I do not own Negima or Kamen Rider Wizard. Those belong to their respective creators and not me. I am only writing this for fun and perhaps a bit of ego since I was challenged to make a Wizad fic. So, tell me what you think.

Mahou Ridaa Negima!

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 1: Teacher and Rider in One

Wales, Britain

The air was charged with excitement in the mountainside village. It wasn't a normal kind of energy that the magical area was known for, being the host of one of the premier magical schools in the country. Instead, the excitement was more anticipatory as people crowded around said school. Inside the majestic building, inside of a grand hall which looked more like an altar of a grand cathedral than anything to do with a school the walls were lined with spectators who were simply bursting with pride. At the altar position itself was an old man with a long white beard matched by his long white hair dressed in a white robe. In the middle of the room, by themselves were five teenagers in black robes with the stereotypical witch hats on their heads. The odd mundane could have easily mistaken this assembly as some kind of cultish ceremony. The truth was actually nowhere near as fantastic as that.

It was graduation.

"When I call your name, my graduates," the old man's voice echoed through the hall, sounding strong and vigorous despite his age. "Please come up and claim your mystic diplomas. They will dictate your future careers. When you leave these halls, always please remember: A charmed life is a happy life." Smiling, the man reached for a scroll handed to him by another person in a white robe with the hood pulled up. "Now, Negi Springfield!"

"Yes Sir!"

The middle of the five graduates stepped forward, removing his hat which symbolized his transference from a student to a graduate. He was a young man with red hair that faded into a dark brown the closer it got to his scalp and the back of his head. It was tied into a short ponytail at the back. He sported a small pair of spectacles, made more to help one see the finer details rather than needing help seeing in day to day activities. Underneath the cloak he wore a dark uniform, complete with a jacket and the red tie. Hanging from his pocket was what could almost be considered a chain, but instead of links there were jewel rings, some were solid jewels while others had designs across the surface. On his right hand was a ring which had a black stone shaped like a hand while his left hand was sporting a ring which had a large oval ruby on it. Peeking out from his coat was a belt which had a glossy stone buckle shaped like a hand with the fingers pointing to his left side.

Negi walked up to the old man with a smile. The pair exchanged nods of acknowledgement before the old man, assumedly the headmaster of the school, handed a rolled up scroll to the young man.

"Congratulations," The older man smiled, showing more pride than what was for a normal student but a blood relation.

"Thank-you sir," Negi smiled back.

The graduation ceremony continued onward, but it was short since there were only five graduates that year. Walking through the ornate halls was Negi, looking down at his diploma to see that indeed it was his certificate stating that he had graduated from his school, top of his class even!

"Negi!"

Negi looked up from his diploma to see two young women walking towards him. The first was a girl his age wearing a cloak like his over her own uniform, indicating that she was a graduate like him. She had long dark brown hair which was tied up in twin ponytails which trailed down almost to her waist. Her name was Anya Chocolova, Negi's childhood friend whom had graduated much like he did. Next to her was an older woman with long blonde hair which travelled down to her waist. She wore a one piece black dress with a white collar, which was either her own higher education uniform. She was Nekane Springfield, Negi's cousin although she was more of a big sister to him since she had raised him most of his life.

"Ah, Big Sister, Anya," Negi smiled.

"Did your diploma show you your assignment yet?" asked Anya as she and Nekane reached the young man. "I'm going to be a fortune-teller in London!" Her face was insufferably smug at her assignment, obviously pleased that she would be able to work in such a historic city which had more than a little magical knowledge that was ripe for the picking.

"Mine's just about to show up," Negi replied, ignoring the slight barb to Anya's bragging. As if on cue, the diploma began to glow. On it's surface, words began to appear as if written by an invisible pen. Anya and Nekane leaned over Negi's shoulder to try and see what the young man's assignment was going to be. Negi blinked as the full sentence was revealed. "A teacher…in Japan?"

The three were silent for a moment

"MAAAAGUUUUUS!" Nekane's scream echoed through the air.

Negi wasn't entirely sure what had happened next, but he felt like he was yanked by the arm before he was dragged through the school. The next thing he knew, he was in a completely different hallway where the magus was walking. What made the trip so confusing was that he was pretty sure that the hallway he had been was on the opposite side of the school. Then again, he knew that Nekane and Anya had a habit of doing strange things when they were upset.

"Magus! It's Negi's diploma!" Nekane cried, running up to the old man. "It says he's supposed to be-!"

"A teacher. I know," Magus nodded, completely calm with the hysteria that Nekane and Anya were peppering him with.

"B-But he's only fifteen!" Nekane tried to argue. "There's no way he can be a teacher! Especially not in such a faraway place!"

"Yeah!" Anya agreed. "Besides, he's a total nerd and a space case! They'll eat him alive!"

"Hey!" Negi grumbled.

"The diploma has spoken," Magus retorted calmly with a sense of finality. "Even I can't do anything about it," he looked to Negi, his eyes landing on the rings hanging from his waist for a moment before looking into the man's eyes. "Dedicate yourself Negi. Japan's youth are going to be counting on you."

Nekane looked like she was on the brink of hysteria, looking between Negi and the Magus, but seeing that her precious little brother was not even trying to fight the decision. Tears in her eyes at the thought of her charge being so far away from where she could help him she began to get rubber legs as she fell back in near-faint.

"Sister!" Negi cried, rushing to keep Nekane from hurting herself. Managing to catch her with Anya's help, the pair of them gently sat her down to be at least a bit more comfortable.

"Don't worry," Magus chuckled warmly. "An old friend of mine is the headmaster of the school. Both he and your heart will guide you. I have every confidence."

"Yes sir!" Negi nodded. "I will!

The Power of Magic Unknown

A Young Man Chosen to Face those who Thrive in Despair

Educator of the Future Minds.

He is Called...Wizard

Tokyo Bullet Train enroute to Mahora Academy

Onboard the bullet train car were female students of the illustrious Mahora Academy. It was an elevator school, providing the educational needs for its enrolled students, starting from pre-school all the way to University. It also had its own community within its walls, providing students with the essentials. In fact, Mahora Academy's size could label it as a small city. Unbeknownst to most people though, Mahora also had a healthy population of mages, considering the school was also the headquarters for the Kanto Magic Association of Japan. It was likely why Negi was being assigned there of all places.

Speaking of Negi, he was feeling distinctly uncomfortable as he was pressed against so many female bodies. It wasn't his fault though. The train car he was in was crowded because of the morning rush. What was more, he discovered just recently that Mahora Academy, or rather the part of it he was being assigned to turned out to be an all-girl school. It came as a surprise, but like an adult he decided to tough it out and hope for the best.

Negi was dressed in three piece suit which consisted of a green blazer and matching slacks. Under the blazer he wore a white shirt with a red necktie. Thrown over his ensemble was a black coat that reached down to his knees. He adjusted his rings, just out of habit. Standing inside a train for long tended to make him bored. He also had on a backpack, filled with most of his essential belongings. He normally would have let his eyes wander after being on the train for so long, but with so many girls around, he didn't want to look like some kind of pervert.

"Excuse me?" a female voice spoke.

"Yes?" Negi asked, replying in perfect Japanese which seemed to surprise the girl and her friends who were talking to him. They looked like students of Mahora, possibly his future students.

"Um...have you gotten onto the wrong train?" she asked. "We just passed the stop for the boys school a few minutes ago."

"Well, actually it's the girls section that I'm supposed to be going to," Negi explained awkwardly. "The headmaster wishes to meet me there."

"Really?" the girl blinked. "Why would-?"

Her question was cut off when the train hit a bumpy section of track and one of the girls tumbled into him. He tried to keep himself steady as well as prevent the girl from falling, but as she fell her hair brushed against his nose in the chaos. Negi's nose twitched before he felt the oncoming sneeze.

"AH-CHOO!"

At the sneeze, there was a blast of wind which went through the entire car, flipping up all of the girls' skirts to reveal a multi colour rainbow of fabric and lace that would have been a pervert's dream. Negi, his head angled down from the sneeze allowed him to see the display. Blushing furiously, he snapped his gaze back up so he could deny having been staring. 'Why does this always happen?'

"Where did that wind come from?" asked one of the girls.

"A dirty mind I'm thinking," another replied, her face a portrait of embarrassment.

The girl Negi caught flushed bright red and stepped back, apologizing for being so clumsy on the train, but otherwise kept quiet and her voice averted. Thankfully, the awkward moment ended when the train rattled to a stop, announcing their arrival at Mahora Academy. The doors opened, but the students made a mad dash out of the train car, leaving the young man to struggle to keep up.

"Welcome back students! The student counselling committee has declared this punctuality week! Ten minutes until the first bell! Lateness will not be tolerated! Anyone that is late will receive a yellow card, so we urge you to be at school as early as possible!"

The voice came over an intercom system, explaining why everyone around was running like hooligans. There were people on skateboards, scooters, even a motorcycle or two. Negi was tempted to bring out his own bike, but that would have been too much of a magical spectacle which mages tried to hide from the mundane people.

Still, old habits died hard especially ones that proved to help keep you alive.

Negi reached to the chain of rings attached to his bet, plucking one that was silver with a red bird marking on it from the chain. Slipping off his black hand ring, he slipped the red bird ring overtop of it. Looking around to see that everyone was too busy running past him and no one looked back, Negi brought his right hand to his belt buckle, holding his hand over it. The ring and buckle then flashed as words spoke from nowhere.

"GARUDA, PLEASE!"

materializing in front of Negi was what looked like a plastic model which was ready to be put together, all held in a plastic frame like car models would be held in. The pieces hovered there for a moment before disassembling from their frame, letting it dissolve. The pieces then came together, forming a red and silver bird-like creature with a slot on its chest. Negi removed his bird ring before inserting it into the slot. The bird seemed to come alive with a cute tough-sounding cry.

"Explore the campus and report back to me if you see anything too odd," Negi spoke to his Garuda Plamonster, a magical construct. The bird tweeted before taking off into the sky, no one the wiser as to what had just occurred. Smiling, Negi watched it go before he realized that he was also on the clock. "On no! I forgot!"

Kicking off the ground, Negi charged off towards the school where his future boss was supposed to be found, "Please don't let me be late!"

"ARGH! We're going to be so late!"

The cry of outrage came from a girl with long orange hair tied into two ponytails with bell decorations grumbled as she and her companion, a long-haired brunette on rollerskates ran towards their school, hoping to beat the late bell. "We can't meet this new teacher and get to class on time!"

Their names were Konoka Konoe and Asuna Kagurazaki. Both were members of the famous/infamous Class 2A of Mahora Gakuen. They weren't bad girls and none of them were what one would call delinquents. Sure, some of the lowest scorers in their grade were in the class, Asuna being one of those low scorers. Konoka on the other hand was well-known since she was the dean's granddaughter, not that she was the type to take advantage of that, or anyone really.

"Why do we have to do this for the headmaster anyway?" asked Asuna grumpily.

"It's because I'm his granddaughter," Konoka smiled at her friend, completely at ease with the prospect of being late, but she likely knew being on a job from the headmaster would make for a great excuse.

"Why are you so excited about this anyway?" asked the orangette. "If this new teacher is supposed to be a friend of your grandpa's then he's probably going to be an old fart or something!"

"Don't be so sure Asuna," Konoka smiled knowingly, holding up an astrology book. "Your horoscope says that you'll be having a fateful encounter today!"

"Really?-!" Asuna gasped. 'Maybe some good luck is coming my way after all!'

"Yup!" Konoka smiled. "It also says that if you say your love's name five times and bark then he's yours!"

"It also says that if you say the name of your love five times and bark, it'll come true!" Konoka continued.

Asuna's face immediately brightened as a grin threatened to split her face, "ALL RIGHT! TAKAHATA-SENSEI, TAKAHATA-SENSEI, TAKAHATA-SENSEI, TAKAHATA-SENSEI, TAKAHATA-SENSEI, ARF!" the last bark was loud enough to startle several people around them.

"Wow," Konoka blinked, a sweatdrop coming down the side of her face. "I…didn't expect you to really do it. I'm impressed."

"Because I'm so dedicated to Takahata-Sensei?" Asuna answered smugly.

"No because I made it up cheese-head," Konoka giggled.

"KONOKA!"

"Oh come on," the brunette smiled. "Can't you take a joke?"

Asuna scowled then huffed before running ahead of Konoha who continued to call out to her. As the pair continued to run, or in Konoka's case skated, they were almost passed by someone. Normally it wouldn't be that unusual beyond how Asuna was one of the faster students. What did catch their attention though was that the one who passed them was a young man. This in itself was rather odd since they were rather close to the girls school and boys were certainly not allowed.

"Huh?" Asuna blinked.

"Ah!" Konoka gasped in surprise.

They only saw the back of his head, which sported a short ponytail. "Hey!" Asuna shouted as she ran up to him and grabbed the back of his backpack.

"Woah!" he exclaimed as he was tugged backwards, landing on his rear painfully. "Ow..."

"Hey, are you lost, buddy? Or can't you read the signs?" she asked as she looked down at him. She had her hands to her hips in a self-righteous pose. "This is an all girls' school. So, NO BOYS ALLOWED!"

"The boys school is one stop before this one, but you can still get there if you take a left out of the train station and follow the main street," Konoka supplied helpfully, seemingly the complete opposite of Asuna's fiery fury.

"I know where I am," Negi muttered, rubbing his rear out of reflex before remembering himself and standing up. He had been expecting this to be honest, but it was still it came as a surprise that hit him out of nowhere...literally. "I'm supposed to be here. i was invited by-"

"Well, well! Is that you Asuna?"

Asuna froze at the voice before turning to the source which was in the building next to them. Looking up, they spotted a man in a teacher's suit with scruffy hair, some stubble, small frame glasses and a cigarette in his fingers. He was smiling down at the scene as if he had seen it dozens of times before.

"Making friends I s-" he cut himself off as he spied just who Asuna was fighting with. "Negi, is that you?-!"

Asuna instantly flinched and scrambled to apologize. "Ah! Takahata-sensei! He…ah…I…um!"

Negi had a different approach. He broke out in a wide grin before waving up to the man, "Takamichi! It's been ages! It's great to see you again!"

Asuna and Konoka blinked before looking to the boy who had referred to their teacher by his first name. One could almost see the question marks appearing above their heads. Up in the window he was sticking out of, Takahata smiled down at his teenage friend, "It's good to see that the welcoming committee found you. Glad to have you aboard." He shook his head, as if thinking about all of the years which had gone by. "'Negi-sensei' who would have thought?"

Konoka blinked at the title for the teenage boy which her teacher referred to him buy. It was enough to snap her out of her own daze brought on by Negi's handsome features. Turning to gaze to the boy, she couldn't help but ask, "Negi-sensei? Did he really just call you-?"

"He did," Negi nodded, confirming Konoka's question. Turning to the two girls, he bowed respectfully. "My name is Negi Springfield. Starting today I am your new English teacher."

"EEEEEHH?-!" Both girls cried out in sheer shock. Well, it was shock on Asuna's part while Konoka's leaned closer to an excited squeal.

"That is total bull!" Asuna cried, glaring at the boy. It made Negi flinch slightly, not wanting to be on the wrong end of her savage grip of the girl. "You can't be any older than we are! There is absolutely no way that you are a teacher! Uh-uh! No way! This has to be some kind of joke!"

"It's no joke Asuna," Takahata spoke, coming out of the building. One may have questioned how he managed to come from his window perch to the doors so quickly but Asuna was too riled up to care, Konoka trying to calm down her friend and failing, and Negi knew the truth anyway. He walked to the trio, ready to intervene since he above all others knew just how bad Asuna's temper could be. "Despite his age, Negi is certainly more than qualified for the position he's expected to fill."

"I'd like to see that!" the orangette huffed, crossing her arms.

"Well, you will since from this day onward he's taking over my class," Takahata replied, sticking his cigarette into his mouth.

"WHAT?-!" Asuna shrieked, turning to gape at her beloved teacher in shock. She looked like she was about to break out in tears at the thought of such a switch happening. "If he was to replace you, it would...it would..."

"Break your heart?" Negi supplied out of sheer reflex, but he then clamped his mouth shut in his desire not to bring Asuna's angry attention back to him. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be true as Asuna turned her eyes back to him.

"Yes! Break my-!" the sputtering girl began, only to realize just who had offered the suggestion.

Rounding on the boy, she grabbed the lapels of his shirt and began shaking him back and forth. "Shut up! Who asked you?-!-? I don't care how hot you are, you are a nit! A nothing! A-!" Continuing to rant and shake Negi roughly, her hair swished madly as if flames in response to her anger. Several strands brushed past Negi's face, tickling his nose. The reaction was too quick for him to stop and Asuna was shaking him too much for him to try even if he could.

"Ah…AH…ACHOO!"

It had happened quite suddenly, so fast that nobody was able to react to it at first. Frankly, the sight of Asuna's clothes all but exploding off of her body and leaving her in nothing but her underwear with the cute bear prints on her panties revealed for everyone to see caught everyone off guard. Asuna's strangled screech echoed as she attempted to cover her body from sight. Takahata calmly averted his eyes, already guessing that Negi's wind magic managed to get the better of him in the sneeze. Negi himself felt mortified at what he had just done and his face turned bright red at what he was seeing.

"HAS THIS WHOLE SCHOOL GONE MENTAL?-!-?-!"

Headmaster's Office - Mahora Academy

The welcoming group and new teacher quickly relocated to the headmaster's office so Negi could meet his employer and formally begin his job. Asuna was forced to wear the gym jacket and sweat pants as she did not have time to run back to get a replacement uniform, nor did she want to go such lengths and give perverts a free show. She would have to buy a replacement later in order to have a proper uniform to wear.

The headmaster's office was quite large and looked expansive, perhaps par tof which was if a student had to see him they would be a little bit more humble if they felt like they had done something wrong. The man himself was a shorter old man with a long beard, extremely fuzzy eyebrows, and an oddly-shaped head. He wore traditional robes, meaning he must have come from a long-line of established family members. He was looking at the scene of his granddaughter, her best friend, and his new employee with no small amount of amusement.

"Headmaster, please tell me this is some kind of joke," Asuna sighed, still trying to get over her embarrassment from earlier.

"I could," the wizened old man chuckled. "But that would be lying." Ending his amusement, he turned to regard Negi. A fine young man in all aspects and it seemed his granddaughter may be interested in him. Well, there would be time enough for that. "So, this role should be quite the challenge for you."

"It will be sir," Negi nodded. "But you will receive nothing but my best!"

"I expect better," the old man corrected. Negi nodded rapidly.

"Good. You will teach until March then," Konoemon nodded. A mischievous sparkle entered his eyes and he broached the next subject. "Now, if you require a girlfriend while you're here my granddaughter is currently single."

"Grandpa!" Konoka whined, somehow appearing next to her grandfather before bopping him over the head with a hammer. The old man just chuckled while ignoring the growing bump on his head as he

regarded his employee and student in front of him.

"Hello? I'm still not accepting this!" Asuna cried, approaching the desk. "I mean, how can a teenager become a teacher?-!"

"Through hard work and natural talent," the dean answered. "As for acceptance, that resides solely to me and I do," he then looked to Negi once again. "Now Negi-kun, if you fail here there is absolutely no second chances. Are we clear?"

"Crystal sir," Negi nodded. "Only I will not fail. I can promise you that."

The sheer conviction in his voice revealed how confidant the teen was in his role. He knew he could do his assigned task and do it well. Takahata smiled in some pride while Konoka and Asuna were a little stunned by his confidence in himself, but the orangette shook it off quicker. She was still upset over her crush being removed from his position for some teenage punk who she still refused to believe would be able to do the job an adult could, much less her beloved Takahata-sensei.

The confidence made the headmaster smile, "Ho ho ho! Just what I was expecting to hear. We'll start you off today then. Of course I won't let you start cold fish. You'll have an advisor to help you when you are unsure of something or need more information concerning certain aspects of the job. Her name is Shizuna-sensei and I'm sure the two of you will get along marvellously." He glanced past the teens and to the door. "Shizuna-kun, are you there?"

"Yes headmaster."

Negi heard the door open and someone beginning to approach. He turned to greet the person, but suddenly found himself pressed up against a warm and squishy surface which was marvellously soft. He blinked as he was presented face to face with an admittedly pretty woman who wore small oval frame glasses and had long blonde hair. She wore a simple sweater which strained against her obvious assets and a simple skirt. She obviously didn't need much to look beautiful since she was already that without any kind of makeup or elaborate clothing.

"Uh…excuse me," Negi stepped back, flushing slightly for accidentally invading the woman's space.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You as well," Shizuna smiled softly, unfazed at how close Negi was to her. "Do you have any questions?"

"None at the moment, but I'm sure by the end of the day I will," Negi chuckled weakly.

"One more thing," the headmaster continued, catching everyone's attention. "Konoka, Asuna-chan, since we're short on space with the influx of new staff and students, I'd like Negi-kun to bunk with the two of you."

"What?-!" Asuna shrieked out. "But he's-!"

"A trustworthy young man who has my complete confidence," the headmaster retorted. "Besides, he's by himself in a new country and I'd rather he room with people who I am familiar with rather than complete strangers."

Still, having a teenage boy bunk up with a pair of teenage girls was a rather strange move. Then again, having same teenage boy as a teacher made things to be a more than unusual situation. Still, if the boy could be trusted to be a teacher then he could be trusted to control himself around girls even when he would be rooming with them. Of course, the headmaster was also using this as a plot to pair up his granddaughter with a fine young man. Konoka was difficult about the o-mimais and maybe subtly moving things along with a boy her own age might be a better move than his previous attempts.

"Okay!" Konoka nodded with a happy smile.

"Ho ho! It's settled then!" Konoemon nodded with a pleased smile.

"Oh come on!" Asuna cried out.

Despite Asuna's arguments, Negi's placement in her room was confirmed. So Shizuna, Negi, Konoka, and Asuna were all walking down the hallways towards the class of 2-A which would be Negi's homeroom class. Asuna was pointedly ignoring him as they walked. Negi just felt the awkwardness in the air and wondered if there was anything he could do to get out of this situation with his new roommate. Things would be awkward since he did strip her to her underwear with just a sneeze even if she didn't know that it was him.

The orangette suddenly snapped to glare at Negi, "I catch you peeping at me, I'll send you back to England without a plane! Got it?"

Without waiting for an answer, Asuna stomped off to get to her class. Konoka gave a brief bow to her new teacher in apology before heading off after her best friend to try and calm her down. Negi grimaced at the warning, scratching the back of his head while a bead of sweat threatened to travel down the side of his face, "Nice girl I suppose…" he spoke, but then muttered, "For a psycho."

"You'll get used to her," Shizuna smiled knowingly as the pair continued to walk. "We all did."

Negi chuckled weakly at the comment as the two teachers approached a classroom marked as 2-A. "Well, here is your class. I also have your student roster," Shizuna explained, handing over a booklet to Negi. Opening it, he saw that it contained the names, pictures, and clubs of his new students. Negi couldn't help but blink at the information which had Takahata's personal notes added in the margins, usually about things that he would need to know about his students such as which ones were related the faculty, or emergency contacts among other things. The students themselves were of course were all girls and they were either very cute or very beautiful. Not one was unattractive. Each of them smiled, looking hopeful, filled with hopes and dreams.

Hope was something Negi found to be wonderful no matter where one found it.

"Are you ready?" asked Shizuna after giving the teenage teacher a chance to read over the roster.

"Depends, are they all like Asuna?" he asked, obvious humour in his voice.

"Oh, no!" Shizuna smiled. "Well, maybe a few. Don't worry about it though."

Chuckling, Negi took the door handle and opened it to enter the classroom proper. He took a moment to glance inside to see his students and couldn't help but gulp. They were all of course energetic and seemed like a rowdy bunch, especially if Asuna was going to be one of them. He felt slightly intimidated by the fact that there thirty-one students that he would have to teach, never mind other classes he was going to have to deal with.

And no, it wasn't because they were all very attractive.

'Well, no turning back now,' Negi sighed. Pushing the door open, it made a clattering noise. It may have well been a church bell with how the students clammed up and began heading for their seats. Negi saw how well-behaved the girls were for a teacher just entering the room and it made him feel a measure of relief. Stepping inside, he was suddenly alerted when his wind magic kicked in instinctively to make something hover above his head. Glancing up, he saw that it was an eraser. Inwardly groaning but knowing he had to keep magic a secret, he killed the wind and let the item crash onto his head, making a cloud of chalk dust. The girls instantly began laughing as Negi began waving the smoke out of his face.

"Well, (Cough, cough) that's one way to say hello I suppose," Negi commented, chuckling along with

the girls. Stepping out of the cloud, he suddenly felt his leg catch on something, "Wha-?"

TWANG!

"WOAH!"

THUD!

"OW!"

THOCK! THOCK!

"ACK!"

CLANG!

"OOF!"

THUD!

"Ooooog…"

Negi's sudden bursts of panic and confusion were a result of several things. He had tripped on a rope that had been rigged up in the classroom, sending him head over heels towards his desk. At the same time though, a bucket of water came down on his head, soaking only his head fortunately while the bucket itself got lodged on said target and effectively blinded him. When he was far enough, a pair of suction cup arrows came out of seemingly nowhere to get stuck to his butt as he tumbled along. Fortunately, his humiliating trip came to a halt when he crashed against the desk upside down before gravity reasserted itself onto him and caused him to slump down spread eagle on the floor. The laughter from all of the girls instantly came like thunder, echoing under the bucket on his head.

"Negi-kun, are you alright?" asked Shizuna's voice as the sounds of her high heels clacked across the wood floor. Negi felt gentle hands lift him up to a sitting position while the stars continued to dot his eyesight. The bucket was removed, allowing Negi to see Shizuna's concerned face while the other girls in the room suddenly seemed to stop laughing and instead inhale sharply.

"I'm fine Shizuna-san," Negi smiled, not noticing the relief coming to the older woman's face. "I have to say though, it's certainly the most original prank I ever had the opportunity to be played on me."

Now, Negi caught the looks of confusion he was getting from the girls and a few whispers and mumbles. One girl raised her hand and asked, "Shizuna-sensei, who's this boy? Is he a relative of yours that's visiting?"

"Oh, no, he's..." Shizuna trailed off before addressing Negi, "Go on, this is your cue."

"Ah, OK," Negi said as he stood straight in front of them. "I'm Negi Springfield and from today onwards I'm your new substitute English teacher." He gave them a bow before adding, "Please, I hope we can get along."

3...2...1...

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The young man was instantly swarmed and it was not unlike the time he spent in the train except the girls were now actively crowding around him. They were also asking him questions quite energetically. One girl even had a tape recorder. Most of the questions relayed around where he came from and how old he was, but some of them were actually asking about his relationship status and if he was interested in dating any of them. He was their teacher for crying out loud! He couldn't do that!

Off at one side of the classroom, one of the students approached Shizuna. She wore the standard school uniform and she had an orange shade of hair that she kept in a plain ponytail with the rest of it framing her face. She wore a pair of circular glasses over her brown eyes. If the girl would make an attempt to improve with perhaps some more noticeable clothes, a new hairstyle, and some makeup she would have no trouble attracting a mob of boys on her own. Of course, Chisame Hasegawa made it a point to be plain and ordinary when she could.

While she tried to show indifference at the fact that her new homeroom teacher was a teenage boy, albeit a rather attractive one, she was stillla little stunned over the idea of it. Still, having such an attractive guy anywhere near her school and so close at hand was obviously way too good to be true. Looking to Shizuna, she decided to get some answers and set the record straight. At best, he was an assistant to their new teacher or something.

"Is this some kind of cruel joke?" she asked plainly.

"It's no joke," Shizuna tittered. Glancing over to the front of the room, she saw that the girls were ready to start rioting in their quest to be able to hug Negi or try to ask him a question. Of course, the main vein of the questions that kept popping up were mainly asking for Negi's relationship status, what his cell phone number was, and if he would like to go out with one of them. Seeing that things were getting more than a little excitable, Shizuna decided to bring some order back to the classroom…

"All right girls, that's enough," she spoke up. "He's your teacher. He should be respected, not pawed. Now please stop crowding him."

Various sighs of disappointment sounded off as the girls reluctantly backed away. One person who didn't obey that request was none other than Asuna. She marched straight through the ring of excited girls, right up to Negi. She didn't say a word before she grabbed Negi by the front of his shirt, pinning him against a desk.

"You did something freaky to that eraser didn't you?" she demanded hotly. "I saw it float before it hit you! What did you do?-!"

Negi thought his heart stopped at the girl's demand. She had actually seen the eraser float in that split second before he let it hit him? That kind of sharp eyesight was downright unheard of! You'd have to be some kind of marksman or something to see it happen. A little panicked, Negi decided to go for the tried and true method of playing dumb, "M-moi?"

"Save your fancy Greek words!" Asuna shouted angrily, shaking Negi back and forth in her shortening temper.

"All right! That's enough!" another voice called, punctuated by the sounds of a palm slamming onto a desk. All eyes turned to the source, revealing another student who had soft, regal features with striking blue eyes. What helped her stand out among her classmates was her long flowing blonde hair that reached down to her waist. She seemed to hold an air of maturity around her that the other girls hadn't quite exhibited yet. Although there was a sparkle in her eyes that Negi wasn't sure would mean great news for him.

'Are those flowers blooming behind her?' he couldn't help but wonder as indeed it seemed like beautiful flowers were blooming wide behind her.

"Let's just rein it in," the blonde spoke. "We don't want to traumatize our new teacher on his first day." She then glanced straight at Asuna with a graceful smile, "Put him down Asuna. If you want to embarrass yourself then that's fine but don't bring the rest of the class down with you."

"Oh quit your yakking Ayaka," Asuna growled, her fist clenching even tighter. The girl seemed ready to start a fight and Negi was unfortunately trapped in her gasp, possibly to be used as a weapon.

"Now I hear that Negi-sensei graduated out of Oxford even though he's a teenager like us," Ayaka continued. "That makes him more than qualified to teach us, especially you Asuna. Now let him go." The blonde and the orangette stared each other down like mortal enemies about to do combat. The rest of the girls seemed to eat it up but Negi felt like he was about to get caught in the middle. He especially didn't want a brawl to break out in his class on his first day.

Finally, Asuna seemed to back down as she huffed angrily, "The 'goody-goody' act of yours is near perfect. You must sure practice hard."

"Being a 'goody-goody' just comes naturally to me," Ayaka smirked, tossing her hair to the side.

"Heh," Asuna snickered back, making Negi cringe. He could tell she was about to get her kicks in. Anya had done it enough times when she got into an argument with somebody…usually Nekane when they wanted to spend some time alone with Negi. "And here I thought you just wanted to suck up to the first hottie that comes along."

"W-what?-!" Ayaka sputtered, her composure vanishing as her cheeks flushed bright red. Growling not unlike a wild tiger, she stormed up to Asuma before grabbing her by the lapels of her jacket and began shaking her around, "Someone who's into senior citizens has to night to-!"

"Senior citizens?-!" Asuna shrieked back, gabbing Ayaka by her own jacket as the pair began to wrestle.

"Oh don't think we don't know how you moon over Takahata-sensei!" Ayaka snapped at her nemesis. "He's ancient! He's like, thirty!"

"You shut up about him!" Asuna growled. "At least I have decent taste in men rather than immature punks!"

"Oh? Shows what you know! Negi-sensei is a way better choice for a boyfriend! You have no chance at Takahata-sensei!"

"Ha! Deciding to seduce a teacher huh? And you're better than me?"

"At least I'd have a better chance at succeeding!"

"I'd pay to see that and watch you get shot down!"

"Oh? Watch me get a boyfriend!"

Negi watched in morbid fascination as the argument devolved from criticizing one's taste in men to who had the better chance at seducing their teacher. Asuna of course made her intentions towards Takamichi very clear. Ayaka on the other hand seemed to have picked Negi at random (he hoped) to try her own feminine charms on. It was a little flattering, and more than a little embarrassing to listen to as Ayaka and Asuna began to compare what they found attractive in their respective choices. Asuna went on about how Takahata had rugged good looks and was all kinds of strong in how the campus rumours called him Death Specs. Ayaka on the other hand talked about how Negi still retained his boyish charm mixed with maturing good looks all in one sexy package. More than a few of the girls watching the argument gave cheers of agreement in favour of Ayaka's point of view. When both girls tried to describe how both males would look without their shirts is when Negi decided enough was enough. Bringing his fingers to his lips he unleashed a miniscule amount of wind magic to get over the noise and…

"PHWEEEEEEEET!"

The class went silent as they turned to their new teacher who had just let out a whistle that easily overcame all of the noise and cheers that they were making. Heck, it was likely that all of the classes down the hall were able to hear the noise. Thankfully they'd just write it off as the usual 2-A hijinks and just continue with their day. Ayaka and Asuna were frozen in mid headlock of each other, looking to where their teacher just removed his fingers from his mouth and was approaching with a frown on his face.

"If you two don't agree on certain subjects then that's fine. If you don't even like each other then that's fine too," Negi frowned, stopping before the pair. "But I will NOT allow any of my students to simply attack one another inside my classroom! Do. You. Understand. Me?" He finished his last sentence by punctuating every word to get his point across. The girls in the room were silent, slightly flustered by the confidence and authority in their new teacher's voice.

"Yes sensei," both girls nodded. It was a sentiment seconded by the numerous girls in the room.

"Good," Negi nodded, his features softening. "Now let each other go and take your seats. We can begin the lesson."

Shizuna smiled softly as she watched the girls of 2-A take their seats. It seemed Negi had a good handle on what it was that he was supposed to do. He masterfully handled the outbreak between Asuna and Ayaka which to date only Takahata seemed to have the strength to do so. He also managed to capture the entire class' attention, but she had her doubts if it was because of Negi's ability to garner attention towards his lessons or if it was just about how he was something akin to a rooster in a henhouse as most girls schools could be now and then. Well, Negi would have to deal with that himself but she was always open to giving advice.

Asuna's thoughts were downright venomous as she glared at the young man who was moving through the day's lesson...and a quarter of the class checking him out rather than the lesson. 'You may have fooled the others with your fancy words and good looks but you haven't fooled me!' Picking up her eraser, she tore off a chunk of it before loading it up into a rubber band she had on hand for her pencils and pens. 'Once he floats this everyone will see he's a weirdo and then he's toast!' She didn't admit to herself that she felt getting rid of Negi would bring back Takahata, but anyone who knew what she was thinking would go without saying. Rearing back the chunk, she let it fly straight towards the back of Negi's head. 'C'mon, float it!'

BONK!

"Ow!" Negi cried, turning around and rubbing the back of his head. "What on Earth was that?" Looking around, he spotted what looked like a chunk of an eraser on the ground before looking back at his students that were either in a dream-like daze, looking away, or appeared to be paying attention. "Girls, the prank when I got here was all well and good but during the lesson is a bit too much. If you wish to prank me again that badly then leave it for after class would you?" sighing, he returned his attention to the board to continue his lesson. Not even a full minute into the lesson though, he suddenly received three strikes to the back of the head, "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Asuna, knock it off," Konoka whispered to her desk mate.

"I'm trying to," Asuna muttered back, firing a fourth eraser chunk which struck true. 'Come on. Float it like you did the eraser!'

"Problem Sensei?" asked Ayaka. Negi nodded tiredly, once again rubbing the back of his head as a fifth lump joined the other four. "It's Asuna who's chucking the rocks at you. The girl's got more issues than the Mahora Times, plus she's into all those action types of shows. All that sex and violence just isn't good for a person."

"Right…" Negi commented, half-believing the Class Rep considering what he'd seen of the girl's temper and how quick she was to resort to threats. He noticed Asuna's scowl deepen as he was about to turn around to get on with his lesson at long last, but noticed her arm move and something fly towards the back of Ayaka's head. Negi shot out his hand and grabbed the approaching object, revealing it to be Asuna's pencil case. Frowning and ignoring Ayaka's blushing face he looked to the orangette, "Asuna-san, I understand that you're upset that I'm replacing Takamichi but that doesn't give you the excuse to take out your temper on me or your classmates! Now please curb your temper and act like the young lady that I know you are!"

Asuna flushed angrily, having been caught in her stunt and pretty much scolded in front of everyone else. She could hear the chuckling from her classmates and it only served to make her temper stew. Still, she kept her mouth shut since she didn't want to get embarrassed in front of everyone again. Of course, it didn't stop her from planning dark revenge on the foreign boy when she got the chance.

The bell signalling the end of the class rang, allowing the collection of girls to begin collecting their supplies and begin leaving. Negi held his book and staff under his arm as he waited for the ladies to leave. Of course, many of them were making excuses to try and speak to him or saying goodbye in an overly friendly manner. Again, the rooster in a henhouse analogy would have come to mind for anyone that heard of Negi's situation. Not that the girls of 2-A were boy-crazy or anything, but being mostly isolated from boys six out of seven days of the week outside of vacations, some of the more excitable members were certainly hoping to exercise their flirting skills and teenage fantasies.

When finally he was able to leave as the last of his students left, Negi spotted his old friend leaning up against the wall, "Takamichi," he greeted with a smile.

"Hello Negi-kun," Takahata smiled. "How was your first day?"

"It was…an experience," the teenage boy admitted, heaving a grinning sigh. "Are all my classes going to be so OOF!"

That 'oof' wasn't what Negi had intended to say, but he had no choice but to say it when something crashed into his side. That something turned out to be Asuna who having noticed Takahta being nearby, dashed straight towards him and pushed Negi aside so she could get him to pay attention to her instead, "Takahata-sensei! Negi-sensei really impressed us all with how well he knew the subject! I've gotta admit that he's convinced me!"

'Oh like he's going to believe that,' Negi thought to himself.

"It's good to know you've given him a shot Asuna," Takahata smiled, patting Asuna's shoulder. "I'm glad to hear that you're going to give him your support. I appreciate it." Waving to the pair, the perpetually smoking teacher headed off to his other duties, having only enough time to check on his friend before heading off. Negi merely scratched his head while Asuna rubbed her shoulder while watching the older man go with a dreamy smile on her face. "Takahata-sensei…" she sighed dreamily.

Negi chuckled slightly at the sight, "So, got a thing for Takamichi huh?"

"Oh zip it!" Asuna bit back, turning around sticking her tongue out at Negi with a frown. "It's not fair. Some punk like you is his best friend and I'm just his student no matter how much I try to get him to notice me," she huffed in temporary disappointment, "Anyway, if you tell him about it I'll but throwing bricks and not rocks next time." The look in the girl's eyes made Negi doubt that she was bluffing and that the word 'bricks' didn't apply to a name for chunks of eraser.

"Duly noted," he sweatdropped. In his thoughts he added, 'Although you probably couldn't be any more obvious unless you shouted your crush from atop the school.'

The orangette made another huff before heading over to meet up with her classmates, Konoka offering Negi a friendly wave as they went. Negi himself felt a little bit drained after that one class, but he could still go for more. He did have a job to do so he wasn't going to simply give up simply because he had a rowdy student or two. Heaving a sigh, he pulled the schedule out of his class roster, telling him where he needed to go next. Hopefully he would have a better behaved class. One Asuna was enough.

Meanwhile, in a dark and undisclosed location, a man was lying on a couch. He wore red pants, black boots, a black shirt and a worn out red jacket. He also had short black hair and a short, scruffy beard. Nearby stood a woman who seemed to be in high school wearing a black and purple floral pattern dress and a purple scarf.

"This Mahora Academy has such potential. So many potential Gates," the woman said.

"So, when are we gonna do something about it, Medusa!" snapped the young man as he sat up, agitated. "Let's go make a new Phantom!"

"Patience, Phoenix," the woman, Medusa, smiled. "First we need to choose a Gate's that's ready, then we can send someone to do our work for us. There is a Phantom here already who's chosen a target."

"But because of all the magic here, we can just use everyone to make more Phantoms!" he exclaimed.

"The time isn't ripe yet," said Medusa. "But once it is, Wiseman will return to this world again."

The day wore on and the final bell rang, allowing the students and the teachers to leave. Since Negi had just started, he didn't have any paperwork that needed to be done or papers to mark. Having already prepared his lessons plans for the week and a course syllabus done well in advance, he was one of the few teachers who could leave early rather than leave well after the students already did like most teachers had done. One fellow teacher named Seruhiko seemed to look at Negi enviously as he was still trapped at his desk with the guidance councillor Nita-sensei practically glaring over his shoulder.

Taking a soda from one of the vending machines that were littered about, Negi took a seat at one of the neighbourhood squares that had a rather beautiful statue on a podium decorating it. Heaving a sigh, he took a sip and tried to collect his thoughts. For a first day, things didn't go all that bad save for the beginning in 2-A where everyone got a little wild. None of the other classes seemed to have any sort of problem with him teaching them. Well, the majority of those classes had dreamy-eyed girls watching his every movement. While thankful for the change from the zoo that was 2-A he hoped that the students would get used to a boy their age and focus on what he had to teach rather than what he looked like.

'Still, what is with that Asuna girl?' Negi wondered to himself. Granted, he did replace her crush so of course she was going to be a little hostile but her aggression and strength were way over the top for a girl who was her age. Flipping through his homeroom class roster, he spotted her picture among the others. 'Art Club. Well, that doesn't help me out very much. With everything that's happened between us already she's likely to smother me in my sleep. I hope she doesn't find out that it was me that blew her dress off this morning.' He gulped at the morbid thought. 'She'd kill me!'

Trembling at the thought, Negi placed his roster away and tried to decide what to do next. He wasn't quite ready to head to the dorms yet since that would mean running into Asuna again and after how the day yet he wasn't mentally prepared for her just yet. He did hear that Mahora had a lot of different attractions and things to do so he would never be bored if and when he managed to get some spare time to simply hang around. Maybe after the stresses of the first day he should simply take the opportunity of an early day and go have fun to vent some stress?

A tweet was heard and the Garuda Plamonster returned to Negi to report to him. He smiled, allowing the small construct to land in his hands, "Anything to report?"

The Garuda shook its head with a small tweet, indicating that it didn't seem to find anything that stood out. As far as Negi was concerned, that meant that the campus was for the moment safe and he didn't have to worry about certain 'problems' popping up and causing misery.

Letting his eyes wander, he spotted a girl going down some steps carrying a large stack of books. Like the other girls, she was wearing the uniform with a heavy coat and scarf. She had lavender hair that reached down to her chin, but covered most of her face save for her left eye. According to his roster, it was Nodoka Miyazaki, seat number 27. "That looks dangerous," he said . Negi's prediction proved prophetic as Nodoka trailed closer to the edge of the stairs before she tripped on her feet before she began to fall off the side.

"I was right!" Negi gasped, standing up. Reaching swiftly to his ring chain, he produced one and quickly slipped it onto his finger before swiping it across his buckle.

"CONNECT, PLEASE!"

In a flash of red, a circle of power appeared in the air. The centre was a circle which had something akin to a face on it. The second ring held design at the cardinal points marked with a circle, a square, a diamond, and a triangle. The last ring held ancient and magical writing in it. Negi then stuck his hand into the ring, pulling out a long wooden staff with a crooked top. Chanting a quick spell, a cushion of air formed under the girl to slow her descent. Time given, Negi dashed towards where the girl was going to fall, actually leaping part of the distance to land beneath her to allow him to catch her in his arms.

"Whew," Negi sighed in relief, looking down at his student. "That could have been a tragedy. Are you alright Miyazaki-san?"

"Uhhhh," the bookworm of 2-A mumbled, slowly opening her eyes. "N-Negi-sensei?"

"You...you..."

Negi blinked, realizing that the mumbling hadn't come from Nodoka. Looking up, he felt literally all of the blood drain from his face as he recognized Asuna standing in front of them. Her own face was set to stun, showing that she was not quite sure if she had really seen what she had just witnessed.

'Oh bollocks,' Negi thought to himself.

The next moment Negi wasn't entirely sure what happened. Asuna just blurred and grabbed him before he was literally yanked off his feet, leaving Nodoka behind before he was yanked into the nearby wooded grove. There was a flash of pain from where his back was slammed against a tree before he saw the narrowed eyes of Asuna glaring at him.

Asuna began to shake Negi violently. "OK, what the hell did you just do? How did you do that? Are you some kind of alien? An Esper?"

The Garuda Plamonster took offense of Asuna's treatment of its master and started to peck at her forehead.

"Ow! Hey!" the orangette grimaced, swatting at the red construct. One lucky blow managed to strike the little bird, sending it sprawling. At the same time, the little Plamonster dissolved, leaving behind the Garuda Ring which dropped to the ground.

"Uh..." Negi blinked. He hadn't expected the Plamonster to be dismissed with just one smack. Granted, it had been working for several hours already but usually it took something more than humans to dismiss a Plamonster outside of a fellow magi but-

The thought was cut off as Asuna reassumed her grip on Negi, "Okay you! Fess up! Are you an alien or what?-!"

"Okay! Okay! I'm a wizard!" Negi replied, his self-preservation instincts kicking in the face of an enraged girl. His flashbacks to Anya's temper made it a habit for him.

"Either way you're weird!" Asuna snapped back. Her eyes then widened as a thought hit her. "Hey, you're the reason my dress blew off isn't it! You pervert!"

"I didn't do that on purpose!" Negi cried back in panic. "Look, you can't tell about about-!"

"Oh, I am going to tell everyone about you!" Asuna snarled. "By this time tomorrow, everyone's gonna know!" And then Takahata would be back in his normal position as her teacher as was right and proper, but she didn't voice that out loud.

"Well, then you give me no choice," said Negi as he whipped out his staff. This caused Asuna to back away.

"What are you doing?"

"To protect my secret, I have no choice but to erase your memories!" Negi quickly chanted a spell, causing power to radiate from his staff. Pointing it at Asuna, he cast the spell. However, instead of erasing her memories, the repeat of that morning occurred as her clothes were shredded to pieces. Not even her panties were saved.

Silence followed...

"That...was not supposed to happen," Negi gaped, mortified at what happened.

And that moment Takahata decided to show up. "...Er...I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Asuna let out a loud scream.

Takahata wasn't the only one who saw. As Asuna struggled to find something, anything to shield herself from view while fervently praying that it was all a bad dream, another was watching the scene. Hidden in the shadows of the foliage was a bulky figure that was watching the chaos intently.

"So that's my target."

Twice in the same day Asuna had been humiliated in front of her crush. She was thankfully clothed again. Negi was with her, apologizing profusely. He didn't know what had happened. The memory erase spell was meant to be simple. It wasn't meant to destroy her clothing or anything. He'd done the spell plenty of times. It was one of the spells that the school expected perfection on so he wasn't sure how it had gone so wrong. Did the magic spirits just not understand Japanese or something?

"This is officially the worst day of my life!" Asuna screamed into the air.

"It's not that bad..." he began. Not the best words to choose as she locked her glare at him.

"How much worse can it get!?"

"Well..." Negi sputtered. 'You could be targeted by a monster bent on drowning you in misery so that you'll die and give your body to its comrade to use as a second skin to fool people with.'

"Exactly!" Asuna screamed. "It doesn't get much worse that this! I may as well drop dead after this! Just what the heck is a magician doing here?"

"W-well," Negi gulped. "I'm sort of here as part of my training to be a Magister Magi."

"A what?" Asuna blinked, glaring at the foreign teen.

"It's a sorcerous rank," Negi explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "Basically we're sort of like peacekeepers or guardian angels. They're sent out to area in chaos or in need of help and render what assistance they can." Sighing as they walked towards the school. "Right now since I just graduated, I've got something of a training license."

"Uh-huh," Asuna frowned, gears turning in her head. "So what would happen if someone found out about your magic?"

Negi gulped, already picturing the consequences, "B-Be recalled. L-Lose my license. Probably get turned into an e-ermine. If the secret gets blown badly enough, I'd probably be left that way for life."

"Sounds fair to me," Asuna huffed, making Negi quiver and look at her with pleading eyes. It may have been considered cute back when he was ten, but now that he was fifteen it just made him look immature and perhaps a little bit pathetic. Then again, there was no room for pride when your freedom and humanity was at stake.

"Y-Y-You wouldn't-!" he cried out.

Asuna's mean-spirited smirk as they entered the shoe locker area made Negi's heart sink. Once Asuna got her indoor shoes on though, she lost that creepy grin for a more normal look, "Okay, you want to make up all of the embarrassment you dealt me?"

"Yes!" Negi nodded rapidly. "Just please don't tell anyone about me!"

"Good," Asuna grinned. Her mind was popping with all sorts of ideas now that she had her own personal blackmailed mage on her side. Her first priority was to try and find a way to get around the bad images Takahata had seen of her so she could finally seduce him. "So, just what kind of magic can you do?"

"Some elemental, some not, I haven't really gotten into the really advanced stuff," Negi shrugged. "This training period is partially supposed to expose me to other magicians and hopefully have one of them take me on as an apprentice you know?"

"Right," Asuna deflated. Okay, so the kick-ass stuff was out until the dork could find someone to teach it to him. "Okay, but what about a love potion? I could totally give it to Takahata and he'd be mine in a flash!"

"Uh..." Negi blinked. "Well...I could make one, but those things aren't always reliable and they're sort of...prohibited. Besides, Takamichi already knows what one looks like anyway so I kind of doubt you'd get him to take it."

"Fine!" Asuna huffed. "Then what about some kind of tree that grows money? That way I can just buy his love!"

'Man you're shallow,' Negi grimaced. "First of all, no such spell exists although lots of people have tried. In my class alone more than half of the students tried to find a way to make it work. Second of all, even if there was Takamichi wouldn't go for it. Lots of people have tried to bribe him to do things with more than just money and he never went for it."

Asuna huffed again, "Well, I guess he wouldn't be my dream man if he was bought off so easily. You're not much of a magician though are you?"

"Magic isn't something to be used so irresponsibly," he told her.

"Hey, you want to make this up to me or not?" Asuna threatened as they headed up some stairs to the second floor. "You got any other spells?"

"Well, I know one that can let me read minds," Negi shrugged.

"THAT'S PERFECT!" Asuna cried with glee, rounding on Negi. "Great! Let me drop off some stuff Rep wanted in the classroom and then we'll go find Takahata-sensei so you can find out his true feelings for me!" With a grin, Asuna began running for the 2-A room with Negi trying to follow.

"Asuna-san! Wait!" Negi tried to call to her. "That spell is-!"

"You just make sure you do it right!" Asuna shouted back. "I don't want to get stripped again!" Grabbing the door to 2-A, she yanked it open and...

"SURPRISE! WELCOME NEGI-SENSEI!"

Both Asuna and Negi were taken back in surprise. The classroom was now decorated with balloons, streamers and a banner across the blackboards. The desks and chairs had been pushed against the walls so there was more space on the floor for what appeared to be a welcoming party for Negi.

"What is all this?" Negi questioned.

"A surprise party. Great," Asuna grumbled. Reaching into her backpack she produced a bag of what seemed to be sodas. "I guess these are the party favors."

Negi was quickly grabbed by some of his students before he was sat down in the middle of a table as the guest of honour. Many of the girls immediately began chatting with him, marvelling at how good his Japanese was or wondering about him. Normally this may have been somewhat pressing to a normal teacher, but the girls were the same age as he was so perhaps there was more than a little familiarity than a normal educator would receive.

"Well, this is a good way to end the day I suppose," Negi smiled, testing some of the sweets which had been brought out for the party.

"Um...Negi-sensei?"

The one asking his name had been so soft he almost didn't hear it. Turning, he spotted Nodoka approaching, a shy blush on her cheeks just barely visible underneath the fringe of hair that covered the rest of her features.

"Oh, Miyazaki-san," Negi smiled. "I'm glad to see that you're well. You had a pretty bad fall there."

"Y-yes," Nodoka agreed, half-mumbling. "I-I would have broken my neck if it weren't for you. So...so..." Nodoka looked at the floor before reaching into her pockets. She removed what looked like slips of paper and held them out for the young teacher to take. "Here's some coupons from the bookstore. It's not much but..."

"OOOOH! Coupons!"

"For Nodoka, that's first base!"

"Go Honnya-chan!"

Nodoka became quite flustered as several of her classmates teased her about her apparent 'attempts' to stake a claim on their handsome new teacher. The teasing wasn't malicious of course, and it was all in good fun. One of the people who weren't taking part though was Ayaka as she stood up with a dignified air and more flowers blooming behind her.

"I have also gotten something to commemorate the day Negi-sensei graced our classroom," she smiled prettily, producing a cloth-covered object from...somewhere. Grabbing the sheet, she gave it a sharp tug to reveal an actual stone bust of Negi which had remarkably good detail despite having only met each other that day.

"Uh...it's...wonderful..." Negi sweatdropped.

"Jeez! little much Rep!"

"Oh it figures!" Asuna growled. "She sees a guy come around and she immediately parades her bust!"

Despite several others in the room making comments about the overkill of the gift, Asuna's words were the only ones that Ayaka seemed to hear. Flushing angrily, she immediately turned on her schoolyard nemesis, "At least I can keep mine covered up!"

Things degenerated into a catfight with insults hurling at one another while the other students took bet on who the winner would be. Sighing, Negi decided to let the fight run its course since it didn't seem malicious and instead more like one-upsmanship. Looking to see Takahata with Shizuna, Negi casually walked around the fight and approached his friend.

"Hello, Negi. What do you think of your welcoming party?" Takahata asked kindly.

"I never expected quite a welcome, to be honest," admitted Negi. "Did you know about it, Takamichi?"

"I'm just as surprised as you are. Anyway, it looks like your new students have really taken a liking to you," said Takahata.

'I think it has more to do with the fact that they haven't seen a boy their age in a while,' though Negi with some amusement. Well, that may have been male pride talking, but it was still something of an invigorating thought.

As he was talking, Negi suddenly felt the eyes of doom piercing his back. Daring to look, he saw Asuna staring at him rather...fiercely as she licked her wounds from the fight with Ayaka. She didn't say anything out loud, but the message was coming in nice and clear.

'Read his mind and make him love me, or else!'

Negi trembled. Of all the girls to find out his secret...

The party immediately turned to full swing as some of the girls seemed to find things getting a little too dull for their liking. A pair of them named Chao and Hakase seemed to have developed a small machine that gave off a light show. They set it up behind a makeshift stage they made from the desks which had the cheerleaders climbing aboard with their pompoms. As one, they struck a pose before beginning one of their routines cheering for their new teacher in one big welcome. There was even music to go along with the routine and light show.

On any other day, Negi would have taken the time to enjoy the show both because his students were so welcoming and because cheerleaders were always fun to watch. Not that he'd admit that last part out loud. He was a gentleman after all. With Asuna breathing down his neck though, he decided to use it for a different purpose. Slipping a hand into his pocket, he slipped his right ring off before slipping on a new one. When the music reached a certain volume, he brought out his hand and swiped it across his belt buckle.

"TELEPATHY, PLEASE!"

Negi knew he really shouldn't be using his rings on such a mundane task, but his normal mind reading spell required physical contact and if he blew it, he figured Asuna would do some awful stuff to him in retribution. So it counted as an emergency to him.

"So...Takamichi," Negi began, making sure his right ring finger was pointed at Takahata. "You seem like you know Asuna better than the other students. Is she always so...high-strung?"

"Ah ha ha ha, no no," Takahata chuckled. "You just had the unfortunate luck of catching her at a bad time. she's a pretty good kid when she's given half a chance."

'Although this new 'habit' of stripping down at random moments I could do without.'

"I...I hope so," Negi chuckled weakly. Oh, Asuna was going to kill him.

Further conversation was halted when said girl abruptly grabbed Negi and yanked him away from Takahata, dragging him to another part of the room. Thankfully everyone was too busy cheering on the cheerleaders who somehow got a gymnast and an acrobat by the names of Makie Sasaki and Zazie Rainyday involved in their act with Makie dancing with her ribbon at the front of the stage and Zazie doing stunts from above on an acrobatic bar. How she got it up there was a mystery that would remain unsolved.

"Okay!" Asuna hissed. "Did you read his mind or what?"

"Uh...yes," Negi gulped. Curse his honesty!

"And?" the orangette demanded hotly.

"Uh...well...um..." Negi sputtered. He didn't want to die!

"Spit it out!"

"He thinks you have a stripping habit!" Negi cried out. Thankfully the music kept the other students from hearing. Too bad Asuna was close enough that it didn't matter how loud the music was.

Asuna's jaw dropped and then she gritted her teeth. "You..." She shoved him forward. "Go on, try again!" she ordered.

"Nnn..." Negi grimaced, but the unspoken threat of violence kept him from complaining. Coming through the crowd of cheering students, he swiped his right hand across the buckle again.

"TELEPATHY, PLEASE!"

"Asuna still giving you a tough time eh Negi-kun?" Takahata chuckled as Negi returned.

"Just laying down the rules of her dorm room lest I cross them," Negi sighed, thinking of an excuse. "She's...spirited, I'll give her that much."

"She always has been," Takahata nodded. "She tries to be mature though."

'The bear panties doesn't paint that image though.'

"I can only hope to survive the storm," Negi sighed. "Maybe if I-ULP!" His thought was cut off by Asuna rather unceremoniously grabbing him and dragging him off to another semi-private area to interrogate him.

"Well?" she prompted.

"He's thinking about your undergarments," said Negi.

Now, in some aspects this could be considered a compliment. However, Asuna had been wearing cute bear-print panties that were exposed rather unceremoniously. If it were the sexy black lace stuff then she would consider it good that Takahata was thinking about her in her underwear. As it was though with her kiddie prints, it was just another embarrassing thing that her teacher knew about her.

Needless to say, the whole mind-reading tactic had not gone how Asuna had predicted. Then again, she just learnt that magic was real and was unaware about its limits. So, whenever Negi did try to read Takahata's mind about what he thought about her, what was on his mind were the embarrassing incidents that just made Asuna feel worse.

Feeling dejected, the redhead stormed out of the classroom with Negi chasing after her. He should've known something like this would happen. The misuse of magic always had penalties.

Negi eventually found Asuna at the stairs. She looked like she was ready to just run off somewhere and have a good cry.

"Just buzz off!" she snapped as she spotted Negi following her out of the classroom. "I won't tell anyone about your stupid secret so you can just leave me alone!"

"I don't care about that at the moment," Negi sighed. "Asuna, what I was trying to tell you about that telepathy spell is that it only reads the strongest thought in the head at the time. Unfortunately, since humans generally always think about something significant that happened during the day, that strongest thought is always going to be there unless you blatantly ask them about what you want to know which telepathy rather becomes moot."

"Then what good is having magic?" Asuna snorted, grumbling.

"Asuna, magic isn't a crutch or some universal cure-all. It makes things easier to do yes, but it doesn't mean that it's the easy answer to all of life's problems," Negi explained. A nostalgic smile overtook his face. "My grandfather would always say that magic is not absolute, but true magic comes from the courage from the heart."

Asuna frowned, seeing the advice sounding like something cheesy...but she couldn't deny that it was good advice. She'd been gutsy her whole life and she hadn't been afraid to go for what she wanted and it turned out okay before. Magic would have been helpful, but maybe getting the courage to do things herself would make for better results.

"Okay, I'll be more courageous," Asuna nodded. "Who needs magic? I've got guts."

"Now that would be the real magic," Negi grinned. "So, what do you plan to do to let Takamichi know how you feel?"

Asuna frowned, considering her options. She'd been trying to think of a way to confess for a long time now. She'd always found some excuse not to go for it, but a little bit of courage from Negi, who had no obligation to help her in any way was helping her get her hopes up. Glancing at the teen, she considered using him to practice her confession...but she didn't feel comfortable with that. Maybe if he was a little kid or something, but not as the guy he was now.

"I guess a letter will work," Asuna finally answered. "That way I can make it perfect and set up a meeting for the real thing."

"Well thought out," Negi nodded. "Well then, give it your best and don't give up hope."

"HEY NEGI-SENSEI!"

Negi was immediately glomped around his legs by a set of twin girls who were small for their age and had orange hair done up in short ponytails or buns. If he recalled, they were named Fukaa and Fumika Narutaki. Were it not for their place in the roster, he would have thought them to be in elementary school, not in his class.

"Come on sensei! There's a party going on!" Fuka grinned as the remainder of 2-A began to come out into the hallways.

"Yeah! Why are you out here with Asuna?" asked Fumika with a huff.

"She was just giving me directions to the dorms," Negi quickly replied, not wanting to give his students any sort of gossip material. "Sorry about vanishing like that."

"Well, give us an interview and we'll forgive you!" another student with brown hair tied back in a spiky tail like a pineapple. She was Kasumi Asakura, the 2-A papparazzi who had a reputation for dogging a story until she got it.

"Um...okay..." Negi gulped, feeling like a rooster in a henhouse once again.

Asuna smirked before heading out, leaving Negi to be mobbed by her classmates. She had a letter to write.

Mahora Girls Dormitories

The Party went on for a little longer, Kasumi Asakura getting her story after a lengthy interview. When Takahata and Shizuka finally called the celebrations to an end, Konoka volunteered to take Negi up to her and Asuna's room where he would be staying. When they arrived, they found Asuna surrounded in a small pile of crumpled papers, furiously working on her confession letter. Seeing that Negi arrived, she set her letter aside.

As Negi would be staying with Asuna and Konoka, there were a few ground rules to cover. Well, more than a few. Negi of course knew about boundaries and private time that the girls would need. It wasn't like his old dormitories with the other male student back in Wales. Asuna had way more rules to go over, mainly about not crossing a certain line in the room while she and Knoka were asleep or never touching certain drawers. Negi's room was situated in an alcove which was normally used for a third occupant that had been unclaimed since the new school year.

After dusting it out Konoka had gone to get some food to make dinner, allowing Negi to begin unpacking his backpack for his most essential belongings. Once they were set out though, he slipped a ring over his right ring finger before swiping it across his buckle.

"CONNECT, PLEASE!"

Asuna looked up from her work, spotting a magic circle appearing in the loft area which Negi was reaching his arm into with it not coming through the other side. After a full few minutes of shuffling about, Negi pulled his arm back to reveal he was holding a large trunk that looked like it was ready to explode with how much stuff was packed into it.

"Big Sister," Negi chuckled, seeing all of the food, magical items, clothes, and supplies that were stuffed into it.

Blinking at the sight of the magic circle vanishing, Asuna just shook her head to examine her latest confession letter. Now that the initial shock had worn off, she could get used to having magic around. So long as it didn't embarrass her.

"Okay," she sighed, reading over her note. "I think that should wrap it up." Asuna had been trying for hours to get the wording just right. She wasn't sure if she should be romantic, intelligent, or some other form of speech but in the end she decided to make it straight and to the point.

Folding the letter, she slipped it into an envelope addressed to Takahata. Heavigng a sigh to keep her courage up, she sealed it shut and got up to leave grabbing her jacket and scarf. "Okay, I'm heading out!"

"Good luck," Negi waved, already guessing where Asuna was going.

Asuna nodded before she shrugged on her cool weather clothes and dashed out with a slamming door heralding her exit.

As Asuna set out into the cooling sunset air, heading for Takahata's mailbox. She knew where it was since Takahata had been a big guardian for her when she was in primary school and had offered a place to vent her frustrations if things got tough. She'd taken him up on that offer a lot so she knew where to drop the letter off.

"Okay Asuna, you can do this," Asuna whispered to herself. "All you have to do is drop off the letter and then wait to hear from him."

She continued running through the streets, her shoes slapping against the cobblestone streets in their section of Mahora. Asuna kept following the path she kept ingrained in her own memory. What she didn't take notice of was a bulge in the cobblestone moving like water as it followed her like a shark looming in on a scent of blood.

Asuna was oblivious to this as she continued to run. Spotting a shortcut she could use to move along Sakura Lane, she made an abrupt turn and began running down the street, the cobblestones making more noise underneath her shoes as she ran at a pace that made the track team green with envy. Coming out at a park-like area which couples mostly used to gave some romantic time together, Asuna prepared to dash around to her next destination.

But that was when something grabbed her ankle, sending her into the ground with a splat.

"Owwww..." The orangette groaned as pain echoed through her face. Rubbing her face, she got to her knees and looked around. "What the heck was that?"

What she found was what looked like a hand made of sandstone rising out of the cobblestone like it was water. The hand was holding her ankle, holding it like a vicegrip as if trying to keep Asuna from moving anywhere. "What the hell!?"

Then a haunting voice could be heard from within the ground, "Hello...Little Gate..."

Growling captured Asuna's attention as she saw figures emerge from the foliage. All of them looked like they were made of gray stone with lava veins and blac cracks running over their bodies. Their faces were flat with faces that were hard to distinguish between the cracks on their bodies. The only real facial features they had were the bright orange horns emerging from their heads.

"WAAAAAAAAUGH!"

Kagurazaka/Konoe/Springfield Room

Negi was pulling his things from his trunk, filling up his limited shelf space with his collected magic antiques or various other knick-knacks he had collected over the years. His clothes were placed in a special drawer and his supplies managed to find space for themselves. He couldn't reveal his really magical items since Konoka didn't know anything about magic.

"Now for the finishing touch," Negi smiled, reaching into his trunk and pulled out what appeared to be a perfectly polished crystal ball set on a cast iron podium. Bringing it over to his desk area, he set the ball on a velvet pillow. It was one of his most important magical items aside from his rings and belt buckle.

"There," He nodded. "All unpacked."

Just as he finished the sentence, the crystal ball suddenly lit up with bright light. Negi's face was a portrait of shock for one moment before it took on a deep frown as he sat closer to the sphere. After a moment of bright light, the light in the ball dimmed to produce an image. Negi peered into the glass to see the form of Asuna struggling against several stone men with a sandstone hand holding her ankle. The sight caused the English teenager to scowl.

"Asuna-san, is a Gate?" Negi questioned. There had been no clues that she was a Gate but she was surrounded by Ghouls. Not only that there was a Phantom there too. Eyes narrowed, Negi rushed out of the dorm room and ran down the stairs. at a pace almost no teenager could match. Once outside, he put his right hand over the Hand Author buckle.

"CONNECT PLEASE!"

Reaching into the manifested magic circle. Negi pulled out a motorbike. The machine was encased in a white body with gold accents. The front sported a red gemstone where the headlight should be with a pair of gems mounting the sides. Mounting the bike quickly and putting on a helmet swiftly, he revved it up and raced towards the source of the disturbance.

He just prayed he wasn't too late.

Sakura Lane

"LEGGO! LEGGO! LEGGO!" Asuna screamed, trying to free her ankle from the stone hand's grip as the other stone monsters slowly approached.

"Let go? Why? When I spent all day waiting to grab you?" the haunting voice chuckled back.

"LEGGO! LEGGO! LEGGO!" Asuna continued to scream, not having heard the voice.

"Not until I make you drown in despair" the voice laughed, obviously enjoying her fear. Fear, uncertainty, anguish and pain were all part of despair after all.

"I SAID...LEGGO!" Asuna's final cry was actually screamed out with fury before she kicked the stone hand, collecting chi in her foot much like she was taught by Takahata. Her aim was true, smashing into the hand. The impact actually caused the hand to snap, deep cracks spreading through the hand, wrist, and forearm of her attacker. There was a cry of pain before the hand was forced to let go.

"AH! YOU LITTLE BITCH!" the voice seethed as the hand sank into the cobblestone. "Ghouls! Get her! Pin her down! I'll turn her myself!"

A creature of stone rose up from the ground.. It stood tall, taller than her by a good foot or more. Its body was thick, like a boulder but had blue orbs residing around its collar and waist like a belt and necklace. Its shoulders were large and bulky with large blue stones that looked like eyes sticking out from them. The arms were human-shaped, but the right arm had several deep cracks in in while the left one was untouched. The legs were rather featureless, showing no real detail of muscles or decoration, the kneecaps looking like round stones with seams in the rock. The face looked similar to a helmet had a slit where eyes would be and a rectangular slit as a mouth. The top of the head rose up like a Trojan helmet, blue and black lines accenting it.

The Golem Phantom had revealed itself.

"Seize her!" the Golem Phantom demanded, pointing it's good hand at Asuna.

The Ghouls snarled and charged towards the orangette with their arms raised, ready to grab her. Rather than be paralyzed by fear, Asuna at least tried to stand her ground. When one Ghoul charged at her, she reared back with her clenched fist and lashed out with another punch.

"HIYAH!"

SPLAT!

Asuna's fist met the stone chest of the Ghoul. Under normal circumstances, she likely would have broken her hand on the monster's chest before she getting swarmed by the remaining Ghouls to be placed at the Golem Phantom's mercy.

What happened was Asuna's fist sinking deeply into the Ghoul's chest as if it were made of wet clay. The body of the Ghoul actually seemed to be repulsed by Asuna's attack, it's entire body being blasted away as if a splash of water was washing away dirt. The remaining Ghouls stopped in their assault, now unsure about their current plan of attack.

"Oh?" The Golem Phantom admired. "Your magic potential is already this great? No wonder you managed to crack my skin. You will indeed give birth to a powerful Phantom when I get through with you."

"Oh no! You aren't laying a hand on me!" Asuna snapped back.

"You don't have a choice!" the Golem Phantom snapped before pointing at her. "Seize her!"

The Ghouls continued their charge once again, prompting Asuna to begin lashing out at them again. she managed to turn a few more of them into dust, but there were simply too many of them even for her before they managed to get a grip on her and force her down to her knees.

The Golem Phantom then made its way towards Asuna and picked up the envelope she was carrying. "Hm, what is this?"

"Give that back," Asuna growled.

The Golem Phantom tore open Asuna's envelope and took out the letter inside. Ignoring Asuna's protest it began to read it, line by line. Asuna had put her heart and soul into that letter for Takahata but some strange monster was reading it.

Then, the Phantom laughed as it sneered at Asuna. "This is so damn important to you? It's pathetic! I mean he's like twice your age! Then again, I guess you don't have that many choices."

Holding the letter up for Asuna to see, the Golem Phantom tore it in half much to the redhead's horror. She then watched helplessly as the letter was torn to pieces before they were tossed into the air like confetti.

Asuna froze and felt something go thump inside of her as she fell onto her knees.

"That's it," the Golem Phantom cooed mockingly. "Just let the despair fill you. It'll all end soon."

Further actions on the Phantom's part was suddenly cut off by the roar of an energy. All eyes turned to the street where a motorcycle had jumped the curb that mainstream traffic went on and roared down the cobblestone path towards the small gathering. The rider, seeing the group, roared onwards, racing past the group, knocking the Phantom and several Ghouls back but leaving the stunned Asuna where she was. Hitting the brakes, the rider skidded to a halt but not before twisting his machine around. Stepping off of his ride, the Rider stepped into the light of the newly activated streetlights.

"N..Negi?" Asuna slowly blinked.

"Oho!" the Golem Phantom snickered, getting back to its feet. "The new teacher decided to come and save his student eh? Just try it! You can use magic so you're perfect to help create another Phantom!"

"I don't really help create new Phantoms," negi spoke, an uncharacteristic scowl on his face. Raising his right hand, he revealed the ring with the black hand on it. "I'm more of the destroying Phantom type." he then lowered the ring to the belt, activating the magic.

"DRIVER ON, PLEASE!"

The stone flashed before light engulfed the belt, transforming it into a silver metal belt with the hand marking in the centre much bigger than before with switches on either side of it. Negi then reached to the belt itself and pushed the switches causing the hand to move from pointing to his left side to pointing to his right side. A magic circle lit up in the centre before the belt began to...sing.

"SHABADOOBIE TATCHI HENSHIN! SHABADOOBIE TATCHI HENSHIN! SHABADOOBIE TATCHI HENSHIN!"

"It can't be-!" the Golem Phantom gasped, for once loosing its cool. "Is that-?-! Are you?-!"

Negi didn't reply as he held up his left hand with the ruby circular gem on it. Pressing a hidden mechanism on it, he pushed a metal siding forward over the stone, making it look like a face with large eyes on it, saying only one word as he brought it to his changed belt. "Henshin!"

"FLAME, PLEASE! HII HII, HII HII HII!"

Swiping the ring, Negi held his left arm out to the side. In front of said hand, a large magic circle materialized which was bright red and had flames licking at the edges. The circle then moved once fully manifested, passing over Negi's form. As his body passed through it, it emerged...changed.

From head to toe he was clad in a black bodysuit which concealed his form. The silver belt and chain of rings at his side stayed the same, but the rest was different. His chest was covered in red gem-like armour which was a long line down the middle with three sections on each side that were rectangular, but slightly askew. His shoulders were covered in black armor with silver edges that were decorated with dragon-like crests. From his waist hung a robe-like waist covering which was red on the inside but black on the outside. His wrists and ankles sported bands that were the same ruby red as his chest plate. Finally, his head was concealed by a silver helmet which had a ruby red faceplate decorated like the ring he wore, sporting metal lines making it appear as if it had large eyes with antennae rising from the forehead.

Kamen Rider Wizard had made his debut.

"The Wizard?-!" the Golem Phantom gasped. "What are you doing here?-! You're supposed to be in Wales!"

"Special assignment," Wizard replied. "Now get away from my student."

"You don't scare me!" shouted the Golem Phantom. "Ghouls, get him!" The Ghouls charged at Wizard who snapped his fingers.

"Now, it's showtime." He ducked from their attacks and then spun around to hit one Ghoul across the face with an explosive punch. Performing a backflip, he nailed another in the chin before making some distance. He replaced his Driver On Ring with the Connect Ring and set the hand marking on his buckle to the right before putting his right hand over it.

"CONNECT, PLEASE!"

Reaching into the magic circle, he withdrew his weapon. The gun was of a very unique design. It was silver and bulky with a closed fist mounted on it. Pulling the trigger, he fired at the Ghouls, shooting them down with silver bullets. Knowing he had no time to waste on cannon fodder, he then pulled the thumb which opened up the hand.

"C'MON A SHOOTING! SHAKE HANDS!"

He put his left hand on the open hand-like ornament.

"FLAME! SHOOTING STRIKE! HII HII HII! HII HII HII!"

Wizard pointed with his weapon at the recovering Ghouls before pulling the trigger once again. Rather than silver bullets emerging from its barrel, magical bullets made of fire did. Streaming through the air, leaving trails of cinders in their wake, the fireballs collided with their Ghoul targets, one for each of them. While resistant to mundane weaponry, the Ghouls were very susceptible to magical ones, thus their bodies failed under the magical strikes. Like firecracekrs, each Ghoul exploded in a small haze of fire which incinerated them, whatever was left dissolving into magical residue.

Snarling, the Golem Phantom raised it's good hand up before sinking it into the cobblestone. After a moment, the Phantom brought its hand back up, revealing a warhammer made of multiple pieces of rock that looked tied together with chains.

The Golem Phantom lunged at Wizard with it's massive weapon smashing down on the ground as Wizard had performed a high jump to avoid it. Landing, he pulled the handle of his gun up and the blade attached on the top folded out. Now wielding a sword, he slashed at the Golem Phantom. However, the Phantom's rocky skin prevented it from taking any damage. The Golem Phantom drove Wizard backwards with a jab of its warhammer, sending the magical Rider skidding back.

"See? You're not so strong!"

"I guess so," Wizard shrugged but then he switched his ruby ring with a topaz ring before holding his left hand over his belt.

"LAND, PLEASE! DO-DO-DON DO-DO-DO! DO DO-DO-DON!" A yellow magic circle appeared under his feet then traveled up his body, turning the ruby red portions of his armor topaz yellow, the sides of his chest armor turning into true squares rather than emulating sections of chest muscle. His faceplate also became square-shaped. Wizard made his way to the Golem Phantom who took a swing at him, only for Wizard to catch the hammer in his hand before punching the Phantom hard in the chest, chipping and cracking its skin as it was driven backwards by the blow.

Some breathing space claimed, Wizard removed the ring from his right hand before replacing it with a ring decorated with an orange stone depicting a dragon growing bigger. Reaching to his belt, he hit the switches on the sides, pointing the palm on the front towards his left side again.

"RUPATCHI MAJIKKU TATCHI GO! RUPATCHII MAJIKKU TATCHI GO! RUPATCHI MAJIKKU TATCHI GO!"

Wizard then passed the ring on his right hand over the belt again.

"BIG, PLEASE!"

A magic circle appeared in front of Wizard and he drove his fist forward. His fist exited from the other side as a gigantic version of itself and it knocked the Golem Phantom flat onto its back. Bringing his arm up, he slammed his gigantic palm upon the Phantom and drove it further into the ground. When the impact struck, a cracking noise could be heard as deep cracks began spreading up from the arm which Asuna had struck.

"I must have caught you by surprise," Wizard commented. "Usually Phantoms put up more of a fight than this."

"Grrr!" The Golem Phantom grumbled, pulling itself up, it's body covered in cracks, most of which spreading up from it's wounded arm. "If it wasn't...for that girl...I'd be able...to take anything...you've got!"

"FLAME, PLEASE! HII HII, HII! HII HII"

"Anything I got then?" Wizard frowned, returning to his Flame Style. He wanted the most destructive outpot for this next move. He swapped out his right hand ring for another one depicting a kick surrounded by a flaming dragon. He then passed it over the Wizardriver. "Fine then. Take this!"

"VERY NICE! KICK STRIKE! FABULOUS!"

A magic circle appeared beneath Wizard's feet, channeling up his legs. He twisted on the spot, to allow the magic energy to distribute evenly. Moving to a crouch, he allowed his right foot to be covered in flaming energy. When it looked like his leg was actually on fire, he charged forward before doing a frontflip on his hands which positioned him with his back facing the Golem Phantom. He then kicked off the ground in a high backflip, positioning himself for a corkscrew kick. The Phantom was too injured to move as a red magic circle appeared above it. Wizard came down with his foot extended, striking the centre of the circle. The entire construct ignited with fire energy before stretching to allow the blow to land on the Phantom's chest.

An explosion like a small bomb went off, sending the Phantom tumbling backwards with a scream. Hitting the ground, a red magic circle appeared above it as magical power completely opposite of its own invaded it's body, tearing it apart from the inside out. With a final scream, the monster exploded in a fiery haze, letting the magic circle fade away.

"Asuna-san!" Wizard remembered what he'd came here for. He found her in the exact same spot. She didn't look good. Already, her body was showing signs of breaking apart.

Asuna was down on her hands and knees, her entire body breaking apart. Cracks were spreading all over her body, glowing purple. It was a deadly sign that a person had already created a Phantom within their subconscious Underworld and it was fighting to escape. Wizard knelt before her and said, "Asuna-san."

"Negi...?" she asked as she stared at Wizard's red faceplate. "What's happening to me...?"

"Something I'm never letting happen again," he swore as he took a ring from his chain, sporting a stone that was cut to resemble his faceplate.. "Do you trust me?" he asked.

"I...have no choice, do I?" she asked. He took her hand in his.

"It'll be fine. Let me give you the hope you'll need." He slipped it on her finger then set his belt buckle before holding her hand over it.

"ENGAGE, PLEASE!"

Asuna fell unconscious as a magic circle appeared over her. Levitating, Wizard hovered over the circle and dove into it feet first. He traveled down a tunnel of magic circles with a purple background which would bring him into Asuna's Underworld.

He reached another magic circle, phasing through into what appeared to be reality again. Looking around, all of the scenery was in black and white, indicative of being in a memory. He easily recognized the place as being in Mahora albeit one he hadn't seen before. Spying one of the nearby buildings, he saw groups of small children coming out through the doors to meet their parents, all of them dressed in primary school uniforms.

Passing through the crowds, none of which took notice of them, he saw a small girl with orange hair tied in twin ponytails approaching a beardless and slightly younger Takahata.

"Happy Birthday Asuna," he smiled warmly, making the younger girl smile back. "I managed to get you something of a gift today. I hope you like it."

"Weally?" the little Asuna gasped in delight.

"Yup," Takahata smiled. Reaching into his pocket, he came back out with something in a small wrapped package. Asuna quickly took them, tearing away the paper as little kids were used to doing. For a brief second, Wizard saw the bell ornaments which Asuna was wearing before she started squealing in delight.

"So pwetty!" she beamed. "I lo-!"

KRACK!

Then entire scene froze as deep purple cracks appeared between little Asuna and Takahata. Wizard tensed for a moment before the entire crack smashed open to reveal a purple void. What came out was a twisted monster Negi recalled from his studies known as an Efreet.

"Efreet Phantom huh?" he frowned. "Why do the Phantoms in the Underworld have to be so big?"

The Efreet was a massive wolf-like creature with a mane of flames and a humanoid upper body. It also had horns and it let loose a roar as it started to attack everything, making more and more cracks as it attempted to break free from Asuna's Underworld.

Wizard had to leap to the side to avoid being trampled. He then slipped on a ring and placed his hand over his buckle.

"DRAGORISE, PLEASE!"

A magic circle appeared above and a dragon burst out of it. The beast looked more mechanical than flesh, covered in white armour with gold claws and horns, small wings, and a gemstone on its chest. Possibly that was representative of the magic he held in his control though. The dragon let out a roar and attacked the Efreet. However, Wizardragon then slammed its tail into Negi, seemingly interested in killing both the other Phantom and him. It was only logical since WizarDragon was a Phantom as well, Negi's inner Phantom. Naturally it was hostile to just about everything .

"CONNECT, PLEASE!"

Wizard pulled his Machine Winger bike out of the magic circle and rode on it towards the WizarDragon. A burst of magic from Wizard's body allowed it to leap into the air above the fight between the WizarDragon and Efreet Phantom. Coming down on the Dragon Phantom's back, the Machine Winger split into a pair of wings with only the handlebars and seat remaining. The machine came down and attached perfectly to the WizarDragon's back, becoming more docile as Wizard's magic allowed him complete control.

"Now, let's end this!" Wizard shouted.

WizarDragon unleashed a roar before shooting several fireballs which collided against the Efreet Phantom, smashing it against the primary school and causing more purple cracks. Wizard then drove his mount forward, smashing into it and pushing it along the building before a final thrust knocked it into the streets, making even more racks along the way.

"Asuna won't last if this keeps up," Wizard frowned. He hated long battles in the Underworld since if it went too long or got too wild, the Phantom would have a better chance of escaping if something wasn't done. "Dragon! End this!"

The WizarDragon bellowed and flapped it's new wings to shoot up into the air. Coming to a stop several feet into the sky, he began a downward dive towards the Efreet Phantom to take it down once and for all. The Phantom snarled at the descending pair and coated it's body in flames before leaping on top of the primary school and into the air to tackle both enemies out of the sky.

"Don't think so!" Wizard shouted, swiping his Kick Strike Ring across the Grimoire Stone once again.

"VERY NICE! KICK STRIKE! FABULOUS!"

WizarDragon bellowed before the Machine Winger detached and became a bike again. WizarDragon likewise shifted and transformed into what looked like a massive foot with its horns and claws taking the forms of the talon toes with the rest forming the rest of the foot. Wizard came down and connected his own foot with the end, attaching himself to it while the Machine Winger connected behind him to help keep him in pace. Once the transformation was complete, the massive foot became engulfed in magic power, projecting the image of a giant Wizard wielding the construct.

The Efreet Phantom attempted to shred the attacker, but it's claws only bounced off the steel skin before the impact smashed against it's head, pushing it down towards the ground. The impact struck the road hard, making more purple cracks but the Efreet Phantom was crushed beneath the magically enhanced attack, causing it to explode in a fiery haze.

Rather than cause damage, the explosion actually caused all of the purple cracks in the area to close themselves up. All around, the people began moving again as Asuna's Underworld was restored. Wizard leaped off his Phantom, allowing it to vanish into a magic ring back into his own Underworld where it was imprisoned.

Walking over to the Machine Winger, Wizard shook his head, "And here I thought Mahora would be peaceful. I should have known better."

Asuna sat there for what felt like forever, very sure that she was on the brink of death. It felt like she was drowning in despair and losing all sensation in her body while something was trying to break its way out of her skin. As soon as the event began though, it suddenly ended with the purple cracks in her body sealing themselves back up again. Beside her, another red magic ring appeared before Wizard drove out on top of his motorcycle. Coming to a stop, he turned to see Asuna before his armor was stripped off by yet another magic circle, leaving him as Negi Springfield once again.

"Are you all right Asuna-san?" he asked, dismounting his machine.

"I...I think so," the orangette replied, slowly standing up. "What...what was all that?"

"Something I had hoped was dead and buried," Negi sighed, approaching her. "It seems that rather than going away, the problem just moved somewhere else. Maybe this was the reason I was assigned to Mahora. To fight the Phantoms."

"And Phantoms are...?"

"Creatures brought to this realm through despair," he answered. "Come on, let me take you back to your dorm. After what happened, you'll need rest." Asuna picked up the pieces of her heartfelt letter but Negi put a hand on her shoulder. "You can always write another one. The Phantom may have destroyed your letter, but not your feelings."

"You're right," agreed Asuna, smiling back at Negi and his encouragement. She looked at his machine. "So, that's your bike, huh?"

"Yes," Negi answered, already guessing what her next request was going to be.

As Negi drove the bike with Asuna riding behind him, she looked down at the ring she now wore on her right hand. Negi had given it to her. She blushed at the sheer thought of it. Didn't he know the implications of giving a ring to a girl? She then put her arms around Negi and closed her eyes, feeling tired after her ordeal.

Unbeknownst the the pair, the brawl had been watched by two sets of eyes from atop of one of the buildings. One was a small girl with long blonde hair dressed in a black lolita outfit. Her eyes were blue and her features foreign, but nothing but pure malice came from her. She was one of Negi's students, Evangeline A. K. McDowell, otherwise known as the vampire Dark Evangel, a living nightmare and one of the threats parents would use to make their children behave.

Beside her was a taller girl with very pale Japanese features who was wearing the school uniform. She had long green hair which fell to her backside while her ears were some kind of metallic fins. Also to note were the metal sections on her neck and kneecaps, indicating that she was a robot. Most of her classmates simply assumed she was a cosplayer of some kind and never brought it up, but few knew the truth. She was Chachamaru Karakuri, Evangeline's maid and battle partner.

"Recording complete Master," Chachamaru spoke, a soft click echoing from her head.

"Good," Evangeline nodded. "I thought that the brat coming here would be the final piece in getting out of this dive, but if he's using Wizard Stone magic then things are going to get tough," her face was sour for a moment before a grin overtook her features. "Just like that idiot's son, getting into things that should end up killing him but coming out on top anyway."

"Master, what about the Phantom?" asked Chachamaru. "Databases suggest that they never act alone and if one has come to Mahora then there is a significant danger ratio, even for you."

"True. Despair's a tricky thing even for the most powerful," Evangeline nodded. She of course knew about Phantoms. Pretty much every magical who dealt with the darkest and foulest magics knew about them. Not many were stupid enough to deal with them though considering how they were summoned and their general attitudes towards everything non-Phantom. With how self-righteous most magical organizations were though knowledge about them was erased or destroyed to try and prevent them from coming back. As a result, not many knew how to deal with them. Magic was the way to go, but Wizard Stone magic was by far the most effective, driven by willpower and hope to counteract a Phantom's despair.

"We'll sit on this information for now," Eva finally decided.

"Master?" asked the gynoid.

"We squeal about the Phantom then all the magicals on campus will go into fits and make my plan that much harder to execute," The high daylight walker explained. "Best see what those old ghosts are planning and go from there. Besides, seeing the brat fight will help us plan for whatever he's got in store."

Nodding, Chachamaru picked up her tiny master before activating her internal thrusters and heading off into the growing night towards home.

She still had to prepare Master's dinner and bath.

TO BE CONTINUED...

A/N: Okay everyone, this is a preview/idea I had. I was challenged to make a Kamen Rider Wizard idea by Star AJT 84. So in response, I with some help from Chrome put this little gem together, pardon the pun. Our little Negi is a teenage Kamen Rider who is ready, willing, and able to protect his classroom of honeys from the evil of the Phantoms. Due to the positive reviews, I decided to turn this into a fic. This isn't the only one. I have plans to turn Cosmic Malestrom into a fic as well. So, please enjoy this while I continue on my other stuff.