Disclaimer: I own Checkmate. I own the changes she makes (the sickness that hits ice demons, the new subjects that will be taught). I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, Yu-Gi-Oh, Naruto, Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, or Harry Potter. Now, on with it!

Chapter Two: To the Spirit-seer and the Guardians

"You're NOT going?"

Toya was stunned. Yukito and Nakuru had been offered the same chance he had, with one tiny little exception: They were turning it down! Toya couldn't even imagine going so far away and leaving his boyfriend behind.

Yukito truly looked sorry. "I'm sorry, Toya," he said again, "but, well… you know… I can't be so far away from Sakura for very long."

"You mean Yue can't be so far away from Sakura for very long."

The girl in question was standing just outside the room. Toya hadn't noticed his little sister's presence, and Yukito didn't have any awareness whatsoever; but Yue knew, and why he kept the secret was a mystery. Under normal circumstances he would have told Yukito the moment Yue's master appeared. But this time, Sakura sank to the floor and curled into a tight ball without either of them noticing.

It had all been a dream, of a kind. Sakura had become the Master of the Clow and had changed the cards to become the most powerful magician in the world… but her body had been left behind, floating in a coma through the ages of three and four. Eriol had apologized many times, but it did become annoying when she was more advanced than any five-year-olds around, and people wouldn't let her take middle school like she'd been in when she was in that alternate reality. True, she had been getting B's and C's in middle school, but now she was stuck in third grade. Advanced as it was for a five-year-old, Sakura had already learned everything from third grade. The biggest change she'd dealt with, coming back to reality, was Toya. He and Yukito were dating, and he still had his magic. Sakura's position as Master of the cards hadn't fazed him one bit. Now he was invited to a magic school, and Sakura didn't want him to be mad at her for Yukito being stuck behind.

"Toya," Yukito was saying, "Yue… I'm his temporary form. There's no way to separate us from each other."

Sakura was crying now, crying for Toya and for Yukito, the boy she owed so much, and took so much from. It was one of her quiet sobs that finally alerted Toya and Yukito to her presence.

"Who—Hey!" Toya was angry, not play-angry like when she stomped on his foot, but real-angry. "Squirt, what're you doing listening in?"

"Sounds like you just answered your own question, Toya." Nakuru pushed past Toya and brushed Sakura's hair back. "Hey, Sakura. It's no big deal. What did you hear?"

Sakura wiped her eyes. Yukito was having an internal conversation with Yue, she could tell that much, but what they were saying was an unknown. If she wanted to, Eriol said she could probe; but he'd been proud of her when she'd answered that Yukito and Yue could say what they wanted to each other and she wouldn't listen.

When she opened her eyes, Toya had gone back to the paper and was writing his response. Nakuru poked her head over Toya's shoulder and read it aloud. "Dear Professor McGonagall, I accept your invitation to Hogwarts school, but Yukito and Nakuru will be unable to attend until Sakura and Eriol can come as well. Sincerely, Kinomoto Toya."

Professor McGonagall handed the paper to Dumbledore. "Which makes three who accept the invitation, two who don't," he said. "What of the sound ninja?"

Professor McGonagall looked at the paper. "Otogakure is far from here, Albus. It will take some time for the letter to be delivered in each direction." She looked back at Albus. "You do realize that they're the servants of a snake."