Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ Miscalculation ❯ Chapter 22

“I'm really surprised that you came to ask me about Makie-chan, Ninomiya-san,” Negi said, sitting opposite the rhythmic gymnastics coach. “And to invite me to dinner, too,” he added. Ninomiya waved her hand.

 

“It's nothing, really,” she said easily. “This is hardly fancy eating, you know,” she laughed softly, flicking her fingers at the room around them. The two were in one of the European-style bistros in the downtown area of Mahora proper.

 

“Even so,” Negi said, “I appreciate it, and I will pick up the check,” he said. The older woman raised her eyebrows.

 

“A true English gentleman even at your age,” she smiled. For some reason, Negi was reminded of the strange smiles the girls sometimes gave him. “Such a rarity in this day and age,” sighed the woman. “Very well; I accept,” she said, giving him a cute smile and wink.

 

Unsure what to say in response to that, Negi changed topics. “So, um, why come to me about Makie? Is she having trouble in her club?” he wondered. The coach of his pink-haired student shook her head.

 

“No,” replied the woman, “she is doing incredibly well in club. But that is why I am speaking to you, Negi-kun,” explained the coach. “Makie never misses a club, and with the try-outs for the national competitions going on right now, there is nothing that could keep her away, but she didn't show up today. I called her cell, but it just went to her voicemail. I still haven't heard back from her, either,” worried the coach. Negi frowned.

 

“She's probably with her sports club friends,” he offered. “All four of them were out today. Maybe special training or something?” he suggested. “Either way,” he continued before the coach could respond, “I have some of the girls checking up on them.”

 

Across the table from the young teacher, miss Ninomiya blinked in surprise. He's still so young, but already such a responsible teacher! marveled the woman. “I'm surprised that you are so well organized,” admitted the woman. Negi offered a self-conscious laugh.

 

“I find I have to be, with my class,” he replied without explaining anything. “I will call you once I know something, if you will give me your number,” he added. The woman opposite him smiled at him, her tongue slipping out to wet her lips.

 

“Gladly, Negi-kun,” she said, pulling a small card from her purse and writing a number on it. “That's my personal cell phone first, and my home phone below it. My office phone is on the front,” explained the woman, handing the card to Negi. “Call me anytime,” invited the woman. Negi tucked the card into his jacket pocket.

 

“Of course,” he agreed. The waiter arrived with their appetizers, and the pair dug in. Across the street, a pair of eyes watched the two.

 

-

 

“Eva-chan,” called out a voice, causing Eva to turn and look behind her. Chachamaru turned her head as well. Behind the pair, dean Konoe and miss Minamoto were approaching from behind the pair. Eva's eyes flickered over the two.

 

“Mistress,” murmured Chachamaru. Eva twitched her hand, indicating that she saw the pair of heavies across the street from her, and the tri standing at the corner ahead of them.

 

“Wait,” whispered Eva, having to fight hard to keep from cackling in anticipation of what might happen soon. At full strength, only the Thousand Master has ever bested me! she thought eagerly. Those pathetic wanna-bes in Tokyo were one thing, but Konoemon and the others are battle-tested and proven mages. The only thing that could make this more challenging is if Eishun or whatever Red Wing fighters are still alive were here as well, the master of Negi thought. She had all but forgotten how being at full power affected her impulse control.

 

Thinking of Negi, she felt herself calming down, her control returning. It would seem that he has had quite the effect on me, she thought, frowning slightly. “What do you want, headmaster?” she asked causally, her hand resting easily on her stylized bunny purse. She was dressed - as she was wont to do - in a frilly, ultra-girly dress dripping lace, satin and ribbons. Looking hardly old enough to be in grade school, she turned heads of men and women both as she moved through town. The women usually wanted to play mother to her, and the men usually had Lolita fetishes when eyeing her. Or pedophilic tendencies, either way, the girl thought. She had sustained herself for quite a while feeding on the deviants in Mahora before she discovered that she could snack on her classmates.

 

“I haven't seen in you in a while, Eva-chan, and thought I should look in on you,” the old man in charge of Mahora said, stopping a few strides from the pair. “Chachamaru, how are you?” he asked the gynoid. Bowing, Eva's partner answered politely.

 

“I am well, headmaster,” she said.

 

“You have a new body, I see,” he noted, eyeing the enhanced body that Chachamaru had swapped to shortly after the Tournament the year before.

 

“You already knew that, old man,” Eva said dryly. “And if you came to talk to me, you wouldn't have called out the goon squad,” she added sarcastically, flipping her hand at the two support groups. “I assume that you have another set in reserve somewhere,” the girl said casually. The old master of the school laughed easily.

 

“Astute as ever, I see,” he said as if it were of no matter to him. Eva's cold green eyes studied him.

 

“I find I live longer that way,” said Eva disdainfully. Beside the headmaster, the busty sempai to Negi seemed unconcerned, though Eva could smell the adrenaline in the woman's scent. “So, are we to talk or do you want to test your might against me?” asked Eva directly. Her sharp hearing caught the sounds of feet shuffling from across the street and from behind her.

 

“Oh, I'm sure an old man is no match for you, even bound by the curse Nagi put on you,” dismissed Konoemon, chuckling. Eva didn't rise to the bait, saying nothing of her newly-earned freedom.

 

“So, what do you want to talk about?” asked Eva, the rays of the sinking sun dancing across her skin. The dean studied her for a moment in silence.

 

High daylight walker, indeed, he thought absently. How Nagi ever brought her down is a mystery, he mused. “How is the club going? With Negi and the girls?” he asked instead.

 

“Surprisingly good,” Eva replied immediately, her lips twitching. “Your granddaughter is progressing rapidly in the use of her powers,” she said. Usually from practicing on the fighters, Eva thought, silently snickering.

 

“And Negi-kun?” asked Shizuna unexpectedly, eyes on Eva. Eva did smile this time.

 

“My apprentice and I are doing very well,” she purred, licking her lips suggestively. The faintest twitch of an eye told her she had scored. I am such a bitch, she laughed silently.

 

“The girls,” Konoemon cut back in, “how are they? Causing you trouble, I imagine?” suggested the man. Eva's eyes were steady, her face giving away nothing.

 

“Hardly,” she said casually. “As if a bunch of normals could cause me trouble,” she scoffed.

 

“Oh, I don't know about that,” came the bland reply from the dean. Eva offered him a false smile.

 

“Don't worry about me, old man,” she said, stepping up to him, standing on tip-toe and patting his cheek, “I am fully able to take care of myself,” she promised.

 

“Mistress,” came the barely-audible voice of Chachamaru. Eva's eyes slipped to the side, seeing the two heavies moving across the street. For the barest instant, she considered starting the party by bisecting the dean and his backup before leveling the entire magical staff of Mahora. But only for a moment. Konoka would be sad if I did that, and Negi would certainly not care for it, she thought. Besides, there is no point blowing my cover so early, the vampiress thought, stepping back, a near-sneer on her lips. The two fighters stopped in the middle of the street, unsure what to do next.

 

“If there are no further questions, I will bid you good evening,” Eva said, carelessly flipping a hand in a farewell gesture. “Enjoy your date, you two,” snickered the chibi terror, moving forward with Chachamaru. Reaching a corner, Eva murmured under her breath as the last of the sun faded. When Kataragi and Gandolfini dashed around the corner, they saw only an empty alley. Eva and Chachamaru had vanished into thin air.

 

“Do we go after her?” asked Kataragi of the dean, who calmly walked to the alley.

 

“Not unless you have a death wish, my boy,” warned the pre-eminent magic user in Mahora.

 

“So, you think it was her, then,” Shizuna murmured. The old master of the school hummed, stroking his chin.

 

“She is one of the few with both the power and skill to bypass a ward of the type we have been having trouble with,” he allowed. “But even so, I had not thought that she would chose to be so…subtle,” he worried.

 

“Well, Nagi's curse locks her powers away,” shrugged Gandolfini. The dean glanced at him.

 

“So it is said,” he replied. “For now, back off and observe, but do not push her,” he said. “I will call in some help with this as well, so don't crowd her,” he said.

 

“What if she breaks loose? Can we contain her?” wondered Shizuna. “Maybe it is time to recall Takahata and maybe tell Eishun that his daughter may be in danger,” she suggested. The dean shook his head.

 

“If we do that, she might see it as a challenge,” he warned. “She was - before Nagi got her - known for her cruelty and arrogance. The magic federations sent team after team after her, bounty hunters hounded her day and night, and all they got for that was a mountain of corpses and assorted body parts. No,” he sighed, “we watch for now.”

 

“And if she gets loose?” asked Kataragi. The dean looked at the core of the Mahora magical staff.

 

“Then we pray that Negi is his father's son,” he said. After a few seconds, the group broke up. Shizuna and the dean headed toward the dean's apartment. Half-way there, Shizuna glanced at the dean.

 

“Sir?” she asked him, seeing he was lost in thought.

 

“Hmm? Oh, what did you say, Shizuna-chan?” he asked her.

 

“What are you thinking, sir?” she asked him. He grinned at her.

 

“I was just thinking I should invite you in for a night-cap,” he said, twitching his long eyebrows suggestively. Shizuna's smile didn't waver as she smacked him upside his strangely-enlongated skull.

 

“That could be called sexual harassment, sir,” she replied conversationally. While bantering with the curvy woman, his mind was thinking about something far different than how attractive the woman next to him was. I don't know how, but she got loose, he thought grimly, fighting off a tremble along his spine. But, if she is no longer bound here, why hasn't she left? Or lashed out? At the least, she should have gone after Albireo or attacked us when we braced her like that, he worried. He had seen her work first-hand when he was as young as the mages under his command. Timidity and self-consciousness were not failings of the Undying Magi Evangeline. Once, she had used her puppets in a pitched battle in a town in the magical world that lasted two whole days and left more than a hundred guild warriors and bounty hunters dead.

 

It wasn't until Nagi Springfield and his companions came onto the scene that anyone actually stood up to her and lived to tell the tale, the old man recalled. It took him years, but Nagi finally sealed her and turned her over to me. Strange, really, given that the six million gold reward on her would have made him wealthy for life. And now, the son of the man who bested her is her apprentice, he shook his head minutely. Why? Why is she acting like this if she has broken the curse?!

 

Beside the old man, Shizuna was mulling over the conversation they had had with the blood-sucker. Eva as much as claimed Negi belonged to her, the little bitch, the woman thought, irritated. Did she somehow enthrall him? wondered Shizuna. She had a soft spot for the young man, and disliked the thought of the evil terror lording her bond with him over her head. Her lips thinned into a line. Well, Eva, I'll take you up on that challenge!

 

-

 

Four girls splashed in the aqua-marine waters of the tropical island, laughing and enjoying themselves. A brown-haired girl chased a pink-haired girl around in the water, splashing her, while a long-haired girl of raven locks swam with a girl sporting pale blue hair. Eventually, the four tired of the water and walked out of the brine toward the stone pavilion that dominated the center of the small island. Palm trees and salt-scrub provided the perfect atmosphere of a private tropical resort.

 

“Oh, look! Food!” exclaimed the pink-haired girl, finding that someone had laid out a spread of food while they had been swimming. The four quickly fell on the food like ravenous wolves on a blind, fat, crippled sheep. Since they had arrived, they had not seen anyone save each other, even though food appeared regularly. None of the four could quite recall how they had arrived on the island, though each was privately certain that they had known at some point. Finished eating, the group sprawled out on the towels they had found, resting on the warm sand as their meal digested.

 

“This is nice,” sighed the smallest of the group, her short pale hair ruffling a little in the breeze off the water.

 

“Yeah, it is,” agreed the brunette, stretching. “I feel like I'm rich like Ayaka or something,” she grinned.

 

“But, aren't we supposed to be doing something?” wondered the long-haired girl, sure that they were supposed to be somewhere or doing something other than lounging around a private resort on some tropical island.

 

“I can't think of anything we're supposed to be doing,” dismissed the brunette, rolling over to face the tallest of the group. This caused her breasts to jiggle. The taller girl felt a familiar sting of jealousy as she eyed the bare breasts of her friend. She used to be the same size as the rest of us, but now she's almost as stacked as…as… she frowned slightly. She knew full well that she knew people who were even more endowed than her friend, but she couldn't bring their names to mind no matter how hard she tried. Well, anyway, I wish mine would grow like hers have, the girl thought, looking down at her own bare chest.

 

She wasn't flat, by any means, but she wasn't large, either. The girls had found themselves naked, but as there weren't any other people on the island, they didn't find it a problem. Smiling a little, she thought about what the other girls in her swimming team would say when she showed up with a full-body tan.

 

“You might be right, Akira-chan,” the pink-haired girl cut in. “I sometime get this strange feeling that we should be doing something - something important - but I can't recall what it might be,” offered the most flexible of the group.

 

“Well, it isn't like we can do anything about it right now, is it?” reasoned the brunette. “I say we might as well enjoy ourselves, since neither of you can recall what we might have been supposed to be doing, and it's rare to get a resort like this to ourselves anyway,” reasoned the girl. “Right, Ako?” she grinned at the smallest of the group.

 

“I…I suppose,” replied the girl. From there, the talk turned to inconsequential things. Presently, the four rose for a another swim before night fell on their resort.

 

-

 

Negi pulled his cell phone from his pocket, glancing at the screen before picking up the call. “Kazumi, did you find out what happened to the sports club girls yet?” he asked her.

 

“No,” came back the reply from the Wing's intelligence member. “And that's kind of strange, you know?” Kazumi went on. “Chisame-chan and I are going to look into it a little more, though. You doing ok?” asked the pineapple-head.

 

“Me? Yeah, sure,” Negi replied, unsure why his partner would ask him if he was ok. “Why do you ask?”

 

“Well, with Asuna and Konoka not being there, I figured you might be needing some help,” giggled Kazumi playfully. “You know, you are welcome to crash in my room tonight,” invited the girl. Negi heard an irate cry over the phone, and a moment later, another voice came over the line.

 

“Forget that,” came Chisame's voice. “I have a single room, Negi. You can get into my room, right?” she asked him. “Feel free to make yourself at home,” invited the girl. A scuffle was heard, and then Kazumi was back.

 

“As I was saying,” the paparazzi continued as if her phone hadn't been hijacked by her companion, “feel free to sack out in my room. I have a bigger bed than Chisame-chan does,” she breathed warmly. Hearing another protest from Chisame, Negi wondered what they expected him to say.

 

“Um, I'll think about it,” he said, ending the call. Sighing, he opened the door to the lobby of the dorm and walked in. Where am I going to stay tonight? he wondered. Glancing at his briefcase, he realized that he would need to go by his room to pick up his laptop so he could do his paperwork. “Hope Asuna won't mind,” he muttered, quickly jogging up the stairs. Reaching his floor, he moved down the hall, absently greeting the girls he encountered. While that floor of the huge dorm was reserved for girls in his class's year, it didn't mean that only his girls were on that floor. Fortunately, none of the girls from other classes minded him living in the girls' dorm.

 

Reaching his door, he knocked once, waiting as he heard movement from inside the room. A moment later, the door open, Asuna peeking out. “Oh, Negi,” she said, slipping out and closing the door behind her. “Something wrong?” she asked, absently reaching out to touch his cheek. His most frequent partner was dressed in a pair of panties and her hair bells.

 

“No, Asuna-chan,” Negi said, “but I forgot to get my laptop, so…” he began. Asuna nodded.

 

“Yeah, I should have thought of that,” she said. “I'll get it for you. Just a sec,” she said, slipping back into the room. Moments later, she appeared again, handing him his laptop. Pausing, she bent down to look him in the eyes. “Are you sure you will be ok sleeping with someone else for the night?” she asked him. Negi nodded.

 

“Of course,” he said. Asuna nodded to herself.

 

“Just make sure you sleep with one of the girls on the team,” she admonished him. Negi frowned.

 

“Why…?” he began, only to have Asuna press a fingertip to his lips.

 

“Just trust me on this,” Asuna said without clarifying anything. “Well, if none of the other girls have room, you can stay with a girl from the class, but absolutely no one else!” she stated firmly, frowning at him sternly. Negi slowly nodded.

 

“Um, ok,” he allowed. Asuna smiled, leaning in to give him a quick kiss.

 

“Good,” she said, straightening and turning to enter her room again.

 

“Uh, Asuna-chan,” Negi said, catching her hand. She turned to look at him enquiringly. “Just what are you and Ayaka talking about?” he wondered. Asuna pursed her lips, as if thinking of something.

 

“Just some girl stuff,” she said after a moment. “It's really important, though,” Asuna added. Negi wanted to ask what was so important, but chose not to, seeing the signs that Asuna didn't want to talk about this with him. “You have you cell phone with you?” asked Asuna. Negi nodded. “Be sure to keep it on, in case any of us need to call you,” Asuna said. “You have your Pactio cards for us?” she asked him softly, glancing up and down the hall. Another nod. “If you need us - any of us! - summon us, ok?” she said.

 

“You worry too much, Asuna-chan,” Negi said. Asuna blinked, her head jerking slightly. Scowling at him, she gave him a gentle noogie.

 

“Well, someone has to!” she retorted. Negi grinned at her. “Besides,” Asuna said quietly, once more touching his face with her fingers, “we're your partners, and we have to protect you,” she said. Abruptly, she spun and opened the door to their room. “Now get out of here!” she grunted, almost slamming the door behind her. Smiling amusedly, Negi bent down to pick up his briefcase.

 

Asuna was Asuna, after all. Grinning, he recalled what Shizuna had said his very first day at Mahora about the hot-tempered girl. Looks like I got used to her, as well, he shook his head fondly as he moved down the hall. I wonder which girl will let me stay with them? he wondered.

 

“Negi?” came a voice from behind him. Turning he found himself looking at Nodoka and Yue. Nodoka had called out to him, Yue providing silent moral support to her best friend.

 

“Nodoka-chan, Yue-chan, what is it?” he asked them.

 

“We, um, want to ask you to stay in our room,” Nodoka said, blushing badly but managing to hold his gaze. “It's…uh…close, and all three of us are in the club, so…!” she began to shore up her bold offer.

 

“Is there room?” wondered Negi.

 

“Yes,” stated Yue bluntly. Yue and Nodoka exchanged a brief glance. Glancing at his watch, he nodded.

 

“If you are sure,” he said, “I should get going on grading these papers,” he began.

 

“Yes!” squealed Nodoka, grabbing his hand and damn near dragging him to the room she shared with Yue and Haruna. Before he knew it, he was standing in the middle of their room, hearing the door lock behind him. Being a dorm room, the room was similar to the one that he shared with Asuna and Konoka. Glancing around, he didn't see Haruna.

 

“Where is Haruna?” he asked, sitting at the low table in the central area, setting his laptop in front of him and powering it up as he pulled papers from his briefcase.

 

“She's at the campus printing shop, getting her latest doujinshi printed up for the upcoming con,” Yue said, setting a glass of tea before him. “She'll be back sooner or later,” the small Baka Black added.

 

“Oh, and this was at the front desk,” Nodoka added, handing him an international air-mail envelope. “The desk worker didn't know what to do with it, since she can't read English,” Nodoka explained. “Hope it's ok that we picked it up for you,” added the girl.

 

“It's fine,” he assured, seeing it was from his home village.

 

“Who is it from?” wondered Yue, Nodoka moving over to the corner of the room. Negi opened the sealed envelope and scanned it.

 

“It's from Nekane-nee,” he said, touching the play icon for the magical message. A filmy image of his `sister' rose from the page as the communication spell began. As the message played, Yue moved over to where Nodoka was. When the relatively short message was finished, Negi folded up the letter and tucked it into his briefcase, looking up to find that Nodoka and Yue had changed into their sleeping outfits. Their Resort sleeping outfits, that is.