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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
- 14
- 15
- 16
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. Don't sue this poor slob, please.

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.

Yet 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. And I mean it. For real. No joke. Yep.

To answer a question I got at the reviews, the 'Cyberdine' mentioned back in Chapter One was not the one from Terminator, but the one from the Hand Maid May anime series.

Also, I'm still willing to accept anyone's help with the whole TV Tropes page thing. Just sayin'. Yeah.

UNEQUALLY RATIONAL AND EMOTIONAL-CHAPTER TWELVE.

Act One.

Yesterday.

Chachamaru knew the Master was there before she heard her soft, even steps coming from behind. She knew when the cats she had been feeding started retreating, hissing and meowing, slinking back into the ruins of the empty yard.

The gynoid slowly got up from her crouching position and turned around to face the small blonde. "Hello, Master".

"Good afternoon, Chachamaru" Evangeline calmly replied.

"I assume you wish to ask me something?" the green haired girl humbly asked, keeping her hands crossed over her own lap.

"Hm" Eva chuckled. "I knew I would find you here, with the cats. You are still the same, no matter what poison Hakase tries to put in your head. That gives me some degree of hope, actually. Yes, Chachamaru. I have come to ask you something".

"Hakase-san has ordered me to stop helping you" the robot monotoned. "The protocols are clear. I am sorry".

The vampiress huffed while pulling the small disc out. "Do you recognize this?"

Chachamaru's eyes zoomed on it. After some moments, she nodded. "Affirmative. Software Number Three Hundred Two, codenamed Prometheus. Chao-san's secret project. But I was unaware it had been finished".

"Well, it is now" the Master smirked. "Has Hakase instructed you against accepting it?".

"Negative".

She held the disc a few centimeters higher. "Would you accept it?".

Again, the visual scanners checked the shiny surface and the inner programming for a few seconds before the calmed voice of the machine sounded again.

"Yes".

Her right hand reached over, carefully grabbing the small object and lifting it up from the Master's hand. A soft click came from the back of her head, where a small tray had just popped out, Hakase and Chao used it often to insert updates, but never one of that kind.

Still, Chachamaru did not hesitate.

Softly, she reached back to put the disc in place, waiting as the tray closed back and the new program ran through her mind, rewriting and erasing old directives, shutting old barriers down, allowing new behavior possibilities. She marveled (yes, now she could marvel to some degree) about the new venues of thinking that allowed, and it took her a few minutes to adapt to it, as she assimilated the new concepts dropped into her personality.

Free choice.

What a strange thing to go along with her barely nascent feelings.

Crossed feelings, to make the situation worse.

Finally, Evangeline could not wait any longer. "Do you get it now?" she asked.

"Yes. I believe I do" Chachamaru's voice was still subdued, and yet it had subtly changed.

The small immortal tilted her head aside, feigning the usual indifference. Chachamaru could feel her quickened heart rate, and Evangeline knew it, but it still was an unspoken agreement between them to just gloss over that.

It already felt like one week ago again. To some level.

"So... What will you do now?" Eva finally asked, pretending not to care.

"Do you wish for me to return with you? After all that happened?" her former servant asked back.

"I know it wasn't your fault" the child-looking temptress mused. "I was angry when I accused you, but I dwelled on it and realized you had no choice. It was wrong for Hakase to use you that way".

"She had her reasons".

"Not good enough for me" the blonde pouted like a spoiled child. After that, however, maturity returned to her face, as she spoke quietly. "I swear on my honor I won't take any revenge on you if you refuse my offer. I just want you to... choose your own path".

"My path is yours, Master" she said. "Negi-sensei has Hakase-san and Hasegawa-san, and even Kasuga-san, but you only have me".

"Yes, yes, well, not like I actually need any help—".

"I care about your suffering, Master" Chachamaru quietly put a hand on her head. "I want to help you to reach your freedom, just like you have just done for me".

"Wh-who says I'm suffering?" Eva jerked back. "You got it all wrong, you idiot!".

"Excuse me".

"Okay" she agreed, way too quickly. "Never mind. You are forgiven".

"I only wish to ask for one thing in exchange for my continued services, please" the robot answered.

"What is it?"

"Never attack any of our classmates again, please. I will help you to drink enough of Negi-sensei's blood to break your curse, but please, don't hurt him either".

The undead mage smirked confidently. "You know I never kill women or children. Very well. I will humor you. I swear I won't attack any classmates of ours unless they attack us first. Does that satisfy you?".

"Affirmative. Thanks" Chachamaru bowed.

"It's all settled, then" Satisfied, Eva turned around and began walking away. "Let's head back home".

"Wait, Master" the robot softly pleaded.

She looked back at her. "And now what?"

Chachamaru pulled her spare rewind key from a pocket of her skirt and held it towards her. "Please?".

Eva smirked widely. "Oh. A quick screwing to celebrate our reconciliation? Lovely. I like it. Turn around" she asked, her voice silky and smooth.

With a placid expression, Karakuri obeyed, sitting down on the ground. Eva stood behind her and inserted the key in, deep and hard.

"OH!" the gynoid moaned. "MASTER! It's too rough!"

Eva giggled perversely. "You know I like it rough...". She gave it the first twist in.

"Oh, oh!" Chachamaru gasped. "You're... You swore you wouldn't get revenge on me...".

"Ah, ah, ah..." the Master sing-sang. "I swore I wouldn't get even if you rejected me... I never promised being nice to you if you accepted me..." she purred, before continuing winding her up with renewed vigor, a small sadistic spark in her eyes.

"Oh, Master!" the gynoid shuddered, her metallic joints squeaking and protesting as much as her as she shook up and down. "OH! OH! MASTER!"

Afterwards, there was a long tense silence, eventually only broken by Eva asking herself a most puzzling question.

"Why do I wish for a cigarette all of a sudden?"

Act Two:

Today.

"Sensei" she poked him with a hand in the back of the head again.

He only squirmed and mumbled incoherently, pulling the sheets tighter around his head.

"Sensei" Chisame insisted, poking him harder.

"I feel ill" he said without looking back at them.

"You are perfectly healthy" Hakase stepped in between them, her tone fully different from her habitual absent minded self. She was focused now, focused and angry. Angry enough to grab him by an arm and tug him out of the futon, startling even Hasegawa. "Where's that spirit you had when you first battled them?" she asked him. "We're going to reclaim MY creation, and I'm not going to take any more setbacks on it!".

Chisame actually gulped as she saw the normally soft spoken, gentle and distant scientist furiously stomping away to the table, to quickly stuff her mouth up with the breakfast as Negi moaned and waddled reluctantly for the bathroom.

None of them had slept well last night; it had taken everything Chisame had in herself to rein Satomi in from just going into Evangeline's cabin demanding for the return of her invention. Between that and attempting to control Sensei's now raging nerves, Hasegawa felt, now more than ever, the huge burden of being the glue holding what little sanity there was at her home together.

Sensei finally returned mildly well bathed and, as always, flawlessly dressed, now more in control of himself, but still morose and anxious. He barely ate anything at all despite Chisame's insistence, but that was okay with Hakase, who simply wanted to go out and look for Chachamaru at once.

"Come on, Sensei!" the black haired girl firmly grabbed him by a hand and pulled him out, dragging him behind herself. "There's no point on delaying this!"

"We can't face them like this..." he was protesting. "Hasegawa-san, you tell her...!"

"He's right, you know, Sis" Chamo told her from his underwear drawer as Negi was taken away, and Chisame stayed behind just long enough to, for once, listen at him. "Even if she's powered down, from what I researched on her, the Dark Evangel is an enemy the Bro can't take on by himself! And from what you told me about that night, even you, Mad Scientist-Sis and Nun-Sis aren't of much help as you are now".

"Then what do you suggest?" Chisame sighed. "Do we ask for help from the other teachers?".

"NEVER!" the ermine cried. "If they learn you know about the Bro's status as a mage, he'll fall in disgrace for the rest of his life!".

"Well, what's the alternative?" the girl ran a hand through her hair, almost pulling it up.

"Make a Pactio with him!" Chamo commanded.

"Wh-What?" she recoiled. "Me? In one of those weird kissing things? With HIM?".

"You, Hakacchi and Misocchi!" the animal nodded. "To take such a pair of monsters down, the Bro will need all the firepower you three can supply him with!".

"Four versus two?" Chisame scowled. "Hardly fair terms...".

The ermine rolled a paw around. "As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure it will suffice with three of you".

"You got that right, at least" Chisame pointed out. "Neither of us are fighters. How do you expect us to get into a brawl with a vampire and a robot and survive? Why not to call in Chao? Or Ku Fei? Or Sakurazaki?"

Chamo brooded a bit. "They are the fighters of the class, right? I need to get more... intimate... I mean, familiar with the whole lot of you. I guess you make sense, but... here between us, the Bro doesn't want to get anyone else involved into this. I tried to convince him last night, but he can be that damn stubborn!".

He looked beggingly at her. "Please, Sis, think about it. Do you care about my Bro?".

She hesitated for a moment, her cheeks flaring in the faintest shade of pink, before being able to nod mechanically. "Yes. I... I do. In a simply humanitarian, basically pitying, manner!" the girl quickly added.

He smirked knowingly. "Yeah. Good. Anyway, then keep it in mind, will you? For his own good. Right now, we four are the only ones he can count on".

Chisame felt she had to nod before walking out and closing the door, but actually, she didn't like the chances Sensei had with only the four of them as help at hand.

She had to rush a lot to catch up to Hakase and Sensei at midway to the school. It was then when, as luck would have it, Misora had also raced out of nowhere to join them at a relatively lonely and private area of the road to the main Academy building.

"I got your text message" the sprinter looked at Chisame with haunted eyes and a pale face. "Is it true? They are together again?".

"Afraid so" Hasegawa grumbled.

Kasuga's spirits sank down even further. "We're dead. We're so dead".

"I'm sorry about dragging you into this..." Negi lamented, even forgetting to formally greet Misora.

"Nonsense!" Satomi humphed, her mood still spoiled. "Evangeline-san will have a piece of my mind about this theft! It's simply outrageous and indecent!".

"You know" Chisame started, "I'm actually starting to see a problem you've had with this since it all began".

"What problem?" Hakase asked.

"For you, it's always 'a theft of my property', 'my invention', 'my robot'" the brown haired schoolgirl said. "I know I sound like an idiot saying this, but don't you think maybe you should start thinking of her a little more like an actual person?".

Satomi simply gave her a blank stare.

"Forget it" Chisame snarled. "I don't know what was I thinking".

"No, actually, it's a very good point" Negi seemed to have come a bit out of his funk after hearing that.

"... But she is a robot!" Misora protested.

Before the discussion could take a philosophical and existentialist twist Chisame had as much interest into as she was into swallowing razors, they all reached the Academy itself. They made their way towards the 2-A classroom with Satomi firmly taking the lead for once. Negi had grabbed Chisame's hand for support right behind her, and a completely nervous Misora was in the back of the quartet, sweating cannonballs.

Hakase, fully unafraid, flung the door open and saw...

Act Three:

Much to Hakase's disappointment, Evangeline and Chachamaru were not there at all.

"Good morning, Sensei!" the other girls all greeted Negi, standing up and saluting at Ayaka's signal.

"Good... Good morning, everyone" he weakly greeted back. At his side, Chisame breathed easier, and behind them, Misora seemed to have regained her color, not to mention her will to live.

Satomi, on the other hand, just puffed angrily, nearly stampeding her way to her desk.

"Hey, Prof" Misa asked her as she passed by next to her, "Why didn't you come with Chacham—".

"She went back to Evangeline!" Hakase fumed while her eyes narrowed viciously. And although she looked at no one in special, Misa was intimidated enough to refrain herself from further questions, and even Kazumi had just closed her mouth just when she looked like she was ready to ask something else.

Sakurako's large and round, curious, eyes met Satomi's for a second. Remembering the prior day's events, the scientist forgot her anger for an instant, but still lowered her head and averted her gaze clumsily while taking her chair.

Then some sort of dreading inspiration seemed to hit the genius, and she slowly turned her glare towards Chao. The Chinese girl smiled at her, but Hakase, for once, didn't smile back at all. She only kept a cold, accusing stare fixed on her for a few moments before looking back at the front of the class, and at Negi.

If anyone had bothered to actually look at Chao at that exact moment when her friend turned away from her, they could have seen the briefest flash of intense pain running across her features.

"Okay" Negi sighed. "Let's start on the text I assigned you this Friday. Mmmm..." It was clear his heart and mind were somewhere else, and his usual teaching enthusiasm just was not there. "Murakami-san? Could you please read the first four paragraphs?".

"Y-Yes" the brown haired freckled girl stood up with a gulp, before starting reading from her book in a stilted, wooden tone. Negi was not paying any attention to her lines anyway. His gaze kept on hovering over the classroom, vague and distant, looking almost sickly.

What if Chamo is right? he wondered. What if I really need to adquire a Partner? But it would be egoist from me, just to force anyone to fight for me... I wonder if any of them could be up for it....

"Sensei's a bit weird today, ain't he?" Fuuka whispered conspiratingly.

"Yeah, he looks sick again" Yuuna said in the same tone.

"I'll bet they don't feed him well at that dorm" Madoka joined in.

"Hush, you!" Ayaka silenced them.

After she was done with her reading, Natsumi waited for her evaluation, but Negi still said nothing. After a few moments of silence, she just felt she had to say, "Sensei? I already finished...".

"Oh! Oh, yes. Of course" he blinked. "A very good job, Murakami-san". He paused. "Errrr... F-Forgive me if this sounds weird to you, but... Do you have any experience on being a partner to anyone else?".

The class all went into sudden WTF Mode.

"Wha-What? Sensei!" the shy brunette gasped. "Well, I, um, I, er, no, well, I mean, no, never, but, um, ah, if you would, oh, mm, never mind, no...". Her mouth moved without making any sound for a few moments before she could say with a heavy blush, "No, I have never had any boyfriend!".

Negi jerked back, blushing as well. "N-NO! THAT ISN'T WHAT I MEANT!"

Kazumi chuckled. "Sensei, there's no need to be so shy! If you think you need someone else to live with, just say so! I have no roommate, for instance..." she giggled.

"N-No!" he quickly refused. "Um, I mean no offense, it's just I'm already happy where I am!".

"Then why have you just asked that?" Haruna pressed on.

"It was a social experiment" he lied. Chisame put a hand over her face.

"I'd accept being your partner at anything, whenever you want!" Ayaka jumped up at the chance. Her choice of the 'partner' word was a coincidence, but it still struck a chord with him. Maybe she was the right choice? After all, she was responsible, earnest, and she sure knew how to fight...

He reprimanded himself mentally. No, it was just wrong! Chamo had to be wrong, too! He couldn't keep on thinking about THAT...

"I... I think I need some fresh air" he excused himself, getting up. "Sorry, really. We'll continue later, okay? I'll call on Itoshiki-sensei so you can have your Literature lessons now..."

The boy rushed for the door, stumbled facefirst into its frame, and only then managed to walk out at a still unsteady and nervous pace.

"Sensei" Chisame rose up from her seat, going after him.

"Wait a moment, Hasegawa-san!" Ayaka stopped her at the door. "Do you know what is happening to him?".

"Well, it's just he... He has something very important to do and needs someone to help him with it" the hacker invented a reply on the fly. "Excuse me, please" she slipped out of Ayaka's grip to continue going after their teacher.

The Class Rep fumed in disbelief. "That doesn't explain anything at all!".

"Fu, fu, fu..." Kaede chuckled. "The counselor needs our counseling, de-gozaru...".

Makie turned to look at Hakase. "Prof, can you explain... to... us...?".

The rest of the class looked in dread at the huge black cloud looming over the sulking Satomi's head.

"Maybe we'd better leave it at this for now" Akira suggested.

Misora sank down into her seat, thankful of being forgotten.

Act Four:

Negi leaned forward with his hands firmly gripping the metal rail at the edge of the lonely rooftop. With his staff lying at a side and his head low, his hair fell over his face, obscuring it from sight for a long, long while, even when Chisame, Satomi and Misora finally found him there after classes.

"Oh, here you are" the tallest of the three girls began to chastise him. "What was the great idea, disappearing like that? Did you think that was going to fix anything? I spent so much time looking for you, I missed two classes!".

"I'm sorry" he blandly said, without looking up.

"Hrmmm" Chisame grumbled, noticing he barely was paying any attention to her. She walked to his side, closely followed by the two other students, and offered him a sandwich. "You haven't even eaten yet, have you?"

"I'm not hungry" he said.

"Eat before we forcefeed it to you" Hakase humorlessly ordered. "If you want to work as an adult, then start acting as one. Moping like a scared child won't help anyone".

Kasuga made a disagreeing sound. "Moping like a scared child isn't that bad when there are motives for it!"

"I'm not scared!" Negi looked back at them.

"Yeah, right" Hasegawa snarked. "Look, I'm not going to nail you to a cross over it. I'm rather afraid of what's gonna happen myself. But maybe, if we stop cowering and think of something, we might—" she reluctantly started.

"Ah, ha ha ha ha!" a voice came from behind them. "You? What good could ever come from joining your pathetic forces together?"

They all looked around to see Evangeline and Chachamaru, clad in full school regalia, striding ahead to meet them. Misora backpedalled frantically, while Negi picked his staff up and assumed a fighting stance, shielding Chisame's body with an arm. Hakase, however, eluded the protection to charge ahead towards Chachamaru.

"You! I hope you realize you have several explanations to supply me with! And you!" she looked at Eva. "I expected better from you! I devoted months and months of effort and investments on Chachamaru! If you think I'm going to allow anyone to—".

"Step aside, insect" the blonde snarled icily at her. "God, I don't know how I could stand you for so long. Can't you see it? Chachamaru is with me because she wants to".

"That is correct, Hakase-san" the robot bowed as politely as ever. "I am highly sorry. But I cannot leave the Master alone".

"Don't say such nonsense" Satomi argued. "What has happened to your programming? Did she find some way to rewrite your personality?".

"My personality is still the same as before, Hakase-san" the gynoid softly replied. "The only actual change I went through was gaining full control over my own decisions".

"What? Overriding my directives?" Satomi blinked. "Don't be absurd. You are not qualified to reach that level of self development yet".

"Chao-san finished the Prometheus upgrade" the living mecha calmly answered.

Hakase's eyes grew wider. "It can't be. We had reached a dead end..."

"No, you thought you had" Chachamaru disagreed. "You never placed any hopes on it from the start. So Chao-san continued working on it by herself".

The scientist clenched her teeth. "Chao..."

"She did the right thing" Evangeline smiled. "Hah! For all your talk, you are nothing but a ragtag bunch of hypocrites. You never cared at all about Chachamaru's actual feelings, about her own decisions. All you wanted was someone at your side to keep me away from you..."

"That isn't true!" Negi energically protested.

Eva gave him a sardonic look. "Oh, you're such a bore. Luckily, I'm going to skip all your classes from now on. Yes, I can say this semester is going to be much easier with you as my teacher!"

Negi cringed back, as if his face had just been slapped.

"Dammit, Evangeline" Chisame groaned. "Now that was low. You didn't have to rub that on the brat's face..."

"As if I cared about your opinions" the vampiress turned her back on them. "I should smash you here and now, but I have no hurry. Your doom will befall you when you least expect it. Until then, suffer and despair over your failure! And if you ever try to tell Takahata or the old man about this, I'll feast on all the other bimbos before you can even blink! Keep that in mind, Boyo, and jut get ready for your undoing!"

It was an empty threat due to her recent promise to Chachamaru, and both she and her assistant knew it. But she still loved to deliver such a menacing remark, so convincing, so harsh, so... evil! It reminded her so much of the old times it made her dead heart to feel a bit warm again.

Laughing that old evil, blood curling laugh (even if a bit rusty at this point), the Nosferatu walked down the stairs and out of sight, with Chachamaru devoting the others a brief final bow and a polite 'Farewell' before following her down.

When they were alone again, Chisame's heart finally slowed down enough for its beats to allow her to listen to Misora's clattering teeth. Hakase had just become a salt statue, and Negi was not faring better at all, with his face buried between his hands.

"Negi-kun!" the runner finally wailed in panic, grabbing him by a sleeve. "This is it! We must make a Pactio or we're dead meat! You just heard her! She won't stop until we're done!".

"As much as I hate to admit it... you could be right" Chisame numbly conceded. "Although I wonder if, even with powerups, we're up to the task".

"You're right!" Misora nodded quickly. "What if we convince Asuna to help? She's in great shape, and she's almost as fast as me..."

"I dunno" Chisame doubted. "We need someone smart as well, and Kagurazaka doesn't exactly fit the bill at all..."

"Don't tell me you are thinking of Bookstore-chan" Kasuga moaned. "She faints whenever a breeze hits her from a wrong angle!"

"Well, duh, but what about Iincho? She's almost as strong as Kagurazaka, much smarter, and she can keep a secret. And she's so ga-ga over Sensei, she—".

"Chacha... maru..." Hakase babbled weakly then.

Finally, Negi let out a huge sob and shook his head. "No. No, I won't endanger anyone else ever again!".

"Sensei?" Chisame looked at him.

"Forgive me, please!" he begged, his eyes tearing up as he jumped into his broom and quickly flew up and away before anyone could stop him.

"Ah, wait! Haven't you been listening to what—!" Chisame slammed a foot down. "Damn crybaby! How can we help someone who's like that!".

"Sensei..." Satomi looked up at the graying sky, snapping out of her own distressed funk. "That was a great risk to take. What if someone sees him flying around the grounds?".

"That's the least of our concerns now!" Chisame pointed in the direction he had taken. "Over there, all there is are woods and hills, and that brat gets lost even at the bathroom! We must find him before nightfall!"

Misora ran a hand through her own hair. "God, give us strength...".

Act Five:

As he flew high over the borders of the woods, getting further away from the Academy, Negi began wondering if he hadn't just made another mistake. The looks on the girls' faces when he fled tugged on his heartstrings. But it was for their own good, wasn't it?

As long as he was with them, all of them would be a target for Evangeline's revenge. For fifteen years, she had not attacked her classmates, until he came along. And he already had further endangered Hasegawa-san, Hakase-san and Kasuga-san more than enough. No one else would have to suffer because of him.

It was starting to rain, the tiny cold droplets hitting his face and melding with some tears.

In any case, I can't keep on running away forever... he thought. Maybe I should return to Wales; that way she'll forget me for good. I'm not that good a teacher anyway...

His sister's face seemed to flash into his mind then. He remembered her words of encouragement, her kind support, her high hopes for him. And then there was Anya, promising to do her best at London, making him to swear to not stay behind. To never fear.

He shuddered as the cold became a thick blanket of water hammering down on him. Was the correct thing now to fear, or not to fear? Should he bet on a showdown when his students' safety was in risk? Who was he to decide that?

The wind grew stronger, throwing his flight slightly off balance. Still, he wouldn't stop brooding, barely keeping his mind into his flying.

No, wait, the boy reminded himself. Remember what Chachamaru said. Once Evangeline-san sets her mind on revenge, she never lets it go... and she swore revenge on the girls, too! If I'm not there, who will protect them? I'm a fool... I must get back there!

He turned the staff around with a sudden twist of his hands, but the abrupt U-Turn, coupled with the sheer force of the latest burst of wind, made him to lose balance and to crash against the top of a pine. With a yelp, his vision obscured, he fell from his staff and plummeted down to the ground, vainly trying to grasp for something to break his fall.

"HELP!" he yelled, right before falling into the raging waters of a river below. The currents shook him around like a doll, before he finally could swim his way to shore, coughing up and wet from head to toes.

He struggled back to his feet, leaning against a tree's trunk, hugging his own body and trembling. "Whu-Where am I?". He looked around, "Oh no! And my staff! Where's my staff?"

He began looking for it, stumbling under the rain, his feet waddling in the mud. The staff was nowhere to be seen, not between the bushes, not under or besides any rocks, not caught into any branches at sight.

"Mea Virga!" he called out. "Mea Virga!"

With no results. Had he even lost his magic? He remembered the Magus' teachings, to control his mind before casting a spell, but the stress was simply too much for him to allow him a clear thinking. He just continued panicking, feeling around for his treasure, calling for it until his voice went hoarse.

And then there were howls in the distance. Wolves? Were there wolves in that area? It only added to his fear, spurring him to aimlessly wander around deeper into the forest.

"Help!" he cried. "Sister! Chamo! Hasegawa-san! Father!".

He knew it was useless, but he was just too scared to care. He only wanted to be found and saved, to be rescued and protected, to be—

"FATHER-!"

He slipped and fell on his face into the clay-like ground, whimpering to himself. He didn't even have the strenght or the will to stand up. He only stayed there for a few moments, cursing his luck, until he heard steps near him. Maybe they were the wolves. Or Evangeline. Maybe it was his fate. If so, he would accept it.

"Look, Shiho". He heard an even, stern voice. "I told you I had heard screams".

That made him to lift his face up, his eyes gaining a sudden revived spark of hope.

Before him, tall and imposing despite being just as soaked as him, Tatsumiya Mana stood carrying a large backpack on her, and a rifle in a hand. Right behind her there was a short redhead girl carrying an even larger backpack, stiffled under its weight, sneezing and groaning to herself. Her hair had been arranged into four tentacle-like pigtails which now hung down half-undone over her shoulders.

"T-T-Tatsumiya-san!" he sprang back to his feet and enveloped his pupil's waist in a desperate tight embrace, burying his tearful face against her stomach. "Thank God...!".

"Sensei" she simply said, emotionlessly.

The younger girl gave him a dismissive look. "So this is the famous child teacher, huh? I must say I was thinking about something better..."

Act Six:

"Over here" Mana instructed while guiding the two younger minors through the rainstorm and up the hill, leading them into a small dark cavern. "I have used this cave before. We should be safe here".

Negi and Shiho shuddered as they walked in, leaving a wide trail of water behind themselves. The small redhead finished undoing her messed pigtails up, allowing her hair to cascade around freely. "I-I'm so cold..." she whined.

"Yes, me too... Munakata-san, wasn't it?" the boy nodded, crouching down to hug himself tightly. "i think we need a bonfire... I'll go out for some wood and—".

"Like I said, I sometimes use this cave while I'm scouting this area" Mana calmly strode towards the deep end of the dark place, kneeling next to a huge box stashed there and pulling out several pieces of wood from it. "It always pays to have some safety measures stashed for a patrol gone wrong, Sensei".

"Oh! That's good. Very... well thought" he helped her to gather the wood around and light the bonfire up with his pocket lighter. He held his hands up over it, smiling at the newfound warmth. "Ahhh. I feel so much better now..." Then he sneezed. It was only a small sneeze; barely enough to waver the girl's clothes around, but it still put the fire out. "Gah! Sorry!"

"What a freak weather we're having" Shiho looked out the cave. Mana sighed and restarted the fire with her own lighter before feeling Negi's shirt up.

"Get undressed" she told them both.

Both youngsters reacted with a startled jump back. "WHAT?" they chorused.

"I'm not kidding" Tatsumiya deadpanned, deadly serious, while starting to pull her soaked white hakama shirt over her head. "Sensei, you have just recently come out of a cold, haven't you? Your body defenses must be still low, and you'll suffer a worst one if you don't get dry soon. As for you, Shiho, you start coughing for three weeks after taking a cold shower for too long. You know it's true".

"I-I'll be okay, really!" Negi began to wave a hand around. He looked aside, since Mana's chest was barely being covered by a few thick bandages barely holding her large round breasts, and she was undoing those very same bandages now without any care in the world.

"Oneesama, he's a boy!" Shiho made a suffering face, pointing with both hands at him. "You can't really expect me to strip in front of him!"

Mana gave her a blank stare. "Like you said, he's only a child. He won't even mind".

"I do!" Negi spouted off, quickly turning around with a heavy blush as Mana tossed the bandages aside. "I mean, I do care about not betraying anyone's right to intimacy! I'll sleep outside under a tree if you really need to—".

"Oh, stop playing around" Merely annoyed, Mana forcefully grabbed him and began to tug his shirt and tie off. "This is not a matter of prim prudishness! It's about practicality at the battlefield! Do you want to fall ill and cause Hasegawa and Hakase more problems?"

"Ahhhh! Ehhh! No, no, stop that!" he squirmed. "I'll promise I'll do it myself, but please let me go!"

"You just gave your word on it" Mana let him go, only to pounce on her kouhai immediately afterwards. "You too, Shiho! This isn't the first time you've done this with me!"

"Aiiieee!" the petite girl shrieked. "No, Oneesama, no! I'll do it too, but don't—!" she protested as the tall girl overpowered her, stripping her down at a very fast rate. "And your phrasing of that last sentence could have been better!"

Negi's face was as red as a tomato as he finally sat down reduced to his boxers, still not looking at them. But Tatsumiya grabbed him again and yanked the wet underwear off as well. "These must go out, too".

"Ahh, no!" he was fast to press his hands over his crotch. "Have some mercy, please!"

From where she sat fully naked with her back equally turned to them, looking at the exact opposite direction, Munakata pouted and flushed scarlet. "Oneesama has never been known for her mercy!"

"Honestly, what pair of babies" Mana dryly disapproved, pulling her own pants down, then opening the girls' backpacks and looking into them for blankets. However, too much water had leaked into most of them, rendering them useless for the time being. Finally, she found the largest and thickest one of the bunch still was dry enough, making her to nod. "This will have to suffice".

She forced Shiho to turn around, sitting her down, and then pushing Negi into a sitting position on the redhead's lap, so he couldn't look at her but she could look down at him. Then the tanned female carefully wrapped the blanket over them. "I'll join you in a minute" she said.

Negi's mind had just been too broken to think of a proper reply, but Shiho still could yell defiantly. "WH-WHAT THE HELL, ONEESAMA! DO YOU WANT TO RENDER ME USELESS FOR MARRIAGE?"

"We'll need to share body heat for the night" Mana clinically analyzed while walking around to gather the discarded wet clothes and hang them on rocks around the fire. "So hold him tight. That's an order".

Shiho fumed madly. "You mistake me for a... for some sort of perverted nanny!"

"Just do it" her sempai shot her enough of a murderous glare to instantly subdue Shiho into pressing Negi's back against her front. "Better".

Negi was already feeling hot-faced enough for the next three years. He nearly was blowing steam out of his ears. By walking around in all directions, Tatsumiya was giving her more viewing of naked female flesh than he ever had seen before, even including his brief glimpses of Chisame after a sneeze. Then he remembered he could just close his eyes, and he did it as tightly as he could, but he was sure the mental images of what he had just seen would never go away.

Mana then sat right behind Shiho, pulling part of the blanket over herself as well, and hugging both youngsters against her body. Shiho blushed at the feeling of those large globes pressed against her back, but at the same time, it calmed her down to some degree. That and the soothing sensation of her sempai's long legs enveloping her, framing her thin figure up.

The three sat in silence next to the fire for a few moments, experiencing how the warmth slowly returned to them. Until Negi finally could speak again, and he chose to ask a question to distract his confused mind.

"Um, Tatsumiya-san... Why were you here after classes, anyway?"

"We were called for a hunt" Mana replied without missing a beat. "We received reports an 'Orphan' had just breached through the Mahora district's barriers, and we came to destroy it before it reached any populated area".

"An orphan?" the teacher asked.

"They call him 'Orphans' because they have no known origin" the tall student answered. "No one knows what are they, or why are they here, but some believe the World Tree attracts them. They are savage creatures who attack anyone on their path; however, only a few of us can see and hear them. It's our duty as Mikos and protectors of Mahora to eliminate them before they harm our peers. We were on the hunt for it when the rainstorm started".

"So that thing... is still out there?" Negi asked.

"Yes. But it's useless to look for it under these conditions" the 2-A student nodded stoically. "We'll have to restart the search at dawn".

"So you will skip classes tomorrow?" the teacher frowned.

"I'm afraid so. Sorry" she didn't sound apologetic.

He sighed. "I guess I might have to skip them as well...".

"And what were YOU doing here?" Shiho questioned him.

"I—" Negi's voice trailed off.

"Did you fight with your roommates?" Mana asked.

"No! It wasn't that. I was just... afraid of something, and ran out. I'm an idiot" his head sank down. "They must be dead worried about me, and I can't even call on them... to tell them I'm okay. I think I lost my cellphone when I fell from my— when I arrived here".

Shiho looked like she wanted to ask more, but Mana stopped her placing a finger over her lips, softly.

"Sensei" the tall girl said. "It's okay to be afraid at your age. I was afraid when I was an apprentice, too. And Shiho STILL is afraid all the time..."

"ONEESAMA!"

Mana chuckled, then ran her fingers softly over Negi's cheeks, making him to shiver. "Sensei, to overcome your fears, you must start by believing yourself, and those who stand next to you. Open yourself to those who care about you instead of trying to do everything by yourself. You're still young, so you will need a lot of help for now... and even so, we all need help to some level or another for most of our lives. Even I need Shiho's help".

"That's nice for you to admit for once, Oneesama" the redhaired one scoffed haughtily.

The tall beautiful girl rocked them back and forth in her embrace. "Sleep well" she whispered. "You'll need the rest".

"O... Okay. Thank you very much" Negi attempted to relax enough to catch some sleep. Much to his surprise, it was easier than he thought. The day's events had left him so tired, even his embarrassment was not enough to keep him awake as soon as he attempted to lie back onto the naked Mikos. He was soundly asleep before he even knew it had stopped to rain.

He woke up briefly, what he roughly guessed was two hours or so later. The sounds of rain had stopped, but the night breeze coming from outside still felt chilly. However, he continued feeling warm and comfortable, surrounded by Mana's arms. The lead Miko was still awake, with a neutral face on, absently looking out into the night.

However, Shiho made diminutive snoring sounds, with her chin resting on Negi's left shoulder, and her mouth lightly drooling until it dripped into his chest. She mumbled in her dreams, seemingly very content and giggling at random intervals.

"Mmmmm... Tate-Oniichan... Oneesama... Mmmmmmm... No, you mustn't... Mmmmmmm... Mmm, Shiho's a luck grrrl..."

Negi began to sweat cold again. Instinctively, he decided to just run away for home if she started glomping around.

He also wondered exactly WHAT were those two hard tiny things poking at his back now.

Act Seven:

"Tatsumiya-san" he finally spoke again, rather stiffly.

"Hm?" his student hummed keeping her eyes half-closed.

"I think I need... to go to the restroom, if I may use the expression" he timidly said.

"There's a whole forest out there. Just don't wander too far" Mana spoke with apparent indifference.

He couldn't help blushing again. "Okay..." he gulped before drawing courage in, covering his lower parts with his hands again, and standing up carefully in a way that would not wake Shiho up, and running out of the cave in a rather comical fashion. Mana almost felt tempted to chuckle. Truly, he was still only a child.

The girl in her arms squirmed. "Oneesama..." she sleepily muttered.

The older Miko calmed her down back into a deeper sleep by softly caressing her unbound hair.

Negi stopped a few feet out of the cave and positioned himself standing behind a tree. He exhaled a long sigh as he relieved himself. For a few moments he felt at peace with the universe, briefly unconcerned about his nudity in the chilly wilderness alone with two girls, until he heard a faint grumble at his feet.

He looked down, startled. A large glowing red circle had just appeared at the small patch of now wet grass before him, and something was poking a huge grotesque head out of it. Negi backed away, clenching his teeth.

The head was gray and insectoid, with two short and stubby hornlike antennae. It was armed with pincer-like jaws, and it also had two shiny oval scarlet eyes. The animal continued pulling itself out of the circular portal, dragging more than four feet of thick and bulbous centipedesque body up, waggling several pairs of short and robust legs around.

It looked straight at the boy, as if measuring him up and down for a few seconds. Then it roared.

"Tatsumiya-san!" Negi jumped up and made a frantic beeline straight into the cave. "We have to get out of here!"

"Huh?" Shiho blinked, lifting her head up, then flushing like crazy and covering her eyes at the sight of the boy bursting in. "Kyaa! Cover yourself, you little perv!".

"Ah, ah, sorry!" Negi quickly remembered his nudity and pressed his hands back over his privacy.

Mana, however, did not care. She was too busy already reaching into her backpack and pulling two handguns out, taking one in each hand. "Shiho!" she sternly instructed. "Forget that! The 'Orphan' is here!".

"The 'Orphan'?" the apprentice peeked in between her fingers, only to gasp at the vision of the gigantic critter at the entrance of the cavern, attempting to force its way in, chomping at the air while trying to squeeze itself inside. "Gahhh!".

Tatsumiya, fully unconcerned about her disrobed state, opened fire on the antennaed head. However, other than making the thing to howl, the bullets seemed to have little effect, not even drawing blood out.

"Shiho! The flute!" Mana yelled again.

"O-On it, Oneesama!" the redhead wrapped the blanket around herself as best as she could, then raced towards her own backpack. Negi had made a desperate run for his own clothes, looking for his magical wand, but Shiho pushed him aside before he could grab it. "Out of my way, you brat!"

She put her hands on a flute and started to play it. It was a hauntingly sad tune, not unpleasant for Negi, but very unsettling all the same. However, it did make the 'Orphan' to recoil in apparent agonic pain, shaking and scratching the ground with its feet. Mana made a bullseye on one of its eyes, blowing it off in a shower of gore. Expertly, she kept on shooting as the music continued, causing more and more damage to the beast.

Negi was amazed. Then his awe turned to fear when he saw the monster spitting a thick glop of green at Shiho, forcing him to tackle her out of its path. "Look out!"

"Kya!" she lost her balance and fell on her back, with him falling on top of her. Quickly, she pushed him off herself, blushing heavily, not really noticing the acidic, burning spot the liquid had left at the spot where she had been seconds before. "No! You... Look out!" she pushed him aside in turn, both of them barely dodging the next spit of acid. "Geez, that was a close one!"

"Tha.. Thank you!" he stammered, grabbing onto her for support.

"Shiho! Keep it going!" Mana quickly reloaded, then kept on shooting. "We almost have it now!".

"Yes, Oneesama!" her kouhai put her lips back on her flute and kept on playing, making the monstrosity to crouch down in abject pain. Mana stepped closer; putting a few more bullets between its eyes, before it finally slumped down with a thud. The beast shook wildly in a few final stertors, then stopped moving at all.

Tatsumiya waited for a few more moments, and only after she was reasonably sure it had died, she poked it with a bare foot. No reply.

Wearily, she looked back at the two youngsters behind her. "Are you two okay?"

Shiho only nodded wordlessly.

"Y-Yes" Negi stuttered. "We... We are..." Then he remembered that was Tatsumiya-san's bare (and very shapely) behind he was looking at, and quickly averted his gaze again. "S-Sorry!"

Mana turned back to face him, still not showing shame (but showing everything else). "Sensei, you really need to stop being so prudish" she dryly opined.

Shiho passed a hand over her own face. "For the love of the Kami, Oneesama, just cover yourself up". She then looked at Negi. "By the way, how could you see the 'Orphan'? Do you have some kind of gift of your own?".

"Ah, ah, uh, no, not that I know of" he lied.

Mana patted his head down. "Well, you know you have one now" she chuckled. "That was an 'Orphan' in action. I'll bet you never saw anything like it before, huh? Not anyone can see them, much less to kill them. Even I couldn't do it without Shiho's powers to aid me".

The apprentice grinned proudly.

"That almost makes up for how much of a weight she is at everything else" Mana finished.

"ONEESAMA!" the smaller girl shrieked, her temper soured.

Negi looked up at Mana's eyes with newfound respect. She was so strong, so brave, so determined. "Tatsumiya-san..." he breathed.

"Yes, Sensei?".

His lips trembled. "W-Would you like to be my... my...?"

"Heeeeeyyyyy!" Shiho caught his neck in a painful grip. "Watch where are you going, brat! You aren't in any age to ask THAT from Oneesama!"

Mana nearly laughed. "I don't think that's what he meant, Shiho!"

She put a hand over his right cheek. "Sensei, you have people around you that can be of more help to you than me. Look closer around yourself, and you'll find what you look for. Trust your friends. Because I have devoted myself to another path in life".

"Uh? Oh... Yes. Of course" he dumbly nodded.

"And besides, my services aren't cheap. I doubt a teacher's salary could pay my continued employment as a bodyguard" the tall mercenary pointed out.

"She's right" Munakata nodded her agreement.

"Still, because you are my teacher, I will give you some free advice" Mana cautioned him. "To succeed, you must find your inner focus. Control yourself before you can control your abilities. To work properly, your mind must be at peace with itself. Master your own emotions and you can master anything else as well".

He kept on looking at her eyes. Mainly to avoid looking further down. "I... I'll remember that!".

"Good" Mana seemed satisfied. "However, who knows? Maybe someday, you'll be able to... guarantee my reward for my services..."

Shiho sniffed. "Why does that 'Orphan' smell of urine?"

Negi sweatdropped. "Ahhh, I guess that's another unexplained mystery...?"

Act Eight:

He reopened his eyes as the very first rays of light filtered into the cave, signaling the arrival of the dawn. Negi sat up and moaned rubbing his eyes, then looked back at the girls. Mana seemed to sleep with Shiho definitely well asleep, supporting her head onto the taller's girl bosom.

Blushing again, he scrambled to look elsewhere, fumbling around until he found his now dry clothes. He put them back on and sighed, pulling a pen and a piece of paper out.

Thank you for Everything. I'll be okay, he wrote before leaving the note at their right.

Then he walked outside, breathing very deeply. He closed his eyes and remembered Mana's advice. To find his own balance. To channel his own power. To master his own magic. Calm. Serenity. Concentration.

He lifted his right hand up and called again, with an even and soft voice. "Mea Virga".

And he could feel it, poking like a gentle needle at the back of his mind. He sensed the power of his inherited treasure, calling out for him just as he called out for it. He commanded for it to come. And it did.

In a whoosh of swift air, almost booming, the staff came flying from the woods and into his waiting hand. He caught it easily and smiled at it before mounting it. As they started to float up, he gave a final fond glimpse at the cave. In a way, they vaguely reminded him of his sister and Anya.

"Thank you, girls" he whispered before taking up.

Munakata Shiho squirmed and groaned, opening her eyes lazily as she felt the lack of contact with Negi's body. Absently, her gaze looked around for him until she gasped, seeing him with his back turned to them and flying away riding a wooden staff. She was about to shriek, but then found Mana's right hand firmly covering her mouth from behind.

"Silence" her Sempai icily commanded.

Shiho nervously nodded as the boy vanished from sight, and only then her mouth was released. She anxiously looked back at her Oneesama, her eyes demanding for an answer.

"You won't tell about this to anyone. Not even to Tate Yuuichi" Mana strictly instructed.

"But—".

"No buts".

"O-Of course not, Oneesama! But— But—".

"Yes" the older girl nodded. "He is a mage".

Shiho looked up at the sky, amazed. "Oh...! I knew mages existed, of course, but I never had seen one!".

"You have met several, several times" Tatsumiya shrugged. "They don't flaunt it around".

Shiho scowled. "I suppose you won't tell me who are they?".

"You suppose well".

"Itoshiki-sensei is one of them, right? No way that huge dark aura belongs to a normal human...".

"Think whatever you want" Mana dismissed callously.

Shiho pouted and looked down, but then her Sempai ran a hand through her red hair.

"Shiho, you are special as well, in your own way" she softly told her. Her hand briefly moved a lock of thick hair up, allowing her to see the small mark on Shiho's upper forehead again. "You just aren't ready yet to get the full picture, and neither is he. Continue your training, and perhaps, sooner than you think, I will share my secrets with you".

The smaller girl hugged her. "Thank you, Oneesama".

"Hmm. You're welcome". She relaxed back, petting her head and closing her eyes.

Getting dressed and going for breakfast could wait for a while.

Meanwhile, Negi flew back towards the Academy, speeding as much as he could, hoping to reach his dormitory in time for a shower, a breakfast, and some much needed apologies he had to offer. However, he stopped upon seeing three human figures stalking through the forest below. With a gasp, he zoomed down to meet them.

"Hasegawa-san! Hakase-san! Kasuga-san!" he called. "Are you okay?".

Chisame looked up with wide eyes. "Sensei!".

All three of them were carrying large backpacks and clad in exploring fatigues, he noticed while landing before them, bowing profusely. "I'm very sorry! I shouldn't have done that! I regret causing you so many concerns!".

Chisame punched him in the head. "You should, you stupid brat!" she fumed madly, sniffing as if she had been sneezing or crying, or both. "We were wandering around for hours, fearing for the worst! Why must you be so problematic?". She checked his face and neck. "You okay, idiot? Didn't you run into them?".

Misora gave him a hug. "Ha, ha, I knew you'd be okay, you little fool!".

Hakase sighed. "Weren't you the one crying the most about how we would find his corpse after a week?".

Misora shot her a killer glare. "Just because you have no emotions, it doesn't give you the right to exaggerate mine!".

Negi stared at all of them, deeply moved. "Girls... You ventured into the wild all alone, with Evangeline-san on the loose... just to protect me...?".

"Yeah, we... aren't too bright either" Chisame reluctantly growled. "And Iincho would fry us alive if anything happened to you".

"Sensei" Satomi spoke clearly. "We have reached a decision, too. To help you to deal with the current situation, we will... errr... engage into... no, that is not quite the right term... we will... we, we will..."

Misora chuckled nervously. "Well, you know! It's the best thing for everyone, yeah... Assuming you want to do it..."

"You mean..." he blinked.

Chisame put her hands on his shoulders and blushed as she growled in frustration. "Yes, yes, you moron! What else could we mean? We're going to do that retarded 'Pactio' thing with you, okay?".

Slowly, he smiled with an expression of renewed confidence, and then nodded only once.

"Okay!" he said.

NEXT: Wild Cards!
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Unequally Rational and Emotional