Disclaimer: I don't own Negima! Magister Negi Magi or Ranma ½

Rise of Prodigies

Chapter Twenty Five: Sayo's Debut - A Friendly Ghost Story

Beta:

Kazumi was sitting in her dorm looking at her laptop as the data came in from the six small ovoid shaped camera golems conjured by her Pactio artifact, Reportatrix Denudans (Uncovering Reporter), and filled out a map of Mahora Academy's expansive campus on the program she'd downloaded and set up to receive their input with a little help from Hasegawa-san. It had cost her a pretty penny and a promise to not reveal to the rest of the class that the misanthropic ginger was a closet computer wiz but it was totally worth it.

Especially since her help was allowing her to scout out the campus' grounds for her own personal hyper detailed map she had full intention of exploiting in her reporting. There were plenty of hidden shortcuts, passages, etc. that weren't on the official maps after all and discovering them would greatly improve her ability to grab scoops in the future. That and earn a tidy sum from selling such maps, sanitized versions of course, to visitors to the campus during the upcoming Mahora Festival. A windfall that would more than cover the cost for enlisting her classmate's help.

The best part of all this? The golems created by her artifact could pass for mundane drones. Something she'd tested with Hasegawa-san who hadn't even noticed their magical nature and merely commented on them having an eccentric shape. As such, she could do her mapping in broad daylight without the Kantō Magic Association getting on her case. Running away from Kuzunoha-sensei once was more than enough for her. Thank you very much!

Sure~! If Hasegawa-san had found something odd, she'd be liable to getting her memory wiped but that was totally avoidable. All the girl needed was to make a Pactio with Negi-sensei and viola! Problem solved. Kazumi couldn't help but smirk at the thought. Something that I don't think either of them would mind.

The automated nature of the mapping had given her the free time to research some of the various mysteries of campus. With so many schools on the grounds, each with their own unique collection of the typical Seven Mysteries, there were plenty to go around. Her plan was to collate them, mostly for her own curiosity but also to fill up a little guidebook to sell on the side with the map to visitors to the Festival. A little extra cash never hurt anyone after all.

There was however one mystery in particular that I am particularly curious about, Kazumi thought as she stared at the photo of the unfamiliar girl who was supposedly Seat 1 of her own class. Just who are you, Aisaka Sayo-san?

"Okay, there's gotta be something on who this Aisaka Sayo is here." Kazumi muttered as she flipped through the Kantō Magic Association's records on Mahora Academy's classes.

She might not have access to the full records still but as a magic user, she had access to more than the highly sanitized version available on the mundane side of things.

Though the Magic Association could really stand to sort their archives better. It had taken her hours and the help of a dozen demons summoned by her Oculus Kilrogg (Eye of Kilrogg) spell to find what she was looking for. The minor demons might have been little more than floating disembodied eyes but they were proving damned helpful, pun fully intended, in sorting through the mess of poorly filed documents that the magicians of Mahora maintained on their students.

"So this is it huh?" Kazumi said aloud as she flipped open the Association's copy of her class' register even as her summoned demons crowded over her shoulder to see what they'd been looking for was all about.

The first couple pages were a rather unhelpful photo register identical to the mundane one so Kazumi just flipped to the next page and hit paydirt.

Before she could start reading though, she had to take a moment to boop a demon. "Stop hanging on my shoulder, you."

Honestly, how rude.

"Seat 1, Aisaka Sayo," Kazumi read. "Born 1925!? What!? Is she another vampire like Eva-sama!?"

As one the demons all shook their heads, which since they were all just one big eye was a really creepy shaking of their whole bodies.

"Okay, not a vampire, but a supernatural something, right?"

They all bobbed in a nod. Still creepy. But one of them helpfully floated down to nod at a line in the remarks.

Kazumi looked at where her demon was indicating and for a moment frowned at the hefty redactions. She'd learned enough about handling magical documents since starting this investigation to know the hidden content would be available if she was properly keyed in but apparently whoever this Aisaka-san was, tons of stuff about her were classified. For a moment, she was intrigued about what those secret details were. But that distraction only lasted a moment as she saw what exactly her demon was pointing at.

"She's a ghost? And she's haunting our class!?"

"You know Tatsumiya-san when I heard that you part timed as a shrine maiden I didn't believe it," Kazumi said by way of greeting as she walked up to her classmate at the shrine where she worked.

"And why is it so hard to believe?" The half Puerto Rican girl said with a roll of her eyes before glaring at one of Kazumi's summoned demons which was hovering just above her head whilst invisible, a neat little trick of their kind that had greatly enamoured them to the would be reporter. "And did you have to send your invisible demons to hunt me down? Wouldn't your artifact's golems be better?"

"My golems are busy. They're still mapping out the campus. Besides I can summon more of these guys," Kazumi explained with a shrug before reaching to tickle the demon over Tatsumiya-san's head. "And I can look through their eyes just as easily as I can with my golems."

"I suppose," Tatsumiya-san with a frown. "But do be more careful with your use of them and any other information gathering magic you might have learned. People tend to be sensitive about mages using stuff like that."

"Negi-sensei said the same thing. I'll be careful." Kazumi reassured her.

"See that you do," Tatsumiya-san said with a decisive nod. "Now why have you sought me out Asakura-san?"

"Did you know that we have a ghost for a classmate?"

"Yes, I knew about Aisaka-san. Why?"

"Doesn't that freak you out? Shouldn't we exorcise her or something?"

"Why? I wasn't paid to do so nor has she done anything malicious to our class. Or for that matter the past iterations of the A-class since she started haunting it."

The simple reply nearly made Kazumi trip, but she kept her footing thankfully. If she was gonna survive in the magical world, she couldn't let every little thing surprise her. Or at least not let it show when it did. Otherwise, she'd never stop getting flustered.

"So we just leave her alone?"

Tatsumiya-san turned to look up in the sky for some reason before turning back to Kazumi.

Kazumi followed her action and thought she might have seen the indistinct outline of a girl, but the sight disappeared from her view so quickly that she might've just imagined it.

"Yes," Tatsumiya-san nodded. "As you can see for yourself, Aisaka-san is no threat."

Kazumi hadn't actually seen anything, but she did get the point her classmate was trying to make.

"Well, you seem to be an expert, it is why I came to ask you in the first place, so I'll believe you on that." Kazumi decided with a nod. "It's getting late. I'm gonna grab dinner. See you later."

Nodding in way of reply, Tatsumiya-san turned back to sweeping the shrine grounds like she had been before Kazumi arrived.

Rolling her eyes at her classmate's lack of a proper goodbye, Kazumi turned on her heel and left. Unbeknownst to her leaving a very excited ghost behind her.

Excitement danced through Sayo's spectral form. A broad smile spread across her face as she clapped her hands, yet no sound escaped at their connection. Yet, she didn't care, she was ecstatic, elated!

"They can see me! Some of them can see me!" Sayo cheered excitedly for what felt like the thousandth time as she fluttered about the 3-A classroom that served as the lingering ghost's home. "I wonder if the others can too?"

Sayo had never actually tried to be seen. Having resigned herself to a life of loneliness since discovering the living couldn't see or hear her early on in her unlife. In fact, she hadn't even known any of the living could see her. But now that she did…

"I have to try!"

Turning to see that several of her classmates were still there, despite school having been over hours ago, working on the class' haunted house attraction for the upcoming Mahora Festival, Sayo felt there was no time like the present to put her new conviction to the test.

"I can't just try talking to them like normal," Sayo concluded. "That never works. So I've gotta try something different, but wha-"

She didn't finish the sentence as a sense of otherworldly knowing, like instinct but not, settled into her mind and she knew exactly what she needed to do.

Ako ran a hand through her cyan hair tiredly, as she continued filling out the paperwork for their class' event for the festival at Class Rep's behest. Most of it was safety regulations which Ako was knowledgeable about due to working part time at the nurse's office where she part timed as the school nurse's assistant. It was this knowledge that had led to her being assigned by unanimous agreement of the class to handle all such matters.

Ako honestly didn't mind. It did make sense considering her experience with it, but it did get tiring handling so much paperwork at times.

"Class Rep, can we take a break?" Natsumi-san asked as she and Makie-san finished hanging up the last of the ceiling mounted decorations.

"Not yet, Natsumi-san! We haven't met our deadline for today yet! Izumi-san, how goes the safety guidelines?"

"Oh come on Class Rep!" One of the Narutaki twins said from behind a styrofoam wall divider they were putting up. Without seeing her face, Ako simply could not tell which twin had spoken, they sounded too much alike. "We've been working non stop for hours already!"

"We need a few more safety tape lines class rep." Ako informed the elegant blonde girl, ignoring the others' banter. "Mostly towards the end of the maze area. Also, we need to move the ghost attraction away from the fire escape for obvious reasons."

"We put it there? Ugh, I swore I cleared the area!" Class Rep frowned and marched over to the site. Ako frowned as there was someone already there, maybe? It was hard to tell.

"Excuse me, but the ghost attraction is near the exit just like Izumi-san said." An unfamiliar girl who Ako swore hadn't been there just a second ago said suddenly.

"And who are you exact… ly…" Class Rep began in her typical confrontational way before cutting off and freezing in place as her hand went through the girl.

The girl, ghost, whatever, turned around, with a terrifying smile on its face and tears of blood running down her face.

Ako felt her body freeze, her breath hitching as her hemophobia paralyzed her.

"W-What's with those looks?" The ghost said. It might have sounded nervous, if not for coming out in a voice that reminded Ako of nails being dragged across a chalkboard.

"G-Ghost!" Makie-san shrieked, setting everyone off as everyone else just started screaming too.

"No wait! I mean you all no harm!" The ghost said in a blood curdling screech even as she animated all the half-finished costumes and decor that littered the classroom and sent them at Ako and her classmates.

Ako ran out of there as fast as she could, the others right there beside her.

"That could've gone better," Sayo said, fighting back tears as her classmates fled from her presence.

"It really could've," the voice of Asakura-san said from outside the window and Sayo spun to see one of her camera golems floating there. "Maybe try not to scare them next time?"

"You can see me properly now?" Sayo asked hopefully, the earlier disaster temporarily forgotten.

"Uh, not really. Sorry. You're still a little indistinct." Asakura admitted apologetically. "But I can hear you just fine now. Through my golem at least. Couldn't do that before now."

"Oh," Sayo said, with a slight pout.

Don't get her wrong. It was an improvement and thus greatly welcome but just being heard and not seen just wasn't the same.

"So, um, weren't you going to have dinner? I heard you telling Tatsumiya-san that earlier." Sayo asked curiously, changing the topic. "Why are you free to talk to me now?"

"That was like hours ago, Aisaka-san." Kazumi-san said, sounding surprised. "I was done with dinner ages ago. Guess being a ghost messes with your perception of time?"

"It does sometimes," Sayo admitted with a nod, recalling how sometimes decades felt like minutes and hours like years as she drifted aimlessly through unlife. "So, um, why is your golem here though? I thought you mapped the school already."

"You know a lot of what we are up to huh? Should've expected that from an invisible ghost." Kazumi said offhandedly. "And yeah, I'm done with the school. I sent the golem to try spotting you actually. Was hoping I had better luck seeing you through it than with my naked eye. And I was right, it did."

"I'm glad," Sayo said with a smile.

"I can see that," Asakura-san said in person as she stepped into the class. "I still can't see you very clearly but that smile of yours? That I can see perfectly."

Sayo blushed crimson at that.

"Pretty blush," Asakura-san teased.

"Asakura-san~!"

The redhead chuckled goodnaturedly.

"Okay, I'll stop teasing you Aisaka-san." The living girl said as she picked up one of the fallen decorations. "So let's get started shall we?"

"Started with what?" Sayo asked, blinking in confusion.

"Fixing the mess you accidentally made of course." Asakura-san said with a grin. "If we did that, I'm sure we can buy some favor back from those girls you scared half to death. Think of it as part of your apology."

"Oh!" Sayo said with a happy grin as she picked up one of the decorations and floated up to the ceiling to secure it back where it should be. "Let's start then!"

Asakura-san giggled at her enthusiasm but nevertheless joined in to help, something Sayo greatly appreciated. She was making a friend! For the first time since she died, she was making a friend! Hooray!

Kazumi had just reached her dorm building after helping Sayo-san, the ghost had insisted they call each other by their first names by the end of their time together, when suddenly Makie-san appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her arm

"Come on Asakura-san! Class Rep is calling an emergency meeting!"

"Huh? Why?" Kazumi asked, even if she had a pretty good idea.

She'd seen the whole fiasco through her camera golem after all. She'd initially only sent it to try and spot Sayo-san to see if she could get a photo or some other evidence of her existence so she could sell a story about her to one of Mahora's tabloids for a quick buck or two, but then she'd seen the poor ghost's failed attempt at communicating with her classmates.

And like the bleeding heart I am, I just had to go help her. A cynical part of Kazumi chided her as she tiredly allowed the energetic gymnast to drag her into one of the study halls that were scattered throughout the dorm building and which was now full of 3-A students.

Most of them looked either confused why they were there like Negi-sensei and his roommates or annoyed that they were like Hasegawa-san who someone had miraculously been able to drag out of her dorm room. Thankfully, Ranma-san seemed on hand to keep her volatile friend from blowing her top at being pulled away from whatever the computer wiz got up to inside the privacy of her room. Eva-sama didn't seem too upset about her girlfriend's distraction thankfully, though the fact Ranma-san and her were squeezed together on a single chair might have something to do with that. Thank heavens for the room being overcrowded for justifying that. A Eva-sama going all tsun tsun because she wasn't getting enough attention from Ranma-san was terrifying!

"Class Rep," Negi-sensei said when he saw Kazumi walk in. "Everyone is here now. Could you tell us why you called us all here?"

"Of course, Negi-sensei! There has been a terrible development! Our classroom has become haunted by a vicious spirit!"

At her exclamation, the rest of the class who weren't there when Aisaka-san messed up murmured and whispered, but the others recounted what happened and corroborated what the wealthy heiress said.

"We will need to hire a priest, or someone who can exorcise the spirit." The Class Rep stated firmly. "We cannot work with it haunting the classroom, let alone allow it to stay for the festival! I will not have it!"

More murmurs and shouts of agreement followed this, but Kazumi felt the need to speak up.

"You can't do this!" Kazumi shouted in defense of her new friend. "Sayo-san didn't do anything wrong! By your own admission of what she said, all she did was try to communicate with you!"

"You weren't there, Asakura-san." Izumi-san said with a shudder. "She might've said she wasn't trying to hurt us, but… No, the scary way she did it… She was lying! She was really trying to scare us to death!"

"She must have wanted to kill us and provide her company in the afterlife." Makie-san said with a nod. "That's what ghosts do, right?"

The others who Sayo-san had inadvertently scared all nodded.

Shit! They've convinced themselves. There's no way to convince them they're wrong now. They're too stubborn for it.

"No need for a priest, Class Rep." Tatsumiya-san said as she pushed off the wall she'd been leaning against. "I'm a shrine maiden. I think I can handle a petty ghost. So long as you pay me my fee of course."

"Name your price, Tatsumiya-san and I'll match it." Class Rep replied enthusiastically.

I-I can't let this happen… I need a plan! Kazumi thought as she stood frozen at the door where she'd been standing the whole meeting.

"Asakura, you can use your training partners. Go fix this." Eva-sama said as she walked past on the way out with an annoyed look on her face. Probably seeing this as a waste of time to her. "I will not like it if I'm the only undead left in our class by the end of the day. Got it, little paparazzi?"

Why did that feel like a threat of death by training if she failed?

"You best hurry Asakura-san," Chacharmaru-san said as she trailed after her master. "It seems Class Rep is already planning how she intends to proceed."

"Right!" Kazumi nodded in thanks to the gynoid at the reminder. "I've got to get to work too!"

With that she went in search of her training partners. She had a ghost to save.

"So Tatsumiya-san is leading Class Rep, Izumi-san, Natsumi-san, Makie-san and the Narutaki twins as part of their exorcism team?" Kazumi asked Ranma-san as they and some of the others the reporter had recruited to save Sayo-san sat in their classroom.

"I've never dealt with a ghost before. It feels so exciting!" Konoka-san chirped, holding some Buddhist prayer beads and a toy wand.

Showing some good sense, the Dean's granddaughter had seemingly foregone using her staff tonight. Thank heavens! Explaining away that overly ornate thing would be hell.

"Konoka-san, we're here to save Sayo-san. Why do you have prayer beads?" Ranma-san asked.

"Just in case some other spirit tries to come along! You can never be too prepared!" The bubbly brunette said with a serious look, her face scrunched up in determination.

"It's a good policy. Some things we did have ended up sideways." Negi-sensei pointed out, making Ranma-san nod in agreement.

"If another spirit shows up, I'll protect you Kono-chan." Setsuna-san informed her Magister and girlfriend loyally. "My Shinmei-ryū is perfect for dealing with spirits."

"Okay, so we have that side of things covered." Kazumi said, rolling her eyes. What was the likelihood of another spirit barging into this mess anyways?

"But how are we going to solve the problem of helping Sayo-san communicate with the others?" Kazumi asked, looking at all the mages present in turn.

Everybody shook their heads or made some other negative expression.

"I can probably do something." Konoka-san said, "I've been going over some Eastern magic scripts that Oji-sama lent me to study. Stay to my roots and stuff. I can probably cast a spell that will help her be more corporeal."

"Or your positive healing magic would accidentally exorcise Sayo-san." Ranma-san told her fellow apprentice pointedly, causing the usually bubbly girl to wince. "Better not. Not if you're not sure about it."

"I don't want to die for keeps yet!" Sayo-san wailed and floated away from Konoka-san. "I haven't even kissed a boy!"

"We can all see and hear her just fine now," Negi-sensei said with a contemplative frown. "Maybe if we duplicate whatever let her do that with magical people she can manage to reach mundanes too?"

"Except we don't know what she did to achieve it," Ranma-san reminded him with a sigh. "Unless you have a clue, Aisaka-san?"

"Sorry, Ranma-san," Sayo-san with a sad shake of her head. "But no, I don't."

"Onee-sama!" A squirrel shaped golem with a built in speaker said as it rushed into the classroom. "They're here. Ukyo-san, Asuna-san, Nodoka, Yue and I will try to stall them but I don't know how long we can manage it. Especially since we have to be discreet with our magic and with Tatsumiya-san on their side. I don't think even Ukyo-san is gonna be enough to fend her off. You guys need to hurry!"

"Maybe we can out bid Class Rep?" Konoka-san offered weakly. "Tatsumiya-san is only in it for the money right?"

"Tatsumiya-san isn't that fickle a mercenary." Ranma-san said with a shake of her head. "She's made a deal, she'll stick to it till it runs its course."

"Great, a mercenary with standards." Kazumi grumbled.

"Then, I think we should go try and help try and stop Class Rep and the others." Konoka-san decided as she stood. "We aren't doing any good here."

"Ucchan will manage to hold them off for a bit I think." Ranma-san reassured. "But I do think that they might need some help."

Negi-sensei pondered the matter for a long moment before nodding.

"That might be our best option," he said with a tired sigh. "Let's go."

"I'll stay," Ranma-san said as the others moved to leave. "I might've something that could work. It's a last resort kinda thing, so let's hope I don't need to use it though."

Konoka-san looked about to ask what the petite redhead meant but the sounds of a nearby scuffle had her, Setsuna-san and Negi-sensei rushing out instead.

"So," Sayo-san said, looking at Ranma-san warily. "What kind of last resort do you have in mind, Ranma-san?"

"Well if all else fails, I can try and alter your Origin to make it easier for you to interact with others. I've never tried anything remotely close to that though so I'm not sure it could work."

"What's the worst that could happen?" Kazumi asked, feeling uneasy at the mere suggestion of something like that.

"It might just kill Aisaka-san if it fails," Ranma admitted.

"Only as a last resort," Sayo-san said with a nervous gulp.

That last resort seemed increasingly likely however as suddenly the door to the classroom was slammed open and Tatsumiya-san and Class Rep spilled in, with the rest of their crew somehow fending off the rest of Kazumi's friends and keeping them outside

"I'll handle this," Ranma-san said as she leapt towards the two. "Asakura-san, do something!"

With that Ranma-san tackled both of the new arrivals. Was Kazumi seeing things right and her fellow redhead's arms suddenly extended unnaturally and allowed her to wrap them around both taller, larger girls as she barrelled into them.

She must be using some kinda spell. Kazumi thought, before she blinked and the strange sight was gone, replaced with Ranma-san and a newly arrived Haruna-san wrestling with Tatsumiya-san and Class Rep.

"Asakura-san! Hurry! We can't hold them off much longer!" Haruna-san shouted as she barely kept Tatsumiya-san restrained with her magically enhanced strength.

I would if I knew what to do! This isn't a memory wipe, if it was then all I need is- That's it!

"Chamo-kun, set up a Pactio circle!" Kazumi ordered the ermine, who paused in watching the chaotic melee outside from his perch on a display board out in the hall and looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Nee-san, that's genius! Give me a second!" He cackled as he raced over to her side and proceeded to use a chalk he pulled from somewhere to draw the circle in record time.

Seriously, there had to be a sport for making those intricate things so fast. She had to look into that. But that's for later. For now, she had more urgent things to take care of.

"Sayo-san, let's form a Pactio. We'll kiss and that should create a magical contract between us and give you some kind of power boost that'll hopefully fix things. I dunno if it'll work but it's the only thing I can think of, so if you're game, just follow my lead."

"H-Hai," Sayo-san said as she floated over and with a brilliant blush on her face leaned in to peck Kazumi's puckered lips.

The bright light of a new Pactio being made blinded everyone, and when it faded a much more solid Sayo-san stood in place where she had just been hovering. She was still a little transparent, but there was a remarkable improvement from just a second ago.

"Let me see what you've got there." Chamo said as he hurriedly skittered up Sayo-san's shoulder -How? Kazumi had no idea.- and put a hand on the Pactio card that the ghost was cradling.

It glowed for a moment and the ermine fairy let out an appreciative whistle. "That was amazingly convenient."

"Umbra Invisibilis (Invisible Shadow)?" Sayo-san said as she looked down at her Pactio card with an adorable look of confusion.

"What does it do exactly?" Ranma-san asked.

How she managed to do that while still struggling with Class Rep was beyond Kazumi.

"Solve our problem, Ranma-nee!" Chamo-kun said as he cackled with glee whilst holding up a copy of the card. "This Pactio is boosting her natural ghostly powers making her rank as a ghost equal to that of one centuries old! With it, her new power set makes it easy as pie for her to both materialize and the ability to put herself in the memories of those around her like she's always been there."

Well that was amazing news!

"Sayo-san! Say Adeat!" Kasumi commanded.

"Adeat!" Sayo shouted enthusiastically, calling on the power of her Pactio with Kazumi-san.

Unlike with all the other Pactios she'd seen there was no materialization of an artifact. Instead, Sayo herself was transformed by the invocation as she shifted from her ghostly incorporeality into human tangibility.

"Aisaka-san?" Class Rep said suddenly, blinking in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

Sayo wasn't entirely sure what Class Rep remembered now that she had used her new powers to insert herself into her memories so she could only wing it.

I hope this works.

"Sorry for scaring you and the others earlier," Sayo said with a deep, apologetic bow.

"That was you?" Class Rep asked blinking in confusion for a moment before her eyes suddenly rolled into the back of their sockets and she collapsed.

"What ha-"

"It's just the memories you inserted settling in," Tatsumiya-san said with a sigh. "It'll take a while to settle. It's pretty stressful on the mind, so she passed out."

"It won't cause permanent harm?" Sayo asked worriedly.

"No," Tatsumiya-san reassured. "But it does mean my contract is a bust. I doubt she'll want to hurt you now that she thinks of you as a normal classmate."

"She'll still pay you," Ranma-san said with a shrug as she released Class Rep and prompted her sister to do the same for Tatsumiya-san. "She's fair like that."

"Still don't like not completing the job."

"Would you really have exorcised Sayo-san?" Kazumi-san asked, moving to stand between Sayo and Tatsumiya-san.

"I'd have tried." Tatsumiya-san said with a shrug. "At least enough to convince Class Rep. Exorcising a lingering ghost isn't easy and she'd have to have paid double what she did to get me to do it for real. Besides, I don't hurt my classmates."

Kazumi-san breathed a sigh of relief and Sayo offered Tatsumiya-san a smile.

"You're a good person, Tatsumiya-san." The ghost told the half-demon honestly.

"Thank hell for Pactios." Kazumi-san muttered before passing out.

"Kazumi-san!" Sayo cried out in alarm as she rushed to her friend's side.

"Take it easy, she's just zonked out." Chamo-san sniggered. "It's just magical exhaustion from forming the Pactio with her tiny magical reserves. I guess her first time was too much for her, ha!"

"Oh, but w-what if this happens again in the future?!" Sayo fretted even more so, unsure what to do. "Should I stop using it? I don't want to hurt Kazumi-san!"

"Nah, nah!" Chamo-san waved one of his cute little paws to ease her worry. "Given time and repeated use, much like a muscle, she'll get better at it. In fact, this Pactio will be good exercise for her. So long term? Huge benefits! It'll suck at the start, but that's what ya get for a new work out."

"I-I see." Sayo nodded.

I promise, Kazumi-san! I'll work really hard so you don't have to push yourself so hard for me ever again, I swear it! There was a strange shifting sensation as Sayo thought this, as the anchor for her unlife moved from the idea of the A-class of Mahora Academy Middle School for Girls to Kazumi-san. Thank you for giving me this chance! I'll protect you from now onwards.

The quiet tableau inside the classroom was shattered when Kagurazaka-san popped her head into the room.

"Great! One more person to carry back to the dorms." The orangette said as she surveyed the scene before her. "Like carrying the would-be exorcists outside wasn't bad enough."

"Oh, stop complaining Asuna," Konoka-san said as she walked in. "At least everything is over. It is, isn't it, Tatsumiya-san?"

The mercenary rolled her eyes, clearly tired of answering the question a second time, but nodded.

"Great! Then let's get everyone back to the dorms!" The Dean's granddaughter said with a happy clap. "It's late and everyone needs their rest for classes tomorrow!"

Everyone, even Tatsumiya-san, groaned at the thought of classes tomorrow, but Sayo just chuckled. Sometimes being a tireless undead rocked!

The next day, after class had ended for the day, Ranma sat in the partially decorated 3-A classroom watching as Aisaka-san stood in front of the whole class and bowed in apology.

"I'm so sorry, everyone!" Aisaka-san as she rose from her bow and looked through her bangs. "I didn't mean to scare anyone. I just wanted to prank everyone because you all keep forgetting that I exist. I just want to be your friend."

For a moment there was silence, then suddenly the classroom exploded with noise as almost everyone shouted their enthusiastic agreement and welcome.

"Why am I not surprised?" Ranma said to herself with a shake of her head as things quickly evolved into an impromptu welcome party.

"'Cos it's expected?" Konoka-san said as she sat down in Haruna's vacated seat. Her sister having run off to join the brewing madness at the front of the class.

Ranma just rolled her eyes.

"True, I guess." The petite redhead replied. "Though I'm surprised that things worked out so well. We're so lucky that Aisaka-san's Pactio allows her to interact with the world as if she was a living person."

Suddenly Chamo poked his head out of the neckline of Konoka's uniform shirt, much to Ranma's annoyance but the brunette's amusement, and chimed in with his own two cents.

"It's not really much of a surprise." The ermine fairy said. "Pactio artifacts always somehow reflect what the Ministra wants and there was nothing Ghost-chan wanted more than to interact with the living."

"Pactios are bullshit." Ranma surmised with a knitted brow.

Konoka-san ignored Ranma's comment and instead turned down to look at the perverted fairy snuggling in her bust. "How does that relate to enhancing her ghostly powers?"

"Bullshit powers of love and friendship?"

"You really need to let this go." Konoka-san smiled at Ranma weakly.

"Never." The redhead crossed her arms in a huff.

"Ignoring Ranma-san's cynicism and hypocrisy."

"Hey!" Ranma shouted in indignation. "I already apologized to the Slime Sisters!"

"Doesn't change what you did," the damned ermine said with a dismissive wave of one of his paws. "Anyways, as I was saying, materializing is something ghosts become capable of eventually. So Ghost-chan's Pactio artifact just took the easy route and boosted her powers rather than giving her new ones."

Ranma frowned at getting dismissed but let it go. She knew pushing it would get her nowhere.

"At least we don't have detention. Negi-kun was pretty upset with Kazumi-chan for doing something so dangerous while still being a beginner at magic." Konoka-san pointed out, her finger tapping her chin.

"She's lucky Shishou covered for her and ordered us to help her." Ranma said with a glance at the aforementioned vampire who was reading something, an unknown grimoire if Ranma was correct, and ignoring the madness that their class had descended into.

"Nah, Aniki wouldn't have given you lot detention." Chamo said with a shake of his head. "He's too happy with the results."

Ranma couldn't disagree with that line of thinking. Everything had worked out for the best. Everyone, especially Asakura-san and Aisaka-san, looked happy.

"Onee-sama, Konoka-san, what are you two doing here?" Haruna said as she returned with Asuna-san and Ucchan in tow.

"Yeah, you two, stop being sourpusses and join the party." Asuna-san said as she wrapped her arm around one of Konoka-san's arms.

"You too, Ucchan?" Ranma asked her best friend with a raised eyebrow.

"If you can't beat them, join them." Ucchan said with a shrug.

Ranma glanced at the front of the classroom and saw that the party was in full swing. Class Rep had somehow produced food and drinks from somewhere even, whilst someone had managed to set up some music to play in the background.

"We have so many parties." Ranma couldn't help but state with a giggle.

"Like I said, stop being a sourpuss!" Asuna-san said even as Haruna pulled Ranma out of her seat.

Bowing to the inevitable, Ranma allowed herself to be dragged into the party by her sister alongside Konoka-san.

I guess it's time to party.

Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!

And thus, the friendly ghost Sayo has entered the picture! With an upgrade like nothing else in her timid little ghostly fingers. I worry for the future. Still, Kazumi is starting out to be a bit more than a spy and info gal. Like a lot of the girls, we felt Kazumi was a touch underrated in the original work. Like many, she's getting an upgrade. She already has demon secretaries. What else could she get? XD

Nameless: I hope you guys like how we've chosen to develop Kazumi. What we've shown of her magic is only the beginning. We have plans. Very interesting plans. Stay tuned to see what exactly what those plans are. ;) As a hint though, her teaming up with Sayo is indicative of just what kinda mage she'll end up as.

You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!