Disclaimer: I own nothing but the clothes on my back, the extensive manga collection in my room, and this lovely picture InuKai Yaoi.... well, I don't own HOP or anything of RK.
Portrait:
Prologue-ish Thing:
You would think it would get boring, being stuck in this place for so long; not being able to go anywhere but the portraits surrounding you. It DID get rather boring at times, but other then that being in a school full of witches and wizards was always fascinating. Kyochiro Hiruka, a wizard from the Japanese Meiji era had always been a very handsome youth; hanging in the Hallways outside the entrance to the dungeons for the last two hundred or so years had only gotten slightly dull for him. He was known as the Raikou Saishi, or the Lightning Priest (for in those days wizards were reffered to as priests in Japan), for his extraordinary abilties with both speed with his wand and the ability to use wandless magic, as taught in Japan in some schools at that time.
Kyo, as he liked to be called, had been getting restless lately. Strange things were happening here at Hogwarts, and the other painting's weren't very helpful. All he knew for sure was that Harry Potter had come to the school and Voldermort was back. He wasn't very excited about the Boy-Who-Lived being back, seeing as it didn't matter one way or the other to him; what he DID care about was that there was now a serious threat to the Slytherin's. Slytherin's were known for their malicious qualities, and it made Kyo upset thinking about them going bad. (Spending so much time around Slytherin's had odd affects on how you looked at them).
When Kyo had been younger, and had first been placed in front of the Slytherin domain, he had been livid, his bitterness becoming vocal after a month and no progress. After a while though, he seemed to realize something: the Slytherin's acted differently when no one from another house was around. They were almost...nice.
Now, after spending a few centuries studying their odd behaviour, he had come to the conclusion that the Slytherin's were programmed to be mean during childhood and that they really were nice kids. Hard to believe, but true.
Kyo, with his ankle-length silver hair, his stereotypical 'samurai hairstayle', a high pony tail, and fierce amber eyes made him a favorite conversationalist with the students, though almost all of them were Slytherin. He also wore a dark blue haori(a type of shirt), and black hakama(I believe they are pleated pants), which drew a lot of questions. But what made people the most curious was the katana and wakizashi he wore. No one believed that a wizard would need such things and so this led to stories of the revolution, and about how he had been a Rurouni, or wandering swordsman. He HAD been a samurai for a ruthless warlord once, and he hadn't been able to lose the phrase 'de gozaru' even after hundreds of years. He figured those tales were a bit too, ahem, graphic for the students (or baka deshi-tachi idiot pupils as he kept calling them).
One thing bothered him though. It had been bothering him for at least 15 years now, and 15 years can be a very long time when all you can do is think. He had been minding his own business, for once, when the war seemingly 'ended' and Voldermort had died, what exactly happened to Snape, for all he knew, Snape had been in league with the dark lord and nobody had informed him otherwise (of course because he couldn't ask, he didn't wan't to make Snape more hated then he already was). It wasn't that Kyo really 'knew' Snape, he just saw him a lot, Snape being the Slytherin head of house and all.
Kyo had been musing about this for some time when a loud crash from down the hall drew his attention. When he looked up he saw that it was only Draco and Harry Potter having a fight. 'Wait....they shouldn't be fighting, should they?' He thought suddenly feeling very stupid. "Hey, Draco-kun! Potter-san!" He shouted in a rough but sturdy voice. "Calm down, you don't want the portraits squealing on you, do you?!" A few indignant snorts met nthose words but Kyo just brushed them off. He had gotten the boys attention and so he figured he could be reprimanded later.
"Ah, sorry about that Kyo, didn't mean to disturb you," Draco said with a polite bow (as they had learned was customary to the Japanese), surprising Harry to the point where he was just a gaping idiot. "Shut your mouth Potter, you like like a bloody idiot. Oh wait, I nearly forgot, you ARE an idiot!" Draco and Kyo snickered at the same time while Harry closed his mouth and glared at them both.
"Well, I'm not used to seeing a MALFOY be so polite, I seem to remember it being an unwritten law that all Malfoys are asses." Kyo kepty on snickering while Draco's face became furious.
"Calm down baka deshi-tachi! It's impolite to fight while sessha is trying to calm you down!" Harry looked very confused with the use of Japanese and so Draco took it upon himself to sneer an d translate.
"Jeez Potter, I figured you'd at leats know something other than how to be pampered! He called us idiot students and he called himself unworthy one." Kyo looked at them both humourously.
"Wow, so you actually listened to sessha for once! I tho ught sessha was just a 'stupid portrait that doesn't deser ve the time of day, let alone the attention of someone like a Malfoy.'" Drace blushed ever so slightly at that.
"Well, that WAS when I was first year, IU was quite a little monster then, eh?" Kyo snickered at Harry's unbelieving look.
"Whats the matter Potter? Too complicated for you to follow, or is it that it's so hard to believe Draco-kun can be embarrassed be sessha?" Again, Harry just stared for a moment before he too blushed. Draco's smirk made him scowl though and he suddenly remembered why they had been fighting. Draco had 'accidentaly' taken one of Harry's books, and then Draco had denied it. He couldn't believe anything Draco did was a mistake, it jsust wasn';t how a Slytherin's mind worked!
"So, what were you two baka-tachi fighting about? I'm sure it was idiotic, what ever it was." Draco nodded and began to nexplain.
"Well, we were in potions and I had walked past Potter's desk when I dropped a book. I picked it up, and as he says it wasn't the right one, so he folloows me and demanded I give it back. I hadn't even realized I'd taken the wrong book so by the time we got here we were a might angry."
Kyo nodded knowingly and looked at harry. "And you thought, since Draco is Draco and he never does anythinjg without mreaning too he had taken it purpously." Harry nodded. "well it's simple my idiotic friends. Draco, return the book and apologize and Harry apologize and promise not to react like that again." Draco and Harry both deadpanned and stared at the portrait. Suddenly Kyo got a great idea. "How bout I tell you a story if you do?" Draco's face lit up but still held that furious glint, and Harry was just confused.
"I'm.....sorry Potter" Draco said while returning the book. Harry did a double take, this was way too much for his poor mind to handle! Draco sneered again looking extremely disgusted, "well, go on Potter, do as the man says!"
"S.....sorry....." Harry mumbled almost too quietly to hear. Kyo's face lit up like a christmas tree and Harry gulped and took a step back, not quite sure what he ahd gotten himself into.
"Marvelous! Now I can tell you all about how I met Saito Hajime, one of the wolves of Mibu!" He literally squealed in delight. Harry recognized that name from somewhere, it was just out of reach of his memory. Draco snorted.
"Potter, Saito Hajime was one of the fiercest men in the revolution! He was said to have the eyes and skills of a wolf, and he actually survived a fight with the legendary Battousai himself!"0 Draco sid with a know-it-all smirk.
Kyo sighed and made a little waving gesture, "maa maa, Draco-kun! Harry may not know the history! He isn't Slytherin so he hasn't had as long as you to listen to my stories!" Draco bowed again in apology.
"Gomen nasai, Kyo-sama" Kyo snickered at the -sama and made the same calming gestures.
"S'okay Draco-kun. Now, Harry-san, let me explain. Battousai was said to be a demon who worked for the Imperialists, no one ever survived against him, except for a select few (all of whom I have met ). Saito-sama was one of those few, one of the leaders of the Wolves of Mibu, the Shinsengumi. He had the eyes of a wolf (which I seem to have inherited) and his glare was as cold as the shinigami's -god of death- himself!" Kyo looked down for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "Now, very few know this little fact, but Saito-sama was a werewolf, that's why the wizarding world kept tabs on the Revolution. Well anyways, I, Kyochiro Hiruka, of the Hiruka clan was a priest, or wizard traveling throughout the country; I was quite skilled, I even gave Saito-sama a run for his money!" He stated proudly, chuckling at the boys dumbfounded stares
"So you were a samurai, Mr. Hiruka?" Harry asked curiously, his brain already gone from seeing Draco apologizing.
"Hai, I mean, yes, I was. I was known as Raikou Saishi, Lighttning Priest, and I was one of the best at the time." He looked a bit sad at those words but brightened immediatly, his face looking as happy as any one could possibly be.
"Well, how I met Saito was....."
I'm relatively sure I WILL update this fic, I'm quite enjoying it but my creative juices need time to restock, I dunna wanna make the Saito story boring! XD