(Time of Darkness...Learning to Trust. Part II )----------------------
Setsuna awoke to a faint murmuring of voices surrounding her...
"What did they--"
"I don't know.. Why are you asking me..?"
"Do you think they're...?"
"Mmm?" Setsuna opened a tired eye, but froze as she say a certain someone's face less than an inch from hers. "Wha, wha.. WHAT?!" Setsuna jolted back, scrambling from the sleeping bag. 'Why was I sleeping with Ojou-sam--' She blushed as the memory of last night floated across her mind. 'That's right... We.. She.. just wanted me to do this like we had in the past.. no biggie there...' She closed her eyes and sighed, rubbing her forehead with one hand, while reaching down to pull the sleeping bag's covers back up over Konoka.
"Hey Sakurazaki-san!? Did you and Konoka-san... are you together?" Makie asked, grinning widely at Setsuna, who silently cursed her blush as she felt it spring up, and violently shook her head in response to Makie's question.
"N-no, we.. She just wanted to sleep with me like we used to when we were kids.."
"Are you SURE that that's all there was--?" Haruna asked, grinning crookedly at the blushing swordsman.
"Secchan..?" Konoka whispered, opening her eyes slightly, and interupting the manga artist.
"Y..Yes, Ojou-sama?" Setsuna asked, whirling to face the young mage.
"I'm cold." Konoka said, climbing to her feet, and slipping her hand into Setsuna's. "And you're warm." She smiled mischievously at the swordsman who was obviously becoming more and more nervous at Konoka's actions.
"O-Ojou-sama...?"
"Oh, yeah. Don't mind us. We'll just watch from...over there. Go ahead and--" Haruna was interupted again, this time by Asuna bursting in to the tent.
"Konoka, Setsuna-san is--" Asuna paused, staring at the two. "...Oh. She's in here." she looked sheepishly around before pushing back a stray piece of her hair which had fallen in front of her face. "Well... anyways, Eva-chan says that we're going to be training soon... I think we should all go get ready." She quickly turned and rushed out of the tent in the general direction of her own tent.
"...Come on, Saotome-san, let's go get ready." Makie said, her voice turning from its teasing tone she'd been using on Setsuna to a more serious tone.
"Right. We'll leave you two alone." Haruna said, grinning over her shoulder at the two girls who stood hand in hand.
"Unless you want to come with." Makie added.
"Y...yeah, come on, Ojou-sama..." Setsuna quickly whispered into the slightly shorter girl's ear. She silently thanked Asuna for the distraction, and began heading for the door with Haruna and Makie.
Konoka just smiled, and pressed herself to Setsuna's side. 'If she's too afraid to show her feelings, I'll get her to do so by sticking to her side, and eventually... hopefully... she can overcome that fear of herself and...'
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"Ojou-sama, hurry!" Setsuna gasped. She turned back to the oncoming bullets and began deflecting them one after another as Motoko, her old teacher of the Shinmeiryuu school had taught her to. Her sword was but a blur as she sliced some bullets in half, and allowed others to reflect off the flat of her blade.
Quickly she reversed the swing of her blade, sending some she wouldn't have been able to block flying back into the guns the had shot them, from the wind and ki that ran down the length of her blade yuunagi. 'ADEAT'
A smaller blade, like a miniature of yuunagi appeared. "Four blades 'ni' and 'ho', 'ha' and 'ru'" she yelled, splitting the blade into four. 'OM' she whispered, using the sacred word to gather more power. "Shika Shishikushiro" She yelled, sending two blades crashing powerfully into two of the targets targets, while the other two sliced through the tip of one of the guns, rendering it useless.
"I'm almost done, Secchan!" Konoka yelled over her shoulder from behind the swordsman. "Practi bigi nar ardecat, magister ragis... " She paused for a second to catch her breath before continuing the the spell to the end. "Okay, Secchan! Jump!" Konoka yelled, gracefully but powerfully swinging her fans in an arc. A black shaft of wind, which seemed to harden and sharpen as it flew, shot from the tip of one fan, while she swung the other, continuing a different spell, the fire one, the first she'd ever learned. "Practi bigi naru ardescat!" She yelled, directing the flow of fire into the black wind of her other fan, combining them together in a flash a bluish violet light.
Negi stared in shock at the oncoming blast of magic, but was too occupied with one of Nodoka's water and wind spells combined with Yue's earth and fire to defend the targets, or attack back. The shaft continued past him, to shatter the remaining targets behind him.
"Wow! Great job you two! You've been practicing, huh?" Asuna yelled over to them, giving them a thumbs up.
"You did good too, Asuna! It was really awsome when you pulled out that giant sword of yours, and deflected Negi's disarming spell to protect ALL of us." Konoka smiled, waving a hand to dismiss the compliment.
"Yeah, well...I've been getting a little help from Yue about that. Her book of magic is very useful." Asuna replied, putting a hand on the mage-in-training's shoulder in question. "Right Yue-chan?" She asked, grinning at the girl.
"I only tell you what you have to do. I guess it's useful to one who doesn't read it every time she pulls out her artifact though."
"Okay. So Eva-chan just got done teaching you guys how to combine spells, ne? When's she gonna teach you how to fly like Negi, or how to do those 'magic arrow' things?"
"Asuna-san, that's complicated magic. It'll probably be months before she'll teach it." Setsuna said, startled to hear Negi finish her sentence with her. She glanced over her shoulder at the ten year old mage. "Uh... hi, Negi-sensei."
"You're all doing really well. I can't believe you mastered how to combine spells so fast. It took ME months to learn that one..." He looked sheepishly at all of the young fighters and mages standing before him.
"If your worrying that we'll surpass you, Negi-bouzu, you needn't worry. It may've taken you longer, but you've spent years doing it since, and know much more complicated spells than some of us could hope to learn. But... we could if we dedicated our lives to magic, and went to a magic accademy as you did." Kaede said, stepping up behind the mage.
"Oh..Ah. Thanks, Kaede-san." He said, turning to the ninja girl.
"Well, I'm gonna go take a bath." Asuna muttered, turning her back on the group, and heading for the hot springs.
"Yeah. Good idea, asuna-san, we'll meet up with you there." Nodoka said. "Yue, come on." She gently grabbed the mage-in-training's hand and followed the red haired girl away.
"I take my leave now." Kaede said, smiling slightly, and she too, began to head away, leaving Konoka, Setsuna, and Negi to stand awkwardly by themselves with nothing to do or talk about.
"Yoh! Boya! Get over here! I've got some things to discuss about the next raining session!!" Evangeline yelled from her magic platform overlooking the training field.
"Uh... Yeah, sorry guys..." He said, bowing quickly to them, before tightening his grip on his staff and hurrying away.
"uhm... Setsuna stared after all the retreating figures, before she caught Konoka's gaze. The slightly younger girl's eyes held a mischievous gleam, and she knew what was coming wouldn't be escapable or pretty.
"Come on Secchan. Let's go back to the tent."
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Setsuna sat on the makeshift wooden table which had been set up in their tent at the beginning of the training month, trying to ignor the fact that Konoka was sitting beside her, so close their thighs touched. But when the mage picked up her hand, and began to draw shapes on it with her fingertips, she couldn't stay quiet any longer.
"Ojou-sama, is something up? I find it odd that Asuna-san, and everybody else left to go to the 'baths,' and still haven't returned even though it's been nearly an hour...."
"No, nothing's up Secchan." Konoka said, smiling slightly. "At lease, nothing that I know about. It could be 'Paru-chan' doing this though. Or maybe they just think they're really, REALLY dirty today."
"Ojou-sama...." Setsuna groaned at the girl's teasing voice. 'She's got to know something about this!'
"Let's just forget about them for now, Secchan..." Konoka whispered, placing one hand on Setsuna's knee, the other still holding the girl's hand.
"Ah...u-uh..I..I m-mean..Ojou-sama...?" Setsuna yelped, beginning to scoot away from the advancing girl.
"Yes, Secchan?" Konoka couldn't help but laugh at the look on Setsuna's face. She released her hold on Setsuna's hand.
"N-nothing." Setsuna whispered, sighing in relief. However, her sigh of relief quickly became a quick gasp of surprise as Konoka quickly flung her arm over Setsuna's shoulders. Setsuna's face immediately turned red. "ojousama???"
"Secchan! How many times do I have to tell you... call... me...,"
She began to lean in towards Setsuna, who's eyes began to widen as she realized what was coming.
"kono-chan." She finished. "Call me...kono-chan..."
Konoka's words were but a breath before she leaned in closer. Setsuna stared at the other girl's face, coming closer and closer, torn between the desire to quickly run away, and the desire to kiss Konoka.
"Ojou-sam--" She was interupted by the Konoka, who had closed the distance between them completely, so that her lips were now pressed lightly against Setsuna's. Setsuna felt her mind go blank at this turn of events, and her blush immediately spread across her face. Her heart was racing, pounding so hard in her chest she was sure Konoka could hear it. When Konoka finally pulled away, Setsuna's mind had finally registered the fact of what Konoka had just done.
"Ojou-sama...!??" Setsuna's body began trembling, and she stood so fast, she nearly knocked the other girl off the table. Konoka only grinned at the raven haired girl, and slipped her hand into Setsuna's.
"Secchan, I already told you to--"
Setsuna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before opening them again. "Kono-chan... I... why did you..?" She fought to keep control over her body, which had the strong desire to take Konoka in her arms, and kiss her again.
"Because I love you, Secchan. And... I heard what you said last night. I know why your afraid to be with me. I know how you feel about me as well!" Konoka whispered, casting her gaze at the floor of the tent. "Did you think I'd care if your a half demon, a 'monster' as you call yourself? Secchan, your nothing like a monster. I know monsters can't fall in love with anyone. Secchan... I know the truth. So please, tell me. I need to hear it from you now... Do you love me?"
"I...k-kono-chan??? I..Th-that is I m-mean to say..I..uuuuhhmm..." Setsuna took another deep breath and closed her eyes. She should have know that Konoka would've heard what she'd said, since she'd been right next to her all night long. And she should've known that Konoka wouldn't want to forget their near kiss scene at the hot springs. She should've known all of that. Maybe she had, deep down, which was why she'd even been able to say it that night.
"I... I do, Kono-chan. I do love you... very much." She whispered, so quietly that Konoka had to strain her ears to hear, but when she did, she smiled happily and affectionately at Setsuna.
Setsuna stared at the chocolate haired girl in front of her, the one who meant so much to her. This person was her reason for living, the one she'd vowed to protect ever since she was six years old, on that day they'd both nearly drowned in the river. As she saw the smile on this person's face, she could stand to control herself no longer, and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Konoka in a strong embrace that pulled them together. She lowered her head until her lips met Konoka's and she tried to convey, with that small action, how much she truly cared for her.
As she finally pulled back, she felt Konoka press herself more fully against her body.
"I'm glad..." The young healer mage whispered into Setsuna's ear, as she lay her head in the crook of Setsuna's neck. "I'm glad...." She repeated, to emphasize these two words. She closed her eyes, and gently kissed Setsuna's neck, smiling as she felt Setsuna's arms tighten around her.
"As am I... Kono-chan..." The swordsman whispered.
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And that's the end of 'Time of Darkness... Learning to Trust.' I hope you enjoyed it. ^^
set-chan
"Every time I look at you, I'm glad I chose both my sword and happiness. Because in doing so, I got to keep what was most precious to me, along with the means to protect it."
