Magitech - Mahora: It never hurts to help. [Episode 135930]

“Ah, a little help here,” muttered the embarrassed young teacher as he strained on tippy toes to write his name on the chalkboard.

Ranma really felt sorry for the kid.   Having to handle a classful of rambunctious teenaged girls was bad enough, child protégé or not, but to have his shortcomings thrown in his face right from the start must really suck.   So, without really thinking about it, Ranma was out of his back-row seat and placing a foot-stool beneath the chalkboard.   “Here ya go, teach.   Ya can stand on this.”

“Oh, thank you,” Negi turned to bow, but Ranma was already back at his seat, and also already regretting his act of kindness.   It had only taken the spotlight off of the kid teacher and reminded the students of the new boy in their all-girl class.

“Wow!” the gaggle of girls babbled   “Did you see that? — No, I didn’t even see him move. — Did he apport? — Hey, I thought he couldn’t, you know, do things like that. — Humph, I can’t even jaunt yet. — He can’t have, it must be air magik. — Nuh huh!   I didn’t feel a thing and my aura affinity is wind. …”

“No,” Fuu confided in a stage whisper heard across the room, “it was pure speed.”   Hikaru and Umi were agreeing from their seats not far away, which highlighted the fact that there were four new students, and showed that they seemed to knew each other.

“Ahem!” Negi coughed in an attempt to reassert his scattered authority.   “As I was saying: My name is Negi Springfield, and I’ll be your homeroom teacher this semester.   I’ll also be teaching Defense Against Dark Arts.”

“Huh?   A little squirt like you?”

Ranma sighed, glad that attention had been turned off of him for the moment, but he really felt sorry for the kid.

“This is a joke right? — A little kid like you?   No way! — Where’s the real teacher? — No, he’s a real wizard, can’t you see his wand? — You know what they say about wizards with big wands. — Yeah, you know for what they’re overcompensating. — Heh!   Keep it clean, will ya.   He’s only ten years old for Circe’s sake. …”

Yeap, really sorry for the poor kid.

“Girls!   Girls!   Calm down,” called out the voice of reason in the form of a mature woman.   She was a willowy matron with a pillowy bosom.   “It’s true.   Negi-sensi is your new teacher.   He’s already graduated from University and is a child-protégé magus besides.   Please show some respect.”

“Shizuna-sensi is right, girls,” a tall and elegant student took charge.   “You’re behaving like a mob of delinquents.”   She turned and blushingly bowed to the boy.   “Please continue, Negi-sensi.”

“Ah, thank you,” the child teacher responded with a quick glance at his teaching handbook, “class representative Ayaka-san, right?”

“That’s right, Negi-sama,” the girl responded in a voice full of little pink hearts and blushing pride.

Ranma didn’t know whether to feel better for the kid or not.   Having the support of a good woman or two was supposed to be a good thing, but he knew how well that worked out.   But at least the focus was not on –

“And, uh, now we should meet the new students,” Negi-sensi announced.   “Would you please come up and introduce yourselves?”

– “Urk!”