Lover's bliss...interrupted, of course.

When they woke up a few hours later, they smiled at each other and reflected on what they had just done. Chamo had managed to tear himself away from Nodoka just before she woke up and was pretending to sleep.

Negi: Nodoka....that was incredible.

Nodoka: You were amazing, Negi-sensei. But...can I ask you something?

Negi: Anything at all.

Nodoka: Is it normal for mages to have...sex with their partners?

Negi: Well...yes, in a way. A lot of partners end up married to each other, and i can only assume they have ahem sex at some point.

Nodoka: M-m-m-m-m-MARRIED!??!

Her face went from post-sex-flush to crimson. Married. The words and idea swirled through Nodoka's head. She wasn't Negi's only partner, so the odds weren't in her favor.

Nodoka, thinking: I'm not the cutest of Negi-sensei's partners, and i'm sure he likes someone else more than me. Still...maybe Negi-sensei and i could end up....

Negi: Well...we're still a bit young to be thinking about that, don't you think?

Nodoka: What?

Negi: I'm sorry, but you looked kind of lost in thought, so i read your mind to see why. Please forgive me.

Nodoka: It's...it's alright. It's not the first time you've been inside me in one way or another, after all.

Negi looked at her surprised. Had Nodoka just made a joke? And a sexual one at that? He blinked twice, but joined in when Nodoka giggled.

Negi: I don't think i've ever heard you make a joke, Nodoka.

Nodoka: I don't make many of them.

Negi: Well, i'm honored to have heard one of them. It's like getting hold of a rare collector's item.

Nodoka: Hee-hee!

Negi, thinking: I must have been in that trance too long. i'd forgotten how cute Nodoka's laugh is.

Nodoka: Negi-sensei? Where were you this summer? and why do you look the same age as all of us?

Negi: Oh! That's right! I never did tell you girls where i'd been, did i? Well, i've always thought that most of you girls looked at me as more of a little brother or even a joke instead of a teacher.

Nodoka: What?! No! What gave you that idea?!

Negi: Oh, i dunno. My first day, all the times someone playfully ruffled my hair, every time someone called me 'Negi-bozu'. Things like that. So, i decided that i wouldn't be a kid-teacher anymore. I would become an adult and teach you as equals. So, i climbed to the top-most branch of the World Tree and put myself into an age-accelerating trance. In one summer, i aged three years, and caught up to all of you girls. I did miss spending the summer with you all, but i think now the school year will go much more smoothly now.

Nodoka sat silently.

Nodoka: Negi-sensei....None of us thought of you like that. You were more like a friend than a little brother. And you weren't a joke! We all respected you! I mean, of course it was a little..strange that our class was being taught by a 10-year-old, but once we got to know you, you were more mature than most of us.

Negi: Then...then my summer in a trance was wasted!?

Nodoka: Well...not totally. I mean, if you were still three years younger than me, we never would have....done what we did...

Negi: You're right. And i'm glad we did it.

Nodoka: Me too!

One week later...

Negi and Nodoka ended up going on their date, though it didn't go as well as the last one. They ended up having tea, blushing and looking down a lot and kissing once, quickly. Somehow, it was still a highlight of Nodoka's life. In class, Eva and Chachamaru skipped a lot, coming in only once. That day, Eva kept grinning at Negi, making him fumble with his speech and chalk. Seven days after the first Nodoka incident, Negi passed by a group of students (not his own) in the hallways. He paid it no mind until he heard one of them say...

Student 1: i heard it attacked Jun Yamaoka last night!

Student 2: you mean...?!

Student 1: yeah. the chupacabra!

Negi stopped dead in his tracks at the mention of chupacabra.

Negi, thinking: Chupacabra? There shouldn't be anything like that around here. Aren't they mostly in South America? I remember hearing that they hunt mostly livestock, too, not people. They stay hidden until no one's around then they....no!

Negi ran across campus to Eva's cabin and found it empty.

Negi: No....how could she...?

His DNA!! She had gotten some of it! Was that the same as drinking his blood!? How could he have been so stupid?! He ran to the dean's office and asked if he'd seen Eva or Chachamaru.

Dean Konoe: Chachamaru has been here everyday asking about the state of the barrier that keeps Evangeline here, but that's normal. Though, come to think of it, Evangeline herself hasn't been around for about three days....I wonder where she's gone to? Hm? Negi-kun?

Negi was just running out the door when dean Konoe looked up.

Konoe: Hm.

Negi searched campus frantically until he found who he was after.

Negi: ASUNAAA!!

Asuna turned.

Asuna: What is it?

Negi, panting: Asuna....it's Evangeline! She's....i think she's escaped!

Asuna: Escaped?

Negi: Gotten through the magical barrier.

Asuna: What?! How?!

He explained about Nodoka, Eva and the conditions of Eva's release from the prison of Mahora. Asuna struggled to find what to comment on first.

Asuna: So, why'd you come to me? Let her go. Good riddance. Having a vampire on campus is too weird for me.

Negi: You don't understand! Now she's loose! She could prey on the entire world unless we stop her!

Asuna: We?