're doing, you mangy fleabag?" Chachamaru's vampiric master demanded of the Bobtail, causing it to let out a fearful whimper.

"Shishou? What are you doing here?" Negi-sensei asked as he came over.

"To make sure that the last of the icky things gets as far away from Ranma as possible, that's what."

"'Icky', Master?" Chachamaru asked, a little hurt to hear the cats she so loved being called that by her own master.

"You do remember that to Ranma they're worse than icky, right, Chachamaru?" Master said, shooting her an unimpressed look. "I'm being nice calling them that and not something worse."

"Still, Master..." Chachamaru said with a pout.

"Why don't we just finish loading the cats onto the van so they can be transported to their new homes, alright?" Negi-sensei suggested kindly, trying his best to deescalate the situation.

"Yes, please do." Master said with an imperious nod. "I want to see every last stray cat loaded up and shipped out before I leave. I will not suffer a single one in Mahora by the end of the day. If there are…"

Master did not need to spell out the fate of any stray cat that was not relocated by the end of the day. She was not known as the Apostle of Calamity for nothing. Chachamaru did not not want to imagine the horrors the infamous vampire would inflict upon any feline that crossed her path after today. She must save the bean toed cuties!

"Understood, Shishou. To the best of our ability, we'll make sure there won't be any more stray cats in Mahora by the end of the day." Negi-sensei assured Master even as he used a spell to knock the still paralyzed bobcat out and gently take it from Chachamaru to be put into a carrier, one which he proceeded to reinforce with magic to ensure the magically able feline did not escape.

"I'll hold you to that, Negi." Master said with a scowl as she floated to the roof of the van and sat down. "Now hup to! You don't have all day!"

Chachamaru wouldn't lie, even with all the stress brought about by the Sword of Damocles that was the deadline Master had imposed on Mahora's population of feline strays, she had a great time with Negi-sensei today as they played their small part in carrying out the successful Great Mahora Cat Evacuation. So much so that she wished the day was longer and they could continue the merriment.

A day that had proven most rewarding in regards to providing new additions to her Negi-sensei memory folder as well. Thanks to it, she had taken enough photos and videos of her beloved sensei that said folder was already well past the storage capacity she had budgeted for it.

Ah, that thought just increased my core heat by two percent. What a strange revelation. The gynoid thought to herself as she opened some fan ports to expel the build up.

"Is something the matter, Chachamaru-san?"

"No, nothing to worry about, Negi-sensei. I am just venting some excess heat I built up over the day."

Negi-sensei nodded, and as they headed home at the end of the day continued their chat by changing the topic. "Do you think the cats will be happy wherever they are going, Chachamaru-san?"

"I am sure they will be." Chachamaru assured him. "At least wherever they might end up, they will not have the risk of being erased from existence simply because they have had the misfortune of crossing paths with Ranma-sama."

"That's true." Negi-sensei said as they both ignored how a slime leapt out of the bushes along the path they were walking and surrounded a hapless mouse that had been fleeing from it.

With the Great Mahora Cat Evacuation effectively eliminating a good chunk of the city's feline population there had been a real fear that the vermin population would explode. However, Ranma-sama had solved that by loaning her familiars to Mahora to serve as the replacement for the cats' role in keeping the vermin in check. That this effectively gave the Outsider eyes and ears everywhere was considered a small price to pay, especially when the Mage of the Abyss could already achieve that with her omniscience, which no one knew how to shield against, anyway.

"Oh, this is where our routes diverge." Negi-sensei noted as the two of them reached the intersection where they would need to separate to head to their own homes.

This is it. Chachamaru realized as she took a moment to suppress her bubbling anxiety and gather her courage. This is the time that Chisame advised me to take my chance.

Putting thought to action, Chachamaru straightened to her full height and ignoring how her face was flush as she desperately tried to vent the heat being generated by her nerves, she called out to her crush. "Sensei!"

"Um, yes, Chachamaru-san?" He responded with a jolt, startled.

Now! Chachamaru thought as she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his own in a brief, chaste kiss. One that filled her young mind with so much delight and joy that her systems overloaded.

As a result, she staggered and struggled to keep herself standing.

"Ah! Chachamaru-san!" Sensei fretted, for her, as he made to catch her.

A course of action that caused Chachamaru's readings to go critical.

"Okay, I'll take it from here, Sensei." Chisame said as she popped out of the bushes she seemed to have been hiding in if the leaves and a twig in her hair was any indication.

Rushing to her side, her friend helped Chachamaru steady her footing even as she addressed their mutual crush. "Head on home, Sensei."

"But what about-"

"It's a girl thing." Chisame told him bluntly.

"Ah, um, is that so?"

"Yeah, now get that booty moving." She thumbed over her shoulder as she pulled Chachamaru away from her - their - crush.

He seemed reluctant, which warmed Chachamaru's core even further and forced her to vent heat once more. Something that seemed to finally break his resolve.

"Alright. Then I leave her in your hands, Chisame-san."

"Yeah, I've got her. Now vamoose already, Sensei!"

With one last look of concern shot her way, which triggered another venting, Negi-sensei, the person she loved most in the world, offered both of them a goodbye wave and turned to leave. Entrusting her care as he did to the person she loved second most in the world.

Truly, I am blessed to be surrounded by so many who I love.

Okay, so how am I supposed to handle this?

Don't get Chisame wrong. She l-loved Negi-sensei. He was like a fungus or something, he just grew on her! Honest!

Still, she needed to have this talk with Chachamaru.

"Thank you, Chisame. I feared I made a fool of myself."

"No no, you did fine. Really, you pulled it off like a champ." Chisame said encouragingly.

"Again, thank you for setting up the date." Chachamaru bowed like it was a big deal.

Feeling embarrassed, Chisame desperately waved away the thanks. "It's fine. No worries! I'm just doing what's right, you know? Especially if we're going to be sharing Negi and all. We need to work together to snag him."

"I thank you regardless, Chisame." Chachamaru said, offering her a smile so sweet that it warmed the Technomage's heart in ways that was only matched by Negi-sensei at his most endearing. It also set butterflies flying in her stomach like it too.

Maybe it was because she was distracted by these reactions that Chisame did not realize what was coming, but whatever the reason, the Technomage was caught completely off guard when Chachamaru leaned in and pecked her lips softly.

If Chisame did not know her friend as well as she did, she might have misconstrued the kiss as simply an act of gratitude. Or maybe some causal skinship with no deeper meaning. But Chisame did know better. Chachamaru would not have kissed anyone like that out of the blue. Which meant…

"Are you suggesting we share each other too?" Chisame asked, uncertain of what kind of answer she wanted.

Chachamaru blushed. "That would make things easier."

Looking at Chachamaru in that moment with her flushed cheeks and maidenly uncertainty, Chisame couldn't help but find the gynoid incredibly beautiful and kissable.

Yep, I'm definitely bi. Chisame told herself as she found herself unable to take her eyes off the gynoid. Stupid mecha fetish…

"Yeah, it would." Chisame agreed as she blushed and reached forward to pull Chachamaru to her. "But also because I want you too."

"And I, you," the gynoid replied as they finished closing the distance between them and shared their second kiss. One that was decidedly less innocent than their first. It would also not be the last that they shared that evening.

"You know we could have done this weeks ago if you didn't suddenly decide to go missing shortly after we came back from Mundus Magicus." Chisame scolded Negi-sensei's perverted familiar, the ermine shaped fairy, Chamo.

"Hey, I was away from Earth for a while and that left me out of contact with my friends and family back home, you know? I had to check in with them." The fae said as he finished working on the intricate ritual circle he was drawing on the floor and turned to look at Chisame with a frown.

"And when you got back? My familiars tracked you getting back into Japan almost a month ago. Where were you?"

"Kyoto." Chamo said with a shrug. "Helping Konoka-nee and Setsuna-nee do what you and the gynoid are doing now. If you wanted me to help you first then maybe you should have outbid Konoka-nee."

Chisame snorted. "Do you honestly think I could outbid that ojou-sama?"

"Then don't complain." The fae shot back flatly.

"That might be true, Chamo-san." Chachamaru chimed in now that she was done verifying the fairy's work. "But you were done helping Konoe-san and Sakurazaki-san a week ago. What took you so long to return from Kyoto?"

"Uh… sightseeing?"

His hesitance had Chisame turning to her robotic girlfriend - Yes, girlfriend. After what they did last night, there was no other word to describe their relationship. - with a questioning look.

"Based on reports from the Kansai Magic Association, he was spotted in Kyoto's red light district."

"They service ermines?" Chisame asked skeptically. She was unsurprised the pervert had sought out ladies of the night, but that he could find some that would service him was a surprise.

"If you know where to look." Chachamaru confessed with a light blush.

Blushing faintly as well, Chisame nodded and shot the fae an unimpressed look.

"Hey! You think tweaking this Permanent Pactio ritual circle so the bond it forms will allow more Permanent Pactios in the future is easy? It was stressful work ya know, of course I needed to relax now and then."

Chisame would have scolded the lewd little fairy but she knew that would do no good, so she just shrugged. "You do you. More importantly, are you sure it will work?"

"Positive." The ermine assured her. "I've practically become a master of Pactios in the last few months. Besides, what you are asking for isn't exactly groundbreaking. Uncommon and with scant references but not totally unheard of. That's the only reason why you're not paying through the nose for this by the way."

"I certainly feel like I am." Chisame countered irritably. "I'm forking over the equivalent of my production budget for work on my Chiu shoots for a whole year for this."

"You want good work, you have to pay for it."

"And it is good work." Chachamaru cut in, putting a restraining hand on Chisame's shoulder. "At least as far as my scans can verify. It should work exactly as we intend it to."

"You sure, Chachamaru?" Chisame asked her gynoid partner and received a nod in reply. "Okay. Then I'll go fetch our guests."

"You are forming a Permanent Pactio?" Negi gasped in surprise as Chisame-san guided him and Luna-san, who was visiting from Mundus Magicus and on leave from her duty as a guard at the Gravekeeper's Palace, into the study room in the Mahora dorms that the Technomage had booked for the day and saw the ritual circle drawn on the floor in chalk.

"Yup, me and Chachamaru." The orangette said with a nod as she gestured to the gynoid who was waiting patiently in the center of the ritual circle. "We want you two to be our witnesses."

Negi and Luna-san both gasped.

The elf recovered first and asked, "Negi-sama I can understand, Chisame-san, Chachamaru-san, but why me?"

The two other girls shot the elf a meaningful look and a quick glance at Negi himself. The exchange baffled him but Luna-san seemed to understand the meaning if the way she blushed brilliantly was any indication.

"You don't mean…"

"We're not decided yet." Chachamaru-san said. "But we're open to the idea."

"Which is why you're here. We're hedging our bets." Chisame-san continued. "Besides, the more witnesses for this the better in our opinion."

Negi was lost on the first part of his students' reasoning but he understood the latter idea. Whilst not strictly necessary, it was often considered a good idea to have witnesses for something as important in a person's life as a Permanent Pactio. Though thinking of Chisame-san and Chachamaru-san making such… for some reason, it made his heart ache with disappointment and be filled with the desire to swap places with either of them.

"I am honored to be your witness, Chisame-san, Chachamaru-san." Negi said, suppressing the irrational disappointment.

All three girls, and Chamo-kun who was lurking in a corner of the room, shot him knowing looks at that so he must not have suppressed it as well as he liked. They did not say anything however and after a moment looked away and continued as if his faux pas hadn't happened.

"Alright, let's do this." Chisame-san said as she carefully made her way through the ritual circle to the center where Chachamaru-san waited. "Just a reminder but don't step on the rest of the circle."

"Yeah, this circle was a bitch to draw so don't spoil my hard work, alright?" Chamo-kun said from his corner where he was 'smoking' a candy cane cigar.

"This isn't the standard circle though." Luna-san observed.

"No, we tweaked it so the Permanent Pactio bond it creates will allow us to make additional such bonds." Chachamaru-san explained as she helped Chisame-san jump over a particularly dense section of the ritual circle near the center.

"Why?" Negi asked, a tinge of hope seeping into his voice. Though why he would be hopeful at hearing that bit of news eluded him.

Again everyone there shot him knowing looks before looking away.

"Because we did." Chisame-san said evasively.

Well, at least they answered me this time. Even if it didn't really explain anything.

"Chachamaru, you ready?" Chisame-san asked, looking at her soon-to-be partner with an affectionate look that he had seen her show the gynoid before but which she previously tried to hide from others.

"I am, Chisame." The robot girl replied with an adoring look that Negi had seen her direct towards the Technomage often enough.

There was after all a reason why Negi was unsurprised why his two students were forming a Permanent Pactio. They might be discreet about it but Chisame-san and Chachamaru-san were close. Very close.

I just wish I was part of that closeness too. Negi thought wistfully before catching himself. Now was not the time for such fanciful thoughts.

Though as Chisame-san and Chachamaru-san pulled each into a kiss, a passionate kiss at that, Negi simply couldn't help himself.

I want them to kiss me like that too! He thought involuntarily as his two students sealed their Permanent Pactio in a burst of brilliant golden light. And if the longing sigh from Luna-san beside him was anything to go by, he wasn't the only one who thought that way.

"Just remember son, do something outrageous! Girls go wild for that."

Or so his father had told him. Then again, with how outrageous his father was, Negi had the feeling his mother had a thing for wild guys. Probably a result from being a princess, and later becoming queen, and growing up with stifling royal protocol. As they said, the grass was always greener on the other side. Because, as Konoka-san said, Father was a real bad boy.

Apparently that was a thing girls liked. Who knew?

Still, he was a proper Welsh gentleman, so doing something overly flamboyant seemed to be outside his wheelhouse when he wasn't in combat.

Is this what growing up is? Negi pondered with a frown. Adulting was hard for ten year olds it seemed.

Shaking his head to dispel these distracting thoughts, Negi instead focused on the problem at hand. "But what could I do to thank her for the photo shoot outing? And do I even need to do this when Chisame-san already has a girlfriend?"

"What does her having a girlfriend have to do with anything?" Father shot back with a frown as they sat across each other at the dining table in their home under Mahora.

"Especially," Albireo-san joined in with a teasing smirk from his seat next to Father. "When her girlfriend would probably like it if she could join in too."

The idea of going on a date with both Chisame-san and Chachamaru-san excited Negi for some reason. But…

"That's wrong, right? I mean dating two girls who are already dating each other?"

"Not if both girls are okay with it." Father insisted.

"Besides, they already agreed to it, no?" Albireo-san added. "To a second date, I mean."

"Well, Chisame-san has. We've even set the date and timing. But…"

"Then expect Chachamaru-san to show up too." Father said with a knowing smirk.

As much as that prospect pleased him, Negi couldn't understand why his father thought that would be the case. "Why?"

Chuckling, Albireo-san just reached over and ruffled Negi's hair. "Oh, you'll get it soon enough."

"Yup." Father nodded. "With the girls as gungho about this as they are, it won't be long now."

"What do you mean, Father?"

Father, and Albireo-san for that matter, just shot mischievous grins at him.

Knowing he would get nothing from them, he just sighed. "Why don't we just brainstorm what I can do with Chisame-san, and Chachamaru-san which you insist will show up as well, on our date."

Still wearing those damnable smirks, his father and his friend both agreed. Thus passed a couple hours of effort that ultimately produced a plan for their outing together that he hoped his date(s) would enjoy.

"Tonight has been wonderful, Negi-sensei." Chisame-san told him from across the table on the terrace at the restaurant they were having dinner at. A terrace that was lit only by strategically placed candles which combined with the majestic view of Mahora's World Tree that it offered to to produce a wonderfully romantic atmosphere.

"Wonderful indeed." Chachamaru-san, who had joined them after all, agreed from her seat next to her girlfriend as they savored their dessert.

"Thank you. I hope you girls liked the movie?"

"Meh. It was a cheesy romantic comedy." Chisame-san shrugged. "But it was entertaining enough."

"I found it funny and endearing." Chachamaru-san added, nudging the Technomage lightly in the ribs.

"Hey! I did say it was entertaining didn't I? I just meant it wasn't a masterpiece is all."

"I have to agree with Chisame-san." Negi opined. "It was nice enough but nothing I would want to watch again."

"True enough." Chachamaru-san conceded as a portion of her hair fell in front of her face and she pushed it back behind her hair, in so doing causing the diamonds of her Artifact from her Permanent Pactio with her girlfriend to catch the light and sparkle.

Said Artifact, Annulus Amoris (Ring of Love's Power), was a ring with a startling similarity to a wedding ring. One with a gold band and studded with many diamonds, with a composite centerpiece shaped like a heart. Said Artifact's power was to serve as a perpetual link to Chisame-san's mana core, thus allowing Chachamaru-san the ability to access it and refill her own finite reserves, that kept her from being rendered inert, without the need for periodic rechargings with her key like she had needed in the past.

"I'm just glad that I didn't follow Father's initial advice. He wanted me to do something outrageous."

Chisame-san snorted. "After the summer trip, I think I'm all tapped out when it comes to outrageous things for the next few years. At least."

"Yes," Chachamaru-san agreed with a nod. "If you want to do something outrageous for us Negi-sensei then wait till at least after we graduate high school, please."

Negi blinked. "After high school? Chisame-san, Chachamaru-san, what do you mean?"

Instead of replying immediately, the couple exchanged a look and whilst blushing lightly, stood.

"Chisame-san? Chachamaru-san? What are you doing?"

"Answering your question." Chisame-san said as she and Chachamaru-san moved so they flanked Negi's seat on either side and leaned down so their heads hovered beside his own.

Before he could ask what they intended again, Chisame-san grabbed his head and jerked it towards her before kissing him. It was nothing like their first kiss on the night of the photo shoot which was chaste and sweet. This kiss was dripping with want and passion. The only reason it didn't end up being a mess was because Chisame-san had clearly gotten a lot of practice lately and kept things from going crazy. Even then, it didn't last long and soon a breathless Negi was released from the lip lock.

However, if he thought he would get a chance to catch his breath, he was wrong. He had barely been freed by Chisame-san, whose face was looking flush with happiness after their kiss, when Chachamaru-san grabbed hold of his head and turned him towards her and into another kiss. If his kiss with Chisame-san was passionate then this kiss with her Ministra was sweet. It was not chaste by any means, but it had a sweet gentleness to it that the kiss with the Technomage lacked. Perhaps because of that, this second kiss lasted a little longer.

"Does that answer your question, Negi-kun?" Chisame-san asked when Chachamaru-san finally released him.

Looking at the two girls with glazed eyes, Negi could only nod dumbly.

Smiling at his understanding, his new girlfriends pulled him in for a new round of kisses.

"Are you sure this is alright, Chisame-san, Chachamaru-san?" Luna asked the Technomage and gynoid nervously as she sat in her underwear in the former's room as the couple picked out an outfit for her evening. "I mean isn't Negi-sama your boyfriend?"

"He is." Chisame-san said with a nod as held up a pair of dresses for Luna's inspection. She was comfortable wearing neither of them, they showed far too much skin, so she just shook her head. "Okay. So sexy is out. A shame. You'd look good in sexy, Luna-san. Oh! I can't wait to rope you into one of my Chiu shoots! I'm practically drooling at the thought!"

"Ignore that, Luna-san." Chachamaru-san told her as she dutifully took the rejected dresses and put them back in Chisame-san's extensive wardrobe. "Instead, think about why, despite being Negi-kun's girlfriends, are we helping you prepare for a date with him?"

"How about this then?" Chisame-san said as she returned from searching through her closet with a dark beige open collar pintuck pleated dress with belt.

That looks nice. It's also loose and long enough that it should fit me just fine. Luna mused. Whilst her size was a close match to Chisame-san, she was slightly taller and her proportions were slightly different so if she was going to borrow something from the other girl's wardrobe it had to take into account her height and not be too tight fitting. Something that this dress addressed nicely.

"I think that's the one." Luna said with a smile as she looked forward to seeing how she looked in the dress.

Chisame-san smiled in triumph and held the dress out to Luna. "Put it on then. Then we can move on to doing your make-up. Chacha, could you go grab the gray high heels? And the black purse? The mid-sized one. I think they'll go well with this dress."

"Leave it to me, Chisame." The gynoid said with a smile as she moved to obey her girlfriend's instructions.

As she did, Luna herself began putting on the dress she had settled on.

"Are you two insinuating what I think you are?" Luna asked the couple as she finished slipping into the dress and moved to securing the belt around her waist. "Do you want to include me in your relationship with Negi-sama?"

"Duh!" Chisame-san said with a roll of her eyes. "You think we would arrange for you to go on a date with our boyfriend if we didn't? And let me tell you, it took quite a bit of effort to arrange it too!"

Luna understood that much. It must not have been easy for Chisame-san, even with being one of Ranma-sama's closest friends, to arrange for her to be temporarily released from her sentence working as a guard at the prison that the Gravekeeper's Palace had been converted into and which housed the rest of the prisoners taken in the war with Cosmo Entelecheia. Yet, she had even somehow managed to arrange for her to travel to Mahora to witness the sealing of her Permanent Pactio with Chachamaru-san and now this date with Negi-sama!

"And you did all that so that we could be a quad?"

"Is that what a four person relationship is called?" Chisame-san asked, blinking in surprise, whilst she helped Luna sit at her dressing table and began applying makeup for her.

"Yes, it is Chisame." Chachamaru-san confirmed as she returned with the shoes and purse requested by her girlfriend.

"Huh? You learn something new everyday."

"You didn't know what such a relationship is called but you still wanted to set one up?"

Chisame-san shrugged. "You don't need to know what something is called to know you want it."

"So you want me?" Luna asked teasingly.

It was the wrong thing to say. Because the moment she did, Chisame-san froze and slowly turned to her with a predatory gaze.

"You are a freaking elf! And you have the body type I like in girls. I wasn't lying about salivating about the idea of you joining one of my Chiu shoots and that's not only because of all the views you would get me."

Luna gulped, unnerved by the intensity of Chisame-san's lust for her.

"A-And Chachamaru-san?"

"I took plenty of photos of you in your bra and panties earlier." The gynoid said with a smirk. "I will enjoy reviewing them later."

Gulping nervously at that, Luna tried a different tack. "B-But we barely know each other."

"Nonsense," Chisame-san countered. "We got to know each other pretty well during the war. Besides, getting to know each other is what dating is for in the first place."

"I'm not talking myself out of this, am I?" Luna said with a resigned sigh.

"You can just reject us." Chachamaru-san pointed out.

"Or Negi-kun could reject you." Chisame-san added. "But we all know he won't do that. So really it's up to you. So what do you say?"

"I-I, uh, need to think about it?" Luna hedged. "Can we just focus on the date for now?"

"Of course." Chisame-san said with a nod. "If that's the case, hold still, Luna-san, and let me handle your make-up."

Obeying, Luna held still and let the Net Idol doll her up. All the while, her mind was awhirl with what the other girl and her girlfriend was offering her.

What should I do?

Luna should be having the time of her life. And she was. Spending time with Negi-sama was wonderful! They had so much in common!

They had spent a whole afternoon just plunging the depths of Mahora's LIbrary Island together, searching for secrets amongst its innumerable books. Then they had headed out for dinner, only to discover as they made their orders at a food court that they had the same taste in food too! Then as a capstone for the night they had enjoyed a few hours stargazing from the top of the Mahora World Tree and comparing the different constellations that could be seen from Earth and Mundus Magicus. It was truly an enchanting date and Luna was sad that it had to come to an end.

But even as she enjoyed herself, a part of her mind could not help but be troubled by the proposal that Chisame-san and Chachamaru-san had presented her with. She didn't mention it to Negi-sama, who seemed ignorant of it and was taking her out in the belief that their date was simply him playing host to her because of her status as a foreign guest. It seemed his girlfriends were quite good at manipulating him. Then again, considering that despite his intelligence, he was only ten, perhaps that was not hard to believe.

And if I agree to Chisame-san and Chachamaru-san's proposal, I would be one of those manipulating him…

Luna could not help thinking that she would like that. To be trusted enough, loved enough, by Negi-sama to allow her to be one of those who he allowed to manipulate him… She wanted that! But she knew to get that, she needed to accept Chisame-san and Chachamaru-san's offer. There was no way she could outcompete them for Negi-sama's affections.

Which means that if I want Negi-sama, I must accept them too…

But did she want to enter in a quad with the two other girls just for Negi-sama?

YES! Her mind screamed at the very thought, such was her love for the ten year old genius. He had shown her true love in a way that no one, not even Fate-sama, had shown her since her family was massacred and she wanted to return that love. She almost needed to!

She set aside her knee-jerk reaction however and focused on what accepting the offer actually meant. Chisame-san and Chachamaru-san were not just asking her to share a man. They were asking her to allow herself to be shared by them as well whilst offering themselves to Luna in exchange. Did she want that?

The Japanese Technomage and the gynoid were certainly attractive. Luna could not deny that. She would be lying if she said that she did not fantasize once or twice on what it would feel like to use her Signum Biolegens (Life-Stealing Mark), the Artifact she had obtained from her Pactio with Fate-sama, to transform into them and - Ahem! - test out their bodies. Or using the transformation magic she was working on mastering as a replacement for the shapeshifting her Artifact, which might be lost at any time due to antagonism that now existed between her and the Magister, granted her to do the same. Or imagining what it would like to have sex with them. She was, as most elves were, bisexual and she had a healthy sex drive, so sue her!

But did that mean she wanted to pursue a relationship with them?

It was with these thoughts swimming around in her head that she said her goodbyes to Negi-sama - which included him giving her a chaste good night kiss to the back of her hand that almost had her swooning - and headed back to Chisame-san's dorm room to return her borrowed outfit.

As they spied on Negi-kun kissing the back of Luna-san's hand in a courtly gesture from the surveillance cameras of the dorm security system whose access Chisame's familiars had hacked into and proceeded to wish the elf a good night at the entrance to the building, Chisame and Chachamaru sighed in stereo.

"Whelp, seems our boy gels well with Luna-san." Chisame said as she mentally reviewed everything they had seen throughout the course of the date as they spied on them by hacking into Mahora's various cameras.

"Indeed." Chachamaru nodded. "Should we put a stop to it? If we wanted to, we easily could. We are the primary foci of Negi-sensei's relationships. His relationship with Luna-san has not developed far enough where he would be overly hurt."

"Nah, you know how empathic Negi-kun is." Chisame countered as she rubbed her eyes. "He'd still be hurt. He seems to have a genuine attraction to Luna-san. Something that he's only shown the two of us. Not that I blame him, elfs are just mmm."

At her hum, Chachamaru gave her a flat look.

"Still, can we bring ourselves to deny him?" She deflected hastily.

"I wouldn't want to." The gynoid said without hesitation. "Still, I will defer to your judgment in such matters."

"Ugh, stop doing that, will you?" Chisame sighed with some resignation. "You need to make your own decisions about these things. But I admit, I can't exactly do that to both of them either. We set this all up, guess we need to take responsibility."

"I see, so there is only one option."

With a sigh, the redhead nodded. "How did I end up in some polyamorous harem?! What is this? An anime?!"

Chachamaru had the audacity to chuckle at her. Chisame had a scathing retort on her tongue, but it was quickly silenced as the gynoid pulled her into a not so wholesome kiss.

As they pulled apart, Chachamaru said. "Cease your protests. You enjoy it, just admit it."

Breathless and face flushed, feeling heady and happy, Chisame simply nodded.

As a reward, Chachamaru pulled her into another kiss.

Luna was glowing as the door to Chisame-san's door opened for her. Not by either of the girls she expected though, instead it was opened by one of the Technomage's familiars which was currently inhabiting one of the child-sized humanoid mice shaped drones they used in battle.

"Thank you." Luna told the electronic spirit politely. "Ah, Chi- oh my!"

Luna's greeting was cut off with a gasp at what greeted her eyes through the open door. Covering her eyes with her hands, she hurried into the dorm room whose door slammed close behind her. A valid precaution. It was best not to let the whole dorm see Chisame-san straddling Chachamaru-san's waist as the former was in the process of stripping the latter of her blouse!

"I'm so sorry!" She cried out, turning tail to dash away from such an intimate sight.

Only for her to bang into the door, face first. "Ow."

She winced and shot an accusing look at one of the mice familiars who had closed the door upon her entry. Only to get an unapologetic shrug in reply.

"Oh, Luna-san, you're back." Chisame-san said as she stood, not bothering to acknowledge that her intimate moment with her girlfriend had just been interrupted.

Said gynoid girlfriend was more self-aware however. "Apologies, Luna-san. We shouldn't have gotten carried away when we knew you were already on your way up."

"You knew?" Luna asked, as she rubbed her bruised forehead. In the process, she glanced at the screens of Chisame-san's computer and noted the multiple streams of surveillance footage playing on them.

That isn't scary at all. Luna thought with a small shiver going down her spine.

"Yeah, we were spying on you. What did you expect?" Chisame-san said with a shrug.

Chachamaru-san sighed but did not correct her girlfriend. Nor did she button up her mostly undone blouse! In fact, she proceeded to take it off entirely and toss it aside!

Ignore that! Ignore! Ignore! Ignore! Luna thought fervently whilst trying her best to not leer at the smooth expense of artificial skin that stretched across the gynoid's stomach or the other girl's firm bra clad breasts.

I need to move this along before I lose my mind! The elf decided.

To that end, she jumped to the heart of the matter. "Thank you so much for allowing this. I had a delightful time with Negi-sama."

The elf fiddled with the hem of her dress, her green eyes glistening with happy tears. She offered a warm smile and said. "I can give up hope of being with Negi-sama now. That date was all I could have hoped for."

Please accept this!

On the way up to Chisame-san's dorm room, Luna had made a decision. She might want Negi-sama but she didn't think she could accept being with other girls. She might be bisexual and be attracted to them but she had never been in a relationship with another girl, or any true relationship for that matter, and the very thought of doing so scared her. It had an allure too but ultimately her fear won out.

She just hoped that her resolve to stick to her decision held though, especially because the sight of a topless Chachamaru-san was testing it already. And it was dissolving fast!

At her statement, the two consorts of Negi Springfield looked at her in confusion, even as the gynoid addressed her. "Luna-san, what are you talking about? Did you not hear us earlier? We want us to be a quad."

"I-I, uh, don't know if I want that." Luna hesitantly admitted. "I know that I like Negi-sama but I don't know if I can be with other girls, much less both of you."

"The way you keep staring at Chacha's boobs says otherwise." Chisame-san said as with a playful smirk, she pulled off the sundress she was wearing. A sight that left her toned body in just her panties, it seemed she was going braless tonight. Something that had Luna leering before she could catch herself.

Laughing triumphantly, the Technomage continued. "And by the way you're ogling me, you like what you see too."

"Yes, I am bisexual, but…"

The two other girls exchanged a look before smirking and stepping forward. Chisame-san reached Luna first and promptly pulled her into a kiss.

Wh-wha-what?! Luna's scrambled brain thought as she struggled to understand what was going on.

Once her lips were freed, the elf only managed to suck in a single desperate breath before they were quickly claimed by Chachamaru-san. The gynoid proceeding to make Luna weak at the knees with the sheer skill of her synthetic tongue.

"Huh?" The dazed and blushing elf asked as she collapsed to her knees when Chachamaru-san finally pulled away from the kiss, a line of trailing saliva down her chin.

"Are you sure you don't want us to all be together?" Chisame-san asked with a smirk that Luna admitted made her feel funny inside.

"Yes, I think our collaboration would be most fortuitous when aiming for Negi-sensei's affection." Chachamaru-san added.

Now, Luna could have done the sensible thing and stuck to her earlier decision. But sense was not something that took up much space in her head at the moment. Instead, driven by lust, the elf licked her lips to clear away the drool leaking out its side and looked up at the two other girls with needy eyes.

"I-I think I need more convincing."

Sporting Cheshire grins, Chisame-san and Chachamaru-san happily pulled her in for another round of kisses. One that ultimately led to all three of them waking up wearing decidedly less clothing than when they began the night.

Several days later, Luna was back at the Gravekeeper's Palace in Ostia doing her court appointed job as one of its guards. The Palace having been converted into a prison to house the captured members of Cosmo Entelecheia such as Dynamis; Fate-sama's other Ministra; the Averruncus Series clones, including Fate-sama; Nii; Septendecim; Tsukuyomi; and Saotome Nodoka. With Ranma-sama reviving even those among them who had died so that they could live out their mortal life rotting in prison and then face their eternal suffering in death.

That was something that was, in Luna's opinion, a case of cruel and unusual punishment. Especially when some like Poyo Rainyday and The Master of the Palace were given a slap on the wrist and got off lightly because of political reasons. But who was she to gainsay a goddess?

In Rainyday's case, no one wanted to imprison the Crown Princess of the Demonfolk and risk the political crisis that might cause. So the international court that the Mundus Magicus nations had set up to try the members of Cosmo Entelecheia, the Ostian International War Crime Tribunal, had used the technicality that she had helped out Ala Alba in the end by letting them pass during the final battle with little challenge to justify just giving her ten years probation.

On the other hand, the Master of the Palace had got off easy because the Ostian Tribunal and the countries that backed it simply couldn't actually detain her so long as he remained within the Palace - Ranma-sama could have but she wasn't interested to citing how she was manipulated - and they wanted to use the Palace, the most secure place in the world thanks to all the wards the Mage put on it over the years as their prison for Cosmo Entelecheia. Thus, citing that like Poyo Rainyday, the Master had switched sides near the end, the Tribunal had settled for just sentencing the Master to house arrest and restricted her to the Palace.

Luna could not be too upset that the Tribunal had decided to show leniency to those who had seen the light and turned against Cosmo Entelecheia before the end though. Not when it meant a good number of her former Cosmo Entelecheia comrades, such as Tsukuyomi-san, Fate-sama, and her fellow Ministra of the silver haired earth Mage, enjoyed lighter sentences because of it. Which meant that instead of life imprisonment they would now be being allowed parole after serving twenty years. A luxury not offered to the other Cosmo Entelecheia prisoners. More personally, the leniency had also seen her sentenced to community service in the form of a decade as guard at the Gravekeeper's Palace.

A job that she served alongside Mage Knights from Ariadne, including some trainees like Farandole-san, Monroe-san, and Sevensheep-san; and the Master of the Palace. With the latter serving her house arrest there and having free rein to come and go within it without any way to restrain her, it just made sense to recruit her to serve as one of its guards as well. All in exchange for allowing the Master to enjoy a cut to the length of her sentence. Despite that, she was, however, closely watched of course.

Even with all those positive factors though, as they finished her latest round of the cells, each of which were on a completely different level from each other at all times and whose exact position changed every day, with her partner, Herb-san, Luna couldn't help feeling deflated.

"What's wrong?" The gender changing martial artist asked, sensing her mood.

Luna shot her currently male partner a light glare. "You know why! You were there!"

"You're feeling disappointed because your former comrades refused to talk to you?" Herb-san said with a snort and shrug. "Seriously? What do you expect? You betrayed them."

"Fate-sama didn't mind. He was okay with talking to me."

"He did defect and saved that Negi boy in the final battle against the Mage of the Beginning." Herb-san reminded her. "I think he understands where you stand."

"Yes, so why are Shirabe and the others giving me the cold shoulder?" Luna asked with a frustrated huff. "I mean we are all Fate-sama's Ministra. Shouldn't they follow his lead?"

"He didn't need to fight you. They did." Herb-san pointed out. "A fight that most of them died in. I can imagine they would hold a grudge. Besides, their contact with each other is pretty damned limited, so it's entirely possible that the Fate boy hasn't even told them his stand on you."

"I see your point." Luna admitted with a sigh. "But I had hoped they would at least hear me out. We were comrades for years, I had thought that counted for something."

Herb-san shot her an unimpressed look. "That counts for nothing. Need I remind you again that you fought against them in a fight that saw them die?"

Luna just pouted, knowing she had no counter to that. Thus, they continued their round of the Palace, which soon took them to their last stop, the vault containing the Great Grand Master Key of the Code of the Lifemaker whenever Asuna-hime wasn't using her Instrumentality Weapon. A vault that was literally filled to the brim with Ranma-sama's slimes that doubled both as the Great Grand Master Key's guards and as reserve guards for the Palace as a whole.

As the two Ariadne Mage Knights guarding the entrance to the vault spotted them, Luna offered them a nod and received a respectful nod in return even as she and Herb-san continued on their way to finish their round by heading back to the offices that had been set up when the Palace had been modified into a prison. As they did, Luna found the urge to once more restart conversation with her partner.

"Herb-san, will you be attending the party?"

"I'll give it a pass." Herb-san said with a shake of his head. "It's not my kind of party."

"That's your loss." Luna told him with a shrug.

"Really now? 'Cos I wonder if the girls in New Ostia would agree with you?" Herb-san asked with a chuckle and wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Having an idea what he was talking about - It wasn't hard -, Luna smacked the martial artist. "Pervert."

Herb-san rolled his eyes. "You're the pot calling the kettle black, you know that? Isn't the Negi boy your date to the party? Since he's already spoken for, twice even, aren't you being a pervert by trying to be the fourth wheel?"

Luna blushed but despite her embarrassment, confidently replied. "I have Chisame and Chachamaru's permission."

"That doesn't change anything."

"Oh, shut up!" Luna said with a huff, having reached her limit with the fallen Musk Prince, and stomped away even as her aforementioned partner chuckled heartily whilst following after her at a more sedate pace.

In the lead up to school restarting, in standard fashion for class 3-A, a party was thrown to celebrate the occasion. Though this particular party wasn't the usual randomness and chaos, in fact it was held in a ballroom in one of Mahora's 5-star hotels. Iincho, the spendthrift fanfare loving leader of the class and organizer of the event having booked it to mark the end of the extended Summer Vacation.

And as soon as she arrived, Chao quickly exchanged the necessary pleasantries with the hostess and moved to a quiet corner in the room to carry out an idea she had in mind for some fun. Pulling out a mechashift cube from her skirt pocket, she spun it on her finger theatrically as she synced her neural nanonics with the device and used them to give it the command to transform into the multi-machine entertainment setup that she wanted.

Tossing the cube, which looked like a sci fi rubik's cube, towards the floor, she turned away from the fancy futuretech - literally! - machine as it transformed in a process like something straight out of the Transformers franchise into a popcorn machine, among other things. And as it worked its magic, she took the time to survey the party, specifically her classmates and the guests they had brought with them.

It was like a blast from the past, the greats all collected together like in some kind of documentary!

The future Grand Necromancer Asakura-san was acting like a paparazzi and interviewing the other party attendees about their opinions on the revelation about magic's existence and associated other secrets. What a minx she was! And she was, of course, accompanied by her familiars, the Cheerful Reaper, Aisaka-san, and the Dread Dracolich, Kitty, in tow, with the latter being carried around in his spatially manipulated pet carrier by the former.

At the same time, in another corner of the ballroom, Okochi-san and her fellow future Earth gladiatorial stars - Akashi-san, Izumi-san, and Sasaki-san - were trying to use peer pressure to recruit Ukyo-obasan and, her guest to the party, her boyfriend and future husband, Ryōga-ojisan, for their cause.

They'll be successful eventually, but not for some years. Chao mused.

In another part of the ballroom, Kasuga-san was being swarmed by the class' three cheerleaders - Kakizaki-san, Kugimiya-san, and Shiina-san - as they pestered the Mage with questions about magic. The hyperactive tomboy from the track and field club had revealed that she was a Mage shortly after the masquerade that kept magic's existence secret was lifted and was currently suffering the consequences of that decision.

Huh, I guess the three of them are going after Kasuga-san because she's less intimidating compared to the members of Ala Alba. Then again, they are all essentially war veterans now… That actually explains a lot. Man, no wonder they're all crazy.

Shaking her head at that realization, Chao continued her survey and turned her attention towards Konoe-san and her future wife, Sakurazaki-san. The couple only had eyes for each other and were basically ignoring the rest of the world as they fed each other from a plate of snacks they had fetched from the refreshment table.

Speaking of the food, Yotsuba-san was trying out the food on offer at the refreshment table with a chef's critical eye. Mm, Chao was getting hungry just watching her work!

Knowing her machine was not ready to serve anything yet though, Chao instead turned her attention elsewhere and quickly zeroed in on Kū Fei-san and Nagase-san, who were chatting with the Narutaki twins.

Probably talking about the Narutaki twins' training.

The thought alone managed to cause a shiver to go down Chao's spine when she realized that said training would be what equipped the twins with the skills that allowed them to become the infamous Twin Terrors of the Argyre Sea due to their actions during the unending Earth-Martian wars.

Think of something else! Chao thought urgently as she looked elsewhere and quickly turned her attention towards an uneasy looking Tatsumiya-san who was being spoiled by the Rainyday sisters.

I don't know how Tatsumiya-san can stand it. Chao thought with amusement. With how those two just won't let up, not even in my time, she must have the patience of a saint. That we haven't had a regicide says a lot.

Amused with that thought, Chao let her eyes wander till they landed on Hakase-san. The aforementioned mad scientist was acting entirely in character and was observing the three Demonfolks' interaction with fascination.

Hakase-san is probably going to start her research that will ultimately lead to the creation of her Demonfolk androids soon. To think such a big force to be reckoned with in the future is the product of a single mad scientist… Truly my classmates are special.

Shuddering as she recalled just how terrifying said androids were in her time, Chao forced herself to complete her survey of her classmates and quickly turned towards Naba-san, Murakami-san and Inugami-san. Where Naba-san was using the older sister aura that she was famous for to confront a very intimidated looking Murakami-san and Inugami-san about their relationship.

Probably laying down the law on the should dos and should nots. Man, with how much of a model couple the two are going to be in the future, being seen as the ideal couple that all of the extended Ala Alba and 3-A families strive to emulate, Naba-san must be really giving some top notch advice!

Nodding happily that at least one development at this party wasn't going to lead to terrifying aspects of her time - And just the fact that so many of such things are a result of the people in my class is just scary! -, Chao spotted Iincho as she flitted from group to group in her role as hostess and making sure everyone was happy.

As per usual, Iincho is going to Iincho. Chao said with an amused smile.

And, just her luck, this was exactly the time that Shishou and Shīmǔ, who were of course together, wandered over to her.

"Chao, what are you smiling about?" Shīmǔ asked with the typical suspicion that she levied at everything that Chao ever did.

The Martian smirked, a hand on her hip. "Simple! Today is the day."

"What does that mean?" Shishou asked, cocking her head.

If possible, which it was, Chao's smirk widened. "Today is the day that the great and mighty House of Springfield is truly born."

"What? Does the boya get laid?" Shīmǔ chuckled. "Pass me some popcorn, this I have to see."

"Free of charge!" Chao giggled as she handed the two their own freshly prepared buckets of popcorn.

"Are you really charging?" Shishou asked as she happily took her bucket.

"No, but I'm going to tease them with it. Now, on with the show!"

With shared smirks, the little family of three proceed to take seats in preparation for the show to come.

"Onee-sama, what are you all doing?" Haruna asked as, accompanied by Nodoka and Yue, she wandered over, curious about why Onee-sama, Eva-san, and Chao-chan were sitting in a corner whilst snacking from buckets of popcorn.

"We are getting ready to enjoy the show to come." Chao-chan said with a smirk.

Yue snorted, in a demonstration of the crass behavior that she had picked up over her time in Mundus Magicus. "What do you mean? Is today some day that is significant to the future?"

"Yup. Today is really special." Chao-chan explained. "It's the day that Negi-sensei makes his choice on his future wives."

Nodoka let out a disappointed sigh at hearing that. "That means I won't be one of them. Right, Chao-san?"

Chao-chan fidgeted uneasily and nodded. "Um… Yeah, unfortunately, no."

Looking devastated, Nodoka nodded. "At least I will have closure today."

"At least now you will be able to get over your stupid crush on that fool and find someone more suited to you, Nodoka." Yue said with a snort.

"That's true." Haruna agreed whilst looking at her Ministra worriedly. "But are you alright, Nodoka?"

"I'm fine." Nodoka said, her eyes damp. "Chao-san, do you have anything to drink?"

Chao-chan was reaching for a cooler that was part of the fancy entertainment setup which she had set up in her little corner when Onee-sama used a pseudopod to put a restraining hand on her time traveling future daughter's arm. "Whatever you're going to pull out, it better not be alcoholic."

"It's just tubs of ice cream." The Martian assured as she laughed nervously. "I mean, the next best thing to alcohol for dealing with heartbreak is ice cream after all."

Eva-san scoffed. "Maybe but alcohol is leagues better."

"Eva," Onee-sama cut in, shooting her mate a chiding look. "Do not encourage our daughter to break the law and serve alcohol to minors."

Ignoring her parents as they continued to playfully argue with each other with an air of amused familiarity, Chao-chan pulled out a tub of ice cream, passed it to Nodoka, and gestured at the little corner she was sharing with her parents.

"Nodoka-obasan, would you like to join us?" The time traveler continued. "My entertainment setup is projecting a field that will keep those not explicitly looking for us away, so it'll be quiet."

"Sure. Why not?" Nodoka agreed.

"I'll join you then." Haruna said, offering Nodoka a supportive smile. "I'd like some ice cream too."

Yue nodded. "I'll go grab spoons from the refreshment table."

As she headed off, Haruna and Nodoka joined Chao-chan and her parents in their cozy little corner.

Sitting in a corner that she and her friends had holed themselves up in as she binged on a tub of ice cream, Nodoka watched Negi-sensei arrive with Luna-san on his arm. As they walked in through the ballroom's doors, she could not help but admit that they looked good together. Almost like a princess and her prince from some fairy tale. With Chisame-san and Chachamaru-san, also arm in arm, following shortly after them almost seeming as if they were the attendants of the couple of the hour.

"Luna-san is Negi-sensei's date for the party?" Nodoka asked in surprise. "Isn't he dating Chisame-san and Chachamaru-san?"

Chao-san just smirked. "Keep watching. All things will be revealed soon."

"Oh! Stop trying to act mysterious." Yue scolded the time traveler. "Just tell us everything."

In response, Chao-san's smirk just widened. "Can't. I'm not going to give spoilers."

"That didn't stop you telling me and Eva-chan about the future." Ranma-san, who was finally done arguing with Eva-san, told her daughter from the future.

"That's different, Shishou." Chao-san said with a shake of her head. "You and Shīmǔ are my parents and I make it a point not to lie to you if I can help it. Besides, now that you have completed your apotheosis, you can use your powers to fix any paradoxes."

"And why can't I fix the paradoxes created from you sharing these 'spoilers' with others?"

"You could, Shishou. But would you go out of the way to fix things that don't have anything to do with you?"

Ranma-san frowned at the reply, prompting Eva-san to laugh. "Of course you wouldn't, Ranma. You'd be a fool if you went around fixing everything."

Chao nodded. "That's why I don't share spoilers, unless specifically instructed to by future!Shishou. It's safer that way."

"That's a good way of doing things." Haruna agreed. "Having Onee-sama fixing paradoxes left and right because Chao-chan went around being loose-lipped about the future isn't fair."

"That's interesting and all, but can't you make an exception?" Yue pleaded as she gestured quite urgently to Nodoka.

The bookworm rested a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's alright, Yue. Chao-san has good reasons to not spoil the future. You know how that usually goes from books."

"That's obviously not true." The shorter girl huffed with dissatisfaction.

Nodoka could only frown in confusion. "Why are you so concerned? Sure, my feelings are hurt, but-"

Haruna cut her off. "Nodoka, you're crying."

"Eh?" Nodoka blinked in surprise, only now feeling the tears rolling down her cheeks. Her hand reached up, catching some and pulled it away to look at the tear in surprise. "Ah… so I am."

Apparently, while her mind was taking things in stride, her heart… her heart ached. She was more hurt by not being picked by Negi-sensei than she had first thought.

Ranma-san conjured a tissue, using one of her pseudopods to pass it her way. "Don't hold it in. It never helps. Just… let it out."

The purple haired girl nodded, taking it and asked. "Can you somehow shield us from Negi-sensei's notice? I-I'd rather not… not-!"

She choked out a little, rubbing her eyes with the tissue as Yue snorted.

"Why are you still worried about him?"

"I don't know, I-I just am." Nodoka shrugged as she did her best to dry her eyes. It wasn't working.

"It's simple. A person's feelings for another cannot just be turned off like a switch. It's only human of her."

"I see. Yeah, that would be true." Her Magic Knight friend begrudgingly admitted.

Haruna took the tissue from her hands, helping her dry her tears more efficiently. "Onee-sama, if you could?"

Ranma-san nodded and Nodoka could feel the effect wash over them for a second and the mind reader felt assured.

Letting her walls down once the enhanced anti-notice ward was in place, a sob escaped her throat. Soon, more followed as her tears grew in volume as her heart hurt from the ache of the rejection of her first love.

As Negi-sama introduced her to his royal aunt, Asuna-hime. Luna couldn't help but fidget nervously. With good reason! Asuna-hume was a woman that the elf could not help but feel intimidated by. Not only was she her crush's aunt and a princess, but most terrifyingly, she was the new Lifemaker! And having once been party to kidnapping and impersonating her, it would be no surprise that the other woman would hold a grudge against her.

"Hey, Negi, why is Luna-san your date for the party? Are you three timing Chisame-san and Chachamaru-san?" The princess asked with a teasing tone.

Or at least Luna hoped it was teasing.

Negi-sama shook his head. "No, I'm not three timing Chisame and Chachamaru. They are the ones who asked me to be Luna-san's date. They wanted her to be with someone she was familiar and comfortable with seeing as most of the people here are strangers to her."

"Chisame and Chachamaru, huh?" Asuna-hime said with a knowing smirk.

Before Negi-sama could reply, Chisame and Chachamaru appeared at their side. They had moved with such stealth that Luna was so startled by their sudden appearance that she nearly flinched.

"Luna-san, do you have a minute?" Chisame-san asked.

"Eh?" Luna asked, confused by what her girlfriends could possibly want.

"Is there a problem?" Negi-sama asked.

"No, Sensei, there are no problems. We just wish to have a word with Luna-san." Chachamaru replied in her usual precise manner.

Negi-sama looked confused, but the knowing look from Asuna-hime was most telling.

"Hey, Negi, let them go. Sometimes girls just need to chat." She told her nephew.

"Oh? Well then, have a pleasant conversation!"

Before Luna could even voice her opinion on the matter, she was dragged away by Chisame, who was sporting a disappointed look on her face.

"Luna-san, what's the deal? You've been doing jack all to get that blockhead's attention."

"Indeed. We expected you to have made your move by now." Chachamaru informed the elf.

"Remember the plan!" Chisame whispered.

Luna shifted on her feet, hesitant.

"Just do it." Chisame urged her with a push even as Chachamaru nodded, giving her own silent support.

"Are you sure now's the right time?" Luna asked nervously. "I mean, it's not like Negi-sama and I have known each other for long. Are we ready for this step?"

"And he's already more attracted to you than he is to Nodoka-san." Chachamaru pointed out. "Trust us, we would know."

"Yeah." Chisame agreed. "And we say he is ready for this, so stop dithering and do it!"

Luna was still hesitant, but the encouraging, and slightly exasperated, looks from her girlfriends gave her the courage - or was it peer pressure - she needed to overcome her fears.

Taking a deep breath, the blonde elf nodded. "A-Alright."

Turning away from her girlfriends, Luna began taking dainty steps that slowly grew more confident as she made her way to Negi-sama.

"Negi-sama?" She asked, causing the child teacher to turn away from the conversation he was having with his aunt.

"Oh! Luna! You're back from talking to Chisame and Chachamaru?"

Luna nodded. "Yes. And thanks to their encouragement, it's time I showed you something."

Negi-sama blinked in adorable confusion. "Show me something?"

Taking another deep breath to calm her spiking nerves, Luna cupped the King of Ostia's head and leaning down, planted her lips against his in a kiss. It was only a quick peck but Luna had poured as much of her affection for him and hopes for the relationship she desired with him into it as possible, hoping that it would get her message across.

As she pulled away, a flabbergasted Negi-sama stammered and flailed his arms in confusion, looking lost. "Huh? Wha-what?!"

Chisame, smirking like the deviant that Luna knew from personal experience she was, stepped forward and pulled Negi-sama into another kiss. Leaving, as she pulled away, the boy looking dazed, confused, and teetering on his feet.

And that was when Chachamaru went in for the final kill with a kiss of her own. A passionate locking of lips that had Negi collapsing into a chair, one that Luna had dragged over at seeing his flattering steps after the second kiss.

Whilst that happened, Chisame and Chachamaru shared a kiss as well, in celebration of a job well done. And as the two pulled away from their rather racy kiss, they turned eyes to Luna, who suddenly felt like a deer in the headlights.

"Eh?" She squeaked out as they looked at her expectantly. She blushed furiously, fidgeting on the spot.

Chisame crooked her finger, beckoning her forward. "Get over here, you sexy elf. If we're sharing Negi, we need to share each other too."

Shuffling her feet, Luna turned to look at Chachamaru, who was giving her an inviting smile.

That more than anything helped Luna to overcome her nerves and beaming, she skipped forward and was swiftly met with two very wet, warm and welcoming kisses. Her stomach was flip flopping with nervous energy as she drowned in the love and affection. But that was okay. She was with her future harem sisters and there was nothing they couldn't do together!

As Negi recovered from the dizzying display of affection, the crowd of his students cried out in dismay. He ignored them though, his attention drawn to the sight of his- Um, those he had relations with, kissing.

It was nice.

Yet, it beggared a question.

"Don't I have a say in this?" He asked himself.

Asuna-san heard him however and walking over, patted him on the shoulder.

"Could you really tell them no, squirt?" His aunt told him with a snort.

The three girls pulled away from their kissing, their faces flush and turned to him as they embraced in a three-way hug. Each shot him a pair of puppy dog eyes that gnawed and tore at his defenses, leaving him at a loss for words and only able to blush brightly all over again.

"I… cannot." He admitted at last.

Asuna-san chuckled, patting him on the head affectionately. "Then stop complaining, you playboy. The ladies in your life have spoken, just accept it."

Negi hung his head, sighing in defeat.

The three girls pulled away from their embrace slightly, created enough space for him and shot him an expected look.

With a gusty sign once more, he nobly stood to his feet and walked over to meet his fate.

Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!

All hail the House of Springfield! All hail! And so, the wives have been selected. The others lay in woe. What drama! What heartache! Truly, this is a more realistic harem series now with the ladies chosen. I mean, Negi's good, but I doubt our boy could take his whole class! XD

Nameless: Indeed. Polyamory for the win! Personally, based on what little evidence I've seen, I have doubts that it would work in reality but this isn't IRL! So let's have some fun.

Chao outlining the future of the cast was fun too. Having her go over what everyone ends up doing or becoming? Always fun. It was like something from the credits of Animal House. Without the sound track of course.

Nameless: Indeed. There were some differences from canon of course. Notably, at least based on our chat as we wrote the chapter, the Narutaki twins do not get their princes in the ROPverse. Frankly, that just seemed too out of left field. Better to give them a happily ever after based on something that is established in ROP/canon such as them receiving kunoichi training from Kaede. Of course, speaking of Kaede, not everyone got a sneak peek of what their future holds. In those cases, use your imaginations, guys. ;)

And of course, the Nodoka scene. As one of the major favorites for Negi, she always held a special place in my heart. So writing her heartbreak was painfully enjoyable and real to me. Hang in there girl, you've got friends and other options. ;)

Nameless: Indeed. There are more fishes in the sea, Nodoka! On another note, this is the last chapter for our readers on FFN, so let me just say that writing this fic was great fun! Beyond that, outside of one-shorts, I don't think I've seen a complete Negima fic myself, so finishing this feat is quite an achievement.

This is the closing of the fic, so we hope you enjoyed the long road we had to get here! It was well worth it. And I mean, a finished Negima fic? It's crazy!

And so, with the curtain closing, we bid you, adieu!

Nameless: Well, unless you're on AO3. 'Cos if you are there's still one more special bonus lemon chapter to wrap things up. Hope to see you guys there!

Yup. See you there!

You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!