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Unequally Rational and Emotional	By : OverMaster Category: +M to R > Mahou Sensei Negima/Magister Negi Magi Views: 8848 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Mahou Sensei Negima, all other works of fiction featured here, and related characters, don't belong to me. Neither do I make any money out of this.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Mahou Sensei Negima and all related elements and characters are the property and creation of Ken Akamatsu, and the author of this piece has made no material profit from it, and never will do.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and all its characters belong to Kumeta Koji.

Full Metal Panic and all its characters belong to Gato Shoji and Fujimi Shobo.

Mai Hime and all its characters belong to Sunrise.

All other characters mentioned also belong to their respective copyright holders.

Any similarity between the characters and events of this story and anyone or anything ever actually seen in real life is a pure coincidence.

Again, a lot of thanks to all my reviewers and contributors here and at the message boards I frequent. You guys and gals just rule.

UNEQUALLY RATIONAL AND EMOTIONAL-CHAPTER TEN.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel, Act One:

It had been three days since then.

"You can go ahead, Hasegawa-san" Negi had happily said after classes were over. "I'll stay for a little longer reviewing these assignments".

"Are you sure?" she asked, Hakase and Chachamaru gone by now. "Hmph, fine. Just remember to be at home before nightfall. I still don't trust Evangeline".

"Oh, come on" he laughed her concern off gently. "She has cleaned her course now. She has even returned to classes since then, and there haven't been any more reports of attacks, right?".

"Still not trusting" she insisted, then shrugged her shoulders. "If not for her, then be there early because I'll kick your butt if you don't, do you understand?".

He pouted. "That's no way to talk to your teacher...".

"No, but it's a way to talk to an unruly child. Bye" the girl walked out of the classroom without looking back. "I'll buy something for our dinner at Chao's on my way home, if you really need a good incentive" she calmly sweetened the deal before turning around a corner of the halls and disappearing from sight. Negi noticed the fast pace of her steps; no doubt she wanted to get home quickly and do a Chiu session before Chamo returned from his panty raid of the day.

Once alone, the boy drew in a deep breath. He rolled his sleeves up, grabbed his staff from the corner he kept it at, and walked with it to the middle of the empty class.

Well, mostly empty.

With an eager and nervous look on her face, Aisaka Sayo floated to meet him there, twiddling her vaporous fingers together. "D-Do you really think it will work?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"I am almost positive" he replied with a comforting nod of his head. "I researched on some of the tomes I brought from Merdiana Academy, and even consulted Chamo on it".

"Who's Chamo?" Sayo asked.

""Hum... a friend of mine" Negi chuckled. "He's a bit... eccentric, but a great fellow deep down. Anyway, I have been working on this spell for a few days now, and I think I should have it mastered now. We only need to test it for real".

"I don't know" the ghost whimpered. "I-I don't want to doubt you, but if it hasn't been tested yet, couldn't it h-harm me?".

"Relax, please" he asked her soothingly. "It's okay. Only offensive Astral Magic spells can hurt spirits. Even the exorcisms, and this has nothing to do with them, only can transport them away. And even if this comes out wrong, you will receive no harm at all. I guarantee it".

She smiled and nodded, eased by his promise. "Ahhh, that's a relief! Then let's do it, please!".

"Okay!" he grinned happily, then placed his staff over her head. "Rastel Maskir Magister. Teru Ma Amorista. Gate of the Spirit World, loosen your grip over this soul. Allow her presence to show itself to the eyes of the Magi. I ask thee in this hour, further her advance amidst the living! Walker of the Light, out of the Darkness!".

Then Sayo felt herself filled by a radiant and warm light that made her 'heart' to soar. She felt a new degree of solidity to herself; while far from that of a physical shape, she even could see the colors as brighter now, and she sensed some added sense of weight into her person.

"Waaaiiii! I think it has worked, Sensei!" she chirped with glee.

"I'm glad!" he smiled. Then he informed her, "With this, mundanes still won't be able to see you, but mages, and those who derive magical power from sorcerers, like Ministra Magi, will see and hear you, not only Kasuga-san and me. You are going to make a lot of new friends!" he offered. At least Evangeline-san and Chao-san, he thought. With any luck, she could bring Eva further out of her shell.

"Yayyy!" Sayo cheered. "But, oh, wait. Won't this bring us some problems? Do you think your fellow teachers will agree?".

Negi froze in the spot immediately.

He KNEW he had been forgetting some detail.

"W-Well..." he started to sweat. "I guess it'll be okay if you keep yourself out of their sight. It's not like the magically aware ones are going to enter without any warning at any given—".

Then the classroom's room was slammed open from the outside, heralding Itoshiki Nozomu's rushed entrance, scaring Negi nearly to death. "NEGI-SENSEI!" the tall thin man yelled. "I BRING HIDEOUS, DESPAIRING NEWS! HASEGAWA-SAN TOLD ME YOU'D BE HERE—".

"I-I-Itoshiki-sensei!" Negi quickly spun around, attempting to shield Sayo with his back, just as the spectre cowered behind him. "M-May I help you with something?".

The older teacher stopped, looking at the ghostly figure badly attempting to hide behind a child much shorter than her. "As a matter of fact, yes" the suicidal dark mage said in a flatly awkward tone. "You could begin by telling me, is that a ghost you are hiding from me?".

"Hm... no" the boy shook his head vehemently.

"Because I am seeing it now" Nozomu insisted.

"Wh-Where?" Negi stammered.

"Attempting to crouch down behind your back, which I think might work better if she had any actual legs" Itoshiki said.

"Um, she's just... shy. And an albino. That explains her pale skin and lack of color of hair, see?" the child lamely stated.

"She has no legs" Itoshiki repeated itself.

"A tragic accident..." Negi whined pitifully.

"..." Mr. Despair stared blankly at them.

"..." his much younger colleague averted the stare as best as he could.

"I don't doubt this has been a tragic accident, indeed" the man finally stated, his voice unchanged.

Negi felt himself as dead as Sayo then.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel, Act Two:

"P-p-P-p-Please don't exorcise me! And don't turn Negi-sensei into an ermine, either!" Sayo bursted out into ectoplasmic tears. "Have mercy, creepy man-san!".

"Wh-What-san?" Nozomu babbled.

"I'll go away and never come back if you want so!" the ghost wailed. "But don't punish Negi-sensei! He and Kasuga-san are the only two people who have ever tried to help me! Oh, no! Now I have involved her as well! Forget I said that! To be honest, I wasn't talking about Kasuga Misora! It was another Misora! No, I mean another Kasuga! Who doesn't study here!".

"Please forgive her, Sir!" Negi stepped in. "Her name's Aisaka Sayo, and she has been invisible to everyone at this Academy for the last sixty years! I, I just tried to give her some happiness! I beg you, don't hold that against us!".

Itoshiki sighed. "We all would fall into serious disgrace if this becomes public knowledge, so I won't divulge it" he relented. "But do try to keep her away from all our colleagues, will you? Regardless, Aisaka-san...".

"Y-Yes?" the spirit sniffed her tears back.

"I intend to join the afterlife in the near future" he calmly informed. "How is it, from your experience? It cannot be any worse than the tortures of the living world, but exactly how less distasteful is it?".

"... I have only wandered through this campus for all this time" Sayo finally replied, meekly. "I haven't ever seen anything like Heaven or Hell..." she shuddered visibly, "... nor any other ghosts, angels or demons. So I suppose it is... mostly like your life?".

The man slummed his head down. "I should have expected it! These cursed grounds are like a trap, binding us to them! For the likes of me, there is no escape, no relief, at any world at either side of the mortal line! DESPAIR!" he yelled. "The idea of being chained to this school for all eternity after my demise fills me with DESPAIR!".

He lifted his head back up. "Ah, yes, Negi-sensei. Arai-sensei, the psychological counsellor, wishes to talk with both of us".

"Really? Why?" the child teacher asked.

"Because we have a serious problem student at Class 2-F", the beautiful, elegant Arai Chie, a shapely woman in her late twenties, with short black hair and perfectly manicured fingernails, looked at her notepad minutes after that, sitting crosslegged at her office before Negi, Nozomu and Sayo. The ghost girl still was invisible to the supernaturally untrained eyes of the psychotherapist. "Her name is Komori Kiri, and she has refused to attend classes ever since the new term started, two weeks ago. She already gave serious signs of reclusive tendences last year, but never to this degree. I attempted to talk with her this Monday, but I couldn't reach to her; she is stubborn and unwilling to cooperate. However, since you apparently have managed some level of success on helping Hakase-san and Hasegawa-san to socialize more with others, I thought of asking for your help with this situation, Negi-sensei. Would you be willing to do it?".

"Naturally!" Negi nodded bravely.

"That's a relief to hear" Chie smiled. "Itoshiki-sensei will show you the way to her rooms".

"I already have enough with my own distressing problems, sorry" Nozomu politely refused while installing a hangman's noose on the roof of the office, with his back now turned on them. "I can't possibly be of any help. And besides, even if I would suvive this, I have a bath at a private alligator pit and an early dinner with stricnine and arsenic lined up for this afternoon".

Then Arai-sensei sneaked around to look at his face, giving him an up close and personal piercing glare.

It made even Negi's skin to crawl all over. Despite its lack of anything supernatural about it, and even though the rest of her face being completely unchanging, not even scowling at all, that glare was one of the most fearsome things he ever had seen.

Poor Itoshiki didn't have a chance.

"O-Of course, I could take a couple of hours out of my suicide agenda..." he babbled nervously.

Chie-sensei smiled sweetly anew. "It pleases me to hear that!".

"There are a million things far worse than death, Negi-sensei" the grownup explained minutes afterward, as the two of them and Sayo reached the doors of Komori's place. "Arai-sensei holds the keys to most of them".

"Scary..." the ghost trembled.

They were greeted by Komori's roommate, a teenager with a modest thin build and very short black hair named Tsunetsuki Matoi. For some reason or another, she was wearing a boy's school uniform, and her voice was uneven and agitated, as that of an addict on withdrawal.

"Kiri-chan never leaves, no matter what" she explained, pointing at their bedroom's door. "She hates sunlight, but mostly open spaces. I can't be expected to drag her to school. No time for that. I have a relationship to keep with my boyfriend. If I don't spend all of my time with him, he'll leave me!" she ranted paranoidly. "I leave this in your hands. I must go to see him. I'll ask him out on a date. Yes. Yes. That. Good luck!" she quickly bolted away out the front door.

Negi just kept on staring in the direction she had taken, with his eyes turned into tiny black spots. "What... What is wro— happening with her?" he asked.

"Tsunetsuki-san is a chronic stalker" Itoshiki answered. "She changes boyfriends often; once she has found a new romantic obsession, she latches onto the unfortunate young man's life and starts copying his habits, his hobbies, his customs and his clothing style. Plus, she follows them around at all hours and places".

"What?" Negi gasped.

"Yes, my class is sadly full of such misfits and maniacs!" Nozomu lamented loudly. "They are my shame, although fitting someone as low as me! And yet, what wouldn't I give for a normal class like yours, Negi-sensei!" he confided in another annoying outburst.

"We... We are normal?" Sayo blinked blankly, pointing an index finger at her own chest. "... Us?".

The Light at the End of the Tunnel, Act Three:

Both teachers stood before the thick door to the girls' bedroom, with Sayo floating right behind them. They all remained still and silent for a few moments until Negi gathered the courage to step ahead and gently knock on the door.

"Komori-san?".

No one gave him any reply.

"Komori Kiri-san?" he tentatively repeated.

"GO AWAY!" a female voice shouted angrily from inside.

Finally, Itoshiki sighed and bothered to speak. "Komori-san, we are your teachers. We have been commissioned to see you attend your lessons!".

"Leave me alone!" the voice yelled back.

"Ugugugu..." Sayo shrank back, putting her hands together over her own chest. "She sounds so scary, she must be a horrible person...".

"Please, Komori-san" Negi attempted to negotiate. "It's only for your own good. At least tell us why you don't want to—".

"That school is not a safe place! It's... It's... It's full of people!" the unseen girl screamed.

All three of them blinked.

"I don't get your point" Negi flatly admitted.

"I hate people! Especially weird people like you all! I heard from Matoi you were a child teaching classes and a suicidal madman! And I've seen even worse people out there! Even the Principal looks like an alien!".

Negi's eyes widened. "Konoemon-sensei?".

"Well, his head IS somewhat strangely shaped" Itoshiki conceded. "I'd kill myself if I had one like that".

"And he dresses like he's at China two centuries ago" Komori's voice agreed.

"And he smells sort of funny as well" Nozomu nodded.

"His voice is weird, too" Komori added.

"And the way he looks at Shizuna-sensei when he thinks no one else is looking..." Nozomu made a disgusted face.

"Sensei, aren't you just adding more fuel to her fire?" Sayo wondered.

"Regardless, Komori-san, even if they all are strange, annoying, rude, crass, bothersome, despairing, irritating, abnormal, unbearable and unsympathetic, they still are your classmates and teachers!" the adult went on. "Step out of that room immediately, please!".

"NO!" she stubbornly insisted. "I'll never leave with so many freaks outside!".

Nozomu shook his head. "She makes Hasegawa-san to look positively well adjusted".

"No joking" Negi marveled. "What will we do now?".

"I don't know. We can't just break in; we'd be accused of intimacy violation. But at the same time, we will be the object of scorn and disapproval if we fail at such a basic mission. Then again, I am used to it..." Itoshiki mused.

"It'd help if we knew exactly what are the exact conditions in there" Negi attempted to think of a solution. "But how...".

"I-I'll go in" Sayo offered herself.

The boy looked at her. "Are you sure, Aisaka-san?".

"Y-Yes!" she nodded. "I must pay you back for helping me to meet Kasuga-san and Itoshiki-sensei! I can go in even if you can't!".

Nozomu nodded. "She is right. And besides, she will not be seen or heard, so she will not disturb our troublesome pupil" he whispered.

Negi nodded back, then smiled at his student. "Okay, Aisaka-san! Thank you very much!".

Sayo smiled with awkward enthusiasm. "I'll do my best for you!".

"I'm sure you will" the child mage confidently said.

As both teachers watched her passing through the door and into the bedroom, Itoshiki seemed to have an idea. He looked down at Negi and said, "I also believe I might find more clues about Komori-san's condition if I look through the rest of the rooms. You stay here and watch over the door in case she decides to come out".

"Okay" the boy agreed, not suspecting anything.

Satisfied at the result of his words, Nozomu headed for the kitchen, and once he was out of Negi's sight, he began looking into the cabinet of knives. With a quiet morbid fascination, his gaze fell upon them, carefully measuring each one with a clinic eye.

"It must be as painless as possible, yet also sharp enough to do it decisively quick..." he told himself. "However, I must leave as little of a stain on their floor as I can. Oh, decisions, decisions... Maybe the saw-edged one? No, far too messy...".

Meanwhile, Sayo floated through the darkened room, gulping and cringing in the deadly silence of the warm (perhaps too warm) place. It was eerily quiet, except for the corner from where she could hear a few tiny sobs.

There it was, with its back turned to her, a slim figure wrapped in a huge and thick red blanket, with long jet black hair covering its features. A pair of pale bare feet peeked out from under the blanket. The person was sitting there, surrounded by a few magazines, a portable TV, some empty bottles of soda and a mess of discarded clothes.

Sayo's ghostly teeth clattered, as she drank on the creepy appearance of the room's inhabitant. She was about to turn tail and run out when she was paralyzed by panic at seeing the hermit lifting her head up in alarm, staring in her direction with haunted eyes.

"Who's there?" Komori Kiri asked in a choked, shocked voice which quickly became a shrill shriek.

The most hideous thing in the world had just appeared at the middle of her bedroom; a shapeless shadow with a long white mane, and deep red eyes like those of a demon. "THE D-DEVIL!" she was terrified.

"YOU ARE?" Sayo, in her own terror, mistook it for an introduction. "N-N-N-NEGI-SENSEI! SAVE ME!" she broke out into wailing tears again.

"THE BANSHEE SCREAM!" Komori rushed to cover her own ears with her hands. "IT'S THE SIGN OF DEATH!".

"SHE HAS JUST THREATENED ME WITH DEATH! NEGI-SENSEIIIII!".

"Hold on, Aisaka-san!" Negi shouted from outside, readying his staff to blow the door down. He had no idea of what was happening in there, but no time to ponder it, either. However, before he could conjure a spell, the door slammed open from inside and smashed him against a wall. "Uguuuuu!".

"IDONWANTTODIEIDONTWANTTODIE!" Komori ran out of the room as quick as her legs could carry her.

As a groggy Negi slumped down to the floor, Sayo tackled him in a hug and buried her tearful face into his chest. "It was the scariest thing I've ever seen...!" she bawled. "Help me, Sensei...!"

"Si St Er..?" he gurgled. "i Do N'tt Thh I Nk i Wan TO go TO skOOl twODay...".

The Light at the End of the Tunnel, Act Four:

Itoshiki was so absorbed into the comparison and analysis of the sharp instruments of death and cooking aligned before him, he didn't even actually register on the screams of panic and anguish coming from the other rooms.

Neither did he really notice when Komori Kiri ran into the kitchen looking for any hideout that wouldn't demand her to actually leave the house.

"Help me! Help me!" she screamed as she ran straight towards... and into... him, to tackle him with a frantic hug from behind, toppling him over the knives' cabinet. "Save me from the hordes of Hell!"

Nozomu gasped as he lost balance, falling facefirst into a veritable collection of large and small knives, the kind of collection only a devoted obsessive stalker would amass. For a moment he just laid there, motionless, surrounded by sharp edges, with a sobbing girl clinging to his back.

Then, miraculously spared for some reason from being stabbed by any knife, he sprang back to his feet, turned around to face the young woman, and shouted at her, "WHAT IF I HAD DIED?".

"KYA!" Komori backed away quickly, crouching down at a corner like a corralled animal. She turned her face away and began to cry, nearly hysterical. "Why... Why do these things happen to me? I, I wasn't doing anything bad! All I wanted was to be left alone... at peace..."

Negi and Sayo had entered the kitchen, and mutely, they watched how Itoshiki's expression softened while looking at the girl who suffered at their feet.

"Out there, there are so many weird and fearsome things... Things no one else can see, and they told me I'm crazy..." Kiri continued sobbing pitifully. "It drives me mad, I can't cope with it... Why can't I stay here where I'm safe? What do I do to anyone with it...?".

"I understand" the adult teacher knelt down next to her. "It drives all of us insane. It's a harsh, cruel world. It is the way it is, and it won't change. But we must either live with it or die. No middle grounds".

He reached with his hands for the extremely long bangs of black hair covering her face. She attempted to resist, but before she could do anything, he already had moved her hair aside.

She looked at the three of them with huge tearful eyes, while a red coloring ran over her pale cheeks as her gaze met that of her Sensei.

"You're beautiful" Itoshiki said softly. "With such fair skin, as white as the purest snow".

He took his hands away, leaving her wordless. Negi simply stared without understanding. Sayo cooed to herself, swooning gleefully.

Komori stammered for a few moments without managing the words out, but then Nozomu calmly told her, "If you ever want to die, please tell me first".

Taking it as a sign of him valuing her life and promising to be there for her, the girl, the boy teacher and the spirit were all deeply moved.

"Ah..." Kiri sighed.

"Itoshiki-sensei..." Negi had stars in his eyes. "You are an inspiration to me...".

"I had misjudged you before...!" Sayo ran a sleeve over her own face, wiping her newfound tears off.

All the while, the adult ignored them, pulling a notebook out and adding Miss Komori to a short list of likely future suicide partners he had made.

The next day, Negi was finishing his classes with another study group, and he was walking back to 2-A to rejoin Chisame when he saw a miserable looking Itoshiki standing at the doors of 2-F.

"Itoshiki-sensei?" the child stopped in front of him. "What's wrong?"

"It's... Komori-san" Mr. Despair sighed heavily.

"She still hasn't shown up for classes, has she?" Negi asked with some pity.

"No, it isn't that!" the older teacher lamented. "She was here before anyone else this morning! I also got to learn what caused her problem in the first place! Apparently she has some sort of natural hyper-sensitivity to magical energies, which makes her to feel all the magical powers floating around Mahora, confusing and scaring her!".

"Ah, that explains why she could see Aisaka-san" Negi seemed satisfied at the explanation. After Eva and Chao had given no signs of seeing the ghost that morning, even though he suspected they were faking ignorance, he was starting to doubt the effects of his spell. "But then why are you so sad? I don't get it..."

Itoshiki opened the classroom's door for him. "Behold it by the means of your own eyes!".

Negi looked inside to see the empty classroom, only it was not exactly empty. Kiri and Sayo sat at the back of the room around a small kotatsu table, surrounded by several stacks of magazines, a portable TV, a cheap laptop, a radio, and a few boxes full with Komori's belongings.

Kiri was pouring two cups from a small teapot. "More tea, Sayo-chan?" she quietly asked.

The ghost smiled happily. "Yes, please!"

Komori smiled back, handing her one of the cups. "Enjoy it".

"I will! Thanks!" Sayo daintily held the cup and drank from it, the liquid falling right through her and spilling all across the floor. "Ahhh! It was delicious!".

"Instead of refusing to leave her room, she refuses to leave the classroom now!" Itoshiki slumped his head down.

"Omni Initium Est Difficile, I guess" a large drop of sweat had appeared on top of Negi's head.

Deep Love, Act One:

"A stalker?" Munakata Shiho blinked several times, astonished.

"It has to be!" the also short, thin, young girl sitting before her nodded vigorously. She wore thick round glasses, and her light brown hair was tied up into two huge pigtails. She still was wearing her school uniform, just like her taller, curvier, dark haired friend next to her. "That guy has done nothing but chasing Kana-chan around since he was transferred here!"

The four of them were sitting at the privacy of the Mahora Tatsumiya shrine, both mikos in training wearing their priestess outfits.

"Elaborate" Mana asked very calmly.

"It's nothing, actually" Chidori Kaname scoffed dismissively. "The guy's creepy, yeah, but harmless. He doesn't send love letters, he doesn't try to hit on me, nothing! He just follows me around from a distance, always from afar, never saying anything. And that's it".

"That's it?" Shiho scowled. "No way".

"Yeah, nothing else to it" the upperclasswoman shrugged. "Well, only one thing. Once, I got sick of him shadowing us, so I confronted him. He said he had no idea what was I saying, so I got angry and tried to punch him. But he blocked every punch as if it was nothing! I couldn't land a single blow on him. But he didn't strike back, he just blocked and then apologized and left. But by the next day he was following us again, only from a larger distance".

"Weirdo" Shiho put on a face of disgust.

"What does that have to do with us?" Mana was not amused. "Do you wish for a special prayer for your safety? That'll be 500 yen".

The geeky looking girl frowned at her. "Of course not. We know the rumors about you, Tatsumiya-san. They say you fix people's problems for a fee, like a mercenary. That even the Headmaster looks aside and lets you do that".

"What if it were true, Tokiwa Kyoko?" the taller, yet younger female fixed an icy glare on her. "Would you have the resources to afford my services if such were the case?"

Ignoring Kaname's weary sigh, Kyoko emptied her purse in front of Mana, a small hill of coins and bills falling between them. "Yes, I think I do".

With her interest just visibly piqued, Mana did not change her neutral expression, but her fingers moved quickly to count the money at a surprisingly fast pace. Then she shook her head. "It is not enough".

"WHAT?" Kyoko yelled. "Those were our savings of two months!"

"You are still two thousand yen short. Bodyguarding services are never cheap" the dark skinned girl was categorical.

"We only want you to scare that guy away!" Kyoko protested. "It shouldn't take you even a hour!"

"Are you insinuating I am some kind of... demon?" Mana asked flatly.

"Huh? Well, no, but—".

"Let it go, Kyoko" Kaname started to gather the money back. "I told you, we are perfectly able to look after ourselves. Let's just get back home, and they don't even have to see a single cent of this".

Shiho watched silently how her Oneesama's right eyebrow twitched just a bit. "Wait" Mana said.

Kaname stared evenly at her eyes. "For what?".

"We will accept that sum and two weeks of lunches as our payment" Tatsumiya replied.

"Too much" Kaname shook her head.

"One week of lunches, and you start calling us your sempais" the tall Miko offered, her voice still flat. "That's my final offer".

"You are joking!" Chidori snapped. "Why should we call you 'Sempai'? You may be taller than a skyscraper, but we still are two courses above you!".

"We'll take it!" her friend nodded.

"Kyoko!" Kaname exclaimed.

Her shorter companion gave her a begging look. "Please, Kana-chan! It's a small price to pay for some quietness and peace of mind!".

"I have a question" Mana looked at the bespectacled teen again. "You do seem awfully personal in your fear towards that classmate. Are you sure he isn't tailing you instead of your friend? You two are always together, after all".

"M-Me?" Kyoko put a hand over her own modest chest. "Heck, no! Why should he? I'm short, nerdy, and look like a kid! He must be after Kana-chan! After all, she's the popular, pretty and well liked one!".

Chidori-san rolled her eyes around. "Pfft. You say the silliest things".

Mana pondered that in silence for a moment, then nodded. "Fair enough. In that case, tomorrow after classes, make yourselves sure to draw him away from his dorm for at least two hours. To defeat the enemy, you must get to know him in depth first".

Shiho's body posture shifted to one of stiff discomfort. "Wait a second, Oneesama. Don't you mean..."

"I do" Mana dryly nodded.

Munakata whispered into her right ear. "Weren't we supposed to cover the case of the underwear thief?"

"Not anymore" Mana whispered back. "The Dean himself told me to leave it alone".

Shiho grumbled, then asked both visitors, "Haven't you tried to denounce that creep to the teachers?".

"We did" Kaname answered. "All we got were a few nervous laughs and being told we were being... paranoid".

"It was so weird" Kyoko put a a finger on her chin. "Like they almost were afraid or something".

Mana's eyes seemed to gain just the slightest hint of interest.

"Maybe he's the son of some really big fish" Kaname huffed. "Those guys think they own the world".

"No. Not them, exactly" Mana quietly observed.

"Huh?" the visitors looked back at her.

She made a vague sign with her head. "Never mind. Just follow my instructions to the letter. And remember, I like sweet beans with my lunch".

Kyoko scowled. "Sweet beans?".

Everyone was right; 2-A indeed was full of weirdasses.

Deep Love, Act Two:

"Oneesama..." Shiho whined while nervously looking over her shoulder, "I still don't think we should be doing this... This is a boys-only dormitory! If we are caught—".

"All the neighboring rooms' inhabitants have been... convinced to allow us free access" her Sempai calmly replied while stepping to the front door. Shiho still pouted, though. The corridor they were at could have been unusually deserted now, and she of all people knew well about her superior's intimidating skills, but in their recent dealings with the neighbors, they had seemed just as afraid of that Sagara boy as they were of Mana herself.

Even so, Mana did not seem fazed at all while examining the door's lock. "Shiho" she dryly commanded. "Look at this".

The younger girl looked closely at it. "What the—? This isn't a normal lock at all!".

"No, it isn't, obviously" Mana stated with the briefest hint of irony. "It requires a fingerprint identification and optical scan, plus an access card, to grant entry. Its the kind normally used at military instalations. As such, it requires a highly special bypass measure".

She pulled a small device similar to a cube with a tiny drill and drove it pointfirst into the lock, jamming it quickly enough to drown the first sounds of an alarm into absolute silence.

"There. It should have hacked into the rooms' whole security system. Any traps not directly activated by human contact should have been rendered useless" Tatsumiya sedately observed. "But just in case, walk right behind me at all times and don't touch anything".

"Was that from Chao Lingshen?" Shiho asked, eyeing the little gizmo warily.

"From Chao Lingshen" Mana nodded only once.

The redhead tilted her face aside. "That girl will never stop creeping me out".

"Silence. Follow me" Mana pushed the door in, and it posed no resistance. They gave a single step in, Mana not turning the lights on, but using a lantern instead. Aiming the lantern's light in all directions revealed a few red laser beams set around the nearby doors, plus a few random spots on the floor that seemed to have some sort of faintly glowing mechanism hidden underneath them. "Don't step on any of them".

"I won't" Shiho could nothing but nodding.

They walked in deeper and deeper into the small home, which was decorated in an extremely Spartan and functional fashion. "Sagara Sousuke lives alone, which is rather unusual considering the high demand for housings at the Mahora area" Mana was relating without ever changing her business tone. "Look over there, at that window" she gestured at their left. "That building you see through it happens to be the female residence where Tokiwa and Chidori do habit. Judging from the angle, I'd feel safe guessing Sagara has a clear view of our contractors' quarters from there".

"What a pervert! And going so far for it, too!" Shiho whispered.

"Hmmm" the tanned girl made a thoughtful sound. Without adding anything else, she reached a door that had the most lasers around it. Pulling a small can of spray out, she bathed the laser generators with a strange white substance that turned them off immediately. Only then did Mana push that door open as well, and they saw what seemed to be their investigation subject's bedroom, a simple and humble enough room with nothing to write home about.

Except for the huge collection of weapons and fireams of all kinds stashed all around the closet, including hand grenades, hunting knives, cans of pepper gas, Magnums, a few stunguns, a shotgun or two or three, electric batons, brass knuckles, Swiss army knives, and even a slingshot.

The other oustanding thing was a wall full of tacked on, nailed on, stuck on and hanged on images of all sorts of Tokiwa Kyoko, ranging from official documents to carnet photos, but most of them were photographies of her in unsuspecting everyday situations all across the Mahora campus.

Shiho's pigtails stood up in point. "This guy's a murderous nutjob!" she cried. "No wonder Tokiwa-sempai was so worried! I never had seen anything like this! And she, not Chidori-sempai, was the target after all! You nailed it, but how— ".

"Not Sempais, Shiho. They are our kohais now" Mana was unfazed, ignoring the weapons much to her assistant's puzzlement after giving them a brief but intense and knowledgeable gaze. Instead, she headed towards the wall covered with photos, carefully looking up and down at them.

Shiho stopped at her side. "I have heard of things like this before. It's a stalker shrine! Those wackos keep them to collect photographies and mementos from those they stalk. Tsunetsuki-sempai from 2-F is told to have a few of them at her home".

"I doubt this is a work born out of passion" Mana evenly pondered. "Chidori told us Sagara never carried cameras around, and never even took pics of them with his cellphone. Plus, look at these photographies, at this side. These ones are airbone, or at the very least taken from a high rooftop's height. You would need a helicopter for some of these angles. No, Sagara has not taken these photos. They are someone else's labor".

Shiho blinked. "You mean there are several psychos working together here? Like a demented fanclub?".

"Worse than stalkers and lovers, if I am not wrong" Mana, for the first time in the whole day, scowled deeply. "Far worse".

She quickly turned around and stomped her way back towards the door. "Out of here, fast! They must know we have entered. I'd bet on that, even with Chao's device breaking the main cameras down".

"They?" Shiho nearly ran after her. "Who are 'they?".

Tatsumiya's eyes narrowed dangerously. "That's what I'm going to ask him".

Deep Love, Act Three:

Tatsumiya Mana stood alone, quiet and silent, under the shadow of the World Tree. The twilight was painting the Mahora landscape with a faint red heralding the upcoming night when Tokiwa and Chidori arrived to the meeting point, both looking rather puzzled and unnerved.

"We got your text message" Kaname mumbled, her voice tense. "So, why did you call us here, after all?". She crossed her arms and lightly tapped a foot on the grass.

Mana didn't reply until she saw her kouhai approaching from the opposite direction, with several paper wards in her hands. "Is the perimeter fully secured, Shiho?" the tanned female dryly asked her.

"Yes, Oneesama!" the small girl saluted. "Exactly like you wanted!".

"Good" Mana nodded before addressing her contractors. "As requested, we performed a background search on the subject. We made quite a few interesting discoveries, but we still need the final piece of the puzzle. And for that, we need your cooperation".

"Of... of course" Kyoko blinked, somewhat shocked at seeing the feared Tatsumiya so softly asking for their help. "What do we have to do?".

"Come closer" Mana gestured for them to approach. "This needs to be said in privacy".

Without any word of protest, both sempais advanced toward her. Only to fall squarely into a camouflaged pit trap five steps on their way.

"YOW! HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA HERE?" Kaname protested from the bottom of the hole, while Kyoko rubbed her aching head, sitting on her friend's stomach.

Never missing a beat, Mana simply and very quickly pulled an IMI Desert Eagle and trained it down on both of them, making them to loudly yelp in terror, while aiming another one in the direction they had come from. Behind her, Shiho simply sighed in resignation.

"Sagara Sousuke!" Mana called out with a stern, commanding tone. "Step out of your hiding! Or else, I make no promises about your charge's safety!".

"ARE YOUT OUT OF YOUR FLIPPING MIND?" Kaname angrily yelled. "WAIT UNTIL I PUT MY HANDS ON YOU—".

"Kuh-Kana-chan!" Kyoko cried. "Not while that thing's aimed at us, please!".

Mana ignored them, keeping her eyes fixed on the lone figure stepping out from behind some small trees, like a chameleon appearing out of nowhere. He was tall and handsome, with rebellious short black hair and a small cross shaped scar on the left side of his chin. He seemed merely two years older than her, but his cold jaded eyes spoke of a past as harsh as her own. He still was wearing the standard school uniform, well pressed and clean, even hours after classes were over.

"Shiho" the tall Miko ordered, with her voice never faltering at all. "Take cover".

"Y-Yes. Um, good luck, Oneesama!" the redhead gulped down, rushing to hide behind the gigantic trunk of the arcaic tree.

"Sagara-kun" Mana continued, not moving an inch. Neither did he. "I know your actions aren't moved by desire or lust. What, then, moves you to monitor Tokiwa Kyoko?".

"Ehhhhh?" the bespectacled girl raised her voice from below. "It can't be! I'm the one he's chasing? It has to be a mistake!"

He did not reply. Until Mana simply thrusted the gun's barrel down, making both of her prisoners to yell again.

"I'm not authorized to share that information" he flatly said then.

"You are not authorized to let any harm to befall her, either" Mana threatened, pointing further down once more.

"You will not shoot her" he simply said. "We do have files on you, too. We know you never have killed an innocent civilian".

"I could shoot her in a leg" Mana replied. "Would you be willing to accept that?".

"NO! NO!" Kyoko pleaded.

"TATSUMIYA!" Kaname howled. "I'M GOING TO GRAB YOUR NECK AND TWIST AND TWIST!".

"... No" Sagara finally relented.

"Then drop all your weaponry down and walk to me. Slowly. Without tricks" the mercenary lowly warned.

"Yes" he nodded stoically. Calmly, he reached into his shirt and pulled a handgun out, then dropped it aside. Then another handgun. And another one. By the fifth one, Shiho's peeking eyes resembled saucers.

"What are you doing there? Anwer me, dammit!" Kaname demanded at her lungs' top as the metallic sounds of handcuffs, knives, Berettas, small bombs, nunchucks and the occasional large sharp scissors hitting he grass continued out of the hole.

Even Mana was starting to disbelieve now, as she saw the little hill of weapons now at the boy's feet. "You have been... well backed up" she admitted.

"Yes. I have".

"Come closer, then. Slow. Step by step. That's it. Keep your hands high, and walk in a straight line..."

Then it happened, in a fraction of a blink of an eye.

It came as a glint of metal popping out of his right sleeve. Springing up as a Jack-in-the-Box into his expecting right hand, the Glock was visibly for only the briefest fraction of time before he jumped aside, dodging the first bullet just in time and shooting the gun off Mana's hand. Cursing inwardly, the Miko rolled aside as well, drawing a second identical weapon out at superhuman speed, shooting back a few times. The fire exchange had started, with both adversaries taking refuges behind bushes while Kyoko shrieked and Kaname forcefully pushed her head down, shielding her down with her own body.

"Tatsumiya!" Sagara warned. "Flee this area at once! The sounds of gunfire will surely attract onlookers you are sure to have to answer to!".

She smiled even though their current positions meant he couldn't see her face. "I don't think so. We have taken... some precautions in that regard".

From her own hideout, Shiho couldn't help but smile. Her Oneesama had acknowledged her contributions! That always made her happy. When it happened. Which was not often.

Then her happiness sank down like a dead weight when she noticed he could see her from his own current position. And he had just raised his gun to aim it at her pigtailed head.

"The hostage situation has changed" he dryly announced. "Surrender your weapons and state your intentions and backers before any harm befalls your accomplice".

"Shiho!" Mana breathed. Her voice, finally, had gained just a shade of alarm to it.

"YOU BOTH ARE #$%€ MAD!" Chidori yowled from inside the trap. She couldn't see all what was happening, but she had a good idea about it from its sounds.

Shiho just pouted childishly and wailed. "YATAGARASU! HELP ME!".

"Who?" Sagara asked.

Then it fell from above, swooping down from the tree's branches, like a huge black blur, a whirlwind of furious feathers and a frantic pointy peak stabbing at him. To his credit, he didn't move at all from his spot, ignoring the sudden attack enough to keep the weapon trained on the kouhai, barely using his other arm to try and shake the obscuring, more annoying than anything else, dark bird off. But that was all Mana needed.

Jumping from her hiding place, she shot the Glock off Sagara's hand, then rushed at him to catch him with a punch to the stomach. He recovered in a flash, countering with a punch to her face, but she quickly blocked, then dodged the knife jumping out of his left sleeve and into his hand, threatening to stab her in a flank. She twisted the wrist forcing him to drop the blade, but that allowed his other hand to land a blow on her head. Completely unfazed, she headbutted him, and then, with nearly demonic maniac strength, pummeled him several times with both fists, knocking him down to the dirt.

Not giving him any chance to recover, she slammed a foot down on his chest and locked her gun's sight into his face.

"If I wanted you dead, I'd have shot you right after Shiho distracted you. In the future, I advise you to steer clear from my apprentice" she threatened, back to her flat business intonation. "But that doesn't mean I can't shoot now if I'm not convinced you aren't a menace to our lives. Which agency did send you? The JSSDF? CIA? S.H.I.E.L.D.? A.I.M.? Checkmate?".

"I have no authorization to disclose such information" he spoke, completely unafraid. "I only can tell you my name and serial number".

"I advice you to talk. Because your cover's already blown up. And you can't continue following your charge without explaining her... and us... why is it for. Do you wish for your mission to fail so much?".

He remained in a total, unreadable silence for several long and tense moments before talking again.

"Mithril".

"Mithril!" Mana repeated with what almost seemed surprise. "What's their interest on Tokiwa?"

"I haven't been informed, and if I had been, all I would be authorized to say is I haven't been informed".

He reached back for his gun, handing it to Tatsumiya. "I haven't been deployed at these grounds to use lethal force unless extremely necessary. THESE bullets aren't the standard models".

"Neither are mine" Mana admitted. "Mahora doesn't employ murderers".

"Geez, I thought I was going to die!" Shiho yelled at them both. "Mana-Oneesama, you baka!". Then she sobbed petting the head of the old, one eyed and huge crow now perched on her own right shoulder. "Isn't she, Yatagarasu? Of course she is!".

"Hello...?" Kaname said in a grim and moody tone from down below. "We are still here, remember...? If you bring us out right now, I won't push for a death sentence for you psychos..."

Deep Love, Act Four.

Shiho took a final look over her shoulder as she walked after her Sempai, watching Tokiwa and Chidori sorting out their (many, many and them some many more) questions to Sagara. Chidori had just pulled a paper fan out and started to whack the boy over the head with it in her exhasperation. He wasn't fighting back.

"Are you sure they'll be okay?" she asked with hesitation.

"They will" Mana said with no evident emotion. "We accomplished our mission, and the reasons for his behavior aren't our concern from now on. That story is not our own".

"I don't understand you" Munakata admitted. "First you were so adamant on questioning him, and now you just wash your hands off?".

"I learned all I needed to. Beyond that point, questioning him isn't an intelligent thing for us. Maybe for them, since it involves them directly. But I call my leave on that research. If the Dean trusted Sagara to act here, I'll respect his wishes".

"The Dean could have told you, though..."

Mana shrugged casually. "We are nothing but servants of the mission. Ours is not to question, but to follow on our contracts' guidelines".

The smaller girl frowned, keeping her eyes low, but she said nothing. For a few minutes they kept on walking in silence, heading back to their rooms, until they passed next to the Chao Bao Zi. Its lights were still turned on.

"Hey, Mana-Oneesama".

"What?"

"Wanna stop for a quick after dinner snack? Those sandwiches we ate while waiting for the Sempais to show up just weren't enough!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? They are our kouhais now".

"Sorry".

"As for the meal, I'll pass on it. After all, we don't want our appetite to be spoiled for tomorrow, do we?"

For that once, she allowed herself a wide, smug and real smile.

"I'm going to make sure we have the best lunches of our lives for this whole week" she confided.

Deep Love, Epilogue.

From the Journal of Chao Lingshen.

As expected, Evangeline Mc Dowell showed up shortly after closing time, just as I was conferencing with my scout. I told my ally to wait on the back, behind the kitchen, while I dispatched Sat-chan away and went to meet the witch myself.

She looked sulking and moody, her eyes hostile and reluctant, yet also hopeful in a way. She clearly didn't want to be there, but she had no choice. She had come to ask for help.

"Lingshen" she didn't bother to be polite. "Your colleague has stolen Chachamaru away from me".

"I had heard so, yep" I nodded, while keeping the happy and bubbly face of a trickster. "What did you do to deserve it?".

"What does that matter? We three had an agreement! Chachamaru would be mine to keep forever! I want her back!".

"Don't you already have enough servants as it is-ne?" I feigned an innocent yawn.

"Chachamaru is... impossible to replace" she had to admit. "And... and it just isn't right. Hakase literally forced her to follow them. She never gave her any option!".

"And you ever did?" I questioned, allowing just a bit of harshness to show. I attempted to show a playful hint into it to counter. I'm almost sure I didn't succeed.

"Don't try to trick me with side questions, Lingshen" she hissed. "That's irrelevant. What matters now is Hakase broke the pact between us. Don't attempt to protect her just because she's your friend".

"And because she's my friend, I know she wouldn't betray her word without a serious reason behind it-yo" I pointed. "What did you force Chachamaru to do?".

Eva fumed, indignant. The galls I had, daring to demand explanations from her, HER, the Queen of Dusk, the Immortal Sorceress. She craned her neck towards me, looking straight into my eyes. "I'm not in any obligation to tell you that".

"Then" I calmly countered, "I am in no obligation to give you any counter to Satomi's override-ne".

Her eyes widened. What a figurative slap to her face! Having something denied from her! I could feel the emotions warring inside of her; the desire to take it by force versus the wish to negotiate, to bend me to her will in a subtler, yet more definitive way.

"Honor your word" she finally said, her tone low and threatening.

"I never lie" I seriously said. "And I said I wouldn't ever steal control of Chachamaru... but I made the same promise to Satomi".

I stood up and walked back to the secret room, then walked out with a small disc. "So I will take a third way. The honorable one-yo. The one I should have taken from the start, maybe. Let Chachamaru to decide her own destiny. Satomi or you. Or neither one".

I handed her the disc. "A free will module. It will nullify any override program implanted into her, but also will mean you can't just force her to do anything with your verbal commands-yo. Are you willing to trust her with that? Do you really care enough about her-ne?".

She looked at the object with a mix of confusing repressed emotions. I waited, until she finally nodded. "Yes. I do. In any case, I will be able to see her for what she really is. Either an ally or a traitor. I will know for real".

"I can tell you now, if you want" I offered. "She is no traitor".

Eva smirked, giving me that look. "And you?".

I smiled back, with just a hint of sadness. "I don't know".

Evangeline stood up. "I must be going. I will reward you properly later".

"Don't bother" I said. "I don't do this for any payment".

She looked at me, then nodded. Then she walked out into the night, her steps never doing any sound at all.

I remained where I was, motionless and silent, until my scout stepped out of the back, a fist perched on a hip. "Are you sure you made a wise move there?".

I made a wider smile and turned around to face her. "It's something he needs to do, Natsuki-chan. A test he needs to pass. And he'll never learn anything if his teacher can't use all the tools at her avail-ne?".

Kuga Natsuki-chan scoffed. "I'll never understand your interest on that boy. He's just a newbie. He can't possibly cast any light onto what we—".

"He can't help you to find what you look for, Natsuki-chan. At least, maybe he can't. But he holds the keys of all I'm hoping to find out".

The girl seemed uneasy, distrustful, even more than usual. She always wanted to know more, to know everything, just like her mother. That's why I had recruited her. But it was a double edged sword. She wanted to know more about me, too. And that just couldn't be.

"Fine. Have it your way" she muttered, walking for the door as well, her hips gracefully swinging around with energetic natural sensuality. "As long as our ultimate goals do coincide...".

"They will" I promised again. "Just remember keeping close stabs on Negi-bouzou. At any time I can't look at him, you'll be there to replace me. Report any major events that may happen to him to me, and I, in turn, will discover more about the First District for you-neh?".

She was out already, hopping onto her motorcycle. "You got it" she dryly said before speeding away.

I sighed, watching her to disappear into the distance. Then I closed the door and walked back to the secret room. I retrieved this journal from its hiding place and began redacting these lines.

I just pray Negi-bouzou has the heart to forgive me... No. I know he will. I just pray Satomi, and myself, both can forgive my actions in this moment. But like I told Nat-chan, this is a step he needs to take. His first dragon to slay, his first fortress to assault. And no matter what, he won't be alone.

But that is okay.

Neither will I.

When the moment comes, I will have the needed countermeasures for any team he can assemble this time.

For too long, I haven't ever looked out of our class for assistance. But with the recent iterations' changes to the continuum, that will have to change. Now I have more to work with.

Every one of my classmates has some degree of social life out of the classroom. All of them have someone who shares their personal interests and ablities. All of them have a possible counter at some place of Mahora.

Hasegawa Chisame: No Club activities- Closest link to the primary subject for the moment. Her long periods of free time mean she can spend more time with him than anyone else. Still, she lacks Kagurazaka's unique gifts. Not a deeply concerning issue for now.

I began re-reading my files, occasionally lingering at some especially potential-ripe entry.

Saotome Haruna: Manga Circle- Several companions with highly similar leanings. Possibly gifted with latent Pactio powers of the same exact category. Amano Hikaru- Club President (College Area Student). Fujiyoshi Harumi- Vicepresident (Student at High School Class 2-F, likely to receive a future Pactio from Itoshiki Nozomu). Tamura Hiyori- Assistant. Patricia Martin-Model and Intern.

Izumi Ako- Assistant to School Nurses Marikawa Shizuka and Sagisawa Youko. Neighbor to the primary subject's room. Seems suspectful to some degree about the recent incident at Miyazaki's room.

Tatsumiya Mana- Biathlon Club. Rooms with disciple Miko Munakata Shiho (weak link?). As usual, agreeable to join the task as long as the payment is good. (Something different about her this time, though? Disciple's influence softening some of her stance? Research further on the matter).

Yotsuba Satsuki- Mahora Lunch Committee. Closest companions there include: Tenkawa Akito, club president (Mahora College Area student- healthy admiration/interest on him?), Tachibana Kyohei (Mahora College Area student), Yuuki Mikan (Junior Mahora student). Closest confidante I have, but must be spared the harshest details.

I feel so miserable. Keeping tactical files even on my best friends. Getting prepared for a betrayal from any side. Still, it must be done.

The variables keep on changing at every turn. All I can do is to try and keep up with them taking advantage of any and all resources around myself, even the human ones.

The only constant that remains always the same is him.

Next: The spotlight falls on Yukihiro Ayaka!
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