All Purpose Negima Fanfiction Thread

Granted, she disliked having the sun casted so strongly upon her. Perhaps she indeed was a bit of a hikkikomori after all. But still, it was... pretty, yeah. Negi sure seemed to think so, as he inhaled deeply, with a large smile on his face and Chamo perched on his right shoulder.

"Ahhhh!" the boy said. "Now this is enough to lift anyone's spirits up... Are you all sure we shouldn't call Kasuga-san and ask her to come with us?"

"She said she needed to spend more time with her friend, remember?" Chisame threw her hands up. "And frankly, I think we deserve a break from her. It's bad enough we'll have to endure the cheerleaders all day long."

"That's no way to talk about a teammate, Chiu-chi," Chamo told her, wagging his tail around. "I'm going to tell Miso-chi!"

"My world crumbles," Hasegawa grunted.

"Perhaps we should reconsider our attendance there, as well," Hakase pondered as she walked on, with her head hanging a bit down. She had to wear a dress again, and she hated it. And even sandals, too. Ugh. Why had Chisame picked that for her? It wasn't like it would make her any prettier after all, not like it mattered either.

Of course, she could have picked her clothes herself, but years of depending upon others for it had left her a total failure on the matter. And any attempt to just pick her own style for the event, if you could call it so, was met with a vehement 'You won't embarass us in public!' from Chisame.

In contrast, Chisame was wearing jeans and a plain white T-shirt. Why the double standards?. Hakase wondered vaguely. Then it hit her that, unlike herself, Chisame did look good even when wearing that.

How (almost, if she had cared) depressing.

"You don't want to go? Why?" Negi sounded disappointed.

"I'd have preferred to perform investigations and updates upon my Artifact," Satomi replied matter-of-factly. "I see no actual point on wasting our time in such frivolous enterprises."

"You're just afraid to meet Shiina up close and personal again," Chisame snarked.

"That... That isn't true!" the junior scientist claimed.

"Ah?" Negi blinked. "What are you talking about?"

Ignoring him, Chisame poked Hakase's large forehead with a finger. "I've seen you avoiding her at classes."

"And... And you avoid everyone at classes, but that doesn't mean anything either!" the other girl protested.

Negi looked back and forth at them, utterly confused. "Did... Shiina-san do anything bad to you, Satomi-san?" he asked.

"No!" the black haired girl said.

Chamo chuckled cagily, then, knowingly, decided to change the matter back. "Sato-chi, if we start cancelling all social compromises, people could start suspecting the Bro hides a secret! And besides, spending all time training and no time at all enjoying ourselves dulls our senses out and tires us down, making us easy preys!"

"You only want to meet more girls," Hakase mumbled under her breath.

"Now that's something we can agree on," Chisame nodded.

The three of them marched on, with Negi now more puzzled than ever. Soon they reached the bus stop, and in a matter of mere minutes they were at the meeting point in the Mahora Comercial District.

They found Kagurazaka Asuna, clad in a black skirt with gray T-shirt and matching shoes, waiting for them alone at a corner, keeping her arms crossed.

"Kagurazaka-san!!" Negi ran up to her. "Good morning! You look good today!" He looked around. "Huh? But where's Konoe-san...?"

"Oh. Good morning, brat," she said, snapping out of her thoughtful silence. "Hello to you too, Prof and Chisame."

"Hi," Chisame neutrally replied.

"Has something happened to Konoka-san?" Hakase asked the redhead.

Asuna denied with her head. "Nah, nothing serious. She only had... a few last minute things she had to do. She asked me to tell you she's sorry."

"That's a pity," the boy sadly commented.

"And where are the Three Stooges?" Chisame questioned the taller girl.

"They always are late, everywhere," Asuna put the fingers of her right hand on her own forehead. "It takes them hours to stop powdering their noses before going anywhere." then she scowled, seeing Chamo happily wagging his tail in circles while looking at her. "Ugh, why did you bring that rat? They won't let us walk into any decent restaurant carrying that!"

"That's what I was telling Sensei," Chisame sighed, defeated. "But he can be so stubborn at times..."

Negi gave her a wounded look. "I promise he won't be a bother. Last time, he felt so alone at home..."

Asuna, meanwhile, pointed a finger at the staff hanging from Negi's back. "Hey, brat. By the way, do you ALWAYS carry that stick around?"

"Yes, he does," Hasegawa replied for him once more.

"It's a precious family heirloom, Kagurazaka-san," the child answered very politely.

"I see..." Asuna said with some vague and lingering melancholy suddenly sweeping into her voice.

"Something wrong?" Chisame asked.

"No, no, nothing!" the Baka Red laughed it off, slapping herself on the back of the neck two times. "Never mind."

Hakase, meanwhile, seemed to be breathing easier. Honestly, she had been dreading the perspectives of close contact with Shiina ever since the confusing small incident at Iincho's pool. She couldn't tell exactly why, and certainly didn't want to at all, but still, the feeling was there. Now that was an area it was better left unexplored and undiscovered.

So naturally, the universe made itself sure to bring Shiina in roughly two seconds afterward.

"HELLOOOOO, EVERYONEEEEEEE!!!"

Satomi stiffened at the three chorusing voices coming from behind her. Chisame only groaned, while Asuna waved a hand at the newcomers, and Negi smiled at them with a hearty greeting. Chamo was doing his best to keep on acting as a simple normal pet, but his joy at meeting the cheering trio was still evident.

"Prof-chan! You came, after all!" Sakurako hugged her before anyone else, giggling and apparently not noticing her subtle discomfort at all.

"Urk," Hakase only could make a tiny awkward sound. Thankfully, Shiina let her go immediately to go hug Chisame and finally Negi. "Oh, and you too, Chisame-chan! And Negi-kun! Oh, I'm so happy!"

"You... You are welcome..." Negi eeped as Sakurako pressed her chest against his throat before dropping him down.

"Hey, Asuna!" Madoka gave the redhead five. "Where's Konoka?"

"Family matters," Asuna surmissed with a shrug of her shoulders. "Nothing she could do about it. Sorry."

"Well, there's always a next week," Misa commented before patting Negi on the head. "Why, hello there, Negi-kun! Ready to have the day of your life at the city?"

"Yes!" he nodded firmly.

"Well, then, where do you want to go first?" the purple haired cheerleader... leader... asked him. "Shopping?"

"Karaoke?" Sakurako asked with a hopeful tone.

"The fair?" Madoka added in.

"I don't know..." he blinked. He had not planned that far; he had just assumed the girls would lead there. The boy turned his gaze towards Chisame for help, but she only waved her hands in front of herself and said,

"Anything's fine with me! Really!"

"Yeah, same thing here..." Satomi nodded softly.

Misa sighed and shook her head while closing her eyes. "What we have here is a serious case of people who doesn't know how to have fun."

"What do you suggest, Doctor Kakizaki?" Madoka asked her with a chuckle.

Misa grinned, lifting an index finger up. "Glad you asked, Nurse Kugimiya. My diagnose is a full day therapy of rest and relaxation! Starting with an overdose of window shopping, and buying this poor kid something decent to wear beyond those horribly boring formal suits!"

"There... there is no need for that!" Negi nervously chuckled.

"Oh, but we insist!" Misa cooed. "It's the least we can do for our dear teacher!"

Chisame could say from that point Misa only wanted an excuse to undress and dress him up.

Stonefaced, Tamaki didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow at Koyomi’s incredulous look. The cat-eared Ministra frowned, tilting her head in annoyance as much as curiosity. “No, really. You’re kidding, right?”

Tamaki reached out from under the voluminous robe she was wearing, grabbing the drippy, unlit candle stub from Koyomi’s bedside table. Without breaking eye contact with the other girl, she puffed out a sharp breath, lighting the taper with a small tongue of fire. Wordlessly, she set the candle back down.

“Okay, so you’re not kidding,” Koyomi allowed, absently putting the candle out with wetted fingers. “And you’re suddenly breathing fire why, again…?”

“Dra—” Tamaki began. She clamped her mouth shut as a small fireball shot past her lips, nearly catching the edge of Koyomi’s hair. Wide-eyed, she drew breath to apologize, but Koyomi clapped her hand over the other girl’s mouth.

“I know it was an accident,” Koyomi replied quickly. “Still, how about I get you some paper instead?”

A few minutes later, Tamaki was glumly using a long fingernail dipped in ink to write out the cause of her woes. Koyomi, judiciously standing behind her, couldn’t help but ask when she was finished.

“’Puberty’?” she read, leaning over Tamaki’s shoulder. “Dragonfolk puberty involves randomly breathing fire when you try to talk?” She seemed to be having trouble speaking, and Tamaki turned around to frown at her. The serious expression on the other girl’s face only made it harder for Koyomi to hold in her giggles, and after a moment she stopped trying.

“I’m just saying, it’s kind of silly when you think about it,” she said after a few moments, smiling. Tamaki held up a slender finger, then dipped it back into the inkpot. Koyomi waited patiently while she wrote, and Tamaki held up the sheet of parchment for her.

“’No worse than that month you got all hairy’ – that was fur, Tamaki,” she replied hotly, blushing. “And come on, I’m a felia. It’s only natural for that to happen…” she trailed off. “And anyway, that only affected me. Meanwhile, you're gonna set people on fire if you're not careful,” she continued, regaining some steam.

“Shedding,” Tamaki said quietly, sparks dancing on her tongue. Koyomi nearly fell over.

“Did you want me to shave myself or something?” she cried, ears twitching. “Sorry I was furry! Geez!” She took a deep breath and sighed, visibly composing herself. “Okay, so, back on topic. What do you want to do about this? I mean, it’s not like you talk much anyway…”

It should stop in about a week, Tamaki wrote, her claw giving the characters a sharp, strangely predatory look. Until then, I’d decided to hide out inside my Artifact. From what I remember, there are… other stages.

“What, like your skin goes scaly and stuff like that?” Koyomi asked, putting a companionable arm around Tamaki’s shoulders. “There’s nothing embarrassing about that.”

More like, turning into a full dragon, Tamaki wrote.

Koyomi swallowed. “Oh. Uh.” She looked around the dormitory – for its cathedral ceiling, it was relatively narrow, and the doors on either side were smallish as well. “Not… a little full dragon, right?” she asked, holding her hands about a foot apart above her knees.

Tamaki looked at her. Not really, no.

“Didn’t think so,” Koyomi sighed, standing.

“Library Island established around the time of the Academy's founding during the Meiji Era. It is the largest library in the world, eclipsing even the Library of Congress in America.” Yuu was in full exposition mode. This was the only time he felt truly at ease as the center of attention. He had always hated being front and center; getting called on in class was a huge hassle, when he had gotten dragged into the school plays in elementary school, he had always auditioned for a part as one of the trees that stood in the background. It was so much less trouble that way. But ask him to explain something at that he was passionate about, and he could elucidate on the subject until the universe underwent heat death.

“During World War II, all sorts of rare and important books and manuscripts were brought here for safekeeping. Due to the massive influx of books, the library was expanded underground. It grew so rapidly that there is no one person who knows the layout of the entire complex.”

He looked back over his shoulder to make sure that the rest of the group was still following him down the main entrance hallway. People had a tendency to stop paying attention when he went off on one of his tangents. Makoto and Nelly were listening intently. Kaneda and Ku Wei were looking somewhat vacant, but they appeared to be at least a little interested. Kon wasn't paying any attention, but he was already familiar with everything Yuu was saying. He was too busy trying to get Asuma to calm down.

Asuma fumed in a low voice at Nelly, who was too busy listening to Yuu's spiel about the library to pay attention to the redhead.

“I can't believe this...why would you do that!?”

Kon had a hand on Asuma's shoulder.

“Come on, Asuma....what are you so nervous about...”

Yuu ignored Asuma's agitation and went back to describing the library.

“Due to the complexity of the architectural design, and the fact that no one is fully familiar with the library, no comprehensive maps of the area exist. In the interest of exploring and mapping this place, Mahora Academy created a multi-level project with cooperation from the middle school, high school, and university.”

They finally reached the end of the entrance hall. Before them stood a large pair of heavy oaken doors. Yuu strode up to them.

“That project was the...” He gave the doors a dramatic push. With a loud squeak, they slid forward about an inch before grinding to a halt. He pushed again. Another inch. “Kaneda? Can you give me a hand here?” Yuu moved off to the side as Kanede put his hands against the doors. Yuu cleared his throat. “That project was us. The Library Exploration Club.”

With an enormous grating screech, the doors flew open. Yuu looked on passively as every member of the group gasped at the sight of the library. It was a massive jumble of shelves and stairways; every single wall in the wide expansive of the room was covered by shelf after shelf of books of every shape and size. A short way in front of the doorway, the floor dropped away into a seemingly bottomless abyss surrounded on all sides by cliff-faces of leather and wood.

Throughout the labyrinth of books, Nelly could see stone platforms supporting twisted trees. Far in the distance, she could see a massive waterfall cascading down to the depths from some rock ledge protruding from the wall. Nelly took a nervous step forward and steadied herself against the railing. She felt as if she had just stepped outside; she could feel a cool breeze on her face, carrying a lush, fragrance from the faraway flora.

"Wh-What are you doing, Haruna?!" Yue struggled in vain to break free from the much taller girl's grasp. "Let me go! Nodoka! H-Help me!"

But Nodoka didn't move at all, as Negi stood dumbfounded and his pet duck drew the contract circle in a few swift motions.

"Like, there's no need to panic at all, Yue! You're with friends here, and we all are willing to help you dealing with your inner trauma, your plaguing selfdoubts, your crippling insecurities! And, like, all that junk. So just relax. Breath in and out, deep and slowly. Contact your core self and let her to speak to you..."

"She's telling me she wants to go away! And I agree with her!" Yue helplessly shouted.

"Now, now, Yue," Shirley lifted an index up. "Like, I know what's haunting the workings of your soul! You are so totally afraid of reaping bad karma by making your friend unhappy... But, in truth, Nodoka's as totally willing to support you as you are to support her! Like, don't allow your guilt trip to cloud your judgement! Feel the power of friensdhip and love flowing all through you! Omm! Omm! Before making the Contract, let's meditate to clear your mind and spirit!" She quickly fell into a sitting lotus position.

"I don't want to meditate!" Yue protested. "I... I just want to—to—"

"Please, Yue," Nodoka softly begged, putting a hand on her shoulder. "What's the worst thing that can happen? It's only a brief meditation. If it doesn't work, or if you don't like what you find, you always can walk away. We won't pressure you into anything."

"But—" Yue began before Haruna forced her to fall into the same position Shirley was at.

"You heard her!" Paru cackled. "No pressures, so just do it, or else—!"

"That's a pressure you're doing right there!" Yue pointed out, but finally relented with a brief humph and a pout. She closed her eyes and placed her hands aside in a clumsy attempt at Yoga posturing. Nodoka was right, after all; she only would go through the motions, then get up and walk away.

"That's it," the duck nodded, closing her eyes as well. "Now let's join your minds into the never ending flow of the universal awareness. Om... Om... Can you feel it, Yue? Can you see the light leading to your inner balance?"

After several long minutes of total silence, Yue finally tensed up. "Yes. Yes! I can feel something."

"Like, I see it too," Shirley wisely nodded. "It's the very mondo spiritual highway to your repressed emotions! Follow it, Yue! Follow it! Face your true self! Like, break through your fears and fly free! Only then you'll be at peace with yourself!"

Yue moved her head up and down, very slowly. Then she stiffened, as if hit by an invisible force from her own insides. Nodoka, Haruna and Negi stood in awe as she stood up, as if posessed by a newfound determination, silent and with blank eyes. She walked over to the middle of the glowing Pactio circle, opened her mouth very slightly...

Then grabbed Negi by a hand, Nodoka by the other, and pulled them both towards herself, mashing their mouths against hers.

Haruna squealed, then fell in reverence before the duck, who now levitated in place like an ascended prophet. "I am not worthy! I am not worthy!"

"Like, I'm nothing but a humble follower of the New Age's truths," Shirley spoke, in a contented tone with a small but noticeable hint of smugness despite the meaning of her words. "You can reach a level like my own if you, like, meditate and concentrate enough, and stuff!"

Without missing a beat, she picked Yue's card in midair. But the kiss still didn't stop.

"A-hem..." Shirley cleared her throat. "Like, you can stop now..."

But they didn't.

Shirley's right eyebrow quivered a bit.

"Hello? It's so totally rude to ignore someone who's like trying to help you, you know?"

If anything, they seemed to be getting more into it now.

Haruna stared with curiosity as the duck's face soured a bit, then more and more.

And she grinned. She knew that feeling when she saw it etched into anyone's face, regardless of species.

Jealousy.

Haruna chuckled cagily.

Shirley gave her an annoyed look. "Like, what's oh so completely funny?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing!" she excused herself, stopping just short of breaking into total laughter.

The duck sighed in defeat. "I feel a sudden disturbance on, like, the Force or some junk."

“I'll be there in a minute, okay!?” Her voice was muffled as it came through the door, but the irritation was still plain. “Do I really have to wear this?”

“Of course.” Chao rolled onto her side, putting her palm to her cheek and leaning on her elbow. She slowly began to rub her legs together. Hopefully Chisame would find the pose as alluring as Chao believed it was. Of course she will... I've always known the best way to do things... She licked her lips in expectation. “Hurry up, Chisame! I'm starting to get cold.”

“Okay, fine!” Chisame kicked the door open and stomped into the room, clad in lingerie that somehow managed to cover absolutely nothing, despite being made out of frills, lace, and several dozen clasps and hooks. “Dammit Chao, I don't know why you insist on making me wear this ridiculous...uh..out..fit....” She trailed off as she saw Chao giving her a look dripping with so much lasciviousness that it was hard for her to think of anything else.

That's it...come closer... She had spent hours trying to perfect that expression. Figuring out that perfect blend of emotions had been a tremendous pain. Finding the right amount of prurient, carnal, sensuality and balancing it with subtle eroticism and pure affection. Chisame took another step towards the bed. Chao could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Just a little closer...just a little, and I'll finally be able to touch you...

This was not Chao's area of expertise. Desire wasn't a science, it was aesthetics. Normally, Chao wouldn't touch aesthetics with a 3.048 meter pole. But something was driving her. Chisame had first come to her attention during the tournament. The hacker had been mucking around with her information dispersal system during the tournament, so Chao had begun surveillance on the girl. And at some point during her review of all of the footage, she had noticed an odd sensation in the back of her mind. That sensation nearly drove her insane.

I must be crazy...She had never though that she would find herself splayed out on a bed, wearing lingerie so sparse that she would have felt less exposed wearing nothing at all. It made no sense. Why were the ever present pink blushes on her cheeks spreading across her face as Chisame began to crawl onto the bed? Why had she sacrificed hours and hours for this girl?

“Okay, Chao. I'm here.” Chao found herself staring into Chisame's eyes. “What...what would you like to do?”

For the first time in her life, Chao found herself at a loss for words. Why did I do this? Why did I spend so much time getting to know this girl? She's an enemy! She started to shiver as Chisame pressed a hand to her face. Why am I losing it!? There's no logical reason for me to be here! Why did I do all of this!?

“Chao?”

Why...why do I love her?

“Chisame....” Chao could feel the tears welling up. No...I can't cry...I'm a scientist. I sold my soul to science! How could I let myself do this? “I...” The words were sticking in her throat. How can one phrase be so difficult...? But I...I have to say it... “I...”

“You what?” Chisame's stare bored into Chao's eyes. “Just say it.”

“I...I love you...”

“W...what?”

The world ground to a halt. What the hell did I just do!? Chao's mind imploded on itself. Love...science...Chisame...all this time...wasted...but I love her...emotions...stupid...how could I? Why did I...love...now what? I don't know...I don't know what to do!!!