Student 32: Sunset Shimmer

by Show Stopper


Arc 4: Chapter 19

“ITADAKIMASU!!!”

Most of Sunset’s table winced as 3-A began breakfast. She’d joined the sports trio, Ayaka, and Sakurako at their table, figuring that they would serve as a barrier to any conversation about magic or what had happened the previous night. Negi and Asuna had already tried to catch her eye a couple of times, but she refused to let them drag her fully into the current mess until she’d enjoyed at least one full day of vacation.

Sitting at the same table as a number of recovering drunkards also happened to provide a good deal of amusement. “Ugh,” Ayaka muttered, the usually dignified class representative staring into her bowl of rice with dead eyes. “What a headache. And I can’t remember anything after we went to the Kiyomizu Temple waterfall yesterday.”

“And we missed out on the first night of the trip too,” Yuna shouted, apparently unaffected by her hangover. “Damn it!”

Sunset chuckled as the rest of the table winced and shot glares at Yuna. “Doesn’t surprise me,” she said. “Someone spiked the ‘mariage’ waterfall with sake. With how much you all drank, the only mystery is why Yuna is the only one not hungover.”

“She is,” Ako whimpered, massaging her temples. “She’s just refusing to give in to it.”

Sunset rolled her eyes and dug back into her food, looking around and watching the rest of the class. Several other students were similarly lethargic, but the rest seemed eager for the day ahead. The groups were going to Nara for the day, something that Sunset was looking forward to.

It’ll be my first chance to see any hooved creatures since I left Equestria, she thought. I wonder how the deer here compare to the ones I know?

“Secchan! Why are you running away?”

“I-I’m not running away!”

Sunset looked over her shoulder, shaking her head when she saw Setsuna running away from Konoka. That girl. I swear, Konoka, you’re doing this on purpose.

“Eh? What’s this about?” Ako asked curiously, watching the two girls run around. “I’ve never seen Sakurazaki-san with an expression like that.”

“I wonder if something happened last night?” Makie added.

“What?!” Yuna’s face showed a combination of jealousy and determination. “Did they do something fun without us?!”

“That’s it! I’m definitely not sleeping tonight!” Sakurako shouted before she began cheering Konoka on.

“This certainly is unusual.” Sunset turned away from the growing spectacle to see that Ayaka was studying the two curiously. “Sakurazaki-san has always been more reserved than this. She usually tries to avoid attention.”

“Well, apparently they were childhood friends,” Sunset said, shrugging. “Looks like Konoka is trying to reconnect or something.”

“Ara? Is that so?” Ayaka’s eyes instantly lit with her usual fire. “Well then-”

“I’m going to stop you right there.” Sunset smirked as Ayaka shot her a glare for interrupting. “From what I can tell, their situation is complicated and delicate. Best to let them handle it themselves. The ever extravagant child-molester-in-chief is the last person they need getting mixed up in it.” The last thing Konoka needs is the rest of the class interfering and making Setsuna close herself off even more.

“Hmph!” Ayaka turned up her nose and went back to eating. “You know Nichibotsu-san, you may not be as violent as Asuna, but you certainly aren’t any less brutish. I don’t see why the Library Exploration girls put up with you.”

“Probably because the only one I ever need to call out for being an idiot is Haruna,” Sunset answered, taking a sip of her tea. “And she has a sense of humor.”

Yuna laughed as Ayaka sputtered indignantly. “Oh, calm down, Class Rep. She’s just having a bit of fun at your expense. From what Makie-chan tells me, you’ve just got to accept that as part of Nichi-chan’s charm!”

Sunset raised an eyebrow and turned to Makie. “And how would you know anything about my ‘charm?’”

Makie shrugged before drinking the last of her tea. “I see you with the Boxing club a lot. You’re a pretty rough group, but you always look like you’re having fun.” Her usual innocent smile lit her face. “I just figured being a bit rough was part of your personality!”

...this observation coming from Baka Pink. Seriously, who is this girl. “Well, you aren’t wrong.” Having finished her meal, Sunset stood and stretched. “Anyway, I’ll see you girls around, I guess. I’ve got to see Springfield about something.”

Makie perked up, her eyes going wide. “Not if I get to him first!” She leapt out of her chair and rushed out towards the hotel lobby, leaving Sunset looking after her in confusion.

“What the heck was that?”

Ako chuckled. “She probably thought you were going to ask him to join your group for today.”

“Huh. Well that’s-” A rush of air raced by Sunset, and she turned to see Ayaka’s seat empty. She sighed and shook her head. “Well, it’s started now. Hopefully they can avoid groping him this time; I don’t think the manager would appreciate something like that going on in the lobby.”

Yuna pouted, crossing her arms. “We don’t grope him every time.” At Sunset’s incredulously raised eyebrow, she chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head. “W-well, not too much.”

Sunset rolled her eyes and set off for the lobby where, sure enough, Ayaka and Makie were fighting over which group Negi would accompany that day. The Narutaki twins had joined in the competition, and most of the class seemed to be gathering to watch the spectacle. Sunset was about to step into the fray when she noticed Nodoka on the other side of the crowd, seemingly mustering her courage. Sunset blinked and stepped back, smiling encouragingly.

“U-um, Negi-sensei!” Her shout drew the room’s attention, but she persevered. “We have free activity time today. I-If it’s okay with you, would you like to come with us?!”

Way to go, Honya, Sunset thought. Confident. Not overbearing. A little bit of stuttering, but that just makes you even cuter. Sunset shook her head and sighed. Kid has no idea how lucky he is. And with Konoka being a member of her group…

“All right, Miyazaki-san,” Negi said cheerfully. “I’ll go with you and group three today.”

Ayaka seemed disappointed by his decision, but the rest of the class seemed more than happy to give Negi to Nodoka without complaint. Sunset walked back to the dining room, quickly locating Zazie and Setsuna, who had finally managed to shake Konoka. “Springfield’s going with Konoka’s group today,” she told them. “Zazie, do you mind tagging along?”

Zazie shrugged and gave a thumbs-up.

***

“Well done, Nodoka!”

“KYA!”

Sunset sighed. They’d been exploring Nara and feeding the deer there for only ten minutes, and already Haruna was acting up. Just ignore them, Sunset thought, petting the deer that was eating from her hand. The inquisitive creatures seemed to have taken a liking to Sunset, a number of them gathering around her curiously. Sunset couldn’t help but feel a bit of a connection with them, and she swore she could see a spark of intelligence in their eyes. As long as they don’t start doing anything stupid, you can just focus on these cute little guys.

“How can you be satisfied with just this!? This is where you have to start putting the pressure on!”

Sunset sighed and the deer in front of her looked up at her in curiocity and… was that concern? Probably just projecting. “My friend can be a bit of an idiot sometimes,” Sunset said, continuing to stroke the deer. “She keeps trying to get Honya to fast-forward a relationship with Springfield. I’m surprised she hasn’t told her to-”

“You’ve got to confess to him, Nodoka!”

Sunset groaned, facepalming hard. The deer nuzzled her affectionately and Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, I’m going to have to go take care of that.” She stood and stretched before walking over to where Haruna was going on and on about school trips and romance. “Oy! Haruna! Back off a bit, will you? This isn’t one of your rom-com manga, you know. Actual relationships develop more slowly.”

“R-r-relationship?” Nodoka squeaked.

Sunset rolled her eyes. Wow, almost as flustered as Setsuna got at that word. “That is the end goal, isn’t it? No need to rush, though. Like I said before: friendship first, then romance.”

“Weak!” Sunset wished her ears could still flatten as Haruna shouted. “That approach is too weak, Nichi-chan! You have to seize the day if you want to get anywhere in this life! Besides, according to Mahora Romance Research’s Society research, confessions during school trips have a success rate of over eighty-seven percent!”

“Really?” Sunset asked, feigning curiosity. “Was there multi-variable analysis to show if there was any correlation between strength of prior friendship and success? What about length of prior friendship?” She smirked as the confident grin on Haruna’s face became more strained. “If you don’t know how to read statistics correctly, then they’re all but useless.”

“WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON, ANYWAY?!”

Sunset chuckled. “Honya’s side. In other words, the side of any possible relationship actually being successful. What, were you imagining him, a ten-year-old kid, accepting a confession on the spot so the two of them could go on some sort of lovey-dovey date tomorrow during Individual Free Activity Day?”

“...it could happen.”

“You make some good points, Nichi-chan,” Yue said, finally entering the conversation. “But you also made a good point for her to confess now. Sensei is only ten-years-old. He probably won’t be able to give any sort of response today. If Nodoka confesses now, Sensei has the rest of the trip to think about how to reply.”

“The rest of the trip?” Sunset scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Try the rest of the next six years. It’s going to be at least that long before a relationship like this is anything shy of criminal. And let’s face it, Springfield doesn’t have nearly the maturity required to act on that sort of thing.”

“I think Sensei’s a lot more mature than you give him credit for,” Yue countered. “Much more than any other ten-year-old, at least. Besides, even if you’re right and nothing develops for years, what harm is there in Nodoka letting him know how she feels? Would it really be better for her to just sit on those feelings for years?”

Sunset opened her mouth to retort, but hesitated as an annoying voice spoke up from the back of her head, a voice that sounded suspiciously like a certain pink alicorn’s.

Love knows no boundaries, be it sex, species, or age. And a love that sits on forced silence can fester and rot, twisting into something darker.

Shut up, Sunset thought back. One, Nodoka’s far too innocent for something like that to develop. Two, he’s a freaking kid! It’s not the age gap - goodness knows Celestia’s lovers have been able to contend with that easily enough - it’s the maturity of the target. Neither his underdeveloped maturity nor society will allow for such a relationship.

So you would have her simply keep it to herself, pine after him for years and sit on her feelings filling with more and more regret as countless opportunities pass her by?

Stop being so dramatic. I’m placing my feelings for Nodoka aside for her own good, and so can she for him.

Is that really because of your age gap? Or is it because she’s straight and you know she’ll reject you?

...how is it that even in my thoughts you’re still the biggest bitch I’ve ever met?

“All right!” Haruna’s shout snapped Sunset out of her mental struggle. She cursed inwardly as she saw that Haruna’s enthusiasm had fully recovered. “It’ll be okay! The ‘you’ this time can do it!” She turned and began running towards the rest of the group. “Come on, Yue! Nichi-chan! We’ve got to get Konoka and get Nodoka and Negi-sensei alone together!”

“W-WAIT!” Sunset shouted, running after Haruna. “You can’t just-”

“Give it up, Nichi-chan,” Yue advised as they ran. “Haruna’s going to make sure that this happens today. You can either futilly fight an upriver battle against her, or you can help it go off with as little a hitch as possible.”

Sunset grit her teeth but silently conceded the point; once Haruna got her mind fixed on something, it was almost impossible to restrain her. They quickly found Konoka and explained their plan to her, which, despite Sunset’s warnings about it being a bad idea, she enthusiastically agreed to join. They rushed over to where Negi was walking with Asuna and Setsuna, Zazie wandering nearby.

“Asuna!” Haruna shouted, she and Yue all but tackling the poor girl before dragging her off. “Let’s go see the Buddah statue together!”

“Secchan!” Konoka cried, approaching the swordswoman with a plate of food. “I bought some odangos! Wanna eat them together?”

“Zazie,” Sunset said, calmly approaching the mute. “Want to go somewhere else in a strangely conspicuous manner?”

As the three girls were dragged/chased/walked away, Sunset looked over her shoulder. She saw Nodoka run up to Negi and begin talking with him.

“Okay,” she said after a while, ducking behind one of the columns of a nearby temple. Seeing Zazie’s questioning eyebrow, Sunset explained. “We’re trying to give Honya some alone-time with Springfield so she can confess to him.”

Zazie’s mouth opened into an “o” of understanding before raising an eyebrow.

Sunset groaned and nodded in response. “Yes, he’s way too young for it to work. I’m hoping she either ditches the idea right away, or tells him not to worry about it. Plays it off as a ‘get it off her chest’ type of thing.” Any other path leads only to disaster.

Zazie nodded and jerked her head towards the rest of the temple.

Sunset shrugged. “Sure. Explore where you want. Just try to stay out of their way.” Zazie gave a thumbs-up and walked off to admire the temple grounds. Sunset shook her head and peaked behind the pillar to watch as Nodoka and Negi approached. I swear, if that girl doesn’t use magic to facilitate her communication, then I’m a frilled lizard. Oh well, a mystery for another time. For now, I just hope Nodoka can keep calm and get through this without ruining her future chances.

***

“Well, that was a total bust.”

Sunset groaned and massaged the bridge of her nose. She couldn’t help but agree with Yue’s assessment. Nodoka had tried several times to confess her love to Negi, each time chickening out and saying something else instead. She’d grown more and more flustered with each attempt, finally giving up and running off and leaving a confused Negi behind. Sunset and the others had tried to follow, but had lost sight of her in one of the parks.

“She should have waited,” Sunset muttered, leaning back against a tree. “Built up a casual, friendly atmosphere, and once she was calm and collected, she would have been able to slowly build up her nerve to confess.”

Yue raised an eyebrow. “You seem to have a lot to say on this issue for someone who’s never been in love.”

That’s because I had to live with the freaking Princess of Love for a year and she WOULDN’T SHUT UP ABOUT THESE SORTS OF THINGS!!! “Let’s just say that the books that I read are a lot more realistic than Haruna’s.”

Haruna rolled her eyes. “Okay, so maybe I pushed her just a little too far, but come on! Even you agreed that this was the perfect chance for her!”

“Has anyone ever told you that you have an uncanny ability to put your own words in other people’s mouths?”

Yue sighed and shook her head. “In any case, we’d better find her soon. If nothing else, the groups are supposed to stay mostly together.”

Sunset nodded. Something caught her attention out the corner of her eye and she turned to look. Asuna and Setsuna were sneaking through the bushes nearby, watching something on the path. “Huh, that’s odd.” She started to make her way towards them, Yue and Haruna following. “I wonder what-”

“I’ve liked you since the day we met, Negi-sensei! I… I love you, Negi-sensei!”

Sunset’s jaw dropped. She turned to look at Haruna and Yue, finding that they were as surprised as her. “That… that was definitely Honya’s voice, right?” The other two nodded and the three of them began to creep closer. They soon caught sight of Nodoka and Negi standing on the path, facing each other, the latter’s face filled with dumb shock while the former kept talking.

“Ah, it’s okay. I-I understand…” Nodoka seemed to be losing confidence at Negi’s dumbstruck silence. “Something as sudden as this is troublesome for you… w-we’re student and teacher after all. I-I’m sorry. But I wanted you to know how I feel, even if you c-can’t give me an answer. P-” She turned and ran. “P-please excuse me, Negi-sensei!”

Sunset looked back and forth between the fleeing figure and the frozen one. “So…” Yue snapped her out of her shock, “what do we do now?”

“I… I think Springfield needs us the most right now,” Sunset said, pointing at the young teacher. “He looks like he’s about to-”

*Thump*

“...faint.”