All Purpose Negima Fanfiction Thread

Nodoka always had the fear of being ultimately rejected to some degree at the back of her mind, but as she grew older, she also grew more confident over it. Effort after effort, progress after progress, adventure after adventure, she became more sure she could do it.

As most likely competitors moved on and gained other love interests, things were looking up for her chances with Negi-sensei. And yet, while most of the outgoing, outspoken rivals faded away, Nodoka forgot she was not the only one who spoke softly but also learned how to master her own fears and insecurities.

Thinking back about it, she should have noticed how Negi-sensei and Ako were growing much closer. And how, unlike Nodoka's fascinated, almost fairy tale-ish, crush, they built a more down to earth, easygoing and relaxed relationship.

They broke it down to her in the most sensible and delicate possible way. But even so, despite all the time she spent preparing herself for such an eventuality in the past, she found out nothing could have made her ready for it.

She cried for nights and nights after that. Through the days, she kept on putting a brave face, especially before Sensei and Ako. But after each college night, alone at her apartment, she would cry as much as her heart demanded. Yue's absence pained her even more now. She started to resent the fact she had left for Ariadne, for Emily, even if it had happened long before Sensei had even realized his own feelings. She craved for a shoulder to cry onto, someone who was close, but not close enough to make it even more painful. Someone who would understand, but wouldn't try to cheer her up.

Finally, one night, while walking back home under a pouring rain, sneezing and wheezing, she found herself wandering down a particular street for no good reason. Then she remembered who lived in that street. She felt too weak and ill to resist the urge to share her ache anymore. Sniffing, barely caring anymore, she walked to the small clean doorstep and rang on the bell.

A freckled face met her gaze as the door went open. Round dark eyes blinked in surprise. "Nodoka?"

"Natsumi-san," her voice came out tired and wheezy, her head bobbling down. "Can I come in, please?"

"O-Of course you can!" her old classmate quickly guided her in. "Kotaro-kun, bring some towels, quick! Nodoka's here, and she needs them!"

A head full of disbeheveled black hair peeked out of the small nearby bedroom, dog ears twitching. "Mmm?" Kotaro sleepily said. "Honya-neechan? What's wrong? An emergency?"

"It's... It's nothing, really..." Nodoka rubbed her nose, her wet hair covering all of her face. Natsumi hadn't seen her with her face so covered in years; she had left that look behind long ago. "I... I don't even know why I'm here being a bother. I'll go as soon as it stops raining..."

"Don't say that!" Natsumi touched her forehead. "You even have a fever! What's happened to you?"

"Nothing..." the librarian insisted, sulking down. "Really, I'm just having a bad day..."

Kotaro walked into the living room handing them a few dry towels, his sleeping robe hastily fastened around him. "Hnh. Don't even try to fool me, Nee-chan. I can hear your stomach grumbling, and don't think I don't notice the weird disbalance in your movements, either. You haven't even eaten all day long, have you?"

Nodoka looked at her own feet. "I haven't been hungry lately."

"Geez, you're falling down to pieces!" Natsumi energically rubbed her hair dry, then combed it off her features, examining her eyes carefully. "And these underbags? You haven't been sleeping well lately either, right?"

Nodoka sighed. "I see I'm being too much of an annoyance. Forgive me. I'll go right now..."

"You aren't going anywhere!" Kotaro put a hand on her right shoulder. "Not like this! Damn, Negi was right! You really are taking this too hard!"

"N-Negi-sensei?" Nodoka stammered.

"Do you think he's dumb enough not to notice? He can get your signals. How you barely see any of us anymore. You've even been eluding Paru-neechan!"

Nodoka breathed in frustration. "Haruna would just try to cheer me up if I told her. I don't want to cheer up. I just want... I just want to..." She finally exploded, "She never understands! For her, everything's so easy! As if you could just shrug anything off, and that's because she doesn't care about anything enough to take it seriously!"

"Of course she cares," Natsumi said seriously. "She calls us every day, asking if we've talked with you..."

"Then why doesn't she ever call me?"

"Your phones are always turned off," Kotaro told her.

"And you never seem to be at your apartment anymore," Natsumi added.

Nodoka covered her face with her hands. "Sorry. I usually only pretend I'm not there."

Natsumi paused, then hugged her firmly. "You don't need to do this to yourself."

"I know..."

"All of us care about you," the actress whispered, rocking her back and forth softly. "You'll always have us to support you. And you know that."

"I do..." she repeated, her voice choked, and her face helplessly sinking into Natsumi's collarbone. Only then she started to cry, silently.

Kotaro just stood there, motionless, as Natsumi comfortingly stroke Nodoka's upper back. "There, there... Let it go. Let it go..."

Nodoka didn't even really notice exactly when did she surrender to exhaustion and sleep.

At the very least, Haruna kept her huge mouth shut for once while doing it, and Chisame was thankful for that. True, the smug and kind of provocative strange way she looked at her while dancing unnerved her, but that was Saotome, a tease to the end in any situation, no matter how unfitting it could be.

Out the corner of her eye, Chisame saw Itoshiki had handed Asuna over to Ayaka of all people, both girls angrily trying their best to step on each other's feet and avoid being stepped on. Yet, somehow, they seemed to be dancing well somehow. They simply had that kind of dynamics when forced to act together at something.

Meanwhile, Nozomu himself had switched over to Roberta, which made him to look somewhat more relaxed, less distressed. Perhaps because their sizes were more even, but most likely because the age taboo was gone. The maid still clumsily stepped into his feet with each movement, but he apparently thought it was a small price to pay for shaking the awkward Lolicon imagery off himself.

Misa had, in turn, taken Misora, and both of them stared tensely at each other, as if guessing their respective ultimate intentions for the night, but neither willing to admit knowledge of that.

Fuuka and Fumika had traded partners, and Nodoka was having serious problems now keeping the pace of the extroverted twin, while Yue felt more at ease following Fumika's cue.

Konoka still wasn't letting Setsuna go. Hakase and Shiina had just disappeared. Where were they? Madoka and Kaede had sat down for some drinks, and were chatting amiably.

Chisame's feet were getting tired, but it could be worth it if she could think of a way to incorporate dancing to her web routine. The only problem being most fanboys she knew wouldn't be interested on solo dances unless they were of a kind she definitely wasn't willing to show.

Maybe she could compromise and put on a small dance number with Hakase, assuming she would be willing to go with it? Somehow, the idea of dancing with her sounded almost... entertaining. She pictured Hakase tarted up in a cute pink outfit, maybe with her hair made up in twin buns or two higher pigtails, and couldn't avoid chuckling to herself. Haruna smirked at that, but thankfully she didn't ask or comment on it.

Then, a loud gasp from Ayaka seemed to paralyze everyone on the spot.

Following the blonde's shocked glare, they all saw Negi and Cocone had accidentally (at least that was the general consensus, but even years after the matter, Cocone still wouldn't give clear confirmations one way or another) ended up together under the mistletoe.

Chisame's sudden grimace would have made Jim Carrey envious.

Nodoka had gone as pale as a snowman.

Fuuka and Fumika cooed, then shared a malicious giggle.

Asuna let a sarcastic whistling out.

Roberta's face betrayed absolutely no change at all.

Itoshiki, on the other hand, ran his hands through his hair, then began to pluck it out. "Underaged debauchery wherever I look... and I've become an accomplice of it..."

Haruna pumped a fist up. "Way to go, Nunny-chan! You beat us all to it!"

"Well, well..." Kaede smiled. "And now what will you do, Negi-bouzou?"

"W-Well, of course I... I can't...!" his tongue tripped on itself, and he simply stood baffled and quiet for a moment, but then Cocone grabbed his chin, held his face a bit higher, and landed a short, stable but noisy, kiss on his lips.

"C-C-COCONE-SAN!!" Negi quickly backed away, his face resembling a tomato.

"DAMMIT, COCONE, I'M TELLING SISTER SHAKTI!" Misora yelled.

"It was just nature following its course," the smaller girl indifferently said.

"What kind of excuse is that?-!" Ayaka exclaimed.

"I think it's a logical one," Asuna mused. "Nature is just killing the dinosaurs with this Ice Age."

"Shut up, Asuna-san!" Yukihiro snapped. "Not only your statement is offensive, but biologically incorrect!"

"Ahhh, bite me, Jurassic Park refugee!"

Chisame sighed, mortified. She definitively wasn't looking forward to the New Year's Party.

Cocone lowered her head humbly, looked aside showing total apathy, and for the briefest instant she was sure no one was paying her any attention by being too busy recovering from shock or bickering with each other, made a very diminutive smile for herself.

It was like something out of a story. Who would have thought things like this happened in real life?

She was on a date with a prince! An actual, honest to goodness prince! Technically, she knew this wasn't something she should get excited about, being who she was, but still, a PRINCE! Wait until her friends heard about this!

It was like something out of a story. Who would have thought things like this happened in real life? He was having lunch with a princess! Well, technically, she supposed she wasn't a princess, but she was too young to be considered an actual ruler, and that was enough to get her to squeak by. And not just any princess, a magical princess! And not just any magical princess, a magical princess he couldn't possibly be related to!

The two children laughed, enjoying one another's company. It soon became clear both had much in common, from very protective older women in their lives (she said it vaguely, so as not to prejudice him too soon; he was nonspecific as to why they were overprotective) who was like family to them, to having been through very traumatic things at the age of six. They'd sat for some time holding each other's hand when that came out, putting on a brave face and knowing the other wasn't fooled one bit. She told him how she'd made friends with some of those involved, and now everything was fine, he told him how the incident had driven him to see that such things never happened again if he could help it. She drank caramel milk, he drank milk tea.

They'd met up at the ever-pervasive tea house before heading to see a heartwarming movie about two magical girls throwing anti-army spells at each other's faces. After that, they headed for a theme park, where they spent the next few hours on the rides. When night fell, they went to a nice café to have dinner, chatting amiably the whole while.

It was, of course, only a matter of time before utter chaos and destruction rained down upon them.

"Oh, who have a little something on your face," he said, taking a paper napkin to wipe it off. "Here, let me get it for you."

"Oh, thank you," she said smiling, leaning forward to let him get better access. He leaned forward, their faces almost touching, and...

"NNNNEEEEEEEEEEGGGGIIIIIIII-KKKKKKKKUUUUUUNNNNNNNNN!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!" several girls cried from the table behind him, glasses and plates clattering as they practically climbed all over each other to get at the two.

"YYYYYYOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUURRRRR MMMAAAAJJJJJEEEESSSSTTTYYYY!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!" several young women in the other table behind her, including a couple in what appeared to be nun habits, cried, one actually passing through the bench in their attempt to get at the two.

Vivio and Negi blinked in utter confusion, staring at the girls.

"GET AWAY FROM HER MAJESTY, BRAT! HER LIPS ARE NOT FOR THE LIKES OF YOU!" one of the habit-wearing women cried.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM, TRAFFIC-LIGHT FACE!" a red-haired girl cried, flames already billowing around her staff.

"YOU WILL NOT ATTACK HER MAJESTY!" one of the other red-heads in the other table cried, launching herself at the flame-wielding girl.

"ANYA!" a girl with a large forehead yelled out, drawing an enormous sword out of nowhere, and a brawl commenced.

As the two children stared in confusion, there was a bright flash of pink outside, and the door of the café suddenly opened forcefully, revealing a long-haired brunette in a white and blue dress wielding a pink, white and gold staff with a red gem, several dozen glowing pink balls floating around her. "All right, you! Get away from my daughter before I- huh? Negi-kun?"

Negi blinked as Vivio stared between her date and her mother. "Nanoha-chan?" he said.

The older woman grinned widely, although a blush began to stain her cheeks. "Negi-kun! It's wonderful to see you again!"

"The same here, Nanoha-chan!" Negi said. "You've certainly grown into a mature and beautiful woman! I always knew you would."

The blush deepened. "Aww, Negi-kun. Always knowing the right thing to say." Vivio was getting confused. "Nanoha-mama? You know Negi-kun?"

"Oh, yes," Nanoha said. "We used to date."

The brawling in the background ground to a screeching halt as the former Numbers and various Mahora girls stopped what they were doing (which was to try and do a lot of damage to each other) to stare at the two, noting the young year old boy and comparing him to the woman more than twice his age. "What the hell?" they all cried.

"Ah!" Otto said as Nodoka tried to gauge out her other eye.

"Yes, we did," Negi said. "Some weird combination of travel and alternate continuities is involved."

Nanoha nodded. "He was always a gentleman. I can see I was worried about nothing. Sorry about this, Vivio-chan."

"Oh, it's all right mama," Vivio said. "I know it's because you sometimes worry about me."

Nanoha suddenly grinned. "Hey Negi-kun, why don't you come over some time to our house and we can do that the way we used to when we were dating?"

The Numbers and Mahora girls' eyes went wide.

"That?" the Numbers gasped.

"That?" Nodoka squeeked.

"That?" Sein said, starting to drool.

"THAT?" the Mahora girls cried.

Negi blushed, ruffling the hair on the back of his head. "R-really, Nanoha-chan? Are you sure? It's been a while since we did that. I'm sure you've picked up all sorts of new techniques..."

Jaws dropped. Sein became in serious danger of dehydration. Nodoka wondered how much it would take to commission Mana for a contract.

"Well, I'm sure you've picked up a lot of new things too," Nanoha said, winking at him. "Come on, for old time's sake? We used to do that everywhere when we felt in the mood. In the park, in parking lots, on roofs, there was even that time we did it in the PE equipment storage shed..."

The girls began to choke. Sein was twitching like an earthquake. Nodoka began looking for a sharp object.

"That?" Vivio asked. "Nanoha-mama, what's that?"

"Oh, just something Negi-kun and I used to do. He was very good at it," Nanoha said, smiling fondly in reminiscence.

"Ah, you were very good at it too, Nanoha-chan," Negi said. "Remember that thing you did that time we did that while we were in Disneyland?"

"I've made it a permanent part of my repertoire," Nanoha said. "It always brings Fate-chan to her knees."

Sein realized Vivio really was divine, for having led her to this beautiful scene. Nodoka wondered if she could lift the table...

"Ah, well, I better let you get back on your date," Nanoha said. "Have fun, you two! But don't do that yet, okay? Vivio's not really ready for you yet."

"Eh?" Vivio said, slightly confused that her mother knew more about her date than she did. "Why not mama?"

Nanoha paused as she thought about it. "Well, if you don't mind me tagging along, I suppose the three of us can to that together after you finish up here. Vivio should be fine with me helping."

Sein passed out from fluid loss, both nosebleeds gushing blood like a geyser as she lay in a wide pool of her own drool. Nodoka tried to grab Yue's souken.

The door to the café suddenly opened again and a panting Fate staggered in, looking worried, Einhart right behind her. "Nanoha! Don't hurt him! I'm sure Vivio will be all right on her date, she's a very mature girl, and-"

Fate froze as she caught sight of Negi, eyes going wide as she recognized him, words dying in her mouth. Einhart's eyes narrowed.

"Eh, don't worry, Fate-chan, I've realized everything's all-" That was as far as Nanoha got.

With a cry, Fate pulled out Bardiche, switching it to its "What do You Mean It's Not Symbolic?" Zanber mode. "GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER AND MY NANOHA-CHAN!" she cried, charging Negi with a wild look in her eyes.

Strangely, even Bardiche seemed in on it. "You shall not take my Raging Heart from me, you stupid piece of wood!" it cried, clearly remembering Negi's staff.

"VIVIO'S MINE YOU BASTARD!" Einhart cried, going big and charging in right behind Fate.

Somewhere, a poor Café owner was sighing in relief that he'd recently gotten CRACK insurance...

"Are we even a crack pairing anymore?" Hoatru asked. "I mean, we've been around for way more than a decade. We've outlasted the Gundam Wing fandom, who only bring out their boys for pointless Yaoi, since none want to do action plots any more…"

"Yes, about that, Hotaru-chan…" Chibi-Usa said. "I have something important to tell you…"

"What, you're leaving me?" Hotaru joked.

Chibi-Usa bowed her head. "Yes."

Hotaru choked.

"It's not you, it's me!" Chibi-Usa cried, going for her clichés. "We can still be friends though, right?"

"Y-you're leaving me?-!" Hotaru exclaimed. "But… why?"

"Please understand," Chibi-Usa said. "I still think of you as my best friend! But I have a lot more things in common with her! We click, you know? There's chemistry…"

"Who…?" Hotaru managed to growl out.

Chibi-Usa looked to the side and gestured.

"Yo," Chao Lingshen said, intertwining her fingers with Chibi-Usa's. The pink-haired girl sighed happily.

Hotaru twitched. I wonder if Nodoka will be willing to give me her classmate Mana's number…