Negi nibbled on a leftover dumpling from last night's dinner and dark bags were found under his barely visible eyes. Although he has dressed appropriately for work, a slim black suit and tie, his hair was wild. Next to him was Sage in a cream-colored business suit with the first few buttons open. She was playing breakout on her Blackberry phone, her right thumb was rolling the cursor to keep up with the ball on her screen. She didn’t have bags under her eyes but there was an aura of exhaustion radiating from her.

However, there was one person looking perfectly fine despite sitting still in her seat before class started, even knowing that she will be attending a brutal class with Mr. Nitta. Ku was beaming with positivity and gave the twins a warm smile.

Deep down both twins sneered and thought, ‘How can someone as small as her snore so loudly? We were two bedrooms away and can still feel rumbles every time she breathed.’ They shared a look then nodded, confirming they share the same idea.

Despite how tired they were, they prepared to leave for school early to avoid the smiling blonde but she woke up when she heard their movement and decided to join the duo. Much to their surprise, someone else entered the room.

Kasuga Misora looked at her teachers in shock then greeted them. “O-oh. Hello Springfield-senseis.”

Negi nodded at her while Sage mumbled, “Hello nun witch.”

Her brother slapped her head, causing her to notice Misora shocked and slightly fearful gaze. She gave out a sheepish smile. “Ahh. I mean, I can sense holy and light magic. It’s all over you and you have a cross on your neck so I thought you were a nun who is also a mage.” The brunette stared at Ku, who was looking at their interactions with interest. Sage hurriedly explained, “She knew about magic since she was young and have a pactio with Negi.”

Misora dumbly nodded her head then sat at her seat. She laid her head down, trying to calm down from the shot of fear she felt.

Shortly after her arrival, the other students trickled into the classroom, filling the once silent room with laughter and gossip. Even though the twins were subjected to Mana’s heavy scrutiny they were able to enjoy the jovial nature of the class. The bell rang and the students were at their seats silent. Nodoka leads the class to greet their teachers and the class officially began.

Three hours later and the twins were hunched over the podium with a raging headache. Their first-class after attendance, Mathematics, went horribly as their students didn't know anything about fractions despite it being their third year and Nitta-sensei was about to assign them a mountain of work. The third class, English, was met with the class trying to play strip poker and calling it ‘studying’ but Sage stopped it by threatening the girls to punish them through standing the hallway with bricks in the bucket. Then they watched Seruihiko-sensei try to teach the students in his usual kind voice but they blew him to the wind with their antics. When lunch arrived the twin collapsed on the podium and questioned their life decisions.

“Umm. Do Springfield-senseis want a drink?”

The twins looked up and saw Makie stand before them with two juice boxes in her hands. They accepted the juice with smiles and drank it happily. However, they couldn’t fully enjoy the drinks because a dark figure came to them.

Mana looked at the twins with her arms crossed and her eye revealing pure rage. She lowly growled, “If you do anything to endanger anyone,” She leaned in close to stare into Sage’s eyes. “I will gladly place a bullet in your hearts again.”

Negi yawned, infuriating Mana. “Please do. I need another bullet to sample the curse on it. The last bullet you put in me is actually helping me out.”

She paused then scoffed, “Like that curse can help anyone.”

He smirked, “You act like you are the only one that wants to curse me. Your curse is great at counteracting others. Without your curse, I wouldn’t be able to live.”

Sage didn't comment about their banter but silently passed Negi a few un-descriptive pills. He kept eye contact with the gunslinger when he dry swallowed then gave her a shining smile. She snorted in his face then sat back in her seat, her eyes still trained on the twins. As soon as she sat on her chair, Kazumi slid next to her with her trusty recorder on.

“Tatsumiya-san, may I ask why you seem so hostile towards Springfield Negi and Sage?” Most of the class chatter became whispers after hearing her question as they were curious too.

The dark-haired female turned off the recorder and answered, “When I was young, I was in a war. I had to fight to keep myself alive and make sure I never starve. They were my rivals back then, especially Sage. I will always remember those times.” During this, never took her eyes off the twins.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

“Oh, what war was it?” Kazumi asked, her curiosity peaked.

“The Micronesia-Iran-South America Conflict, also known as the Flaron War or MISC.”

Kazumi tapped her chin. “I heard that conflict being the worst war without bombs in history. Hundreds of millions were affected. I would not have expected that you and our senseis were survivors of the war.” She earned a grunt for her efforts.

The twins laid there, barely acknowledging Mana’s censored version of their past history. Honestly, they were too tired to talk about their history and just wanted to enjoy their fruit juice. The information was interesting to many students in the class like Kaede, Evangeline, and Asuna. However, it was extremely worrying to one Lingshen Chao as she gazed at the twins with an unreadable expression.

Kazumi waved her hand and asked, “Does anyone else know our senseis’ past?”

She looked at Zazie and the white-haired girl looked back. They stayed in a staring contest for a few seconds until Kazumi turned her attention on to Misora who was biting her fingers. “Misora-san!” She yelled, startling the girl. “Do you know anything?”

Misora stared at Kazumi with a blank expression then blurted, “What?”

The redhead took that awkward response as a ‘no’ and moved on to Ku. She was about to ask the foreign student but she gave her a predatory stare that told her to stop. She swiftly backed up from the blonde then searched for another student she could bother.

Hakase Satomi muttered under her breath, “Why bother with the boring one twins when they have an intellectually capable sister?”

Unfortunately, the excited redhead did not hear that juicy piece of information and had to sit down after none of her other classmates knew any extra information about the twins. Shortly afterward, the twins had to watch their students totally ignore three teachers for another three hours. They wished that free study would be much better than their prior experiences.

Their time to shine again came and the twins stood at the podium overlooking their girls. The bags under Negi’s eyes were worse and he looked close to collapsing at this point while Sage eyes were glazed over, probably napping with her eyes open. Negi announced, “We are fully capable of helping you in any subject so please don't feel scared to ask for help.”

Ku raised her hand then waved the English assignment they gave her. “I no read it~ aru.”

Sage sighed then pulled a spare chair to the girl’s table. “I forgot how bad you are at learning languages. It took you a week to learn ‘hello’ in English.” The Chinese girl chuckled then began working under her teacher’s guidance.

Negi began to wander the rows and look at his students’ work, correcting them when he noticed an issue. He had to stop and give a certain set of twins a long rant about not creating prank plans on their homework and they should focus on their homework. Then he arrived at Kaede’s table.

Kaede’s assignment was complete but her eyes were slightly open, alarming the new teacher. She waved him down and whispered in his ear, “You have a bit of a problem, Crimson.”

He patted her shoulder. "I'm glad you are taking these classes seriously but your hobbies are time-consuming. I suggest you take a break soon." He continued down the rows, joyfully chatting with some students and trying to aid others. He secretly noted any shift of mana as he engaged with them.

Time passed by quickly and before he knew it the bell rang. Half the class sprinted pass the twin teachers and ran to their next activity, loudly chatting on their way out. His eyes caught sight of Evaliagen staring at him while she walked away from the room. She smirked at him, turning her sights to the full moon dully hanging in the mid-afternoon sky.

“E-eto. Springfield-sensei?” He broke sight with the vampire and turned his attention to the meek purpled haired girl standing in front of him. Nodoka’s head was down and a deep blush covered her cheeks. “I'm-made a coupon book for you.” She bowed while presenting the booklet.

He gently patted her head then received the booklet. Sage slide next to him and stared at the well-made book. “Thank you for the present. I love it.” They responded at the same time. Negi continued, “This booklet will allow us to find places to shop. Maybe we could shop together in the future.”

Nodoka flinched back with a squeak. Haruna was standing behind her and caught the smaller girl. They could see her face turn from slightly red or deep, bright red in seconds before she fainted in her arms. Haruna shifted Nodoka into a princess carry while grinning at Yue. Yue stepped up to the teachers and gave each of them a juice box while saying, “We will be happy to go shopping with you Springfield-senseis.” They left with a jovial aura, enjoying the outcome of the situation.

The twins turned to the students still in their classroom. Asuna came forwards and gave Negi a brief, slightly aggressive thank you before moving herself to the door frame. Shortly after her, Konoe came and gave both twins a big hug.

“Thank you for helping Asuna-chan. She is really bad at studying and I can tell you taught her better than any other teacher. We might not be the last place class this year.” She pumped her fist, gave them a little wave and joined her embarrassed friend. The twins waved them off to their next event.

Ku slid out of her sit and confronted Misora, alarming the nun with her closeness. “Oi. You can I can become stronger, yes?”

Misora stammered while gripping her cross, “W-what you mean Fei-san?”

Sage patted her blond on the head and explained, “She is asking if you are willing to spar with her in a magic battle. She has a pactio but due to unforeseen circumstances, she has not been able to practice with it. Your light magic would be a good obstacle for her and we would need another healer. Negi and I can be battle maniacs.”

The brunette stared at them for a moment then sighed, “I agree to your request. I am curious about your abilities and I have not found a sturdy reference for my own power. Please treat me well.”

“Of course, just prepare your healing.