Party Part 2 Awkward

That evening, Max showed up with Mana and Kaede. Dressed nicely but not overly so. No sense in going to such extremes when its a welcome party. He was suprised at the turnout. All of his students from the class and all the students he tutored were in attendance.

"Welcome Mr.Max." The students said all togethor. A few teachers were baffled but said nothing since the students were respectful. At most, they should have called him Mr.Springfield. But it was a preference at that point.

"Who is Max?" A voice of a teen came out confused. She was accompanied by another. It was Nekane his cousin and the childhood friend of the original Negima. Looking at Max with a sense of confusion. "What is going on?"

"A party. Do mind your words carefully. It would be a shame if you cause trouble for yourself." Max subdued a chuckle. The Dean most likely invited them for something. To pull some plans out or another weird action by the Council. Either way, it would be ignored or dealt with harshly. "Enjoy yourself and talk later. I will not bail you out if you cause trouble."

Nekane had to take into the fact it was mostly just an ordinary environment. Not all of the students knew of magic. And still was bad to reveal real magic without thought.

"But.."

"Do not cause trouble for my students." Max walked up and gave them a pat on the head. The smile he had on his face caused the two to blush. Something about "Negi" to them seemed more mature and dashing. But what they heard made him more dangerous. "They are... very vulnerable currently. As a Teacher, my job is to educate students. Which you two youngins fall under. That is all."

"Ok.." Nekane nodded. 'Maybe they were mistaken? He seems as gentle as always. Seeing him older than us is weird. But what is the strange feeling I have?' She gripped her chest tightly. A strange turmoil taking route there.

"Come try these dishes!" One of the students called Max. A few already grabbed his sleeves pulling him over. "Honest opinion!"

"Ok." Max gave a smirk as he started sampling things. He made a note to make sure the shrimp and beef would be added to his plate again. "So much food!" A smile on his face made the students happy.

"Make sure you try the desserts to." The twins said together. "We made them ourselves."

"Ok. Just let me try this first." As Max ate food a few spells were cast on him from those mix in.

A few students probed him as well as a few adults that were with the students. Parents and guardians. One, in particular, made it very known that he was doing so.

Ayaka got the others to settle down and enjoy themselves. Max moved over to get more food and made his way to the blatant spell caster.

"Eishun Aoyama of the Kansai Magic Association. Never thought I would meet you so soon." Max greeted the tall man. He was Konoka Konoe's father. A tall Japanese man with a lot of martial talent. As well as magic. Part of Nagi's group that fought in the war. "Or is it Eishun Konoe you go by now?"

"Hehe, the later." Eishun shook hands formally. only slightly put off by the words and appearance of the other. "You look a lot like him." Seeing the distaste on Max's face he regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. "Thank you for taking such care of my daughter."

By the veranda, Konoka was talking with a few students from another class. The door was opened for safety. Kaede was nearby watching as she ate a few treats she grabbed.

"She is my student so why not. It would be great if you stop by every now and then and talk to her. Build a relationship before the fools part of the Kansai Magic Association, get to cause problems." Max cut right to the chase. Eishun turned serious the moment they were mentioned. "More love for the group than your kin. How remarkable a man you are as a father. I could learn so much from you."

It was not said in a flattering way.

"Not at all." Eishun rubbed his head sheepishly. Not really knowing how to refute anything. "Mr. Springfield, I sent my daughter to Mahora to be closer to her mother's side of the family is all."

"Pftt." Max leered at him behind his cup. "To lie is such a bad habit. Such a bad habit." A small sip as he scanned the room. A few members of Kansai watched the two talk. "You married into your arranged wife's family to reduce the strain. But it was just a small patch-up. A child produced with no love and just a future bargaining piece. Such a disgusting act from her family. I wonder how many tears she would cry if she knew the truth?"

"That is not true at all." Eishun said defensively. "I implore you not to spread any rumors."

"Yum!" Max ate a chocolate tart. He licked his lips at the white sauce on it. "If you say so. I will take that into account. But be warned.." Max loaded up one of every dessert. "..as long as she is my student, she is under my protection. I will just kill the Kansai members that cause problems. Like the few trying to weasel around right now."

*Brrrp!* A green wave of magic caused the members that probed his mind and checked him over to become sick. A toxin carried by the wind that infected their bloodstreams brutally.

"Wait!" Eishun said loudly. A few guests looked over at the man weirdly. His outburst was very unlike him. "Haha.. ha sorry everyone. I just wanted to ask him something that I remembered."

"Excuse me leader.." A member of his staff came up. She was slightly pale-faced. She leaned in to whisper to him. "..something is wrong. A lot of our people look unwell all of a sudden." Eishun panicked a little but stopped when he thought it over. No way would Max kill a bunch of people at his own party.

Would he?

"They must have eaten to fast." Eishun made the excuse and rounded them up one by one.

Evangeline came over to Max who moved towards Mana.

"Enjoying yourself?"

"Yes, I am actually. Despite present company." Mana said brusquely. "I do not trust these Kansai members." She gave a glare before turning towards Chao who came over. "Trouble is headed your way."

"Nonsense, I doubt she tries anything." Evangeline said.

"To poison them.. what were you thinking?" Chao questioned Max. His smirk annoyed her greatly. "I gave them something to tide them over. It will not be fatal." Her tone was slightly arrogant. She was expecting Max to be a little off-put by her actions. But he was not bothered in any way.

"No kidding. Now they will come to you with all kinds of questions and watch your every move. Thank you." Max smiled smugly. "Your little treatment is temporary if I just mutter a little spell to entice. It is called..." Thumbing his chin he had to remember what it was.

"Decayed air." Kaede said. She stared at Max incredulously. "How did you spread it through the entire room without catching anyone you didn't want?"

"Easy once you get to the later levels. Have you already gotten that far in your training?" Max did not expect her to get that far until at least another year. Kaede gave a nod. "Browsing or learned?"

"I browsed it to mark what I should look for in my training now." Kaede said just as Anna came over with Asuna. "I will look more into it later. Excuse me." Mana walked off with her. Leaving an amused Chao, Evangeline, and Max.

"Yes?" Max asked Anna.

"You seem mighty close with them. Not very good for you to be that close with your students."

"Told you he was a perv.."

*Whack!* Max delivered a chop to Asuna's neck so fast she didn't finish her statement. Chao and Evangeline blinked in shock. The others didn't catch a thing.

"I told you about that. Next time.. it will hurt a lot more." Max walked away. Leaving Evangeline to tend to the choking Asuna. Chao felt fear for a second.

'I could barely keep up with that strike. He is even stronger than when we fought.' Chao already started massaging Asuna by the throat. Her hands glowed faintly to heal the damage. To the party-goers, she looked to have just been choking.

"What just happened?" Anna looked on confused. She felt she just missed something important. Instead of going after Max, she helped with Asuna. 'This magic... this girl Chao uses, I haven't seen anything like it.'

A few members of the Kansai group looked on with interest.

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-Two Hours later-

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Max was out on the Veranda for some fresh air. A few of his tutored students had to go. A few goodbyes and a talk about the different foods. As soon as they were gone, Nekane made her way to Max.

"Negi.. what happened to you?"

"Magic. So how are the prosthetic legs?" Sipping from his glass he eyed her fake legs. She lost them years ago to a curse cast on the village once lived in. But the magical ones looked to be ok. "Want your real legs back?"

"You can do that Negi?" Nekane couldn't believe how different he was. First his age then the way he acted. Almost a completely different person almost. "No, that can wait till later. Heard you have acted very rude to some people and the magic council."

"If they need your help, you should do it." Anna came over. As his childhood friend, she spoke very openly with him. She made her way over with Evangeline following behind. The latter looking not too happy. "Evangeline says you have your own way of doing things but still. What kind of Magi will you be at this rate."

"My own kind. Since it is my life." Max gave a smirk. "Now, back up. You are in my personal space." He pushed her back by the forehead. The girl was really too close to him. He could even feel her breathing on him.

"Ouch!" She grabbed her forehead from the force. "You big jerk!"

"You are more aggressive and nothing like how you were before you left." Nekane said quietly. "Nothing like the Negi we know."

"You are right. It is Max. Even had it changed legally finally." Max showed his ID. It was very easy to do so. Legal things did help a lot in the long run. No need to always use magic. "So if you keep calling me that, I will not answer. It is quite rude."

"But it is the name your mother gave you." Nekane said in disbelief. Max just shrugged. The feeling of turmoil swirling even more so in the girl. "We need to take you back home! Something is really wrong."

"Yeah, that's right." Anna added in.

*Warble!* A bit of magic wrapped around the two.

"Freeze." Max cast the spell. The girl froze in place completely. Anna resisted a bit. But it took her concentrating to keep from falling under the effects. "In the next few seconds, your body will slow to a stop almost freezing you for eternity. I tried being nice about it, but no dice. If you cause problems for me again, it will not be pretty."

"Max... are you sure about this?" Evangeline asked.

"She just tried to abduct me. Several laws that were just broken in the last few minutes by this brat. Mind reading was not that bad since she couldn't break through. I could have reflected it back and learned all her secrets. But that would just be rude. Right?" Max walked pass and couldn't help himself. "Enjoy your life. Never contact me again."

"Haaa." The Dean, Konoemon watched everything unfold calmly. He couldn't help to sigh at the Council's ploy to get to him through family. "I had nothing to do with this Max. Hope you enjoyed the party at least."

"Oh yes, worth it completely." Max had a smile on his face. "The beef was amazing. I will have to try it myself later cold. Just to see if it changes in taste a lot."

"Umm, Mr.Max.." Konoka ran up with the book he gave her. ".. ha..ha. The book is something else." She stopped to gather her breath. "But everyone that picked it up, says they can not read it."

"Only certain people can read it. Duh." Max said with a smile. "Be careful little bird. Not all are your friends. More enemies than anything else."

"I know." Konoka smiled happily. "But I have a great teacher and friends to look out for me." Max just waved as he moved away. "You ok grandpa?" She had to wonder why so many people looked a little unsettled.

"Oh yes! Just thinking of old matters." The old dean caught that Max literally shifted emotional lanes very easily just then. 'My granddaughter may just be safe around him truly, I should keep that in mind when the Magic Council acts up.'

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-The Clean up crew-

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Max made it over to those who did the majority of the cooking. Madoka Kugimya, Kakizaki Misa, Sakurako Shina, and Akira Okichi. The first three parts of the cheerleading club. The last part of the swim team. The teens were cleaning things up.

"And the hard workers are at it already." Max rolled up his sleeves and helped them clean up. "No reason to not help you right?"

"Thanks Max!" The four beamed. Out of the students, they were some of the members he talked the least to. They did not need tutoring and just really kept up with schoolwork and social activities.