NOT AN ENEMY

The next day at UQ HOLDER headquarters.

"Everyone, settle down. In a moment, the emergency meeting called by Yukihime will begin."

In front of everyone stood a young woman with blonde hair, quite elegant. It was none other than Ayaka Yukihiro, the former class representative from the time when Negi was a teacher.

"Ayaka really knows how to control people. We did well to call her. She's the best at handling matters like these and calming people down."

"For someone who only knows how to punch, it's surely an enviable skill."

"Yukihime!"

"Well, let's start. Don't start fighting, please."

"Alright! Today, I've gathered you here because I have an important announcement to make. It's about a possible new danger that we might face, and we haven't even realized it yet."

"You don't need to say more, Yukihiro-sama."

"Your name is Jinbei if I'm not mistaken."

"Correct."

"Regarding the story behind what Yukihime-sama has been feeling for these months and the conversation she had with Dana-sama, we are fully aware of it."

A man with orange hair raised his hand casually and said with a smile. Number 2 of UQ HOLDER, Jinbei Shishido.

"Jinbei, just to clarify, should I assume that Arika told you?"

"No, it was Asuna-sama. Apparently, she was worried about you yesterday, so she went to your room at night. But she saw an unexpected guest and decided to wait outside with Arika-sama while enduring her killing intent. When she finished listening, she gathered us immediately and spoke to us about the matter."

Immediately after hearing that, Negi felt a shiver run down his spine as fear invaded him more and more. (*Why Asuna wasn't in the room when I arrived and why she seemed so angry later... I'm lucky to still be alive. If Asuna misunderstood something... GULP!*)

"Ahhh," Yukihime sighed, "Well, honestly, at first, I didn't think it was something so serious. But that's not important now. I gathered you here to agree on the course of action to take. Dana said nothing would happen if we don't provoke it, but if you all came here with those stupid smiles on your faces, I can only affirm that you don't plan to leave it like that."

"Well, we already defeated an indestructible mage. Life would be too boring if we don't have more challenges from now on. On the other hand, that's something that has been bothering her for a long time, so we can't let her suffer alone while we're enjoying life." The video game-life type, number 6 of UQ HOLDER, Gengorou Makabe, said.

"Yukihime-sama, you saved all of us before. If this is a danger, I'll be by your side and support you."

One by one, the members and friends of the vampire showed their support, not only because they appreciated and trusted her but also out of discomfort. After all, nobody would want to live with a looming threat, even if they were told that nothing would happen.

"Ah..." In a sigh, all her worries disappeared. Everyone likes peace, but it was necessary to have the courage to defend against anything that threatens that peace. Now, with a calmer face, she said, "Dana, come out from wherever you are. I know you were probably having fun with this show."

"Ho... Well, look at this scene, it really moves me."

"Enough of the chatter. You told me to look for you when I decided. Here's our answer. And while we're at it, I want you to explain. If it wasn't something that would harm us, then you had no reason to warn me. There were other ways to make me ignore it, so Dana, what are we facing now, and what are your motives?"

"Haha, my motive, you ask. Well, that's not difficult to explain. I just wanted to annoy a certain idiot who made me angry by not keeping his promise."

Confusion—total confusion—was what the people gathered in the room felt. A boy, she mentioned a boy. Does this have nothing to do with any of that witch's love affairs? What does she mean by saying something like that?

"Dana, stop joking. What does this have to do with a boy? And answer my other question already."

"I mean exactly what you understood. And it seems you have the wrong idea about things, Kity. At no point did I say it was an enemy. The last one left when Ialda was defeated."

"You said I would lose everything and our peace would be destroyed?!"

"True, but never because you had to fight against something." After a while, the witch finally said something seriously.

"Explain."

"When you have someone in front of you, you can fight, devise plans, gain time, and counterattack. But there's nothing worse than being unable to do something to change or stop what's happening."

"..."

"Let's start from the beginning. Kity, you never defeated the initial mage. You only believe you did. All of you believe it."

Everyone: "?! (Yukihime-sama used her strongest magic after a tough battle with the resolve to even kill Negi. That's something we saw with our own eyes.)"

"Here's a question that will help you understand everything better. Do you really believe that just by defeating Ialda, the world would be as perfect as it is now? Just look around you. The proof of that is that little ghost over there, the girlfriend of little Santa. Will it come back to the earth just by defeating the mage from nowhere?"

"?! Now that she mentioned it, it's true. It wasn't enough. Her death alone wouldn't cause everything that the world has experienced in the last few months. The truth was always in front of them, but... they never asked it, never noticed it, no, they did notice, but they ignored it, it felt so natural for things to be fine after everything ended that they accepted even the most ridiculous things without asking.