Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ Miscalculation ❯ Chapter 30

“Enjoying yourself?” asked Eva, smirking as she caught the almost-aborted flinch from her target.

 

“This sort of job is better done by others,” came the cool reply, the figure standing. Eva smirked.

 

“Really,” she drolly replied. “But here you are,” taunted Eva. Pale blue eyes turned to stare at the vampiress.

 

“Not like I had much choice, now is it?” asked the taller girl, her tone tight. “You wound your threads around me too tightly for me to get loose, and after you bit me…”

 

“You are saying I made you do this?” Eva asked innocently.

 

“Yes,” came the curt reply. Eva hummed.

 

“Then why did you take the money, Mana?” asked Eva calmly. Just behind the small blonde bully, Chachamaru watched. While she trusted her mistress, and Mana was her classmate, all her weapons were armed and prepared. She knew how dangerous Mana could be. The mercenary gunslinger frowned. “How are they?” Eva changed the topic.

 

“Fine as far as I can tell. Your ensorcelled rounds worked fast,” admitted the girl. Eva turned to smile at her taller classmate.

 

“And that was just one version,” she baited the girl. Mana looked away.

 

“What is your interest in these two?” asked Mana. “Other than them sticking their noses in your business, of course,” she qualified. Eva didn't immediately answer, stepping over to the two sleeping girls tucked into the narrow bed in the spare bedroom of her cabin.

 

“Takane Goodman and Mei Sakura,” purred the small blonde. Murmuring, she extended her hand, a faint purplish-green energy flickering briefly as she touched each girl's forehead.

 

“These two are junior mages with the school's magical order, you know,” Mana shared. Eva nodded.

 

“Oh, I know all about them,” the seemingly-young blonde assured Mana. “After all, they have had several run-ins with my apprentice and his girls,” snickered Eva. “And each time, they ended up naked and defeated,” she added, a soft laugh coming from her throat.

 

“So, what's your interest in them?” repeated Mana. Eva hummed, turning to study the tall gunslinger. Dressed for work, Mana was wearing her white body suit that was cut like a one-piece swimsuit, her leather chaps and holsters covering her thighs and calves, the short-waist leather field jacket covering her arms and upper chest. Over these clothes, a dark cloak covered her to her ankles. Eva knew that it was a therm-optic camouflage cloak - a little techie toy that Chao had made for her soldiers in her bid to reveal magic to the entire world during the last festival.

 

“Tell me, Mana,” Eva said casually, “aren't you tired of carrying a dead Pactio card?” Mana's eyes narrowed slightly.

 

“How did you learn about the card?” she asked firmly. Eva tossed her head briefly.

 

“You forget who you are talking to, girl,” Eva said, her tone hard. “But to the heart of the matter, Negi didn't say anything,” Eva continued, her voice softer. Mana sighed softly, clearly relieved that Negi hadn't said anything about her secret. “Doesn't it bother you?” Eva repeated. “If you had an artifact available, you might have defeated Kaede during the festival,” suggested Eva. Mana considered that.

 

“Perhaps,” she allowed. Kaede is a deadly opponent, so maybe even an artifact wouldn't be enough to tip the balance in my favor, she thought.

 

“Well, it's not really an issue any more,” Eva waved a hand carelessly. “With her heavy training cycles, she can kick your ass easily now,” taunted Eva. Mana's eyes twitched ever so slightly. “If she was a chounin before - like she claims - then she is probably a jounin by now,” Eva continued, watching Mana through her eyelashes. “But I'm sure you have been practicing hard as well,” she back-tracked patronizingly.

 

Mana did her best not to react to the chibi terror, as it was clear that Eva was baiting her mercilessly. Even with those expensive magic talismans for teleportation and air movement, and the time leap bullets Chao made, I was pushed to my limits against Kaede, she thought. And if she had been training as hard as Eva claims she has, then… she had to smother a grimace. She herself had not been training hard since the first skirmish with the ninja girl. It wasn't that she wasn't motivated - she was - it was that her skills had reached their peak long since. Unless I have access to an artifact again, she thought uneasily. An artifact would be an instant boost to her skills and power. Maybe enough to…no! Mana shook her head violent.

 

“You haven't been practicing?” Eva cut in smoothly, deliberately misinterpreting the head-shake. “Pity,” she sighed, “since the Wings have been doing little else for a while now.” Lips curling into a smile that revealed her sharp fangs, Eva elegantly lifted her hand, a dark, dull Pactio card between her first and second fingers. “Such a useless thing to carry, hmm?”

 

Mana blinked, her hand frantically darting under her jacket. Pale blue eyes narrowed. “How did you get that?” she snarled. Eva shrugged. Mana snatched at the card, only to have Eva catch her wrist easily with her other hand.

 

“Now, now,” admonished Eva, “I'm only looking; for now,” she purred. “Pity about your partner, though,” she added. “I never met him, but I wonder if he wasn't a mis-match for you,” Eva mused aloud. “I mean, you survived him, which is rare for a Ministra, and if he was matched to your skill level, he should have proven much, much more durable,” noted the vampiress. “Why is it that you carry this card, Mana? It's as dead as your former partner, you know. And don't you fancy the captain of the biathlon club? Rumors abound in the high school halls about it.”

 

“That is none of your business,” hissed Mana, trying to pull her wrist free. Eva's small, soft hand might as well have been made of iron.

 

“Still, I can't help but wonder if you have any real chance with him,” continued Eva calmly. “What do you suppose his reaction would be to seeing you fight a demon? Or if he knew that you had worked with Chao to expose the world to magic? Not everyone can handle the truth, you know,” pointed out the blonde. Mana gritted her teeth, her free hand moving toward her Desert Eagle.

 

“Do not do that,” Chachamaru said softly. Glancing to the side, she saw the gynoid's new body sported a nasty-looking energy cannon in the re-configured right arm; and it was pointed right at her head. “I will not allow you to harm my mistress, Mana,” warned the girl dispassionately.

 

“Of course not,” Mana muttered. I know what a Pactio bond means, after all, she thought.

 

“Not that I care, of course,” sneered Eva, “but he looks a little too sure of his view of `reality' to adapt to your lifestyle. And it doesn't look like he could accept a girlfriend who can out-shoot him and free-lances demon hunting, either!” Eva crowed.

 

“Shut up,” snarled Mana, her angry gaze meeting Eva's cool, distant green eyes. “Just shut up!”

 

“You already know what I said is true, don't you Mana?” Eva whispered. “If it weren't, you wouldn't be so angry,” explained Eva, releasing Mana's wrist. “You should accept that you are what you are,” Eva said, once more looking at the two in the bed before her. “It is a bit late for regrets, too,” added the girl.

 

“What do you know about what I am?” Mana muttered pugnaciously. Something about Eva gets under my skin…! she silently snarled.

 

“You are a predator, Mana Tatsumiya. A pure-born killing machine,” Eva said forcefully, her green eyes back on Mana. “You enjoy the dangerous missions you take. You thrive on risking your life as you test your skills. For you, normal life is a torturous boredom that dulls your edge and grates on your nerves. Admit it! You could no more be a normal girl than I could be a saint!” accused Eva.

 

“You're wrong,” murmured Mana.

 

“Am I?” shot back Eva, her eyes blood red and slit. “You say I made you shoot these two and bring them here because I used my puppet technique and blood magic on you. I will tell you something, Mana: I didn't do anything but suggest you do so. Everything you have done since that night has been of your own choosing.”

 

“It's not!” denied Mana.

 

“Yes, it is, and you know it!” spat Eva. “If I am controlling you, why can't you find any sign of such control? How do you explain that none of the mages in the Academy have even looked at you twice? If my threads were on you, they would see them, you know. Blood magic control would be obvious to Negi and several others as well, yet none of them have said or done anything. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Least of all, why would I pay you if I already controlled you?” reasoned Eva. “No, Mana, you are not going to blame me for your actions! You are what you are.” pronounced Eva gleefully.

 

Mana said nothing. What could I say? wondered Mana. I tried to find the strings, but they weren't there. No amount of searching showed any sign of her using blood magic on me from that bite, either, Mana thought. She had looked, of course. But nothing showed that Eva had done anything to control her actions or mind. And I am unusually resistant to mind control, too, recalled the girl uneasily. Looking at the two mages, she wondered if some part of her had wanted to shoot the two with the new spell rounds that Eva had offered her.

 

“Isn't it time you moved forward once more?” Eva whispered, her lips touching Mana's ear. “To be among others like yourself once more? Our group will be like nothing you have ever seen - in either world!” promised Eva. “And with Negi, you could have a new - stronger - Magister partner. His Pactios with the girls has forged artifacts of such power that I have not seen or heard of the like in centuries. Not even Nagi the Thousand Master had that kind of power,” revealed Eva. “Think about what you could do with a partner once more - one that you know is suited to your skills. As a combat mage, Negi is already far more capable than most here in Mahora. In time, he will even surpass me,” whispered Eva, her tongue touching Mana's neck just below and behind the taller girl's ear lobe. “If he survives,” she qualified the previous statement.

 

“You're serious,” breathed Mana, shivering. Eva nodded.

 

“But, if he is to survive what he will face, he will need partners of exceptional skill and resolve. Girls who will stand by his side no matter how hard or nasty or deadly the situation gets. Girls with skills that compliment his weak areas. Girls who are powerful; and familiar with the ways of magic.” Mana swallowed, looking at Eva again, finding the vampiress holding her old, dead Pactio card up so it covered her left eye, the face toward Mana. “Think of what you could learn, working with a partner like Negi, and a group like the White Wings,” whispered Eva seductively. “Kaede and you are excellent sparring partners, and you could learn a lot from the others, too. Think about that for a moment,” Eva murmured, a hand caressing Mana's cheek. “To be part of a group like that, with a powerful partner. Isn't that what you have wanted for such a long time?” asked Eva.

 

“I…” Mana swallowed.

 

“Let go of what was, and accept what will be,” Eva murmured, the dead card catching fire in her hand. In mere moments, it was gone, not even ash remaining. Looking at Mana's face, Eva hid a smile. She's ours now, gloated the girl, a flood of excitement washing through her. Mortals are such easy marks. Looking back at the bed, she did allow a small smile to cross her lips. And now for the next two, thought the vampiress.