Mahora

Negima! fanfic. An AU story where Konoemon of Mahora sets out to arrange for his granddaughter Konoka to marry the powerful Shinmeiryuu prince, Setsuna... only to receive quite a surprise. The story is dropped for now.
(Konoka/Setsuna)

Read Mahora

Disclaimer: Mahou Sensei Negima etc belongs to Ken Akamatsu and possibly a few others, certainly not myself though if someone would feel like giving the series to me I would not object. ^_^

This is something of an AU story, so more than ever there will be OOC behaviour I’m afraid, along with a few original characters (don’t worry, I just needed Setsuna to have parents, nothing big), and of course then there’s the fact that there will be no Negi in this.





Mahora
-----------------------------------
By Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson





It was an exciting day in Mahora, not that most days weren’t exciting one way or the other for the scores of talented girls enrolled in the prestigious school for young mystics and warriors, however for the young heiress Konoe Konoka and her best friend and roommate Kagurazaka Asuna, this particular day was special.

For quite some time Konoka’s grandfather, headmaster of the school and leader of the even more prestigious clan, had been arranging for Konoka’s future marriage. A candidate had been agreed upon, and regardless of what Konoka might feel about being set to wed a stranger, the involved parties were coming to Mahora that day to begin the process of finalizing the alliance between clans that was only vaguely masked as a marriage.

Konoka was no fool, in spite of her sunny disposition and often carefree spirit, and she knew that for a woman of such noble birth as herself there was no getting married simply for the sake of love. She had known since she was a small child that her grandfather and father would one day make the arrangement for her to wed someone Konoka most likely did not know for the good of the clan, for alliances made and held, for a strong rule and strong bloodlines. Yes, Konoka had known this for years and was not about to make her father and grandfather’s lives miserable over something that could not be changed, at least not unless there was a very real and strong reason why she objected to the person she knew they had taken great care in choosing for her. Lack of love just wasn’t considered a reason for someone in her position, even if Konoka’s heart ached at the thought.

So it was that Konoka and Asuna had hid in a closet in the strange and, for the uninitiated, a bit dangerous apartment-like section of the main school building that served as Konoka’s grandfather’s office. Normally it was not a place one could just enter uninvited, however there were clear advantages to being friends with the strongest natural spell-breaker of at least a generation... and for such an important cause, Asuna was more than happy to lend her help. In fact the redhead was just as eager to find out about the possible match as Konoka herself was, as Asuna had long since appointed herself Konoka’s protector since while Konoka was a very powerful healer and budding mage she still had no combat abilities. Asuna on the other hand was all about combat skills since her magic cancellation ability negated the possibility of the redhead ever learning any of the mystic arts for herself.

They had snuck in with plenty of time to spare, and so witnessed how Konoka’s father and grandfather came in some time later and, to the girls’ surprise, cast a barrier spell around the main room. Were the guests they expected truly so important that Konoka’s grandfather felt the need to up the room’s already ample defences that way? Ah, no matter the reason, being outside of the barrier the way they were it meant that Asuna and Konoka would not be able to hear anything spoken, although the barrier of course was invisible and allowed them to see the guests at least. Hoping that the barrier also muted sounds from the other direction the two girls carefully got out of the closet and relocated themselves behind some random furniture by the doorway to get a better view.

With the angle of their view of the room Konoka and Asuna could not see the guests arrive by the large mirror portal located in the far back, but seeing that the guests arrived by means that did not bring them in through the door it revealed something to the girls all by itself. The individuals arriving either were very powerful magicians themselves or had some very powerful mages or sorcerers working for them, possibly both, since the portal was an unwieldy thing that was hard to control and required insane amounts of power to operate, leaving it mostly an item of ornamentation owned by only the very wealthiest and noblest of mystic clans.

The impression of wealth and nobility was something enforced a great deal by the individuals themselves as soon as they came within sight. There were only four to meet with Konoka’s grandfather and father, although one, a white-haired woman with colourful markings on her face and dressed entirely in light grey robes, bowed deeply and then walked back to where Asuna and Konoka could no longer see her, most likely standing or sitting near the portal in wait for the return journey.

Of the other three the two adults were dressed in white and wore slender golden circlets on their heads, suggesting some sort of royalty to the girls. The tallest was an androgynous-looking woman with an unmistakeable air of a warrior to her, the slightly silver-streaked black hair pulled back almost cruelly hard in a high ponytail that still reached the waist, and on the front of her outfit she wore a piece of black and silver ornamental chest armour which connected to a long black cape. The smaller woman had a softer and kinder appearance, wearing an elegant silver-scrolled white dress under her white cape and her black hair falling in gentle waves down her back, held back only slightly on one side by a white ribbon and a flower. The two of them entered Konoka and Asuna’s line of sight arm in arm, and bowed gracefully to Konoka’s father and grandfather, earning respectfully deep bows in return.

The third figure made Konoka gasp and freeze in place, staring hard.

The youth was dressed all in black and deep blues, standing out starkly next to the white-dressed adults, and walked with head held high and an air of self-assuredness that made it startling to see that very same person sweep down on one knee in a very graceful and humble greeting in front of Konoka’s grandfather and father. The figure in itself revealed nothing of gender, as the person in question wore warrior garb, though fine and ornate enough to clearly not be meant for battle, and a piece of chest armour in dark metal and deep blue with an attacking eagle outlined in silver upon it. Tall boots and black cape added to the bulk of this youth that was even slightly taller than Asuna, and by this person’s side there was a long sword, tied down with a white ribbon in a show of non-aggression despite the presence of a weapon. It was the face that gave it away, as the raven-black hair was pulled away into a high shaggy ponytail on one side there was very little that could hide the fact that while intense and serious in expression, the features of that face were those of a very beautiful young woman.

Inside the room Konoka’s father looked startled when the girl stood in front of them, but the reaction came from Konoka’s grandfather. While nothing could be heard from Asuna and Konoka’s vantage point it was still clear that headmaster Konoemon was shocked to say the least and had quite a few things to say in his surprise. The taller of the guests cocked an eyebrow in surprise and faint amusement, but as the conversation continued between herself and Konoemon a touch of irritation crept into the expression as well.

“Shit, Konoka, this is going to be trouble...” Asuna whispered to her friend, watching as Eishun tried to discreetly get his father-in-law to consider his words before speaking. When she got no immediate answer Asuna had a bad feeling and glanced at where Konoka was supposed to be hiding... only to find that the brunette had left her hiding spot and was walking towards the barrier in plain sight, a dazed and transfixed expression on her face.

“Konoka, no! The barrier is... !” Asuna called out loudly, but Konoka did not seem to hear her. If the smaller girl touched the barrier she would get hurt, Asuna knew, and she didn’t have more than a moment before Konoka did just that. Seeing no other way to save her friend from injury, Asuna toppled the antique grandfather clock she had been hiding behind and hurled herself headfirst into the barrier before Konoka.

---

“I apologize for my outburst...” Konoemon had regained his equilibrium somewhat, but both he and the taller of his guests were showing clear signs of annoyance still though they were minding their manners. “However when our part of the negotiations for marrying my grandchild to your son the Shinmeiryuu prince were made, I was left with the distinct impression that Konoka’s prospecting future husband was male.”

“Both are words not native to our own tongue and are used loosely to simplify understanding in cases such as these, as I believe you were informed when we began negotiations, correct?” The tall Shinmeiryuu king crossed her arms over her chest plate, looking very imposing doing so. “And I can scarcely believe that anyone that would approach a royal Shinmeiryuu house for allegiance by marriage could somehow neglect to grasp the very public fact that we are an all-female species!”

Towards the end of the sentence the tall woman’s voice had risen somewhat and taken on an angry tone, causing her wife to delicately put a calming hand on her arm and intervene. “Come beloved, be at ease. While this truly is a...” She searched for a graceful and diplomatic way to word her mind, looking quite chagrined herself. “...an unfortunate and grievous mistake to have made, surely it is but a mistake and not one to start a feud with the Konoe clan over? Or worse yet, a war against the allies of Mahora?”

When her wife calmed herself and looked somewhat sheepish, she added “We can merely part ways here with no ill feelings, neither having set out to deceive the other, and that is all. Unless you disagree with my thoughts in this matter, Setsuna?” As the supposedly offended party her daughter, the young prince Setsuna, had every right to chose the path of aggression at this point, however the queen knew her daughter well enough to expect full support of a more lenient solution. Thank the heavens that the girl had not met much less was infatuated with the Konoe heir, neither parent would have stood for seeing their gentle-hearted only child suffer for the sake of some strange human custom.

When she received no reply she looked more closely at her daughter, in fact everyone in the room grew silent and looked at the Shinmeiryuu warrior. Setsuna appeared as if though she had heard nothing of what had been spoken, her eyes wide and shocked and a light blush on her face as she stared, utterly enraptured, at something beyond the doorway on one side.

Following her daughter’s gaze the queen saw to her surprise a lovely young brown-haired girl with her gaze locked in Setsuna’s and an equally mesmerized look upon her face, slowly walking towards them, one hand slightly raised in front of her and lips moving as if speaking.

Next to her Setsuna twitched, once, and somehow dropped her prized sword to the ground without noticing it, still locked in the gaze of the girl although her blush deepened slightly. The queen opened her mouth to speak, although whether to address her child or her wife she would never know as she was interrupted by the booming sound of something heavy hitting the floor and shattering.

---

When Asuna hit the barrier it shattered as if it had never been there, leaving her and the large grandfather clock to plummet towards the unforgiving floor without delay, mere moments before Konoka also crossed the line where the barrier had stood. The clock went down with a thunderous crash, parts of it shooting all across the floor, along with Asuna who skidded across the same on her back, coming to a halt not far from the startled guests.

“What is this?” The king demanded to know, instinctively having placed herself between her wife and the newcomers. Her eyes narrowed at Asuna. “A spell-breaker? Why have you brought a spell-breaker to our meeting?”

Eishun scratched his head and gave a somewhat sheepish explanation before Konoemon could offer one that might add to the tension. “Ah, this is one of our students, a particularly meddling child though her heart is in the right place.” He smiled over at Asuna. “She was not invited, so of course I should have known that she would show up.”

“Hi” Asuna croaked, smiling weakly up at the startled faces, momentarily wondering how much trouble she had gotten herself into this time. “Kagurazaka Asuna, innocently passing by.”

Snorting slightly the king grabbed Asuna’s arm and heaved her not unkindly to her feet, about to say something when her wife motioned her to be silent. During Asuna’s arrival and the exchange her entrance had spurred, Konoka had crossed the room and was mere steps away from the to unblinking and unmoving Shinmeiryuu prince.

Black eyes were still locked with dark brown, neither girl appearing to have noticed what happened around them. Konoka’s hand shook as she held it raised in front of her, as if she was about to reach out and stroke the pale features that she was finally within touching range of.

“It’s you...” She whispered, voice filled with emotion that carried in the absolute silence of the room. “It really is you.”

The stunned expression slowly gave way for a smile so brilliant it dazed the other people present, and the girl directly in front of it found herself suddenly blushing furiously and having some difficulties catching her breath.

Then Konoka threw herself in Setsuna’s arms, embracing the blushing girl tightly in her joy. “You are real! Secchan! My Secchan!”

Slowly, the stunned girl clearly not quite aware of it herself, Setsuna’s arms came up to hold the girl that was sniffling slightly on her shoulder. “K-k-kono-chan?”

After a long moment of silent and somewhat disbelieving staring at the two young women embracing, the Shinmeiryuu queen cleared her throat and got Eishun’s attention. “Am I correct in my assumption that this young lady happens to be... ?”

Eishun smiled somewhat apologetically and nodded. “Allow me to introduce her since she seems... too preoccupied to do it herself. This is my daughter Konoka, the light of my life whom while a good and usually quite obedient daughter still seems set and determined to make sure my existence is not too boring.” His words might have been joking but the proud and affectionate gleam in his eyes while looking at his daughter spoke volumes to the other parents in the room.

“Ah, so we see.” The king seemed genuinely amused at the turn of events. “Might I ask if young lady Konoka has ever been in contact with the Shinmeiryuu before? The children do seem to, ah, be on rather... familiar terms.”

“Well... I would have said that I was absolutely certain my daughter could never have met yours before this... display...” Eishun scratched his cheek and smiled. “but it isn’t quite like Konoka to be quite this friendly at first glance, either.”

“What I wanna know is, if Konoka has met this princess charming before how come I didn’t know about it?” Asuna forgot she was surrounded by dignitaries as well as the fact that she was probably in enough trouble already without speaking up. “Konoka you baka, if you knew you were gonna get hitched to your girlfriend you could’ve at least told me... I was worried about you!”

At Asuna’s little outburst Konoka finally... not so much moved away as shifted slightly back, still in a loose embrace with the blushing Shinmeiryuu prince, just enough so that she could face those she spoke to. “Oh I didn’t know Secchan was here, Asuna.”

She looked up at the black-haired girl holding her. “I always believed you were real, Secchan... I’m so glad I was right.”

“I’m not sure I understand, Konoka... what do you mean by ’real’?” Eishun managed to say just before the others in the room voiced similar questions.

Konoka beamed at them before turning a surprisingly adoring look at the young warrior recently dubbed ‘Secchan’. “I’ve been dreaming about Secchan for most of my life. We never met outside of my dreams before now, but I always thought she was real.”

“In your... dreams?” The Shinmeiryuu royal couple shared a look with Konoemon and Eishun. “Is lady Konoka prone to prophetic dreams?”

“No...” Konoemon stroked his beard and studied his oblivious grandchild. “At least there has never been any sign of that as far as we know, but with her magic potential it is more than possible.”

“I used to dream about you quite often when we were little.” Konoka continued, undaunted by the conversation held by the adults. “The dreams came to me more seldom when we got older, but that is also how I knew that you were real, I could tell that you aged along with me in those dreams.”

“F-for me it was the reverse...” Setsuna spoke slowly and somewhat distractedly as she was still not quite sure of what was real and not, and how to react. “I had but a few dreams of you when little, and the dreams became... more frequent... when I grew older.” The blush that had faded somewhat intensified again for some reason. “I thought you were a figment of my imagination.”

“Setsuna, you have dreamt of lady Konoka as well?” The king frowned at her only child, wondering how this could be and why she had not heard of this sooner. Unlike the Konoe heiress whom had a reputation for her vast and still largely untapped mystical potential, Setsuna was not a child for whom the gift of prophecy was likely to appear.

“Yes father.”

“Destiny?” The king asked of her wife, somewhat stunned at the thought. The queen nodded, marvelling at the possibility and giving her daughter a searching look. “It might just be.”

A small smirk found its way to the queen’s lips. “Setsuna dear? Could it be that your dreams of lady Konoka are the real reason you never gave all those young maidens competing for your attention a passing glance?”

“Mother!” Setsuna blurted out in protest, blushing even darker than before and making her mother turn away slightly to hide her quiet laughter.

Shaking herself slightly Setsuna seemed to get herself a bit better under control, even if the blush remained. “I apologise milady, I have been terribly rude.” She released Konoka and got down on one knee in the same sweeping gesture of greeting that she had used when introduced to Konoemon and Eishun earlier. “I am Setsuna of the Shinmeiryuu, daughter and heir to the...”

She was interrupted by Konoka gently taking her face in both hands, smiling warmly down at her. “You are my Secchan, but as you wish.” Konoka cleared her throat. “I am Konoe Konoka of the Konoe clan, but...” The smile on her lips widened. “I would much rather be your Kono-chan.”

“Are you here to arrange to be married to me, Secchan?”

Setsuna stuttered a little in reply. “Y-yes, that was the i-idea though...”

“Good.” Konoka interrupted again and leaned in to press her lips against one burning cheek. “When you propose to me, Secchan... I won’t say no.”

---

“Is your wish for lady Konoka’s intended to be male truly that important?” The queen asked softly, watching her daughter rise unsteadily to her feet with one hand pressed against the cheek the smiling girl in front of her had just kissed. “What is it exactly that you feel our Setsuna cannot provide?”

“We have a rare opportunity before us.” The king added, looking at Eishun. “We can arrange for a marriage which serves tradition, alliances and bloodlines as much as anyone could require, and yet give our children a chance at happiness at the same time. We at least will not stand in the way of destiny... the decision now lies with you.”

Eishun looked at his smiling daughter whom was not paying the slightest bit of attention to the conversation of the adults around her, instead focusing her attention on the apparently quite shy Shinmeiryuu prince. While not sure yet what his daughter might or might not feel for the dark-haired youth it was quite clear to him that at least in some sense of the word, Konoka was quite smitten. “No.” Eishun said with a determination in his typically soft voice that was unusual. “I will not be standing in the way of destiny either... or my daughter’s happiness for that matter.”

“I am the head of this clan, Eishun.” Konoemon warned. “Do not forget your place.”

“Of course not, honoured father.” Eishun inclined his head, but there was a glint of steel in his eyes when he opened them again that the scowling old man did not see, Konoemon’s own eyes directed at his guests. “However, I am Konoka’s father, and as such I will not stand in her way if this is her wish.”

“What are you saying, Eishun?” The scowl deepened as did Konoemon’s dark mood.

“Merely that, honoured father.”

“This is foolishness!” The old man glared at Eishun but managed to, if just barely, keep himself from giving the royal couple in front of him the same peevish look. “I mean no offence to the Shinmeiryuu and their way, please know that. However for my granddaughter and heir’s husband there will have to be a man.” He inclined his head slightly. “It is in no way meant to cast any shadow upon... prince... Setsuna, she is without doubt a fine and noble... figure... and had she been male I would have been very pleased to see Konoka promised to... her.” He sighed and stroked his beard wearily. “It is just different for humans in that respect.”

“Ahh, but our Setsuna is not human.” The queen countered calmly. “What makes you believe that she cannot provide for young lady Konoka everything she could have as a male?”

“For Konoka, not as my precious grandchild but as the future head of the Konoe clan, there needs to be a husband, a father to her children and the future heirs to the Konoe line... a man of strength and calibre, that can be her support and strength in times of turmoil, that is just and honourable and can uphold the Konoe precepts, that will not balk at standing in the shadow of her rule, yet prepared to fight to his last breath to protect her if needed.” Konoemon sighed and slumped just slightly, suddenly just a tired old man whose ire was spent. “Love is not necessary, as long as there is due respect and understanding of their roles, friendship and affection will grow, in time.”

The king began to speak, and by the look on her face the words would not be entirely diplomatic, but a voice very similar to her own broke in. “Father, please... let me.”

Setsuna met Konoemon’s gaze with a very serious one of her own. “Forgive me for speaking candidly about this, lord Konoemon, however... will you not try me?”

“Test me. Test my strength, my skill and my character, judge not on my gender but on my person whether or not I could be worthy of Kono-ch... lady Konoka. Try me, my sincere dedication and whatever else I may possess... if you still find me lacking, find me lacking for who I am, and I shall not protest it.”

Setsuna’s eyes shone with sincere conviction, for a moment overcoming her apparent shyness where Konoka was concerned. “But if you were to give me your blessing, and Ko-... lady Konoka would have me, I swear that I would spend my life devoted to her, to protect her and support her and whatever else she might need of me.”



--unfinished--