Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ Miscalculation ❯ Chapter 37

“Mana?” called out Negi, stepping through the stone arch that straddled the smallest of three parks in Mahora city. Looking around, he saw a dark form sitting on a bench a little ways from the grouping of slides, merry-go-rounds, swings and monkey bars that were always such a hit with younger children.

 

Moving over to the figure, he nodded as he confirmed the identity of his student. Mana was wearing a tight-fitting grey top, long-sleeved and turtle-necked, matching a deep navy skirt. Instead of her normal monster-hunting boots, her feet were sporting flats. Beside her, a purse was resting against her side. “Mana?” he said, sitting next to her on the side opposite her purse.

 

“Negi,” she smiled at him. “I didn't interrupt anything, did I?” asked the mercenary sniper.

 

“Just getting back from club,” he assured her. “You said you needed to speak with me, Mana? About something important?”

 

“Yes,” Mana said, standing and collecting her purse. “But I think we better go somewhere a bit more private,” she said, glancing at the half-dozen children using the playground; and the group of housewives gossiping near-by. Those old broads have been talking about me since I got here, and now that Negi has arrived, it is time to be elsewhere, thought the mercenary girl. Her trigger finger had been itchy ever since the street corner patrol had arrived. And let's not forget Negi's `guardians', and their tendency to crash things at the most inopportune time, Mana thought, a slight upturn at the corners of her mouth.

 

Negi felt Mana's arm drape over his shoulder as the taller half-breed led him away, toward the back of the park. Negi? Is everything ok? came Asuna's voice in his mind. Negi could almost feel the presence of the others, the newly-gained group telepathy still not fully mastered, it would seem.

 

Everything is fine, Asuna, he assured her. Mana just wants to talk, he repeated himself.

 

Negi, came Setsuna's voice, palm Kaede's card. If you think something is wrong, summon her - but make sure she appears outside of view, instructed the swordswoman. Of all the Wings, Kaede was the best equipped to handle Mana. Negi had - with help and instruction from Eva - learned to summon his partners at different locations around him, out to almost a hundred yards.

 

Hey! He's going to summon all of us! protested Asuna.

 

Let's just see what she wants before we get into that discussion, Negi thought back, sweat-dropping. It's probably nothing, he repeated himself.

 

I doubt that, came the sardonic reply. Negi felt the others fade.

 

“Negi?” Mana said, Negi turning to blink up at her.

 

“Uh…yes?” he replied. She was watching him closely, her pale blue eyes fixed on him.

 

“Which one was it?” she asked. Seeing his expression, she cut off his attempted reply. “Which partner were you talking to telepathically?”

 

“I…”

 

“Remember, I had a Pactio card as well, once,” she reminded him. “I'm guessing Asuna,” Mana smiled.

 

“R…right,” Negi said, glancing away from Mana. The sniper's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He's lying to me, she thought, more amused than anything else. For Negi to lie to her meant that he was changing. For him to lie to her about something like which partner he was talking to meant he was growing up. So much for easy, naïve, inexperienced Negi, the tall woman thought, a touch wistfully.

 

Silence fell as the two made their way along the lighted foot path, Mana guiding Negi toward a spot she knew about in the back of this park. It was a small bench that was invisible from the path, being surrounded by shrubs and landscaping. One would have to walk off the path, turn the corner and look back to see the bench, and she was reasonably sure that very, very few people knew it was there. For her purposes, that was exactly what she was looking for.

 

When the two reached the bench, Mana sat down, Negi by her side. “It's a nice evening, don't you think, Negi?” Mana asked.

 

“Yes, it is,” he agreed. Mana watched the stars appearing over Mahora.

 

“Do you remember the Festival? When we were doing our patrols?” she asked.

 

“Yes,” he answered. How could I forget that?! he wondered. Mana had shown him just how cold and ruthless she could be during that patrol. She even head-shot her own crush! he recalled. “Why?” he asked her.

 

“I've been thinking about something lately,” she said. “Well, to be perfectly honest, I have been thinking about it since the end of the Festival,” she admitted. Turning to him, she studied him. “I want to know if you would consider making me a partner of yours.”

 

“Partner?” breathed Negi, stunned. Mana nodded.

 

“Yes, partner. The kind of partner that Asuna, Kaede and the others are,” she drove home her point.

 

“You…Mana…why…?” stumbled Negi, shocked.

 

“Because you need me, and I need you,” Mana calmly explained. “Your group - your White Wings - are strong. With only part of your group in play, you managed to stop Chao's plan. But you - and your team - are weak on experience,” Mana said, her tone calm, collected and analytical. “You might have noticed this fact during the Festival,” she pointed out, glancing at him. Slowly, Negi nodded.

 

“Acting on my own, I managed to put most of your partners out of commission. Kaede managed to stop me, but by the time she removed me from play - at the cost of removing herself from play, no less - it was too late. I had done my job, and you were without support going up against Chao,” Mana paused.

 

“Something very similar happened during the class trip, too,” continued the shrine girl mercenary. “A faction came after Konoka, and even with your partners, you were about to over-run. You would have, too, had not Yue called for reinforcements. That was a large support bill, by the way. Sometime ask Setsuna how much that assist from me cost her,” smiled Mana playfully.

 

Negi drew breath to speak, but Mana touched his lips with her fingertip. “Consider what it would be like to have me on your side,” she whispered softly. “Not only would you have my strengths to work with, it would mean that you wouldn't run the risk of someone hiring me to fight against you.”

 

“You would do that? Fight against me again?” Negi asked her. Mana hummed.

 

“I'm less inclined to say yes now than I would have been during the class trip, but as it sits now, I can't say that I wouldn't, depending on the offer and who was making it,” the girl answered him with brutal honesty. “Say, for example, the Dean felt that you being the apprentice to Evangeline made you a danger to Konoka,” prompted the sniper. “I would almost have to accept that job, wouldn't I?” she asked. “Unless, of course, I was one of your partners.”

 

Negi considered what Mana was saying. Mistress did say that we needed her skills if we are to become as powerful as we need to be. And what if we run into Fate again? Right now, I don't know if we are strong enough to beat him down, but if Mana were a partner… He turned to study the sniper carefully. “Can we trust you?” he asked her softly.

 

“That's a good question,” agreed Mana. “I may be a mercenary, but I am loyal to the ones who sign the checks,” she said, leaning closer to him. “Or, in this case, to my partner. My magister magi partner.”

 

Um, girls? Negi thought to his partners. Do you think we can trust her? he asked them through the telepathy.

 

Well, came Nodoka's voice in his mind, my artifact says that she does want to become a Wing, the mind-reader shared.

 

But she's also thinking about how strong she will be if she gets another Pactio, interjected Asuna.

 

Another Pactio? wondered Negi. She already had one, even if it was dead, recalled the young mage. Silence greeted him. Then, Asuna came back.

 

Negi, summon us all to where you are, his primary partner directed. We need to talk about this, she thought somberly. Negi sighed.

 

“Mana, I'm going to summon my partners. They want to talk about this,” he said. She nodded. Negi took a breath, murmured his activation phrase, and summoned his entire group. Several circles flared into life, traced in white, his partners appearing in the circles as they faded away. Looking at his partners, he saw that the front-liners were clearly prepared for a confrontation, while the rear line members were watching intently.

 

“Mana,” said Asuna, her harisan resting on her shoulder, “we need to talk.” Mana met her gaze, a smile on her lips.

 

“Yes, we do,” she agreed. Her eyes flickered over the group. Negi has more partners than I thought, she noted.

 

On the far side of the thick row of bushes that shielded the bench, three figures stared, slack-jawed, at what they were seeing unfold before them.

 

-

 

Moaning softly, the blonde sat up, looking around. She was in bed, in a room with rough wooden walls, weak sunlight coming through the window, the thin, gauzy curtain doing little to protect the darkness in the room. Rubbing her eyes, she blinked, trying to recall where she was, how she got there, and other such details. Spotting an ornate doll sitting in a rocking chair not far from the bed, she felt her memory begin to catch a little. That looks like the kind of clothes that Evangeline is usually wearing, the young woman thought, one hand absently combing her long hair back from her face, the butter-blonde locks swishing against her back.

 

Hearing a sound from beside her, she turned, seeing a cinnamon-haired girl beside her. Mei, the blonde thought, brushing back some stray strands of hair from her teammate's face. The younger girl's eyes fluttered before opening. Focusing on the blonde, the second girl sat up in the bed the two had shared, rubbing her eyes as the blonde had before.

 

“Where are we, Takane?” she asked. The blonde considered that for a moment.

 

“I think we might be in Evangeline's cabin,” proposed the high school senior.

 

“How did we get here?” Mei wondered, stretching. I feel a little tired, but my body is a little stiff, as if I have been sleeping a while, noted the girl. Weird. Glancing at her partner, she noticed something else. “Um, Takane?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Where are our clothes?”

 

Takane looked down at herself, blinking as she realized that she was naked. Pushing back the silk sheets, she found that she was completely naked. Looking over at her teammate, she saw that Mei was discovering the same thing. “Not again,” groaned Takane. Everyone in that brat's class already calls me `that stripper', thanks to constantly losing my clothes and shadow armor in public, and now this…! thought the high-strung blonde.

 

“At least we're not in public,” Mei offered. Looking around, she didn't see her clothes anywhere. “Do you think that we can find something to wear in here?” she wondered.

 

“We're going to have to,” Takane said, carefully getting out of the bed. “What time is it?” she asked aloud.

 

“It is just past six,” a voice replied, making both girls shriek in surprise. Spinning to face the voice, they found themselves looking at another blonde. Evangeline A.K. McDowell was watching the two with almost sneering amusement. “On Saturday,” she added, moving into the room.

 

“S…Saturday?” stuttered Takane. But, it was Thursday when we ran into her, wasn't it? wondered the junior member of the Mahora Mage organization.

 

“Yes,” confirmed Eva. Mei watched the short blonde with a degree of wariness that pleased Eva. This one, at least, knows enough to afraid of me, thought the vampiress happily.

 

“Where are our clothes?” asked Mei softly, her tone meek.

 

“They are gone,” said Eva, “but I have some clothes for you,” smiled the mistress of the house, her fangs flashing. “But, before that, we should talk,” she purred, using a fingertip on Takane's breastbone to push the taller teen back onto the bed. Mei hurriedly sat back on the bed before Eva could do the same to her.

 

“What are you doing, hold us prisoner here?” demanded Takane.

 

“You aren't prisoners,” Eva said, hopping into the rocking chair, pulling the doll onto her lap almost by habit. Mei - looking closer at the doll - saw that it bore a resemblance to Chachamaru. Where is Chachamaru? she wondered. The gynoid partner of the super-A class criminal should have been at her mistress's elbow, but was nowhere to be seen. “Though after the way you two foolishly challenged me, I would be well within my rights to make you my prisoners,” she added, smirking at the two.

 

Seeing the two feverishly feeling their necks, Eva laughed. “If I wanted to suck your blood, I had ample,” she moaned as she said the word, suggestively licking her lips with her pink tongue, “opportunity to do so while the pair of you slept off your mistake,” she baited them.

 

“You wouldn't…!” hissed Takane. Eva's eyes narrowed, the irises turning red as black leaked into her sclera. Takane shrank back.

 

“So, um, why are we here?” Mei managed, clasping her hands to keep them from shaking. Eva focused on the younger of the team, her eyes returning to their normal green.

 

“I told you, we need to talk,” Eva said. Neither of the mages said anything. Eva studied them for a moment, then spoke again. “Tell me, Mei, why do you want to be a mage?”

 

“Why do I want to be a mage?” parroted the younger of the two.

 

“It is a simple enough question,” Eva replied, her tone almost bored.

 

“Because if I am a mage, then I can do important things,” Mei said, looking at her hands. “Things that make a difference,” she murmured. Eva watched Mei's face closely.

 

“And you, Takane?” Eva asked, fixing her gaze on the taller blonde.

 

“I am a mage so I can protect people, bring peace to war-torn lands, and help those who don't know what they should do,” Takane proclaimed grandly. Eva snorted. “What's so funny?” bristled Takane.

 

“You are a fool, Takane,” Eva said, her eyes cold. “A naïve, young, idealistic fool,” she added.

 

“I'm…!” began Takane.

 

“You are nothing, Takane,” Eva cut in coldly. “You are inexperienced, headstrong and foolish. You lack the will to become what you so blindly wish to be, and yet, you charge blindly forward, a lemming toward the cliff. Why is that?” Eva asked.

 

Takane stared at Eva. “I wouldn't expect a criminal like you to understand,” she decried grandly.

 

Eva sneered. “Oh, I am indeed a criminal,” she agreed easily, almost proudly. “But I am also powerful, experienced and have a far greater grasp of how the world really works. When I tell you that you are nothing, you should really listen to me,” she said, a finger stroking the doll's cheek. “You won't change a damn thing as you are now, you know,” shared Eva.

 

“Why not?” wondered Takane. Eva stared at her.

 

“Because the world is too much for you to handle, that is why. Even if you get a partner, you will still be overmatched. Your only hope of doing anything is to join with a group of powerful people, and work as a team.”

 

“You mean join Negi's little group of groupies,” Takane sniffed disdainfully.

 

“You should be more careful in how you characterize my apprentice, little girl,” smiled Eva. “He's already beaten you like a drum many, many times; every time you have gotten in his way, as a matter of fact,” she laughed darkly. “You must like being stripped in public,” needled Eva. “He and his `groupies',” Eva snickered at some thought she had, “even did what the entire might of the Kanto Magic Association couldn't do: they shut down Chao during her Festival run at world domination. And that nasty bit of business down in Kyoto, too…” she trailed off, apparently thinking of something else. Seconds passed.

 

“What happened in Kyoto?” demanded Takane. Eva blinked, as if she had forgotten they were there.

 

“Kyoto? Oh, some nasty little piece of work tried to run off with the Konoe girl, and Negi - and his `groupies' - went several rounds with the enemy. Of course, that was after the Kansai Magic Association had been turned to stone by a high-level spell,” she said, her lips curving slightly. “Negi almost died that night,” she added as an afterthought. “He would have, too, if not for his groupies.”

 

“Negi almost died?” breathed Mei. Eva hummed.

 

“Several times, in fact,” she said off-handedly. “He inherited the bad habit of attracting trouble from his father, the Thousand Master Nagi Springfield,” shared Eva. “Even going to the point of beating a demon lord...” she shook her head, clucking her tongue. “Such a trouble-magnet, my apprentice,” she lamented.

 

“Negi beat a demon lord?” wondered Mei, eyes wide. Eva nodded, her eyes on the doll in her hands.

 

“A count, with a very nasty tendency to petrify people,” she said. “He managed to capture all Negi's partners, but he still went right on in,” related the girl.

 

“Why haven't we heard of this before?!” demanded Takane. Damn it, we're supposed to be part of the Mage force!

 

“Probably because the higher-ups know you can't handle it,” Eva answered honestly. “Sad, really, when a mage younger than you is doing the heavy lifting because you are too pathetic to pull your own weight. Must be tough on the elite members of the Mage order - like Takamichi, Toko and Gandolfini - to be hampered by a pair of snot-nosed brats,” commiserated Eva.

 

“Negi is able to do all that? How?” mumbled Mei. Eva fixed the younger of the two with a steady, deep stare.

 

“The answer to that is fairly simple, Mei,” she answered the girl. “He wants it bad enough to make it happen.” She let that sink in for a bit. “Can you two say that?” pressed Eva.