"Kiku? Hey, you alright?" Tom asked him worriedly. A few of the people in the next tables over turned around and frowned in concern. The child silently cursed, remembering he had a front to uphold.
"Kiku Sohma" Yamamoto told him. "That is your alias for this mission."
"Kiku" smiled shyly, a pale blush coloring his face. "Hai, Tom-kun. I-I am fine, arigato."
"Keep quiet. Kiku is a small, shy, and helpless figure. Do not draw attention to yourself. That is not your goal, Hitsugaya-taicho."
Tom, the bartender, regarded him cautiously. "You sure? You were kind of spacing out there, for a sec."
Toshiro sank down in his chair. Kiku Sohma was a Japanese transfer student, he reminded himself. He came to the Leaky Cauldron, the entrance to Diagon Alley, on a wet, rainy night during one of the worst lightning storms London had seen in decades. Toshiro hadn't minded the weather or temperature one bit, but Kiku had been absolutely terrified and on the verge of frostbite.
Tom and the guests had taken pity on him, immediately becoming his overprotective surrogate "older" siblings due to his shy, small, and literally helpless nature. He had been sick (stupid gigai, couldn't handle the cold) for about a week before he was able to get up and around again. Once he had, he quickly made a name for himself. Everyone loved the small, quiet, shy and adorable Kiku Sohma. They loved to protect him from the world's worst and least. One hint of danger, they went straight to Kiku to see if he was okay before anything else. It was completely impossible not to adore him.
Kiku nodded. "Hai. I am, r-really." He suddenly shivered. Seriously? There was only a slight draft in the room, but apparently his gigai wasn't over that cold (hypothermia) from the week before. Stupid piece of trash, stupid Kurotsuchi. Even Hyorinmaru was cooing at him.
Poor little Master, the zanpaktou hissed sympathetically. He's cold.
Silence, Dragon, Toshiro growled.
Tom frowned and left to find a blanket. He came back to find Kiku staring of at nothing again, his eyes glazed over with a soft frown on his face—as if he was almost pouting. "Kiku," he said softly, shaking the boy's shoulder. "Hey, Kiku."
Once again, he watched as the transfer's ice blue eyes cleared and came into focus. Kiku Sohma was a very good-looking child. He had platinum-blond, gently spiked hair and even paler flawless skin. If it was possible for a human to have stark white as a skin tone, Kiku had pulled it off to its highest degree. It was as if he'd never seen the light of day in his life. Ever. His lips were so pale a pink that they looked faded, but his eyes were as bright as the brightest star, possibly brighter. He was small for a third year, and thin—but not skinny—not so that you'd call him a stick figure. He had a fine, defined layer of muscle over his frame, but no one seemed to notice that. He usually wore a white turtleneck, a black vest over that, and black jeans that tucked into black horse riding boots. He was known to wear a black beanie that pushed his almost white hair down into his face; or sometimes, when it was cold, he wore a black jacket with a shadowy hood.
Kiku blinked a few times before looking up dazedly. "Hai?"
The others of the Leaky Cauldron had long gotten used to the boy's Japanese honorifics and greetings. It wasn't too difficult to accept him into any group.
Tom smiled. "You were doing it again." He leaned over and wrapped the blanket around Kiku's shoulders. "Are you that tired?"
A woman stood up from a nearby table and sauntered over and bent down to look the young teen in the eyes. "Kiku, sweetie, maybe you should think about turning in for the night?"
"I am—I'm not tired, Miss Gregovinci." Toshiro made his eyes flutter, and he bowed his head down before jerking it up again with a pale blush tingeing his face.
Miss Gregovinci smiled as Kiku sank lower in his seat and closed his eyes again. "Tom, I think he fell asleep."
Her friends walked over from their table.
"Aw, the sweet little thing, he must be exhausted."
"That chair can't be comfortable—"
"Kiku's so adorable when he sleeps—"
"I can't imagine how tired the poor dear must be—"
"Girls," Miss Gregovinci warned. "Quiet. Tom, be a dear and carry little Kiku to his room?"
Tom chuckled as he gathered the tiny third year into his arms. "Right-O, milady."
"Don't be smart with me, sir." The mousy-haired woman rapped her handbag on his shoulder. She stepped back as Kiku murmured something indistinguishable and shifted in the bartender's hold.
"Careful there, " Tom frowned. "You almost woke him."
He carried Kiku up the stairs to Room 11 and stopped to fumble for a moment, trying to slip the keys from Kiku's vest pocket. He nearly had a heart attack when a small, pale hand reached out and placed the silver key into the lock. Apparently, the man's jostling had woken up his cargo.
"Tom?" Sharp blue eyes peered at him curiously. Inside, Toshiro scoffed as the man apologized for waking him. These idiots were so gullible.
Kiku waved the man off with a yawn as he was placed on the ground. Tom bade him good night as he opened his door and pushed it shut behind him.
Toshiro walked over to his oak trunk and dug around until he came up with a medium-sized black case. Opening it, he lifted out a small vial filled with a black liquid. He pulled out the stopper and poured the contents out. Instead of spilling onto the floor like it should have, the liquid dabbed the air, as if filling an invisible and non-existent sphere, before beginning to low a soft blue. Toshiro waited for the sphere to flatten, before reaching out a hand to let the newly formed hell butterfly land on his finger.
After relaying a report to Yamamoto-soutaicho and seeing the small messenger out the window, the young soul reaper undressed into solid black pajamas and climbed into the navy sheeted bed. He reached over and pinched out the flame of the bedside candle, not even receiving a burn.
Honestly, why couldn't the wizarding world at least have electricity?
-E-S-
"Do you have everything, hon?" Mrs. Zabini asked. "Are you sure you don't want any help shopping for your school supplies?"
As much as Toshiro wanted to say no, he really did need help. Not that he'd admit it, but Diagon Alley was almost impossible for him to manoeuvre alone. Kiku would tell them, though, so it was all good.
"A-Actually, Zabini-san, I don't think I can do it by myself..." Kiku blushed and looked down as the woman's son, Blaise, smiled at him.
"Hey, it's all good, Kiku," the Slytherin fifth year assured. "We'll help ya with anything you need."
His mother nodded. "Yes, yes. It's quite alright, Kiku. Do you have your money to buy everything with?"
Kiku shook his head shyly. "Nashi. I-It is at that bank..." Toshiro had visited the wizarding bank two weeks earlier to re-activate a long unused account. The goblins there had literally worshiped him (Soul Reapers were about the only other sentient beings that treated goblins as equals) before he had explained he was on an incognito mission. They tried their best to hold back most forms of praise after that.
"Gringotts?" Mrs. Zabini asked. "Well, we'll go there first then. I still need to get an extra few galleons for Blaise's new broom anyway."
As they entered the bank, Kiku ran his eyes over the poem engraved above the entrance. A true work of art.
Hyorinmaru rustled his wings. That'll keep any thieves away.
Unless they simply ignore it. Toshiro replied. Or just don't care.
Let's give you some candy and watch. Bet you could clear every vault in under an hour. No, half!
Urusai, you stupid reptile!
The goblin at the front counter looked up and, catching sight of Kiku, smiled as warmly as he could—which is to say, not too warm. "Ah, Kiku Sohma! Pleasure seeing you again."
Blaise and his mother stepped back, slightly surprised at the friendly greeting from the goblin. Kiku approached the counter with a shy smile. "Konichiwa, Troutdale. It is nice to see you again, too." (1)
"Your vault key?" Troutdale steepled his fingers.
"Hai." Kiku reached into his vest pocket and pulled out an obsidian, crescent design key and handed it to the old goblin.
"Large vault, his is." Troutdale nodded at Mrs. Zabini as he took her silver vault key. "About thrice the size of those Malfoy vaults all put together."
Blaise's jaw dropped. "Three times the size of all the Malfoy vaults combined?!"
The goblin tittered. "Is what I said, yes."
Blaise, still gaping, turned to Kiku. "Dude, you're loaded!"
Kiku shrank back, pressing into the side of the counter. Blaise's mouth clamped shut, and he leaned forward. "That was too loud—sorry."
The younger boy nodded quietly. Mrs. Zabini helped him stand again, and the three of them followed Troutdale to a side-door.
One extremely bumpy rollercoaster ride later—one that had even Toshiro impressed, and Kiku absolutely terrified with his face buried in Blaise's shirt and the older boy's arms wrapped tightly around him so he wouldn't fall out of the cart—the small group made their way to a vault door. It was steel, big, sleek, shiny, and had a lot of complex and complicated looking locks—enough said.
Kiku waited patiently outside with Troutdale as the Zabinis went inside to collect the necessary amount of Knuts, Sickles, and Galleons. Kiku risked a peek inside as the heavy door shut once more and saw three medium-sized neat piles of copper, silver, and gold coins.
"And now," Troutdale announced, "the Sohma vault—er, one of them."
It was impressive, to say the least. A completely obsidian door with locks of gold and silver gears. Hyorinmaru whistled. Geez. If you have ever wondered where the much needed American gold standard went, now you know. Blame the goblins, it's always the goblins.
Urusai, Toshiro seethed. Your political jokes were always lame and they aren't funny now, either.
If Kiku hadn't know better, he'd have sworn Mrs. Zabini had gone into shock—Blaise surely looked ill—as the vault door slid smoothly open. The walls were lined with stacks and stacks of gold, silver, and copper coins. Mostly gold. The floors between held piles among piles of jewels, coins and other riches. The floor of the vault was so littered with the eye-catching stuff that the overall experience was like stepping into an ancient dragon's cave, except for the lack of human remains. It was as if they were in a world where the dust and dirt and soil were gold and the rain silver and the oceans and rivers were so cluttered with jewels of all shapes and sized and colors that there was barely any water.
Kiku pulled out a leather bag and slipped miniscule stacks of each coin, a fist-sized emerald, and a bar of silver inside.
Before Toshiro had died, he'd been Kiku Sohma: a young Russian wizard and heir to the power and riches of one of the last pureblood families of royal heritage remaining on the earth. He'd gone to Durmstrang to learn the art of magic, but had been assassinated by one of his father's enemies before he was even twelve. That was one of the reasons he'd been chosen for this particular mission. After centuries and centuries of sitting in the vaults of the banks, the Sohma fortune grew and grew and grew. Thank the gods for interest rates.
As the vault door quietly slid shut with a soft click, Blaise looked about ready to explode. "Th-There's more?"
Troutdale nodded, proudly clamping a gnarled hand on Kiku's shoulder. "Thirty-eight more, just like this one." He jerked his head toward the now-sealed vault.
Okay. A lot of interest.
Mrs. Zabini almost fainted.
Almost.
-E-S-
They stopped first at Madam Malkin's to get some school robes. Madam Malkin insisted that Kiku's be made of silk. "It's not every day I get to measure Japanese-Russian Royalty," she reminded him. Kiku had, unfortunately, lost that battle.
Mrs. Zabini had wanted him to try on some dragon skin boots, but he had completely disagreed. He made it extremely clear that he liked dragons, and refused to wear their remains as fashion.
He bought sea-serpent skin boots instead. Black ones. There was a difference.
Sea-serpents, awful beasts, Hyorinmaru agreed. Chew with their mouths open, you know.
He kept his black beanie, of course. Though most of his new robes did have hoods, as per request.
They went to Flourish & Blotts next. The salesclerk appeared horrified as Mrs. Zabini informed him that the shy little Kiku hiding behind her son was indeed a third year.
"That book!" he cried. "That bloody book! I'm going to lose my fingers!"
He soon—albeit reluctantly—disappeared and came back with a thick book tied together by a leather belt. It was squirming. And growling. Kiku stared at it. Then Kiku ignored it because Kiku had seen much, much stranger things.
He shot forward, slipped the belted tome from the clerks trembling hands and before anyone could stop him, began to stroke the spine with slender, pianist fingers.
The clerk stared at that. He stared and stared before reaching out his own hand to pet the book in the same manner, watching as it hummed contently. Silently, with a blank face, the clerk walked away.
Mrs. Zabini gazed after him. "What a strange fellow."
Ollivander's was their next stop so they could buy Kiku's wand. Mrs. Zabini and Blaise stood to the side looking uncomfortable as the young transfer held an eerie staring contest with the shop's owner. Needless to say, Ollivander, of course, lost.
"Oak, core of a manticore hair, 12-inches—" The old man immediately snatched that one away. "Nope, not that."
It went on like that for a while, the old man naming the sticks, handing them over, and snatching them away. It wasn't until the whole shop had iced over into a winter wonderland, the display of cabinets blocking the window had shattered, and Mrs. Zabini had grown wings that Ollivander came out with it.
Oh, oh, oh! Hyorinmaru cheered. I like this one!
It was awesome, simply put. Pure solid gold with ancient-looking symbols running along the sides, engraved in silver. It looked Egyptian, but Kiku knew it wasn't. Too old, too—
"Atlantean," Ollivander hummed proudly. "This beauty's so ancient, even my grandfather didn't know what it's made of. It hasn't chosen a single master in over three millennium, probably more. Go on, give it a wave!"
Kiku grasped it, and Toshiro smiled as Hyorinmaru roared with delight. He silently worked a few spells he had mastered long ago, and the cabinets fixed, Mrs. Zabini's wings vanished (she pouted slightly. She'd been getting used to them, and she rather enjoyed the feel), and the shop stopped snowing as the frost and ice disappeared.
"Fantastic!" Ollivander clapped happily. "Wonderful, simply marvelous!"
Blaise shook his head in awe. "you must be one powerful dude, Kiku."
Oh, you have no idea, Hyorinmaru purred.
After paying Ollivander, Mrs. Zabini took them to Diagon Alley's ice cream parlor, and Blaise wanted to introduce Kiku to his friends.
"Hey, Blaise, who's the little guy?" A blond fifth year Slytherin asked, walking up to them as they neared the counter.
Kiku clutched Blaise's robed tightly, hiding behind the taller (I said be quiet, you lousy dragon!) boy. Blaise smiled back at him. "It's okay, Kiku. They're friends, not gonna hurt you, see? Nice." The blond raised an eyebrow, but decided not to question the odd statement as Kiku began to come out from hiding. "H-Hai, Blaise-kun."
The Slytherin smiled kindly before turning back to the group. "Guys, this is Kiku Sohma, the Japanese transfer student coming to Hogwarts. Kiku, these are my friends Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe, Rodger Goyle, Maleficia Pratt, Leon Wolfe and Will Gardener."
Kiku nodded. "K-Konichiwa."
Pansy smiled softly. "Aw, aren't you adorable!"
Maleficia giggled as Kiku hid his face in Blaise's robes once again. "A-Arigato, Parkinson-san," he managed.
"Friends, Kiku," Blaise reminded him.
Yes, I get it. "Right. G-Gomennasai, Blaise-kun."
Draco leaned forward to see him. "Hi, Kiku. Nothings gonna hurt you here, okay?"
Blue eyes peered up at him. "N-Nothing?"
"Nope," Draco smiled. "Not a thing."
Kiku was silent for a moment. After berating himself for how pathetic this character he had to play was, he released Blaise and was onto Draco in under a second, gripping his robes and hiding in his shadow.
Draco blinked a few times, before hesitantly reaching down to pat the much smaller boy on the head. Kiku turned to look around the Alley. He spotted a boy with black hair staring at them, along with a girl with busy brown hair, and a redheaded boy with freckles.
Tilting his head, he pointed the three out. "Who are they, Draco-kun?"
Draco followed his finger with his eyes and scowled. Kiku dropped his hand and gripped Draco's robes tighter.
"Potter, Weasly, and Granger." Draco sneered. "The Boy-Who-Lived, the Blood-Traitor, and the Mudblood. The 'Golden Trio' of Hogwarts." Kiku looked up at him and released his hold and slid back over to Blaise. Draco stopped scowling and looked down at him.
"What did they do wrong?" he asked shyly. Toshiro snorted. It was quiet obvious. Harry Potter was famous, so he got all the attention, and rich boy Draco didn't like that. He didn't tell this to Kiku, however, deciding that it would be best to let things play out.
You know, Hyorinmaru started cautiously, this whole undercover thing is starting to look a lot like a split personality. Are you sure you can do this, Master?
Quiet, Dragon, Toshiro growled. Kiku's trying to listen. He can't do that with you blabbering in his ear.
…Yup. It's official. I'm gonna start calling you guys Master 1 and Master 2.
I said quiet!
Ouch! Okay! No need to get violent!
"Well, nothing wrong not actually," Draco started warily as the nine of them sat at a nearby table. "It wasn't until our third year..."
"Yeah," Leon put in as he licked chocolate off his spoon. "That's when they started acting like they were celebrities."
Pansy shrugged. "The first two years were pretty normal, I guess. But then during his third year, Potter caught a Dark Wizard masquerading as a teacher and defeated a basilisk with the Lost Sword of Godric Gryffindor. In one year. That's when they started thinking they were all gods or something."
Will leaned back in his chair as he finished off his cookie-dough. "Fourth year was about as quiet as the first two though. Except Potter was walking around like he owned the place all the time."
Kiku let go of Blaise's robes again and brought his knees to his chest. "Th-They don't seem so bad..."
"They are," Vincent grunted. "Trust me."
Rodger shook his head. "Not too friendly, just 'cause we're in Slytherin."
Kiku looked over again to see the "Golden Trio" get herded away by a plump, red haired woman with a loud voice.
"Hey, Kiku, why don't you show the others your wand?" Blaise questioned, trying to start up a conversation.
Kiku tore his gaze away from the scene and reached into his robes, pulling out the wand he had received earlier. The group, beside Blaise, goggled at it open-mouthed.
"Is that..."
"Pure gold?" Blaise smirked, crossing his arms. "Sure is. Wanna guess where it came from?"
Maleficia examined it. "Well, it looks a bit Egyptian, but, judging by the symbols—Ancient Greek?"
"Nashi," Kiku answered shyly with a shake of his head. "No."
"Well, where then?" Pansy murmured, stroking the wand with her fingers.
Blaise grinned. "Atlantis."
Maleficia's eyes widened. "No way, nu-uh, no way!"
"Way," Blaise said smugly. "Way."
After a while, Kiku put his wand away and listened to the group converse.
"So, Leon, you going to the World Cup?"
"Are you kidding? Wouldn't miss it for the world!"
"Top box seat, man!"
"Seriously? Aw, man, can you ask your dad to get us all top box seats, Draco?"
"I can try asking, I guess. I know my mum wouldn't be able to resist Kiku, maybe we can take him, too."
"Hey, Kiku, you going to the Quidditch World Cup?" They all turned their eyes to him.
He shrank back. "Nani? I-I don't know. Maybe. No."
"Why not?" Blaise shrugged. "You got enough gold to buy the stadium, all the teams, and live a thousand lifetimes in complete luxury."
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Seriously."
Blaise nodded. "Oh, yes. Man, you should've seen his vault! Chock full of gold, and silver, and coins, and jewels, and diamonds—and there's more too! Thirty-something more vaults just like it! He's rich, obviously, but I bet even he doesn't even know how rich."
"Man..." Leon leaned back in his seat, tossing his empty paper cup and spoon into a nearby trashcan. "Hey, Kiku, not to sound pushy or desperate or anything, but do you think you could buy us all seats in the top box?"
Kiku shrugged. "Hai..."
They all swivelled their heads to stare at Blaise for a translation. The dark-skinned boy smiled. "That means 'yes', according to what I've been told."
They just couldn't stop thanking him after that.
Soon, Mrs, Zabini came to continue their shopping, and the teens said farewell.
They arrived at the pet store, since Blaise needed a new owl. Kiku hadn't really been planning on getting anything, but as he browsed curiously while Blaise looked for a suitable messenger, he came upon a cage that made his blue eyes widen.
Dragons.
Tiny, cat-sized, fire-breathing, adorable, beautiful, jewel-scaled dragons.
Caged.
... in a cage.
As his eyes landed on a small sapphire scaled beauty sitting sadly in the corner, Kiku, Toshiro, and Hyorinmaru couldn't take it anymore.
Kiku went over to the counter. "I want that dragon." He pointed.
The clerk looked down at him skeptically. "Dragons are extremely expensive, young man. I doubt you can affor—"
Kiku dumped his leather bag out on the counter. "I want that dragon."
The clerk gaped at him. "... Okay."
The sapphire dragon, aptly name "Rin", didn't seem so sad anymore and he perched on Kiku's shoulder and blew a blue-tinged flame out of its nostrils joyfully.
After that, Blaise finally got his new broom: a Nimbus 1002. Kiku had offered to buy the new Firebolt for him, but the older boy refused to take his money. The Japanese boy bought the Firebolt anyway, just in case his friend changed his mind later on.
Finally, the three returned to the Leaky Cauldron just as the sun was nearing the horizon. Tom and the other residents stared at Rin, who spouted a small flame before curling into Kiku's shoulder.
"So, anything interesting?" Tom ignored the small magical reptile and smiled at Kiku as the boy sat down.
"I bought a Firebolt in case Blaise changes his mind about the Nimbus 1002, and my wand was smithed in the Lost City of Atlantis about three millennia ago, maybe more."
"Atlantis?"
The young transfer and (deeply) undercover shinigami nodded.
"...smithed?"
"It's pure gold with silver engravings."
"...Awesome."
"Hai."
…Dragons and bats are way, way cooler, stupid human.
…Hyorinmaru—
Oh, that's Murcielago. We're chilling.
Sup, Shinigami?
…I see. What are you doing in my mind?
Well, it's not your mind right now, is it? Seems like that other personality took over for the moment. Hey, I didn't know you were schizophrenic!
…Hyorinmaru?
…Hai?
No more play-dates.
…Hai, Master 1.
...Stupid dragon—
Hyo-chan, LOOK OUT!
"... Kiku? You're spacing out again..."
"..."
"Kiku?"
"I am going to bed. Arigato for the meal, Tom-kun."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
And there is the first chapter.
Yes, I named a goblin after a county in Oregon. Deal wif it.
Now, before all of you dear readers who have glued yourselves to my other stories, before you start mobbing listen to this:
Yes, I am continuing my other stories. I just needed to get this one up and running and off my back.
No, I am not abandoning Brother & Sister.
Yes, I am still writing Brother & Sister.
No, you cannot borrow Steeve.
Period. He's MY plot bunny.
Now that we have that over with, please review! Reviews make me happy, and motivate me to continue stories! The title of this story is in no relevance to the actual story. The reason for the title is this: I write this during an all nighter, which I have been pulling many of this past month.
Another thing to take note of, and I'm sure this will all confuse you, is that this story is seriously AU. Here is the new timeline for any of you who is interested:
First year: Norm.
Second year: Norm.
Third year: Sorcerers stone and Chamber of Secrets.
Fourth year: Norm.
Fifth year: Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of fire.
Sixth year: Order of the Phoenix.
Seventh Year: Halfblood Prince and Deathly Hallows.
I'm sure that's it. Oh! And for those of you in the dark, here are some translations needed in upcoming or already there chapters:
Urusai—shut up
Guddoniato—goodnight
Hai—yes
Iie, or nashi,—no.
Arigato—thank you.
A HUGE THANKS TO MY BETA READER, Dragon Silhouette. YOUR WORK IS GREATLY APPRECIATED! I LUV YOU!
Arigato,
~EpikalStorms*