Disclaimer: Still owning little of real value.
Notes: On Places: maps make me dizzy and I get lost looking for my sense of direction. So I'll be keeping the movements around Hogwarts as vague as possible, as I don't want to show a blatant mess up, despite the fact that I have read very good descriptions on Hogwarts grounds and interiors. Still, I'm going to mess up. When I do, and you spot it, please give me some leniency, as I am more than willing to state I am a complete dingbat when it comes to maps.
On Schedules: These are somewhat harder to figure out. I've looked through several references, and several very good sites, and spent more than ten hours working out schedules that I'm sure no one will notice are wrong. The problem is there aren't enough parts in the sixth book detailing a schedule to have a concrete one laid out for you, so I'm filling in the gaps however I feel suitable.
Thanks to: My fabulous Beta-reader, KyoHana who got this back to me in less than seven hours (despite her own busy schedule) so I could get it to you before I leave for vacation!! So thank her for having a chapter to read today!
-o-o-o-
Keeping Quiet
Chapter 13
First Day Jitters (Symptoms Include Claustrophobia, Knotted-Tongue, Jaw-Aches, Wand Misplacement, and Bodily Injury)
-o-o-o-
Genkai was at the end of her patience.
She tended to think of herself as a relatively tolerant woman, not that she spared much thought to it. However, some part of her had to have some form of unending patience to have tolerated Yusuke during his apprenticeship.
Indeed, some never-ending supply considering she was still tolerating the Dimwit.
But now, her patience was on the precipice of running out. The idiot had vanished without warning and without a trace. Now, honestly, she wouldn't have allowed it to bother her so much; Yusuke was a moron who wouldn't realize that leaving – willingly or not – would make others around him search for him.
And since that wasn't likely to occur in that miniscule brain covered by a skull thicker than Reikai's Palace walls, the fool wasn't the type to leave bread crumbs.
She had come to expect that from him.
But not from Kurama. Granted, she allowed some reprieve for Kuwabara, who was as unaware as Yusuke, and she didn't even bother with Hiei. The pyromaniac suffering from severe social indifference was the least of her concerns as he'd never both to inform her that he was about to go missing.
The fox, however, was just the type to leave a clue as to his whereabouts, especially if that disappearance had been against his will. That brain was the reason he could be considered an asset to her moronic apprentice.
Perhaps if she hadn't settled so hopefully on that attribute, she wouldn't be so frustrated. The old master had spent the last week scouring all of Japan and the entirety of Reikai looking for that clue. And damn that fox to hell and back again for not leaving one when it was actually needed.
Now, if she stopped to contemplate it (which, as stated previously, she wasn't about to waste her time doing), she knew that her increased anger was due to her growing worry. The Dimwit wasn't the type to just disappear (unless coerced into it by fox or fire demon, which had happened on occasion) and usually showed up in a day or two when he did.
Of course, Puu was absolutely no help. According to Yukina, who had been in the temple the day the three disappeared from it, the flighty, bird-headed excuse for a spirit beast had thrown an absolute fit. It hadn't been encouraging at the time, what with him squawking for hours on end and trying to leave the temple.
And failing only because Genkai had kindly informed the bird earlier that day that she was leaving for several months and if he dared leave Yukina alone she would not only turn him into a stuffed turkey – extra crispy – but she would also feed him to all the demons living in her forest.
Fear that she'd carry through with her threat (which she would have) kept him grounded, though it didn't stop him from pacing…an odd thing to see a twenty-foot phoenix doing in the middle of a temple courtyard.
After having returned to the temple herself, she confirmed Yukina's report that repairs would have to be made to two of the gardens and one roof corner, which Puu had apparently taken out while 'pacing.'
At least the blue fluff-ball (the perfect mirror of its owner in stupidity) was still alive, which meant Yusuke was as well. Oh, he was better than alive, actually. After three hours of frantic flailing, destruction, and nervous panic, the bird had calmed down. For the last week, he'd sat amidst the garden debris, wings happily tucked in and neck curled beneath as he slept; occasionally raising his head to give a 'coo' towards a visitor and being absolutely no help whatsoever.
Stupid, useless penguin.
Genkai's lack of patience, inducing a stronger anger in her than usual, also led to creative nicknaming.
Which is why the poor teacher who met her as she stepped from the roaring green fire place (who the hell decided Floo Powder was a decent way to travel?) would most likely be avoiding her for the next few months. It wasn't Flitwick's fault that he was undersized, but it certainly didn't stop Genkai from calling him several very imaginative names not appropriate to repeat.
And not even a tiny bit of her felt remorse for it. She'd blame (translation: take it out on) the damned Dimwit, when she managed to find him.
As she was escorted down to the train by the poor professor who honestly wasn't more than a foot shorter than she (that didn't stop him from having to practically run to keep up with her curt steps), she was quickly informed that there had been an incident that needed her expertise. Hence the reason she was now walking away from the Castle which offered a warm bath and some reprieve after she had spent the last three hours trying to get to it (for her, a fireplace wasn't actually a convenient thing lying around) and all of this after a week of non-stop interrogations of demons and oni and humans and dead ends.
She swore, if she lived the rest of her remaining years without another 'incident' needing her attention, it would be far too soon. She was altogether over incidents.
In fact, that's all she had gotten since accepting that idiot as her successor. Dark tournaments, end of the world scenarios, and more pain-in-the-ass moments than she cared for. Not for the first time, nor for the last, she wondered why the hell she had agreed to teach him.
They reached the platform where the train, an obnoxious red, was still steaming from where it had pulled to a stop. Flitwick nervously glanced from her to it, unsure if he should leave without comment or ask if she needed anything else. Luckily for him, an Auror approached them quickly, ministry issued robes sweeping out behind her.
Flitwick left without comment, a particularly smart decision on his part.
The Auror, a female whose Scottish accent was so thick Genkai's translating device was having difficulty deciphering her words, quickly informed her of what they believed to have occurred.
There might have been a magical overload on the train – something that happened when a spell stopped for an unexplained reason (which really meant that left over residue from hundreds of previous spells interrupted the current one and ended it – of course, these fools would have to realize their magic left a residue to understand the cause of the problem). They believed that a magical build up within the train, caused by the multiple and complicated spells that ran it, caused an explosion of the supernatural sort. They weren't sure of the exact reasons for the spell breaking but had called her down for the expertise she might offer.
In other words, as Genkai was no idiot, the Ministry was fitting what happened on the train into their own little box of denial so it could be swept under the rug. Meanwhile, Dumbledore had called upon her to figure out what had really happened since he did not enjoy spring cleaning nearly as much as the Ministry of Magic.
Fine, she could deal with that.
She hadn't taken one step towards the train, however, when a wisp of energy caught her senses, pulling at the corner of her mind. Like a shadow that darts across your peripheral vision, too quick to catch as you turn your head and too fleeting to substantiate with proof or logic, the energy had disappeared by the time she turned towards it. She immediately and almost frantically (much to her chagrin) reached out for it mentally in hopes of grasping onto that particular reiki: a mix of rebellious enjoyment and determined loyalty that left a blue haze wherever it went.
He couldn't be here.
And he wasn't; the energy was gone, lost among the layers and layers of magic, residue of the last millennia, slowly dissipating beneath new layers constantly added on top every year. Two residues must have combined into one under the impressive weight of all the other old spells and created, for just a moment, something akin to Yusuke's energy.
Genkai gave an irritated huff. It was enough to give anyone a headache. How these wizards could walk ignorantly through it was beyond her.
She turned at the Auror's insistence, her name being repetitively called adding to the annoyance and she snapped back at the woman. She knew where the damn train was; it was ten feet in front of her, for Enma's damn sake. Though she received a petulant look in return, the woman had nothing more to say and left her to her investigation, though she remained nearby.
Rolling her eyes, the old woman stepped up onto the train, wondering what could be so pressing that she was summoned here the moment she returned; so pressing that the ministry wasn't even taking time to fabricate a good cover-story.
She had her answer the moment she stepped onto the train; this was no 'magical blowup'. Only an idiot would believe that story. But, then again, most of these idiots couldn't read ki signatures, so they would have no idea that it wasn't a supernatural accident, but an otherworldly intervention.
She didn't know how, nor did she really want to think about the consequences of it, but kage tenge had attacked the Hogwarts Express.
And being the old master that she was, she didn't need to take a further step into the hallway of the train to know that it hadn't just been her subconscious desperately searching for her successor that had led her to feel his presence outside. She didn't need to see the scorch marks of the rei gun or the multiple punctures in the soft walls of the train from a shotgun blast to know, without a doubt, that her dimwit had been here.
Genkai released a low intake of breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding for the last week. She's found them; the Reikai Tentai were at Hogwarts.
She turned, looking out into the fading light of the sun setting on the forest. From where she was, she could only just see the turrets of the far off castle where they would soon be feasting in celebration of a new year. Staring, eyes narrowed in annoyance, relief, confusion, contemplation, and anticipation, she wondered just what those four idiots had gotten themselves mixed up in this time.
-o-o-o-
Completely unaware of the old master currently cursing his name in dual vexation and respite, Yusuke stood with the rest of his new house as the feast drew to a close. It had been surprisingly good for school food, including a small mix of international dishes from the various countries from where the new foreign students hailed.
He didn't know where the food had come from, magically appearing on the tables like that, but whoever-they-were made decent kake udon. Though, compared to all the dishes they could have picked…it was rather boring.
He gave a nod towards Kurama and Hiei, though the latter wouldn't respond. It was nothing more than an acknowledgement and perhaps a 'good luck' sent their way before he and Kuwabara were swept out of the Great Hall in the slow throng of students. He tripped a couple of times on their walk, bumping into other students right along with Kuwabara as their eyes wandered to the high stone walls and European architecture.
Needless to say, after the Great Hall with its magically appearing and seemingly endless food and dessert beneath floating candles and a clear night sky, Yusuke was impressed with this place called Hogwarts (though he still felt it had a stupid name).
When they got to the moving staircases, for one of the few times in his life, his usual sarcastic retort died on his lips. He and Kuwabara all but ran to the edge of the nearest railing, looking down and then up as the staircases shifted and ground, students making their way across the immobile ones.
"That…is so frickin' cool!" Yusuke shouted, letting the sound echo up through the towering room housing the enchanted steps. Harry and his two friends came up beside them, caught between the embarrassment caused by the transfers (even the muggle-born first years weren't making as much noise about the magical castle) and the comical laughter that the two Japanese boys always managed to create in others.
Beside him, Kuwabara nodded, wide eyes staring straight up. "It's gonna' make getting lost real easy, though."
Yusuke just let out a bark of laughter, though he knew that the two of them would be doing that a lot. They couldn't even manage to stay on course in Japan, let alone in the maze of a magical school where things had a tendency to move. A lot.
"Don't worry," Harry chipped in, giving an encouraging grin. Both boys turned to the wizarding celebrity; they had noticed his new hesitation ever since the train ride – even they weren't that blind. However, he seemed to be speaking loud enough for the new students behind him to hear him as well. "If you get lost you can just ask the paintings."
Eyes – both foreign and young – turned to look at the wall of frames, each with an individual painting. And each one moving. Yusuke glanced back at Harry even as Hermione began explaining how they worked to some of the more fascinated first years. A voice called for 'Gryffindors to keep up' and the rest of the crowd began moving onto one of the staircases.
"Damn, those things really do move," the spirit detective commented, still eyeing the portraits with a smirk, before glancing to Harry. "I had half-hoped that screamy bitch back at the house was unique."
Ron burst into laughter at the reference to Sirius' very loud, very rude mother, hidden behind a curtain. It hadn't taken Kuwabara or Yusuke very long to realize that poking around Number Twelve Grimmauld Place could be hazardous to one's health. And eardrums.
Harry, slightly grinning, gave a shrug as they began moving with the crowd (while Hermione bristled at the rather rude language and elbowed Ron, who tried – not very hard – to muffle his laughter). "They're not all like that, so I guess she is kinda' unique in that way. Most of them are helpful." The Boy Who Lived paused, thinking of Sir Cadogan, who was no help at all when lost (or seeking entrance to the common room) or the Fat Lady, who had a bad habit of wandering off late at night or getting drunk on the holidays. Or singing, heaven forbid.
So, he amended his previous statement, "Well, some can be a bit annoying."
"When did you two get your translators, anyway?" Hermione asked, seemingly still a little put-out by Yusuke's less than polite description of Walburga Black, however horrible she was. The change in their voices – no longer so…well, robotic, and with more of a personal slang mixed in – clearly indicated that they were no longer under the imperfect translation spells.
Kuwabara immediately dug a hand down the neck of his shirt, clasping a chain and pulling it free. "Dumbledu-dore, uh, gave us these when he came and got us from those minstrel guys."
Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, a twitch of her head showing the slight annoyance at having to decode his words. "The ministry men? You mean the Aurors, Kuwabara," she corrected, a habit of hers that had not lessened any, despite her two best friends' tendencies to mangle words as well.
"Yeah, those guys," the Japanese boy continued, not bothering to comment on her correction. Kurama did it all the time, and Hiei too, though the latter's was usually for the purpose of a scathing reply.
Kuwabara held the chain up, the pendent at the bottom glittering in the fire-lit staircases of the castle. Hanging from the fine gold links was a tear-drop shaped piece of glass rimmed in a golden metal, no bigger than an inch or two in length. It was perhaps half that in thickness and cut with a dozen or so facets on either side that twisted the light shining through, trying to break it into the seven colors of the visible spectrum and only managing iridescent flashes.
Upon receiving their new translators, both Yusuke and Kuwabara had quickly voiced their opinions of the gaudy, costume jewelry-like appearance.
"I thought it was an earring at first," the orange haired man continued, dropping it back down. He let out a boisterous laugh as he tucked the translator back under his shirt. "That would be embarrassing!"
"Yeah," Yusuke mirrored, "It's already girly enough."
"Well," Hermione began in her usual know-it-all tone that took over whenever she felt something seemed obvious. "It would have been silly to make them into earrings for four men. You would have had to pierce your ears. Besides, translators work as long as they are in contact with your body."
Yusuke made a face at the somewhat snooty correction to his thoughts. "They're still weird though," he retorted, crossing his arms behind his head as they left the stairs behind for one of Hogwarts' many hallways. "From what Dumbledum said, they translate what I'm thinking into English and then my mouth suddenly makes words."
Hermione visibly bristled at the mutilation of their headmaster's name and, while Harry wasn't fond of Urameshi's lack of trying to correct the mistake over the last week (indeed, now he just seemed to do it deliberately to annoy them), he had grown used to the disrespect. Yusuke had, as he realized some time ago, a problem with authority figures.
"It's weird," the boy reiterated as they approached the portrait of the Fat Lady, the Heads of their house stopping in front of it. "I talk, and 'cause of the translator, the words sound like Japanese to me, but my mouth forms different positions, so I know I'm not speaking Japanese. Like, I try and say kitsune," here the translator abruptly cut off, his quick word forming in Japanese and becoming unintelligible to the three, "and it works 'cause I'm thinking Japanese, but when I think fox in English I get…well, that. Fox. That word that makes my mouth do that….Like I'm not in control of my lips or tongue. Fox."
He played with the 'f' sound his mouth was forming, teeth bumping against his bottom lip. It was rather comical to watch as he did it over and over again, the word fox coming out several times before the Head Girl called their attention. She was telling the first years of the importance of a password and why it was vital not to forget it, or give it to anyone not in Gryffindor.
Yusuke let go of the apparent attempts to control his mouth while under the translator and turned to the portrait, where the Lady sat in all her grandeur, staring down at them. Once the Head Boy was sure he had everyone's attention, including the foreign exchange students', he spoke in a clear voice, "Novus Orsa."
The Fat Lady paused for a moment, perhaps an effect for drama, before bowing her head and speaking in a commanding voice, "You may enter."
Honestly, Yusuke's and Harry's thoughts were mirroring one another with the overdramatic show but, Yusuke supposed all wizards were like that with their flair, and Harry just knew that the Fat Lady was a bit of a drama queen.
The head boy turned before entering the common room; "Remember, Novus Orsa. The passwords will change with time, but do not forget them or you will be unable to enter the Gryffindor Tower."
Yusuke glanced to Kuwabara, the two sharing the same thought. "I'm never gonna' remember that."
-o-o-o-
Meanwhile, eight floors down in the dungeons, Hiei and Kurama were surveying their new dwellings. It was rather cold and dark down there – something neither appreciated all that much. Kurama disliked the lack of natural sunlight (it was harder to grow plants without it – naturally, of course) and Hiei was just not pleased with being locked, underground, with fifty human children.
Delusional ones at that.
Kurama let out a sigh as he pulled the stifling school sweater over his head. Never one to leave his things a mess, he quickly folded the dark sweater before setting it down on the bed. He and Hiei stood amidst seven beds in what was apparently deemed their dormitory. Having seen the trunk reading Draco Malfoy across its front only moments after entering the room, Kurama concluded they were being placed with the sixth year boys.
Logically, it made almost no sense; Hiei held the appearance of one much younger than a sixth year boy and, as Kurama had informed the Aurors and Dumbledore earlier that evening, he was somewhat older than one.
Coincidentally, it made perfect sense. Dumbledore was no idiot; Kurama already suspected he knew far more than he was letting on. It had been likely that they would get caught up in it: the battle of alignment raging between the wizarding world, shifting to focus on the four detectives as Voldemort sought to find them and Dumbledore sought to keep them from joining his side.
And being placed in this dormitory most likely meant there was someone in here that the wizened headmaster wanted them to keep an eye on. From the confrontation in the book store several days ago, the fox had no doubt as to whom.
Kurama sighed as a wiggling within his shirt and the brush of wispy fur, not quite corporeal, tickled his stomach. The redhead unbuttoned his white shirt (eyeing the new uniform lying on his trunk, complete with tie – something he was not looking forward to) before reaching down into the cloth and scooping out the shadow demon.
Bikou had been relatively well-behaved throughout the sorting and dinner, with a little help from Hiei. The fire demon had found a new and entertaining game of feeding the little beast bits of meat during dinner, having to use speed so that none of the other students would see the shadowy, less-than-solid black head peeking out of a very solid school vest. Oddly, between almost getting his fingers bitten off and the purring the damned thing would make every time it finished eating, Kurama wondered if the creature was starting to grow on Hiei.
Of course, he didn't enjoy the way the kage tenge would materialize inside his shirt with every new bit of food offered him (as a shadow demon, apparently, couldn't hold food in its mouth or stomach if said organs were incorporeal. Luckily for them, being a shadow demon, the thing could become as unsubstantial as that for which it was named, and do so at any point in time. Of course, the fox wasn't all that pleased knowing a flattened, incorporeal mass of deadly Netherworld being resided somewhere around his abdomen. But, at least it wasn't a wriggling mass of deadly, solid Netherworld being that would clearly be noticed.
The only reason Kurama was all right with keeping the shadow demon on him (as such a volatile creature was not truly suitable as a pet) was that the thing seemed oddly loyal to him. Well, that and he couldn't leave him alone for fear that he would attack a student (and they didn't need to explain why they knew how to purify wounds. It was lucky enough they'd gotten way with the train incident).
He gently sat down on the bed designated his by the trunk residing at the base of it. Bikou, curled up in his hand, upper body draped over his forearm, happily purring against his chest, quite content to sleep after his feast. Hiei mirrored he fox's movements, sitting down as well. Yet another coincidence gave the fire demon the bed closest to the door.
Those sorts of things only heightened the fox's reserved concern, what with how much Dumbldore actually knew and his knack of immediately using it to manipulate them. After all, Kurama was not the type of demon to believe in coincidences.
"What do you think?" he asked quietly in Japanese, the translator turning off as he mentally made the choice to speak in his native tongue. Red eyes shifted in his direction, glancing down at the curled shadow demon and then back up. Hiei had said little after their small exchange following the sorting. Kurama was used to his companion's periods of silence but had learned long ago to interpret them. This silence was one of anxiety and discontent. Hiei was an animal in unfamiliar territory – cautious of everything and happy with none of it.
"Of the school or the boy?" he rebuked, crossing his arms and meeting Kurama's gaze after red eyes focused, with emphasis, on Malfoy's trunk. He had clearly come to the same conclusion as the fox.
"Both."
"A joke."
"The school or the boy?"
"Both."
Kurama let a small chuckle escape, eyes never leaving Hiei's. "Care to elaborate?"
"I could get into this school with my eyes closed. All three of them," the fire demon expanded, his tone one of disgust and his expression a match. "Their idea of security is ridiculous."
Kurama nodded, though he granted them some reprieve due to the fact that Hogwarts had clearly not been magicked to defend against demons. Still, the narrow-minded majority of wizards wouldn't have bothered thinking of ways to get in through their defenses. They would have simply claimed it impossible and left it at that.
He ran his fingers through the shadowy wisps along Bikou's back, similar to hair. The creature flexed tiny claws, stretching out under the attention.
He had thought, however, that Albus Dumbledore was not of the majority of narrow-minded stick-wielders. Surely, he would have taken the time to make sure his fortress was secure against all threats. But, then again…he was the one who suggested (though they weren't truly given a choice) the four of them attend, after all. Conveniently placed in the two rival houses housing the two biggest rivals in the school.
"And the boy?" Bikou was kneading his claws against Kurama's arm, catching both demons' attention, but the creature wasn't breaking skin as it purred and pawed.
Hiei looked less than pleased, though whether it was due to the infuriating creature latched onto the fox's arm or the idea of sharing living space with a human brat was a mystery. Hiei's thoughts were more on the boy than the beast, however. He knew a schemer when he saw one, spending the majority of the last five years with the one sitting across from him. "He's a-" Hiei's mouth did something funny, moving spastically for a moment before the translator righted itself and he continued with a somewhat more automated, though strained, "git."
The fire demon frowned at the disconcerting feeling of having his mouth temporarily rebel against him and he let loose a low growl. He was not happy about the damn necklaces they were forced to wear. The word he had used in his mind was far more…acoustically satisfying.
"Hmm," Kurama made a noncommittal, intrigued sound. He was staring at Hiei's chest, approximately where the translator hung on its long chain, resting against pale skin. "I guess the English language doesn't have a word for that."
Of course, the fox wasn't sure exactly what Hiei had tried to call Draco Malfoy, but he had a feeling it hadn't been human.
"Stupid. A waste of our time."
Kurama looked back up to meet Hiei's eyes. "The school, the boy, or the translators?"
"All three of them."
The fox let out a slightly louder chuckle, leaning back to brace himself on his hands. Bikou released a high pitched growl as he was forced to slide off the fox's lap. With an indignant sound, he pounced back onto Kurama's thighs, turned in three and a half circles, kneaded his claws a little sharper into the boy's pants (for retribution) and sank down into a curled ball. Comfortable once more and feeling compensated, he closed his eyes and resumed purring.
The fox, wincing slightly at the pain of those claws (though still surprised the little creature had not drawn blood, yet again), shook his head and let his attention stretch outwards. There were still noises coming from the common room downstairs and he figured they would have some time before any of the other boys joined them for bed. For students, their first night back was one of celebration and reunion.
"We're not going back, are we?"
The question threw Kurama off for a moment as he focused back onto Hiei's face, having let his mind wander to catch some of what was being said downstairs. The fire demon wasn't usually the type to ask him such questions, being one to plan as they went rather than find out what was going to happen ahead of time. Especially not when it required asking Kurama for confirmation.
"You know as well as I do that as soon as Koenma discovers us, he will order us to stay."
"We're not his lapdogs." Hiei cut himself off at the last moment, the word anymore almost getting tacked onto the end of that sentence. He had no doubt that Kurama had heard, however, and it irked him to acknowledge that they once were.
"No, we're not," Kurama conceded, leaning forward to remove his shoes. The disruption to his 'pet' got him a curious growl this time (as Bikou was not quite sure why exactly Master was trying to squish him between his chest and his legs). The shadow demon, feeling the sudden movement was not all that appreciated and probably not in his best interests health-wise, wiggled out from between the fox's hunched form and pounced onto the bed. As Kurama pulled off his second shoe, Bikou gave a disgruntled noise and settled, instead, on the pillow.
Despite the beyond peculiar behavior (he had never seen, heard, or read of a kage tenge ever acting as such before), the fox couldn't help the slight attachment he was beginning to feel towards the shadowy creature. Shaking his head, knowing it was not a wise idea to grow fond of something whose bite could be potentially deadly, he stood. Moving over to his trunk, he bent down, shifting through the contents until he had found his sleepwear, purchased with the rest of their clothing.
As he moved back over to the bed, he continued their earlier conversation, knowing Hiei was still waiting for more of an answer. "But leaving this country without Koenma's help would prove difficult, even for you."
He didn't say that it couldn't be done, because both knew it could be. Hiei could leave; it would take days of travel, but he could do it. So could Kurama, though the fox would be somewhat slower than the fire demon, unable to run at the same speed for so long. Hiei could probably cross the channel without a boat. With Kurama, the two would have to stow away on a vessel.
The fire demon did not reply. Interpreting exactly what Kurama had actually said with his words.
You can leave, but I won't.
It wasn't human honor – loyalty to Yusuke – that kept him in the school. Once the two had gotten away from the magical build up that wreaked havoc on portals, they would contact Koenma and the toddler could get the two humans out. Even Hiei alone could do this, and the fire demon knew it was not trust in him that kept Kurama from accompanying. There was something else, a reason he was staying that he was unwilling to tell Hiei.
They remained in silence as Kurama changed his clothes and climbed onto the bed. Bikou bounced up and down slightly as the pillow shifted under the fox's added weight. One yellow eye cracked open to stare at its master before sliding closed once more. The bed was rather comfortable, though nothing like Kurama's bed at home, and it certainly didn't have the clean, flowery smell of Shiori's laundry detergent. The fox gave a soft sigh, breathing into the pillow for several seconds before pulling the curtains closed around his bed, all but the side facing Hiei.
Reclining back into the mattress and snuggling under the covers, Kurama let his eyes close. It was a peaceful silence between them now, one he had encountered many times in his own home. For a moment, if he let himself, he could almost believe that he was back in Japan, lying down after several hours of homework and quiet chatter with Hiei. The fire demon settled in the window for the night, watching him sleep until his own eyes eventually slid closed.
The sound of boots being pulled off and chucked carelessly in the direction of a trunk stirred Kurama from his thoughts, but he didn't open his eyes. The presence of another at his bedside, followed by the dip in the mattress as another added their weight had Kurama scooting back slightly, making room. With a last moment of thought, he reached out and scooped the snoozing shadow demon off of his pillow.
Bikou let out, for the third time that night, an indignant growl, but quieted as Kurama pulled him closer to his chest, letting him fall back to sleep curled against the fox's warmth.
Hiei eyed the beast, not quite as content as Kurama was with the razor sharp teeth and deadly claws pressed right up against the fox's chest, nothing but a flimsy piece of clothing in between shadow and skin. He ignored it, however, having come to the conclusion some days ago that, for whatever reason, the stupid tenge was not going to hurt Kurama.
The truth bothered him almost as much as the closeness of the two.
The fire demon slid underneath the covers, red eyes staring at the fox in the dark. If Kurama was surprised that Hiei had pulled back the blankets and lay down beside him, his face didn't show it. "Hiei?"
"There aren't any windows."
Kurama tried to hide his smile, unsuccessfully so, as the two boys settled on the somewhat skinny bed and the fire demon pulled the remaining curtain shut. He wondered briefly if Hiei was referring to his habit of sleeping in the half-human's windowsill whenever he was in the Ningenkai, or if he had meant there was no easy access to a nearby tree. Letting curiosity get the better of him, he decided to find out. "I never took you for the claustrophobic type."
"Hn."
A little bit of both. Kurama was mildly surprised, having not given much thought to the fire demon being uncomfortable with small, underground locations. But, then again, he wasn't all that particularly happy with them, either. No windows meant no easy escape routes. It was, somewhat, akin to being cornered.
Of course, he didn't mention that Hiei could easily make it outside by use of the common room without being noticed. Nor did he mention that Hiei had a bed of his own.
Sensing the fox's amusement, the fire demon shifted slightly, their bodies, separated by only a few inches (and a deadly shadow demon), brushing with the movement. Yellow eyes opened in the darkness, but closed soon after, deciding they were simply too sleepy to deal with the intruding fire demon.
"Don't get used to this, Fox." Tomorrow night, he would make sure he was out on the grounds by the time this stupid thing humans called a 'curfew' was in effect.
"Of course not, Hiei." Kurama's reply was easy and without hesitation, though he didn't do a very good job of keeping the laughter out of his voice. It only got him a grunt and a light kick to the shin, both of which only made him laugh more.
They remained like that, nearly pressed up against one another in perfect silence and the darkness created by the closed curtains encircling them. Neither was sleeping, nor even tired, but neither wanted to deal with the human teenagers downstairs. At some point in time, just before the other boys entered the room, the curtains around Hiei's bed pulled shut on their own, hiding the empty mattress from sight.
In the darkness around him, Kurama watched as the purple light of Hiei's Jagan faded underneath the warded cloth. Five students, presumably the ones they would be living with for the remainder of the year, entered almost immediately afterwards, dressing for bed and talking quietly with one another before silence eventually took over, soon to be replaced with light snores.
There was a quiet stillness between them for a long time after the other boys fell asleep. And just as Kurama was drifting off, chin tucked against spiky hair and fingers lazily playing with shadowy fur, Hiei spoke. "This isn't our war."
Kurama paused, green eyes opening, as his mind immediately searched for the appropriate response. It failed to supply one that didn't have some defect in it. Several of the options presented themselves on the tip of his tongue, but he chose to remain quiet. The silence stretched out until Hiei knew he wasn't getting a response. A slight shift in his body and red eyes closed, feigning sleep if not, in fact, sleeping.
The fox remained awake for some time longer, green eyes staring out into the darkness created by the green fabric hanging around them. He knew what Hiei was saying – what he was asking.
We have no reason to stay, so why are we?
But he wasn't sure it was the right time for an explanation; wasn't sure if he even had one to give that wouldn't be faulted by the fire demon. He couldn't tell Hiei that yes, in fact, this might end up their – his – war, even if he couldn't say why.
So, like Hiei, he eventually fell asleep without an answer.
When he awoke the next morning, after finally being lulled to sleep by the fire demon's scent of cinnamon and pine, it was to Hiei sitting upright beside him, boots on but dangling off of the side of the bed (the fire demon had quickly learned back in Japan that boots were not to be worn atop bed covers). Kurama blinked several times, giving a small yawn as he took in the sight of the youkai, who he had thought would be gone before he woke up.
"Morning," he said after his yawn broke and he raised a hand to sweep his bed-arranged bangs out of his eyes. Those green irises glanced around, the two of them still hidden by the closed curtains. Light filtered in through the crack caused by Hiei's boots, extended off the bed. Eyes landed on Hiei's lap, where a curled shadow demon slept peacefully.
He raised a red eyebrow towards his companion, and got a clearly stated 'shut up' glare in return. "Hn." With the morning pleasantry returned in Hiei-fashion, the hiyoukai glanced away. "I found the baths."
-o-o-o-
Breakfast in the Great Hall was always a time for chatter, creating a light din between the heavy stone walls, lit by the early, yellow light of the morning sky. It was especially chatty on the first days of term, and this year was no different, despite the decrease in returning students with the ever-rising threat of death and destruction.
Harry, along with his two best friends, entered the Great Hall a bit later than they usually did on the first day of term (despite always having to readjust to waking earlier). This could be blamed on the two boys walking in behind the trio, still yawning and flexing muscles sore from sleep. Both boys had wet hair clinging to their foreheads and napes, though the majority of the water had been toweled off at this point.
Yusuke and Kuwabara were not morning people. Harry had learned this after several days at Grimmauld Place, where waking them had proved a challenge even for Molly Weasley.
Of course, when Kurama had entered the room carrying two classes of water (after thankfully catching Hiei's hand before he had managed to draw that sword of his) they had learned the easiest mode of waking the two Japanese boys.
And even after dispersing almost twice that amount atop the boys' heads via conjuring (the two jumping out of bed with yelps, spraying water everywhere) they would just grumble, then laugh, then tackle one another, punch each other for several minutes, and then separate, dress, and forget about the incident entirely.
Harry still didn't want to call them demons (and with their behavior, it was hard to take such a word seriously in application to these two), but he wasn't sure that was exactly human behavior.
As they headed for the Gryffindor table, Yusuke nudged Kuwabara towards the opposite side of the Great Hall. He turned to the three, calling out that they would be right there, and then continued to push the orange-haired teen towards the Slytherin table (despite indignant squawks about walking on his own).
The trio watched them somewhat cautiously. It made some sense that, despite housing placements, the four would still maintain an earlier friendship, but seeing two Gryffindors head so willingly (and almost cheerfully) to the Slytherin table, caused a mix of emotions to stir within them.
Ron's immediate response was anger; a sense of betrayal that their new housemates were seeking out the enemy. Hermione was contemplative and slightly worried; worried that the four would have to deal with house prejudices, worried that the two Slytherins were very likely to be demonic at this point, worry that Yusuke and Kuwabara didn't know, worried that she didn't know enough about the four to actually have anything to worry about.
Harry was a mixture of the two – certainly unhappy about the house rivalry that the two ignored (despite the fact they weren't raised around it) but also extremely worried about their humanity, if any of the four even had it to start.
But there was little the three could do other than sit and try to enjoy their breakfast. At least schedules would be handed out soon, as evidenced by Hermione's excitement.
On the other side of the hall, three tables away, Yusuke and Kuwabara stopped behind their teammates, who had seen their approach from the entrance doors.
"Good morning, Yusuke, Kuwabara," the redhead greeted cordially, returning the breakfast roll he had been eating to his plate. The leader of the rag-tag team returned the pleasantry with a wave of his hand, bending down slightly to catch a strand of Kurama's red hair. It was damp and emanating the scent of lavender.
"Oi, you smell good," the detective returned leaning down to sniff at Kurama's hair.
In the background, Kuwabara groaned. "Man, Urameshi, you are so weird."
Yusuke ignored the comment, glancing over to notice Hiei had wet hair too, which actually caused his gravity defying hair to be a little less defying, with individual strands bowing under the weight of the water. "Eh, I know we need wake up showers, but I thought you two were always up with the sun."
Said fire demon let out a grunt to show his annoyance at the half-human.
Kurama merely smiled, pulling his hair out of Yusuke's grip. "Hiei found the baths this morning," he returned by way of explanation. "They are not too different from our sento back home. Communal."
Brown eyes widened. "No fair!" the raven-haired leader rebuked, moving his arm to rest atop Kurama's head, giving him a support to lean onto (much to the redhead's annoyance). "I'd wake up better, too, if I had a nice long soak."
"Me too!" Kuwabara chimed in, though not daring to mirror Yusuke's movement, as it was Hiei in front of him and not Kurama. He wasn't suicidal. Especially since said fire demon was muttering something about how the two of them would only fall back to sleep.
"Well," Kurama replied, the slight strain in his voice showing his irritation as clearly as the fake smile, far too pleasant, plastered on his face. "If you would get up earlier, perhaps you could join us."
This immediately elicited a groan from both boys. "Why can't we just do it at night?" Kuwabara grumbled, annoyed.
Kurama glanced toward the fire demon beside him, who shrugged as he poked at an egg on his plate, sunny-side up. He turned back to the other two. "Very well, tomorrow evening then. After dinner." The comment seemed to go over well with both boys, who nodded happily at the prospect of something familiar to them: hadaka no tsukiai, the act of bathing for social intimacy. "Now, is there anything else you two needed?"
Yusuke didn't miss the obvious dismissal in Kurama's voice, and only grinned as he ignored it. "Actually," he drew out, suddenly switching to Japanese as he played with Kurama's wet hair, displaying nonchalance to the fox's annoyance, "we just wanted to check up on the plan."
"Plan?" Kurama echoed, following the language change as well. He was now trying to subtly tilt Yusuke's arm off of his head. Unsuccessfully. His leader was a stubborn brat.
"Yeah, anything we need to know?" Kuwabara asked, keeping his voice low, despite the fact that they were now speaking a foreign language to anyone sitting within fifty feet of them.
"Keep your mouth shut and don't fuck up?" Hiei's attempt at being helpful didn't go over very well, as Kuwabara tried immediately to punch the boy, who slid to the side, pressing his body against Kurama's, causing the oaf to miss and punch the table instead. Which resulted with him howling in pain and drawing half of the Great Hall's attention, especially the Slytherin table's already annoyed community.
Kurama sent both boys a light glare (perhaps a little heavier in the fire demon's case) even as Hiei slid back over and Yusuke just laughed, telling Kuwabara he deserved it. "Well," the redhead continued once the noise caused by their tallest teammate had died down to simple grumbles and death threats towards Hiei, "I would say just try and keep out of trouble. Our wands should be arriving this morning, and Professor Dumbledore seems to be having the 'transfers' go to whatever classes they want for the first week.
"However, judging from the coincidental placement of both our parties into the sixth year dormitories-" (Yusuke didn't bother asking how the fox knew he and Kuwabara had been placed with Harry Potter) "-I would suggest, for the sake of whatever it is we've gotten ourselves in the middle of, that you try and attend sixth year classes."
Yusuke seemed to contemplate this for a moment, finally coming to a conclusion complete with a frown. "But we don't know shit about magic, let alone six years of it."
"True," Kurama conceded, picking up his abandoned breakfast roll. Yusuke snagged a part of it, much to his exasperation. "But we are allowed to attend any class, from what I understand. If you can't do something, or a teacher questions you, simply say you are testing your limits of knowledge and trying to figure out where you belong, ability-wise."
"And if we end up stuck here?"
The question came, surprisingly, from Kuwabara. The redhead gave a small, ironic smile his way. "Then I have a feeling Dumbledore already has a plan for us, and any attempts at controlling the situation currently would be a waste of our energy."
"Okay then," Yusuke nodded, talking around the half biscuit in his mouth and straightening, finally removing his arm from Kurama's still-perfectly coiffed hair. "We'll just follow Potter around. That seems strategist-ish, right?"
"Very," Kurama agreed, trying to hide his light chuckle. "And points for both remembering and mutilating the word."
Yusuke gave the back of the fox's head a light cuff, though he laughed as well. The two, intent to depart with brief farewells back to their own table, were interrupted by several loud screeches of the feathery sort. The calls, belonging to the many owls that descended through the high windows of the Great Hall, had become awkwardly familiar to the four boys during their week-long stay with the wizards.
"Great," Hiei muttered as at least fifty owls soared through the room, dropping parcels and letters to students, hooting and screeching before taking off again. "And I thought one of those feather-brained creatures was bad enough."
He was referring, of course, to Ron Weasley's most annoying pet owl named Pig – a miniature feather-ball intent on making sensitive ears bleed. Of course, he didn't like the large ones when they delivered messages to the Order either, but at least they had the intelligence to remain respectively quiet around him.
A large, grey and black owl carrying two small, skinny packages soared over Kurama, dropping both of them. Yusuke caught the one intending to land on the fox's head (which had suffered enough abuse for the morning) while the redhead easily caught the other. Envelopes addressed in scrawling blue ink were attached to both and Yusuke tore his off first, with far less patience than Kurama.
Dear Mr. Urameshi:
"Kurama, I can't read this." Yusuke immediately gave up and handed the letter to the fox, who was opening his own. Green eyes scanned the English words before grabbing his leader's letter as well.
"The translators should work on written words, but you need to think 'Japanese' when you try reading," he explained, busy reading his own through the use of the magical charm around his neck. "They are from Mr. Olivander, who sends his regards as well as his thanks once more for your gift."
"Gift?" Kuwabara echoed, glancing between the two. "What gift?"
"He means his hair, moron," Hiei translated, now poking at the still uneaten egg with his fork. He threw the utensil down (simply not trusting food he couldn't see being cooked) and grabbed Kurama's box off the table, where the fox had set it. Still speaking in Japanese, he shook it, earning himself a light reprimand. "Its blood sealed."
"As he said it would be," Kurama replied, easily taking the box back, recalling their encounter with the wand maker.
"I shall need a single strand of hair from both of you," Olivander said, gesturing between Kurama and Yusuke, "of your demon forms, if you would."
Kurama gave Yusuke a nod, before releasing enough of his energy so that Youko stirred, and then strengthened. He could feel his own consciousness, the part of him that controlled his body and mind, fading as his counterpart grew. The transformation was always the same; painless and with no real feeling. Any sensations he had were soon lost as he sank to the back of his own existence, replaced by the older soul of Youko Kurama.
The fox demon, having no reason to block Shuichi from consciousness, took control as the human watched, like the fox often did, from the corners of his mind.
Beside him, Yusuke's hair had grown in length, a dark brown and unruly mass that stretched to his calves. Blue tattoos, etched eternally into his muscled form, were visible along his cheek bones, arms, and collar line. They flickered in and out of existence for several moments, as his eyes darted between brown and red, before settling in and remaining permanently there. His skin, stretched unnaturally across his muscles, specifically around his neck and arms, gave a slightly monstrous touch to his impressive form.
The demon lord turned to the youko, surveying his taller form. There was a moment of silence in the shop, mostly founded by Lupin and Olivander's speechless surprise, before Yusuke let out a huff.
His bangs lifted off his forehead before floating back down to settle in his eyes again. He gave another indignant huff, watching them do the same.
"I hate my hair when I am in this form," he muttered, blowing up at the bangs again. "It would be no big deal if they would just stay the same length, but no, I have to look like the kid who got too close to a lightning rod."
"If it is any consolation, Mr. Urameshi," Olivander cut in, bringing attention to himself; his eyes were alight with wonder and awe, "the core of your wand will work much better with your new hair length."
Yusuke didn't exactly seem consoled. "So, uh, how much do you need?"
"A single strand will do."
Reddish brown eyes looked back at the wand maker, both eyebrows rising. "Why not just take all of it? Kurama is going to cut it off anyway."
Behind him, Hiei seemed to choke on something, causing the toushin to turn, checking on him. Hiei, indeed, seemed slightly red in the face, eye twitching and obviously disturbed by something. Confused, Yusuke looked back at Kurama, seeing a similar reaction on the milky smooth skin of his cheeks.
"Yusuke," the youko began, soft alto replaced by the baritone, commanding voice of the Demon World's greatest thief. Of course, it seemed slightly strained, perhaps a further result of whatever the two demons were suffering from. "Perhaps you should not offer such a…rare and valuable item, without requesting payment of some sort."
"Payment?" the detective echoed, glancing back to Olivander. There was some sort of light in his eye that screamed predatory glee. It sort of freaked the hard-trained half-demon out.
"You idiot!" Hiei scoffed, crossing his arms as he attempted to recover the dignity lost by his momentary reaction to Yusuke's asinine suggestion. "Do you have any idea how much energy lies in a single strand of your hair? And you want to give him all of it?"
"Oh," Yusuke echoed intelligently, running a hand over the back of his head and the mass of hair there. "I guess that kind of makes sense…" He turned to Olivander, seeming a bit hesitant. "Uh…how much will you give me for it?
They left the shop nearly half an hour later with an overly-ecstatic Yusuke now owning a small fortune, magicked by Lupin to fit, weightlessly, in a pouch residing in Kurama's pocket. Hiei was still twitching at the fact that Olivander hadn't even paid a quarter of what Yusuke's hair was worth.
Which had the old man practically dancing among his dusty wands.
"So we just smear our blood along the seal?" Yusuke asked, inspecting his own box as he, too, recalled Olivander's joy at his so-called gift (honestly, the amount of hair they constantly chopped off every time he went demon was a pain and a waste. He was happy to give it to someone who seemed so eager (creepily so) for it). At Kurama's affirmative, the detective lifted his thumb, bit into the skin until he drew blood, and smeared it across the seal.
It sizzled lightly, like acid burning through the paper that bound the box closed. The white binding, scribbled with ink, bubbled away, revealing the fine wood box beneath, closed by a small metal latch. Yusuke unhooked it as Kurama unsealed his own box, and opened it to reveal a wand, laid carefully within the cushioned insides.
Yusuke hefted the length of wood, which Olivander had concluded at twelve inches. The wand itself was composed of three separate woods, twisted together and then smoothed down to create a slow spiral of the three colors, white (with an oddly pink tint), light brown, and a rusty brown dotted with small imperfections where he guessed thorns used to be.
"Alder, Ivy, and Crusader Hawthorne," Kurama read from Yusuke's letter before handing it back to him. The fox's own wand, ten and three quarter inches, was made in a similar fashion, with two different woods twisted together and then smoothed down, leaving a slightly gnarled, but smooth exterior of red and grayish brown. "Mine is Rosewood and Willow. The willow bark must be what distorted it," he commented, running his fingers along the slightly twisting length.
"Aw, man!" Kuwabara suddenly interrupted, calling attention to himself once more. The other Slytherin students, already displeased at having two Gyffindors standing at their table for any length of time (though politely ignoring them due to harsh, red glares received in exchange for any looks in their direction), commented rudely about the outburst. Oblivious, Kuwabara continued, "I totally left my wand upstairs!"
"Idiot."
For once, Kuwabara ignored Hiei's comment and turned, grabbing Yusuke's arm. He started pulling the boy toward the large doors of the Great Hall. "Come on, I gotta' go get it!"
"Why do I have to come?" the teen countered, though not bothering to pull away from his orange-haired friend. "I'm hungry!"
"I don't remember that stupid password!" Kuwabara argued.
"Neither do I!"
There was a momentary silence, both staring at one another and no longer moving down between the two tables, before Yusuke gave an irritated sigh. "And I wanted to eat breakfast," he mumbled before trudging down the rest of the aisle and then over and up to the Gryffindor table. Kuwabara followed, the two stopping behind Harry as they mumbled an apology and a request for the password to get into the common room.
With answer secured (getting a laugh from Ron and a scolding from Hermione while they were at it) the two trudged out.
Back at the Slytherin table, Kurama glanced to Hiei, the fox holding two boxes in his hands. "Should I tell Yusuke he left his wand here?"
Hiei just snorted and went back to poking his eggs. "Let's see how long it takes him to figure it out."
-o-o-o-
"She's still not there."
Harry, confused, glanced to Hermione to see who she was talking about. He followed her gaze to the Staff table, alighting on the only empty chair. Their new defense teacher, whoever she was, wasn't present. Again.
He gave a light shrug, trying to remain hopeful that perhaps their teacher wouldn't be a complete nut this year. Anything was better than a schizophrenic, turban-wearing maniac; an incompetent ass; or Umbridge (there were no adjectives worthy of her horribleness). "Maybe she's preparing for class?"
"She's probably just nervous," Ron added, though he did so through a mouthful of food. "I mean-" he swallowed "-poor lady's got to deal with the knowledge that at the end of the year, she'll either be dead, insane, or run off."
"That's encouraging, Ron," Hermione concluded with some level of distaste in her voice, giving the boy a less-than-pleasant smile.
"Well, it's kinda' the curse of being our Defense teacher," the redhead continued, giving a slight shrug. "Almost none of them last the whole year, let alone come back for a second."
"He does have a point, 'Mione," Harry agreed, though with a slightly apologetic expression. "We don't exactly have the best of luck with defense teachers."
"Which is why we need someone capable this year!" Both boys groaned as she launched right back into her speech, left off from the night before, about the necessity of a well-trained teacher. "We've got to learn to defend ourselves, or we don't stand a chance!"
"There's always the DA." The trio turned, somewhat surprised, to Neville, who had been listening the entire time. Unlike the previous night, distracted by an involved discussion with Luna before she departed for her own table, the trio now had his full attention. "We could start it up again."
They were definitely going to have to work better about speaking in private (or quietly). However, it was Neville they were talking about, a housemate and friend they would trust their lives too (just not their fine china).
"We could," Harry agreed with a nod, Neville smiling at the boy's concurrence. "And we will," he continued, glancing between his two friends for any objection or thought, "if it's needed."
"Guess we'll just have to see how good this Mushy-yama is." The trio turned to their other side to see that Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were both watching them, the former having made this statement.
While Harry was glad to have both their support (especially Seamus, who hadn't been on the best of terms with him this time a year ago), they were definitely going to have to work on speaking more privately.
"We won't have to wait long," Dean added, holding up the schedules McGonnagall was passing out, loaded with N.E.W.T. classes, and comparing his to Harry's and the others'. "Looks like we all have Defense first thing."
-o-o-o-
They were on their way to meet the mysterious Professor Mushayama, discussing the soonest possible chance they would have to speak with Dumbledore about their visitors, when two of the said guests ran into them (quite literally). After the detangling of limbs belonging to Kuwabara and Ron (the main causalities of the run-in), the five headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Neville had gone ahead with Seamus and Dean, agreeing to meet them in the classroom. Harry wasn't at all surprised that the four of them had chosen to continue with Defense. Neville, especially, had shown a keen understanding while learning under his own hand in the DA last year. And the battle at the Ministry only seemed to pique his insistence at learning to defend himself.
Neville actually talked excitedly about Defense, which he now ranked as his second best subject (the boy would have been the top of the class in Herbology if Hermione wasn't there…and if he didn't usually pass out a couple of times every year).
Yusuke and Kuwabara were talking to one another in Japanese, which might have put Hermione, at the very least, on edge. But seeing as their words sounded more like stabs at one another, usually followed by a brief round of punching (and missing on Kuwabara's part), it didn't seem to be anything devious or worthy of suspicion.
The two stopped, however, when they rounded the corner to the Defense hallway. Outside the classroom, Kurama and Hiei stood, talking to none other than Draco Malfoy.
Harry paused briefly, glancing to Hermione and Ron. That couldn't be good. The last thing they needed was the Death Eater- in- training to start convincing their possibly-demonic guests that Evil was the new Good.
"-hope you do," the blonde git was saying, a trademark smirk on his face that always made Harry sick to his stomach. The heir to the Malfoy name was just as smug and pretentious as the rest of his line.
"Whatever it is you're offering, I'm sure he could do without, Malfoy," Harry cut in, biting the words out as he came to stand beside Kurama. Had he not been so focused on his nemesis, he might have seen the look of disapproval Kurama cast his way. But he had bigger pests with which to deal.
The Slytherin boy sneered at him, the hand he had been retracting (from a handshake, unbeknownst to Harry) immediately settled at the pocket of his robes, fingers tapping the wand through the fabric. "Whatever it is, is none of your business, Gryffindor. Or does your blind nobility now include interrupting conversations with my housemates?"
Harry could feel his ears reddening with anger. It didn't matter that Kurama and Hiei ended up in Slytherin – they had arrived at Grimmauld Place first, and Harry would be damned if Malfoy won them over. "Only because conversations in your house end up with the participants in Azkaban."
Cold grey eyes widened slightly at the insinuation and Malfoy snarled, pulling his wand. Harry met the move instinctively, feeling Ron do the same beside him.
A curse was on the tip of his tongue before a small but quick burst of wind, not even enough to ruffle his unruly hair, threw him off guard. Malfoy seemed to be in a similar state of confusion, but quickly raised his hand, ready to cast his spell once more, only to stop. His pale hand, still clenched, held no wand.
Harry, surprised, glanced to his own arm, still in mid-rise for the curse he'd been prepared to throw. His wand, something that had become almost an extension of him, was nowhere to be seen.
The three boys, as Ron seemed to be missing his as well, glanced around in confusion. Harry was about to start patting his pockets when a grunt, followed by the 'tsk'-ing sound of someone clearing their throat, drew their attention to the once-empty space before them.
A very, very short woman stood between Draco and Harry, glaring at the participants of the almost-duel. She had faded pink hair that hung to her shoulders, curling slightly in a haphazard way that just resulted in uneven waves. For a moment, Harry entertained the thought that she must work hard to get her pink hair to fade like that, matching her old age, shown by the wrinkles in her face.
Brown eyes interrupted any further thoughts on the matter as they bore straight through him, making him feel the guilt and reprimand of every action he'd ever done wrong. And with his Gryffindor status for breaking rules, that was a lot of guilt. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen eyes like that before, and he wasn't sure he ever wanted to again.
"How did you-!?" Malfoy's shocked exclamation drew Harry's eyes away from the old woman and to the blonde prat. He was staring at the woman as well, but more so at what she was holding.
Three wands, clenched in one of her fists, arms crossed over the Asian tunic she wore.
However, any explanation she might have given as to how exactly she'd acquired their wands was interrupted by a loud, shocked, and obnoxious shout.
"Obaa-san?!"
Harry thought he saw a smirk on the old lady's face – just the smallest upturn of one of the corners of her mouth – before she was suddenly gone and Yusuke was crashing into the stone wall of the hallway.
Kuwabara, having been standing slightly behind his friend, was caught up in the movement and found himself knocked off kilter and onto the ground. Hermione and Ron, having been standing beside him as well, were both physically shocked; the redhead flailing back with a yelp of instinct and ending up on his bottom against the hard stone as well.
Kurama, side stepping the whole mess (and Hiei, who conveniently vanished and reappeared on the other side of the redhead) caught Hermione as she stumbled back.
Against the unmarred stone wall, Yusuke was slumped on the ground, one leg drawn up in a failed attempt to catch his falling body. He was holding his jaw, one eye clenched closed in pain, the other glaring at the small woman, who was back between Draco and Harry, as if she had never left. But Harry was sure she had. For a moment, she had disappeared, and then Yusuke had inexplicably gone flying, taking half the hallway's occupants with him.
"Itai!" Yusuke bit out, as if it were a swear word. No longer using the translator, Harry and the other students of Hogwarts were lost to the conversation that followed. "What was that for, you old hag?"
The pink-haired lady moved over to the teen, brandishing the fist not holding their wands captive. Although they did not understand the words being said, it was clear the woman was not the type with whom to trifle.
"I spent a week searching all of Japan and Spirit World for your asses and you end up here!" She cuffed Yusuke upside his head, the teen giving a wince and another biting swear.
"That wasn't my fault! Blame their stupid Lord Voldy!" The students gathered in the hallway, watching this spectacle with curiosity, froze at the beginning of a name they knew very well. It was buried in a puddle of jargon, but they heard it clear as day, and it did little to stem the suspicion in Harry's, Hermione's, and Ron's eyes. Other students, Slytherins included, stared in disbelieve, others in distrust.
Because it was nerve-wracking when you knew someone was talking about the enemy, but you didn't know what they were saying.
Although, Yusuke wasn't exactly the type to keep his emotions out of his voice. Luckily, that helped them to determine somewhat that whatever he was saying, he probably wasn't so happy with Voldemort either.
But still.
"Genkai-Shihan," the softer, calmer words drew attention away from Yusuke and the woman standing above him and over to Kurama, who was assisting Hermione back to stable feet. As the witch pushed off of him, blushing lightly, he turned to the short woman and gave a small bow.
The old woman gave a nod in return, and Harry decided her name must be Genkai. Or Shihan. Or maybe her full name was Genkai Shihan. Or…they switched names around in Japanese, didn't they? That's what Kuwabara and Yusuke had said. So Shihan Genkai, perhaps?
"Kitsune." Harry had heard Kurama called that before, by Hiei prior to the translation spells. It must be a common name for the redhead, another title of some sort. The Boy-Who-Lived was beginning to realize just how many titles the Japanese had.
"I apologize for not notifying you, and for the worry we caused, but we were not capable of contact," Kurama explained calmly, though he was anxious to clear the crowd that was watching them and perhaps speak with the temple master in private. "We have been unable to leave England these last nine days and had no choice in our arrival, either. We were summoned by their Dark Lord."
Sharp brown eyes narrowed at the last of Kurama's words, watching him carefully, weighing what he said. "I was under the impression wizards didn't summon humans."
"I am under the impression he was attempting to summon demons."
Harry had no idea what was said (similar to almost everyone else in the hallway), but he knew that this Genkai (or Shihan) didn't like whatever it was. Her eyes narrowed further and she seemed ready to argue, or perhaps swear (if Yusuke knew her, maybe that's where he got his foul mouth from) but instead turned curtly away from the four Japanese boys and towards the classroom door.
In biting, perfectly enunciated English, she addressed the entire hallway and made it quite clear just who she was. "Get in the classroom. All of you. You're wasting my time."
And with that, their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher entered her classroom.
Yusuke picked himself up off the floor, and followed behind. The small crowd moved out of the way for him, though most of them were eager to enter the classroom as well, if only to avoid any similar… discipline. The Japanese boy fell in line with his friends, still holding his jaw and mumbling, "Stupid old hag just had to kick me."
Harry glanced at his two friends heading into the classroom behind the four Japanese boys and their most mysterious teacher. Who still had his, Ron's, and Malfoy's wands.
By the glances from Ron and Hermione, it was decided; they would talk to Dumbledore as soon as possible.
-o-o-o-
Chapter 13
End
-o-o-o-
I'm so excited for Genkai's first lesson that I've already typed most of it out. I was kind of bummed I didn't get to include it in this chapter, but I was bound and determined to get through the night, morning, and introductions with Genkai. And this chapter was already really long. I mean, I use small font when I type, and I'm getting eighteen pages.
And Genkai's lesson will be lengthy, so I figured it was best to stop here.
Hope everyone enjoyed! I will be on vacation, without internet, for the next ten days, so any responses will come afterward.
Author Notes:
Draco – I had an entire multi-page-length meeting with Draco in it, but decided I seriously disliked it as well as it's placing. Draco's main interaction with Kurama and Hiei will come as a recap next chapter. A warning: I like a craftier Draco, one who isn't evil, but seeking his own ambitions and trying to get out of the shadow of his father.
Sento: There is supposed to be a dash mark above the 'O' (I have no idea what that mark is called, by the way) but and my computer won't work together to recreate it.
A sento is a public bathing house. This is not an onsen, as the water for the baths is heated unnaturally and delivered by faucet. To be an onsen, the bath must have 1 of 19 natural chemicals and must reach a certain temperature naturally before it can be heated artificially. I would have loved to compare Hogwarts baths to an Onsen (because most anime fans know what that is) but alas, I doubt the water is being naturally heated in a magical school in Scotland.
hadaka no tsukiai: Literally means "naked communion" and refers to the traditional Japanese belief that physical proximity/intimacy brings emotional intimacy, good for breaking down barriers and getting to know people. Though this belief has been on the decline, some Japanese teens becoming embarrassed to be seen naked in a group bath, I am going to believe that our four boys (such good traditionalists) will have experienced this (or at least aren't exactly 'shy').
Inspired by Key and Wolfstar SCA, this will play a small role in the story.
...bit…until he drew blood…. We're going to ignore the laws of reality, since this is fantasy/anime. Yes, I am aware that biting your thumb doesn't exactly work all that swell-ly. Trust me, being a nerd (and after watching enough anime like Naruto) I decided to test the credibility of biting ones thumb to draw blood.
I had a very sore, purple thumb the next day and no blood. (yes, I know my intelligence is displayed by such experiments, don't remind me) People, if you're not a half-demon or have a fox soul in you, use a knife or pin (or better yet, don't draw blood!)
Bikou: is technically an it, but I will also refer to him as 'he', in case anyone has noticed my pronoun changes. This is mostly so nothing becomes redundant.
Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan: There aren't references to what happens to these two after the battle of Hogwarts, so I've decided, for the sake of writing and including as many HP characters as possible, that these two will be taking N.E.W.T. level Defense and Potion classes (that one I can at least claim Seamus from the movies) for their future careers. They might get thrown into another class, if I see fit.
Luna and Neville: Luna's career interests lie in becoming a naturalist. Unfortunately, she's a year younger than Harry, so she won't be in the Defense level N.E.W.T. class with them. Still, she'll be participating in any DA club activities that occur, so she will have a focus in Defense, despite the fact that her higher classes, when she reaches sixth year, will be in Herbology and CMC. Neville will continue with N.E.W.T. level Defense, Herbology, and Charms (as per the Exceeds Expectations or Outstanding O.W.L. results).
Peeves: will show up in this story. I'm sorry he didn't make the standard appearance on the first night, but he was off terrorizing Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, since he just didn't end up fitting in well where I had them heading to the common room. But he does get a role in this story.
Genkai-Shihan: Shihan is another honorific for a Martial arts master, and as Key and Wolfstar SCA pointed out, it's how they refer to her in the show as well.
End Author Notes:
Thank you all for reading and I hope you review!