Period 4: Let's Take a Walk

It was Sunday. Mero Averruncus set out to complete her mission this day. She dressed herself in her uniform before realizing that it was actually the only set of clothes she owned. Would she stand out if she wore her school uniform on a Sunday? It probably didn't matter, but still it might be a good idea to think about getting some casual clothes in the future. She began her walk around campus. Her target was a large focal point of magical power located somewhere on the school grounds. She didn't know where on campus it was, or even what exactly she was looking for, but as long as she came into it's general vicinity she should have no problem sensing the flow of mana. That's how it should have been, but even after walking around for hours she felt nothing.

How could this be? She thought. If she were in the magical world, where magic was constantly in use then she could understand having trouble, but this was Earth where magic was rare, a huge mana source should be incredibly easy to find. So why wasn't she picking anything up? Mahora Academy was huge, it could be that she just hadn't come across it yet. She continued her investigation. The middle school division was only a small part of the campus, there was also an elementary school, high school, and university division, as well as a fair sized shopping district. It was essentially a fully functional city. It was impossible to explore the entire area in a single day. She considered using a locater spell to narrow her search. If she cast a spell on such a wide area though, it would be easy to detect by any mage who happened to be close by. Is it worth the risk? She was pondering the situation when she ran into Asuna.

"Mero-chan? What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned about. I am just walking around right now. What about you Asuna-san?"

"Oh, a bunch of us are studying for exams back at the dorm. Well more like we started studying and just ended up playing around. But anyway I just went to go buy some snacks for everyone." She held up a plastic bag from the convenience store. "Hey if you're not busy now, why don't you come with us? I bet you're pretty smart, Im sure we'd be able to make more progress with you there." Mero considered this. There was no point to studying with the others, but it was becoming clear that she was not going to find her target today. She should call it quits for now, and try again another day.

"No thank you, but I'm going to start heading back now, so I can walk with you."

The two girls began to walk back towards the dorm. As they arrived they approached an older gentleman with glasses in a grey suit. Asuna immediately flushed when she saw him.

"T-Takahata sensei!"

"Ah, Asuna-kun. It's been a while, how is everything?" He said to the blushing girl. Asuna fidgeted and stared at her shoes.

"E-Everything's great. Thank you so much for asking!" She said much louder than she needed to. Mero's eyes narrowed as soon as she heard the man's name.

"Takamichi T. Takahata!" Her usually calm and expressionless face contorted into an ugly scowl. Takahata was part of the group that thwarted the eternal garden twenty years ago. He helped dismantle her master's plan for a perfect world. This was her enemy.

"Oh, and who's this?" He said turning to the white haired girl. When she didn't answer Asuna tried to introduce her.

"She just transferred into our class the other day. Her name is M-" Mero immediately held out her hand and cut her off.

"My name is not something to be so easily given out to the likes of you Takamichi T. Takahata."

"Oh?" Takahata raised an eyebrow. "Have we met before young lady?"

"No."

"Eh? Wait, what's going on here?" Asuna looked back and forth between the two in confusion.

"Then allow me to introduce myself. I'm Takamichi T. Takahata, though it seems like you already knew that. I was homeroom teacher of 2-A before Negi-kun took over. Won't you tell me your name?" He said extending his hand.

"Please do not misunderstand. There is no reason for us to get to know each other. I have no intention of becoming close to you Takahata sensei." She said the last word with disdain, like it was an insult. Takahata put both his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry to hear that." His tone changed, and became suddenly serious.

"Hey, what the hell is this Mero-chan? Why are you being so rude to Takahata sensei?!" Asuna shouted.

"I am merely speaking the truth." She said bluntly. "This man has done nothing to earn my respect. I refuse to pay allegiance to him simply because you or anyone else does."

"Why you!"

"It's alright Asuna-kun." He said without taking his hands out of his pockets. "She's right, there's no reason to become friends right away. But I hope we can get along in the future." He offered her a friendly smile.

". . ." Mero's only response was a cold stare.

"I'm sorry Takahata sensei, I don't know what's gotten into her all of a sudden."

"Ha ha, it's okay Asuna-kun. But it's obvious I'm only making things awkward here. I'll leave you two alone." And he walked away.

"Geez, what is wrong with you!" Asuna shouted. "Insulting Takahata sensei for no reason!"

"I have a reason." Mero answered. "Why do you seem to admire him so much?"

"Huh? Uh, well that's . . ." Asuna stammered.

"Ha, ha, ha, she's right Kagurazaka Asuna."

The two girls turned around and were face to face with a very young looking girl with long blond hair, in a frilly white dress, accompanied by a much taller girl with long green hair and a pair of metal fins sticking out from behind her ears.

"Eva-chan and Chachamaru?" Asuna gasped.

"Good afternoon." The green haired girl said, bowing politely.

"You were listening just now? Hey wait did you say she was right?" Evangeline A. K. Mcdowell chuckled.

"Fu, fu, fu, Kagurazaka Asuna you really are a straightforward idiot aren't you?"

"Hey where is this coming from all of a sudden Eva-chan?!"

"Why should she respect Takamichi, because you're in love with him? How childish. People should be judged by the quality of their actions. You owe absolutely noting to someone you've just met. Or are you just sad because she insulted your crush?"

"Guu." Asuna had no retort. Evangeline then turned to Mero.

"Isn't that right transfer student? Or maybe you know something special about Takamichi that earns him so much hate?"

". . . Who are you?" Mero asked.

"Evangeline A. K. McDowel." She said with a sharp sinister smile.

". . . " She was clearly unsatisfied with that answer.

"Anyway, Kagurazaka is an idiot, you don't have to force yourself to get along with her."

"Grr, well sorry for being an idiot!" Asuna snapped.

"Now then, I have my own business to attend to." She turned to walk away.

"What about you Mckdowel-san?"

"Hmmm?"

"Should I force myself to get along with you?" The tension in the air was palpable as the question hung between them. Finally Evangeline broke the silence.

"Take care, Mero Averruncus. Let's go Chachamaru."

"If you will please excuse us." Chachamaru bowed again and left with her mistress.

Mero kept her eyes trained on both of them until they were out of sight.

"Hey, I don't know what you heard or who you heard it from, but Takahata sensei's a really great guy okay!" Asuna said blushing again.

"If you think that then you are naive. What do you really know about him?"

"I know plenty! For your information Takahata's been taking care of me since I was little, s-so there!"

"Fine. If that thought gives you comfort, then you should hold onto it."

"Gah! Why are you making it so hard to like you?!"

"It's fine if you don't like me."

"See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! Asuna shouted.

X

"Geez, I can't believe that girl!" Asuna cried, throwing herself on the floor of the dorm room.

"Um, Asuna-san, I know you're upset, but maybe we could focus on studying right now?" Nodoka said trying desperately to steer the conversation back to academics.

"I mean where does she get off acting all superior like that?!" Asuna whined.

"I'm sure Mero-donno has her reasons." Kaede said reaching over to grab a snack.

"Don't take it personally aru, she's never been in Takahata sensei's class." Ku added.

"Um guys", Nodoka said again. "If we could get back to studying?"

"Sorry Honya-chan, I'm just really riled up right now!" Asuna admitted.

"Okay everyone," Konoka said walking up to the group with a tray of steaming cups. "I made some tea so why don't you all take a break?"

"Uh, no, actually we've barley done any-"

"Yay! Konoka's tea!" Yuna jumped up and grabbed a cup. Nodoka sighed.

"Okay we can take a short break. But then we really need to get some work done."

"Don't be so uptight Honya," Yuna said, "It's basically a waste of time trying to tutor the baka rangers anyway."

"Who's a baka ranger?!" Asuna shouted.

"B-But if we don't do really well on our finals won't Negi-kun be in trouble?" Makie asked.

"It's probably hopeless aruyo." Ku admitted.

"N-No!" Nodoka spoke up. "I'll go through the material again, so let's all do our best okay? For sensei's sake."

"At this point I think we need a miracle." Yuna said with a sigh.

"Well," Yue said finally joining the conversation. "If studying won't work there is one thing we could do . . . "

"Huh, Yue you don't mean . . ." Nodoka exclaimed.

"Yes I'm talking about the magic book deep within library island." Yue confirmed.

"Wait what the heck are you guys talking about?" Asuna asked.

"Well you know how we're members of the library expedition club right? Well the truth is library island is actually way bigger than you think. There are dozens of floors below sea level and it's full of traps and snares. No one knows for sure how far down it goes.

"Yeah," Nodoka said. "We're only the middle school club so we aren't allowed on the lower floors, but there's a rumor that there's actually a magic book down there that can make you smarter just by reading it."

"Eh, just by reading it?" Asuna sounded skeptical.

"Ha, ha, come on, don't tell me you guys actually believe in something like that." Yuna laughed it off.

"Well it is just a rumor." Yue admitted. "But there are a number of unusual phenomena around campus, like the world tree for example."

"If something like that really existed the government would have carted it off a long time ago." She rebutled.

"No, wait this might actually be for real." Asuna said realization dawning on her. "Yue, Honya-chan, we have to get that book!"

"Not you too Asuna." Yuna sighed.

"No, I don't think that's a good idea." Nodoka said. "Even if it does exist, library island is way too dangerous! It has all kinds of traps, even the university club can't go to the lowest floors. Just forget about that magic book okay?"

"You're right, it's completely impractical. I just thought it was worth mentioning." Yue sighed. "Let's just get back to studying."

"A magic book huh . . ." Asuna mused.

X

Takahata walked into dean Konoemon's office. The old man was sitting patiently behind his desk, with his fingers laced in front of him. His eyes were hidden under his thick bushy eyebrows, but it was clear he was a little concerned.

"Thanks for agreeing to see me on a Sunday."

"For you to call me out so suddenly I'm sure it must be serious." The dean said stroking his long gray beard.

"Maybe . . . let's hope I'm just overreacting."

"What is this about Takamichi-kun?"

"The new transfer student in Negi-kun's class."

"Ah, you mean Mero-chan."

"Mero?" Takahata asked.

"Yes, that was her name if I recall; Mero Averruncus."

"Averruncus?" Takahata jumped a little when he heard the name.

"Does that name mean something to you?"

"I don't know, maybe. It's just a name. I was only a kid back then, I could easily be mistaken."

"Ho ho, you think she might be somehow connected to Ala Rubra?"

". . ." Takahata stared at the ground in silence.

"Well there was nothing unusual about her transfer, all her paperwork seems to be in order, but if you feel it's necessary we could keep an eye on her, just in case."

"No, I'm just being paranoid. I'm sure she's just an ordinary girl, after all I can't call myself a teacher if go around spying on my students now can I? But still. . . "