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Decadent Habits	By : OverMaster Category: +M to R > Mahou Sensei Negima/Magister Negi Magi Views: 8829 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Negima. No profit at all is made out of this story.

Chapter List
- 21
- 22
- 23
By Darkenning:

Standard issue disclaimer: Akamatsu Ken created and owns Negima. I am not him. This is a parody, protected speech. Thanks to my cowriters and the reviewers.

Special shoutout to Yuetchi Farandole's Define Love series, which inspired a character mentioned in passing within.

Decadent Habits

Chapter 22: Yue

Nodoka awoke slowly, which was characteristic of her, for she'd never been a morning person. She was awakened by the sunlight streaming gently through a window, which wasn't characteristic of her at all, since she slept in a room whose windows faced west. As her consciousness assembled itself, she realized that she was not in a bunk bed, not staring up at a familiar ceilling, and on sheets that were much finer than those she usually slept on.

She also realized that she wasn't alone.

"Oh," Nodoka said softly as she looked over at Yue, still fast asleep with her head on the pillow beside her. "That wasn't a dream, then." For a few moments, she simply lay there, watching the slow rise and fall of Yue's chest, naked beneath the sheets. And remembering ...

The problem with making plans, Yue told her later, was that despite stories, nobody could really plan for everything. You can have sixteen contingency plans in waiting, but that will not stop your opponent from introducing a seventeenth threat against which you haven't prepared any defense or counteragent to let you keep fighting. And that could lead to the other problem - what happened when you fell in love with your plans, and didn't react well to how they were disrupted. Yue tried to avoid that, but Nodoka suspected she fell victim more than she liked to admit.

So, for example, while pursuing Tsukuyomi, who'd trespassed on Ariadne's grounds, seriously injured several students, broken into the college's most secure vaults, and made off with the Hina Sword, Yue had expected certain things. She'd expected that the mercenary would try to take hostages, and she was prepared for that. She had spells readied that would separate her from them without doing them harm, spells of protection that would shield the hostages, healing spells so that if Tsukuyomi did harm them she could mitigate it, and so on ...

But she hadn't been prepared for the sight of Tsukuyomi about to Nodoka. Nothing could have prepared her for that. And so she'd set aside her plans for the moment, and dropped out of the sky to prevent it directly. It was showboating, she admitted later. It was risky and dangerous and foolish. But the alternative was to let Nodoka take wounds that the healing spells she carried might or might not be capable of fixing.

So there she found herself, minus a shield, with her primary weapon, a blast lance, one not really designed for close-in fighting. standing between Nodoka and one of the most dangerous people either of them had ever met. From the files she'd been given on the skills of a Shinmeiryu swordmaster, she knew perfectly well that Tsukuyomi would be able to call the sword back to her hand given a moment of concentration. This was not a good situation to be caught in alone.

Good thing that she wasn't.

Even as Tsukuyomi shouted about how unfair it all was, Collette and Beatrix were dropping into position behind Nodoka and Yue, having descended less vertically than Yue had. As the mercenary reached out a hand to grab hold of the sword lying several feet away from her, the two cadets peppered the ground in front of her with barrages from their lances, driving Tsukuyomi back a pace from the bursts of energy. Then Emily came down between them, wand raised high, and began a formal demand for surrender as Tsukuyomi took another step back.

Wait, thought Yue, why is she retreating from us?

There was an instant when Yue could have done something, and in fact, she did. "Iincho, fire fire fire!" she called out, even as Tsukuyomi took that third step back. She wasn't retreating, but building up space to make a running forward dash, hand outstretched to pull the Hina Sword up to her, out of the shield and into her hand, then soaring up to land on the very point of Emily's broom and swinging the edge of the sword down under the knight's unguarded right ...

Maybe Yue's warning did help a bit. Perhaps, without it, Emily wouldn't have been able to get up a light shield spell before the blade slammed into her side, slowing it down so that it only broke through the armor and made a relatively small cut into her flank. Perhaps without that shield, it would have gotten much further in, resulting in a much deeper would. You could go mad thinking about the perhapses of a situation.

What did happen was that Tsukuyomi followed up her swordstrike with a jump kick that knocked a stunned Emily off of her perch on the broom. Collete, Beatrix and Yue all had to work quickly to feather fall her so that the plunge didn't finish the job that the sword had left hanging, which left them all with exactly no time to stop the mercenary from riding the broom down into the market and out of sight.

"Well, this is a mess," Emily had muttered as Yue worked frantically to close the wound on her side. Nodoka had frowned at the apparent ingratitude, but Emily paid her no mind until she explained what Tsukuyomi had told her about her plans. That had changed her tune. "Well, this is a gargantuan mess." Or at least some of the notes.

They didn't have authorization to go through any portals, legitimate or illegitimate. The only thing to do was to head back to Ariadne with this new information, which meant that Nodoka had to come with them. So she was mounted up behind Yue, clinging to her probably more closely than she really had to, as they flew for half an hour to the city state. They were immediately admitted to Headmaster Seras' office, who listened to their verbal report with a grim expression.

"I'll have to contact some people, and see about this," she said when they were done. "Nonetheless, well-done on determining her plans, all of you. Miyazaki-san, I hope you'll accept our hospitality for the night." Nodoka had told them that she was on a mission here that she couldn't talk about. (Which was true, from a certain point of view.) So of course she accepted, and let Yue lead her to the guest room on the eastern side of the college. There they talked for a little while, growing comfortable in each other's presence once more.

"Well, um, I should let you get some sleep," Yue had eventually said, looking towards the door.

Nodoka felt the memory charms in her pocket. She decided that they could wait. "Yue, please stay," she said.

They looked at each other, doused the lights ... and said nothing at all to each other for the next little while. Sometimes, even Yue had to admit, words just got in the way.

Nodoka looked down at Yue's body, remembering last night. The sweetness of their reunion after all these weeks of separation had very nearly distracted her from the mission. As did the fact that when she destroyed the memories of the person Yue Farandole, their relationship would go back to being what it had been at the start of their journey into the magical world - best friends, rivals in love ... and utterly in denial about how they felt about each other.

Or at least Yue would go back to that. Nodoka's own feelings would stay the same, and she was suddenly uncertain about the wisdom of that. But if she stopped now, all the horrific things that she'd done - her betrayal of Ayaka and Chizuru, her anger at Haruna and Zazie - they would all have been utterly pointless. She'd chosen to become a demon. It was not a road she could choose to stop walking.

She slid out of bed and quietly padded over to where she had dropped her clothes on the floor after the lights went out. The charms were hidden in a pocket inside her trousers, along with the small amount of Mundus Magicus currency she'd acquired in her career as an adventurer and held onto after the affair had ended.

She would use the restoration charm, and then the erasure charm. With Yue in a confused state, it would be easy for them both to slip out of the city state. Or so she hoped. The difficulties of doing so when neither of them had (or least would remember having) been in this city before were not trivial, but they would be overcome because they had to be overcome. There was no other ...

Where were the charms? The money was there, in the pocket, but the charms were -

"If you are looking for these," Yue's quiet voice said from behind her, "then I'm going to have to ask what you intend to do with them before I give them back to you."

Nodoka felt herself turn to ice. Slowly, like a glacier, she turned to look behind her. Yue was seated seiza, looking at her levelly without any visible expression - even to her, who knew just how expressive her supposedly expressionless face could be - and with a pair of red crystals resting in her right hand.

"How did you -" Nodoka started to ask.

"I have to visit the bathroom fairly often, you know," Yue said in the same even tone. "I did so last night, while you were sleeping. When I came back, I saw how we'd just left our clothes scattered all over the place. It wasn't becoming. So I started to pick them up and fold them and put them on the table ... and I felt something odd in your pants." She was silent for a while. "You know that possession of those by a civilian is a felony in Ariadne, right?"

"No," Nodoka answered.

"Do you care?"

"No."

"So. Who are you planning to use them on?" Yue asked. Same even tone. Giving nothing away.

It would be so easy to lie. Say that Pal had talked her into some scheme that was supposed to set up her conquest of the magical world. Say anything but the truth in fact. What was one more crime, after all? What was a lie to a person who wasn't going to exist in a moment?

"I was goihg to use them on you," Nodoka answered.

"So," said Yue, and nothing else for a few moments. Then, just as Nodoka was opening her mouth to say ... she wasn't sure what ... Yue started to talk again. "Memory restoration to give me back all of the memories I've lost, and then memory erasure to reset me to the way I was before I lost them, correct?"

Nodoka nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"Pretty good plan," Yue mused. "Utterly lacking in any ethical dimension, but it probably would have worked in the short term. I am curious, though ... how are you planning to explain my reappearance at Mahora? Our classmates know about my situation. They'll ask the me with no memories of Ariadne what happened. How will you deal with that?"

"I was going to cross that bridge when I came to it," Nodoka admitted. "Probably I'd tell you - the you with no memories - that everyone had been deceived, and you shouldn't be bothered by what they said. Or maybe I'd make up some story ..."

"More lies. More deception. You really have left the path of righteousness far behind you, haven't you, Nodoka?" Still even in tone. Neither condoning, nor condemning.

"I said I'd become a demon to get you back, Yue," Nodoka answered, feeling her eyes start to brim with tears. "I've done much worse things already."

"Really? I'm sorry to hear that. Particularly since I don't understand why." Now, and only now, there was just a hint of emotion in her voice. "I knew that leaving you the way that I did, I knew that would hurt ... but I thought you'd get over it. I thought, you have friends, you have family -"

"Family?" Nodoka shouted. "You -" She broke off, shook her head as tears started to flow down her cheeks. "You really don't understand at all, do you? You really don't remember?"

"I remember most of it," Yue said defensively. "But it's all so confusing, like it happened to someone else. I remember that you have a family, and that I don't. That my parents died when I was little, and I went to live with my grandfather. When he died, too, I was packed off to Mahora at the start of junior high school, and that's when I met you. You were with people, even then. I was alone. I thought, no matter how close you and I were, you have other people who need you ... like the people here need me. Was I wrong?"

Nodoka closed her eyes, thinking of Haruna, thinking of Konoka, thinking of Negi-sensei, oh, Negi-sensei. "No. But I needed you."

"I see. Well. Then there's really nothing left to say is there?"

And she reached out and set the two charms down on the bedspread in front of her.

Nodoka stared in confusion. "But -"

"I said, I needed to ask what you intend to do with them before I give them back to you. And I asked. I don't like the answer very much. But that's neither here nor there. I didn't say, I needed to ask you before I decide whether to give them back to you. They're yours. It would be wrong to take them from you and not give them back. So there they are. Come and take them."

"But ... but what about what you said about the law," Nodoka protested, confused almost beyond words.

"In this room, I am not Yue Farandole, cadet Knight of Ariadne, sworn to uphold the laws. In this room, I am just Yue, the person who loves Miyazaki Nodoka, and believes in her. All of my memories are a little blurry ... but there's one that's come back very clearly. I remember doing something, something very foolish. And you slapped me. And you hugged me. And you lied, and said it was all right, and admitted that it was a lie, but that you cared about me and so you'd make it true somehow."

Now tears were trickling down from Yue's eyes, too. "I don't know what that was about. But I know it was important. And I know that there was a time when you were stronger and wiser than I could ever hope to be. So maybe that's true now, too. Maybe you see something that I don't. Maybe this is what has to be. I love you, Nodoka. I always will, no matter what. And I believe you'll do the right thing."

"I don't know what the right thing is," Nodoka protested, brokenly.

Yue shrugged. "Then you'll do the wrong thing, and live with it. I won't stop you. I won't fight you. Now there really is nothing more to say." And so she said nothing more.

Nodoka got up, slowly walked over to the far side of the bed, where Yue was sitting with the charms in front of her. As promised, Yue didn't lift a finger to prevent her from reaching down with unsteady hand to pick them up. She didn't show any reaction at all as Nodoka took them, one in each hand. Breathing heavily, as though lifting the tiny jewels had been an immense strain, she clutched them tightly ... and then, with a spasm of effort, squeezed her right hand tightly.

There was a burst of red light, and Yue flinched back ...

And remembered everything. Everything as though it had happened to her, which it had. Every moment of pain, every ounce of triumph. She was almost drowning in the memories, fourteen long years of her life. Was she Ayase Yue? Was she Yue Farandole? Ayase Yue Farandole?

No. She was Yue who loved Nodoka. She'd said that almost in jest, and yet it was the one thing she could cling to as true, the one thing true about both the people she'd been in her young life. And as she clung to it in that torrent of memories, like someone clinging to a fragment of a sinking ship, something came out of the sea ...

"Aren't you going home for the summer?"

"No. There's nowhere left to go."

"Ah. I ... understand what that's like."

"Do you?"

"... let me tell you a story. There was once a poor but very beautiful girl. She didn't want to be poor, so she decided to become rich. And the best way that she could become rich, she thought, was to marry someone who had a lot of money. And so she found someone like that, a businessman, and made him fall in love with her, so he'd want to marry her ... and got pregnant, so he had to marry her. And then they were married, and their daughter was born ... and then everything went wrong.

"Because she didn't love him, only his money, and he was smart enough to realize it ... but it was too late, they were married, and he couldn't take the scandal of a divorce. And so he took mistresses, and spent all of the time he could away from her. And she wasn't happy, either, because their daughter ... was so utterly unlike her, that she couldn't find any way to live the youth she'd given up through her. And so she decided to hate her, for not being just like her."

"Nodoka ... that's awful ... I -"

"Ah, but the story doesn't end there. You interrupted the best part. You see, because she hated her, and because she didn't want to have to deal with her, the woman sent her daughter far away, to a private school that she could only afford because her husband was very rich. And there, the daughter met wonderful, brave, funny, smart friends. And so it didn't matter so much that her family was just a lie ... because her friends were the truth.

"See? It's a better story than you thought, isn't it?"

"Oh, god," Yue said, when she could talk again. "Oh, god, Nodoka, I am so sorry, I ... I didn't know, I forgot all of that, I can't believe ... and I thought you'd be happy, because you had a family." The tears were flowing freely again. "I left you with that. I really am the worst ..."

"No," Nodoka said softly as she sat down before her. "You're not. You have a long way to go before you become that."

For a long while, they just sat there. Then Yue drew in a shuddering breath. "Are you going to use the other charm now?" she asked.

Nodoka looked down at her left hand. The sinister, it was called in Latin. And she closed her eyes. "I think ... I will save this for some other time," she said.

"I guess neither of us is the worst, then," Yue said, still struggling with the tears.

"I guess not," Nodoka agreed.

"... we are so weird!" Yue cried out, laughing through them.

"Yes we are," Nodoka agreed.

At that very moment, the door swung open and Collette walked in briskly, saying, "Okay, sleepyheads, up and ahhhhh." The strangled gasp ending the sentence was occasioned, as such often are, by the sight of two girls naked as the day they were born sitting very close to each other on a bed. The fact that she had often seen one of those girls naked (and in fact very much enjoyed that particular sight) didn't help much.

"Um, Collette, knocking? It's, it's the done thing," said Yue, blushing terribly.

"Well, yes, but I didn't, you weren't supposed to be ... okay, backing up slowly now," Collette announced, retreating and closing the door. A moment later, there was a firm knock on the door. "Okay, sleepyheads, up and at 'em," collette's voice rang out with false cheerfulness. "Headmistress wants to speak with both of you, as soon as possible. So, um, if you by chance to be naked ... together ... hurry up and, well, get dressed."

"You know," said Nodoka faintly. "That honestly doesn't happen very often at Mahora. For all the involuntary nudity that happens when Negi-sensei is around, people usually don't walk in on other people when they're naked. Does this happen very often here at Ariadne?"

"I ... would really rather not talk about it," said Yue.

Another time, another land.

"Okay, still not too clear about why Arika-sama has your distrust-aru," Ku Fei opined.

She, Haruna and Satomi were all seated in the Research Institute's cafeteria, mostly deserted at the moment. The local fare didn't come close to being as good as you could get at Chao Bao Zi, and the portions were so small, too. But it was what was available.

"It's just, well, what do we really know about her?" Haruna asked, rhetorically. Once again, she cursed her honorable nature. It would be so easy if she could just pretend that she hadn't promised not to reveal anyone's dark secrets. She wouldn't have to just hint around things, then. Cursed Saotome honor!

"Well," said Ku Fei, slowly and deliberately, "We know that she is Negi-sensei's mother, we know that she is Negi-sensei's father's wife, we know that she is a Princess and later a Queen, we know that -"

"Okay, those are just, you know, descriptions. They don't tell you anything," Haruna interrupted.

"- that she saved a lot of people when Ostia is destroyed," Ku Fei conintued.

"All right, let's talk about that one. What if we're wrong about that? What if she's really a villain with good publicity?"

"But she doesn't. Rather, she has very bad publicity-aru," Ku Fei explained, as though speaking to a small child.

"Well, maybe she deserves it, then!" Haruna said angrily. She has sex with her children! And encourages other people to do the same! Simple, to the point, bound to get everyone who wasn't a complete monster on her side! Cursed Saotome honor!

Ku Fei stared at her, then turned to look at Satomi with a perplexed expression. "Help?" she said.

Satomi, seated at the end of the table between the two of them, shrugged and smiled cutely. "I'm just enjoying being the least socially maladroit person in the room for once."

"Eh?" said Ku Fei.

"Look, how about this? How do we really know that the person who claims to be Arika actually is? Maybe she's, I don't know, some kind of doppelganger? Or just an imposter?"

"Can I take this one?" Satomi asked.

"Oh please thank you," Ku Fei replied, shaking her head.

"If she's an imposter, she has managed to fool Negi-sensei, Takahata-sensei, Headmaster Konoemon, that Ku:Nel Sanders person who was apparently one of Nagi-sama's friends, Evangeline-san, and probably a few other cautious and moderately paranoid people," Satomi observed methodically. "Why do you think that you are more likely to spot a fake than these people?"

"This isn't about me," Haruna said angrily.

"Only you seem to have the problem-aru," Ku pointed out.

"Maybe that is the problem-aru!" Haruna replied ... then froze. "Agh, you've got me doing it now!" she cried out as she collapsed on the tabletop.

Ku Fei opened her mouth to deliver a stinging remark about imitating her dialect. She stopped dead, head tilting to one side, then pulled her pactio card and set it to her head. "Yes, Negi-bouzu?" she said. Then, "In Research Center cafeteria, with Hakase-san and Paru-san. No, pretty deserted. Oh. Oh, you can do that? How cool! Okay, right away."

She took the card away from her head and held it parallel to the ground. "Summon?" she said, making it more of a question than a command. The tone, apparently, didn't matter. A summoning circle drawn in pure light appeared just an inch above the floor, and a moment later, Negi appeared within it, dressed in his usual sweatshirt and jeans with his staff in hand.

The only other group of people in the cafeteria, a small group of physics grad students, looked up when that happened. When it became clear that all that had transpired was a molecular transposition, rather than anything non-trivial, they went back to discussing strategies for finding the Higgs boson.

"Thank you, Chairman Ku. Hello, Haruna-san. Excuse me, Satomi-san, but do you mind if I borrow this space for an important meeting?" Negi asked briskly.

Hakase blinked. "Well, I really don't think you need to ask me for permission, but -"

"Oh good," Negi said, not waiting for the rest of Satomi's statement. He pulled out an entire deck of cards from somewhere, and began to sort through it carefully. "Yuna-san is in Amsterdam. Shiori-san is in Ariadne, presumably. Nodoka-san and Yue-san ... um. And Chachamaru-san ... isn't available." He avoided looking at Satomi as he muttered that. "I really wish Akira-san would accept one, but ... well, here we go anyway." He held out a card and said, in a far more confident tone than Ku had used, "Summon!"

Again with the tracery on the ground, and this time Asuna appeared over it, dressed in jeans and a blouse. She smiled warmly at Negi before noticing Haruna staring at the two of them. She shot the manga artist a warning glance before sitting down beside Ku. Haruna kept her mouth shut, her lips pinched, but she was clearly disapproving. Neither of them noticed Satomi clearly noticing this interplay.

One by one, Negi called those of his pactio partners he could reach to him. Konoka and Setsuna were first after Asuna, followed by Chisame. It was readily apparent to everyone there that none of these three seemed very happy; Chisame, in particular, looked like she'd reverted to the way she'd been at the start of her second year, with a perpetual frown on her face. She was also walking a bit gingerly. But then Kaede, looking as serene as ever, came through, as did slyly smiling Asakura and ever-cheerful Makie. Things went back to unhappy when Ako stepped out of the circle, blushing brightly as she looked at Negi, and sat down beside Chisame on Haruna's side of the table.

That left a single card in Negi's hand. Haruna frowned as she went over the list of pactios in her head. Whose was -

"Summon," said Negi.

"Greetings, gentles all," said Ayaka a moment later, dressed in a long red dress with a bracelet with a polychromatic gem on her right arm. The blissful smile on her face had Asuna facepalming and muttering to herself. For her part, Chisame's jaw dropped and she stared openly.

"Iincho!" said Makie, getting up out of her seat with a big smile. "You did it! I'm so happy for you!" Then her face went ... well, what would be called fierce in anyone else. "But I won't lose to you!"

"Mm-hm, you go right on telling yourself that, Makie-san," Ayaka said, winking at Chisame, whose face took on a genuinely horrified look. Haruna's expression slowly took on the same look as she looked back and forth between them.

"Um, aren't you supposed to say, I won't lose to you either?" Makie asked, blinking audibly.

"I don't think we have time for comedy routines, do we sensei?" Ayaka said as she delicately slid into a seat at the table.

"No, we really don't. Satomi-san, could I please take your seat for a moment? Thank you," Negi said as Hakase got up wordlessly, with a brief glance in Haruna's direction. "All right, some of you already know much of this, but not all of you do, so I'm going to summarize recent events. A few days ago, Nodoka-san went to Ma- Evangeline-san's home ..."

"We have authorization to send a small force to Mundus Vetus in pursuit of Tsukuyomi," Seras said, seated behind a desk just as large as the one in Headmaster Konoemon's office, chin resting on her interaced fingers. "Yue-san, in light of your background, I would very much appreciate it if you would assume the role of liaison officer between that force and the authorities at Mahora. Can I rely on you for this?"

"Yes, ma'am," Yue answered, since there was literally no other answer to such a question.

"Good. Miyazaki-san, I realize that your mission takes priority, but I would be very much in your debt if you would assist my people in acclimating to Mundus Vetus before resuming it."

"I will do what I can, Seras-sama," Nodoka said, trying not to show how relieved she was that the fiction of the mission was holding up. "But there's something I think you need to know. This is a glimpse inside Tsukuyomi's mind." She lifted up her Diarum and spoke the word, "Transcribere". A piece of parchment extended from it, with a copy of the most recent entry in the book of thoughts. She handed it to Seras, who produced her reading glasses to examine it in silence.

"I see," she said.

"Would he -" Nodoka started to ask.

"The question you are about to ask," Seras interrupted sharply, "could easily be construed as a slander, which is a dangerous thing to say in a society where duels to the death are reasonably common, Miyazaki-san."

Nodoka flinched. "I'm sorry, ma'am. But I am more afraid of what that person will do to my friends and my home than of what that other person will do if he ever gets ahold of me," she said.

Seras looked at her for a moment, then smiled. "What brave new world," she murmured. "I will have those who can safely ask that question do so."

"Um, pardon my impertinence, ma'am, but who will you be sending to Ear- Mundus Vetus," Yue asked.

"I think I will send Selene and her team, or possibly four three two one," Seras counted down softly.

On one, the door burst open and Emily Sevensheep strode in bearing God's anger. "I protest!" she shouted. "Ma'am, with all due respect, I protest in the strongest possible terms the notion that anyone other than my team and I should be sent on this mission. We have our honor to think of! Shall it be said that we allowed such a dangerous fugitive to escape from our righteous justice, and then shifted the burden of her pursuit to another? I say thee nay, Headmaster!"

"All right, then," Seras said cheerfully. "You're on detached duty for the next two weeks. Needless to say, any minor mistakes you make will be on your permanent record. Be sure to keep a good record of your expenses. Now, if you would please wait outside with Miyazaki-san. I have to have a few words in private with Yue-san."

"Yes, ma'am. This way, Miyazaki," Emily said smartly as she marched a willing Nodoka out and shut the door behind them.

"You enjoyed that," Yue said before Seras could say anything.

"Tricking someone into volunteering for the mission I intended to assign them anyway, while they were listening at the door? Quite. The pleasures of this job are few and far between, Yue-san, as I suspect you'll learn for yourself one day. Be that as it may. She restored your memories, didn't she?" Seras asked with a gentle smile.

"I said Earth instead of Mundus Vetus, didn't I?" Yue asked, shaking her head. "Silly of me. Yes. Ma'am ... I swore an oath, and I think it binds me ... but I'm not sure if I'm the person who swore that oath anymore."

Seras nodded. "I expected this to happen eventually. Yue-san. When you are sure of who you are, one way or another, come tell me. Then we'll decide what has to happen. Right now, though, one of the people you might be is one of my valiant ones. So I will trust that person to the very limit. And whoever that person is, she was always you, Yue-san."

Yue swallowed. "Permission to approach and hug the Headmaster?"

"Granted."

A moment later, Yue walked out of the door to find only Nodoka waiting there. "Emily-san went away after telling me that she wouldn't lose and saying, 'Oh, Jesu, she's done it to me again, hasn't she,'. Is she -" Nodoka asked hesitantly.

"Yes," Yue said wearily. "And Collette. And Beatrix, though I think she views me primarially as a rival for Emily's affections, such as they are. Which doesn't stop the wondering gazes she directs at me every now and again."

"This is so unfair. I didn't get a harem, why did you?" Nodoka said, pouting.

"I'm cuter than you are. Ask anyone," Yue answered stoically.

They stared at each other for a moment before breaking into helpless giggles.

"So weird," Yue murmured.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Haruna repeated, face in her hands.

"So, I take it that we can skip asking whether you saw this coming?" asked Asakura, eyebrow raised.

"No! I, I knew she was hurting, but I ... oh god." Haruna lifted her head. "Even when we had dinner together, yesterday, there were hints, and I could have - oohhhhhhh."

"So could I," Konoka said sadly. Something is really wrong with me ...

"Haruna-san, Konoka-san, please, you mustn't blame yourselves," Negi said earnestly. "I had a chance to talk to her before she ever launched this scheme, and I should have seen the signs then. But I didn't, and now we're all paying the price. If it's anyone's fault -"

"It's Nodoka's fault," Ayaka interrupted. "Maybe we could've stopped her, but she's as responsible as any of us."

"I hate to say it, but I'm with iincho. Anyway, assigning blame can wait until we fix this," Asuna said. "What do we do, Negi?"

"Well, I think we're going to need to do some sort of grid search of the whole grounds of the campus, and possibly the town," Negi said. "Chamo-kun went off to search for the portal Nodoka-san's planning to use, but he hasn't reported back. It's possible that he's fallen prey to some misadventure."

"Um ... sensei, I don't think that's it," said Ako hesitantly. "I saw him running off with his suitcases."

Negi blinked. "That doesn't make sense," he said. "Why would he take suitcases with him on a short expedition like this?"

"Are you kidding me?" Chisame shrieked, startling those around her. "Negi, he's ditching you! He's gotten all the value he can out of the relationship, and now he's going to ..." She trailed off as she saw the shocked expression on Negi's face, then coughed, and looked away. "Of course this is all just my opinion," she said in a gruff voice.

Since when, thought Ako confusedly, did Chisame engage in yobisute with Negi-sensei?

"I can't believe that Chamo-kun would do something like that," Negi said shakily. "He's my, my friend." He drew in a deep breath. "And I won't believe it until I see proof. But right now, we need to focus on finding the portal that Nodoka was going to use, so that we can -"

"You mean the one by the riverside, used by smugglers?" asked Hakase.

Negi's mouth hung open for a few moments. Then he closed it, coughed, turned to look at Satomi. "Chao?" he asked politely.

Satomi nodded. "She used it, and mentioned doing so. I didn't place any importance on it at the time, but -"

"Okay, then," Negi (rather rudely) interrupted. "Did she mention whereabouts along the river it was?"

"There's a cave formation, apparently."

Negi nodded, smiling sweetly. "Thank you, Hakase-san." He turned back to his partners, smile becoming somewhat fixed, and said, in a far louder, flatter voice, "Okay, let's go."

Nobody seemed all that inclined to argue the point, though some were definitely faster to get up and moving than others. It ended up that Chisame was bringing up the rear of the progression, with Ayaka casually walking along beside her. "So exciting! My first mission as Negi-sensei's newest partner seems off to an excellent start," the class representative said enthusiastically.

"You are a sick, disturbed person," Chisame replied.

Why thank you dear sister, Ayaka replied telepathically.

How could you - Chisame ranted in the same communicative mode for a moment before realizing what she was doing. She glared at Ayaka, who silently tapped the bracelet on her wrist.

I thought we should resolve this quietly, Ayaka explained. I don't see why you're surprised, Chisame. I was perfectly willing to share myself with young men willing to pretend to be my little brother, so why in the world would I hesitate to do so with a young man who actually was? It's simple logic.

It's disgusting, Chisame raged.

And yet you want it for yourself, Ayaka parried.

I want lots of things that I shouldn't have, Chisame snapped.

I disagree. I think you should have the things you want, as long as they don't harm yourself or others. Where is the harm in this, please? Ayaka regarded her silently for a moment. Chisame, despite everything, I really am quite fond of you. I can't fully explain it, but you remind me of ... well, never mind. The point is, I want you to be with him, and he will want to be with you because he cares about you, and you want to be with him.

But -

'The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself,' Ayaka quoted.

Before Chisame could think of a response to that, they arrived at the cave that Satomi had mentioned. Indeed, she could see Satomi walking alongside Negi, pointing it out. She could also see her frowning at him when he wasn't looking right at her. What was that about?

"All right," Negi said after a moment, pitching his voice to carry. "We're going to be heading in very shortly. Since I don't have any idea what to expect, I want all of you to choose a partner to accompany you. Hold on to their hands, do not let go, no matter what."

Chisame watched the pair-ups happen, Makie and Ako quickly taking each other's hand, Konoka and Setsuna oddly hesitant ... but eventually, everyone was paired up except for her. Of course. If Chachamaru had been here, if Chachamaru hadn't betrayed her, she meant ... but there was no one here she was close to except for Negi, and Asuna, of course, had seized his hand immediately. And so -

Ayaka grabbed her hand.

Chisame glowered at her, and, hoping that whatever telepathy the class rep had been using was still working, sent Just because we had sex, don't go thinking we're friends or anything.

Ayaka rolled her eyes. That appears to be a refrain when it comes to certain of my sexual partners. Yes, you really remind me of that person.

"All right," Negi said. "Be ready for anything, and don't be afraid to -"

At that very moment, Yue poked her head out of the cave, looking to see if anyone would see if her (technically Emily's) team made their way out of it. When she saw that a rather large number of people, all of whom she knew rather well, were there, she froze.

"- run if it gets very dangerous, and -" Negi continued, oblivious.

"Um, Negi-sensei?" said Yue hesitantly.

"Not now, Yue-san, we have to go to the magical world to ..." Negi trailed off, stood stock still for a moment, then turned to look at her with the same bright smile he'd plastered on while talking to Satomi, earlier. "Hello, Yue-san. Are you well?"

"Quite well, sensei. Um, Nodoka's with me."

"That's good," Negi said placidly.

"That's very good," Ayaka said much less placidly as she let go of Chisame's hand and marched up to the front lines, glaring up at Yue as she did so. "Let's have her come out, then, shall we?"

Hesitantly, Yue stepped all the way out of the cave, followed closely by Nodoka, who flinched at the obvious anger on Ayaka's face, as well as the sight of the majority of Negi's party gathered before her. "I'm very sorry, Iincho," Nodoka began to say.

"Well, that's good," Ayaka interrupted, feigning cheerfulness. "I'm sure that your sorrow will help Chizuru's broken hand mend more quickly. It will really make up for the hours I spent in a cell. It certainly brings into balance the premature end of my first real adventure! Young lady, you have a great deal of explaining to do!"

"We both do, iincho," Yue replied quickly. "And we need to talk to the Headmaster, as soon as possible. You see -"

"This is going to become confusing if you have to call two different people 'iincho'," Emily Sevensheep opined as she marched out of sight, with Collette and Beatrix following close on her heels. "You should call that person by her name or something, Yue. Negi-san, I greet you in the name of Ariadne. I hope that you are well?"

"... it's going to be another one of those days," Negi muttered. His eyes had closed long since.

Eventually, Negi and Ayaka headed off with the party from Ariadne and Nodoka to speak to Headmaster Konoemon, and the rest of his pactio army went their own ways.

"You see?" said Ku Fei as she walked along with Haruna and Satomi. "Things aren't so gloomy. Everyone shows up when bad things happen. And really, the bad things don't happen all that much. And the thing you complain about most, Yue being gone, is over and done with now. So no worries?"

"It must nice to be you, Ku," Haruna said.

"It is!"

"But this is a Hope Spot, not a happy ending. Things aren't fixed, just ... mended, a little," Haruna continued.

Ku Fei growled and pulled her hair. "Agh. There's no talking to you! Fine, be miserable-aru! I am in a good mood, so will go and play with martial arts club boys. See you next crisis." She strode off, shaking her head.

"I suppose you think I'm nuts, too," Haruna asked Satomi wearily.

"Not qualified for that," Satomi said. "Haruna, I know you don't want to share privileged communications, but if I deduce what's going on, will you confirm it?"

"Oh, why not?" At least she'd be entertained by Hakase's completely off the wall guesses.

"Negi-sensei is having sexual relations with his mother, Asuna, and Ayaka, and possibly with Konoka and Setsuna as well. Am I right?" Satomi waited for a reply as she walked, then looked behind her to see that Haruna had face-faulted.

"So I can take that as a yes, then?"

"So, Ayaka?" Konoka asked Asuna as she walked with her and Setsuna back to the dorms.

"Don't want to talk about it."

"Honestly, it's about time."

"Konoka," Asuna said warningly.

The door to their room was open when they arrived. Mindful of the new threat of Tsukuyomi, Setsuna went in first, Yuunagi out and ready in her hand. To their relief, however, what they found was something a lot simpler. Arika was seated, fully clothed, on the bottom bunk, looking up with a frown on her face at Eishun, also fully dressed and carrying his suitcase in one hand.

"Daddy?" asked Konoka with surprise. "What's -"

"Arika-san and I were just having a little discussion," he said, brusquely. "It's not important. Konoka, Setsuna ... I need to return to Kyoto, there are matters that await my attention that can't wait any longer." He sighed, looked at them for a moment before continuing. "If you still can't forgive me for hiding the truth from you for all these years, then I'm sorry, but I'll have to learn to live without your forgiveness. Do you forgive me, Setsuna?" he asked.

Setsuna flinched under his gaze. "It's, it's not my place to forgive or deny you forgiveness," she said, not looking at him. It was awful. She'd not felt this ashamed while coupling with him.

"I disagree," Eishun said heavily. "But never mind that now. Do you forgive me, Konoka?" he asked, turning to look at her.

She looked away. "... yes ..." she whispered, almost too quietly to hear.

"Very well. Thank you. It may be some time before I can see either of you again, so I'll just leave you with the knowledge that the fact that I am proud of both of my daughters has not changed. I just wish you'd give me more to be proud about, that's all. Asuna-kun, it's been nice seeing you. Good-bye, Arika-san," he said, and there was a lot of hardness in his tone.

Arika nodded shortly, and the elder of the East walked out without looking back.

"I, I should probably go and see whether Mana needs any help cleaning up our room, with Rakan-san staying there and all," Setsuna said into the silence that fell, backing away.

"... forgive me," Konoka said quietly.

"Eh?" Setsuna said.

"I said, please say that you forgive me," she said, much louder, turning to look at her with tears running down her face. "I've ... oh, Setchan, please, even if you don't, I need to hear you say it, and -"

"Konoka!" Setsuna shouted, grabbing hold of her shoulders. "Stop it! Of course I forgive you!" The firmness of her tone eased a bit. "I just wish I understood why you do things that make my forgiveness so necessary!"

Konoka stared at her, then collapsed against her chest. "I finally got you to say my name," she said, weeping.

Asuna had sat down beside Arika to watch this unfold. "So ... can I ask what happened with -"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Sheesh, that's your answer to just about everything."

"Not true. A good third of the time my answer to things is, let's have sex." She nodded at Konoka and Setsuna. "A good beginning on their part. With a little bit of work, they might make a good addition to the harem."

"Okay, I'm not so crazy about this harem notion," Asuna objected.

"What about 'I love to watch you -'," Arika asked, eyebrow raised.

"That's a different thing," Asuna answered.

"Oh really."

"Did you want Nagi-san to have a harem?"

"That's a different thing."

"Oh really."

Eishun took a taxi to the train station and bought his ticket, wondering all the while how many years of purification it would take to make him feel clean again. Whether any amount would do. Heedless of these concerns, nature called him. He stepped into the washroom to answer it, and then went over to wash his hand, leaning over the basin to do so.

When he looked up, the mirror showed him Tsukuyomi standing behind him, smiling.

There was a second of panic, and then everything went black.

NEXT: Satomi.
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Decadent Habits