The day had started off normally for Negi Springfield, the young, bright-eyed homeroom teacher of Class 3-A. But as soon as he entered the classroom, things took a peculiar turn. There, sitting innocently on his desk, was a pink envelope adorned with hearts and sealed with a mysterious wax stamp.
"What's this?" Negi muttered, glancing around the empty classroom. It was early, and the students hadn't arrived yet.
With cautious fingers, he opened the envelope and unfolded a delicate letter inside, written in neat cursive. The message was simple but shocking.
"To my dearest Negi-sensei," it began, "I've admired you from afar for some time now, and I can't hide my feelings any longer. Please meet me after class, under the cherry blossom tree behind the school building."
Negi felt his heart race. Was this… a love letter? He hadn't even noticed anyone having those kinds of feelings for him, but it left him flustered. The bell rang, signaling the arrival of his students, and Negi quickly tucked the letter into his pocket.
As soon as Class 3-A started filling with their usual energy, Asuna Kagurazaka, ever the loud and brash student, immediately noticed the faint blush on her teacher's face.
"Hey, Negi! You okay? You look weird!" Asuna called out, making her way to his desk.
Negi stammered, "I-I'm fine! Nothing's wrong!" But his red cheeks and the fact he kept his hand protectively over his pocket didn't help his case.
That was when the curiosity of Class 3-A was piqued. In particular, Asuna, who had always been protective of Negi, decided to get to the bottom of this. During their break, she snuck up to his desk and found a glimpse of the letter when Negi wasn't looking.
"WHAT? A LOVE LETTER?" Asuna shrieked, causing everyone to gather around.
"Negi-sensei got a love letter?" one of the students chimed in, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Who's the lucky girl?" another added.
"That's what I'm gonna find out!" Asuna declared, taking it upon herself to investigate. "Don't worry, Negi, I'll figure out who sent this!" She grabbed him by the shoulders, grinning confidently.
Before Negi could protest, Asuna was off, her detective hat metaphorically in place. Her first stop? The bookish duo: Yue Ayase and Nodoka Miyazaki.
Asuna cornered Yue and Nodoka in the library during lunch, the two calmly reading as always.
"Alright, spill it, you two!" Asuna demanded, slamming her hands on the table. "Did one of you send Negi that love letter?"
Yue blinked. Why would I do that?" she asked, almost bored with the accusation.
Nodoka, on the other hand, blushed fiercely and nearly knocked over her stack of books. "L-L-Love letter?! N-Negi-sensei… I—" She hid behind a book, her face beet-red.
Yue sighed. "Nodoka, you're making it worse. You're just giving her more reason to suspect us."
"B-But I didn't send it!" Nodoka squeaked.
"Exactly," Yue confirmed, leaning back in her chair. "I don't even care about things like that right now, Asuna. Why don't you try someone more, I don't know, romantically inclined?"
Asuna grumbled. Yue and Nodoka were a dead end.
Next, she made her way to the athletic trio: Yūna Akashi, Ako Izumi, and Akira Okochi, who were practicing after school.
"Alright, you three," Asuna said, pointing an accusing finger. "Which one of you sent Negi-sensei a love letter?"
Yūna laughed out loud, clutching her stomach. "Me? A love letter? To Negi-sensei? No way! That'd be so embarrassing!"
Ako's face flushed a light pink, but she quickly shook her head. "I-I mean, Negi-sensei is really sweet, but no, I didn't write him any love letter."
Akira adjusted her swim goggles. "Sorry, Asuna. You're barking up the wrong tree."
Asuna groaned. "This is harder than I thought."
Not deterred, she moved on to the next suspect: Chachamaru Karakuri.
"Asuna-san, I cannot send love letters. I am not programmed for emotional output of that nature," Chachamaru explained in her robotic monotone.
"Uh-huh, sure," Asuna replied, squinting suspiciously. "Then why are you fidgeting and overheating?"
"I-I am not overheating. I am simply recalibrating my systems," Chachamaru stammered, her circuits clearly malfunctioning as her cheeks glowed a bright red.
"You're overheating! You're totally overheating!" Asuna teased.
Chachamaru's embarrassment only escalated as her servos whirred noisily. "I assure you, Asuna-san, I did not write the letter!"
Asuna's investigation continued. She interrogated Kū Fei, who just grinned widely and said, "Me no write love letter! But Negi-sensei is very cute!" Asuna rolled her eyes and moved on.
Konoka Konoe was her next stop. The moment Asuna mentioned the love letter, Konoka chuckled mischievously and said, "Oh? Maybe I should marry Negi-kun before anyone else gets the chance. What do you think, Setsuna?"
Setsuna turned bright red, waving her hands frantically. "K-K-Konoka-sama! Please don't say such things so casually!" Konoka winked at her.
"Okay, enough!" Asuna groaned, rubbing her temples.
She even tried Kaede Nagase and Chisame Hasegawa, but the ninja gave her a cryptic smile, and Chisame simply dismissed her with a glare. Mana Tatsumiya ignored her, Zazie Rainyday said nothing, and Evangeline A.K. McDowell threatened to curse her for even suggesting something so ridiculous.
Hours later, after all the interrogations and wild goose chases, Asuna slumped back into the classroom, defeated. Class 3-A was abuzz with gossip, but nobody had confessed.
"Ugh! I'm out of suspects!" she exclaimed in frustration. "I've asked everyone! Yue, Nodoka, even Evangeline!"
Yūna leaned over from her desk. "Maybe you should just ask Negi-sensei directly."
Everyone in the room paused.
"That's… actually a good idea," Asuna muttered, stunned that she hadn't thought of that sooner.
With newfound determination, Asuna marched up to Negi, who was peacefully grading papers at his desk.
"Alright, Negi," she demanded. "Who sent you the love letter?"
Negi looked up, startled. "Huh? Oh, you mean this?" He pulled the letter out from his pocket.
Everyone leaned in, their eyes locked on the letter as he unfolded it.
And then, with a sheepish grin, Negi chuckled. "It was from my older sister… Anya. She's just teasing me again."
The entire room fell silent for a moment before erupting into laughter.
Asuna, speechless for the first time all day, slumped into her chair. "Are you serious?! All that for a prank letter from your sister?!"
Negi scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "Sorry about that…"