Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ Miscalculation ❯ Chapter 4

Morning came, and Asuna woke up to find that Negi was no longer with her. While it mildly disappointed her, she knew that it was not uncommon for him to get up to use the bathroom and then settle down with a different girl. Over the last several months, he had pretty much slept with all the girls in the group at least a few times. Sitting up and stretching, Asuna rubbed her eyes before looking for her partner.

 

Who's the lucky girl this morning? she wondered, scanning the futons. Not spotting him, she frowned. Glancing at the eastern ridgeline, she saw that it was a half hour or so before daybreak. Maybe he's practicing already, she reflected. Silently, she moved toward the main terrace, where he usually practiced. “Looking for Negi?” came an unexpected voice as she entered the hall that connected the side terrace with the main one and the transport circle. Asuna flinched.

 

“Chachamaru! You startled me,” she complained. The gynoid bowed her head slightly.

 

“My apologies,” said the girl. Asuna waved it off.

 

“Yeah, he wasn't with one of us this morning, so I want to find him,” she casually related. Chachamaru nodded.

 

“I will assist you,” she stated. Asuna nodded her head.

 

“I'd like that,” smiled the girl. Her hair was still loose, her bells next to the head of her futon. “Oh, I didn't see Kotaro, either,” she recalled.

 

“Then, they are likely sparring with each other already,” said Chachamaru. Asuna's lips twitched.

 

“Probably,” she agreed.

 

The two found the main terrace empty. “So, where do you suppose they might have gone?” wondered Asuna. Chachamaru paused for a moment before answering.

 

“They are at the original resort,” she said. “I have detected their tracking badges at that location,” said the inorganic girl. Asuna and Chachamaru stepped onto the transport circle and a moment later, they were at the circle at the original resort. Looking down, she spotted two forms on the white sand of the beach far below. Smiling a little, she glanced at Chachamaru.

 

“Hey, want to take the short way down?” she asked. Chachamaru nodded.

 

“If you wish.”

 

“Just do me a favor, and if I mess up, grab me, ok?” asked Asuna, taking a deep breath and synthesizing kanka. With her power up, she took two steps and dove off the high column, falling toward the sea and sand below. Chachamaru stepped off, her jets deploying, but not firing as she free-fell beside Asuna. As the beach neared, Asuna focused the kanka and braced for the impact.

 

She hit with a heavy, hard thud!, but because she had focused the kanka below her and braced for the landing, she wasn't hurt; though there was a nice impact crater beneath her bare feet. Jets flared and Chachamaru sedately, delicately, landed next to her. They were about a hundred yards away from Negi and Kotaro, both of who had sensed the pair before they arrived, and were moving toward them. The two girls moved to meet them half way.

 

“That was incredible, Asuna!” enthused Negi, stopping in front of her. “You are really getting good at kanka use,” he added. Asuna found herself blushing at his words.

 

“Well, I guess,” she allowed. “What were you doing, leaving us to go practice?” she switched the topic. “You know we don't like it when you aren't there when we wake up,” she reminded him.

 

“Uh, there was something I wanted to talk to Kotaro about,” Negi said, glancing away. Asuna's eyes flickered to the dog-boy, who nonchalantly glanced away.

 

“And you couldn't talk to me or one of the other girls about it?” she asked, suspicious. He should talk with me or Kono-chan or one of the others before asking Kotaro anything! she thought possessively. Negi blushed.

 

“Uh, it is sort of…guy stuff,” he explained. Asuna sniffed.

 

“So?” she said, not buying it. “You should still talk to us first!” she insisted.

 

“But, you and the others always tell me that you won't tell me what you were talking about because it's `girl talk'!” protested Negi. Asuna flipped her hand, dismissing the accusation.

 

“That's entirely different!” she said as if he were an idiot for not realizing that already. Kotaro snorted.

 

“I don't think…” he began, only to find Asuna in his face.

 

“That's right, Kotaro-kun,” said the girl, dangerous undertones in her voice, “you don't think,” she said. “And if you do something like this again, I'll tell Chizuru,” promised Asuna, leering at him. Kotaro gulped.

 

“Ah, I understand,” he capitulated. Few things scared him, but Chizuru Naba was one of them. She has an unhealthy obsession with shoving onions up my ass, he thought, suppressing a shiver.

 

“Good,” pronounced Asuna. “So, what were you talking about?” she asked Negi, dismissing Kotaro from her mind for the moment. Negi squirmed under her gaze.

 

“Um, just…nothing important,” he tried. Asuna didn't buy it for an instant.

 

“Then tell me about this unimportant stuff,” she insisted. Negi glanced at Kotaro, who shrugged.

 

“She is the one insisting,” he said indifferently. “I'm gonna head back and see what is for breakfast,” he added, moving off. Chachamaru made no move to leave. Asuna moved even closer to Negi.

 

“Come on, Negi,” she said softly, absently touching his shoulder, “tell me. I'm your partner, aren't I? I'm here to help you; we all are!” she reminded him. “You can tell us anything,” she assured him.

 

“Asuna is correct, Negi,” agreed Chachamaru.

 

“It's just…lately,” Negi began, gulping nervously, “I have been having some…trouble.”

 

“Trouble?” pressed Asuna, her attention focused on Negi. “What kind of trouble?”

 

“When I…see you or the other girls naked, my…thing gets hard. Same thing when I sleep with one of you,” he added, looking up to see her watching him intently. “And sometimes, I climb into bed with you or Konoka-chan or one of the others because I just have to!” he hurried on. “Also, for the last few months, when I wake up in bed with one of you girls, my d…dick is hard,” he added, face beet red. Asuna blinked.

 

“You…and…so…” she trailed off, blinking.

 

“Yes!” Negi exclaimed. “I thought maybe something was wrong with me, but Kotaro said…!”

 

“It's normal,” agreed Chachamaru. “It is nothing to worry about, Negi,” she assured him. Asuna managed to break her thoughts out of the loop his admission had caused. Smiling at him, she hugged him.

 

“It just means you are growing up; that's all,” she said, rubbing his back as she hugged him full-body. “So, how about we go see what's for breakfast?” suggested the girl, releasing him from her hug, but keeping a grip on his hand. Negi, relieved, nodded.

 

“Sure, Asuna!” he agreed. Chachamaru fell into place at his other side. Small talk between the three distracted Negi so he didn't realize it when he reached out and caught the hand of Chachamaru. Unnoticed by Asuna and Negi both, this action made Chachamaru's cheeks warm.

 

-

 

“No way!” breathed Haruna, grinning evilly. “He's really grown that much?!” Asuna nodded.

 

The group was in the bath at the dorm back at Mahora, and Asuna had mentioned the conversation in passing while talking to Konoka and Setsuna. Of course, the manga artist and Kazumi had been eavesdropping, and the commotion had drawn the others in. Now, huddled close together in a far corner of the bath, Asuna had told the others of the incident.

 

There were a few other girls in the bath though none of them were from their class and they were far enough away that the group felt safe talking in low tones. Besides, with Kaede and Ku Fei in their group, it was unlikely that anyone would dare try to crowd them, and if they did, they would be spotted early on. “But, isn't he a bit young for that?” wondered Nodoka, though she didn't sound the least bit upset about the news.

 

“Actually,” disagreed Chisame, “I think it only makes sense.” The others turned to look at her.

 

“How so?” wondered Setsuna, frowning a little.

 

“Think about it,” Chisame fell into lecture mode. “When we are at the resort, time passes much faster for us than for the outside world. With the time we have been logging there lately, I figure that we're all older biologically than we think,” she surmised. Yue began to nod.

 

“Of course,” she agreed. “I never bothered to think about it, but Eva did warn us about it back when we first started going to the resort on a regular basis. And if there is a time offset, then Negi is maturing faster than `normal'.” Yue gave a delicate snort. “Not that much about our lives has been `normal' of late,” she said, smiling slightly. The other girls traded smiles as well.

 

“True,” allowed Kazumi, frowning slightly. “Have you noticed that our periods have fallen out of synch with the others?” she asked the group. As a group, the others blinked, realizing that what the pineapple-head had said was correct. Shrugging, Asuna dismissed the issue.

 

“Who cares?” she said. “I'm more interested in deciding what to do about Negi.”

 

“What's there to decide?” wondered Kaede. “We just need to do what we always do: support him,” she said. The other girls stared at the tall ninja.

 

“Um, when you say that, do you mean…?” wondered Nodoka. She blushed, not quite able to complete the sentence. “I mean…maybe Kotaro would be the right choice for this?”

 

“Do you really want him to teach Negi about this?” challenged Konoka. “I like Kotaro-kun, but I don't think it's a good idea to let him teach Negi about this kind of thing. I saw we do it,” she suggested.

 

“After all, we are his partners,” agreed Asuna.

 

“And we're much better suited to teach him about this than Kotaro,” grinned Haruna.

 

“No Yaoi!” cried out Yue, Nodoka, Asuna and Chisame in unison. Haruna gave them a hurt look.

 

“Did I say anything about Yaoi?” she asked.

 

“No, but you were thinking it!” snorted Asuna.

 

“Actually, I wasn't,” said the big-breasted girl. “I may like drawing that stuff, but in real life…? I have to say that I don't want to see Negi with anyone but us,” she said casually. Well, maybe a little interaction with Kotaro, she amended the statement mentally. In all truth, she honestly didn't like the idea that Negi would get involved with anyone not in the White Wings; or at the absolute most, in their class. “Besides, he's ours,” added the girl aloud.

 

Not one of the other girls said a single thing against that statement.

 

-

 

There were, reflected Nodoka, several advantages to being in the library club. Not the least of which was access to books that the rank-and-file students were not allowed access to. It was past the closing time of the library, and most of the other librarians and library club members from the high school and university were either gone for the day or off in groups doing studying and research or holding club activities for their grade. Thus, Nodoka, Yue and Haruna were free to assemble their research books.

 

Right now, Haruna and Yue were rapidly rifling through the shelves, hurriedly pulling out books, scanning the titles and occasionally flipping through them before either replacing them or tossing the volumes to the library cart that Nodoka pushed along. Yue worked the lower shelves, while Haruna worked the upper shelves, rolling along on a rack ladder. Nodoka swallowed nervously as she saw the books pile up.

 

“Too clinical,” muttered Haruna, shoving a thin book back onto the shelf, “too involved,” she scowled, skipping a heavy-bound encyclopedia-sized volume, “too technical,” muttered the girl, scanning an ugly medical-sciences volume, “hmm, looks useful,” she said, eagerly pulling another book and tossing it to the cart without looking at Nodoka.

 

“I think we have gotten as many books as we can read,” Yue opinioned, setting two more on the cart. “At least for now,” she qualified. Haruna hooked her insteps over the rails and slid down the ladder with the ease of a well-practiced acrobat.

 

“I think so,” she agreed. “On to the periodicals!” she announced eagerly. Nodoka and Yue glanced at each other.

 

“When you say `periodicals', you aren't…?” began Yue.

 

“Of course I mean those!” crowed Haruna. Grabbing Yue's hand and the front of the cart, she dragged the other two down the cavernous library toward the section where the periodicals were stored. Passing through several different doors and passages, the trio and their cart emerged into a large, florescent-light lit room with bank after bank after bank of magazine filing cabinets, stretching nearly as far as the eye could see. Haruna led her two companions without err to a far corner of the room and used her library key to unlock a cabinet.

 

“How do you know where the magazines we would need are?” wondered Nodoka.

 

“Because I have been using them as references for my mangas,” shrugged Haruna. Pulling out the heavy drawer, she flipped through the magazines. “Now, let's see what we have here…” she muttered. Yue and Nodoka moved up beside her, seeing her flipping through glossy magazines. Looking at the covers, Yue blushed and Nodoka's mouth dropped open.

 

“W…why would the library have this kind of thing?!” she managed to strangle out.

 

“You know the library - they collect all manner of printed media,” Haruna replied, her attention on the magazines. “Could be useful,” she said, slipping one out and immediately diving back in. Seeing her two companions just watching her, she flipped her hand at them. “Well, get going, you two!” commanded the manga-ka. “We don't have all night, you know,” she reminded them.

 

Shaking free of their shock, Nodoka and Yue moved to the adjoining cabinets and drawers, swiftly unlocking them and getting into the cataloged magazines. Over the next quarter hour, the sounds of occasional gasps, giggles and sounds of disgust echoed through the cavernous room. Amateurs, thought Haruna smugly. The beeping of a watch interrupted their plundering of forbidden materials.

 

“I guess that is a good start,” allowed Haruna, eyeing the overflowing cart. “Now, we have ten minutes to get this out of here before the university sempais come looking for us poor little junior high girls,” she said sardonically. I could sic my tentacle monster on them, thought the glasses-wearing girl, grinning evilly as she absently caressed her Pactio card, tucked securely into her top.

 

“How are we going to haul this all out of here?” wondered Nodoka, absently wiping her hands on her skirt. Yue had her cell phone to her ear.

 

“Taken care of,” said the braids-wearing girl softly. A moment later, the door opened, revealing Konoka, Setsuna and Kaede.

 

“Baka Black,” smiled Kaede, nodding to Yue.

 

“Wow!” said Konoka, eyeing the cart. “You three really went to town,” she noted. Setsuna un-slung a nylon pack, unzipping it to reveal more packs folded into the main one. Quickly, the four library girls stacked, packed and secure the spoils of their raid into the bags, Kaede taking two of the heavy bags, Setsuna taking another, and Haruna splitting the last with Konoka. Another beep came from the watch on Nodoka's slim wrist.

 

“We have to hurry,” she said, moving to the lead of their formation. Behind her, Yue was swiftly closing and re-locking the cabinets and drawers. Tucking her master key away, the shortest of the group hurried to catch up to the tail of the procession. Just as they reached the first turn, Nodoka stopped. Raising her hand, she signaled a stop for the others, who silently did as she indicated. Kaede frowned, hearing footsteps in the hallway they needed to go down.

 

Before she could volunteer to deal with whoever was down there - a ninja needed practice, after all - she saw Nodoka slip her own pactio card out, activating it, with a whispered `adept!' Murmurs came from Nodoka, who a moment later, waved the group back. “They're coming this way,” she said softly. Yue spun on her heel.

 

“This way,” she said firmly, “we'll cut through the archive block, then go down to the children's books first basement, come up in comparative theology block twelve,” she explained, moving rapidly through doors, down passages and around corners at a near run. “From there, we can slip out the side exit. If we hurry, we can be across the bridge before they get to the main entrance,” she said. Nodoka had her artifact open, and was mind-reading the other people in the library.

 

“They are making the rounds before closing the library, Yue,” said the girl. “The sempais have split into four groups,” she said. “One of the groups is moving toward comp theo, too,” she reported.

 

“Cut over to history three, then through Brit Lit five,” suggested Haruka immediately, “fire escape on second floor, down to the footpath on the east side, and out,” she finished.

 

“It would be faster to continue through Brit Lit until eight, then duck down to first west, wouldn't it?” countered Konoka. Yue frowned.

 

“Maybe, but the fire alarm is on first west,” she noted. “We really don't want to trip it,” worried the girl.

 

“Oh no,” sighed Nodoka, “a group is coming through Brit Lit to get to the main right now,” she said. Kaede glanced around them.

 

“Well, best be going, then,” she said, suddenly scooping Yue up in her arms and dashing to the huge, ornate glass doors that led to the shallow balcony that was more architecture than structural. Opening the windows on their pivots, she slipped through them as if they weren't there. Right behind her, the rest followed. Glancing over the wrought-iron railing, Kaede shrugged off her packs of books, tossing them to the soft, thick grass a floor below them. An instant later, the other bags landed beside them.

 

Kaede shifted Yue so she was holding her with one arm, scooped up Nodoka in the other, and jumped over the rail. A strangled scream came from the two as the tall, strong girl landed on the grass as softly and silently as if she had stepped off the sidewalk. A muffled squawk preceded Haruna over the rail, Kaede catching the larger girl easily and setting her down next to Yue and Nodoka. Moments later, Setsuna - wings extended - hopped off the false balcony, Konoka in her arms. The half-bird demon girl made a single spiral before landing next to Kaede.

 

“That was fun!” said Konoka happily as Setsuna's wings vanished, allowing the girl to re-button her blouse and tuck it back into her school skirt. “Let's do it more often, Se-chan,” she added, smiling warmly at the Shinmei-ryu warrior.

 

“W…we should hurry, Ojou-sama,” the girl replied, blushing. Kaede already had three of the four bags on her shoulders, her hand offering the last to Setsuna, who took it without comment. Silently, the six-pack dashed off. By the time that the group were at the far end of the bridge that connected Library Island to Mahora proper, the less-toned of the group were panting. Setsuna and Kaede weren't even breathing hard, even though they were pack muleing the material. Konoka was fine, though she wished she had of brought her roller blades with her. Haruna, Nodoka and Yue weren't as well, though they were also not as winded as they would have been without the inadvertent training they got from being in the White Wings.

 

“You know,” panted Haruna, “it occurs to me…that we could have…just walked out…with the books,” she said. “We're library club, after all,” she added.

 

“But we're not old enough…to check out most…of what we have,” countered Nodoka. Yue shrugged.

 

“Immaterial,” she said. “It's hypocritical to…restrict information by age…when most of our school peers…are doing the real thing,” she opinioned. Konoka hummed.

 

“Besides, this is for our education, as well as Negi's,” she said piously. “As his elders, partners, teammates and friends, we have an obligation to him as much as he has an obligation to us, right?” she smiled.

 

Kaede smiled her squinty-eyed smile. “I'll go along with that excuse,” she said indifferently. Setsuna looked at her watch.

 

“We need to get back to the dorm,” she said, reminding them that they were still a good fifteen minutes from the dorm they lived in. “Asuna is minding Negi right now, so we have a small window of time to get this stuff stashed away,” she added.

 

“We'll keep it in our room,” said Nodoka. “Fewer people visit us than any of the other rooms in our class,” she said.

 

“You know, Chisame doesn't have a room-mate and the only ones who go into her room are White Wings,” said Konoka. “With the amount of books and magazines, shouldn't we split the storage?” she wondered. The others considered that.

 

“Might be a good idea,” allowed Haruna. “Makie and the others do occasionally end up in our room, and Class Rep keeps sticking her blonde nose where it doesn't belong,” she thought out loud.

 

“Speaking of Rep and the others, I think some of them might be getting curious about the White Wings,” interjected Konoka. “Ever since Asuna could suddenly hand Ayaka her head without even trying, she had been suspicious about where we all disappear to, even if it is only for a couple hours to her time,” she said.

 

“Does she know anything for sure, though?” wondered Setsuna.

 

Konoka shook her head. “I don't think so,” she said. Further conversation was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. Looking at it, she smiled. “Grandpa,” she said, picking up the call. The others listened in silence, still walking swiftly toward the dorm. “Tomorrow? Well, I suppose,” she said, her tone sounding reluctant. “I know, grandpa,” she sighed, “but…yes, we have been through this before. I just think…no,” she said, her tone reasonable, but firm, “I know, I know, but…” Silently, she shook her head. “Ok, grandpa,” she relented. “But I want Asuna and Se-chan to come with me,” she demanded. A moment later, she smiled. “Well, only because you're my favorite grandpa,” she giggled, ending the call.

 

“Ojou-sama?”

 

“Tomorrow, you and Asuna are gonna come with me,” she said, glancing at Setsuna. The girl was blushing.

 

“B..but, Kono-chan!” protested Setsuna. The long-haired girl lunged over to hug Setsuna.

 

“I like it when you call me that, Se-chan,” said the girl. Setsuna blushed.

 

“I…I'm not worthy to…!” tried the girl once more. Konoka wasn't listening to her.

 

“It's just a few hours,” she said, “and besides,” grinned the girl, “I want to see you and Asuna in kimonos,” she laughed wickedly. “Negi should be struck speechless by seeing us dressed up like that,” she added.

 

“Where are you going, exactly?” wondered Haruna.

 

“My grandpa has been setting me up on omiai for a while now; more than a year, in fact,” she said. “Usually, I try to get Asuna to come along - for company and protection. This time, though, I'm taking Se-chan and Asuna both.”

 

“He's been setting you up with men since you were thirteen?!” gaped Haruna. Konoka shrugged.

 

“About that long,” she said indifferently. “Some of them are old - like thirty!” she gossiped. “In fact, I was running away from an omiai when I first saw Negi using magic. He was flying around on his staff, and landed in front of me. For a second, he didn't recognize me,” giggled the girl. “It ended up with him seeing me in my panties, too!” she added happily.

 

“Seems to be the pattern,” smiled Yue, thinking of the first time she had seen magic. For the rest of the trip, the group gossiped about the first time that they had seen magic, which was, coincidentally, the beginning of their involvement in Negi's life and the first step toward being White Wings.