Negima FanFiction Discussion

[OverMaster]

More stuff.

Spoiler for Enter the Vampire Stronghold!:

"So, Eva's not coming today again, huh?" Misa asked as she eyed the empty seat.

"Rumor is Chachamaru left her and moved in with Negi-sensei, Prof and Chi-chan" Kazumi giggled with a wink and a nod. "Who knows what went on there!".

Asuna perked up a bit, distracted from her morning sleepy stupor. "She did?".

"That's what my sources have told me" the reporter answered.

"Maybe she's just staying there for maintenance" Madoka theorized. "Ne, Chao, do you know something about i?".

The Chinese girl shook her head. "Can't say I've been told-yo" she said. "I'll ask Satomi after classes, ne?".

"Please stop that!" Ayaka, rather annoyed at what she was hearing, clapped her hands, standing up as she heard those small, already familiar to her, steps coming from the outside. "Everyone greet Sensei!".

The class obeyed as Negi walked in followed by Chisame, Hakase, Chachamaru and Misora. "Good morning, everyone!" he told them after they voiced their welcome. He recognized Sayo's presence with a brief nod into her direction, and the ghost smiled back gently. Only he and Misora could see her, as the ones who had performed the reveal spell on her, but she still was happy to have at least two people she could talk to now.

"Are Nodoka and Yue still at on sick leave?" Kasuga asked while sitting down next to Ako.

"Yes, Haruna also took the day off to look after them" the nurse replied. "But Nodoka should rejoin tomorrow. She got nothing but a shock and a nervous crisis".

Negi sighed, opening his roster book to take notes on the day's absences. Chisame, meanwhile, sulked moodily at her own desk. First forced up to sleep with the brat, and now with the nun. Waking up to find her hugging her in her sleep had been rather disturbing, even if Misora had just laughed it off and passed it off as nothing.

"Any news on Mc Dowell-san?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you know-de gozaru?" Kaede asked curiously.

"More specifically, wouldn't Chachamaru-chan know?" Fuuka gave the robot an inquisitive glare.

The gynoid denied with her head, sedately, her head a bit low. Negi couldn't help but feeling bad about her. The class' eyes were set on her, as if trying to silently pry a direct answer from her. Ayaka in particular seemed to be very antsy and touchy on the matter of her recent living developments.

"W-Well, I'll visit her after classes to see how's she doing, okay?" he said, with a shaky short laugh of reinsurance. Chachamaru actually seemed to perk up at that, to some degree, but Misora, Chisame and Hakase all made faces that seemed to shout 'BAD IDEA! BAD IDEA!'. Unfortunately for them, he was oblivious as he opened his textbook. "Well, now, let's check the exercises on Page 42...".

And so, they were there, late that afternoon, at the doors of a small cottage at the Northern Mahora woods. Misora had quickly excused herself saying she had things to do at the church, but Satomi had stubbornly insisted on coming with Chachamaru even if it meant losing another meeting of the Jet Propulsion Club. Chisame had been torn between following and heading back home for another session of being Chiu, but at the end she had stupidly decided to come along. She still was berating herself as Negi warily knocked at the door.

"Hello...?" he shyly said. "Mc Do— Evangeline-san? It's me, Negi-sensei. We were... worried about you. We've brought Chachamaru-san...".

There was no reply.

"No one's here" Chisame grumbled. "Maybe she's out sucking bunnies dry or something. Let's go back home".

"No" Chachamaru touched the door. "My scanning of our residence shows her biosignature inside. It feels faint and weak, however. She is sick. We must enter".

"Okay. Fine" Satomi sighed. "Did you happen to bring any keys?".

"I am a key" Chachamaru calmly produced a key that sprang off the tip of her right index finger.

Hakase blinked. "I didn't install that into you!".

"The Master and Chao-san did it" the robot said as she opened the door and walked inside.

"How could they do that without informing me?!" Satomi exclaimed. "And why didn't you report it to me, either?!".

But they were ignoring her, Negi and Chachamaru entering the house, Chisame following in after a few moments of hesitation. Hakase sputtered to herself for a second, ballying her hands up into fists, before finally going after them, closing the door behind herself.

Was this how Chisame felt all the time?

[Kurush]

Hey, hey, leave some room for us, would ya?

Honeymoon stuff here.

Spoiler for Chapter 2:

“...Look, I just don't understand.” Negi tried to ask whilst in his older form as they walked the streets of the urban areas of Marbella. “How come that we're out in town shopping for clothes? And how come the bed was so sticky?”

“Don't ask me how it got sticky, Negi.” Theo replied to him, walking in front of him, wearing sneakers instead of high heels, along with her casual Earth clothes. “And we're out shopping for clothes that our newest household member can wear.”

“Huh?”

“Argenta-san.” Theo answered him.

“...Wait, Argenta-san, the-” Negi recalled they were in public. “...You mean Argenta-san? How come she needs clothes?”

“Well, if your thick head doesn't register, she's a girl. Okay? A girl. Girls got special needs, from time to time.”

“Now, you're simply mocking me.” Negi told her as they entered an Indian clothes store. “I've been together with 30 teenage girls for more than a year now, Theo. I know something about girls' special needs.”

“Well, I suppose you would know then that a girl above all things... wants to be quite fashionable in public, yes?” Theo asked, picking out a few clothes from racks for the silver dragon to try out while they were there. “Surely you must've helped them out with getting the right clothes, yeah?”

“Please, don't remind me. It takes me back to when the cheerleaders back home took me out on a shopping date.” Negi waved his hands about. “Things went from odd to downright crazy that day.” He informed as his wife walked over to the tryout booths. “Though I must say that Kakizaki-san did kinda look hot with those dark green lingerie- Gah! What am I saying!?” He burst out after realizing that he was visualizing one of his students.

“Fufu, you must be rather popular with the girls back home, young man.” The apparent runner of the store, an elder Indian man with a white beard complimented him as he walked by. “Trying to remain faithful to your wife?”

“...Yeah, you could say that.” Negi answered him as a hidden flash from the booths told him that Argenta had been summoned. “It's really not what you think, Mister. I'm actually a teacher at a middle year school for elementary 7th to 9th grade, at an all girls school. ...This is so the last time someone is ever gonna hire an 18 year old man to teach a bunch of teenage girls where the age of consent is thirteen...”

“I can see that.” The storekeeper said. “Still, your wife is quite the beauty. May I ask how it happened?”

“Huh? Me and Theo?” Negi had to doublecheck. “Well, you could say it was accidental... I mean, we had a little too much to drink one night and the next thing we know, vows were made and rings were on the fingers. Frankly, we barely know each other to the full extent... speaking of which, why am I telling you this?”

“I honestly do not know.” The storekeeper said in response to him, holding his hands up. “Perhaps you should go see a therapist for this. I know of a good one not far from here.”

“Negi.” Theo called to him from the booths. “Could I get your opinion on these clothes?”

“Coming.” He called back and went to the booths, excusing himself from the storekeeper. The first thing that caught his attention was the silver haired girl dressed in a colorful green and red Indian style boys' clothing, very similar to his own Chinese clothing, yet lacked in a few areas. “Whoa...”

“Well, what do you think?” His wife asked him as she showed up Argenta up close to him. “Don't you think that she looks good in these?”

“Well, uh...” The young man tried to give a straight opinion, seeing the silver dragon somewhat flustered at being dressed up like a doll. “She looks rather... appealing, I think.”

“Master is too kind.” Argenta spoke immediately, turning back into the booth. She could be heard stripping out of the outfit to try out a dress Theodora had picked for her as well.

“...Huh, and here I thought she'd be happy letting you see her dressed up.” The princess said, looking at the booth. “Hey, can she wear what we'll buy? Her original clothes are soaked from an accident.” She asked the storekeeper.

“Of course. It'll be 3200 euros.”

“Uh-” Theo stopped there, to check her wallet and seeing how much she had in there. “...Do you take credit?”

“Didn't expect prices to be so high, I take it?” The storekeeper asked her.

“Well, yeah, something like that...” She answered meekly. “I mean, how was I supposed to know that it was gonna be expensive?”

“This isn't expensive at all, in some stores it is up to 40 000 euros.” The storekeeper told them and Theo's jaw dropped.

“Well, shoot. What are we gonna do, then?” Negi asked as Argenta came out of the booth, wearing a beautiful purple dress, curious as to what is going on.

“Say... would you mind trying something out, young man, if it comes to money issues?” The storekeeper asked Negi gently.

“I'm not going to like this, am I?”

“Who knows?”

Meanwhile

Of all the dang Bots she raided Cybertron to bring back online, she picks me! ME! Starscream thought to himself as he went in the streets of the organic city, accompanied by one of her 'pets', somehow disguised as what the locals referred to as a... dog. He himself was portrayed through something technological as a young man in a neat suit, holding a leash to the “dog” as people saw it, making him look like an ordinary organic person.

He loathed it, totally.

Walking into a quiet alley, he shut off the illusion, revealing his real self, but the dog remained. “This is just ridiculous. How did she even make me human sized to start with?” He asked, and then seeing the dog looking at him. “What are you looking at? Haven't you seen a proper Bot before?”

He got a vicious sounding hiss in return. “Uh... well, that's not what I expected to hear.” He said, as the dog closed its mouth as if it had been yawning. “And how am I supposed to find this target of ours? Humans look all the same to me. Eh, let's see... best get the basics down.” He told himself whilst activating a hologram for himself. “Organic creature: Human.” He told it, revealing two such humans, one male, one female. “Okay, eh... Shadrac.”

“Yes, Starscream?” The Bloodgeld's computer responded to him.

“Give me the basic differences of human... what's the word, what's the word...” The rogue Transformer tried to find the proper word. “Biology!”

“Human. Imperial scientific name: Munthrek. Local scientific name: Homo Sapiens Sapiens. Translation: Thinking Thinking Man.”

“Ugh...” Starscream felt disgusted with hearing that name. “Can they be more arrogant than that?”

“Males. Biological differences: Recieves deeper voices with age, facial hair constantly growing through the years, body and bone structure larger, with greater muscular mass. Broader shoulders and chest than female specimen. Pubic hair-”

“Okay, that's enough on male!” Starscream interrupted the computer there. “What about the female side?”

"Female. Biological differences: Voice remains soft over the years, grows deeper with age more slowly than males. Torsal area, locally known as 'breasts' grows bigger over the years, to prepare for caring of offspring. Responsible for childbirth of the race. Lesser muscular mass than males.”

“Okay... that's the basics...” Starscream told himself. “Now. Shadrac, get me a close up of the target we're after.” The computer complied and revealed the target's face. “Alright, let's see... he got this feature... and that feature... along with those...” He studied the image closely. “Very well. I think I now know who we're after.” He said whilst activating his hologram as a man again. “Let's go, then.” He said, taking hold of the dog's leash and pulling it along back into the streets. “But how am I going to find him?”

“Special race today!” A crier called out not far from him, holding fliers. “Race around handmade track taking place today! THE place to be for fun!” He called, and as the robot approached. “Here, have a copy. It's the place to go today!”

“Um... thanks, I suppose.” Starscream said in return and walked off, with the pet he'd been given. “...What's an elephant?”

[OverMaster]

Oh-ho-ho-ho, sorry.

Spoiler for Deadly Encounter with the Runny Nosed Nosferatu!:

The three youngsters walking behind Chachamaru paused and gasped in awe of their surroundings. The living room of the cottage was lovingly decorated like a fairytale scene, complete with dozens and dozens of dolls and stuffed animals lined up on several shelves.

"It doesn't exactly look like the hideout of a bloodthirsty fiend" Hakase observed, pushing her glasses up.

"I guess it doesn't" Chisame kept staring at several of the dolls, getting tons and tons of ideas for new ideas for Chiu costumes. "I suppose this is your personal touch, Chachamaru?".

"No, all of this was brought in by the Master herself" the robot passed a finger over the back of a chair, examining the fine layer of dust on it. "But she hasn't cleaned up. She isn't used to do it herself".

"It's all really pretty" Negi marveled. "It feels much warmer and nicer here than I thought...".

"Who's there?!" a muffled, wheezing and angry voice came from upstairs. The four of them looked up to see Evangeline standing at the top of the stairs leading to the upper floor, with her nose bright red, her eyes half closed, and wearing pink pajamas. She had several potion bottles clutched in her small hands. "Ah, it's you" she wheezed, forcing an evil smirk up. "On top of all the indignities you have piled up onto me, now you dare to invade my home...".

"We aren't here to fight, Mc Do— Evangeline-san" Negi stumbled with his treatment of her once again. "We were concerned about uour wellbeing, especially Chachamaru-san. We simply wanted to know if you were okay...".

"You? Worried about me? HAH!" the vampiress laughed dryly. "Why should you be? What sort of pathetic attempt is this? You can't fool me, not after centuries of experience... Where's Kasuga? Was she too cowardly to come? It doesn't matter, I always can catch her later...".

"D-Don't say such things!" Chisame stammered. "Is that any way to be thankful? It's absurd to keep on fighting when we all are classmates...".

Eva flexed her fingers and shook her head. "No. This won't be a fight" she coughed. "It's only a witch twisting the necks of three chickens and a dirty traitor doll. Hardly a fight at all...".

Satomi rolled her eyes around. "Yes, sure. Like you matched up to Chachamaru's strenght so well last time...".

"SILENCE!" Evangeline yelled. "Even without my magical power, I still can destroy the lot of you having the home advantage...".

"Evangeline-san, please" Negi all but begged. "Stop these hostilities and go back to classes like a good student after you've recovered... Stop being mean to your classmates and skipping classes, or you will have to repeat the term...".

"YOU DOLT!" the blonde screamed. "EVEN IF I ATTENDED CLASSES, MY CURSE WOULDN'T ALLOW ME TO GRADUATE!".

"Master, you should be in your bed" Chachamaru said. "You know you get too weak when you fall ill...".

"Weak?! Me?! PAH!" she gave a step forward. "Let's settle this once and for all! Only then I'll feel better!".

The teacher stepped in front of his human students, determined to protect them, taking a firm hold of his staff. "If I defeat you, will you stop attacking your peers?".

"I have no peers" Eva sneezed loudly, her next step wobbling. "No peers— No equals— No—".

Her evil smile faltered, her eyes went blank, and she fainted forward down a few steps, like a limp doll.

"GAH! EVANGELINE-SAN!!" Negi shouted.

"Master!" Chachamaru ran to her side despite Satomi's unregistered warnings, picking the small undead up in her arms. "Sensei, she is under a severe fever. This season often harms her body defenses. Please help me to carry her to her bed".

"Y-yes, of course!" he quickly rushed to join them.

"What kind of vampire falls sick and feverish?" Chisame asked, disbelieving.

"Due to the seal on her powers, the Master is only a normal ten years old child, in terms of immunity and health" the robot explained as she and Negi took the house's owner to her bedroom, a nice and cozy place fully decorated on pink and black. They placed her on a large and soft bed with rich, expensive sheets and covers. "She couldn't be a threat to anyone for now".

"Oh, no?" Satomi asked, following them into the room with Hasegawa.

Chachamaru was reviewing the room's medicine cabinet now. "No. And she already emptied her medicines. She does that when she is left to her own devices. She simply consumes everything she thinks could help her".

"She really looks to be in a rather sorry state" Satomi pondered.

"Maybe she caught a cold when you stripped her down that night, Sensei" Chachamaru passively stated.

"I-I-I'm very sorry!" he seemed on the verge of tears.

"It's... okay" the gynoid said. "But please, could you look after her while I go to buy more medicines? I also must feed the cats...".

"Do you expect us to stay alone here with HER?!" Chisame squealed.

"She won't harm you under the present conditions, I promise" Karakuri replied.

Hakase sighed. "Very well, very well, you have my authorization to go. We will look after Eva-san".

"DON'T DECIDE THAT FOR THE REST OF US!" Chisame protested.

"I'll stay, too" Negi nodded firmly. He smiled at the two girls. "Thanks for your generous assistance, Hasegawa-san, Hakase-san".

"I still... haven't said..." Chisame's voice trailed off. "Oh, forget it".

"I will be back shortly. You have my eternal gratitude" Chachamaru was as polite as ever as she bowed to them and left.

Once they were alone, Chisame just grabbed one of Negi's ears, one of Satomi's ears, and tugged on both at them at once, as hard as she could. All the while keeping a stony, dead serious expression.

[OverMaster]

Continuation.

Spoiler for Eva-chan, ecchi!:

They had been sitting silently around the bed for a few minutes now.

Negi simply twiddled his fingers around uneasily, briefly touching Eva's forehead to control her temperature at random intervals. Satomi had taken a book dealing on the mechanics of magic from one of the room's shelves and was flipping through it to see if it had any application to her research. Chisame was just using her laptop to reply to a few e-mails from her fans.

Then the small blonde moaned. "Thirsty..." she kept her eyes closed. "I'm thirsty...".

"AH!" Negi stood up immediately. "I'll bring you some water!".

He ran outside and returned moments later with a glass full of icy water. However, the vampiress rejected it by shaking her head as soon as she felt it near her face. "No... Not that...".

"Then what?" Negi eagerly asked. "Tea? Soda? Juice?".

He had his reply when the little girl chomped the air aggressively, trying to reach for his fingers.

"Still hasn't changed her tune at all" Chisame groaned, even as Eva coughed loudly.

"Sensei, you told us she has a need to drink YOUR blood to disrupt her curse, didn't you?" Hakase pondered.

"Yes. Why?" he blinked.

Satomi sighed. "Then you'd better not supply her with any of it. I'll do it instead".

"What?" Chisame widened her eyes. "You can't be serious".

"It could be an interesting experience. I have never had a chance to investigate on a vampire's feeding habits" the scientist flatly replied, pulling two fingers into Evangeline's mouth. Not missing her chance, Eva bit on them at once, making Hakase to yelp, much to her roommates' panic. However, she calmed them down with a gesture. "Relax, please. It's... okay, I suppose. It's just like taking a sample of your own blood" she bit her own lower lip as she watched the blonde hungrily sucking her fingers, until she opened her mouth and allowed them to slip off leaving a thin trail of red.

"If you become Dracula and try to bite me at night, I'll stake you" Hasegawa had to warn.

"She won't be turned after losing so little blood" Negi pulled a few bandages out and carefully, lovingly, wrapped Satomi's bite marks with them, making her to blush just a bit. Fortunately, he was too busy looking at her hands to notice the change on her face. Chisame, however, did notice, but remained mum on it.

"Uh... I feel hot..." Evangeline gurgled sleepily, turning around at a side, facing away from the window.

"Oh, of course! The sunlight!" Negi jumped up again, running to the window and closing the curtains, leaving the sunset's lights out.

But then the small girl shuddered, curling up into a ball. "Aaahh— C-cold...".

Chisame took a wary grip of her pajamas. "She's soaked on sweat!".

"Sweating the fever up, I see" Satomi noticed. "Sensei, would you leave the room? We are going to need to change her garments up".

"O-Of course!" he nodded before bolting out of the bedroom, closing the door behind himself.

He breathed deeply easing his back against the door, attempting to collect his thoughts. But then the girls' voices from inside distracted him.

"Okay, lift a leg, now the other... That's it, I'm pulling her pants down...".

"Oh, for the love of Pythagoras! What kind of underwear is that!".

"No joke! It's a freaking thong!".

"And see-through!".

"It doesn't suit her at all".

"Let's see if we can find something better for her... Oh God, all these drawers have nothing but even worse stuff! And what the hell is this thing?! GAH, IT'S VIBRATING!!!".

Negi's face had become as red as a tomato by then. Even if he had not a complete idea of why, actually.

[Merctrin]

I was bored. And then there was fic. Ta-da.

Takes place sometime before Eishun picks up Setsuna.

Spoiler for Breadcrumbs:

It was like following breadcrumbs, Tsukuyomi thought, hopping into the tiny footprints in the snow. Little red breadcrumbs leading to… something. Something special, she was sure; red was her favorite color, and that much of it had to lead to something good.

And a person would be there too.

She didn’t know how she was supposed to feel about that. She didn’t like people. People bothered her.

But somehow, she thought the person leaving the tiny footprints would be the kind of friendly she liked. No one too bothersome could leave such dark red tracks in something as blank as snow.

Tsukuyomi had to jump a little further to reach the next footprint. Really, for something so small, the person she was following took very long steps sometimes.

Her foot almost collided with a rock, and she hopped a little to make sure she didn’t make any new prints. She liked the tiny person’s too much to ruin them.

And she didn’t want to make the patterns of red and feathers change either. With snow, things could start slipping everywhere if someone made even one mistake, and the wonderful breadcrumbs that weren’t breadcrumbs would fall all over the place. Then the tiny person’s hard work would be completely ruined.

So Tsukuyomi skipped carefully through the snow, looking up from time to time to make sure that she wasn’t missing some greater part of the trail. She couldn’t imagine something so wonderful as the red streaks, but this day was special enough that the idea of even better good things was stuck in her head.

Eventually (long after the black feathers disappeared from the path the tiny person had left for her) she looked up and saw the end of the red.

The path ended at a tree.

A very red tree with a large hole in its trunk.

With a delighted smile, Tsukuyomi bounded forward, nearly disrupting the tiny footprints in her hurry to reach the hole. The person kind enough to show her this trail had to be hiding in there, and she was sure that something able to paint the snow red would be something she liked.

Jumping out of the final set of footprints, she landed on the tree’s root and ducked her head down to look into the hole.

For a moment, she could only see a ball of red taking up the entire space. Then, looking closer, she saw that the ball of red was moving. Breathing. And—she moved close enough to feel the puffs of air on her skin—it had a face. And hair. It blended into the snow so well that she almost couldn’t tell—the white and the red were mixed together somehow—but if she concentrated, she could see a head.

The tiny person!

Tsukuyomi nearly toppled into the hole in excitement.

This was the thing that left the breadcrumbs!

She peered closer at the person, trying to get a better picture of what it looked like besides color. It was white and red all over, even on its hair and skin. Tsukuyomi had never seen a person who looked like that.

And she could see wings. Feathers.

White feathers.

That was special, wasn’t it? Tsukuyomi leaned in even closer, staring at the beautiful feathers. They looked like they belonged in the snow. They were so pretty and clean except for the red (which fit in much better than it did on the black ones).

Tsukuyomi was so busy taking in the colors that she completely forgot that she was looking at a person. So when its eyes opened to see someone invading its personal space, she didn’t notice what was happening until she was slammed onto her back in the cold snow, the tiny person’s red and white arm pressing down on her throat and a knife above her head.

After several moments of blinking up at the tiny person, Tsukuyomi realized that the eyes looking at her were the prettiest shade of red she had ever seen. She didn’t know eyes came in that color.

A drop of red fell on her cheek. The tiny person—demon, maybe, or an angel—stared at it for a second before its pretty eyes widened and it jumped off of Tsukuyomi, clinging to its knife with shaking hands.

“You’re human,” it said. Its feathers shrunk.

“I think so,” Tsukuyomi said back.

They watched each other for several more seconds before Tsukuyomi stood up and wiped the snow off of her and stuck out her hand.

“I’m Tsukuyomi.”

The tiny demon didn’t move for what felt like hours. It just looked very, very confused. And maybe a little scared. Then it reached out and grabbed Tsukuyomi’s hand.

“Setsuna.”

Setsuna. That was a nice name. A good name for the tiny demon. Setsuna dropped her hand and took a step backwards. Its pretty red eyes moved up and down very quickly, looking around the woods they were standing in.

It didn’t seem very interested in talking.

“Were you hiding?” Tsukuyomi asked. That was the only reason she could think of for something to curl up in a hole in a tree.

Setsuna nodded once.

“What were you hiding from?”

Setsuna stayed quiet for a long time. It was still holding the knife very tightly.

“Demons,” it said at last.

“You’re a demon.”

Setsuna’s perfectly colored eyes darkened and the hands around the knife stopped shaking. “I’m half human.”

“Oh. Is that why you’re so tiny?”

It frowned. “I’m not tiny.”

Tsukuyomi pointed down at the footprints in the snow. “Your footprints are. And…” She stepped forward a little and brought her hand down on the very still half-human’s head. She moved her hand across to her forehead. “You’re short. So you’re tiny.”

Then, because Setsuna wasn’t moving anymore, she moved her hand back to pet Setsuna’s very soft hair. Except for the few red spots, it was the softest anything Tsukuyomi had ever felt.

“How did the red get in your hair?”

Setsuna ducked away from Tsukuyomi’s fingers and almost fell backwards into its hole. Its eyes were back to their normal color and it was looking scared again.
That was no good.

“I don’t mind—I like it. It’s pretty. I just wondered how it got there.”

“It’s blood,” Setsuna whispered.

Remembering the start of the trail, Tsukuyomi put the pieces together.

“So that was you?”

Setsuna backed into the hole, looking more than just a little scared. Its feathers were growing again, and the knife was shaking and drops of red were falling all over the snow. “I didn’t mean to. It just—they—I didn’t mean to.”

Sensing that Setsuna wouldn’t talk again, Tsukuyomi let out a puff of air that misted between them and looked back at the trail. After meeting Setsuna, she sort of wanted to go back and look at the clearing it started in. That something so tiny could do that…

“I’ll come back tomorrow.”

Tsukuyomi turned around and hopped back into Setsuna’s footprints, frowning a little at the black feathers. She liked Setsuna’s a lot better.

Bouncing carefully so she didn’t ruin the tiny half-human’s prints, she slowly made her way back to the start of the trail. She looked back at Setsuna a few times, but it had gone back to hiding. She hoped it didn’t freeze to death before they saw each other again.

It didn’t take very long to get back to the clearing. When she got there, she jumped into the disturbed snow that wasn’t part of Setsuna’s trail and peered at the still, feathery bodies that were covered in red blood. It didn’t stand out as much as it did on the snow because their feathers were black, but she could still see it everywhere.

Tsukuyomi looked around at the other bodies. They were the same way.

Pretty.

Not as much as Setsuna, but still pretty.

The wind started to pick up a little, making Tsukuyomi shiver. It was starting to get too cold to stay in the woods.

She stood up and started walking home, taking a moment or two to look back at Setsuna’s path.

Maybe one day Setsuna would make her another trail of breadcrumbs to follow.

Clearly, I should never be bored. Thanks for reading!

[Finalage]

I'm not dead! *Pants* I'm not! I've been busier than any bee I've ever seen, but! The dreaded Alternate Blossoms has been updated.

Alternate Blossoms, Racing the Moon.

It begins with some maniacal violence, but I still don't think it's crazy or violent enough to suit my purposes...

[OverMaster]

Continuation.

Spoiler for We're Barbie Girls, in an Eva world...:

Finally, Chisame poked her head out of the bedroom and gestured for him to come back in. "We're done" she said. "The Sleeping Beauty is doing like a log again".

"Oh" Negi walked in stepping soft and silently, retaking his seat between both of his roommates. "Thanks for your help" he quietly spoke.

Evangeline was now wearing baby blue pajamas decorated with several tiny ribbons, laying on her back and sleeping like a baby. She looked extraordinarily cute and harmless, with her small mouth half open making the most diminutive wheezing sounds.

He didn't notice he had kept on staring at her until he caught on Chisame's disapproving glare. "S-sorry" he looked aside.

"Don't let her appearance to fool you" the brown haired teen lectured. "Cute as she may be, she's still an implacable enemy, and I doubt she'll be thankful".

"Hmmm" Satomi kept her nose buried back into the book she was examining. "You know, I never had really thought about it, but now I do wonder about the exact circumstances of her vampiric nature".

"What do you mean?" Chisame asked her.

"Well, it's simply she lacks any of the weaknesses the folklore assigns to vampires. She doesn't burn under the sunlight, she has no need for sleeping at a coffin with dirt from her homeland. She goes to swimming classes, so water is not an issue to her, either. I have seen wearing silver accessories, and from what Sensei told us, Misora's cross had no effect on her".

"She might have overcome those weaknesses through her witchcraft" Negi observed.

"Ah, yes. When she was attacking the librarians, she told us she knew your father, didn't she?" Chisame remembered. "Was she some sort of rival for him?".

"I don't know..." the teacher lamented. "I don't know as much about my father as I'd like...".

"It's a shame" Hakase mused. "If only she were more cooperative, I could learn a lot about her scientific condition, and you about your father".

Negi perked up. "That's it. I think there may be a way!".

"Huh?" Chisame frowned.

He immediately sulked down. "But I don't know if it's the right thing to do...".

"What is it?" Satomi was curious now.

"Well, I... I thought of using a special spell to look into her memories, but that would be unethical to do without her consent...".

"Let's do it!" Hakase enthused.

"Whuh?" Negi and Hasegawa chorused.

"Sensei, learning knows of no moral bounds, and no self imposed barriers should stand in the way of our discoveries!" Satomi put a hand over her own flat chest. "I'm sure the future will forgive you! Almost any taboo is worth breaking for the sake of enlightenment for the future generations!". She grabbed him by the shoulders, her eyes sparkling madly now.

"Oh no, I'm rooming with Dr. Mengele!" Chisame gasped.

"Um... Well..." Negi sweated. "I'm sure Evangeline-san won't be hurt...".

His mind made up, he grabbed his staff and held it up above Eva's sleeping body. He twirled it around, until it floated by itself over the bed much to Chisame's awe and shock, glowing with a faint yellow light.

He gulped as well. It felt horribly wrong, but if it was the only way to learn more about his father...

"Rastel Maskil Magister..." he chanted. "Nympha Somni Regina Maeve...".

Recognizing the words in Latin, Satomi asked, "It is some species of attempt to delve into her dreams, isn't it? Can we take a look with you?".

After a brief moment of doubt, Negi nodded, extending a hand to her. Hakase grabbed it quickly, then grabbed Chisame's right hand in turn without allowing her to protest.

"Portam Aperiens Ad Se Me Alliciat" the boy finished, and then a blinding white light filled Chisame's eyes.

When she regained her eyesight a moment later, the first thing she noticed was a burning need to kill Hakase.

Then, she noticed she was fully naked except for her glasses.

Then, even more of an urge to kill Hakase.

Afterwards, she saw Negi and Satomi also there, as naked as herself (again, save the glasses), although their bodies were rather featureless with no visible nipples or genitals.

Even so, the urge to throttle Hakase had not departed.

"Why... WHY ARE WE ALL OF A SUDDEN NAKED IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE?!" Chisame yelled as loud as she could, while covering her own featureless crotch and breasts with her hands.

"EEEEEEE! I'M SORRY!" Negi cried. "No one can travel into the psychic plane while keeping their clothes! If it makes you feel any better, these aren't our real bodies, but astral projections of ourselves! We are still sitting around Evangeline-san's bed!".

"What is there to be embarrassed about?" Satomi patted herself on her non descript private areas. "No actual sexual organs are shown at all here".

"It's still creepy!" Chisame huffed. "Our faces are fully detailed, even including our glasses, but our bodies are those of Barbie dolls?!".

Negi looked away, blushing. "W-well... If you prefer it so, I might modify the spell so we are more anatomically correct...".

"No, thanks" Chisame quickly replied. She looked all around herself; they seemed to be at some sort of distant and peaceful beach of white sands, and there were only two lonely human figures in the horizon. "I guess no one can see us here, right?".

"Right" Negi nodded.

Hasegawa pointed towards both figures. "Well, then let's go there. It's the only place where you can see anyone, so I think it has to be where Evangeline's memories must be happening".

"Brilliant deduction, Hasegawa-san!" the child brightened, running that way eagerly, with Satomi following him closely.

As she watched them, Chisame cringed. Featureless as their fronts were, their lower backsides still were fully detailed. And no doubt, her own would be, too.

With a moan of shame, she covered her butt with both hands and reluctantly walked, very slowly, after them, hanging her head down and dragging her feet through the sand.

[OverMaster]

Continuation.

Spoiler for Eva vs. Nagi!:

Now they were close enough, the three of them could see a tall, busty, buxom and curvy woman with long golden hair wearing a slinky black dress, with long gloves and high heels. She was gorgeous, but her face sneered with nothing but malice and cruelty. Next to her, and only visible from a close distance, there stood a tiny doll with green hair, somewhat similar to a miniature version of Chachamaru, with a creepy glare on its shiny pupils, and a huge sharp knife in each hand.

They faced a tall and mysterious stranger wearing a long gray robe, with a hood covering his face. Negi's heart, however, jumped at seeing the staff the man was holding.

It was his very own bandaged staff.

"Is that Evangeline's mother?" Hakase blinked.

"I think so" Chisame replied. "But why does that Muppet look like Chachamaru? I thought you had designed her".

"Hmmm. To be honest, Evangeline gave me a few basic outlines of her physical parameters" Satomi admitted. "She told me she wanted her servant to have green hair, for instance. Maybe she used to play with that doll when she was a child, so she wanted a reminder from those times".

"She played with a doll armed with knives?" Chisame seemed unconvinced, but paused right afterwards. "On the other hand, we're talking about Evangeline. I can buy it".

"Thousand Master" the temptress was saying, her voice husky and threatening, her mouth half open in a dangerous smile. "Finally, after so many months of pursuit, I have found you at this miserable island. An unusual choice of sorts for your final resting place, but it doesn't matter".

The blonde tightened a fist, "Tonight I will finally make you pay for your deceptions. Yes, I will crush you down like the insect you are! And your blood, body and soul shall belong to me!".

"You tell 'im, Master!" the doll cackled with a shrill, manic squeaky voice. "Blood, blood, blood, flowing all around! Grab me a boat, I'll sail away on it!".

"Evangeline, the Master of Puppets" the man said in a low, masculine and low voice that almost made both girls to swoon despite themselves. They quickly noticed it, asking themselves what had just happened. "The Apostle of Destruction, the Tide of Evil, the Undying Sorceress. How many men have you tempted with your bewitching beauty? How many lives have you corrupted with your power? And yet, you insist on coming after the only one who can stop you...".

"No way" Chisame recoiled. "Is that supposed to be Evangeline herself?".

"It would seem she has suffered some sort of age regression" Satomi attempted to analyze. "Highly puzzling!".

Negi was too starstruck to add any comments.

The man had pulled his hood off, revealing an absolutely handsome, strikingly perfect face, neither brutish nor effeminate, the optimal point of what an average (and most above and below the average) woman would wish for in a man. Chisame found herself open mouthed, her heart beating a few skips faster. Even the normally absent to love Hakase was staring with wide eyes, a soft pink gliding over her cheeks again.

"It's... It's him!" Negi cheered up emotionally. "My father!".

"I advise you to quit this insane quest" Nagi Springfield had spoken ominously. "No matter what you are planning to do, you will not succeed".

"It's just like I had imagined him!" Negi jumped up and down in place. "A brave hero with no fear, the mightiest mage of all! This is the happiest day of my life!".

Flashback-Eva laughed bitterly. "What are you going to do, a lone mage without a Partner, against both of us?! HAH! CHACHAZERO! ON HIM!" she commanded while charging ahead.

"ON HIM, THROUGH HIM, ALL OVER HIS CHOPPED PARTS!" the doll crazily sing-sang following Evangeline at a speed that was rather surprising for something so small. "BLOOD AND GUTS, NO QUESTION, NO BUTS!".

However, The Hero did not seem bothered or concerned at all. He simply gave a step back, quietly examining the ground at his feet.

"You're too slow, boyo!" the vampiress grinned, reaching for him with a hand full of crimson fingernails. "Give yourself in at last! BE MINE!".

"DAD!!" Negi attempted to run at them, just as Evangeline and the puppet closed in for the kill...

But right then, both of them fell into a huge sandtrap that had remained hidden at the ground until the woman set foot on it.

"Eh...?" Negi stopped in mid-step.

"GAHH!!" Evangeline gasped for air, as she poked her head out of the sand. "What... What is the meaning of this?!?".

"It's a trap, Master!" the tiny homunculus struggled to drag herself out of the sand, her short arms proving to be quite unfitting for the task.

"I know that, you idiot!" the blonde shouted at her.

"Ah, ha ha ha ha!" Negi's father laughed from above. "If only they could see you now! What a joke! The terror of Mundus Vetus, reduced to a laughingstock in a hole! But let's spice this up, don't you think? Here, have a feast on my account!". With those words, he unloaded the content of a huge sack he had been keeping near to into the pit.

"What...?" Evangeline blinked several times, right before a storm of garlic and onions fell on her face and all over her body, nearly burying her under them. "NO! I hate those things! Stop it, you maniac!".

"Stop? Why should I?" he asked. "All children in mid-growth need this in their diets! Here, drink some soup as well!". He poured the contents of a huge cauldron he also had at hand at his makeshift camp into the hole, showering his attackers with a flood of smelly and hot garlic soup. "I was researching into your weaknesses, kid! And I don't like to study on anything, so you'd better believe I'm mad at you!".

Negi, Chisame and Hakase were all staring in stunned silence. Finally, the scientist asked, "Is this a standard procedure for a magical battle against the undead?".

"I... I don't know what to believe anymore..." their teacher meeped out weakly.

[deathcurse]

Originally Posted by Merctrin

I was bored. And then there was fic. Ta-da.

Takes place sometime before Eishun picks up Setsuna.

Spoiler for Breadcrumbs:

It was like following breadcrumbs, Tsukuyomi thought, hopping into the tiny footprints in the snow. Little red breadcrumbs leading to… something. Something special, she was sure; red was her favorite color, and that much of it had to lead to something good.

And a person would be there too.

She didn’t know how she was supposed to feel about that. She didn’t like people. People bothered her.

But somehow, she thought the person leaving the tiny footprints would be the kind of friendly she liked. No one too bothersome could leave such dark red tracks in something as blank as snow.

Tsukuyomi had to jump a little further to reach the next footprint. Really, for something so small, the person she was following took very long steps sometimes.

Her foot almost collided with a rock, and she hopped a little to make sure she didn’t make any new prints. She liked the tiny person’s too much to ruin them.

And she didn’t want to make the patterns of red and feathers change either. With snow, things could start slipping everywhere if someone made even one mistake, and the wonderful breadcrumbs that weren’t breadcrumbs would fall all over the place. Then the tiny person’s hard work would be completely ruined.

So Tsukuyomi skipped carefully through the snow, looking up from time to time to make sure that she wasn’t missing some greater part of the trail. She couldn’t imagine something so wonderful as the red streaks, but this day was special enough that the idea of even better good things was stuck in her head.

Eventually (long after the black feathers disappeared from the path the tiny person had left for her) she looked up and saw the end of the red.

The path ended at a tree.

A very red tree with a large hole in its trunk.

With a delighted smile, Tsukuyomi bounded forward, nearly disrupting the tiny footprints in her hurry to reach the hole. The person kind enough to show her this trail had to be hiding in there, and she was sure that something able to paint the snow red would be something she liked.

Jumping out of the final set of footprints, she landed on the tree’s root and ducked her head down to look into the hole.

For a moment, she could only see a ball of red taking up the entire space. Then, looking closer, she saw that the ball of red was moving. Breathing. And—she moved close enough to feel the puffs of air on her skin—it had a face. And hair. It blended into the snow so well that she almost couldn’t tell—the white and the red were mixed together somehow—but if she concentrated, she could see a head.

The tiny person!

Tsukuyomi nearly toppled into the hole in excitement.

This was the thing that left the breadcrumbs!

She peered closer at the person, trying to get a better picture of what it looked like besides color. It was white and red all over, even on its hair and skin. Tsukuyomi had never seen a person who looked like that.

And she could see wings. Feathers.

White feathers.

That was special, wasn’t it? Tsukuyomi leaned in even closer, staring at the beautiful feathers. They looked like they belonged in the snow. They were so pretty and clean except for the red (which fit in much better than it did on the black ones).

Tsukuyomi was so busy taking in the colors that she completely forgot that she was looking at a person. So when its eyes opened to see someone invading its personal space, she didn’t notice what was happening until she was slammed onto her back in the cold snow, the tiny person’s red and white arm pressing down on her throat and a knife above her head.

After several moments of blinking up at the tiny person, Tsukuyomi realized that the eyes looking at her were the prettiest shade of red she had ever seen. She didn’t know eyes came in that color.

A drop of red fell on her cheek. The tiny person—demon, maybe, or an angel—stared at it for a second before its pretty eyes widened and it jumped off of Tsukuyomi, clinging to its knife with shaking hands.

“You’re human,” it said. Its feathers shrunk.

“I think so,” Tsukuyomi said back.

They watched each other for several more seconds before Tsukuyomi stood up and wiped the snow off of her and stuck out her hand.

“I’m Tsukuyomi.”

The tiny demon didn’t move for what felt like hours. It just looked very, very confused. And maybe a little scared. Then it reached out and grabbed Tsukuyomi’s hand.

“Setsuna.”

Setsuna. That was a nice name. A good name for the tiny demon. Setsuna dropped her hand and took a step backwards. Its pretty red eyes moved up and down very quickly, looking around the woods they were standing in.

It didn’t seem very interested in talking.

“Were you hiding?” Tsukuyomi asked. That was the only reason she could think of for something to curl up in a hole in a tree.

Setsuna nodded once.

“What were you hiding from?”

Setsuna stayed quiet for a long time. It was still holding the knife very tightly.

“Demons,” it said at last.

“You’re a demon.”

Setsuna’s perfectly colored eyes darkened and the hands around the knife stopped shaking. “I’m half human.”

“Oh. Is that why you’re so tiny?”

It frowned. “I’m not tiny.”

Tsukuyomi pointed down at the footprints in the snow. “Your footprints are. And…” She stepped forward a little and brought her hand down on the very still half-human’s head. She moved her hand across to her forehead. “You’re short. So you’re tiny.”

Then, because Setsuna wasn’t moving anymore, she moved her hand back to pet Setsuna’s very soft hair. Except for the few red spots, it was the softest anything Tsukuyomi had ever felt.

“How did the red get in your hair?”

Setsuna ducked away from Tsukuyomi’s fingers and almost fell backwards into its hole. Its eyes were back to their normal color and it was looking scared again.
That was no good.

“I don’t mind—I like it. It’s pretty. I just wondered how it got there.”

“It’s blood,” Setsuna whispered.

Remembering the start of the trail, Tsukuyomi put the pieces together.

“So that was you?”

Setsuna backed into the hole, looking more than just a little scared. Its feathers were growing again, and the knife was shaking and drops of red were falling all over the snow. “I didn’t mean to. It just—they—I didn’t mean to.”

Sensing that Setsuna wouldn’t talk again, Tsukuyomi let out a puff of air that misted between them and looked back at the trail. After meeting Setsuna, she sort of wanted to go back and look at the clearing it started in. That something so tiny could do that…

“I’ll come back tomorrow.”

Tsukuyomi turned around and hopped back into Setsuna’s footprints, frowning a little at the black feathers. She liked Setsuna’s a lot better.

Bouncing carefully so she didn’t ruin the tiny half-human’s prints, she slowly made her way back to the start of the trail. She looked back at Setsuna a few times, but it had gone back to hiding. She hoped it didn’t freeze to death before they saw each other again.

It didn’t take very long to get back to the clearing. When she got there, she jumped into the disturbed snow that wasn’t part of Setsuna’s trail and peered at the still, feathery bodies that were covered in red blood. It didn’t stand out as much as it did on the snow because their feathers were black, but she could still see it everywhere.

Tsukuyomi looked around at the other bodies. They were the same way.

Pretty.

Not as much as Setsuna, but still pretty.

The wind started to pick up a little, making Tsukuyomi shiver. It was starting to get too cold to stay in the woods.

She stood up and started walking home, taking a moment or two to look back at Setsuna’s path.

Maybe one day Setsuna would make her another trail of breadcrumbs to follow.

Clearly, I should never be bored. Thanks for reading!

Oh my, I love how you write Tsukuyomi . It starts off so innocent and even poetic, until we realize that the breadcrumbs she's following is blood....and then all sorts of fun implications come up .

It's interesting, I wonder if Setsuna had actually met Tsukuyomi in her early years in the series, since otherwise I wonder why Tsukuyomi developed such an obsession for her?

Poor Setsuna...eerie image though, because most demons in Negima seem to die without lots of blood gushing, and yet here we see a child Setsuna slaughtering some crow (demons?) to defend herself. Puts an interesting light on her too!

Awesome writing!

[OverMaster]

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Is FF.Net being a royal bitch like this to anyone else through this whole day? Whenever I want to read a new chapter, story or review, blam, this happens.

Oh, yeah, update.

Spoiler for The end of this chapter!:

"Hold on, Master!" the doll shrieked and shrilled flailing her arms around, splashing sand and soup everywhere around, only succeeding at burying herself even deeper into the muddy result. "I'll save you! And then we'll stab 'im in the face!".

"Agh! I can't!!" Evangeline gasped for air, her breath becoming erratic. "Stop! You fiend!".

But the mysterious man just laughed at them, agitating the liquid with his staff. Until his prey couldn't take it anymore, and with a yell, her body shrank down to a petite size, the one the three visitors recognized as that of their vampiric acquaintance.

"It IS Evangeline after all!" Chisame said.

"We might be on the trail of the secret for eternal youth here!" Satomi's glasses fogged up with excitement. "I would be lauded as the greatest benefactor to mankind ever if I isolated that!".

"No, Master!" Chachazero was all but crying. "You have ran out of magical power!".

"Hah, ha ha ha!" Nagi laughed from above. "What will everyone say when they learn the queen of all vampires is nothing but a skinny brat? Here, eat more!" he bombarded her down with even more onions.

"I told you to stop it, cretin!!" the now childish Evangeline wailed, her face deeply red. "You... You are a cheating coward! Aren't you the Master of a Thousand Deadly Spells!? You should use them in battle! Like any mage with honor would!".

He stopped his laughter, sneering down at her. "Me? I'll pass! To be honest, I barely memorized more than half a dozen spells...I never was big on studying!".

Negi's jaw hit the floor.

Chisame looked at her teacher. "You already learned far more than that, didn't you?".

Hakase patted him on a shoulder. "Congratulations. You have surpassed him this early in your life".

"THAT ISN'T WHAT I WANTED TO SEE!!" Negi practically bawled.

"What?" Evangeline was gulping.

"I left the magic academy because I didn't like those boring geezers and their tests" Nagi yawned carelessly. "What? You shocked, kiddo?".

Evangeline pouted. "I don't understand you, Thousand Master! Why to escape the chances to learn more about magic? With your raw power, you could be the next Sorcerer Supreme! And with me at your side, it would be even easier! Why do you keep on running away from me? Together, we could rule over all we can set our sights on!".

"Meh. I don't like flat chested children" the handsome mage made a disgusted face.

"A child?! You fool! I'm more than 100 years old!" the vampiress screamed.

"A flat chested old mummy! Even worse!" the man seemed about to vomit.

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT ON MY FACE!!" Mc Dowell howled.

"Keep a grip on yourself, Master!" Chachazero begged.

"Okay, enough of games" Nagi grew serious. "I'll let you go only if you promise to leave me alone and stop attacking innocents".

"NEVER!" Evangeline cringed her fangs defiantly.

"Oh, is that so?" the Thousand Master chuckled creepily. "Welllll, then I have no choice. I'll have to subject you to one of the most hideous spells ever created...".

"What?" Eva blinked, feeling a gigantic amount of energy flowing around the man. "What do you intend to—".

He had pulled a spell book out of somewhere and lazily read through it, "Ummm... Where was it... I think the old fool at Mahora needed a guardian or something... It should be around here... Ah, yes. Here. Man Man Terro Terro...".

If she had been asked later, Chisame couldn't have honestly said what the hell was said afterward since she didn't know a single word of Latin, but judging from Negi and Hakase's expressions, it had to be something horrible and very fearsome, enough to make even the Mc Dowell girl to waver in terror.

"It's the end, Master!" Chachazero was screaming.

"No, it can't be!" Evangeline still attempted to get away. "You are worse than a demon, Thousand Master! Mark my words! You will regret this day! You will—".

"INFERNUS SCHOLASTICUS!!" he shouted, aiming his staff at her, blasting the Nosferatu with a flood of crackling and sparkling arcane energies, making her to yell and convulse frantically.

"NOOOOOOOO—".

"—OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Evangeline woke up sitting up with a start, panting madly, her eyes going from closed to fully open in an almost grotesque fashion in half a second. It was only after her scream died down she noticed she was at her own bedroom, on her bed, with Hasegawa and Hakase looking tired and sitting near her. "What?! W-What are you two doing here?!".

"Um, we were... doing nothing, actually. Just killing time until Chachamaru comes back" Chisame groaned, staring aside, determined to not saying anything about their recent trip.

"She went out to buy medication for you" Satomi informed. "It shouldn't take her long to come back".

"I feel fine now" Mc Dowell mumbled, before pointing down at the exhausted looking boy sleeping with his chin resting on her lap. "Take this thing off me, right at this instant".

"Huh?" Negi blinked, coming back to himself. "Eh? Oh, oh, s-sorry, Evangeline-san!". He quickly straightened up. "I guess I was too tired from the classes, and—".

The blonde waved a hand at him. "I don't care. I had some fever and a bad dream, that's all. I don't need your pity or care. But... you three showed some courage coming here, so... I will not dispose of you today" she huffed. "You'd better walk away with your lives while you can".

"You have a strange way to say 'thanks', but I'll accept it" Satomi stood up and bowed. "We will see you later".

"You can bet you will" Eva nodded slowly, but not really angry for now.

Chisame nodded as well, mechanically, starting to follow Negi and Satomi outside.

But then, the cottage's owner noticed the leftover energies around herself. She recognized the remains of the spell's pattern. And her voice grew deep and threatening again. "You tadpole...".

"Huh...?" Negi stopped abruptly, sweating very, very cold.

Eva stood up on the bed, her hair beginning to stand up around herself. "You little upstarts... What have YOU been doing to meeee...??".

Chachamaru was walking back through the peaceful woods with several full bags in her hands when she heard the screams coming from the cottage.

"I'LL SKIN YOU ALL ALIVE! I'LL HANG YOUR HEADS OVER MY CHIMNEY!".

"IT WASN'T MY IDEA! HAKASE IS THE ONE TO BLAME!".

"EVANGELINE, PLEASE LOWER THAT THING DOWN OR I'LL CONTACT THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES!".

"EVANGELINE-SAN, PLEASE, RECONSIDER! THESE ARE YOUR CLASSMATES!".

The robot mused to herself with a calmed, softly pleased voice. "Ah. Like I thought. They could make her to feel better...".

For a brief moment, she almost looked like she was smiling.

[Kurush]

Yeah, it happened to me as well. It seems to have given up now.

Conclusion of the chapter.

Spoiler for After the race:

“Negi-sensei won?” Chachamaru asked surprised.

“Yeah.” The wife of the house told her. “He almost fell off a few times, but he pulled through. Things got really out of hand when that weird dog on the side ran into the race, and the elephants went nearly ballistic when that happened. Despite, Negi managed to come out on top of it all.”

“It sounds highly impressive. I expected our teacher to be rather good.” The robot spoke softly.

“Yes... back then, he was really... cool up there...” Theo admitted quietly, but this was picked up by the green haired girl.

“Hime-sama, are you... getting feelings for Negi-sensei as well?” She asked innocently, but it was enough for the horned woman to spit something out of her mouth.

“Where did that come from?” She demanded of the robot.

“It was a question, simple and unemotional.” Chachamaru tried to act all.... robot-like. Keyword: tried. Her right foot was jiggling involuntary. “I just want to be sure if you have... feelings... for Negi-sensei.” She had hesitated in saying 'feelings' to the princess, and her hand was balling together into a fist.

“Maru-chan...” The princess spoke softly. “...I'm just being friendly with Negi, that's all. There's no intent on getting any deeper with him, right now. Well, maybe when he's a lot older, but not now. This is just me getting some real good memories with him.”

Chachamaru didn't say anything at first, just simply nodded. “...Where is Negi-sensei right now?”

“He hit the showers as soon as we got back. The smell of elephant was haunting us all the way back home. On an upside note, the storekeeper let us have the clothes we bought for free, and we got half the money he made out of winning the gambling.” Theo said, holding up a bundle of Euros. “We got about some 20 grand out of it. Enough to buy you some clothes too, if you want it, Maru-chan.”

“Erm... no thank you, Hime-sama.” The robot girl replied, much to the horned woman's pouting.

“Call me Theo. I don't like it being called a princess all the time.”

“What's being discussed here?” Negi asked coming out of the bathroom, wearing a bathrobe. The girls waved it off as nothing, and were saved by the doorbell ringing. Chacha went to open, leaving the married couple alone in the living room. “So... what was being talked about?”

“Well, Maru-chan was a bit worried over something, that's all.” Theo explained to him. “She wanted to be sure of how I felt about you. Truth be told, this is just a vacation for me. Isn't that what we're here for? Just to relax?”

“Yes.” Negi replied after a while. “It is. Nothing special, like with the other girls?”

“Well, I might give a shot at you once you're fully grown up and all...” Theo drew that sentence out. “But that's then. Right now, you can go play with the girls your age. Give you some more... time to get adapted to the changes done to you.”

“Okay...” Negi said softly. He kinda liked that idea of taking it slowly, but if the girls had any plans right now with his current permanently aged up form, things weren't gonna go that way. That time when Kakizaki-san had used a coupon to get a bath with him after an accident she had with mud was a good example. Lucky for him, he was under the age of consent and she was only teasing.

Chachamaru came back from the door, holding an envelope. “It was a messenger. We've been invited to a special party tonight, hosted by the Yukihiro family. They have asked us to come 'dressed neatly', and show up at seven pm.”

“Iinchou-san's family?” Negi asked. “Sounds like Iinchou-san will be there too.”

“Most likely she's here to check up on us.” Theo said, getting the pearl figurine and handing it to Negi. “Here, get Argenta out. We're all going. And we girls need to try dresses.”

“Somehow, I feel like I'm building some sort of harem wherever I'm going...” Negi lamented himself.

Aboard the Bloodgeld

“If you were unable to somehow whoop my skidplates so easily, I'd squashed you for sending me out there among all those humans, Commander.” Starscream yelled at his superior officer as he had returned to their ship, along with that pet he had been given, now in its real, almost serpent like form, yet rigid and bone-like and a long slender and black head. “All solar cycle I was down there, looking, and we didn't find the target at all.”

“Shut up, Starscream.” She snapped coldly at him, looking over a video recording of the day, skipping a few parts. “You did at least better than I anticipated. Reading up on human differences is a good start if we're gonna install some proper thinking circuits in that head of yours.”

“Oh, that's it, I'll-”

“Freeze.” She said, getting a picture on the vid. “Magnitize 30 times.” The screen did that, as Shadrac ran the whole ship. “Resolution to perfect image.” Shadrac cleared the image and the commander of the ship grinned to herself. “Well, well, well, Starscream. You actually found him without intending to. Good work.”

“I- I did?” Starscream asked before regaining some composure. “Why, yes, I did. Wasn't hard to find him at all. Saw him straight away.”

Leaving her 2nd in command to his delusions, the commander of the Bloodgeld rose up from her seat to strip down of her armor whilst proceeding to her quarters. “I'll be heading down ahead. Hacked Sat-track has revealed a party in town and he's likely to be there. Wait for my signal to show that he's there, and then you come down with a little something in that canister, Starscream.” She instructed the Transformer, pointing at a round canister by the desk. “We'll do our business down there, leave and then everybody's happy. Well... except for our little target, the one they call Negi Springfield...”

Party

The party was being held at an open square in the City Park of Marbella, filled with trees of various kinds. Half the park had been reserved for this party and guests were filling up the place. Everyone had arrived dressed neatly as had been requested, to their own tastes as 'neatly' fitted them. Some came in the latest fashion for men/women, along with a personal touch to it, others came in tuxedos, dresses, whatever suited them. But nobody was badly dressed.

Our own hero had come in his own black tuxedo with open front, revealing his shirt. In addition to that, a longcoat had been put on, as in a way of saying that it was more stylish and (no offense to people) badass. Negi came in his aged up form, and the minute ladies of about his age laid their eyes on him, did they have plans for him, some of which included chloroform. Then it was shot down by the appearance of his wife, Theo, who had come in the same outfit he had first seen her in, revealing her midriff and the large cleavage that she had. But she showed the ring on her finger to tell the guys that she was married and therefore only plaything to one guy: Negi. You can imagine what looks they gave him.

Chachamaru wasn't so bad herself, dressed beautifully in a modern black miniskirt dress, her black legs mistaken for long boots over her slim legs, something the boys of the place found quite the eye-catching feature about her. Aside from the head antennae, of course. Argenta the silver dragon came in that Indian dress they got her earlier that day, along with some hair jewels.

“Heh, guess this turned out bigger than I expected of Ayaka.” Theo commented deeply on the blond girl. “Although standard size for my family, this party is quite impressive.”

“I've seen greater feats that Iinchou-san's family can undertake, Hime-sama.” Chachamaru stepped to the class representative's defense. “It is likely that their fortunes is about at least a third, maybe half, of what the Imperial family of Hellas have currently.”

“A third?” The princess exclaimed, stepping away a little from the robot. “...Well, she certainly went up more than a few notches in my book, in any case. Didn't say she was unimpressive, by the way.”

“I feel quite comfortable here.” Argenta said, seeing small children at the party as well, all of which above five years of age, at least. “I loved spending time with humans when I was still in the service of... other magi. And when I was once alive.”

“That sounds a bit-”

“My, my, this is the one you told me about, Ayaka?” An old female voice asked, as they turned to see the class representative in a gorgeous dress, yet it was casual, along with her hair in a bun. Next to her, was a rather older version of her, like an aging flower, withering, but slowly for sure.

“Why yes, this is him, Mother.” Ayaka confirmed for her. “This, is Negi-sensei.” She frowned on seeing Theodora's arm latched on to Negi, but she kept quiet about it this time. “Along with his new wife, too.”

Her mother went up close to inspect the young man, along with Theo. “...I see. This is a good young man, Ayaka. I would have approved, myself. Shame that he got married...”

“What?” The teacher was completely confused. “Um, you're Iinchou-san's mother? Well, I, uh, did not expect you here of all places, Ma'am...”

“Handsome, intelligent and a gentleman.” Ayaka's mother listed the features as the people around enjoyed themselves for a change, talking amongst each and gossiping. “Just like you said, Ayaka.” She commented her daughter in a soothing and gentle tone. “Yes, we've haven't had the pleasure, Mr. Springfield. I am Ayaka's mother, Mrs. Yukihiro. Ma'am works just nicely.”

“Um... pleased to meet you, I suppose...”

“And who is this lady who got your heart carried away, hm?” The older lady wasted no time in finding out who Theo was. “Wasn't aware you were into tanned people, Mr. Springfield.”

“Me?” Theo asked, before answering fully. “Well, I think I owe you an explanation for it. My name is Theodora, and I haven't actually known Negi for that long, really. We only met about six months or so, and we were on opposite sides of positions, then. Now... well, the whole marriage is just something our parents complained to us about for weeks.”

“Y-yeah, my uncle in particular wanted me married once I got of age.” Negi added to the cooked-up story of how it happened. “I met Theo again about two weeks ago, we talked and... well, here we are.”

“Oh, so it's a form of, personal/political marriage, then? Surely you must have talked to your parents and Negi's uncle about this.” Ayaka's mother asked them.

“Yeah, we did.” Theo answered her whilst Ayaka stood quiet, knowing the actual truth and being a victim of that night as well. “Negi's uncle is an excellent doctor in Britain, having some big hopes for him. My father is... the president of a big company, I won't bother you with the name, you wouldn't understand it anyway. My mother runs a charity program for homeless. Both of them had so much of busy time, it's a wonder how they managed to find a way to nag me about finding myself a good man to be with.”

“That's a bit of an understatement.” Negi said as well. “If I hadn't come around sooner, they would have forced her to get married. We agreed on this together under two meetings and then found some quiet chapel. Wasn't easy.”

“Hmm, I guess not every marriage is of happy conscience and love, I suppose.” The representative's mother stated after a pause, before being called over by someone. “Excuse me, but take your time. Walk around, enjoy yourselves. Mazel tov. Ayaka, can I trust you to be with them for the evening?”

“Of course, Mother.” Ayaka answered politely. “I will see to it.” Pleased with the answer, Ayaka's mother left them to talk amongst themselves. The blond representative immediately stepped in closer. “Good save, but you could have made some modifications to it.” She whispered.

“Well, what would you have done?” Theo asked back in whisper as well. “I can't go about telling people I'm an actual princess, can I? Plus, we didn't have an 'official' cover story as to how we got married, we just made it up on the spot.”

“I suppose...” Ayaka agreed, albeit reluctantly. “If that's the case, then keep that story. It'll save you a lot of confusion in the future whilst here and keep people off your back.”

“Okay.” Negi answered. “But what are you doing here, Iinchou-san? I thought you were supposed to be in Japan.”

“I was. But then Mother sends me this invitation to this party for the good of Father's company, and I have to attend as his daughter.” Ayaka answered him in return, having some discern in her voice, genuinely. “I didn't come here to interrupt you or anything, as much as I want to...” She said that last part quietly, as to hide it from the one she loved. “...I also figured out for myself that we could use my family's funding, in case things do get out of hand. But I don't know if it would work the way things are now. And Father would try to avoid talking with Aristodemus-san, since he probably hasn't heard of him before. I've gone out of one political mess where we can't get any help, only to be put into another where the chances of getting help are slim, even if it's family.” She paused to sigh almost depressed. “I feel like I'm a load to the team.”

“Don't say that.” Negi cheered her up, as he gestured for their whole group to walk further into the park. “Iinchou-san, you are an important person to our group. Maybe not as a fighter, like Asuna-san or Ku Fei-san, or a good supporter like Yue-san or... Nodoka-san,” He added, as he recalled the bookworm. “But because of your leadership. You keep a generally calm head when you put yourself into a situation and you become determined to see something through. No one can take that away from you. You can hold yourself in combat if need be, but when put in command of a group, that is where you shine. This, is your role, Iinchou-san.”

Ayaka had never felt more flushed in her life ever before in her lifetime. Such words were enough to boost her self-esteem to the fullest, and the fact that he was all aged up, as she had seen for the first time (as she could remember), left even more room for the luminescent blush she was getting. She couldn't find any response whatsoever to what he had just told her, and felt her knees buckle down. Luckily, Chachamaru caught her from falling down to the ground. “Ain't we encouraging this evening?” Theo asked her husband whilst pinching his cheek. “If you like her that much, then why did you marry me of all people?”

“What brought this on?” Negi asked, as Argenta watched them in silence.

“Well, obviously you like the girls in your class more than others. Me for instance, since I'm not part of it.” Theo accused him, getting on to him.

“Now, wait a minute, I never stated that.” Negi protested as they began to have what seemed as their first argument. “I may like them, but it's all equally. I don't have a favorite among them.”

“Not even Honya-chan?” The princess got in real close and the husband blushed like crazy upon recalling a memory about the mentioned girl. “See? No favorite, my butt. You still can't get over her.” She said, as they were in a secluded part of the park, cut off from the other guests.

“Why are you going out on me now?” Negi demanded to know, raising his voice a little. “You said you didn't have any feelings for me right now, and yet you act like this. Why's that?”

“I-” She stopped there and took a few paces away from him to lean against a wall. “I don't know. I honestly don't-” The roar of a jet engine cut off as something big in the night sky flew over the park in about mach 2. “What?”

The jet plane came back and seemed to come onto a crash course with the main plaza of the park, right in front of the building there. Only, it did not crash, it slowed down severely and parts on it switched places through various joints and most parts formed together in order to create a large, metallic humanoid like body, formed out of an airplane with guns on its side. “Everybody stand still.” It ordered them as the guns were directed at the guests. They complied, but they were still just as terrified.

A sound gunshot more near them silenced them all, and nearly every eye turned towards another intruder, though in a wonderfully designed dress, but she didn't seem human at all, save for the same body structure. She sported several firearms on her as well, as she stalked the plaza area. “Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen.” She addressed all as Negi and his group of ladies hid behind a line of palm trees and more of her goons showed up out of blue, large white colored bots with flash lights for heads, but sporting dangerous guns as well. “We are tonight's entertainment, in the form of professional interstellar assassins.”

Who the hell did I piss off enough for this to happen?

Spoiler for Notes:

- I've been meaning to get a one-shot down with Negi and Misa about that bath incident, but if someone else could do it, I'd favor it immediately.

- Negi/Ayaka needs some more love. Seriously.

Spoiler for Omake:

Back at Mahora Academy, things were going as they normally should for most students. Let's have a look at one particular girl.

Alicia Testarossa was the perfect little girl in class. She did her homework, helped the teacher from time to time, made friends with the other girls in class. As she was blonde with red eyes, she was quite popular in her class. Even with boys. “Say, Testarossa-san... would you mind be with us for a few moments? We can check out buying cellphones together.”

“Sorry, but I was promised some time together with my grandfather today.” Alicia answered back as the mentioned old man came into view from around the corner after Takahata-sensei did so. “Need to go, but we'll do it some other day, okay?” She asked whilst running to him, waving at the classmates.

“Okay...” A few called back at her as she was picked up and carried on her grandpa's shoulder. “Testarossa-san really likes being with him, doesn't she?”

“Yeah... Aris-sensei is quite strict, but he's really nice. If only Nitta-sensei from Junior High could be the same...” Another lamented.

Anyway, back at the little girl. “Nee... Father, can I ask you something?”

“Yes. Go ahead, Alicia.” Aris answered as he walked on, holding her steady to keep up the illusion.

“You and Mother were very happy when I came... back, yes?” She asked innocently.

“Yeah. We were very happy. Who wouldn't be?” He answered back.

“And people are generally happy when a baby is born, right?” She asked, again, innocently.

“Yes... it's sort of, a celebration of life, ergh... I don't know how to put it. But yes, people are happy when a baby is born.”

“Does that mean that we're gonna be happy if I become an onee-san?” Alicia had the sweetest tone to her voice, but the words she picked stopped her dad right in his tracks. He remained silent for some time, that she decided to hop down from his shoulder.

May need help editing the Omake. Feel free to find better words, if you like. I don't mind.

[OverMaster]

Originally Posted by Kurush

Yeah, it happened to me as well. It seems to have given up now.

It's STILL giving me problems. Horribly frustrating and disappointing. How cannot they bother to solve that in the span of like three days by now?

[Kurush]

Well, it doesn't give me any troubles now. But the connection for me at the moment is a bunch of (Expletive Deleted).

Anyway, updated Honeymoon now. Here's chapter 2. Enjoy.

[Finalage]

Fanfiction is having problems, tis all, like always. Anywho I'm almost done with the next chapter of the dreadced Blossoms, but I'm kinda stuck on Resistance Hertz. I know what I want to do, but words fail me, so I'm leaving it to air out for now, not for too long though.

[Sin Ansem]

Hehe, nice work.

Kurush, I need to catch up on the side story.

And I also come bearing a preview of an upcoming chapter of Disgaea: Gehenna's Holy Queen.

Spoiler for The Prophecy...:

It turned out that the wait didn't need to happen very long. When the spell dissipated, the vile overlord appeared just opposite of them a few minutes later, her arms crossed in grim determination. Konoka glared at Dynamis, daring him to make a move first before she finally spoke. “Give back Flonne-han!”

“Damn right!” Dynamis was surprised to see a short demon walk beside her, imitating her pose. “Holding hostages? Demanding somebody die? That's some of the worst honor student behavior I've ever seen!” And yes, she was actually familiar to him, though how, he could not yet place. He found that even that wasn't the end of Konoe's backup, as a young woman who looked just a tad plump stood on the other side of the harbinger of holy doom. Last but not least, a ninja and a female samurai appeared beside the short demon. “Get lost and maybe we'll show you kindness and love without shoving it down your throat! Literally!”

“If it weren't for the unerring confirmation that you are the harbinger of sorrow and madness, I'd wonder if you were naught but young delinquents,” Dynamis coolly countered. “Maybe in a more idyllic time, you were. But the Konoe girl must perish, lest she give birth to a horrifying power that will destroy us all.”

“Why do you keep saying that?” Konoka challenged. “I have no desire to destroy the world, anywhere in my being!”

Dynamis sighed. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way. If she saw the truth, maybe she'd be more accepting. From his cloak, he drew an old, battered tome, one sealed with a lock. He tossed it towards Konoka, and the confused overlord caught it. “This book was used by many famous seers in both the human world and this one.”

Raspberyl, originally confused over the exchange, looked up and saw the book. “No kidding! That book has been huge among the psychic demons!” There was a moment of silence. “...though I haven't seen anything predicted in that book.”

“I like fortune telling!” Konoka suddenly interjected, waving the book. She poked her finger in the keyhole, and noted that it was guarded with a spell. “I've got some power now, so I'll prove just how wrong some silly prophecy about me ruining the world really is!”

That turned out to really be the wrong thing to say.

Konoka really only meant to figure out the spell that would unlock the book. Instead, upon gently poking again, she stabbed the guarded spell just a bit harder than she meant to, and her power overreacted. Light leaked out of her finger like a torrent, shattering the spell guarding the keyhole. From that, she found herself glowing, radiating power like a megawatt light bulb. She began to float, reminiscent of the powerful trance she fell into three years ago to protect Setsuna. Konoka couldn't even begin to understand how her power was flaring up like this—it was slipping out of her control just from trying to read a book!

But that certainly wasn't all. The bright light caused everyone else to recoil, cover their eyes and even throw up some shields in hope of not being overwhelmed by the sheer force of it. Konoka's power was fierce enough to shake the whole castle. It then got even better, as the book flared open.

For the first time, Konoka didn't just feel her powers go out of control, but her own body did as well. A swirl of pages, and Konoka found herself entranced and reading a page from its pages. “For ye to curse this vessel, descendant of the Fujiwara clan, worshipers of the Sun God Amaterasu, with death and sorrow, all your existences shall come to a painful end. She being the last descendant, she must be protected. These worlds shall mean nothing to her without love, or a heart that is steeped in evil.”

And as soon as it had begun, it was over. Konoka stopped floating, the world stopped being a bastion of light, and the other pitiful mortals could see again (and if they couldn't, they could always sue). She blinked, unsure what to make of what just happened. “What... but I...”

“What... was that?!” Raspberyl gasped, trying to blink her eyes back after all that white fried a bunch of pretty colors onto her retinas. “I haven't seen that much frightening power since Mao...”

[Merctrin]

New chapter from me. Finally.

Prequel
Prologue
Day 1
Day 2
Day 6
Day 7
Day 11
Day 12
Day -17
Day 14

Spoiler for Day 18:

Love.



Tsukuyomi had always been aware of the emotion in one way or another—it was everywhere; in the way comrades looked at each other before they broke and started begging for their lives; in the way partners swore their eternal loyalty to their masters, and they swore it right back… And always, always in the way bodyguards leapt in front of their charge, risking everything so that the person they valued could have one more moment to breathe.



Luna was in love with Negi. All of Fate’s partners loved him—even with him gone.



Love made people stupid. Most emotions caused people trouble of some sort, but love… Luna never would have helped Negi if she didn’t care for him, and the devotion of Fate’s partners could have easily gotten them killed.



From a professional standpoint, it was very clearly a bad thing.



Very, very clearly.



Tsukuyomi flopped down on Setsuna’s nest.



Their relationship wasn’t exactly professional, was it?



Since she had somehow managed to fall in love with Setsuna, she should probably start categorizing their relationship as personal.



Love was supposed to be good for personal relationships, right?



Tsukuyomi frowned up at the bloodless ceiling. She was sure that somewhere, a Fate with the ability to appreciate humor was laughing at her because of their role reversal. Teasing him about his infatuation with Negi and budding humanity had been so fun at the time…



And she couldn’t even resent Setsuna for it. She’d tried that.



Somehow, as much as she hated knowing there was someone in the world that she absolutely could not kill… It almost seemed okay because it was Setsuna. Her stubborn, serious, easily-embarrassed Senpai who managed to give her the pleasure of a lifetime every time they touched.



But there was still the problem of wanting to kill Setsuna. Ignoring everything else, Setsuna was still the best opponent she’d ever had, and every fiber of her being wanted to fight her senpai again and feel that burning blood on her face.



And really, all of that was fine and glorious—except—



Setsuna—really was cuter alive. Breathing. Talking. On very rare occasions, smiling.



So what to do?



Escape was really the best solution. Once she got out of Mahora, she’d be free to kill whoever she wanted, so she wouldn’t have so much trouble when she was around Setsuna. Theoretically. If she was going to be honest, Tsukuyomi had to admit that when she touched her Senpai, it wasn’t just being close enough to kill Setsuna that got her blood boiling. Now that she could name why, that was uncomfortably obvious.



Tsukuyomi reached back and fluffed Setsuna’s pillow. Being free to slaughter as she pleased again sounded exquisite, but there was still the problem of not being around Setsuna.



Love was an annoying emotion.



Maybe, if the princess didn’t have to be involved… if no one knew that she was free, she could stay at Mahora and sneak out and kill things when Setsuna wasn’t looking. But as long as the princess was involved, the second her Seal broke, if she didn’t want it back, she’d have to leave immediately.



The door to the room creaked open and Tsukuyomi sat up, waiting to hear Setsuna’s mechanical complaint about her resting on the wrong bed.



Only it wasn’t Setsuna.



Tsukuyomi smiled. “Good afternoon, Gunslinger-onee-san!”



Mana shut the door behind her and nodded on her way to the beds. “Tsukuyomi. Enjoying yourself in here?”



“Not particularly. You and Senpai locked up all of your fun toys, so there’s nothing to do.” Not to mention Setsuna banning her from touching any pens or pencils. Explaining that to the Class Rep was fun. They dodged the issues as long as they could, but then Negi got dragged into the mess and Setsuna had to convince him to tell the Class Rep that Tsukuyomi couldn’t use writing utensils for health reasons.



“What are you doing here?”



Mana raised her eyebrows. “This is my room too. Just because I prefer to sleep elsewhere doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to be here.”



“But why would you want to be here?” Tsukuyomi was convinced that this had to be the most boring room in all of Mahora when Setsuna wasn’t around.



The gunslinger dragged one of the locked boxes out from under the bed. “The headmaster has requested that I take care of something for him. I’m running low on supplies since you’ve deprived me of Setsuna, so I get to restock here.”



“Demons?”



“Perhaps.”



Tsukuyomi got up from Setsuna’s nest and watched Mana unlock the box with interest. “What exactly is in there?”



“Nothing you’re allowed to touch.”



“That’s a negative way of looking at it.”



Mana removed the lock and took out a gun from—somewhere—to point it in between Tsukuyomi’s eyes. “Okay then. How about this? If you look or touch anything in the box while I have it out, I’ll make it so that you are utterly incapable of either action again.”



Tsukuyomi flopped back down on Setsuna’s nest with an irritated huff. “You’re no fun, Onee-san.”



“I try,” Mana said, opening the box while keeping her gun trained on Tsukuyomi.



Tsukuyomi watched her fellow mercenary work through the mysterious contents of the box for a few moments. Some of the noises coming from it sounded promising, but she doubted that the gunslinger would let her live long enough to use anything she found.



She should have tried using the pencil to pick the locks when she had the chance. At least with a weapon, she wouldn’t be bored.



Setsuna would probably catch her and confiscate it pretty quickly though.



“Hey, Onee-san?”



“Yes?”



“Have you ever been in love?”



The noises stopped for a second. “You and Setsuna really need to learn how to fix your relationship issues without involving me.”



Tsukuyomi shrugged and waited patiently for Mana to continue.



The girl sighed and turned around, her gun still not moving an inch. “I have.”



“And?”



She chuckled. “And what? I was fortunate enough to be in the unique position of not wanting to kill the person I loved, but there’s a reason it isn’t encouraged in our profession.”



Tsukuyomi propped herself up on her hands. “You’re being astoundingly unhelpful.”



Mana laughed and went back to clinking things together in the box. “I’m only being honest with you. I thought you preferred people like that?” She seemed to find what she was looking for; the noises stopped and she stuffed something that Tsukuyomi couldn’t quite see into her bag. In several quick motions, the gunslinger had the box once again locked (unfortunately) and under the bed.



She stood up and looked at Tsukuyomi with a silent, considering expression that reminded her quite a bit of Fate. “What are you going to do about it?”



Tsukuyomi frowned. “What do you mean?”



“Well, if, for instance, you were to decide that the inconvenience of the emotion was too much to handle and you’re better off killing Setsuna, I’d have to take certain precautions to make sure she lives past the semester.” Mana cocked her gun threateningly. Tsukuyomi rolled her eyes and pouted. They both knew she was basically useless right now.



“And if you’ve decided to try seducing her, I need to immediately discourage you.”



“I actually hadn’t thought that far ahead.” She kept getting stuck on the “can’t kill” dilemma. Now that she thought of it however… If she could touch Setsuna without wanting to kill her, she certainly wouldn’t mind touching Setsuna—everywhere. She’d had that body under hers before, after all—she knew exactly how that blazing heat and soft skin felt. For a fighter, Setsuna really did have a delicate body…



“And why?”



Mana rolled her eyes. “Because as inept as you are with intense emotions, Setsuna is worse. She is not going to handle any confession well, especially since the two of you just barely got over your urges to kill one another.”



“We’re not really over them—we just can’t do anything about it,” Tsukuyomi pointed out. “Setsuna-senpai’s too honorable to hurt me when all of my energy’s sealed up, and I don’t want to fight her when I’m like this.” Not that she was going to explain what “this” was. The gunslinger did not need to know that she was incapable of killing Setsuna for reasons beyond a simple lack of ki.



“Of course,” Mana murmured. “Fine then—you’ve both just gotten used to restraining yourselves. I doubt that restraint will last long if you bring up your feelings.”



So if she ever wanted to fight with Setsuna properly after she broke the Seal, she’d only have to say that she loved her. That still didn’t solve the killing problem, but it was very good to know. It wasn’t like this would—last—



Unless it did.



Tsukuyomi tried, for a moment, to imagine sometime in the future when she was free of the Seal; free to deal Setsuna as much damage as she wanted to. There would be absolutely nothing holding her back except her own will.



But even then… It was Senpai. Her Setsuna-senpai.



Could it really be like that? Could I really just… stay in love with her?



An odd fluttering feeling in her stomach seemed to agree with that thought.



“Now if you don’t mind,” Mana said, “I’d like to finish up my work before we’re supposed to be in class. Try to behave yourself.” Finally putting her gun away, Tsukuyomi’s typically absent roommate walked out of the room.



Tsukuyomi groaned and threw her head back on Setsuna’s pillow. She missed things being simple.

------

“What does sucking someone’s blood feel like?”



All things considered, that probably wasn’t the best way to phrase her question, but considering the look on Evangeline’s face, Setsuna figured that she had to at least say something before she got kicked out of the resort.



And it did get Evangeline to stop glaring at her.



The diminutive vampire wiped her mouth clean of the tea Setsuna’s poorly-timed question had nearly made her choke on.



“What,” she asked, “does someone like you need to know that for?”



Setsuna swallowed nervously. “Uh… I was just wondering… You’d be more sensitive to it, since you’re a vampire, so if anyone was going to know about why someone reacts to blood a certain way…” Setsuna trailed off, starting to think she’d be better off if she just tattooed ‘HELP’ to her forehead.



Evangeline stared at Setsuna, clearly unimpressed.



“Having fun with your girlfriend, are you?”



“Tsukuyomi is not my girlfriend!” Setsuna yelped defensively. She could feel her face burning at the very idea.



Evangeline rolled her eyes. “Fine. Is your homicidal roommate teaching you the finer things in life?”



Face still much redder than was probably healthy, Setsuna didn’t think her glare was anything approaching threatening. If anything, Evangeline’s smirk grew more pronounced. Trying to regain what little dignity she could have around the vampire, Setsuna cleared her throat and stood up straight.



“There was an… incident a few days ago. A, um, hobby of Tsukuyomi’s got out of hand. I was wondering… if there was something I could do to help, I could make sure something like that won’t happen again.”



Oddly enough, Evangeline’s amusement vanished at that. “And this hobby of hers is related to blood, is it?”



“That’s right.”



Evangeline spun her half-empty teacup around on her finger silently. Setsuna watched its progress nervously, wondering if the cup was going to be flung in her general direction for wasting the Dark Evangel’s time.



Then Evangeline abruptly stopped handling the teacup and tossed it back on the table, the remaining liquid barely splashing over the side. “Have you lost your mind, Sakurazaki?”



The question was asked so casually that Setsuna could almost fool herself into thinking that she hadn’t made an enormous mistake in staying behind in the resort—with no witnesses—to ask for Evangeline’s help.



“No,” Setsuna said, feeling very unconvincing.



Evangeline laughed. “No, of course not. You just think that if you understand her—if you can somehow apply logic to her actions—you can keep her from causing you trouble. Not a bad theory, but it has one glaring problem that you’ve managed to overlook.”



“Oh?”



“The girl is insane.” Evangeline took a long sip of tea and handed the cup off to one of Chachamaru’s sisters. “Even if I could give you some reason—some excuse for her behavior, it wouldn’t change anything. She’d still be a psychotic mess. The Ouroboros Seal is the only reason she hasn’t gone on a killing spree already, and you know it.”



Setsuna winced and tried to go back to the original topic. “Evangeline-san, could you just tell me if you’ve ever heard of someone who feels blood purely as heat? Even when nothing else feels warm to them?”



There, that was what she should have asked in the first place.



“Huh. You’re sure that’s how it works for her?”



“I think so.” Setsuna had been paying very close attention to Tsukuyomi over the last few days, especially the way the girl shivered in her sleep, and putting that together with some of the things the blonde said, it made sense. She just didn’t know how it worked.



Evangeline watched Setsuna for a few moments before snickering quietly. “So that’s why you’re so interested. Feeling a tad guilty about your request now? If you had just let her go off with Eishun in the first place, it wouldn’t be a problem.”



Setsuna looked down at her feet guiltily. “I don’t—I don’t think it’s just that.”



“Probably not, but you certainly didn’t help matters.”



“So have you heard of anyone with that problem before?”



Evangeline shrugged. “No. But then, I don’t make a habit of associating with bloodthirsty lunatics.”



So this had all been for nothing? Setsuna sighed. Great. She had thought if anyone would know about it, it would be Evangeline.



“There’s always the obvious explanation you know.”



Setsuna’s head shot up. “What’s that?”



“She’s crazy,” Evangeline said in a tone that was clearly questioning Setsuna’s sanity at this point. “There’s nothing wrong with her; that’s just how her head works.”



Setsuna bit her lip. Yes, there was always that possibility. That incredibly unhelpful possibility that didn’t give her any idea what she was supposed to do. She couldn’t just leave things like that; if nothing else, Tsukuyomi’s chronic shivering problem was starting to concern her.



And the option of occasionally giving Tsukuyomi a weapon to mutilate herself with was not something she wanted to seriously consider.



She sighed. “Thanks for the help, Evangeline-san.”



The vampire waved her off. “Sure.”



Setsuna bowed her head respectfully and started off towards the resort’s exit, feeling considerably more lost than when she’d started her conversation with Evangeline.



“Setsuna.”



The half-demon turned back around hopefully. “Yes?”



Evangeline was smirking again, her fangs standing out prominently. “You could always just let her have her killing spree. That would fix both your problems, wouldn’t it?”

------

Tsukuyomi would have dearly loved to ask what had put Setsuna in such a bad mood. Ever since coming back from training with her friends, her Senpai had seemed overly preoccupied with something that was making her frown a lot more than usual.



Normally, she would have harassed Setsuna into giving her an explanation, but she’d had her fill of complicated conversations today. Also, a distracted Setsuna was much easier to stare at than one paying full attention to her charge. In general, Setsuna didn’t tend to be appreciative of her staring.



“Tsukuyomi?”



So maybe she was paying a little attention, even if she was still staring at the floor with the most frustrated expression on her face. Tsukuyomi sat up in her bed, dangling her legs over the side. “Yes, Setsuna-senpai?”



Setsuna pulled at a thread sticking out of her nest and didn’t say anything for several moments. Then she turned her aggravated eyes on the ceiling. “You would have escaped weeks ago if Eishun-sama took custody of you, right?”



Tsukuyomi tilted her head to one side, considering the question. She’d never actually been in the Kansai Magic Association’s cells. She was very careful about not getting caught; she was only at Mahora because she should have died. If they hadn’t bothered healing her, she definitely wouldn’t be anyone’s prisoner.



Kotarou had managed to escape easily enough, hadn’t he?



“Probably,” Tsukuyomi answered. “Why?”



Setsuna didn’t respond immediately. She was still playing with the thread. Tsukuyomi watched her curiously, wishing her Senpai would pay her a little more attention at this point. Talking to someone who wouldn’t even look at her wasn’t interesting at all, even if it was Setsuna.



“I’m going to bed,” she muttered at last, standing up and walking over to the closet.



“Isn’t it a little early for you?” Normally they went to bed at the same time, and Tsukuyomi didn’t think she’d be trying to sleep for at least an hour.



Setsuna didn’t bother answering. She just quickly and quietly changed her clothes, taking care to keep most of her skin hidden from view. Tsukuyomi smiled a little at the attempted modesty. It really was cute that Setsuna still wasn’t comfortable with undressing in front of her. Not as cute as Setsuna unclothed but for now she’d take it.



Soon enough, the lights were off and Setsuna was curled up under her sheets.



Tsukuyomi mimicked her and stared up at the bottom of the top bunk, sighing when she realized she was counting the cracks in the wood. She really needed to make more progress with the princess so she could break the Seal. Her life when Setsuna was unconscious or otherwise not present was incredibly dull.



She looked over fondly at the other girl. The lines of Setsuna’s unhappy glare were finally evening out. She was almost looking peaceful.



Tsukuyomi smiled. “Good night, Setsuna-senpai,” she murmured. “Try not to sleep too badly.”



With that, she closed her eyes and gave up trying to pay any more attention to her very, very dull reality. Then, for some reason, the world tilted and became much more interesting, making her eyes snap open.



“Good night, Tsukuyomi.”

Spoiler for Notes:

Needless to say, this took forever to update. Sorry about that. School started, my health is less than stellar, and this chapter was just plain difficult to write.

Next chapter probably won't be the easiest either, since it's a little weird. However, unlike with this chapter, I know how it's supposed to end before I start it. With any luck that'll help, and it'll be up soon.

Thanks for reading!

[deathcurse]

Originally Posted by Merctrin

New chapter from me. Finally.

Prequel
Prologue
Day 1
Day 2
Day 6
Day 7
Day 11
Day 12
Day -17
Day 14

Spoiler for Day 18:

Love.



Tsukuyomi had always been aware of the emotion in one way or another—it was everywhere; in the way comrades looked at each other before they broke and started begging for their lives; in the way partners swore their eternal loyalty to their masters, and they swore it right back… And always, always in the way bodyguards leapt in front of their charge, risking everything so that the person they valued could have one more moment to breathe.



Luna was in love with Negi. All of Fate’s partners loved him—even with him gone.



Love made people stupid. Most emotions caused people trouble of some sort, but love… Luna never would have helped Negi if she didn’t care for him, and the devotion of Fate’s partners could have easily gotten them killed.



From a professional standpoint, it was very clearly a bad thing.



Very, very clearly.



Tsukuyomi flopped down on Setsuna’s nest.



Their relationship wasn’t exactly professional, was it?



Since she had somehow managed to fall in love with Setsuna, she should probably start categorizing their relationship as personal.



Love was supposed to be good for personal relationships, right?



Tsukuyomi frowned up at the bloodless ceiling. She was sure that somewhere, a Fate with the ability to appreciate humor was laughing at her because of their role reversal. Teasing him about his infatuation with Negi and budding humanity had been so fun at the time…



And she couldn’t even resent Setsuna for it. She’d tried that.



Somehow, as much as she hated knowing there was someone in the world that she absolutely could not kill… It almost seemed okay because it was Setsuna. Her stubborn, serious, easily-embarrassed Senpai who managed to give her the pleasure of a lifetime every time they touched.



But there was still the problem of wanting to kill Setsuna. Ignoring everything else, Setsuna was still the best opponent she’d ever had, and every fiber of her being wanted to fight her senpai again and feel that burning blood on her face.



And really, all of that was fine and glorious—except—



Setsuna—really was cuter alive. Breathing. Talking. On very rare occasions, smiling.



So what to do?



Escape was really the best solution. Once she got out of Mahora, she’d be free to kill whoever she wanted, so she wouldn’t have so much trouble when she was around Setsuna. Theoretically. If she was going to be honest, Tsukuyomi had to admit that when she touched her Senpai, it wasn’t just being close enough to kill Setsuna that got her blood boiling. Now that she could name why, that was uncomfortably obvious.



Tsukuyomi reached back and fluffed Setsuna’s pillow. Being free to slaughter as she pleased again sounded exquisite, but there was still the problem of not being around Setsuna.



Love was an annoying emotion.



Maybe, if the princess didn’t have to be involved… if no one knew that she was free, she could stay at Mahora and sneak out and kill things when Setsuna wasn’t looking. But as long as the princess was involved, the second her Seal broke, if she didn’t want it back, she’d have to leave immediately.



The door to the room creaked open and Tsukuyomi sat up, waiting to hear Setsuna’s mechanical complaint about her resting on the wrong bed.



Only it wasn’t Setsuna.



Tsukuyomi smiled. “Good afternoon, Gunslinger-onee-san!”



Mana shut the door behind her and nodded on her way to the beds. “Tsukuyomi. Enjoying yourself in here?”



“Not particularly. You and Senpai locked up all of your fun toys, so there’s nothing to do.” Not to mention Setsuna banning her from touching any pens or pencils. Explaining that to the Class Rep was fun. They dodged the issues as long as they could, but then Negi got dragged into the mess and Setsuna had to convince him to tell the Class Rep that Tsukuyomi couldn’t use writing utensils for health reasons.



“What are you doing here?”



Mana raised her eyebrows. “This is my room too. Just because I prefer to sleep elsewhere doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to be here.”



“But why would you want to be here?” Tsukuyomi was convinced that this had to be the most boring room in all of Mahora when Setsuna wasn’t around.



The gunslinger dragged one of the locked boxes out from under the bed. “The headmaster has requested that I take care of something for him. I’m running low on supplies since you’ve deprived me of Setsuna, so I get to restock here.”



“Demons?”



“Perhaps.”



Tsukuyomi got up from Setsuna’s nest and watched Mana unlock the box with interest. “What exactly is in there?”



“Nothing you’re allowed to touch.”



“That’s a negative way of looking at it.”



Mana removed the lock and took out a gun from—somewhere—to point it in between Tsukuyomi’s eyes. “Okay then. How about this? If you look or touch anything in the box while I have it out, I’ll make it so that you are utterly incapable of either action again.”



Tsukuyomi flopped back down on Setsuna’s nest with an irritated huff. “You’re no fun, Onee-san.”



“I try,” Mana said, opening the box while keeping her gun trained on Tsukuyomi.



Tsukuyomi watched her fellow mercenary work through the mysterious contents of the box for a few moments. Some of the noises coming from it sounded promising, but she doubted that the gunslinger would let her live long enough to use anything she found.



She should have tried using the pencil to pick the locks when she had the chance. At least with a weapon, she wouldn’t be bored.



Setsuna would probably catch her and confiscate it pretty quickly though.



“Hey, Onee-san?”



“Yes?”



“Have you ever been in love?”



The noises stopped for a second. “You and Setsuna really need to learn how to fix your relationship issues without involving me.”



Tsukuyomi shrugged and waited patiently for Mana to continue.



The girl sighed and turned around, her gun still not moving an inch. “I have.”



“And?”



She chuckled. “And what? I was fortunate enough to be in the unique position of not wanting to kill the person I loved, but there’s a reason it isn’t encouraged in our profession.”



Tsukuyomi propped herself up on her hands. “You’re being astoundingly unhelpful.”



Mana laughed and went back to clinking things together in the box. “I’m only being honest with you. I thought you preferred people like that?” She seemed to find what she was looking for; the noises stopped and she stuffed something that Tsukuyomi couldn’t quite see into her bag. In several quick motions, the gunslinger had the box once again locked (unfortunately) and under the bed.



She stood up and looked at Tsukuyomi with a silent, considering expression that reminded her quite a bit of Fate. “What are you going to do about it?”



Tsukuyomi frowned. “What do you mean?”



“Well, if, for instance, you were to decide that the inconvenience of the emotion was too much to handle and you’re better off killing Setsuna, I’d have to take certain precautions to make sure she lives past the semester.” Mana cocked her gun threateningly. Tsukuyomi rolled her eyes and pouted. They both knew she was basically useless right now.



“And if you’ve decided to try seducing her, I need to immediately discourage you.”



“I actually hadn’t thought that far ahead.” She kept getting stuck on the “can’t kill” dilemma. Now that she thought of it however… If she could touch Setsuna without wanting to kill her, she certainly wouldn’t mind touching Setsuna—everywhere. She’d had that body under hers before, after all—she knew exactly how that blazing heat and soft skin felt. For a fighter, Setsuna really did have a delicate body…



“And why?”



Mana rolled her eyes. “Because as inept as you are with intense emotions, Setsuna is worse. She is not going to handle any confession well, especially since the two of you just barely got over your urges to kill one another.”



“We’re not really over them—we just can’t do anything about it,” Tsukuyomi pointed out. “Setsuna-senpai’s too honorable to hurt me when all of my energy’s sealed up, and I don’t want to fight her when I’m like this.” Not that she was going to explain what “this” was. The gunslinger did not need to know that she was incapable of killing Setsuna for reasons beyond a simple lack of ki.



“Of course,” Mana murmured. “Fine then—you’ve both just gotten used to restraining yourselves. I doubt that restraint will last long if you bring up your feelings.”



So if she ever wanted to fight with Setsuna properly after she broke the Seal, she’d only have to say that she loved her. That still didn’t solve the killing problem, but it was very good to know. It wasn’t like this would—last—



Unless it did.



Tsukuyomi tried, for a moment, to imagine sometime in the future when she was free of the Seal; free to deal Setsuna as much damage as she wanted to. There would be absolutely nothing holding her back except her own will.



But even then… It was Senpai. Her Setsuna-senpai.



Could it really be like that? Could I really just… stay in love with her?



An odd fluttering feeling in her stomach seemed to agree with that thought.



“Now if you don’t mind,” Mana said, “I’d like to finish up my work before we’re supposed to be in class. Try to behave yourself.” Finally putting her gun away, Tsukuyomi’s typically absent roommate walked out of the room.



Tsukuyomi groaned and threw her head back on Setsuna’s pillow. She missed things being simple.

------

“What does sucking someone’s blood feel like?”



All things considered, that probably wasn’t the best way to phrase her question, but considering the look on Evangeline’s face, Setsuna figured that she had to at least say something before she got kicked out of the resort.



And it did get Evangeline to stop glaring at her.



The diminutive vampire wiped her mouth clean of the tea Setsuna’s poorly-timed question had nearly made her choke on.



“What,” she asked, “does someone like you need to know that for?”



Setsuna swallowed nervously. “Uh… I was just wondering… You’d be more sensitive to it, since you’re a vampire, so if anyone was going to know about why someone reacts to blood a certain way…” Setsuna trailed off, starting to think she’d be better off if she just tattooed ‘HELP’ to her forehead.



Evangeline stared at Setsuna, clearly unimpressed.



“Having fun with your girlfriend, are you?”



“Tsukuyomi is not my girlfriend!” Setsuna yelped defensively. She could feel her face burning at the very idea.



Evangeline rolled her eyes. “Fine. Is your homicidal roommate teaching you the finer things in life?”



Face still much redder than was probably healthy, Setsuna didn’t think her glare was anything approaching threatening. If anything, Evangeline’s smirk grew more pronounced. Trying to regain what little dignity she could have around the vampire, Setsuna cleared her throat and stood up straight.



“There was an… incident a few days ago. A, um, hobby of Tsukuyomi’s got out of hand. I was wondering… if there was something I could do to help, I could make sure something like that won’t happen again.”



Oddly enough, Evangeline’s amusement vanished at that. “And this hobby of hers is related to blood, is it?”



“That’s right.”



Evangeline spun her half-empty teacup around on her finger silently. Setsuna watched its progress nervously, wondering if the cup was going to be flung in her general direction for wasting the Dark Evangel’s time.



Then Evangeline abruptly stopped handling the teacup and tossed it back on the table, the remaining liquid barely splashing over the side. “Have you lost your mind, Sakurazaki?”



The question was asked so casually that Setsuna could almost fool herself into thinking that she hadn’t made an enormous mistake in staying behind in the resort—with no witnesses—to ask for Evangeline’s help.



“No,” Setsuna said, feeling very unconvincing.



Evangeline laughed. “No, of course not. You just think that if you understand her—if you can somehow apply logic to her actions—you can keep her from causing you trouble. Not a bad theory, but it has one glaring problem that you’ve managed to overlook.”



“Oh?”



“The girl is insane.” Evangeline took a long sip of tea and handed the cup off to one of Chachamaru’s sisters. “Even if I could give you some reason—some excuse for her behavior, it wouldn’t change anything. She’d still be a psychotic mess. The Ouroboros Seal is the only reason she hasn’t gone on a killing spree already, and you know it.”



Setsuna winced and tried to go back to the original topic. “Evangeline-san, could you just tell me if you’ve ever heard of someone who feels blood purely as heat? Even when nothing else feels warm to them?”



There, that was what she should have asked in the first place.



“Huh. You’re sure that’s how it works for her?”



“I think so.” Setsuna had been paying very close attention to Tsukuyomi over the last few days, especially the way the girl shivered in her sleep, and putting that together with some of the things the blonde said, it made sense. She just didn’t know how it worked.



Evangeline watched Setsuna for a few moments before snickering quietly. “So that’s why you’re so interested. Feeling a tad guilty about your request now? If you had just let her go off with Eishun in the first place, it wouldn’t be a problem.”



Setsuna looked down at her feet guiltily. “I don’t—I don’t think it’s just that.”



“Probably not, but you certainly didn’t help matters.”



“So have you heard of anyone with that problem before?”



Evangeline shrugged. “No. But then, I don’t make a habit of associating with bloodthirsty lunatics.”



So this had all been for nothing? Setsuna sighed. Great. She had thought if anyone would know about it, it would be Evangeline.



“There’s always the obvious explanation you know.”



Setsuna’s head shot up. “What’s that?”



“She’s crazy,” Evangeline said in a tone that was clearly questioning Setsuna’s sanity at this point. “There’s nothing wrong with her; that’s just how her head works.”



Setsuna bit her lip. Yes, there was always that possibility. That incredibly unhelpful possibility that didn’t give her any idea what she was supposed to do. She couldn’t just leave things like that; if nothing else, Tsukuyomi’s chronic shivering problem was starting to concern her.



And the option of occasionally giving Tsukuyomi a weapon to mutilate herself with was not something she wanted to seriously consider.



She sighed. “Thanks for the help, Evangeline-san.”



The vampire waved her off. “Sure.”



Setsuna bowed her head respectfully and started off towards the resort’s exit, feeling considerably more lost than when she’d started her conversation with Evangeline.



“Setsuna.”



The half-demon turned back around hopefully. “Yes?”



Evangeline was smirking again, her fangs standing out prominently. “You could always just let her have her killing spree. That would fix both your problems, wouldn’t it?”

------

Tsukuyomi would have dearly loved to ask what had put Setsuna in such a bad mood. Ever since coming back from training with her friends, her Senpai had seemed overly preoccupied with something that was making her frown a lot more than usual.



Normally, she would have harassed Setsuna into giving her an explanation, but she’d had her fill of complicated conversations today. Also, a distracted Setsuna was much easier to stare at than one paying full attention to her charge. In general, Setsuna didn’t tend to be appreciative of her staring.



“Tsukuyomi?”



So maybe she was paying a little attention, even if she was still staring at the floor with the most frustrated expression on her face. Tsukuyomi sat up in her bed, dangling her legs over the side. “Yes, Setsuna-senpai?”



Setsuna pulled at a thread sticking out of her nest and didn’t say anything for several moments. Then she turned her aggravated eyes on the ceiling. “You would have escaped weeks ago if Eishun-sama took custody of you, right?”



Tsukuyomi tilted her head to one side, considering the question. She’d never actually been in the Kansai Magic Association’s cells. She was very careful about not getting caught; she was only at Mahora because she should have died. If they hadn’t bothered healing her, she definitely wouldn’t be anyone’s prisoner.



Kotarou had managed to escape easily enough, hadn’t he?



“Probably,” Tsukuyomi answered. “Why?”



Setsuna didn’t respond immediately. She was still playing with the thread. Tsukuyomi watched her curiously, wishing her Senpai would pay her a little more attention at this point. Talking to someone who wouldn’t even look at her wasn’t interesting at all, even if it was Setsuna.



“I’m going to bed,” she muttered at last, standing up and walking over to the closet.



“Isn’t it a little early for you?” Normally they went to bed at the same time, and Tsukuyomi didn’t think she’d be trying to sleep for at least an hour.



Setsuna didn’t bother answering. She just quickly and quietly changed her clothes, taking care to keep most of her skin hidden from view. Tsukuyomi smiled a little at the attempted modesty. It really was cute that Setsuna still wasn’t comfortable with undressing in front of her. Not as cute as Setsuna unclothed but for now she’d take it.



Soon enough, the lights were off and Setsuna was curled up under her sheets.



Tsukuyomi mimicked her and stared up at the bottom of the top bunk, sighing when she realized she was counting the cracks in the wood. She really needed to make more progress with the princess so she could break the Seal. Her life when Setsuna was unconscious or otherwise not present was incredibly dull.



She looked over fondly at the other girl. The lines of Setsuna’s unhappy glare were finally evening out. She was almost looking peaceful.



Tsukuyomi smiled. “Good night, Setsuna-senpai,” she murmured. “Try not to sleep too badly.”



With that, she closed her eyes and gave up trying to pay any more attention to her very, very dull reality. Then, for some reason, the world tilted and became much more interesting, making her eyes snap open.



“Good night, Tsukuyomi.”

Spoiler for Notes:

Needless to say, this took forever to update. Sorry about that. School started, my health is less than stellar, and this chapter was just plain difficult to write.

Next chapter probably won't be the easiest either, since it's a little weird. However, unlike with this chapter, I know how it's supposed to end before I start it. With any luck that'll help, and it'll be up soon.

Thanks for reading!

Geeeeeeeeeeeez.......

I'll say it again: I love how you write Tsukuyomi. Her conversation with Mana was oddly reasonable, yet still absolutely insane. Having Mana and Evangeline call them girlfriends made me laugh (although.... KonoSetsu shipper! ). They really do have a complicated relationship!

Evangeline's conversation with Setsuna was hilarious. I love how unhelpful she was, and right at the very end when we think that she might offer some good advice, she lets that wicked side of herself out .

I feel bad if this has been described somewhere, but is Setsuna's nest an actual nest, or just a jumble of blankets and stuff?

Amaaaaaaaaaazing writing. I've never found myself so sympathetic towards a psychopath before!

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by Merctrin

New chapter from me. Finally.

Prequel
Prologue
Day 1
Day 2
Day 6
Day 7
Day 11
Day 12
Day -17
Day 14

Spoiler for Day 18:

Love.



Tsukuyomi had always been aware of the emotion in one way or another—it was everywhere; in the way comrades looked at each other before they broke and started begging for their lives; in the way partners swore their eternal loyalty to their masters, and they swore it right back… And always, always in the way bodyguards leapt in front of their charge, risking everything so that the person they valued could have one more moment to breathe.



Luna was in love with Negi. All of Fate’s partners loved him—even with him gone.



Love made people stupid. Most emotions caused people trouble of some sort, but love… Luna never would have helped Negi if she didn’t care for him, and the devotion of Fate’s partners could have easily gotten them killed.



From a professional standpoint, it was very clearly a bad thing.



Very, very clearly.



Tsukuyomi flopped down on Setsuna’s nest.



Their relationship wasn’t exactly professional, was it?



Since she had somehow managed to fall in love with Setsuna, she should probably start categorizing their relationship as personal.



Love was supposed to be good for personal relationships, right?



Tsukuyomi frowned up at the bloodless ceiling. She was sure that somewhere, a Fate with the ability to appreciate humor was laughing at her because of their role reversal. Teasing him about his infatuation with Negi and budding humanity had been so fun at the time…



And she couldn’t even resent Setsuna for it. She’d tried that.



Somehow, as much as she hated knowing there was someone in the world that she absolutely could not kill… It almost seemed okay because it was Setsuna. Her stubborn, serious, easily-embarrassed Senpai who managed to give her the pleasure of a lifetime every time they touched.



But there was still the problem of wanting to kill Setsuna. Ignoring everything else, Setsuna was still the best opponent she’d ever had, and every fiber of her being wanted to fight her senpai again and feel that burning blood on her face.



And really, all of that was fine and glorious—except—



Setsuna—really was cuter alive. Breathing. Talking. On very rare occasions, smiling.



So what to do?



Escape was really the best solution. Once she got out of Mahora, she’d be free to kill whoever she wanted, so she wouldn’t have so much trouble when she was around Setsuna. Theoretically. If she was going to be honest, Tsukuyomi had to admit that when she touched her Senpai, it wasn’t just being close enough to kill Setsuna that got her blood boiling. Now that she could name why, that was uncomfortably obvious.



Tsukuyomi reached back and fluffed Setsuna’s pillow. Being free to slaughter as she pleased again sounded exquisite, but there was still the problem of not being around Setsuna.



Love was an annoying emotion.



Maybe, if the princess didn’t have to be involved… if no one knew that she was free, she could stay at Mahora and sneak out and kill things when Setsuna wasn’t looking. But as long as the princess was involved, the second her Seal broke, if she didn’t want it back, she’d have to leave immediately.



The door to the room creaked open and Tsukuyomi sat up, waiting to hear Setsuna’s mechanical complaint about her resting on the wrong bed.



Only it wasn’t Setsuna.



Tsukuyomi smiled. “Good afternoon, Gunslinger-onee-san!”



Mana shut the door behind her and nodded on her way to the beds. “Tsukuyomi. Enjoying yourself in here?”



“Not particularly. You and Senpai locked up all of your fun toys, so there’s nothing to do.” Not to mention Setsuna banning her from touching any pens or pencils. Explaining that to the Class Rep was fun. They dodged the issues as long as they could, but then Negi got dragged into the mess and Setsuna had to convince him to tell the Class Rep that Tsukuyomi couldn’t use writing utensils for health reasons.



“What are you doing here?”



Mana raised her eyebrows. “This is my room too. Just because I prefer to sleep elsewhere doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to be here.”



“But why would you want to be here?” Tsukuyomi was convinced that this had to be the most boring room in all of Mahora when Setsuna wasn’t around.



The gunslinger dragged one of the locked boxes out from under the bed. “The headmaster has requested that I take care of something for him. I’m running low on supplies since you’ve deprived me of Setsuna, so I get to restock here.”



“Demons?”



“Perhaps.”



Tsukuyomi got up from Setsuna’s nest and watched Mana unlock the box with interest. “What exactly is in there?”



“Nothing you’re allowed to touch.”



“That’s a negative way of looking at it.”



Mana removed the lock and took out a gun from—somewhere—to point it in between Tsukuyomi’s eyes. “Okay then. How about this? If you look or touch anything in the box while I have it out, I’ll make it so that you are utterly incapable of either action again.”



Tsukuyomi flopped back down on Setsuna’s nest with an irritated huff. “You’re no fun, Onee-san.”



“I try,” Mana said, opening the box while keeping her gun trained on Tsukuyomi.



Tsukuyomi watched her fellow mercenary work through the mysterious contents of the box for a few moments. Some of the noises coming from it sounded promising, but she doubted that the gunslinger would let her live long enough to use anything she found.



She should have tried using the pencil to pick the locks when she had the chance. At least with a weapon, she wouldn’t be bored.



Setsuna would probably catch her and confiscate it pretty quickly though.



“Hey, Onee-san?”



“Yes?”



“Have you ever been in love?”



The noises stopped for a second. “You and Setsuna really need to learn how to fix your relationship issues without involving me.”



Tsukuyomi shrugged and waited patiently for Mana to continue.



The girl sighed and turned around, her gun still not moving an inch. “I have.”



“And?”



She chuckled. “And what? I was fortunate enough to be in the unique position of not wanting to kill the person I loved, but there’s a reason it isn’t encouraged in our profession.”



Tsukuyomi propped herself up on her hands. “You’re being astoundingly unhelpful.”



Mana laughed and went back to clinking things together in the box. “I’m only being honest with you. I thought you preferred people like that?” She seemed to find what she was looking for; the noises stopped and she stuffed something that Tsukuyomi couldn’t quite see into her bag. In several quick motions, the gunslinger had the box once again locked (unfortunately) and under the bed.



She stood up and looked at Tsukuyomi with a silent, considering expression that reminded her quite a bit of Fate. “What are you going to do about it?”



Tsukuyomi frowned. “What do you mean?”



“Well, if, for instance, you were to decide that the inconvenience of the emotion was too much to handle and you’re better off killing Setsuna, I’d have to take certain precautions to make sure she lives past the semester.” Mana cocked her gun threateningly. Tsukuyomi rolled her eyes and pouted. They both knew she was basically useless right now.



“And if you’ve decided to try seducing her, I need to immediately discourage you.”



“I actually hadn’t thought that far ahead.” She kept getting stuck on the “can’t kill” dilemma. Now that she thought of it however… If she could touch Setsuna without wanting to kill her, she certainly wouldn’t mind touching Setsuna—everywhere. She’d had that body under hers before, after all—she knew exactly how that blazing heat and soft skin felt. For a fighter, Setsuna really did have a delicate body…



“And why?”



Mana rolled her eyes. “Because as inept as you are with intense emotions, Setsuna is worse. She is not going to handle any confession well, especially since the two of you just barely got over your urges to kill one another.”



“We’re not really over them—we just can’t do anything about it,” Tsukuyomi pointed out. “Setsuna-senpai’s too honorable to hurt me when all of my energy’s sealed up, and I don’t want to fight her when I’m like this.” Not that she was going to explain what “this” was. The gunslinger did not need to know that she was incapable of killing Setsuna for reasons beyond a simple lack of ki.



“Of course,” Mana murmured. “Fine then—you’ve both just gotten used to restraining yourselves. I doubt that restraint will last long if you bring up your feelings.”



So if she ever wanted to fight with Setsuna properly after she broke the Seal, she’d only have to say that she loved her. That still didn’t solve the killing problem, but it was very good to know. It wasn’t like this would—last—



Unless it did.



Tsukuyomi tried, for a moment, to imagine sometime in the future when she was free of the Seal; free to deal Setsuna as much damage as she wanted to. There would be absolutely nothing holding her back except her own will.



But even then… It was Senpai. Her Setsuna-senpai.



Could it really be like that? Could I really just… stay in love with her?



An odd fluttering feeling in her stomach seemed to agree with that thought.



“Now if you don’t mind,” Mana said, “I’d like to finish up my work before we’re supposed to be in class. Try to behave yourself.” Finally putting her gun away, Tsukuyomi’s typically absent roommate walked out of the room.



Tsukuyomi groaned and threw her head back on Setsuna’s pillow. She missed things being simple.

------

“What does sucking someone’s blood feel like?”



All things considered, that probably wasn’t the best way to phrase her question, but considering the look on Evangeline’s face, Setsuna figured that she had to at least say something before she got kicked out of the resort.



And it did get Evangeline to stop glaring at her.



The diminutive vampire wiped her mouth clean of the tea Setsuna’s poorly-timed question had nearly made her choke on.



“What,” she asked, “does someone like you need to know that for?”



Setsuna swallowed nervously. “Uh… I was just wondering… You’d be more sensitive to it, since you’re a vampire, so if anyone was going to know about why someone reacts to blood a certain way…” Setsuna trailed off, starting to think she’d be better off if she just tattooed ‘HELP’ to her forehead.



Evangeline stared at Setsuna, clearly unimpressed.



“Having fun with your girlfriend, are you?”



“Tsukuyomi is not my girlfriend!” Setsuna yelped defensively. She could feel her face burning at the very idea.



Evangeline rolled her eyes. “Fine. Is your homicidal roommate teaching you the finer things in life?”



Face still much redder than was probably healthy, Setsuna didn’t think her glare was anything approaching threatening. If anything, Evangeline’s smirk grew more pronounced. Trying to regain what little dignity she could have around the vampire, Setsuna cleared her throat and stood up straight.



“There was an… incident a few days ago. A, um, hobby of Tsukuyomi’s got out of hand. I was wondering… if there was something I could do to help, I could make sure something like that won’t happen again.”



Oddly enough, Evangeline’s amusement vanished at that. “And this hobby of hers is related to blood, is it?”



“That’s right.”



Evangeline spun her half-empty teacup around on her finger silently. Setsuna watched its progress nervously, wondering if the cup was going to be flung in her general direction for wasting the Dark Evangel’s time.



Then Evangeline abruptly stopped handling the teacup and tossed it back on the table, the remaining liquid barely splashing over the side. “Have you lost your mind, Sakurazaki?”



The question was asked so casually that Setsuna could almost fool herself into thinking that she hadn’t made an enormous mistake in staying behind in the resort—with no witnesses—to ask for Evangeline’s help.



“No,” Setsuna said, feeling very unconvincing.



Evangeline laughed. “No, of course not. You just think that if you understand her—if you can somehow apply logic to her actions—you can keep her from causing you trouble. Not a bad theory, but it has one glaring problem that you’ve managed to overlook.”



“Oh?”



“The girl is insane.” Evangeline took a long sip of tea and handed the cup off to one of Chachamaru’s sisters. “Even if I could give you some reason—some excuse for her behavior, it wouldn’t change anything. She’d still be a psychotic mess. The Ouroboros Seal is the only reason she hasn’t gone on a killing spree already, and you know it.”



Setsuna winced and tried to go back to the original topic. “Evangeline-san, could you just tell me if you’ve ever heard of someone who feels blood purely as heat? Even when nothing else feels warm to them?”



There, that was what she should have asked in the first place.



“Huh. You’re sure that’s how it works for her?”



“I think so.” Setsuna had been paying very close attention to Tsukuyomi over the last few days, especially the way the girl shivered in her sleep, and putting that together with some of the things the blonde said, it made sense. She just didn’t know how it worked.



Evangeline watched Setsuna for a few moments before snickering quietly. “So that’s why you’re so interested. Feeling a tad guilty about your request now? If you had just let her go off with Eishun in the first place, it wouldn’t be a problem.”



Setsuna looked down at her feet guiltily. “I don’t—I don’t think it’s just that.”



“Probably not, but you certainly didn’t help matters.”



“So have you heard of anyone with that problem before?”



Evangeline shrugged. “No. But then, I don’t make a habit of associating with bloodthirsty lunatics.”



So this had all been for nothing? Setsuna sighed. Great. She had thought if anyone would know about it, it would be Evangeline.



“There’s always the obvious explanation you know.”



Setsuna’s head shot up. “What’s that?”



“She’s crazy,” Evangeline said in a tone that was clearly questioning Setsuna’s sanity at this point. “There’s nothing wrong with her; that’s just how her head works.”



Setsuna bit her lip. Yes, there was always that possibility. That incredibly unhelpful possibility that didn’t give her any idea what she was supposed to do. She couldn’t just leave things like that; if nothing else, Tsukuyomi’s chronic shivering problem was starting to concern her.



And the option of occasionally giving Tsukuyomi a weapon to mutilate herself with was not something she wanted to seriously consider.



She sighed. “Thanks for the help, Evangeline-san.”



The vampire waved her off. “Sure.”



Setsuna bowed her head respectfully and started off towards the resort’s exit, feeling considerably more lost than when she’d started her conversation with Evangeline.



“Setsuna.”



The half-demon turned back around hopefully. “Yes?”



Evangeline was smirking again, her fangs standing out prominently. “You could always just let her have her killing spree. That would fix both your problems, wouldn’t it?”

------

Tsukuyomi would have dearly loved to ask what had put Setsuna in such a bad mood. Ever since coming back from training with her friends, her Senpai had seemed overly preoccupied with something that was making her frown a lot more than usual.



Normally, she would have harassed Setsuna into giving her an explanation, but she’d had her fill of complicated conversations today. Also, a distracted Setsuna was much easier to stare at than one paying full attention to her charge. In general, Setsuna didn’t tend to be appreciative of her staring.



“Tsukuyomi?”



So maybe she was paying a little attention, even if she was still staring at the floor with the most frustrated expression on her face. Tsukuyomi sat up in her bed, dangling her legs over the side. “Yes, Setsuna-senpai?”



Setsuna pulled at a thread sticking out of her nest and didn’t say anything for several moments. Then she turned her aggravated eyes on the ceiling. “You would have escaped weeks ago if Eishun-sama took custody of you, right?”



Tsukuyomi tilted her head to one side, considering the question. She’d never actually been in the Kansai Magic Association’s cells. She was very careful about not getting caught; she was only at Mahora because she should have died. If they hadn’t bothered healing her, she definitely wouldn’t be anyone’s prisoner.



Kotarou had managed to escape easily enough, hadn’t he?



“Probably,” Tsukuyomi answered. “Why?”



Setsuna didn’t respond immediately. She was still playing with the thread. Tsukuyomi watched her curiously, wishing her Senpai would pay her a little more attention at this point. Talking to someone who wouldn’t even look at her wasn’t interesting at all, even if it was Setsuna.



“I’m going to bed,” she muttered at last, standing up and walking over to the closet.



“Isn’t it a little early for you?” Normally they went to bed at the same time, and Tsukuyomi didn’t think she’d be trying to sleep for at least an hour.



Setsuna didn’t bother answering. She just quickly and quietly changed her clothes, taking care to keep most of her skin hidden from view. Tsukuyomi smiled a little at the attempted modesty. It really was cute that Setsuna still wasn’t comfortable with undressing in front of her. Not as cute as Setsuna unclothed but for now she’d take it.



Soon enough, the lights were off and Setsuna was curled up under her sheets.



Tsukuyomi mimicked her and stared up at the bottom of the top bunk, sighing when she realized she was counting the cracks in the wood. She really needed to make more progress with the princess so she could break the Seal. Her life when Setsuna was unconscious or otherwise not present was incredibly dull.



She looked over fondly at the other girl. The lines of Setsuna’s unhappy glare were finally evening out. She was almost looking peaceful.



Tsukuyomi smiled. “Good night, Setsuna-senpai,” she murmured. “Try not to sleep too badly.”



With that, she closed her eyes and gave up trying to pay any more attention to her very, very dull reality. Then, for some reason, the world tilted and became much more interesting, making her eyes snap open.



“Good night, Tsukuyomi.”

Spoiler for Notes:

Needless to say, this took forever to update. Sorry about that. School started, my health is less than stellar, and this chapter was just plain difficult to write.

Next chapter probably won't be the easiest either, since it's a little weird. However, unlike with this chapter, I know how it's supposed to end before I start it. With any luck that'll help, and it'll be up soon.

Thanks for reading!

Um, is that a cliffhanger? Because I think it might be a cliffhanger. You evil person.

As always, it's fun to get a real look into Tsukuyomi's head and what makes her click. It's especially interesting to note that she's starting to get to a point where she can control her urges to kill when Setsuna is around; I doubt she'll be fully redeemed by the end of this fic, of course, but it certainly brings up some possibilities to be explored, that she might not be as insane as everyone assumes.

Mana and Eva are always fun to see, and it's cool to see them acting somewhat as foils for Tsukuyomi and Setsuna; only where Mana is somewhat more wary of Tsukuyomi and really trying her best to not get involved, Eva is outright encouraging something bad to happen. Somehow I get the feeling this will backfire spectacularly on them.

....

Is it bad of me that I'm actually kind of rooting for Setsuna and Tsukuyomi to work out their problems so they can really be together as a couple? Because I'm kind of rooting for them to work out their problems so they can really be together as a couple.

[Finalage]

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6194751/...rnate_Blossoms

Chapter Five of Alternate Blossoms, "Parlor Tricks" is up. Resistance Hertz is not dead by the way, just kind of stalling. Alternate Blossoms is pounding on my head.

[Sin Ansem]

Originally Posted by Merctrin

New chapter from me. Finally.

[snip]
Thanks for reading!

I've been reading this one for a while. I like it, peering into the eyes of Tsukuyomi and explaining why she's such a crazy lunatic. I do like how droll Mana and Eva tend to be--guess that's why everyone loves them as comedy relief.

I've updated GHQ yesterday evening. Check my sig for a new chapter.