Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ When Light Descends to Madness ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

When Light Descends to Madness

Chapter 1

“Three years ago, a man who worked harder than any other one of us combined left this world for another place, a better place. The doctors said he died of heart failure due to stress, but that is not true. Konoe Konoemon did not die of a simple heart attack. No, he died of love for his family: every single one of us standing here today. He died of the love he felt for the world. The former Dean of Mahora left us with a smile and a last message: live in the light.”

The gathering was solemnly quiet as the lone standing man gave a riveting eulogy. Negi Springfield grimaced. Why did they have to send him of all people? Negi gave the man a baleful stare as the speech came to a climax. When it was apparent the man was too caught up in his acting, Negi lowered his gaze and sighed. These people who care nothing for the Dean or Mahora, why are they here? Negi thought. He glanced back up. The representative of the Kansai Magic Association was still talking.

“Negi-kun,” a voice whispered in his ear, making him jump.

“Takamichi!” he exclaimed, earning him a few angry hisses disapproving frowns. The man was still talking.

Once away from the crowd, Negi confronted Takamichi with a scowl. “You almost made me unleash my magic on you, Takamichi! Can't you do anything without sneaking up on someone, scaring them half to death?”

Takamichi grinned. “With that scowl, that face, you look so much like your father, Negi-kun.”

The compliment abated Negi's anger somewhat. Almost sheepishly, Negi grinned. A moment later, he was frowning again. “What's so urgent that you have to interrupt the memorial... not that I enjoyed listening to that man prattle nonsense about a hero. He's never even met him in his life.”

Takamichi smiled to show he agreed before his expression turned serious and stone-like.

“This may come as a shock to you,” Takamichi started before trailing off. Those words reminded him of a time three years ago when he had said that to another person much like Negi, though for completely different reasons.

“Takamichi?” Negi questioned.

The man shook shook away his thoughts before starting again. “This may come as a shock to you, Negi-kun, but something big has happened. Something that I'm afraid has turned our world upside down.”

“What... what's wrong?” Negi asked warily.

“The Kansai Magic Association and the Kanto Council of Mages have been... disbanded.”

Negi gave him a look that plainly said he thought Takamichi was telling an elaborate joke. “Disbanded?”

“Eliminated might be a better word.”

Negi looked Takamichi in the eye for a long moment before he sighed. He rubbed his eyes in irritation. “Eliminated by who?” Negi asked, knowing he wouldn't like the answer no matter what Takamichi said.

“One Konoka Konoe,” Takamichi stated without inflection.

Negi's hand froze. “Konoka...san?”

“I'm afraid so.”

“But she left! I thought she had transferred to another school where she could better deal with her grief!”

“That was a secret never meant to be uncovered,” Takamichi looked down wearily. “There is a lot you don't know, Negi-kun, but I don't have the time to explain it all. I just came to tell you what happened; tomorrow, I'm leaving Mahora.”

“What for?” Negi asked, mind spinning with all that was being unloaded on him.

“Business,” Takamichi replied shortly before walking away without once looking back.

Negi stared at his back as the older man walked away and faded into the crowd. He continued to stare into distance long after Takamichi had left and the crowds had thinned.

“Konoka-san... a murderer? That can't be right.”

 

The doors to the cage opened.

Negi sighed in relief as he took a step out of the crowded trains. Even this far from summer, the trains to Kyoto were overcrowded. Negi understood that many people worked in the old capital, but it was crazy that there were so many of them that it was a struggle to even breathe.

Now's not the time to whine, he mentally scolded himself. I have to find Konoka-san. I'm sure she'll explain this whole misunderstanding to me.

Earlier that day, a letter had arrived for the teacher. Child teacher no more, Negi had been given his own room and a mailbox for private and business use.

The letter had been simple and concise.

Dear Springfield-sensei,

Come to Kyoto as soon as you receive this letter. Konoe Ojou-sama will be waiting for your presence.

-Secretary to her Eminence,

Sakurazaki

Negi walked towards an elderly man who sat idly behind a stand that sold fish. Even if the letter had told him to meet Konoka, he had no idea where she was, though he had a suspicion.

The crowds had thinned out by the time he reached the corner of the courtyard where the stand stood.

“Excuse me, sir, I would like to know where Konoe Konoka is residing.”

The man looked at him with wide eyes. The fish seller backed away hurriedly from him.

“Wait!” Negi called after him with an outstretched arm.

Shaking his head frantically, the man turned tail and ran as if his life depended on getting away from Negi. Within moments, the man had disappeared into a fortress of bodies.

Negi sighed. Things had obviously changed from when he had last been to Kyoto.

At the thought, memories of his first field trip with the then, Class 3-A brought a small, sad smile to his lips. Things had been so much simpler then, back when life was life and they were all ignorantly unaware of the Dean's protective hand. That was three years ago and things had changed.

Negi shook his head slowly. He knew he that he shouldn't clutch the past like a child to his mother, but he remained standing still a second more, at peace with his thoughts. Then, he looked up. Determinedly, he turned his back on the fish stand and rejoined the crowds.

He would get his answers, but for now, he had to patient. Whether he would like them or not, that was another question. Only time would tell.

 

The streets of Kyoto had grown emptier and emptier as Negi walked through the streets. There were no children playing near their houses, no people taking strolls in the parks, no signs of life.

It was quiet, but not peaceful. Unrestricted, but empty.

Negi felt like he had entered a whole new world, and he was the only person in it.

“There he is!” someone shouted suddenly, breaking the illusion.

Negi looked up. In the distance, he could make up a group of four men, one of which he recognized as the fish seller.

“That's the man who used Konoe Ojou-sama's name disrespectfully!” the man shouted.

“Disrespectfully?” Negi repeated. “When did I do that?”

“Understood,” one of the other men nodded. Negi could just make out his voice. “Thank you for your service to her Eminence.”

Two of the men headed towards Negi as the third handed the fish seller a small pouch. Negi assumed it was money but he didn't dwell on the contents of the pouch as the men came closer. Either there was trouble or he misunderstood the frowns on the men's.

As they came closer, Negi was quite sure it wasn't the latter.

“State your name for the records, boy,” one of the men commanded.

“Negi Springfield. I'm a teacher at-”

“I didn't ask for your dreams, boy, I asked you for your name and that is all!”

Carefully, Negi reined back his anger. It would do him no good to get angry.

Negi lowered his head, hoping that he looked suitably subdued. He took the lack of further comment as a good sign and took the lull in conversation to look over the men.

They looked like soldiers. That was the first thing he thought. The biggest hints were the swords hanging at their belts, unsheathed. He hadn't noticed them before, but he had been busy trying to figure out what was going on. They were fancy things, the kind Negi was sure were mainly for symbolism. Still, the way they flashed in the light gave Negi the impression that they wouldn't be useless in a fight.

“You're not very defiant for a teenager,” a decidedly feminine voice interrupted his thoughts.

Negi raised his head and met a pair of eyes that were so familiar he could have sworn they were Setsuna's. The woman - who he realized he had mistaken for a man - looked over at her companions with a fiercely haughty expression. She was obviously the one in charge.

“So this is the right person?” she demanded.

“Uh, yes, captain. He matches the description: average height, wearing glasses, red hair tied into a ponytail,” replied the man who had spoken earlier, handing his superior a clipboard. The other man said not a word. Instead, he stared at the sky as if watching for birds or as if checking the weather, but Negi was sure the man was watching him carefully.

Tuning the two's conversation into the background, Negi took a closer look at the woman who had so strongly reminded him of his former student. Now that he was free from her intent stare, he noticed that the woman's eyes were of a different color: they were a bright, unnatural yellow, almost golden. Her stance was almost the same as Setsuna's, but she stood straighter, and she was much older than Setsuna.

The familiarity radiating off of the woman distracted him, but Negi had too many questions for Konoka to be kept waiting. He had been delayed for long enough.

“Excuse me,” Negi interrupted.

All three pair of eyes turned to stare impassively at him. Inwardly, Negi gulped.

“May I ask why I'm being held here?”

A moment of silence passed before the woman's gaze returned to the clipboard. The silent man turned away as well, once again staring at the sky. The only one left to respond, the final man, said, “You were accused of disrespecting her Eminence by using her full name. Only her closest confidantes have that privilege!”

Negi frowned. “Her Eminence? Do you mean Konoka-san by any chance?”

His use of Konoka's name once again turned all attention to him.

The woman sighed in consternation. Shaking her head, she preached, “All you newcomers to Kyoto have one thing in common: you ask too many questions. Be quiet and follow our rules. That's all we ask of you, and ignorance isn't an excuse.”

Before Negi had a chance to respond, she added, “You are under arrest for misusing her Eminence's name. Resistance is futile.”

At the words, the silent man sprang into action. With a sudden agility that startled Negi, the man's hand snaked for Negi's wrist, but Negi had been on guard from the very beginning.

Negi leaped back out of the way with a speed that surprised the three soldiers. It took a second for the trio to realize what had happened. In that second, Negi dropped into a combat stance.

“I'm not sure what you intend to do by arresting everyone who uses Konoka-san's name, but the Konoka-san I knew wouldn't stand for this. If you agree not to lay a hand on me, I will allow you to escort me to where Konoka-san is.”

“Escort you?” the woman spluttered angrily. “Who are you, to be so arrogant to her Eminence's men?”

“Arrogant?” Negi blinked. “Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to -“

“Silence!”

With a roar of rage, the woman branded her sword. Her companions took the cue and did the same, circling around to cut off all routes of escape.

Three against one, Negi grimaced. Just my luck. If only I could use magic, but…

Further thought was made impossible when the two men rushed him.

Negi ducked under the swing of a sword, transitioning his movement into a roll that put him out of the reach of a second blade. The woman had not moved at all. She watched on the outskirts of the battle, blade at the ready, but otherwise a spectator.

Negi admired her ability to hold her calm even after she had found insult with Negi words, but he had more pressing matters to worry about. Negi sidestepped a clumsy rush by the man who had demanded his name. He would have taken the opportunity to strike at his back, but the man's companion distracted Negi long enough to bring the battle back to square one.

The silent one is better, Negi immediately noticed. I'll go for him first.

This time, Negi did not wait for another attack to respond. With a blur of motion that widened the eyes of all his opponents, he sank a fist into the soldier's stomach. Before the man could even call out in surprise however, Negi had already retracted his fist, spun around, and elbowed him in the middle of his back.

He fell slowly for Negi, who exhaled once and was halfway the distance to the other man before his victim had even hit the ground.

Negi's palm sent the man flying into the air. The soldier hit the ground hard and didn't get up.

Negi exhaled again, but stopped mid-breath as something hard and cold touched his neck.

“Don't… move…” a voice hissed.

Negi froze.

“That was pretty incredible what you did there, defeating my men in a matter of seconds, but I don't want to know how you did it. What I want is for you to know what will happen if you move even a muscle, do you understand?”

Negi didn't move or reply.

“Good, now relax, I won't hurt you. Slowly, we'll walk and you'll follow all my orders, do you understand? You may nod.”

He nodded, and in that nod, an explosion filled the air.

Negi clutched his arm where the blade had drawn blood and grimaced. Then, he turned around to view the result of the explosion.

The woman lay on her back, completely winded from the hard landing that had ended her flight into the air. In between Negi and the woman smoked a hole from the explosion that had tossed the soldier like a plastic figurine.

“Mage…” she hissed. Her hand clutched her sword, but it had had completely snapped in half. She was no longer a threat.

Negi bowed low to her, and said, “I'm sorry for hurting you, but it had to be done. I must speak with Konoka-san, now even more urgently than before. She sent me an invitation that I must reply with my presence.”

“Letter…?” the woman gasped out, struggling to get up.

“Yes, Miss Sakurazaki, a letter.”

The woman started at that. “How do you know my family name?”

“How couldn't I? Your style, your bearing, both are so much like Setsuna-san that… Well, nevermind.” Negi looked down. He didn't want her to see the pain in his eyes. He dearly, dearly missed his former students, his precious, precious students.

Suddenly, the woman flushed in what Negi hoped was not anger. He also hoped it was not embarrassment but the woman bowed quickly and dashed his hopes away by saying, “I'm sorry Springfield-sama, I should have recognized your name when you said it earlier. Please, forgive my actions and those of my subordinates.”

She seemed so sincere - and embarrassed - that Negi felt that she would have ordered her subordinates to apologize as well if they weren't sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

“I accept your apology. I'm not sure what the circumstances are, but it seems that things have changed a lot in the few days Konoka-san has been back.”

The woman nodded absentmindedly, a frown stuck on her face. Her worries were quickly revealed when she said, “I'd show you the way to the palace to make up for my discourtesy but...”

Negi understood at once. “Don't worry, I can find my own way. I'm pretty sure I remember my way to the Konoe estate if that is what you meant by palace?” When she nodded, he added, “And don't worry about your friends. I didn't hit them hard enough to break anything. They might be a little sore but...” he shrugged, “they'll be fine.”

She nodded again and Negi noticed that she was a bit more relaxed than before.

On impulse, Negi said, “Oh, I forgot to ask you your name.”

“Kinsha Sakurazaki, Springfield-sama.”

Negi smiled and turned away. The Sakurazaki clan member bowed deeply to him as he left and didn't straighten until he had disappeared.

 

“Negi-sensei!” Setsuna's voice was one of surprise. Seeing her teacher after three years was still a jarring experience, despite the fact that his appearance was expected today. The two guards escorting Negi quickly saluted Setsuna before retreating back to their posts at the gate of the Konoe Estate.

“Setsuna-san?” Negi blinked. “Is that you?” In the three years since he had last seen her, he suspected not too much had changed. Boy, was that wrong. The half-demon that went out of her way to hide such an identity flaunted it now. Her stark white hair and feathered white wings shone strongly. “You look... so much stronger.”

“I had to be.” Setsuna simply stated.

Negi chuckled softly. “I'm glad to see that your personality hasn't changed too much.”

Setsuna said nothing, though the edges of her lips turned the tiniest bit upward. Then, she looked away and seemed to listen for a second before turning back to Negi. “I believe ojou-sama is ready to have an audience with you.”

She began to act the host and lead her guest towards their destination.

“Okay,” Negi added, following her. However, glancing at her taller form once more, he felt something else had to be said. “Setsuna-san, I noticed you're not hiding your wings anymore. Or, well... anything.” He motioned towards her white hair.

“Ojou-sama told me to stand proud.” There was a touch of admiration in her voice.

“...and what about you, Setsuna-san?” Negi asked, wiser about their closeness. “What do you think?”

With confidence instead of hesitation, she answered, “I've always found it strange how ojou-sama goes out of her way for me, but I trust her decisions, no matter what.”

She looked back at Negi with red eyes as if challenging him to doubt her (or Konoka's) words. If anything, Setsuna's loyalty to Konoka had grown tenfold. There was no way he'd get to the bottom of their actions through her.

Luckily, the crowning moment was here, as both finally reached the throne room. Negi stared in awe at the simple splendor of the place. There was merely the throne before him, no extensive jewelry was adorned here. Setsuna bowed deeply. “Ojou-sama, I leave Negi-sensei to you.” She disappeared in a flash of feathers.

“Still calling him Negi-sensei eh, Set-chan?” Konoka's voice rang out. “I guess old habits die hard, don't they?” Negi looked up to see Konoka staring down at him. For someone of important status, she was not extravagantly dressed, going for a simple Kansai robe as opposed to a more grandiose one. Even so, Negi stood in awe at her presence. She held herself with dignity and an aura of power.

“Long time, no see, Negi-kun.”

Negi noticed that Konoka greeted him cordially despite her relaxed language.

“Konoka-san!” Negi smiled, though it came out with more pain than he had expected. “It's been three years.”

“How time flies, right?” Konoka laughed. If Negi tried, he could easily trace that laugh to the Konoka he knew three years ago. But... “Was your trip here okay?”

“Complications arose...” Negi sighed. Getting assaulted by fanatical henchmen wasn't fun. However time spent complaining could easily go to time spent getting to the bottom of this, so with a deep breath, Negi got straight to the point. “Is it true? That you wiped out half of the Kantou and Kansai Magic Associations to obtain your current seat?”

“How's the Library Trio doing?”

“Eh?” This caught the boy off guard. Where did she come up with that? “Well... they're doing fine, I suppose...”

“I wonder if they've discovered anything new since we left? Would you know?” Konoka asked, her eyes unreadable. Her tone had not changed throughout the exchange.

“We don't talk as often, since I teach a different class now,” Negi answered. Despite the strange derailing, he asked the question again. “But Konoka-san, seriously... how did you merge the Kantou and Kansai Associations? How did you gain this seat of power?”

Konoka looked innocently at her throne seat. “Well I'm sure the first ruler had it built, it hasn't changed in so many years...”

“Konoka-san!” Negi snapped, tired of her roundabout avoidance. “This is serious!”

Konoka's suddenly became very grave, and Negi almost regretted his outburst. Sitting back down, Konoka's voice dropped to somewhere above a whisper.

“Three years, Negi-kun. Set-chan and I ran away from a losing battle and our responsibilities.” Negi noticed the subtle grip she had on her throne seat, and it was growing tighter. “A three year honeymoon at the Hakurei Shrine. It was like a whole new world...” She shook her head. “But I couldn't run away for much longer. I simply came back and took charge, nothing more, nothing less.”

This vague answer confused him even more than her avoidance earlier.

“Uh... Konoka-san...?”

“Unfortunately for you, Negi-kun, I'm a very busy woman, and so is Set-chan,” Konoka gained her jovial mood again. She stood up, swirling her fingers as if she were preparing a magic technique. “I'm afraid you'll have to come back some other time!”

“Konoka-san—!” Negi shot up, surprised that Konoka was dismissing him on what appeared to be a sudden whim. Alas, the forced transmission magic was already in effect, and he found himself awash in a flash of white before the world came back in focus, finding himself nearby the Kyoto train station once again. The only sensation Negi had felt something like disappointment.

Maybe one day soon we'll meet again, Negi-kun. Konoka's parting words echoed through his head.

Dismayed, Negi began the long train ride home.

 

Negi sighed as he returned to the dorms, thoughts of this new Konoka swamping his mind.

Konoka-san... what happened to you? he thought grimly as he marched in. He sighed again discontentedly as he plopped himself on the bed.

First this chaos with getting there, and then both Konoka-san and Setsuna-san shrouding themselves in mystery. This doesn't make sense... The only thing he could notice outside of their usual front was a much... harder demeanor about them.

It was then he heard the first music to his ears in a while... “Negi-kun?” A voice called from the kitchen area.

In walked in Ako Izumi. For a second, Negi stood there paralyzed.

“W-What, is there something on my face?”

“N-No,”Negi replied quickly. She gave him a quizzical stare and crossed her arms.

Negi gave her a smile that he hoped soothed any suspicions she might harbor. It froze the moment it appeared; something still bothered him. Ako's red eyes reminded him of Setsuna's, but Ako had a much gentler, kinder warmth in her eyes than Setsuna's cold yet fiery stare.

“Are you sure everything's all right? You look so down...”

“Ako-chan,” Negi answered, a more sincere smile replacing the first. Even with his mind growing dark like the evening sky, she continued to shine through his world. Her company had been a high point throughout the last two years. He continued, “I'm kinda miserable...”

“Ah... let me make it better for you,” she responded, just a bit more huskily than she meant to sound. Both of their faces began to flush at that. “I-I mean a back massage would help, wouldn't it?”

“It would, Ako-chan,” Negi answered smoothly. He unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a body toned by what seemed like many more years of training than what three years would have allowed. Negi lay on the bed, his back facing the ceiling—and Ako. The girl straddled him, and began to calmly massage his back.

“Ah... that feels so good,” Negi whispered, trying his damnedest to ignore the rising heat to his cheeks.

“I've gotten better at it fairly quickly, haven't I?” She asked, smiling.

“Indeed,” Negi answered. “After all of the crazy news I've learned today and the inevitable madness the magic world will experience, it's nice to hear your voice again.”

“Oh?” His words piqued Ako's interest considerably. She wasn't entirely new to the magic world, though she was still learning something new every day. Today just happened to be something even more interesting...

“Konoka-san has indeed returned... after her three year leave,” Negi said. “But she doesn't act like the Konoka-san we knew three years ago.”

“Konoka-san?” Ako's mind drifted back to the girl in their class, back in the nostalgic days of 3-A. “I think I remember her. She was a kind, if somewhat ditzy person. She transferred away when her father died, didn't she?””

“Turns out that story's not true. She ran away.”

“Ran away?!” Ako stopped her massages at that point.

“Yeah... I asked where but she didn't give me a straight answer—she only mentioned something about a honeymoon...” Negi answered. “Even so, I'm wondering what could've happened that made her that way... she even assumed power of the big magic associations,” Negi flipped to face Ako, the girl rising just enough to give him the leeway to do so. “She killed nearly half of their number, claiming that all of those she killed have been guilty of heavy corruption.” His words intensified the uncomfortable atmosphere. “But I can't imagine where she'd even get such proof, let alone if she was right.”

Ako's face was aghast. “Why...”

“Something's changed within her, Ako-chan. I didn't believe it at first either—I had to talk to her myself. But I truly saw it... Konoka is no longer her old self.”

Negi paused and looked Ako in the eye.

“She at least acts like her old self but... I want 3-A's Konoka-san back.”

“Negi-kun,” Ako understood the situation. She turned her gaze away from Negi temporarily. “3-A is nostalgic, isn't it? Most of our gang is gone and doing their own thing. But...” she turned back to Negi. “For those of us still here, maybe we can still help you, and help Konoka-san, Negi-sensei.”

“That's a great idea, Ako-chan!”

Negi perked up. Solutions weren't always hard to cook up, and with Ako's idea it would be great to catch up with his old students and friends. He finally noticed the fashion in which Ako had straddled him, and seeing her reaction, she may have noticed the same. Both of their cheeks began burning in a matter of seconds.

“Umm...” Negi began. “Could you continue the massage Ako-chan?” Negi spun around, unable to rid the flush in his cheeks.

Ako giggled softly before stretching her fingers and continuing her handiwork. She rather liked doing it, and the embarrassment from both of them was either an easy price to pay or worth the price of admission; she couldn't tell which. “Remember our last date, before I knew about magic?” The girl asked, starting softly.

Negi grinned. “Hehe, remember it clearly...”

--

That day, about two years ago, Ako and "Nagi" were at the movies.

The date began innocently enough. The dashing persona Negi crafted had swept the young girl off her feet and took her to a small dinner at a restaurant nearby. Ako seemed to rather enjoy it. "Nagi's" tongue wound up disagreeing with him, but he enjoyed the experience nonetheless.

At the movies however, “Nagi” wound up ordering a large bag of buttered popcorn that would soon prove to be his undoing. Since he hadn't eaten as much as Ako did at the restaurant, he made up for it with his popcorn share.

Much too late did Negi realize that liquid butter reduces the effect of the age deceiving pill, and to this day still couldn't figure out why. All he knew was, suddenly, the age deceiving pills ran out of strength, and, with a flash, right before Ako's eyes, he was Negi Springfield once again.

Ako's horrified expression gave way to fainting.

“Ako-san? Ako-san?!” Negi had hissed in concern. “AKO-SAAAAAN!”

Ako's fainting had worried Negi, so he quietly scooped her up into his arms and made a swift and stealthy exit.

Negi didn't come to a stop until he reached the fountain nearby the World Tree. He didn't remember then, but that was where he had whisked Ako back in time. He gently laid her down, worry and concern racing all over his mind. Ako-san... I screwed up.

Then the girl began to stir, and her eyes opened to the concerned face of Negi Springfield, affirming her crazy dream was not, in fact, a dream.

“EEEEEEE!” Ako screamed.

“AAAAAAHHH!” Negi also danced around in a panic, not helping matters at all. “I'm busted! I'm totally busted!”

“Negi-sensei, that was you?!” She had asked incredulously. “That was you the entire time?”

“L-l-listen...” Negi began to try and explain, but alas, there was no explaining out of this one. She saw the whole thing with her own eyes, and he screwed up big time. He sank down. “Ako-san, the truth is... I used magic to take that form, as strange as that sounds. But please believe me when I say that I only wanted to make you feel better! I noticed you weren't feeling so great, so I wanted to help you out as a teacher,” His eyes began to water, but he didn't cry. “I've been totally rotten to you...”

“Negi-sensei...” To go through so much for her sake, the girl was truly touched. So she took him by surprise when she simply hugged him. “You've made me feel like a main character again... thank you.”

Negi found himself surprisingly comfortable... nay, warm in that embrace. They stayed that way for a good hour, gazing at the twilit sky.

--

“That was just a beginning,” Negi reminisced of those still innocent and chaotic days before Konoka and Setsuna had left. “I still feel somewhat guilty about the whole thing. Even now, we weren't... still aren't the most uhh...” The words were lost to him—a trait that he felt had struck with him, even after finishing puberty.

“That doesn't matter, Negi-kun!” Ako admonished, nearly making him jump in surprise. “Love is love, right? Together, we're the main characters in our own romance. The fact that I'm here... with you, is enough,” She smiled. “We'll see to it that we're there for Konoka-san, too. That's what love is for, right?”

Negi thought for a moment. Her words made sense, and from that, he smiled as well. “Yeah, that's right.”

Both of them relaxed, since this day would perhaps be the last peaceful one for a good, long while.

 

(Seraph: As far as transition chapters go, I think this was a good one. At least it was fun to write. No awesome action, but that's fine. We have romance - or at least an attempt at it. Oh, and one last thing: We had action in the Prologue and romance in Chapter one. In Chapter 2, we have... whoops, ran out of time.

Ansem: We're always looking for concrit if you've got it. We like praise, too. Flames are used for campfires to light up some s'mores, and irrational suggestions will be CONSUMED IN DARKNESS if you didn't get the message last time.)