All Purpose Negima Fanfiction Thread

"You're being stupid, Bro! Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Chamo shouted angrily as he poked his head out of Negi's backpack, only to be pushed back inside. "Shutting me up won't change it! You can't just give up and run away like this! What would your father say?"

"Father would be ashamed of me anyway," the young mage sulked, sniffing more tears up. "There's nothing I can do about it. I failed. And there are no ways around it."

He finally had arrived to the Mahora Train Station, clutching the backpack tighter around his shoulders. He remembered his arrival there, so full of hopes and dreams which now were shattered beyond repair. His chest ached, and he felt feverish. He couldn't help but keeping on crying in silence, keeping his face low and hidden from the crowd's eyes. Eventually making his way to a ticket stand, rubbing his eyes off before looking up at the attendant.

"Excuse me," he asked. "I want a ticket to the Tokyo International Airport".

The lanky, pimple faced, foreign looking young man, barely more than a teen, at the counter looked down at him dismissively, over his Teen Idols in Bikinis magazine. He spoke in an American accent, his eyes half closed in disinterest.

"Yeah, sure. Where are your parents, kid?"

He showed him his documents. "I have a permission to travel alone."

The older boy didn't even take a good look at them. "Whatever. It'll be five with fifty."

As Negi sat down at a nearby bench to wait for the train, he heard a calm male voice coming from his left. "I take you failed your test, then?"

Negi blinked in surprise to look at Itoshiki Nozomu, sitting right next to him. For some reason, his being there seemed fitting for such a depressing moment, but even so...

"Itoshiki-sensei! Wha-What are you doing here?"

The man shrugged. "I just had a feeling this could happen, so I came to share your pain and toss myself to the train in my despair over being unable to help you."

"There's nothing you could have done," he replied, just as depressed. "It was all my fault. You were right on placing so little faith on me."

Nozomu seemed taken aback to some degree. "No... It's not like that. I was almost sure you wouldn't fail, actually. It's just I like having all possibilities covered. And besides, even if you hadn't failed, I still have many reasons to jump before that train..."

"Don't say that. At least you will continue teaching at Mahora..."

"PRECISELY!"

Negi frowned. "Don't even joke about that. Your students love you very much. They were sad because you weren't there with them."

An eyebrow was raised. "They were?"

Negi nodded. "Yes. I envy you. You will get another chance to continue here. I... I wouldn't want to leave, really. I'll miss Chisame-san, Hakase-san, Iincho-san, and everyone else. Even Eva-san. I'll miss you too..."

Itoshiki paused, seeming genuinely moved, watching the tears slowly drifting down his face. "I'm going to miss you as well," he gently placed a hand on his back.

"But I can't... I can't ever look at the girls' faces again. Not after I failed them, and everyone else..."

"Negi-sensei," Nozomu stated with stern seriousness. "Get used to this. Through your life, like all adults, you'll suffer through many traumatic losses. You'll be dealt setbacks galore. It happens to every last one of us. But listen, and look at me when I'm telling you this..."

"Y-yes, sir!" he looked up apologetically.

"No matter what happens, no matter whatever you do, you'll never be as much of a loser as I am."

Negi's expression twitched the slightest bit. "That's... Well, I'm sure you mean your best attempt of reassuring with that, but... You're much more of a success than I. You have your own home. Your own place at life. You have found a role in the magical community. And... you'll keep on seeing your students..."

"You really do care about yours, don't you?"

"You should too about yours. You never know what you have until you lose it."

A pause. "I... It's not like I hate them. I guess, to some degree, I keep them at arm's lenght to avoid hurting them with my failures. That being said..." he lightly knocked his knuckles on Negi's head, "*I* would never go as far as to Pactio with them!"

Elsewhere up, up above, Skuld smiled knowingly. Being the goddess of the future had its perks when appreciating the ironic humor of life down below.

Negi had to laugh weakly. "Yeah, I know. I shouldn't have done that..."

Nozomu shrugged again. "Forget it. I know the circumstances as well as you do."

"Sensei..."

"Yes?"

"Please don't kill yourself. I want you looking after my students after I'm gone. I know it's an egoist wish, and you have your own students, but... please..."

Again, Itoshiki seemed impressed, patting Negi's head when he started sobbing anew. "Very well. I hope you appreciate the effort it takes me to do this. But as long as they're here, I'll look after them too. Except Evangeline-san! I'm not going to delay my release for all eternity!"

"Thanks. I really mean it," he blew his nose up. "But please never tell them you found me here... crying like an useless child..."

"Negi-sensei," the bony hands rested on his shoulders once more. "I know what you're thinking. You're comparing yourself to your father's legacy. Thinking you can't live up to it. But for what it matters, in my opinion, you already have surpassed him on a level."

He jerked up, shocked. "You... You knew my father?-!"

"Yes. I'm sorry I never told you. I thought it was better that way. We don't have the time to talk about it now, but I'll write to you on it later. Suffice to say for now, I... I..." he struggled with the words, "... admired him. I wanted to follow on his footsteps. To be one of his comrades. But it never could be. Your father was a man of many talents, but he never really learned to recognize the pains of life, to let others cry. In that way, he was more of a child than you. He always thought you could shake everything off and keep on ahead as if nothing had happened. He lacked the empathy needed to know when others just needed a shoulder to lean on and cry."

Then he offered him an arm, gesturing for him to rest against him.

"And I can say you need one now."

Negi looked up at him with huge tearful eyes and sank his face against his body, breaking into free crying while Itoshiki sighed stoically. He cried and cried until he couldn't do it anymore, and only then lifted his head back up, rubbing his nose. "Thanks... I really needed that..."

Then he noticed something. "Itoshiki-sensei? Why are your cheeks red?"

Nozomu only sputtered, looking aside with discomfort. "Confound it, on that regard, you are just like him! In your own ways, you both have this strange effect on everyone!"

"Huh?" he hadn't understood a single word, but then another sound distracted his attention.

"NEGI-SENSEI!" two young voices called for him, as Hakase's speedster screeched to an abrupt halt at the other end of the station.

Negi gulped aloud, disarmed and paralyzed.

Chisame and Satomi had just jumped off the vehicle, running towards him.