Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ The Dreamer ❯ Killer Queen ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

-----Author’s note: I do not own Negima, but any other characters and ideas are my own. By the way, my name is not Connor, and Connor does not represent me, for any of you out there who may think this is a self-insertion. He’s just a character from a previous story who I wanted to bring back into my writing. Anyway, enjoy!

Negi stood before Connor’s door, his hand raised to knock, though he hadn’t been able to bring himself to follow through with the action for the last several minutes. He was lost in thought, reflecting on what he had been told, only hours ago...

-

“He did it, too?” Negi asked quietly, his eyes lowered to the ground, wide in shock and confusion.

“Yes. He severed his spine with magic during the interrogations. It happened in an instant, he didn’t feel anything,” The headmaster tried to console the ten-year-old teacher. The two were in the headmaster’s office, the early morning sun flooding the room a deep red color. The old man felt bad for having to involve Negi in such dark matters, but he needed to know. This was a time they all needed to pull together to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves.

“So...we don’t have any more information to go on than we did before, do we?” The little teacher was disheartened that the masked man he and Chachamaru had captured at Evangeline’s cabin had proven to be just as fruitless as the first captured enemy. Were they all so fanatical that they would simply kill themselves to avoid interrogation?

“That’s not quite true...” The headmaster stepped up from his desk, slowly making his way across the room to open some of his cabinet doors to reveal a television, which he flipped on. The screen now showed a black and white picture of a cell-like room. A man in a black robe sat across from three other men. Negi recognized them as some of the school’s mage teachers.

“Is that him?” Negi asked quietly.

“It is. He looks like a normal man, doesn’t he? It’s odd how that works,” The headmaster confirmed the man in black as Evangeline’s assailant.

The teachers began to interrogate the man, this time steering clear of Chao Lingshen’s mind scanner. The machine might force the man to act irrationally, ending his own life before he involuntarily revealed anything about the voice. After several minutes of one sided conversation, the man in black began to laugh. The teachers shut up, staring at the laughing man, waiting for him to stop.

“You think I’m going to tell you anything? Master is almost there...almost perfect. There’s no way you can stop her, not ever,” The man spoke through his laughter. He was crying a little, but they couldn’t tell if it was from laughing or not.

“Who is she? Where is she?” One of the teachers demanded.

“Pray for me, master!” The man shouted. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head as he slid off of his chair, collapsing onto the floor in a heap.

Two of the teachers rushed over to him, while the third flipped out a cell phone, “Headmaster? Yes...he did...I know...I know...no...yeah...I understand. Yes, I’ll be over right away,” The teacher slid the phone back into his pocket, turning to glance at his two associates. They shook their heads, which was all the signal the third teacher needed to walk away.

“Did you catch anything in there which would be helpful to us?” The headmaster asked, turning the tv off and returning to his desk.

“He...he said ‘she’. Does that mean that the voice i-is a girl?” Negi stammered.

“I believe it does. Did you notice anything else?”

“He asked her to pray for him. B-But does that mean that these guys are some kind of religious cult!”

“I don’t know if we can go that far, but they definitely have some sort of connection to one of the shrines in the city...” The headmaster ducked under his desk, rummaging through one of the many drawers. He reemerged a few seconds later, a shiny bronze key in hand, “This was the one possession he had on him.”

Negi accepted the key when it was offered, looking it over slowly. One word was scratched out, leaving the other alone on the end of the key. “Shrine...” Negi read aloud. “But which one? There are hundreds of shrines in the city!”

“It’s quite troublesome, I know. I already have several people working on discovering the key’s lock, but it may take quite a while. Negi-kun, I’ve asked you here because I would like for you to take the key and try and find out where it goes.”

“B-B-But...headmaster that’s a big deal! I’ll have to leave the campus, too! I won’t be able to keep an eye on my students!”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve already spoken with Setsuna, Mana, and Kaede. They have not been targeted by the voice, and can help protect the others,” The headmaster explained.

“Well...alright! I’ll do it.”

“Negi-kun, this may end up being dangerous for you, so I would like for you to take someone with you.”

“D-Do you have anyone in mind?”

-

Negi finally knocked on his aid’s door. A few seconds later Ku Fei answered.

“Negi-bozu! Why you here?” She asked, stepping aside to let her teacher in.

“I’ve actually come to see Connor. Is he here?”

“He still sleeping,” Ku Fei pointed to the man in black, who was snoring quietly on the floor.

“But it’s almost twelve on a Sunday afternoon! Connor, get up!” Negi called over to his aid, who rolled over.

“Go away you little punk...I’m trying to sleep, here.”

“We have something we need to take care of. It’s kind of important,” Negi mumbled, making sure not to look at Ku Fei.

“Ugh...” Connor sat up, rubbing his eyes, “Fine, what is it?”

-

“This is like looking for a needle in-“

“Please don’t say a stack of hay or a stack of needles,”

“I was gonna say in a...hospital...yeah,” Connor muttered, folding his arms as he and the young teacher, Negi, strolled through the streets of the city, shrines popping up every couple of minutes. “Man, do you people do anything but pray? How many shrines does one city need?”

“What do you mean, ‘you people’? I’m British, I’ll remind you! The Japanese people, this city, too, are elegant and refined. Shrines don’t just stand for religion, they also...” Negi trailed off as three of his students came rocketing towards them, riding triple on a bike. With a surprised yell, Negi dove aside as the three girls flew by him.

Negi jumped up, a shaky smile finding its way onto his lips as he saw his aid already handling the situation. The new teacher had caught two of the girls by the backs of their collars as they sped recklessly by, but the third had crashed into a cluster of bushes, her legs sticking up into the air.

“Well, now. Kakizaki Misa,” Connor mumbled, raising the first girl up a little higher, “And Shiina Sakurako,” He then raised the other one. “That must mean the third one is...what’s her name, again?” Connor dropped the two cheerleaders, who each laughed a little.

“Madoka!” Negi called out, rushing over to the third cheerleader, pulling her out of the bushes. The two tumbled to the ground, Madoka landing on top.

Connor laughed at Negi and his now compromising position. He must have wanted it to happen. Even subconsciously, there’s just no way something like that would just happen. He turned a good-humored smile towards the two cheerleaders he had snagged off of the bike to ask them if they felt the same, but his words caught in his throat as his gaze fell onto the girl’s eyes, which were glued to his face. He waited for a couple of seconds to see if they were going to ask him something, but neither girl spoke. They just kept staring, a sort of glazed look in their eyes.

“Is there something on my face?”

“Yeah, a bucketful of hot,” Misa stated in a love struck voice.

Connor looked from one girl to the other, now realizing that they didn’t have glazed eyes, it was the infamous schoolgirl-love-sparkle he was seeing. He felt somewhat uncomfortable after this realization, and only managed a feeble reply, “Flattery will get you nowhere, cheerleader 1,” He mumbled, looking away to his companion, who was trying to get out from under the dazed and blushing Madoka.

“You already have a boyfriend, anyway, Misa!” Sakurako exclaimed, jumping up and throwing her arms around Connor’s neck from behind, “This one’s mine!”

The patient teen waited for the girl to lose interest and let go of her own free will, but when she nestled her head against the side of his neck, he needed to do something, “Hey, now, cheerleader 2!” He said, wheeling around to try and shake her off, “Conduct unbecoming a faculty member!” He quoted Kaede for the second time.

“We aren’t in school right now! Come on, you like it too, don’t you?” Sakurako purred, rubbing her cheek against her teacher’s neck, sending chills down his spine and goose bumps all over his body.

“N-Negi!” The man in black stuttered, looking over to the other teacher for help. Madoka and him were on their way over already, he was grateful to find.

“Sakurako-san, please release Connor! He’ll get in trouble if anyone else sees you like that,” Negi said calmly, his face still a little red from his closeup encounter with Madoka.

“Aw, Negi-kun...” Sakurako whined as she released her teacher’s neck, “That’s not fun...”

“What are you three doing out here, anyway? We’ve got a test tomorrow, you should be studying,” The little teacher gave a gentle reminder to his students.

“We already did!” The three cheerleaders said in unison. This was true. They had devoted an entire twenty minutes to the past week’s homework in preparation for the test. Madoka had done more, but was unable to convince the other two to bother. Mahora was, after all, just an escalator school.

“If you say so, ladies,” Connor cut in, “Me and Negi have some things to take care of, so we’ll be leaving now. Come on, mini-man,” He waved for Negi to follow him as he began to walk away. Sakurako and Misa moved to follow him, while Negi remained in place. With a groan, Connor stopped.

“Did you three want something from us?” The small teacher asked politely.

“Actually, we came out here to find you. Asakura told us that you were trying to unlock something, or something like that. She was a little fuzzy with the details, but we can help,” Misa explained.

“You’re trying to find the key to Connor-sensei’s heart, aren’t you? You want him to open up and love us, don’t you Negi-kun?” Sakurako asked with a little smile, getting up close to her diminutive instructor.

“I-I...think...” Negi muttered, Sakurako much too close for his comfort, “Th-That C-Connor loves...already loves Ku Fei!” The boy exclaimed, pointing to Connor and shutting his eyes, doing the one thing he could think of to get Sakurako to back up a little.

“Wh-What!” Misa exclaimed, turning an astounded stare to Connor, as did Sakurako.

Connor lifted a slow hand up, briefly pointing a finger at Sakurako, “Don’t call me sensei,” He said bluntly. He turned to face Negi, whose eyes were wide, his face blank as he awaited some kind of scolding. Connor now spoke in English, “Nice job, kid. Maybe that’ll get these girls off of my case. Sunshine’s cool, she’ll play along enough for it to pass. Quick thinking, I like it...” He let himself trail off as he began to walk away.

Negi, pleasantly surprised, hurried after.

“H-Hey! No fair! Speak Japanese!” Sakurako shouted after the two.

“If you’d done your homework right, you might’ve caught what I just said...” Connor laughed over his shoulder.

“So...”

“He loves...”

“Ku Fei?” The three cheerleaders wondered aloud, each one looking at the other two for some kind of solid answer.

When none came, Madoka shrugged, busting out her pom-poms and striking a pose, “As the Mahora cheerleaders, we will support their...hey, you guys...” Misa and Sakurako were slouching against a building, gloomy that their hot new teacher had a different love interest. “This doesn’t work if you two don’t do it, too!”

“Too upset...can’t focus...” Sakurako groaned.

“Come on, if it’s true we should be happy for Ku Fei!” Madoka said, pulling her friends back up to their full height.

“You’re right...we know...ok!” Misa pulled out her pom-poms, now, and did the pose with Madoka, but Sakurako refused.

“Let’s go find her and see what she thinks! God, she’s sooo lucky, I’m sooo jealous!” Misa oozed, the two scooping up their bike and climbing on. With a defeated sigh, Sakurako hopped on, too.

-

It was about four in the afternoon when Ku Fei was tackled from behind, her afternoon training brought to a screeching halt. Her and her three assailants bounced off of the ground, rolling to a slow stop.

“Ku-chan, you’re sooo lucky!” Misa shouted, grabbing Ku Fei’s face and pinching her cheeks.

“Uht oo ‘ean?” The blonde struggled to get the words out her mouth.

“Negi-kun said that Connor-sensei is totally in love with you! I’m dead serious!” Madoka said, then quickly added when the blonde gave her a quizzical look.

“Uht ‘e say?”

Misa let go of Ku Fei’s face, but was still about six inches away from her when she replied, “He ignored it, then said something to Negi-kun in English! What else could that possibly mean?”

“Ooh, why did he pick you! Crap, you’re so lucky!” Sakurako fumed, crossing her arms and looking away moodily.

“I not think he mean it...” Ku Fei muttered, turning around to hide her hopeful blush, “He already say he not looking for girlfriend...”

“So you’ve asked him!” Misa asked loudly, grabbing Ku Fei’s shoulders and spinning her full around to look her in the eye, “Oh my God, you’re blushing! You totally have a crush on the new teacher, don’t you!”

“Just an FYI, but you do too,” Madoka pointed out.

“We’ve gotta hook you two up! Don’t you think they’d be just the cutest couple ever?”

“Didn’t you say something about Konoka and Negi-kun making a really cute couple...? All of that just turned out to be a misunderstanding,” Madoka said, more to herself than her violet-haired friend.

“Aw, the problem with back then was that we told the class rep! This time, we’ll be playing under the radar!” Misa threw a fist into the air, “Mission get Ku-chan and the hot new teacher together begins now!” She yelled, much to the embarrassment of Ku Fei, who pulled her arm down and slapped a hand over the girl’s mouth.

“What you trying do? It not whole world’s business!”

“Oh...alright, I’m in, too!” Sakurako shouted, her glum attitude dissolved in the presence of a coupling mission. The three cheerleaders successfully pulled off their little cheer pose, drawing a blank stare from Ku Fei.

“Why you do that? No one seeing it.”

“Sorry, force of habit,” Sakurako laughed, grabbing hold of the Chinese girl’s arm. Misa took the other arm, and the three cheerleaders ran off with their new project.

-

“Great. It’s already 8:30. Thanks for pissing away my day off, kid,” Connor moaned, slamming the door to the millionth shrine they’d visited that day.

“Ha, ha...sorry about that,” Negi replied, a little abashed. Even though it was the headmaster’s orders, he probably would have asked his aid along anyway. He felt safer around him, though he also felt like a nuisance while around him.

“Whatever, it’s not like I had anything better to do...I guess.”

“At least you got to see some of the city, right?”

“Seeing some of the campus would have been more helpful. That’s a good point, though. Way to see the brighter side of things, kid.”

The two began the walk back towards the Mahora campus in silence. Neither had come across anything that had any relation to the bronze key, though they had to be discreet about it, so they may have even passed up the actual shrine over the course of the day. On the whole, they had accomplished practically nothing.

Connor began to hum a tune as the two strode along. Negi recognized it, but it took him a few seconds to place it. He sang the words as they came up, “She keeps her Moet et Chandon...in a pretty cabinet...”

“Uh-uh, you like Queen?” Connor turned a smile down at the boy, who laughed a little.

“The only people who don’t like Queen are the people who’ve never heard them!”

Connor laughed, and continued the song, “‘Let them eat cake’ she says, just like Marie Antoinette. A built in remedy for Kruschev and Kennedy, at anytime an invitation you can’t decline...”

“Caviar and cigarettes, well versed in etiquette, extraordinarily nice...”

“She’s a killer...queeeen, gunpowder gelatine, dynamite with a laser-beam, guaranteed to blow your mind...anytime!” The two sang out loud, both grinning as they did, “Recommended at the price, insatiable an appetite...wanna tryyy?”

The two both stopped walking to play the guitar, Connor messing up when he realized this. They both moved to do the same thing, strumming the imaginary guitar the same way. He laughed, picking the song back up, “To avoid complications, she never kept the same address. In conversation, she spoke just like a baroness...Met a man from China, went down to Geisha Minah...”

Negi picked up the background vocals right on time, “Killer, killer, she’s a killer queen...”

“But then again incidentally if you’re that way incliiined...”

“Perfume came naturally from Paris, for cars she couldn’t care less, fastidious and precise!”

The two paused to laugh, each seeing the other in a new light. Connor wasn’t such a tough guy all the time, and Negi had a side to him that wasn’t all business. Their singing went up into the night, drawing several confused looks as they went, “She’s a killer...queeen!”

-

Connor walked slowly through the night, his boots striking the ground the only noise that broke the dead quiet. Kaede had sent him away when he arrived back at the dorm room, saying something about the headmaster wanting to meet him by the World Tree. She seemed pretty serious about it, too. So, hands in his pockets, the nineteen-year-old made his way for the tree in the darkness.

A light breeze picked up, tugging the teen’s black coat along as it eased by, his bandanna straining against his forehead as it tried to follow the wind away. “Wow...” Sakurako whispered from her hiding place in the nearby bushes, “I never thought that walking could look so good.”

“I don’t get what he sees in Ku Fei!” Misa replied, jealousy bubbling in her stomach, “He could get anyone he wanted!”

“Hey, hey, don’t turn on her now!” Madoka whispered back, “She’s no good when it comes to this kind of thing!”

“Or studying,” Misa pointed out.

“She can eat, though!” Sakurako grinned.

“Look, look! He sees her! Whoa, do you think she can handle this kind of pressure? I’m just watching and I’m getting goose bumps...” Misa snickered to herself, eager to see how her classmate handled the situation.

“Sh! We won’t hear if you keep talking!”

-

“Hey, ma’am...” Connor called out to the lady he was approaching, “What are you doing out here so late? Dressed to kill, too,” He admitted, looking the tanned girl over. She was wearing a gold and yellow kimono, somethign Connor had yet to see. Her shoulder length blonde hair shone faintly in the bright moonlight, her face illuminated in a soft glow which Connor found himself staring at. He quickly diverted his gaze, looking up at the World Tree which loomed overhead. “I didn’t think Japanese people did the kimono thing, anymore.”

“I already tell you, I not Japanese!” The lady exclaimed, folding her arms.

“Wh-What?” Connor looked into the girl’s dark hazel eyes, seeing something in them that he recognized, “Sunshine? Is that you?”

“Who you think I am?”

“You shouldn’t be out so late,” He quickly changed the subject, “Especially not by yourself. It’s dangerous, with everything that’s been happening.”

“You no worry about me,” Ku Fei grinned, “I be ready next time.”

“But I do worry. You wanna stress me out? Is that it? Tell me you’ll stop being so careless, Sunshine. As nice as saving you sounds, there’s always a chance that I won’t be around.”

Ku Fei looked down at her feet, mumbling something.

“Come on, promise me,” Connor got, now, that the headmaster wasn’t around. Kaede had set him up to meet with Ku Fei out by the giant tree. What a sly girl...she had seemed so serious about him coming to the meeting spot, too.

“You will be around, though, right?”

-

“Ooh, God! I can barely make out what they’re saying!” Sakurako hissed, her hand beside her ear in an effort to get a clear signal of their voices.

“Crap! I forgot!” Misa exclaimed, moving to stand.

“Forgot what?” Madoka groaned, her face flushed as she eavesdropped.

“I’m supposed to meet someone...”

“Your boyfriend? But it’s already 10:00! You’re gonna get busted...”

“Oh, relax. Anyway, looks like we’ll have to cut this viewing short,” Misa grabbed her two friends and began to drag them away. The two girls protested, but neither could break free from their friend’s iron grip. “Hey, if I can’t watch, neither can you two!”

-

“Heh, no promises, Sunshine,” Connor admitted quietly. There was no way to guarantee he’d be around very long. Anything could happen, and he could be gone in the blink of an eye.

“A promise for a promise! You stay around, I be more careful,” Ku Fei took an unsteady step forward, her face flaring up.

“I know you’re a little afraid...” Connor grinned when Ku Fei shook her head ‘no’, “But you shouldn’t think about me as anything more than a teacher. Even considering me a friend is pushing it. I can’t be there for you, I can’t protect you...and I can’t comfort you.”

Ku Fei rushed forward the final steps up to Connor, and threw her arms around him. The two stood there, frozen for what felt like forever. The girl shivered when her teacher’s arms wrapped around her, holding her tight. The World Tree's branches moaned as the soothing wind played through the air, kicking up leaves and drowning out the sound of the breathing between the two people beneath. Placing one hand on top of his student's head, Connor whispered, "I promise..."

Ku Fei exhaled sharply, smiling and laughing a little, "I promise, too."

A mutual quiet fell over the the two, both lost in each other's presence. The teacher was upset with himself for allowing a student to make him feel obligated to stay. But was it obligation? A promise was just words, after all. He'd lied before. Hell, who hadn't? Maybe he said he'd stay because that's what he wanted. Ku Fei was feeling dizzy and nervous, but it was an amazing feeling combined that she wouldn't have given up for anything. Hugs were one thing, but this was something so much better.

With her face buried in his chest, she tried to speak, “I...”

“Don’t say it, Sunshine,” Connor backed up a step, looking down into her eyes, which were shimmering with tears. “You’re only fourteen, right? What could you possibly know about lo...” Connor broke off, his body tensing up as his vision blurred.

Ku Fei felt a jolt jump through her teacher’s arms a split second before he fell to his knees, his face blank. “Wh-What wrong?” She stammered, looking around in confusion.

Connor tried to turn, to find out what had hit him, but he couldn’t. He felt his strength wane, his sight faded out, his thoughts became quieter. He fell face first, not surprised to find himself quickly immersed in a pool of his own blood. He heard Ku Fei scream a split second before she knelt down beside him, quickly rolling him onto his back.

“You ok? Connor! Say something!” Ku Fei urged him to give her some kind of sign that he was alright, but he couldn’t. His chest felt like it had a cement block on it, his breathing was becoming raspy and quick. She watched as the life in his eyes started to drift away, the light of life fading out.

“Somebody help!”

-

“‘Cause I’m a killer...queeen...” A woman hummed to herself, snickering at the irony of the two teacher’s choice of song earlier in the day. After waiting all day, she had finally found the opportunity she had been looking for. As the woman finished packing her rifle, she flipped open a cell phone, punching in a quick number. A few seconds later, she completed her job, “He’s dead. Next time you try and catch the girl everything should go as planned...yes, I know...Really? I don’t think I can do that...No, it’s not the money, I just don’t know if I can kill the boy, too...That much? I’ll have to think about it. I’ll be in touch,” The woman flicked her phone off, wondering what her next move would be.

-

Negi entered his dorm room, singing happily in English. He trailed off as he drew two confused looks from Konoka and Chachamaru, and an angry ‘you-just-woke-me-up’ look from Asuna. “S-Sorry Asuna-san, I’m just really happy,” Negi admitted with an apologetic smile.

“What about? It’s gotta be pretty good for you to be singing in English!” Konoka laughed, “It was kind of weird. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you use English outside of class.”

“Who would understand me if I did?” Negi asked with a smile as he hurried up to the loft, where Chachamaru was waiting. Her blank face and rigid posture hid it well, but she had been waiting for him to get back for the past two hours. Negi began to rummage through his drawers, looking for something.

“What are you doing?” Asuna asked, her groggy face peeking up to the loft.

“Just looking for...here it is!” Negi exclaimed triumphantly, raising a cd up into the air, “Queen! Yes!”

“Connor-sensei? Oh, that’s right,” Konoka mumbled, “You and him were off together all day, right? Is that what you’re so happy about?”

“Oh, the day went awful! But near the end we started singing, and then he took me out for dinner, and we had a great time! He’s actually a really nice guy.”

Asuna grumbled something about getting hit on the head with a water balloon. ‘Well, it’s good for him to have another guy around,’ She thought with a little smile, ‘With all of these girls around him all of the time, Connor-sensei is almost like a godsend for him. If he shapes up a little bit, maybe he’d be a good role model for him, too. I guess time will tell...’

Unknown to the four, Connor was lying in a pool of blood, Ku Fei beside him, calling out for anyone to help. The only answer she received was the wind, which whistled through the World Tree’s branches above.

-----Author’s other note: The song Connor and Negi were singing is Queen’s Killer Queen, a fantastic song by a British group (British, like Negi), which is why I chose it. And...I know, I suck. Bet nobody saw the chapter ending like that, did they? What will Ku Fei do? What will Negi do? Who pulled the trigger? Reviews encourage me to write...it’s true. Thanks.-----