Pani Poni Dash! Fan Fiction / Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ Act II: Nightmare!? ❯ Episode 4: "A Harmony of Dissonance is Quite Disconcerting..." By Yuuma and Yuuna ( Chapter 4 )

Nightmare?!

Episode 4: “A Harmony of Dissonance is Quite Disconcerting...” by Yuma and Yuna

“Hey, Yuna-chan.”

“Yeah?”

The Kashiwagi sisters, busy dressing and gazing into the mirror, were talking idly. Ever since yesterday, with that strange tiny teacher waking them from a strange nightmare, things haven't been adding up.

“I think something's up with our newcomers.” Yuma mused.

“Why's that?” Yuma asked.

“I can't narrow it down to just one thing, ya know. It could be just the fact that those six moved in together, but they seem... very close. Like, childhood friends close. And their constant hovering over our newest tiny teacher. Maybe they have a history together?” Yuma helped fixed the red bow in her sister's hair.

“We shouldn't leap to conclusions, you know...” Yuna said softly.

“I know, right? That's why we should call Watanuki-san!” Yuma said happily. “She can pull up the leads on our mystery students!”

“Hmm... but I think Watanuki-san might interfere and use whatever she learns for her own ends... maybe we should investigate this ourselves...”

“Oh ho, Yuna-chan! I like the way you think! Plus we can learn the secret of how Miyazaki is so moe!”

“Yes, yes!” Yuna nodded vigorously. However, a thought occurred to her. She frowned again. “We don't know the first thing about sneaking around, Yuma-chan...”

“Hmm... so it might be a good idea to ask Watanuki after all...” Yuma pondered out out. “But we can let that stop us... C'mon, let's get to school already.” The sisters, adding some last touches to their wardrobe, merrily dashed out of their room and into the world.

xx

“So, you're Negi Spriiingfield, yes?” A voice slurred.

Negi found himself looking at an aged man. A really aged man, in fact. His face reminded him heavily of Dean Konoemon, with eyebrows so thick they shaded his eyes. Unlike the dean, though, his head was round and completely bald. He wore a crisp shirt and brown pants. “So you're the boy who stands in Miyamoto's place. Must say you look far shinier and naïve than she.”

“Umm... okay,” Negi gave an embarrassed smile, not sure how to react.

“Don't mind him, he's just an Old Geezer,” A second man strolled in, wearing a blue and white jump suit that obviously screamed “P.E TEACHER!” The man gave the boy a friendly smile. “Just call me Saotome.” While the old man's gaze was critical, this new man observed Negi with genuine curiosity. “Can't say I was expecting another tiny teacher considering how much the PTA cried about it when Becky was here, but you look wise enough.”

“Thank you,” Negi decided to simply roll with that as a compliment.

“How's 1-C treating you, anyway?” The amiable Saotome asked. “They're a pretty rowdy bunch.”

“Not bad at all!” Negi answered, slightly leaping to their defense. “I know several of them from when they visited my school, plus I'm used to rowdy.”

“You haven't been here very long, have you?” The Old Geezer returned, still scrutinizing Negi. “No matter, perhaps! The sooner you succumb to classes' madness, the better. Then you can fully say that you belong here!” Despite his jeering, the old man's tone was surprisingly friendly. “After all, it took Becky a while to warm up to the students, too!”

“Oi, oi! Stop freaking him out,” Saotome griped back.

“I'm okay!” Negi laughed. “Really!” However, his smile dropped just as quickly. “I'm worried about Becky, though.”

“That's why you're here, right?” A voice drunkenly lifted from the multiple desks lined up in the teacher's lounge. Negi turned to see the usually drained Igarashi. While looking better than yesterday, she she still did not bear a positive attitude students could look up to. “Trying to find out all the weirdness in our school and all that. Don't worry too much. Becky will show up on her own.” She looked up at the boy, a faint smile on her lips. “I get that feeling.”

“Our school always has this aura of weeeeirdness,” The Old Geezer's eye shone ominously. “To challenge it would likely spell your doom. Hee hee hee hee hee hee!” The man cackled like a master lecher.

“Weirdness or no,” Negi countered, his face serious, “I will not rest until this mystery is solved!”

“Bold words, Springfield-kun,” The old man smiled. “We'll see how well you live up to them in the coming weeks.”

xx

“Oi, Watanuki-san! That pose is ridiculously overplayed and doesn't net you any cool points at all,” Yuma quickly and viciously pointed out to the hazel-haired girl sitting across from them.

This vast and technological room in the basement had TV monitors covering every square inch of three of the walls of the room, each showing off a different area of Peach Moon. The rest of the room was occupied only by a single, large desk with a computer on top. The lone person sitting at the middle had in fact, propped her head on top of her folded hands, fake glasses obscuring her eyes—a perfect representation of a certain Mr. Ikar—“I'm doing this because it's expected, not because it's cool. You girls do know what you're up against, don't you?”

“Huh?” Both of them tilted their heads.

“You obviously come seeking information on the one known as Negi Springfield, correct?” Hibiki Watanuki shed her fake glasses and tossed them aside, letting them crash into some random animal in the room.

The sisters exchanged looks. Looking back towards Watanuki's green eyes, they nodded.

“Forget about it,” Watanuki waved them off. “He's pretty interesting, and it's not like he's unknown, but he's got secrets so heavily guarded it's like opening Pandora's Box. I've actually been threatened by people for trying to expose the boy.”

“Really?” The girls held their hands together. However, Yuma stood firm. “Even so, we must know! Just yesterday, we had a strange nightmare after we tried to model that Miyazaki girl. And all the weirdness around Miyamoto-sensei's disappearance, I think they know something about it.”

“Plus that boy rescued us... from something,” Yuna spoke shyly. “I truly believe it merits some sort of investigation.”

“But in that case, I can't tell you anything you don't already know about him,” Watanuki answered. “He's here to hold Becky's position until she returns. He's likely interested in finding out what happened to her, but other than that... I'd turn my curiosity to the six girls that came afterwards if I were you. They came from his school ya know!”

The twins peered closer, now that Watanuki had their interest.

She dug around her desk for a bit before pulling out a few folders. She tossed them towards the opposite end of her desk. The twins looked closely to find that she had procured files on the six newcomers that also attended Negi's school. Yuma grabbed one and began to leaf through it. “From what we've seen of them, all six are pretty close. Like 1-C close.”

“That's just a part of it!” Watanuki grinned. “These guys are rumored to have some strange and awesome powers.”

“Strange...” Yuma began.

“...and awesome...” Yuna added.

“Powers?” The twins concluded.

“Yeah!” Watanuki crowed. “Asuna Kagurazaka... she has frightening strength, don't you know! Rumor has it she's taken down vampires with a boat!”

“A boat?!” Yuna almost reeled back, completely missing the vampire part.

“Konoka Konoe,” Yuma had already moved on to another folder. “She's that ditzy girl who sounds creepily similar to Ichijou, right?”

“Yes.”

“She's the heiress to the Konoe estate, which means she's loaded,” Watanuki grinned. “Like, yakuza loaded. And that girl next to her, Sakurazaki, is her personal bodyguard. The two are real close, if you know what I mean.”

Yuma and Yuna exchanged wry looks. Yet another thing to take advantage of...

“Your so called moe queen, Nodoka Miyazaki... has access to one of the biggest libraries in the nation. She runs around the place fairly easily and has a shy personality... that might be why she's so... moe. Makie Sasaki is a master gymnast, with her intelligence as nimble as a truck. Last but not least, Akira Ookouchi is a woman bestowed with an obsession with water.” The twins recalled Akira's childish glee at finding Igarashi-sensei's trap pool and freely swimming within it. “You're messing with superhumans, you know. Curiosity kills the cat(s)!”

“But satisfaction brings it back,” Yuma winked. Watanuki shrank. There was no stopping these two, she saw it in their eyes. “Thanks, but we'll do our own from here. C'mon, Yuna-chan.” Grabbing and guiding her sister out, the twins disappeared.

The girl sighed. “Good luck, you two. You'll need it.”

“Can't deter them at all, can ya?” A deep voice nearly shocked Watanuki out of her serious stupor and nearly made her piss her pants. Wearily, she turned to her left to see a massive, muscle-bound man with a shock of blond hair. Of course, this was one of the same people who warned her of Negi Springfield. “Guess I can't blame you then.”

“Oi, Rakan-san! Don't freak me out like that!” She snapped, fear shaking her voice a bit.

Jack Rakan laughed. “Being able to sneak by people is too fun! Anyway, I'll just keep my eyes on those two. You just make sure you don't investigate anything more than you need to, all right? We still have... information on the noodle incident.”

Watanuki swallowed hard. “I... I had first dibs on that story and you know it!”

“Well... if you don't want anyone else breaking that news before you do, just keep to the background for now!” And with that, Jack disappeared as silently as he arrived. How someone with so much MANLINESS managed to pull this off was still a mystery.

xx

“So umm... Negi-kun?” Himeko ventured.

“Yes?” The teacher responded oblivious to the awkward atmosphere.

“So when defending myself from the accountants with the sabers, do you mean light sabers? Or dark sabers?” At this point, her fool's hair danced about merrily. Memories of a swan that crowed of darkness flew about in that (mostly) empty head of hers.

“Huh?”

“You know the dark sabers are wielded by crabs and swans, and crabs are too delicious to be countered with machine guns!” Himeko ceased making sense at this point.

“Negi-sensei, just ignore her and get back to the lesson,” Rei muttered, smacking the girl.

“Are all of the subjects I'm supposed to teach here so... strange?” Negi scratched himself absentmindedly.

“No,” Miyako nearly snarled, trying to keep her frustration off the tiny teacher. “But the natural weird zone of this school has us learn... unusual subjects from time to time.”

“I... see.”

With that, class rolled on. Negi continued on with the finer merits of defending oneself from accountants with sabers, and somehow, the class listened. That was, until something else happened. Or... someone.

“Fu fu fu fu...” A sinister voice rung through the classroom.

“Erm, Negi-sensei,” A girl in the back meekly spoke. “There is a suspicious person occupying the seat next to me...”

All eyes turned to the mysterious visitor, decked in a white tuxedo, shiny top hat and vaguely hidden pink hair. “Afternoon tea with a green wind, hailing from a foggy country. Love and bravery's ambassador of friendship!” Random black rose petals sailed in from an open window. “They call me the Black Rose Baron!”

“Who is this weirdo?!” Miyako complained.

“It's an intrusion of the year!” Rokugou added.

“Black Rose Baron?!” Negi reeled back. Those feelings again. A longing. This person could still be— “Why are you here?”

The Baron stood stock still, as if the person was old-school Micheal Jackson about to do an opening number. Suddenly, the dapper Baron burst into... narration. “This is Classy Songs with the Black Rose Baron. This is the part of the story where the Black Rose Baron comes out and sings... a classy song.” The dapper Baron gave a wink, and suddenly Rei felt defiled and violated. Negi, on the other hand, was simply at a loss for words.

The Black Rose Baron continued. “Today the Black Rose Baron attends Negi Springfield's impromptu switch to class 1-C in another school, and thusly wants to know how this class differs from all of his partners back at home. A song of different classes, thusly, a classy song.” And with that, the Black Rose Baron burst into perfect opera.

Miyako couldn't take it anymore. She slammed her hands on her desk before pointing furiously at the masked marauder. “I HATE YOU!”

Negi was in tears.

Rokugou was also in tears—for a completely different reason. “I'm moved! This is the opera of the year!”

“I think he got the lyrics wrong,” Ichijou pointed out.

“I don't think that quite fits...” Kurumi muttered silently.

“Negi, what's going on in here?” Asuna, Konoka and Setsuna peeked their heads in. “It's gettin' loud, we can hear—DAH!” The girl's shock allowed her hair to form an exclamation mark just to show her surprise. “It's that crazy creep again!”

“Ah, glad to see your friends are still doing well,” The Baron abruptly stopped the serenade and tipped his hat towards Asuna. “I will see you soon, then!”

“Why you little...!” Asuna began.

“But but but what about the lesson?” Negi mewled pathetically.

It didn't matter, because the bell had rung. In seconds the unimportant students had evacuated the classroom as if it were a sale season, conveniently not even caring about the random intrusion in their class. By the time Asuna and the others could scramble over to where the Baron was, though, the mysterious person had disappeared out the window.

“Geez, he's gone again...” Asuna muttered.

“I take it you've seen him before?” Rei asked.

“That person...” Negi answered, somewhat morose. “That person could have a connection to my father. Or even be my father. I don't know...” For the first time in a long time, he observed his wrist, and on it, a shiny silver band with a blue symbol. It was something he wore as a reminder for his father... but as of right now, he couldn't remember who gave it to him...

“Negi-sensei,” A voice sliced through his melancholy. Negi turned to see Rei giving a gentle but determined smile. “That crazy Baron couldn't have gone far. How about we split up and look for him?”

“I'll second that!” Asuna interjected her agreement.

Negi smiled at his students. They were always there for him, after all.

xx

“It's a juice machine!” Makie cheered. “Finally, I can have something good~!”

Akira just smiled. After all, the life here, despite being away from most of her friends, wasn't that different. As she calmly followed Makie to the machine, she noticed something slightly peculiar.

The door on the soda machine was ajar!

Makie was about to put in her first coin when she too noticed that the door was ajar. Before Makie could do anything, though, it swung open. The girl flinched slightly as the machine opened wide, revealing nothing but...

...a single cat, holding a few cans. Its beady eyes regarded Makie. Holding up a can, it gave an offering. “It's room temperature-ny—”

“MOTHER!” Makie silenced the world with her outcry.

The cat (and Akira) only stared with wide eyes.

Somewhere else in the universe, Motsu was suddenly overcome with feelings of unexplainable rage, and with his hand curled in the air, he bellowed, “DAMINATE YOU, CAT! IN A GOOD WAY!” This earned him a can of whoopass from the nearby Shichimi which quickly quieted him.

The cat was stunned as Makie wrapped her arms around it in a fierce hug. “It's been so long~!”

“The tables have turned, nya!” The cat in the soda can machine cried. You got that right.

xx

Leading her small group, Konoka headed outside to the nearby woods. Somehow, within these forested walls, there was an unsettling feeling. “Aw, I don't see the Baron out here...”

“It's unlikely,” Setsuna noted. “The Baron's higher than we are on the magic scale.”

“Geez, but did he REALLY have to waltz into Negi's class like that?” Asuna grumbled. “I'll never be able to take opera seriously ever again!”

“Don't let Rokugou hear you say that.” Setsuna began. However, she felt something further up ahead.

Evil intent.

“Secchan?” Konoka blinked as the half demon darted forward ahead of them. Try as she might, she couldn't catch her guardian's speed. The numerous trees didn't help matters much at all. Finally, however, she spotted Setsuna nearby a flat patch of land, an almost circular clearing standing out. She was crouched in a fighting stance. Running up to Setsuna, the girl asked, “What is it?”

“Darkness!” Setsuna pointed out the batch of egg-like shapes almost hiding in the grass.

“Where's Negi?!” Asuna exclaimed as well, looking around in panic.

“No clue...” Konoka answered, a clueless smile on her face. “But I do know I can probably handle this!”

“Ojou-sama?!” Setsuna's eyes widened slightly.

“Have faith in me, Secchan,” Konoka declared gently. From her sleeve she pulled a beginner's wand, a small thing with a moon shape attached to the end. “Hmm... what was that spell Negi-kun taught me...?” Asuna and Setsuna watched her with both awe and embarrassment as she nonchalantly tried to think of a spell in the middle of an urgent situation. “Aha!” She suddenly said. What wound up shocking them wasn't this sudden outburst, but the sudden serious face and stance that followed.

“Animadverto lucis...” Konoka aimed her wand at the darkness, her face complete Serious Business (tm). “The shadow of noon turns to the sun, the darkness of night turns to the moon...” She let her powers grow stronger. “Such darkness dissolves into the light. Nature! Send it to the other end of perverseness! Sataaa andagi!” A small flash of light seared through the dark eggs, and they dissipated into dust. Konoka could help but shyly bow to the sound of thoroughly impressed clapping. However, she sighed sadly. “At this rate, I'm bound to screw up and get caught. Now I know how Negi-kun felt...”

“GAH!” Asuna and Setsuna's face stretched into horrified caricatures.

“What now, Secchan? Asuna?” Konoka peered at them curiously.

Their only answer was to point behind her.

Konoka wearily looked over in that direction. Spying on them were Yuma and Yuna Kashiwagi.

The white mage's jaw dropped. “Kashiwagi twins?!”

“It's not Kashiwagi twins! It's Yuma!” One objected.

“I'm Yuna,” The other one added to her sister's objection.

“Oh no!” Konoka shed a stream of tears. “I'm busted already, and I've just been in a real world situation! Secchan, what am I gonna do?!”

“Ojou-sama!” Setsuna lamented, fretting over her charge.

“Here we go again...” Asuna sighed.

Despite the exaggerated actions before them, the twins hardly reacted at all. “We knew something was up with the newcomers...” Yuma began.

“...but we had no idea we'd run into... magical girls...” Yuna ended.

Just when Konoka believed the situation couldn't get any worse... it did.

“Bwa ha ha ha ha!” Several swords crashed down between the two separate parties. Making his appearance was the legendary and truly awesome JACK RAKAN. “It appears a first time mage has screwed up and exposed himself!” He looked to see Konoka's mortified face. There was no Negi in sight!

“It's the maid guy!” Konoka shouted.

“Oh, it's the young princess! Sorry, thought you were someone else,” Rakan rubbed the back of his head.

“So how come Negi-sensei gets into more trouble than I do if we both mess up?” The Kansai princess wondered.

“Simple! It comes out of your dad's paycheck!” Rakan crowed, followed by more laughter.

Konoka cried again. “I'm sorry, daddy!”

The Kashiwagi twins rushed up to the others, examining them as if they were some new clothes on a mannequin. “Hmm...” Yuma observed, peering at Konoka. “As a magical girl, you sure don't dress the part.”

“But she does look like she has potential, yes?” Yuna clicked her tongue. “After all, Behoimi-chan hides her true nature in her nerdy getup.”

“I'd say so.”

Asuna regarded them with heavy suspicion. “Aren't you guys from our class? Why were you tailing us, anyway?”

“Curiosity got the better of us,” Yuma said. “We were trying to thank Springfield-sensei for yesterday, but it looks like we found you guys instead.”

“But this is dangerous, you two!” Asuna pleaded. “We've been trying to figure out all the weirdness going on at your school because Miyamoto brat disappeared!”

“That's the thing!” Yuna said. “How'd you get so close to Becky-sensei in such a short time?”

You have no time to ponder such questions, as the darkness has grabbed a smash ball! Okay, not really, but still, the ever growing darkness appeared. A shadow, perhaps resembling a long-haired nymph, formed in front of the group.

Yuma and Yuna remembered. Nightmares, a horrible creature out to kill someone, bearing their faces...

Asuna saw the twins shrink and clutch their heads, overcome with fear. Turning to the darkness, she snarled. “Dammit, what's wrong with you?!”

“The wrong people fell into my trap. Shame I cannot corrupt any one of you.” That darkness spoke. “Negi isn't here.”

“You speak boldly,” Rakan gave a savage grin. “Care to back up that statement?”

“Perhaps...” The voice answered. In the shape's left hand, a ball of darkness formed. At that, bursts of black lightning shot towards both random spots in the ground and towards Asuna and Rakan.

“R-Reflectio!” Some fast thinking from Konoka and a brief barrier flashed in front of the two targets. It shattered from the contact of the lightning, but for Rakan, it served its purpose. On the other hand, the other bolt was just a millisecond slow enough to strike Asuna instead of the barrier. The girl tried to shield herself with her arms...

...that turned out to not even be necessary. When she opened her eyes again, Konoka and Setsuna were staring at her with wide eyes. Even the twins stopped shivering long enough to stare in shock. “Wha...?” Asuna began, but simply seeing how she was unharmed allowed her to put two and two together. “How...?!”

“Hmph... still...” The darkness gave way to several, worm-like beasts that rose from the ground. Resembling giant, flat centipedes with oversized pincers, the creatures shrieked. “I think I'll just be done with it for now...” That nymph-like shape disappeared, just leaving the five of them to deal with the surprise attackers.

Rakan pulled up one of his many blades, savage grin still in place. “Hey ladies... allow me to protect you, and show you how it's done.” One of the creatures lunged. With incredible ease, he merely swiped his sword across and cleaved the thing in two. Two more swam forward and tried to snap at him, but the beefy swordsman sprinted to the side, dodging the attack. The monsters gave chase.

“That's no fair!” Konoka complained. “Secchan, let's help him out!”

“Ojou-sama?” Setsuna blinked. “How?”

“Silly Secchan, you forget so quickly! I activate your pactio now!”

“THAT'S RIGHT!” Setsuna realized, nearly jumping up. “Ojou-sama! Activate the contract!”

Konoka nodded. She focused her powers. “Partner: Setsuna Sakurazaki! Show me the power within you!” The magic summoning rune appeared. Konoka reached in the magic orb that appeared in front of her guardian, grabbing the card inside. Setsuna moaned.

At this, the twins, who had been awestruck at this occasion, held each other as their fascination grew.

The bright flash of light stopped. Setsuna stood in her pale blue samurai garb. Without hesitation, she swung forward in a brilliant display of grace and sliced through two of the big centipede-like worms at once.

“Oooooh,” The twins marveled, clapping. However, Yuna suddenly added, “...but that's not moe at all.”

“Totally isn't!” Yuma agreed.

“What the hell are you two talking about at a time like this?!” Asuna shouted, one of those irritated smiles forming on her face from the absurdity of the situation. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a creature lunge towards her. “Everyone, look out!”

The twins shrieked, and Konoka followed suit.

“Ojou-sama!” Setsuna swerved back to save her charge, but that needn't happen at all—Asuna rushed forward and met the creature with a single punch. The creature shrieked and fell back from the impact before dissipating into dust.

“Again...” Asuna whispered at her newly discovered Shounen Power(tm). Setsuna took a moment to bow to Konoka again before dashing back out to smash more of those crazy worms.

“It's called Magic Cancel,” Rakan shouted back towards the group. “Or in some circles, Magic Death!”

“Why do I have this kind of power?!” Asuna shouted to him.

“If ya pay me one million I'll tell ya!” Rakan laughed. Asuna grumbled, but suddenly something caught her attention.

The worms were working together this time, and had multiplied.

“DAH!” Asuna screeched.

Two of them combined a blast of energy, firing at the bystanders. Had Setsuna not sliced the projectile in half, they would've been dark smithereens. “They're getting crazy! We have to find the source!”

“Doesn't matter,” Rakan stated. Grabbing one of the twin-bladed swallows, he twirled it in the air. “Because of the darkness, and her inexperience, only one person can wipe them out!” He roared. “Finisher: Warship Cleaver!” He chucked the weapon like a javelin, stabbing the ground. The worms shrieked in pain, apparently pinned by his holy weapon. However, they had yet to disappear. “And if you can't guess by now, despite my awesomeness, it's not me.”

“Then who...” Setsuna began, but her question was answered.

“Weighted light, travel! Go beyond the door and send it far away!” Who else but Negi Springfield soared right in, his hand glowing with magical power. He looped up into the sky until he was upside down on his staff. Pointing down at the center of the darkness, he bellowed. “TEL MA... AMORIS!” And with that, a light shot down into the darkness, breaking it apart. A fine steam of darkness was all that was left.

Floating slowly towards the land, he looked at the others. “Is everything all right?”

“We're fine, Negi-sensei,” Setsuna answered immediately.

“That's great!” Negi smiled, leaping off of his staff. “We couldn't catch anything from the Black Rose Baron, I think he only shows up once an episode anyway, and—” SUDDENLY, HE NOTICES THE KASHIWAGI TWINS. “Ah.” Was all he could say.

“Whoa...” Yuma breathed.

“So cute...” Yuna trailed off.

“So cool!” They both attacked him with a fierce volley of hugs.

“Wh-wh-what?!” Negi gibbered in panic, being crushed by their affection.

“Man, and I thought Howell was popular with the ladies,” The hug session stopped long enough to notice Jack Rakan grinning broadly at them. “Normally, we're supposed to report people who wantonly reveal their magic side...”

Negi and Konoka both swallowed hard.

“...but Behoimi would be in trouble a thousand times over if we seriously followed a rule like that,” Rakan shrugged. “Plus, you're way too popular to get turned into an ermine. So we'll let it slide... this time.” He began to walk off. “You're the star of the show, kid. The Student Mage Council ain't interested in taking the spotlight.” With that, he was gone.

There was a moment of silence as peace peeked in on Peach Moon. Then it fled when the Kashiwagi twins returned their affection smothering on Negi. “You're so cool!” They marveled.

“Oi! Let go, you're gonna suffocate him!” Asuna complained.

Negi had a feeling he really needed to be a few years older to appreciate this.

xx

“You girls realize you're in deep crap, right?” Rei cast the twins a lazy glare.

That evening, as the sun set and a chilling moon rose in the air, the cast of 1-C circled the twins like a Native American bonfire tribute. Because the school was largely vacant now, it was the perfect setting for the group to interrogate the Kashiwagi twins. Negi's group in 3-A simply sat back and watched with nervous smiles. It was strange—had this been just three weeks ago, it would be them, and not Becky's underlings, that would have been circling the newcomers. It may have been something to do with this being Becky's turf, perhaps.

“We know all sorts of weird things already happen here,” Miyako adjusted her glasses, and her forehead shone ominously. “But this is a whole different ballgame.”

“This is the secret of the year,” Rokugou whispered.

“We've told you the story, so now you're under oath!” Kurumi added.

“You know it's pretty bad when even I have to serious it up,” Himeko winked.

“So why did you peek in?” Ichijou asked. “Considering even Watanuki-san stopped snooping.”

The girls, not restrained in any fashion, moved for the first time since Becky's finest had plunked them down there. Holding hands they sighed. Yuma spoke first. “We admit... we were kinda curious on how you guys were so close. Becky-sensei disappears for months on end, only to come back a more serious person. Then somebody new comes in when Becky disappears, and you guys are already friends...”

“You guys in 1-C are a pretty tight knit group,” Yuna added. “None of the other classes come close.”

“Really?” Negi hadn't really paid attention to too many people outside his entourage, but he simply chalked that up to brief ignorance and decided to observe the others next time.

“Huh... now that you mention it...” Kurumi thought back to her experience at Mahora. The people there were... friendlier. Not that this place was cruel or mean at all, but nobody outside of 1-C had really extended the hand of true friendship past one or two people.

“Maybe we wanted some of that closeness, too,” Yuma said, one of those sad smiles on her face.

“I know what'll cheer you ladies up!” Chamo finally appeared! Crawling out of his sleeping spot on Negi's front pocket, he gave them a thumbs-up. “How about you make a pactio with big bro? You get cool powers, and then everyone else will have no choice but to let you in!”

“A pactio?” The twins chorused. They remembered Konoka summoning Setsuna's powers with that.

“That's not the issue, here,” Rei pointed out sharply. “Lately it hasn't been all sunshine and roses for us. We're up against weirdos who want nothing more than certain death to all involved, and we still have a demented swan with a damsel-in-distress complex who can still swoop in on us at any moment.” (Rokugou blushed hard at that statement.) “It's not a question of 'will they fit in', it's a question of 'can they handle it?'”

“Of course we can!” Yuma immediately objected.

“We've come too far to run now,” Yuna added sheepishly.

There was a moment of silence. 3-A and 1-C traded looks. Seeing the conviction on their faces, Rei finally shrugged. “If that's the case, who am I to stop them. Fine, ermine, tell them what they need to do.”

Wasting no time, Chamo summoned the pactio circle. “So how about it! Just step right in and kiss big bro on the lips!”

“A kiss...?” Yuma began.

“On the lips...?” Yuna ended. “So bold...” They both blushed hard, but stepped forward anyway.

“That's the way it goes,” Negi sheepishly rubbed his neck. “Sorr—” He found his apology interrupted with Yuma locking her lips with his, much to his shock. When she parted, she twirled out of the way. Negi barely got any breathing time before the gentler Yuna too, claimed his lips.

“PACTIO!” The ermine bellowed, and the cards formed from the heavens and lodged themselves into the girls' souls. “WOOO! More ladies! More pactios means more power to you and more money for me!” Chamo danced about in victory.

“Somebody stop that ermine before he gets any more bright ideas!” Asuna snarled, a vein bursting on her forehead.

While the majority of 3-A and 1-C simply laughed as Setsuna and Akira moved to put Chamo in his place, Yuma and Yuna simply exchanged a smile between them.

Ichijou looked outside, briefly catching some square shape peeking in on them—well, maybe not, since when she looked harder, that familiar, boxy shape was gone. Figuring that the spy was in fact, not a threat, she went back to gathering her friends to move out for the night.

With that, this episode's going in for a close. What will the Kashiwagi twins bring to the Negima table?! What of Asuna's mysterious power? And what exactly is the Student Mage Council up to? TUNE IN NEXT TIME!

-X-X-X-

OMAKE!

The moon rose high that night.

A shape crashed into the earth, somehow landing gracefully on its feet. A vague, hulking shadow, it only took a moment to recover from its rough landing before looking up at the crescent moon. The empty streets did not matter, neither did the few lights on the road—the moon shined so bright it was like the earth had a night lamp.

Perhaps this curse had its perks after all.

He really wished he knew where the hell it came from exactly. The memories of the last few days had been fuzzy. He figured a nightly jog would clear up his head... but even so, it wasn't quite clear just yet.

Throwing caution to the wind, he howled like a wolf.

Lucky him. Somebody answered the call. “My, my, acting dangerously at night just might get you killed, young one.” A pleasantly dangerous voice called.

He looked over to see a blue-haired maiden gazing down at him from the top of her house. “You're not causing trouble, are you?” She continued.

“I sure hope not,” The guttural response came. “I'd thought a night run would keep my head cool and the darkness out of my thoughts.”

“I see,” The woman folded her arms. He couldn't tell if she was gazing at him, considering her eyes looked closed, much like anyone with fox's eyes. “I gaze upon this land, night and day, keeping the trouble away from home. To see something as monstrous as yourself... you must forgive me for my prejudices.”

“Don't worry about it,” He responded. “I'd be worried about me, too.”

“You're still looking for that self confidence, I take it!” The woman giggled. “Don't worry yourself, you will surely find it.”

With that, the creature decided he had enough. Sprinting into the night, the creature was gone in the flash.

Confident that there was no threat to be had, Ao Suzuki quietly retreated into her house.

-X-X-

NEXT TIME: “Who Sings Nocturnes in the Moonlight?” by Connor

('Sup everybody! Finals are done, and next semester has work and probably a shot at me stage designing. So what does that mean?! Work at roughly the same pace that I've always been doing! YAY.)