Old Flame

Hey! Sticky here, preparing to jump into a BRAND NEW fic! One that’s not KonoSetsu! Quite a departure, eh? Not really, actually, as this one is still Negima, and it’s still Yuri. It does, however, feature a pairing that I am CONFIDENT has never been done before (and if it has, please shoot me a message telling me where to find this person on the same bizarre wavelength as me!). In regards to that, let me clarify right here that there are NO fan characters in this fic. If someone shows up, and you think it’s a fan character, you’re wrong. All will be explained at the end.

Anyway, guess who doesn’t own Negima? Among other people, ME! That’s okay though, I think Ken Akamatsu is doing a fine job, so he can keep it. Just don’t think I’m stealing it, ‘kay?
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Quiet Morning- Asuna Side Story: Old Flame
In a daze that had become routine for her as of late, Asuna walked into the dorm room. The sun had just risen outside, and here she was, going to bed. It couldn’t be helped, of course; between helping with the class’s festival project and delivering papers, she was left no other time for rest. The good news was that it was easy to get, as the reduced class schedule leading up to Mahorafest left her with plenty of time in the morning to sleep. Still, she felt a bit guilty about going to bed at this point when she knew so many other people outside were working hard at this point. Of course, that would never stop her from enjoying her sleep. Especially since she knew she would be able to wake up without Negi fondling her.

The room was bathed in the bleached-white light of the early morning. It streamed through the main window of the room, highlighting the bottom bunk of the resident bed, which housed a display that Asuna had been unable to ignore for the past couple of days. Konoka and Setsuna slept peacefully together, their arms wrapped around each other warmly. Asuna had been extremely tired every time she walked in, and yet this scene always managed to catch her eye for a moment.

It wasn’t that Asuna had been surprised at the revelation of Konoka and Setsuna’s relationship. She had suggested it, half-jokingly, to Setsuna constantly, ever since the events in Kyoto, and her suspicion had only grown in the past months. Konoka had made some vague suggestions to her, but nothing blatant. It was only a few days ago that Asuna’s suspicions had been confirmed, when Setsuna told her, and later the whole class including Negi, about her and Konoka. Negi of course had trouble understanding the idea of two girls being in love, and Haruna and Asakura had attempted to explain it to him, with some fairly humorous results. As he had struggled to accept this idea, the rest of their classmates had been amazingly supportive, saying how happy they were for them. Asuna had expected it, all of the girls were good friends with Konoka, and were rapidly adapting to the increasingly more sociable Setsuna. Evangeline, in particular, had shown them a large amount of understanding. Asuna suspected that this was due to the fact that Eva herself was partnered in a magical pact with a robot and a puppet, both of which were girls.

Much as she had for the past few days, Asuna smiled softly at the relaxing image which lay before her: two people in love spending a few peaceful hours together. The fact that Konoka and Setsuna could finally be together freely (save for the fact that Konoka’s grandfather, the headmaster, was still uninformed of the situation), made Asuna very happy for her friends. Still smiling to herself, she climbed the ladder up to her level of the bed, undoing the bells from her hair as she went. She made it onto the mattress, and stooped over her pillow only to notice several small droplets quickly appearing on the sheets below her.

She was not actually surprised that she found herself crying spontaneously; this had happened on several occasions, as should be expected from someone with as much weight on her shoulders as Asuna. She was confused, however, as she had been incredibly happy only a few moments ago. Struggling to hold back the tears, she undressed down to her underwear, wrapping her bells up in the clothes and placing the bundle on the wall side of her pillow. She lied down and pulled the covers over herself, just in time to be overcome with tears once more.

Sobbing as silently as possible, Asuna turned herself over and let her tears soak into her pillow. Despite the sadness she could not help but feel, she put forth as much thought as possible into thinking about why she felt this way. It made no sense, after all the last thing she had been thinking about was how happy she was for Konoka and Setsuna. She was happy that they had each other.

*Even if you don’t have anyone of your own?*

Asuna opened her eyes suddenly, tears still cascading out of them into the pillow. The thought had come suddenly, without warning. Yet it had most definitely come from her own mind; she was the one who thought it. And it was true. Asuna felt an acute sense of loneliness; she had always felt it. And lately, with Konoka and Setsuna flaunting their love in front of the whole class, Asuna was feeling it much more severely. The only person she had ever felt love for was Takahata-Sensei, and it wasn’t like he was going to return her affection any time soon, nor would Asuna be able to muster the courage to tell him about it. She hated to admit it, but she was a coward when it came to her love. Her pillow now soaked through with tears, she thought heavily of the courage Konoka and Setsuna had to have in order to come forward with their feelings for one another. Asuna now realized why she was so sad: she wished that she could have that courage, that she could know what it was like to have someone love her.

Grief still dominating her emotions, Asuna turned herself over onto her back again, and her right hand fell against her bare chest, right between her breasts. She felt something here- a faint electricity at the connection she had between her hand and her body. This feeling alleviated the grief that rattled her consciousness, if only a little bit. She moved her hand down, faintly drawing a line along her stomach. Again, the pressure lifted, bit by bit. It was not the true feeling of someone exploring her body with their own hands, but at this point, Asuna’s psyche was willing to accept this façade. She brought her other hand up and cupped it around her left breast, squeezing lightly as her right hand continued its descent. Beneath her bra, she felt her nipples harden with stimulation, and let out gasp as this newfound pleasure overtook her grief, and began to engulf her.

Asuna’s right hand reached the edge of her underwear, and slipped into them almost instinctively. She was surprised by this sensation; her fingers against the bare skin of her most private regions. Still massaging her breast with her left hand, and gritting he teeth so as not to make a sound and wake Konoka and Setsuna, who were right below her, Asuna aligned her fingers together and plunged them into herself. It took everything she had to remain silent as she did this. She was already quite wet from the last few minutes, so she slipped in easily. However, the feeling of being inside of herself was an amazing sensation, especially for someone like Asuna, who had never had anything like this happen to her. Breathing hard, she moved her hand in, then out, then in again, in rhythm with her breath. The area surrounding her hand was becoming quite moist, as was her entire body, from the sweat appearing all over her. Both her bra and her panties were now soaked, and her left hand could feel her breast clearly. She squeezed it harder, adding more pressure to that which was already building up through her entire form.

Asuna’s right hand was deep inside her now, moving faster and faster, with her breathing matching in time. She still remained silent, her teeth clamped tightly together, her eyes squeezed shut. She thought of Takahata, how it would feel if it were him doing this to her, and how wonderful it would be to have him in love with her. Finally, she climaxed, moisture exploding around her now-exhausted hand. Asuna let out a deep, tired breath, and released her hands from her body. She lay in bed, under her covers, and let the sweat and release wash over her. Depression welling up as tears in her eyes once more, Asuna drifted off to sleep just in time to feel sad again.
* * *
As it had been for the past few days, the air was alive with the spirit of Mahorafest. Though the festival proper had not yet begun, you could feel the anticipation of it wafting out from around all of the nearly-finished exhibits, and working its way into the hearts of the students, who would normally be somewhat detached this early in the morning.

Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna were three such students who benefited from the awakening air of the festival, as did Negi, who walked with them as they took in the increasingly impressive sights of the forming celebration. With an appropriately childlike look of wonder on his face, Negi glanced all around him, gawking at the exhibits. Even though he had seen them everyday, the festival was only a few days away now, which means that everything was either completed, or close to it. Everything sat alone now, waiting for the guests who would attend them in the days to come.

“Isn’t it all amazing?!” Negi exclaimed, his voice floating softly with amazement, “There’re so many different kinds of exhibits! Is there anything the students can’t do?”

“Well, it isn’t just the students,” Konoka mentioned, “There are plenty of school-sponsored events at the festival as well.”

“Really?” Negi spun around and asked, his eyes widening, “Those must be really huge? What sort of things are they?”

Konoka smiled softly at the exited boy, “Let’s see…You already know about the martial arts tournament, but beyond that, there’s a cooking competition, a dance contest, and a sports tournament.”

Negi though hard as he turned around and resumed walking through the mass of preparation. “Now that I think about it,” he wondered aloud, “I do remember Yuna and Akira mentioning something about the sports tournament. What exactly do they play in it?”

“Almost everything,” Asuna interjected, “Basketball, pole vaulting, lacrosse, they even have a cheerleading segment.” Asuna stopped talking and looked up; everyone was staring at her. Even Negi, still walking forward, had his head turned around to look at her quizzically. “What?” she said, a bit surprised.

“That’s the first thing you’ve said all morning,” Setsuna said quietly.

“I was wondering if you were okay,” Konoka said with genuine concern, “We didn’t hear you come in this morning, and it took a lot of effort to wake you up when the time came.”

Asuna’s facial features tightened, her mind flashing back to those earlier hours, and what had transpired. She shook it off. “It’s nothing,” she said reassuringly, flashing an attempt at a confident grin, “I’m just a bit more tired today than usual, that’s all.”

“As long as you say so,” Konoka said, concern still lingering in her tone, “We just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I am,” Asuna said, feeling better with every word, “I’ve never felt better, really.” At this, everyone accepted her defense, and returned to viewing the festival. Asuna let out a sigh. Now she had worried her friends. What else was going to happen this morning?

“Asuna!”

Asuna looked up, snapped back to reality. “What is it Konoka?”

Konoka turned to look at Asuna, blinking suddenly in surprise. “What do you mean?” She asked.

“Wha-…?” Now Asuna was equally confused, “Didn’t you just say my name?”

Konoka shook her head, “No, I don’t think anyone did.” Setsuna and Negi shook their heads in agreement with Konoka.

“Huh. Ooooookaaaaay…” Asuna accepted this, though she was now more confused than ever. Was she going crazy? She would have sworn that she heard someone say her name.

“Hey! Asuna!”

Asuna stopped dead in her tracks. She was certain this time that she had heard something. Apparently, the others agreed, because they too stopped. They all turned around, looking for the source of the sound. It did not take long for Asuna to find it.

“Oh…oh my…” Asuna stuttered in exclamation, shocked at who she saw jogging towards them, right hand raised in greeting.

She was a fairly tall girl, with face that gave off an air of acquired maturity. Actually, she kind of looked like an older version of Makie; her hair was the same color with a similar, but more simplified style, while her eyes were a striking shade of green. She was long and slender, with toned legs that looked like they engaged in this sort of running a lot. What really stood out about her to Negi, Konoka, and Setsuna, was her uniform. It was clearly a middle school uniform of some sort, but it was different from the Mahora uniform. It had no jacket, just a button-up white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, with the bottom tucked into a knee-length, narrow blue skirt. The top of the ensemble was accentuated by a very short blue tie around the collar of the shirt.

“Asuna! Asuna!” she cried, her face spread wide in an enthusiastic smile.

Asuna’s face broke from the melancholy that had dominated her emotions earlier, and she too raised her hand in greeting and began running towards this new girl. “Kozue!” she cried as they finally met, embracing each other excitedly in greeting. They parted quickly, and Asuna wiped the sweat of excitement from her brow as she gazed in amazement at the person who was before her, who only smiled gently.

“I…I…How…” Asuna gasped as she struggled to piece together a sentence. Konoka, Setsuna, and Negi walked up behind her as she stuttered incomprehensibly. “Asuna,” Konoka began, “What’s going on? Who is this?”

“That’s a good idea,” the new girl offered, “Why don’t you introduce me? Might help you get your bearings.”

Asuna nodded shakily, and slowly turned around. Her friends were surprised by how flushed she was; she looked positively shocked. “Everyone,” she began nervously, “This is…that is, her name is…”

“Why don’t you just do it already!” the girl shouted, then slapped Asuna hard on the back.

Asuna jumped in surprise, “KOZUE!” She yelped. She landed from her shocked, and breathed a sigh of exasperation. “Her name is Kozue Migara,” she said finally, and then straightened up and regained some of her trademark confidence. “She’s an old friend of mine, from when I was younger.” She turned to Kozue with a regaining smile. “Kozue,” she said, motioning towards the others, “This is my teacher, Negi Springfield.”

Negi bowed in greeting, “I’m pleased to meet you, Migara-San.”

Kozue’s eyes went uneven, as she furrowed her brow in a lack of understanding. “Teacher? He’s like, what, eleven?”

Negi’s face flushed, as it usually did when this subject came up. “Actually, I’m ten years old, and…uh, I am an officially licensed teacher. It’s all official.”

Kozue shook off her confusion, “Eh, it’s all right, this school always was weird.”

Next, Asuna turned to the others. “This is my friend, Konoka.”

Konoka smiled and bowed, “Nice to meet you. I’m always happy to meet other friends of Asuna’s.”

“You mean you’re always surprised,” Negi interjected, and the two of them laughed.

Asuna stole a glare at them, and upon this, they immediately froze, and stopped laughing. Asuna took a deep breath, motioning to the last in her trio of companions. “This is Setsuna,” she said, “She is…uh…that is she’s….um, Konoka’s…her and Konoka…” Again and again she stalled, unsure of how to put it. Konoka and Setsuna both fidgeted and looked away.

“Oh!” Kozue said suddenly, “You two are going out, right?”

Konoka and Setsuna snapped their heads up quickly, both looking quite surprised at Kozue’s deduction. Asuna only chuckled softly.

“I should’ve known,” Asuna said, shaking her head at the couple, “Kozue’s great at telling when people are in love.”

“That’s right,” Kozue said, swinging her left arm around Asuna’s shoulder. “She didn’t even have to tell me when she fell for Takahata. Heck, I think I figured it out before she did.”

“Wait,” Setsuna said suddenly, “What do you mean? You said earlier, ‘this school always was weird.’ You’ve been here before?”

“Yeah,” Asuna replied, nodding in a mater-of-fact way, “Kozue used to go to Mahora up until a couple of years ago. Before you came here, Konoka”

“That’s right,” Kozue confirmed, “I transferred to Nasegwa Academy because their lacrosse program was better.”

A light went on in Asuna’s mind. “So that’s why you’re here!” she exclaimed suddenly, “The sports tournament!”

“That’s right,” Kozue said, sounding impressed with Asuna’s quick grasp of the situation. “Actually, Sakurako called me up and said that they were doing lacrosse this year, so I decided to come check it out. I gotta say, this Mahorafest has gotten a lot bigger since I left.”

“That’s alright,” Konoka said, he enthusiasm renewed, “We can show you around if you want.”

“I’d like that,” Kozue said, turning to Asuna, “I’d like to catch up with my old best friend, and all these new people she knows.”

Asuna, Negi, Konoka, and Setsuna spent the rest of the day showing Kozue around the developing festival, including their own, nearly-finished haunted house. Kozue met up with some of the girls she had known before, including Sakurako and the other cheerleaders. During all this, Asuna watched her old friend and marveled at her personality, at the easy way she lived. Asuna remembered why she had been drawn to Kozue in the first place: she had a relaxing effect on everyone, because it was like she understood someone the second she met them. She could read a person, and tune her behavior to make them as comfortable as possible. She truly was amazing.
* * *
Asuna and Kozue stumbled into the dorm room, exhausted. They had walked around the festival all day, and day had turned into evening. Though they were both very tired, Konoka and Setsuna apparently had energy left, as they had elected to continue hanging out together through the night. Negi had gone off to train with Evangeline, leaving Kozue with Asuna. Asuna had told her that she could spend the night in her room, using Konoka’s vacant bed. Kozue walked tiredly over to it, and sat gently on the side of it, thankful that she could finally rest, as entertaining as the festival had been.

Asuna followed suit, sitting down next to Kozue and letting out a long yawn. She flopped onto her back, splaying her arms out to her sides as she gazed up at the bottom of her own bed. After a moment, she spoke suddenly. “Kozue,” she addressed her old friend, “Thanks for coming to the festival. It was such a surprise to see you, and you’ve made me feel better.”

Kozue’s face became more serious than it had been. “Feel better?” She was concerned now. “You were having problems?”

“Well,” Asuna blushed slightly, “I still have that… that thing for Takahata-Sensei, and with this festival and all, Negi and Konoka keep telling me to ask him out, but I…I just can’t do it.” These thoughts flooding Asuna’s mind again, she felt like she might cry.

Kozue looked down, her eyes darkening. “Oh. So you do still like him. I should have known.”

“I know, it’s kinda sad,” Asuna replied, “At this rate, I should probably just give up.”

“No!” Asuna jumped at Kozue’s reaction. “Asuna, if you like someone, you can’t help it.” Kozue moved to look down into Asuna’s eyes as she spoke, “Even if you try to give up, even if you try to tear yourself away from them because you think you have no chance, it won’t work!” Now Kozue was in tears, “You can’t stop loving someone.”

Asuna stared at up her friend as tears cascaded from her eyes, some of them dripping onto Asuna’s face. She was astounded. Why was Kozue reacting so strongly to this subject? A thought dawned on Asuna.

“Did this sort of thing happen to you after you moved?” Asuna asked, “Is that why you finally decided to come back and see everyone?”

“No,” Kozue said, still sobbing, “It’s the opposite of that. I moved because I wanted to give up on someone, but like I said, you can’t fight it. I had to come back.”

Asuna had since brushed aside her own sadness in favor of concern for Kozue, who continued crying with Asuna locked in her gaze. “Who was it?” Asuna asked, “Are they still here? Maybe you can see them while we’re at the festival?”

“I already have,” Kozue blurted suddenly, then moved in and placed a kiss on Asuna’s lips.

Asuna’s eyes probably would have widened a bit more than they did, but the possibility of a girl kissing another girl had been allotted to her by Konoka and Setsuna. However, Asuna never would have guessed that one of those girls would be herself, while the other would be a childhood friend. During this kiss, she did almost nothing. As Kozue’s tongue explored the inside of Asuna’s mouth, she thought back to their days in school together; she thought about the first time Kozue had found out about Asuna’s crush on Takahata, and how sad she had looked in response. At the time, Asuna had merely thought that Kozue was just worried about Asuna being hurt by rejection, but now the truth was revealed: Kozue had always been in love with Asuna, and was worried about losing her to someone else.

Asuna’s train of thought concluded, as did Kozue’s kiss. She pulled back, and immediately looked away from Asuna. “I’m sorry,” she said, sounding remorseful, “I don’t have any right to-”

Asuna cut her off, “Yes you do.” Kozue turned back to look at her. “We’re friends,” Asuna continued, “I have an obligation to know what you feel, and to respect you in it. I don’t know if I can ever feel about you what you feel about me, but I always loved you, even if it was in a different way.” She sat up partially, and wrapped her arms around Kozue affectionately, resting her head on her friend’s shoulder. Kozue’s mouth fell agape, and she stared, shocked, into space as the girl she loved hugged her.

“I might never be able to tell Takahata-Sensei how I feel about him. But you were able to tell me your feelings. I can respect you for that, and I can at least give you a reason for coming back here to say it.” Asuna, of her own will this time, kissed Kozue. It was a shocking sensation to Asuna, to kiss another girl. Technically, this wasn’t her first kiss; she had kissed Negi as part of the pactio. However, this was the first kiss that she had given someone out of pure affection. And it felt incredible. Energy poured from her mouth into Kozue, and the opposite also transpired. Once again they parted.

Kozue was not confident in this at all, despite her being the one who had initiated it. As they parted, Asuna on lying on her back, Kozue glanced around the room franticly, seemingly shocked at the fact that she was positioned above Asuna on the bed. Finally, she looked completely away, turning her body around above Asuna. This did little to ease her nervousness, however, as Kozue’s vision was filled with Asuna’s legs, as well as the skirt-covered area in between. Kozue’s face flushed instantly, and she began to sweat profusely.

Asuna was in a daze, lost in the moment. She brought her hand up into Kozue’s skirt, using her fingers to lightly stroke the outside of Kozue’s panties. Kozue let out a short gasp, surprised at Asuna’s action. At this, she decided that she could not be the one who was not doing anything. After all, she was the one who had desired this exchange. She leaned down, and used her tongue to do to Asuna’s panties what Asuna was doing to her. Kozue, while stroking with her tongue, undid her top, and began rubbing her chest with her right hand, while she supported herself with her left.

Asuna’s hands were now both digging into Kozue’s panties, into her slit. She moved them in and out rapidly, forcing Kozue’s panties down, fully exposing what Asuna was stimulating. Asuna reached her hands around, grasping Kozue’s rear, and pulling her slit down onto her face. Asuna then extended her tongue into Kozue, moving it as rapidly as when she had kissed her, taking in the developing moisture.

Kozue had likewise removed Asuna’s panties, and was following suit with her own tongue. Laying against each other, their tongues moving almost in rhythm, Asuna was blinded with passion, while Kozue’s mind was filled only with ecstasy at being able to do this with Asuna. She had only come here to finally tell Asuna how she felt, and honestly, she had never imagined that they would be able to make love. This was the happiest moment of her life.

Their love continued into the night…
* * *
Asuna lay against Kozue, wrapped around her not unlike the way she had been seeing Konoka with Setsuna.

“I have to leave once the festival is over, you know?” Kozue said peacefully, despite the implications of the statement.

“I know,” Asuna said, equally peaceful, “But I hope you can go without regrets this time.”

“I can,” Kozue replied, and it was the truth. “But what about you, Asuna?”

“What do you mean?” Asuna asked, not completely understanding what Kozue was getting at.

Kozue stroked Asuna’s hair, “I mean, when this festival is over, will you still have regrets?”

Asuna was silent.
* * *
The night air was completely quiet, but only for a few minutes. Asuna crept out, cell phone in hand. When she figured that she was far enough away to avoid being heard by anyone in the dorm room, she brought the cell phone up to eye level and clicked through her saved numbers. She brought up one.

“Takahata-Sensei”. Pausing for only a second, Asuna took a deep breath, and pressed the ‘call’ button.
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Jeebus! That might be the longest single chapter of anything I’ve ever written! Let it serve as a reminder that I’m keeping this as a one-shot. Though I might write other Asuna-based fics later on, there will be no more additions to this one. I’m serious.

“Uh, hey Sticky? There was totally a fan character in that fic.”

*Bap!* No there wasn’t! Okay, everyone go get your copy of Negima Volume 2.

“I read scanslations.”

*Bap-Again!* Ken Akamatsu and Del Ray weep at your lack of support. Anyway, all those who DO have the actual, published, Del Ray copy of Volume 2, turn to the extras section, to the part with the character sketches. You should see a sketch for “Kozue Migara”, the original idea for the “heroine’s best friend” character. She ended up not being used, and her design became the base for Makie, while the Lacrosse thing was given to Sakurako. Konoka got the “best friend” role, as you all know.

Anyway, I saw her design, totally fell in love, and decided to write a fic with her in it. I decided that since she was the former “best friend” of Asuna, it would be quite appropriate to give her that role in the story.

So you see? No fan characters. Victory for me.

As of this writing, “Quiet Morning” has garnered over 1050 hits. Thank you all SO MUCH!! I’ll get on continuing it next, though I do have other ideas. Some of them aren’t even for Negima stories. Whattaya think about that?!

Watch the new Negima anime by Shaft when it comes out. It’s going to be God.