Natsumi Murakami

, student #28 of class 3-A.

Appearance and Personality
She is a sweet yet shy girl who is an actress in the theatrical club. She loves acting but dislikes her ad-libs as well as her own appearance (underdeveloped figure, unmanageable hair, and in the manga, freckles) because her body is not very 'mature'-looking. In the manga, she also has freckles, and a complex about them as well. This is made worse by being roommates with Ayaka Yukihiro and Chizuru Naba, who both have mature bodies and bigger breasts. Kotarō, who is also staying with them, assumes the identity as her younger brother. Although the role was forced on her by Chizuru, Natsumi seems to be adapting well to the role of being an older sister. Recently however, she seems to be showing signs of jealousy regarding the girls Kotarou has been talking to after the festival (Yue and Nodoka, Kaede, Mei, and Takane). Although their difficulty expressing their feelings is the cause of many fights between Natsumi and Kotarou, it becomes apparent that they truly care for one another.

Part in the Story
Natsumi is first given focus in the Training/Wilhelm Arc, when she and her roommate Chizuru find the injured Kotarou Inugami in dog form. Kotarou attempts to hold Natsumi hostage for food and clothes, but a raging fever and Chizuru's motherly instincts force him to submit. In order to convince Ayaka to let Kotarou stay in their dorm, Chizuru pressures Natsumi into pretending Kotarou is her brother. This ruse is carried to the extent where Kotarou enters the Mahora Fighting Tournament as "Kotaro Murakami." Throughout the festival, she is often seen alongside Kotarou with her other roommates. After the festival, Natsumi's feelings for Kotarou become apparent, as she is seen spying on him, becoming jealous over the girls he's talking to. She eventually shares a sweet moment with Kotarou, who offers to carry her bags as the two walk home.

Natsumi's role in the story is greatly expanded in the Journey to the Magical World Arc. She was among the students who smuggled themselves into the magical world after Negi, which she claims was due to concern. Here, after the incident at the Gateport which scatters everyone across the magic world, Natsumi ended up seperated from the others with only Akira and Ako (who became ill with a sudden sickness). Because of this she was forced to become a slave to pay back a 1,000,000 drachma debt for the medicine needed to treat Ako. Though this was a relatively mundane arrangement compared to what might be imagined. Their new master was a pleasant if overbearing Beastwoman nicknamed "Chief", and the magical slave collars they wore ensured that any harm done to them would be recorded and sent back to the authorities - meaning they were actually far safer in many ways.

Nevertheless, if they attempted to escape or improperly remove the collars, then the collars would explode. For this reason, Negi and Kotarou entered a local tournament - using the age changing pills to appear older and disguise themselves - with the aim of earning the grand prize of 1,000,000 drachma. She is among the girls who witness Kotarou and Negi's tag-team against Jack Rakan, and shockingly witnesses Kotarou's beast form for the first time. The prize was just enough money to buy their friends' freedom back, which they eventually obtained due to a draw and a generous donation from their opponent. Armed with the key to her collar, she was finally freed by the Hanyou himself.

She was later encouraged by Haruna and others to make a Pactio, though Haruna pointed out she need not make it with Negi and could instead perform the Pactio kiss with Kotarou instead. It was here that we see the depths of Natsumi's feelings for Kotarou, constantly belittling herself for being unsuitable for his partner when compared to the other women in Kotarou's life. Such as Mei Sakura (a powerful mage and a known admirer of Kotarou since his victory over her), Kaede Nagase (Kotarou's master who shared, in Natsumi's opinion, a bond almost like mother and child) or Chizuru Naba (whom she considered completely unwinnable again likely because of her looks and greatest bust size). All of which seemed like they would make far better partners than her. Natsumi then attempts to make a pactio with Kotarou by kissing him in his sleep, but she is interrupted by Haruna, who neglected to tell her kissing Kotarou won't make a Pactio unless Chamo is there too. Before leaving to the ball, Natsumi joins Ako and Akira in saying goodbye to "Chief", whom they have built a friendship with during their time as slaves.

At the Governor's Ball, Kotarou asks Natsumi to dance with him. This causes Natsumi much embarrassment, as she feels she does not belong among the famous and high-class people present at the ball. This causes causes Natsumi to become even more confused about her feelings for Kotarou, as she has difficulties seeing him as the 10 year-old boy he really is.

When Haruna went to Kotarou to suggest the pactio idea with Natsumi, the redhead overheard him complaining about the idea, and ran away in despair. After a long chase Kotarou was eventually able to catch up to her, at which point she remembered his true age and realised his distaste in kissing her was not caused by her, but rather the fact he was not fully interested in girls yet. Or rather, was not yet ready to admit it. Natsumi questioned Kotarou how he felt about various women in his life, though he seemed to rank them more on fighting abilities (or in the case of Chizuru - who got by more than three times the highest score - simple terror) than looks or romance potential. When asked about herself, Kotarou asked if she liked him, to which she made an unconvincing red-faced denial. Faced with this, Kotarou replied that he in fact loved her - and that she was by far the most important person in his life at that moment. Armed with this new knowledge Natsumi was able to make the Pactio with him successfully. Almost immediately after this she found herself confessing her own love to him, to her own shock, before running away again. She is later seen angsting over her sudden confession, worrying over the age issue. It later turns out Kotarou did not hear her confession, and Natsumi desperately tries to keep this a secret from Kotarou.

Natsumi and Kotarou reunite with "Chief", who is impressed at Natsumi's confession, only to see her get erased in the attack from Cosmo Entelecheia. Chief's last words were apparently telling Natsumi to take care of Tosaka, but she later learns that he has been erased too. Natsumi desires to go home until she learns there is a away to bring the fallen Magic World residents back to life.

During the final battle, Natsumi is a part of group tasked with saving the kidnapped Asuna. Here, she finally reveals her artifact and its abilities, Adjutor Solitarius ("Lonely Stagehand"), which allows her team to sneak into the Ostia Ruins unnoticed. The artifact impresses Yue and Kotarou, which embarrasses her. Adjutor Solitarius is successful in allowing the group to sneak past several enemies -- including Fate -- and rescue Anya. When Asuna is taken away by Fate, and Negi is rendered unconscious, the girls decide to use Natsumi's artifact to rescue Asuna and stop Fate's world-ending rewrite ceremony. While the group was able to grab both Asuna and the Great Grand Master Key, the group faced a new threat in the form of Quintum, one of three clones of Fate. Of the members of the group involved in retrieving the key and Asuna, Natsumi was the only one to neither get petrified by Fate nor get taken down by Quintum. Currently, she and Nodoka (who has recovered from the lightning attack that Quintum delivered to her) have gotten themselves captured by Fate, and their artifacts cards taken, who was able to defeat Quintum and reclaim Asuna and the Great Grand Master Key, and are at the site of the rewrite ceremony.

Natsumi has narrated the events of the manga from her point of view on two separate occasions: once in Chapter 64, and again in Chapter 196.

Epilogue

She, like the rest of the class, assists Negi in saving Nagi and defeating the Mage of the Beginning. Chasing after Kotarou, who ran off after saying "its´s ninja training!" and never came back, she (denying that, it was anything more then her graduation trip) returned to the Magic World and got involved in an adventure lager then the one she had in the summer (most of which she survived by using her artifact). Once they very image of normality, she too became completely infected and quite capable, and when they met again, she punched him seven times (from a blind spot). The two who were never honest with one another finally married in 2015, receiving the generous blessing of their friends.

Abilities
Natsumi describes herself as "ordinary middle-schooler", with no unique talents or magical abilities. As a member of the drama club, it is possible Natsumi has exceptional acting abilities, but there true extent of her talent is unknown due to her low self-esteem. Over the course of the Magic World Arc, Natsumi's abilities grow significantly.
 * Pactio: Actrix Timida (literally, "Timid Actress"): Her Pactio was formed with Kotarou in Chapter 262, after which she confessed to liking him. Her artifact is a mask. In Chapter 301, the ability of Natsumi's artifact, which is called the Adiutor Solitarius, is finally revealed. The artifact is touted as the ultimate disguise, as it allows Natsumi to blend in with the scenery, completely undetectable to others, a reference to her wallflower personality. Akira likens it to entering an opponent's blind spot, suppressing the user's sight, smell, and noise. Because of its abilities, Chamo calls it a legendary item on par with Nodoka's Diarium Ejus. The artifact is also considered a rare one, as Fate mentioned that the last time Natsumi's artifact has appeared in the world was 280 years ago. Natsumi can also allow an unlimited number of other people to become unnoticeable with her, as long as they are joined by holding hands or if they are in physical contact with one another. If they let go, the illusion is broken.
 * Athletic Skill: In Chapter 262, Natsumi's stay in the Magic World has allowed to develop heightened physical abilities, allowing her to leap across far distances and even outrun Kotarou. Kotarou admits even she has "come a long way since arriving in this world."

Appearance in Other Media

 * Negima!: Her Pactio allows her to disguise as a mature woman and use a magic motorcycle.
 * Negima!?: Natsumi's hair color is changed to green in this series. Natsumi is stuck most of this series under the shadow of her roommate Chizuru, consistently being belittled mentally by the supposedly helpful but ultimately confusing or damaging comments and actions. During the "Suka incident", she turns into a hamster. In her Cosplay form, she wears pirate armor and she is a maid who can control her broom stick.

Trivia

 * Despite calling her friend Chizuru "Chizu-nee", she is actually the older of the two by a few months.
 * In chapter 175 of the Negima! manga, Chizuru mentions that Natsumi smells Kotarou's shirts - which she denies in embarrassment.