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Magic? Student Katarina!
By Eldenwind
Rated: T
Description: A mystery amnesiac girl suddenly arrives in Mahora, just in time to encounter Negi Springfield, a boy with a ridiculous destiny. Can she evade getting caught up in the coming events? Who is she even? Questions, but no clear answers in sight. Wonderful.
Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Description: A mystery amnesiac girl suddenly arrives in Mahora, just in time to encounter Negi Springfield, a boy with a ridiculous destiny. Can she evade getting caught up in the coming events? Who is she even? Questions, but no clear answers in sight. Wonderful.
Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Chapter 8
Katarina and Chao arrived, not particularly surprisingly, to chaos.
Asuna and Ayaka were fighting again, something about stupidity it sounded like, although what really drew Katarina's eye was the bronze bust of Negi-Sensei that could only have been prepared by Ayaka herself.
Ayaka's gift.
"When did she have time to prepare something like that?" She mused. "The power of money is terrifying indeed…"
"Hmm… You think so Katarina-chan?" Her companion chimed in. "I do believe there are more terrifying powers out there."
For some reason two figures popped into Katarina's mind. One, a cloaked figure, the other, a massive woman with proportions more akin to a mother goddess of prehistory.
It was a mere flash, and it made absolutely no sense, but for some reason she couldn't help but shudder slightly.
"Come now Chao-san, it's just a figure of speech. Of course there are more terrifying powers around." The younger girl responded.
If Chao had noticed her little shudder, or the slight hint of false cheer in her voice, she didn't make any indication.
As they stood there they were finally detected by the Library-trio, although Katarina might be considered a member as well, so some might say that the rest of the Library-quartet noticed them.
"Kat-tan!" Haruna exclaimed as she glomped the younger, and more importantly smaller girl.
Katarina sighed inwardly at the nickname she had been assigned, suppressing the small amount of annoyance and resignation that stirred, making her suspect she was quite used to being called by various nicknames, even if she didn't particularly like it.
As for the origins of this particular one, Haruna noticed that it sounded like the English word for cat, and also that Katarina gave of this cat-vibe, whatever that meant…
And now she's scratching her chin again and the younger girl had to admit that if she could she would probably be purring right about now…
Safe to say, there was a reason why Katarina couldn't quite refute the reasoning behind Haruna's choice of nickname.
"Hello Chao-san, what were you two doing anyway?" The bespectacled mangaka continued. "The way you stole Kat-tan away, why, it makes one wonder!"
Which considering how delusional the girl who said it was, didn't bode particularly well.
"We were just having a nice, friendly intellectual discussion." Katarina interjected before Chao had any chance to make things worse, eliciting a certain look from the genius.
"Like the Greeks would?" Yue chipped in.
"Maybe～" This time Chao managed to respond before Katarina could interject, but thankfully Haruna didn't understand what Yue meant.
"When would we have time for that?" The blonde instead interjected.
-Break--
This little conversation was overheard by multiple people, amongst them the teachers as well as Shizuna who were present.
Now, Negi Springfield might be too young to comprehend insinuations for the most part, but he did know that the Ancient Greeks favoured to discuss intellectual matters in the nude.
So he was merely surprised that they seemed to be making reference to this fact, rather than any other implications that might exist in their conversation.
"An interesting bunch to overhear, wouldn't you say Negi-kun?" Takamichi said, noticing the direction of the child teacher's attention. "You never know what unusual subject they might suddenly bring up next."
"I… wouldn't know, I haven't had much opportunity to overhear them. Still, I am surprised they would talk about something like that." Negi responded.
"Well, they are some of the most well-read people in the class… I know you haven't gotten to know her yet, but that younger, blonde girl-" The older teacher indicated the youngest person in the group.
Negi took a look in the class roster he had been given. "Ah, Katarina McDowell, right…?" Then he tilted his head in confusion. "'Keep an eye on her'?" He said, reading the scribble from Takamichi.
"Yes, what is your impression of her?"
The young teacher looked at the girl, then he looked at her.
"Hmm… That's odd…"
Takamichi raised an eyebrow.
"The spirits are acting weird around her… Excited?"
"Really? If you, someone who excels at that field, says so, then I suppose it must be true…"
"Is she…?"
"That's what we want to know."
The older man seemed to fall into deep thought.
And at the same time Asuna slunk over to the child teacher, reminding him of what he was supposed to be doing.
-Break--
Katarina couldn't help but sigh as she watched a good number of her classmates cause a great uproar after having caught Asuna practicing confessions on Negi.
"So… what do you think Katarina-chan?" Chao said with an odd smirk. "Do you think Asuna-san and Negi-sensei would make a good match?"
For some reason Katarina was certain that Chao was testing her. She was also quite certain that Chao knew the answer to her own question quite well.
"Hmm…" Still she pondered, and carelessly said her thoughts out loud. "Relatives…? Why would I think…?"
Caught up in her musings, she missed the sharpening of Chao's gaze, and how Chao seemed to consider something before her features suddenly returned to her usual cheer, as if nothing happened.
"I don't know… But something tells me they won't become romantic with each other." Katarina finally answered, unknowing of what had just passed over her friends features and crossed her mind.
"Really? That's an interesting answer."
"Well, people can have a relationship that isn't romantic."
The genius girl chuckled softly.
"Then what do we have?"
The younger girl sighed. "Friendship."
"Because you'd prefer Hasegawa Chisame."
"I want to be friends with Chisame-san. Doesn't mean I'd prefer her."
Chao laughed.
"Does that mean I still have a chance?"
Katarina pondered the question for a few moments.
"Who knows?" She then answered with a small smile.
-Break--
And so the first day where Negi got to try to teach properly began.
And promptly turned into chaos when he asked Asuna to translate some English, which, alongside most academia, wasn't exactly what you would call her… forte, to put it kindly.
Or, as Ayaka put it, Asuna is an idiot.
Then Negi sneezed for some reason, and somehow that seemed to cause a strong wind, which somehow ended up with a far less clothed Asuna.
Once again Katarina found herself shocked at her lack of shock.
Next to her she could swear she heard Eva-chan sneer at Negi, something about 'Having no control'.
After that there was, predictably, a bit of a brawl.
Seriously, when would the princess learn not to resolve her embarrassment with violence…?
Following that things seemed to be perfectly normal…
That was, up until the child teacher burst into the classroom holding aloft some kind of vial, shouting Asuna's name.
Katarina could not quite hear the following conversation, and then Asuna suddenly made Negi drink the contents of the vial.
It was the weirdest thing. One moment she was looking at Negi with confusion over what was happening.
The next she felt somewhat like she might have had just a tiny bit too much to drink, and suddenly she couldn't help but stare at Negi and finding him the cutest and most handsome kid she-
No!
She literally slammed her face into her desk, thankfully keeping from pushing her glasses into her face.
Luckily for her the next thing that happened was that Negi escaped the classroom, which also meant that the effect of the love potion lessened, although she was still gripped by an intense desire to chase after him.
Thankfully she managed to resist, and soon the effect disappeared, leaving her feeling a bit dazed (probably from her magnificent facedesk), but otherwise fine.
As she sat there wondering what just happened, and looking for an explanation from her mind that was reasonable, Zazie suddenly approached her, with the usual completely emotionless expression, even less than Chachamaru, however that made any sense.
"…"
While Katarina was unsure what the odd girl wanted, she made an assumption and rolled with it.
"I'm fine Rainyday-san. If that was what you wanted."
Zazie nodded slightly, but still came even closer, seemingly observing Katarina.
As the pierrot-styled girl came closer, that unusual feeling from their encounter way back when returned, but now Katarina could also swear that she could catch glimpses of weird masks floating about around her
"Eh… What… is it? Is there… a mark on my face?"
Zazie simply shook her head with a small smile, then simply nodded and turned away.
But…
"As I thought, you are one of the first ones."
Katarina wasn't sure what she had just heard, because she could have sworn that Zazie just talked, yet…
Zazie didn't talk… right…?
At least it was cryptic enough that the young girl might think that it was Zazie that said it, since Zazie did seem like the cryptic sort, but at the same time…
What did that even mean? 'One of the first ones'? First out of who?
First to do what?
-Break--
As she watched Katarina descend into confusion, Zazie Rainyday was filled with doubt.
If she had been correct she should have gotten a reaction of either shock at being discovered, or maybe a retort about her own heritage or some other such.
Instead she had gotten confusion.
Yet everything Zazie knew told her she had been right…
But at the same time…
She had never met any of them, and they disappeared thousands of years ago under the relentless jealousy of the growing mage community…
Katarina wasn't even able to protect herself against the potion's effect.
She had just resisted it long enough that its source, Negi-sensei could leave, allowing her to throw it off when it then weakened.
But at the same time, it was clear the girl sensed something whenever they were in close proximity, and she had clearly seen, if only vaguely, her companions.
Could it then be that Katarina simply didn't know?
The very idea seemed absurd, but it was either that, or Zazie really had been wrong.
The Demon Princess couldn't help but shake her head. If she could have confirmed her suspicion here everything would have been far easier, as it would have given her a very clear indication as to what the girl could do…
As it was Katarina was a troublesome wildcard that could be anything from completely harmless to potentially capable of threatening even herself.
She contemplatively fingered the card hidden in one of her pockets as she considered her options.
Actually… Katarina did seem like quite a good person. And it was really only worry that even made her consider the possibility that the girl could be a threat to herself…
Logically speaking, if she was right, even in the worst-case scenario Katarina would only be a threat to Zazie under the right circumstances.
Yes. It would be far wiser to merely remain observant.
-Break--
'Why, of all things, are they having a breast size competition?' Katarina wondered to herself as she lay soaking in the massive bath that lay in the dormitory.
She had followed Eva there as it was quite a nice bath, and Eva did like to visit it every now and then.
Of course, because suddenly all manners of bizarre events had started unfolding lately, the girls had decided to compete in who possessed the largest bosom.
Honestly, the part that really weirded Katarina out was that Eva was apparently taking part…
Why? She didn't stand any chance of winning…
For shits and giggles?
Could be it, it was honestly not that unlikely.
"Let's see here…" Katarina suddenly heard a voice.
"What do you want Chao-san?" She asked, recognising the voice.
"Come on now, we're all comparing chest sizes here! You're not getting out of it!" The genius responded, literally lifting Katarina out of the water.
"Oh come on! You already know the only people I could possibly be bigger than are Onee-chan, Yuecchi and the twins!" The younger girl exclaimed, getting strangely embarrassed even as she said it.
Then she felt a strange chill, and suddenly remembered that her 'sister' was present, something that managed to slip her mind.
That probably wouldn't be pleasant once they returned home…
Of course, Chao didn't care about that at all.
"Hmm… Yeah, that seems about right. Well, you seem like you would have quite a bit of growth, so that's something to look forward to!"
Then, things managed to get crazier when Negi showed up, Asuna's bosom expanded... she won... then it exploded.
Even so, Katarina caught herself with a small smile on her lips.
Asuna and Ayaka were fighting again, something about stupidity it sounded like, although what really drew Katarina's eye was the bronze bust of Negi-Sensei that could only have been prepared by Ayaka herself.
Ayaka's gift.
"When did she have time to prepare something like that?" She mused. "The power of money is terrifying indeed…"
"Hmm… You think so Katarina-chan?" Her companion chimed in. "I do believe there are more terrifying powers out there."
For some reason two figures popped into Katarina's mind. One, a cloaked figure, the other, a massive woman with proportions more akin to a mother goddess of prehistory.
It was a mere flash, and it made absolutely no sense, but for some reason she couldn't help but shudder slightly.
"Come now Chao-san, it's just a figure of speech. Of course there are more terrifying powers around." The younger girl responded.
If Chao had noticed her little shudder, or the slight hint of false cheer in her voice, she didn't make any indication.
As they stood there they were finally detected by the Library-trio, although Katarina might be considered a member as well, so some might say that the rest of the Library-quartet noticed them.
"Kat-tan!" Haruna exclaimed as she glomped the younger, and more importantly smaller girl.
Katarina sighed inwardly at the nickname she had been assigned, suppressing the small amount of annoyance and resignation that stirred, making her suspect she was quite used to being called by various nicknames, even if she didn't particularly like it.
As for the origins of this particular one, Haruna noticed that it sounded like the English word for cat, and also that Katarina gave of this cat-vibe, whatever that meant…
And now she's scratching her chin again and the younger girl had to admit that if she could she would probably be purring right about now…
Safe to say, there was a reason why Katarina couldn't quite refute the reasoning behind Haruna's choice of nickname.
"Hello Chao-san, what were you two doing anyway?" The bespectacled mangaka continued. "The way you stole Kat-tan away, why, it makes one wonder!"
Which considering how delusional the girl who said it was, didn't bode particularly well.
"We were just having a nice, friendly intellectual discussion." Katarina interjected before Chao had any chance to make things worse, eliciting a certain look from the genius.
"Like the Greeks would?" Yue chipped in.
"Maybe～" This time Chao managed to respond before Katarina could interject, but thankfully Haruna didn't understand what Yue meant.
"When would we have time for that?" The blonde instead interjected.
-Break--
This little conversation was overheard by multiple people, amongst them the teachers as well as Shizuna who were present.
Now, Negi Springfield might be too young to comprehend insinuations for the most part, but he did know that the Ancient Greeks favoured to discuss intellectual matters in the nude.
So he was merely surprised that they seemed to be making reference to this fact, rather than any other implications that might exist in their conversation.
"An interesting bunch to overhear, wouldn't you say Negi-kun?" Takamichi said, noticing the direction of the child teacher's attention. "You never know what unusual subject they might suddenly bring up next."
"I… wouldn't know, I haven't had much opportunity to overhear them. Still, I am surprised they would talk about something like that." Negi responded.
"Well, they are some of the most well-read people in the class… I know you haven't gotten to know her yet, but that younger, blonde girl-" The older teacher indicated the youngest person in the group.
Negi took a look in the class roster he had been given. "Ah, Katarina McDowell, right…?" Then he tilted his head in confusion. "'Keep an eye on her'?" He said, reading the scribble from Takamichi.
"Yes, what is your impression of her?"
The young teacher looked at the girl, then he looked at her.
"Hmm… That's odd…"
Takamichi raised an eyebrow.
"The spirits are acting weird around her… Excited?"
"Really? If you, someone who excels at that field, says so, then I suppose it must be true…"
"Is she…?"
"That's what we want to know."
The older man seemed to fall into deep thought.
And at the same time Asuna slunk over to the child teacher, reminding him of what he was supposed to be doing.
-Break--
Katarina couldn't help but sigh as she watched a good number of her classmates cause a great uproar after having caught Asuna practicing confessions on Negi.
"So… what do you think Katarina-chan?" Chao said with an odd smirk. "Do you think Asuna-san and Negi-sensei would make a good match?"
For some reason Katarina was certain that Chao was testing her. She was also quite certain that Chao knew the answer to her own question quite well.
"Hmm…" Still she pondered, and carelessly said her thoughts out loud. "Relatives…? Why would I think…?"
Caught up in her musings, she missed the sharpening of Chao's gaze, and how Chao seemed to consider something before her features suddenly returned to her usual cheer, as if nothing happened.
"I don't know… But something tells me they won't become romantic with each other." Katarina finally answered, unknowing of what had just passed over her friends features and crossed her mind.
"Really? That's an interesting answer."
"Well, people can have a relationship that isn't romantic."
The genius girl chuckled softly.
"Then what do we have?"
The younger girl sighed. "Friendship."
"Because you'd prefer Hasegawa Chisame."
"I want to be friends with Chisame-san. Doesn't mean I'd prefer her."
Chao laughed.
"Does that mean I still have a chance?"
Katarina pondered the question for a few moments.
"Who knows?" She then answered with a small smile.
-Break--
And so the first day where Negi got to try to teach properly began.
And promptly turned into chaos when he asked Asuna to translate some English, which, alongside most academia, wasn't exactly what you would call her… forte, to put it kindly.
Or, as Ayaka put it, Asuna is an idiot.
Then Negi sneezed for some reason, and somehow that seemed to cause a strong wind, which somehow ended up with a far less clothed Asuna.
Once again Katarina found herself shocked at her lack of shock.
Next to her she could swear she heard Eva-chan sneer at Negi, something about 'Having no control'.
After that there was, predictably, a bit of a brawl.
Seriously, when would the princess learn not to resolve her embarrassment with violence…?
Following that things seemed to be perfectly normal…
That was, up until the child teacher burst into the classroom holding aloft some kind of vial, shouting Asuna's name.
Katarina could not quite hear the following conversation, and then Asuna suddenly made Negi drink the contents of the vial.
It was the weirdest thing. One moment she was looking at Negi with confusion over what was happening.
The next she felt somewhat like she might have had just a tiny bit too much to drink, and suddenly she couldn't help but stare at Negi and finding him the cutest and most handsome kid she-
No!
She literally slammed her face into her desk, thankfully keeping from pushing her glasses into her face.
Luckily for her the next thing that happened was that Negi escaped the classroom, which also meant that the effect of the love potion lessened, although she was still gripped by an intense desire to chase after him.
Thankfully she managed to resist, and soon the effect disappeared, leaving her feeling a bit dazed (probably from her magnificent facedesk), but otherwise fine.
As she sat there wondering what just happened, and looking for an explanation from her mind that was reasonable, Zazie suddenly approached her, with the usual completely emotionless expression, even less than Chachamaru, however that made any sense.
"…"
While Katarina was unsure what the odd girl wanted, she made an assumption and rolled with it.
"I'm fine Rainyday-san. If that was what you wanted."
Zazie nodded slightly, but still came even closer, seemingly observing Katarina.
As the pierrot-styled girl came closer, that unusual feeling from their encounter way back when returned, but now Katarina could also swear that she could catch glimpses of weird masks floating about around her
"Eh… What… is it? Is there… a mark on my face?"
Zazie simply shook her head with a small smile, then simply nodded and turned away.
But…
"As I thought, you are one of the first ones."
Katarina wasn't sure what she had just heard, because she could have sworn that Zazie just talked, yet…
Zazie didn't talk… right…?
At least it was cryptic enough that the young girl might think that it was Zazie that said it, since Zazie did seem like the cryptic sort, but at the same time…
What did that even mean? 'One of the first ones'? First out of who?
First to do what?
-Break--
As she watched Katarina descend into confusion, Zazie Rainyday was filled with doubt.
If she had been correct she should have gotten a reaction of either shock at being discovered, or maybe a retort about her own heritage or some other such.
Instead she had gotten confusion.
Yet everything Zazie knew told her she had been right…
But at the same time…
She had never met any of them, and they disappeared thousands of years ago under the relentless jealousy of the growing mage community…
Katarina wasn't even able to protect herself against the potion's effect.
She had just resisted it long enough that its source, Negi-sensei could leave, allowing her to throw it off when it then weakened.
But at the same time, it was clear the girl sensed something whenever they were in close proximity, and she had clearly seen, if only vaguely, her companions.
Could it then be that Katarina simply didn't know?
The very idea seemed absurd, but it was either that, or Zazie really had been wrong.
The Demon Princess couldn't help but shake her head. If she could have confirmed her suspicion here everything would have been far easier, as it would have given her a very clear indication as to what the girl could do…
As it was Katarina was a troublesome wildcard that could be anything from completely harmless to potentially capable of threatening even herself.
She contemplatively fingered the card hidden in one of her pockets as she considered her options.
Actually… Katarina did seem like quite a good person. And it was really only worry that even made her consider the possibility that the girl could be a threat to herself…
Logically speaking, if she was right, even in the worst-case scenario Katarina would only be a threat to Zazie under the right circumstances.
Yes. It would be far wiser to merely remain observant.
-Break--
'Why, of all things, are they having a breast size competition?' Katarina wondered to herself as she lay soaking in the massive bath that lay in the dormitory.
She had followed Eva there as it was quite a nice bath, and Eva did like to visit it every now and then.
Of course, because suddenly all manners of bizarre events had started unfolding lately, the girls had decided to compete in who possessed the largest bosom.
Honestly, the part that really weirded Katarina out was that Eva was apparently taking part…
Why? She didn't stand any chance of winning…
For shits and giggles?
Could be it, it was honestly not that unlikely.
"Let's see here…" Katarina suddenly heard a voice.
"What do you want Chao-san?" She asked, recognising the voice.
"Come on now, we're all comparing chest sizes here! You're not getting out of it!" The genius responded, literally lifting Katarina out of the water.
"Oh come on! You already know the only people I could possibly be bigger than are Onee-chan, Yuecchi and the twins!" The younger girl exclaimed, getting strangely embarrassed even as she said it.
Then she felt a strange chill, and suddenly remembered that her 'sister' was present, something that managed to slip her mind.
That probably wouldn't be pleasant once they returned home…
Of course, Chao didn't care about that at all.
"Hmm… Yeah, that seems about right. Well, you seem like you would have quite a bit of growth, so that's something to look forward to!"
Then, things managed to get crazier when Negi showed up, Asuna's bosom expanded... she won... then it exploded.
Even so, Katarina caught herself with a small smile on her lips.
