DISCLAIMER: I don't own Mahou Sensei Negima, although I do own both T.V series on DVD and possess all the current manga :)

A/N: This is my first KonoSetsu fic, I love those two and wanted to write a multi-chap fic based around a humourous day out of theirs. This first chap is rather shortish, being mostly a prologue if anything, but hopefully I put enough stuff in it to catch your interest. Please review at the end!

Setsuna didn't even get to swallow her first mouthful of hot chocolate peacefully as Konoka's words caused her to spray the warm liquid in burst of shock. Ever helpful, Asuna thumped her coughing and spluttering friend on the back while Negi removed his glasses and began to clean the stray drops from the lenses with his handkerchief. After hastily wiping the tabletop with her own handkerchief and regaining her wits, the young Mahora guardswoman turned nervous eyes towards her charge's.

"B-but ojousama, we can't... It's..! Ojousama, to suggest such a thing between girls is...!"

"Ne, Secchan, the phrase "it's a date" is only a figure of speech, silly~!"

Still staring at Konoka uncertainly, Setsuna was suddenly overcome with embarrassment as she averted her eyes to the still-steaming mug clutched in her grip on the table. Oh... so when Konoka-ojousama asked me to accompany her on a shopping trip tomorrow, and when I agreed she said "Alright! Then it's a date!" she wasn't literally meaning a romantic date...

... Although, I wish she had've been meaning that...

Now feeling even stupider at her own contradicting personality, Setsuna slumped her shoulders slightly as Asuna, Negi and Konoka continued on with a conversation about upcoming assessments around her, oblivious to her self-wallowing. True, she nearly had a heart attack when she thought her Ojousama was asking her out in front of people while they all sat crowded around the small table in Konoka and Asuna's room, but that was only because she was indeed in front of people. Hell, had Konoka asked her same thing while they were alone, Setsuna wasn't sure if she could trust herself not to launch at her childhood friend and wrap her in a tight embrace.

... Which, given the fact that Konoka wasn't actually asking her out, would've been veryembarrassing.

It was easier, she decided, back when they were children and she only really thought of her ojousama as her best friend and playmate. Sure she felt the same amount of love towards Konoka as she did now, but back then she didn't have to deal with the lust that came with adolescence.

Now, whenever she laid eyes on her best friend, her heartbeat seemed to go crazy and convince the little pulse points in her temples to dance along too. Not only that, but a warm, fluttering feeling would also fill her and for some damn reason she had incredible trouble drawing her eyes away from the girl.

The worst part of it all for Setsuna though - not to say that the aforementioned symptoms didn't give her enough trouble already - was when it came to bathing with Konoka.

Even when the towel was firmly wrapped around the mage's torso, Setsuna's traitorous eyes would linger on the slim legs and curved shoulders and the swordsman was forced to hurriedly submerge herself in the enormous bath just to avoid looking like a weirdo, standing and leering at Konoka. Plus, she'd never admit it, but the steam made it easier for her obscure her vision of the young mage, and therefore help fight down the urge she always got to throw herself at her lady and passionately take her right there on the tiled floor, company be damned.

It was exactly these kinds of urges that scared Setsuna the most.

Although she spent nearly every waking minute fighting these thoughts and issues during the day she couldn't keep the dreams from assualting her at night, and more often than not would find herself waking at night, sweaty and out of breath, body tingling all over as she realises with embarassment and shame that her hand had made it's way into her underwear while she'd slept, dreaming of Konoka.

Specifically, dreaming of doing things to and with Konoka that she would never ever admit to even considering. After many late night showers and changes of underwear, Setsuna was nearly driven insane by her lust for the healer. In order to lessen some of the tension, she would sometimes be guilty of daydreaming during class, zoning out from Negi-sensei's squeaking voice and instead imagining a world where she and Kono-chan were lovers and partners and - dare she even think it - parents.

It was a combination of all these overwhelming feelings for the girl that had sent Setsuna's heartbeat once again into a frenzy when she thought they were finally getting together. Taking another small sip of the hot chocolate, Setsuna sighed mournfully to herself.

At least she tried to, but Asuna's super-human hearing picked up on the sound right away and she glanced over at the swordswoman.

"You okay, Setsuna?"

The half-demon looked up at her friend's concerned faces as she suddenly felt awkward. She hated being the centre of attention. She nodded.

"I'm fine, I'm just a little tired I suppose. Perhaps I should return to my room for the night."

Konoka glanced up at the clock and confirmed that it was indeed getting late.

"Come on Secchan, don't worry about finishing your drink. Let me walk you back to your room."

The Shinmei student hurried to her feet and held her hands up.

"T-that's not necessary, Ojousama! I am fine to walk back on my own! You shouldn't leave the warmth of your room just to walk me back to my dorm..."

Before she trailed off her sentence Konoka had already stood and laced her arm through Setsuna's.

"Don't be silly, Secchan" she giggled, dragging the beet-red and flustered girl towards the door.

"Uhh, Good night Asuna-san! Goodnight Negi-sensei!" Setsuna barely managed to call out before being led out the door, leaving Asuna and Negi chuckling in the empty room.

Walking arm-in-arm down the corridor, Setsuna nervously flitted her eyes from the point where their bodies met, to the hallway in front of them, and back again. She couldn't but tense up as she felt Konoka squeeze a little closer to her. Swallowing in order to try and restore some moisture to her mouth, Setsuna voiced aloud a question.

"Are you cold, Kono-chan?"

Now that she was no longer in the presence of company, Setsuna allowed herself to call her childhood friend by her pet name. To be honest, although it was kind of improper for a guard to address her charge as such, Setsuna felt most at ease calling her this childish name than the expected "ojousama." Konoka herself visibly brightened at Setsuna's use of the name, and smiled cheerfully.

"A little bit, I guess. You're nice and warm though, so it's not too bad. It's ok for me to snuggle up to you like this, right?"

Setsuna felt dizzy. There was part of her mind telling her to wrap her arms around Konoka's frame, slide her hands to the girl's hips and lift her into a bridal-style embrace in order to show what a real snuggle was. But the rational part of Setsuna that (thank god!) controlled her movements at this time simply allowed her head to nod in reply to Konoka, and fall into awkward silence as they continued onward.

Reaching her dorm door, Setsuna stopped walking and was waiting for Konoka to let go of her arm.... which didn't happen. Blushing, Setsuna tried not to look at her arm that Konoka was currently clutching against her chest; the rise and fall of her breathing causing her small breasts to ever-so-softly brush against the hanyou's arm. Clearing her throat, Setsuna begrudgingly withdrew her arm from Konoka's grasp and reached forward to open her door.

"Um, thank you for accompanying me Ojousama. I hope you have a good night."

Finally turning to face her companion, Setsuna was a bit taken aback to see what looked like disappointment briefly flickering in her ojousama's eyes before the mage grinned and bid her a good night in return. Watching Konoka's retreating back protectively until the Konoe heir disappeared around the corner, Setsuna finally sighed and entered her room, closing the door behind her.

Once inside, Setsuna glanced around her room for any sign of her roommate, a one Tatsumiya Mana. The empty silence that greeted her confirmed her thoughts.

So Mana is out tonight... Well, I already had dinner at Ojousama's tonight so I guess I'll just chill out for a while...

Pulling her socks off at the doorway, the young woman walked over to the bunk she shared with the tanned mercenary and lay down on her own mattress, the bottom bunk. Shifting for a few moments until she lay in a comfortable position on her back, Setsuna let out a long sigh and closed her eyes.

I was so stupid earlier, nearly giving myself away like that... when her I felt her chest against my arm, I could've died and gone to heaven right there...

Squirming a little, Setsuna welcomed the little rush of awkward feelings that began to fill her as she recalled the feeling of her arm practically being cuddled into her Ojousama's cleavage. And if only Kono-chan could feel the same kind of feelings that I do...

On this train of thought, she imagined Konoka giggling at her as they stood before Setsuna's dorm, and rather than saying goodnight and walking away, the young heiress would lean forward and gently kiss her. The arm which was held to her chest would instead be guided to the hem of her shirt, where Setsuna would take initiative and slide the warm appendage up and over Konoka's warm belly, hearing the girl gasp against her lips as they pulled back from a kiss, Setsuna's head angling slightly to press warm lips to the girl's temple, her cheek, her chin, her jawline.

Setsuna lolled her head to the side, eyes closed, still stretched out on the covers of her bed, feeling her heartbeat and and breathing speed up as she continued to visualise these things. Normally, Setsuna would be kicking herself with disappointment at the slip in focus but right now, alone in her room and lying on her bed, she revelled in the strong feelings coursing through her body and causing her to squirm a bit more. It was a feeling Setsuna was pretty used to by now, called arousal.

Twisting one hand into her bed sheets, she imagined Konoka kissing and sucking gently at the skin of her neck, letting out a breathy noise of surprise as Setsuna's hand would stop tracing patterns on her belly long enough to slide upwards and into her bra, fingers and thumb gently teasing and fondling -

"Ahem, I'm back."

Setsuna, ripped from her fantasies, yanked her hand out of the waistband on her pants that it had been slipping beyond. Bright red, and embrassed beyond imagination, the swordswoman sat bolt upright and faced the girl who was now placing a rifle down onto the kitchen table and looking at Setsuna with a half-hidden smirk. Mana was known for stealth - Setsuna hadn't even heard her open the front door!

If she had've heard her, then there was no way she would've been caught on the verge of mastu-

"T-Tatsumiya-san, you're back."

"Stating the obvious, Setsuna. Bravo."

Blushing even more at her humiliation, Setsuna slid her legs off the side of the bed and stood up, twisiting her fingers through slick raven hair and striding briskly towards the fridge. She felt Mana's amused golden eyes on her back as she pulled out a water bottle and took a sip. She wasn't even thirsty - Just, in her embarassment, she needed to try and act casual! Remaining lying on the bed where she had lay moments before, squirming around with quickened breath and a hand slipping down her torso would NOT help her case at all.

Numbly, though, she knew that Mana was full aware of what she had been about to do. At least that was a good thing about having Tatsumiya Mana as your roommate - Unless she thought she could use it to blackmail someone in some way, the elite sniper didn't really care about what anyone did. And luckily for Setsuna, she seemed to have grown on Mana enough for the girl to not use things like this for extortion purposes. God help her if ever the likes of Asakura or Haruna found out about her crush on Konoka...

Or, if Ojousama herself were to find out...

Setsuna gulped, feeling icy dread creep down along her spine. In her mind's eye, she imagined a look of surprise, turned to disappointment, turned to badly-disguised disgust flit across Konoka's face if Setsuna stood before her and confessed her feelings. Then, the hanyou imagined the next few weeks being pushed away by Konoka, quietly avoided, the young heiress trying to distance herself from her messed-up affections...

Re-capping the water bottle and placing it back on the fridge shelf, Setsuna felt that uncomfortable feeling of tears pricking in the back of her eyes, and that awful jolt assault her heart. Really, if these feelings were caused by merely imagining Kono-chan's reaction, then she didn't know what she'd do if the situation she visualised ever came true. Commit suicide? No, Setsuna wasn't like that. Probably just cut off all ties with the Konoe family in shame, and leave Mahora.

There was another thought. Where would she go if this ever happened? Her own clan wanted nothing to do with a repulsive white half-crow, and the Shinmeiryuu had cast her aside as a traitor once she left the Kansai association and travelled to the Kanto rulership after choosing to join Konoka at Mahora Academy.

When it came down to it, Setsuna realised grimly, the Konoe family were the only sanctuary she had left. Closing the fridge door and stalking back over to her bed, Setsuna steeled herself with a newfound determination as she pulled back the cover and slipped inside.

Right, I'm not going to mess this up. For Ojousama's sake and my own, I am going to bottle away these revolting emotions and support Ojousama as the ambiguous Bodyguard I was trained to be!

Leaving the girl in the bunk above her to switch off the light, the room fell dark and silent as Setsuna rolled onto her side, mentally preparing herself for the upcoming shopping day with Konoka. Above her, the smooth voice of her rommate cracked the silence.

"... Hey Setsuna, if you're going to pick up where you left off right before I came in, try to be quiet about it ok? I have to get up early tomorrow."

Feeling her cheeks flare up again, Setsuna groaned at the teasing as she pulled the blankets over her head to block out the sound of quiet chuckling.

Okay, so maybe having Tatsumiya Mana as your sarcastic, torturously-sadistic roommate wasn't so great sometimes...

Next time: Setsuna puts her plan into full swing as she spends the day with Konoka, keeping her at arm's length, but she can't help but feel like the chocolate-haired girl is trying to turn their friendly outing into a date...? No! She mustn't give in to such ideal fantasies!

A/N: So yeah, first KonoSetsu fanfic, even though I've obsessed over this manga for ages :D If I get good feedback for it, I'll probably continue it.

Let me know if you like it, hate it, wonder why the hell I posted it!