Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ Life In A Bottle ❯ Survivor's Melancholy ( Chapter 1 )

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

-----Author’s note: This is the sequel to my other piece, ‘The Dreamer’, so if you want to read this, you should probably read the other one, first. And by probably, I mean this piece is going to be pretty confusing to you without you having read the other.

I last left off with Negi moving to meet Hakase, who he believes can make modifications to the Cassiopeia, allowing him to travel back further in time than normal, so he could stop a couple of deaths from happening. Asakura and Connor, for those with poor memories, such as myself. There you go, the melodrama’s all coming back.....

And while I’m on melodrama, I hope you guys are ready for a melancholy first chapter. That’s not how I plan the entire story to be, but the first one is sort of gloomy (Save for one part). Remember, though, people died around the end of the last one! Yeah, now the people who didn’t read it are like ‘what the hell?’.

Dark Lord Tokunaga, thanks for being a faithful reviewer for ‘The Dreamer’ . I put this up here on MediaMiner for your benefit, and the benefit of any others who decide to review. And if you don’t review, well, you’re still solid in my book, brother.

I do not own Negima!, but any other characters and ideas are my own. Enjoy.....-----


A certain young boy pulled himself up the ladder to a certain loft, where a certain beautiful girl was waiting for him. Their certain roommate wasn’t back yet from her tutoring from a certain older someone, and they certainly weren’t hurting for her to show up. With the flick of his wrist, and a touch of magic to go along with it, a certain radio flicked to life, a certain cd spinning off into a certain song through the speakers.

The boy lowered his head onto her lap, and she turned her curious eyes down to him, like she did every night. Every night since the resolution of the complex dream and the voice behind it, the boy came home, turned his foreign music on, and laid down with her before drifting off into restless sleep. In class, he seemed distant, and appeared concerned with everything but the lessons they should be concentrating on.

The girl, herself, wasn’t technically a girl. To be as accurate as possible, one would have to consider her an android. Chachamaru Karakuri. While she found that she enjoyed this time of the day, because it allowed for her to be as close with her teacher as possible, she also found that it filled her with a strange emotion she didn’t particularly care for. Was it sadness? At not being able to figure out what was wrong with him? Maybe. She knew that he was upset about his assistant returning to Wales, and even Asakura and Mana had recently transferred out of the class and, indeed, the country. Konoka and Setsuna had moved to Kyoto so that the headmaster’s granddaughter could receive training in the magical arts, to top everything off. But he would disappear for long stretches of time at any given period, sometimes not being seen for any part of the day but class. Every night, though, he came back to their dorm, played his music, and settled down with her to rest.

The boy, of course, was none other than Negi Springfield. The ten-year-old instructor, mage, and all around youth prodigy, had been left rather distressed by the recent events which had led to the deaths of two of his close friends. It had been a week since Connor’s death, but it still wasn’t any easier to accept. He swore he wouldn’t accept it. When he had the chance to change it, why should he accept it? He’d bring back Asakura, too. He loved her as a student, and cherished her as a close friend. He had been given a gift, not too long ago, and it was with this gift that he planned to fix all of the wrongs that had left a blotch on class 3-A.

Everyday in class, it tore him up inside to see the girl in seat twelve. She was always smiling, chatting with her classmates, and laughing at the jokes they’d throw her way. But he knew that Ku Fei wasn’t feeling as good as she’d have everyone believe. She kept on a happy mask through the day, but at night she would visit the pair of graves in the tsuwabuki garden by the old clock tower, where she’d let herself cry, or simply sit in the quiet of the night. Kaede had informed him that she read the letter Connor had left behind every night, before going to bed. It had only been a week, he knew, but she hadn’t seemed to have come any closer to accepting what had happened. Well, then again, he wasn’t one to be pointing any sort of finger at her.

He could still see her trying to revive him, that night. He had seen a lot of sad, and even horrible, things in his life, but seeing that cut him up inside like he had swallowed a length of barbed wire. Ku Fei was one of his best friends, and she was even a teacher to him. When she hurt, he hurt, too. Maybe that was what was driving him so hard to change things. Maybe what he really wanted was to erase her pain, and give her another chance at happiness. Chao had mentioned fate, that night before he visited Hakase, but he’d gladly challenge even time itself for a shot at fixing fate’s mistakes.

Tapping her teacher on the shoulder, Chachamaru continued trying to snap him out of his glazed thinking, “Negi-sensei? Can you hear me?” She asked softly.

Blinking the lost look out of his eyes, he looked back up at her with a weak smile, “Y-Yeah, sorry about that, Chachamaru-san. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.....”

“The Mahora Festival begins in only two days, Negi-sensei. If you continue to push yourself so hard, you will not be able to enjoy it, or maintain your schedule,” The robot advised sternly. Her voice maintained the somber tone it always did, though Negi would swear on his life that he could pick out worry somewhere in there.

“Ha, ha, I know!” He laughed a little, rubbing his arm, “I’ve got lessons to plan, training to do, things to research.....”

“What is it you’re researching, Negi-sensei? Perhaps I can assist you,” Chachamaru offered politely, still gazing down at the boy, whose head was still resting on her lap.

Negi closed his eyes, wondering what he should say next. He was infinitely glad that the headmaster, who was still bedridden from his battle with Evangeline, had allowed for Chachamaru to permanently room with him. Evangeline had no protests, but then again, she hadn’t spoken since her tie with the old man. Her robot partner had mixed feelings about staying in the dorm for good. She didn’t want her master to feel that she had abandoned her, because that wasn’t the case at all, but the cabin was still ruined and the doll master didn’t appear to care enough to do anything about it. He came back every night because he got this time with her, which made him feel safe and happy. If she wasn’t here, he wondered if he would stop what he was doing to come home at all?

“Negi-sensei?”

Realizing he had lapsed back into deep thought, he apologized before saying, “No, it’s something I have to figure out by myself. Thanks, though.....”

“Negi-sensei, where is it you go to all day? Some of the others, myself included, are beginning to worry about your well being. You always seem so tired.....”

“I appreciate that but, please, don’t worry about me, I’m alright! Besides, you all have plenty to do with setting up the haunted house, and all,” Negi was aware he hadn’t answered the question, and he didn’t plan to, either. What he was attempting was dangerous, and he was the only person he was willing to put into immediate danger.

“Does it have anything to do with this song you listen to every night? About the woman who speaks like a baroness, perhaps?” Chachamaru asked, confused. Did he perhaps know the woman who was depicted in the song? .....Why did that make her anxious?

Negi sat up, shaking his head as he motioned for the radio to stop playing, which it did. He forgot that Chachamaru could decipher various languages up in her head, so she could understand the song just as well as he. ‘Killer Queen’ no longer playing, he covered up beside the robot, who wondered if her teacher was going to say anything at all. It was funny, in a sad sort of way. Ku Fei read that letter every night before going to sleep, but he listened to that song every night before going to sleep, himself.

“Good night, Chachamaru-san,” He whispered, scooting up against her as she put an arm around him, lying beside him.

-

“Ooh, that’s naughty.....” He snickered, pulling her closer, his face tilted down to face hers.

“I remember you say you wonder which one more fun.....bad or good.....” The girl replied coyly, sliding her finger around his chest in a little circle.

“Mm, but what if you’re real good when you’re bad? Guess I didn’t think of that one, at the time.....”

The two were lying front to front on her bed, in her dorm. Both were wishing to lunge in and kiss the other, but drawing it out and just looking at the other made the wait wonderfully difficult, and set both of them ablaze inside. Plus, there was the added thrill that was the potential of being caught. Neither one could guess when their roommate might show up.

He could see the desire burning in her eyes, the need to be held and loved like only he could offer. He laughed a little, and the girl giggled with him. Thinking like that made his heart skip a few beats and his head go light. Or maybe it was because he was pulling her up against him, he couldn’t tell. Most likely, it was the blissful combination of the two that made it hard to breathe.

She could see the lust seething in his eyes, the blessed fact that he wanted her so bad he couldn’t even see straight. She giggled with pleasure, and he laughed with her. Seeing that in him sucked the air right out of her lungs, like the plummet of a roller-coaster from its highest point. Or maybe it was because he was holding her so close, she wasn’t sure. Most likely, it was the perfect combination of the two that kept her face a constant scarlet.

Just being beside each other was a shade of perfect that couldn’t be matched by anything else. They didn’t have to do anything but lay there together for happiness to rain all over their parade. Thinking about how wonderful this moment was made the girl afraid to lose it, however. She felt her eyes water up a little, and was certain her lip quivered just slightly.

Using the end of his lengthy bandanna, he wiped away her tears, offering her a worried smile as he tilted her chin up so he could see her eye to eye, “Hey, what’s the matter? Whatever it is, I’ll fix it.”

“You.....never go away, ok? Promise?” The girl asked, surprised to find her voice near giving out on her.

“It’d take all of heaven and hell to pull me out of your arms, and even then, they’d have to kill me, first. Don’t ever worry about something like that.....” He tried to reassure her, pulling her completely up against him, his chin resting on the top of her head.

She sniffled, his scent filling her up with the warmth and comfort that she had grown accustomed to while he was with her. “You never leave? Not for anything, anyone, anytime, never?”

“Nothing could distract me from you, and time will never wear away my love for you. Why do you worry so much?” Was the calm, incomplete reply she was given.

“What about.....anyone?” She asked, afraid to hear the answer.

“Hey!” A voice cut through their private little world, the dorm room door flipping open.

The man hopped out of the bed, and strode over to the person standing in the doorway, “See you later, Sunshine. I’ve got plans,” Connor called over his shoulder, putting his arm around Asakura and heading out into the hall with her. The paparazzi girl turned to stick her tongue out at the girl on the bed, who reached out for the two as they vanished down the hall.
“W-Wait! Connor, come back!” Ku Fei squeaked after the two, her voice breaking as she started to cry. She tumbled forward off of her bed, hitting her head on the ground as she did. With a broken sob, she pushed herself up, opening her eyes to find Connor on the floor in front of her, bloody and dead. She screamed long and loud, covering her face with her hands to protect herself from what was right in front of her. The shadows beneath her bed shot out to fill up the room, a voice breaking through her cries.

‘You couldn’t save him when he was shot with a gun, and you couldn’t save him when he was pierced by the blade. It’s no small wonder you do not deserve to live in the perfect world,’ The voice stated solemnly, sucking the Chinese girl down into the blackest pit that could be mustered up through any imagination or magic, and rubbing her mind into a blurry mess of sadness and regret.

“Hey! It’s ok, hey!” Kaede shook Ku Fei awake, and at first thought the girl was going to throw her arms around her. Instead, she eased her head back down to the ground, breathing in deep the scent of the surrounding flowers.

“You were having a nightmare. It sounded like a bad one,” The kunoichi explained, sitting beside her friend, who was lying beside Connor’s grave.

“I sorry. I not mean sleep out here, again.....Is just.....” Ku Fei couldn’t find words to explain why she kept falling asleep out here. This was the third night in a row, two of which ended in nightmares.

“It’s comforting to be near him, I know,” She would never admit that she felt the same way, especially not to Ku Fei. She often found herself out by the graves during the day, when her roommate wasn’t around. Why did he have to have kissed her? It confused her and filled her with feelings she didn’t want. Not from him.

Ku Fei lifted a hand, which she placed on the front of the gravestone, “Yeah. We go home in few minutes. Just.....few minutes.”

“Alright,” Kaede laid down, herself, and took a good long look at the stars above, “In a few minutes.”

-

The night after their departure for Kyoto.....

“Well.....it’s certainly.....hang on, I’ll think of a good word in a minute.....”

“Hey! It’s.....cozy! Yes, cozy! We’ll love it here, I’m sure!”

Konoka set her bags down in the center of their dingy little apartment, and basked in the glory that was their new home. All of one room plus a tiny bathroom, it simply screamed ‘minimum budget’. The walls were peeling a little bit, and the only thing that separated the kitchen from the living room from the single bedroom were two shoji screens.

“Wouldn’t it be simpler to just live with your father at the shrine, Ojou-sama? I’m sure he would prefer that to.....” Setsuna’s eyes followed a little mouse as it scurried out through a hole in the wall and scampered into another on the other side of the room, “.....This,” She finished. She had expected Konoka to at least squeak at seeing the mouse, but apparently, she hadn’t noticed it at all.

“Oh, don’t worry about what daddy wants. I don’t want to live in that stuffy shrine, and we’re only a twenty minute bike’s ride away, from here. Trust me, it’ll be great living here together! We’ll get jobs together at a café and work ten hour shifts to afford the rent and feed ourselves, and then we’ll still have to go to the shrine every day to train, after! We’ll probably only get five or six hours of sleep a day, if even that! We’ll live the life of the common girl, fighting our way through life, together!” Konoka’s eyes were glistening with happiness as she spoke, as though she had just described a perfect life.

After clearing her throat a little, Setsuna spoke up, “But what if we can’t make all of our payments, here? It’s unreasonable for you to work ten hours a day. Not to mention, we still have to find these jobs.....”

“Well, if money becomes a real issue, we could always.....” Konoka trailed off, as though Setsuna knew what she was going to say.

Thinking that she did, the guardian let out a sigh of relief, “We could always go and stay with your father. A fine plan, Ojou-sama.”

“Actually, I was going to say we could always sell our bodies, but your plan sounds alright, too. I don’t really want to move in there, though.....” Konoka scooped up her bags, and carried them the five steps over to the ‘bedroom’.

Setsuna watched her, mouth agape and mind blank. Selling.....what? “O-Ojou-sama, you.....you shouldn’t say things like that!”

“Relax, I was only kidding, silly! You know, unless I wasn’t. Oh, geez, Set-chan, don’t look at me like that!” Konoka laughed at the stunned look on her friend’s face, and threw her pillow at her.

Setsuna caught the pillow with her face, but the contact seemed to have knocked her out of her stupor, “A-Anyway.....don’t you think it’s suspicious for the landlord to allow two minors to stay in an apartment?” She spoke seriously, grasping the hilt of her sword, “He might be a sexual predator.....” The look in her eyes said that she was dead serious.

Konoka shrugged, “Then he can be our pimp. See? It’s all working out, Set-chan!”

“Stop with those jokes!” Setsuna shouted, her face blazing red and her mind wallowing through the sordid affairs of the call girl. Not her, and definitely not Konoka!

Laughing, Konoka pulled out one of the two tatami mats they had bought, and laid it out on the floor, “We need to get some sleep, Set-chan. Tomorrow, we start the hunt for jobs! After we settle that mess, then I’ll start my training with dad.”

“Of course, you’re right,” Setsuna grabbed her own tatami mat out of her singular bag, and unrolled it out on the opposite side of the room, in what appeared to be the kitchen.

“S-Set-chan, what are you doing way over there?”

“.....Sleeping?” Was the weak reply that came from the girl, whose back was facing Konoka as she lay on the mat.

Changing clothes in under fifteen seconds, Konoka spoke up, “Set-chan, I don’t want you to sleep way over there! You’re not being very nice,” She pouted, crossing her arms.

“I.....I’m very well situated over here, Ojou-sama. I would come over to where you are, but.....uh.....this is just the direction I’m used to sleeping in.....” She lied feebly, wondering how some people could come up with great lies right on the spot. Wait, lying was never great, she knew that!

A quick shuffling of feet, followed by a tatami mat dropping to the ground beside her, let Setsuna know that Konoka didn’t plan on sleeping by herself, even if that meant sleeping on the floor of their tiny kitchen.

And so, the adventures of Konoka and Setsuna began.....

-

Another day had come and gone, and Negi once again found himself in Hakase’s lab, talking with her about the concept of time travel. The girl who, some say, sold her soul to science, had put her other projects on hold to tackle Negi’s problem head on. He appreciated that of her beyond what he could express in words, and he hoped she knew that.

“There.....” The girl stated, pulling up her face mask and flicking off the tiny torch she had been using seconds ago. “Well, that’s it.”

Negi looked over her shoulder at the shiny bronze pocket watch, amazed to find that it..... “It looks exactly the same!” He exclaimed, ready to topple over in disappointment.

“Hey, something as delicate as this isn’t something that I should completely mess with. It’s weird to be able to say this, but there wasn’t much I could do to make it any better. I mean, yeah, it’s a little more efficient in rationing out the magic, so theoretically, you should be able to go further back, but I can’t say for certain just how far back, exactly,” The science genius wasn’t too proud to admit she may or may not have failed. If only she had more time to study it.....but they needed to act tomorrow.

“Thanks for everything you did, though, Hakase-san. You even kept my coming here so often a secret, like I asked! You’re really a good friend.”

“I did it for the science, Negi-sensei! How could I resist finding out how this thing ticked? It’s going to be invaluable to my future work.....”

“B-But, Hakase-san, remember? When I change the past, it’ll be like none of this ever happened.....you won’t know anything about this at all!” Negi pointed out. She, herself, had told him that.

“Oh, I know, Negi-sensei! That’s why I’ve prepared this, to give to you!” The science master, from seemingly out of nowhere, pulled out a stack of discs, which she thrust into the arms of the teacher, “On these I’ve compiled all of the data I’ve gathered over the past week. I want you to take them with you, and give them to me after you solve your problems. Smart, eh?”

“H-Hakase-san.....that won’t work either, remember? Once I stop them both from dying, it will change the future, which means I’ll never have gone back in time to save them, which means I’m gonna.....well, disappear, I guess. The me from the past, the one who gets left, won’t remember any of this, either! The discs won’t exist! You told me that, don’t you remember?”

Staring at him blankly for a few seconds, Hakase sighed deeply, crossing the cramped room to sit in her computer chair, “I’d forgotten. Selective memory, I guess......damn, it’s like I wasted a week of my life, for nothing!”

“He....Hey! Not really, because you’re gonna get the week back, anyway, once I change things. I’ll have never come to see you about the watch, after all. Wow, this is more confusing than I thought it would be.”

“Ugh, anyway.....alright, here’s the plan one last time.....” Hakase started to recite the plan in a low voice. Tomorrow was show time, and she wanted Negi to be a hundred percent clear on what to do.


-----Author’s other note: I think I’ve done a pretty good job of setting up this sequel, myself. Especially with Konoka and Setsuna (Unless Negi screws it up by changing the past). If I rolled the yuri way, KonoSetsu fans would be drooling for some lemony action. But I don’t, so just imagine what could have been.....Well, thanks for reading.....-----