Black Birds
-
It was chaos.
Complete and utter chaos.
People were running, shouting, issuing orders, arguing, freaking out, there were wands sparking and objects whistling and cell phones blaring and Shikamaru was getting a god awful migraine over it all.
Lucius Malfoy had been spotted in Tokyo.
The blond aristocrat had been spotted stood in a quiet out of the way Magical District, right in front of a TV store, watching the glowing screens. Witnesses claimed his expression was everything between angry, disgusted, scornful and unnaturally cold and flat. Which, to Harry and the remnants of the DA, he was very displeased about something he had seen in those TVs. Yet no one could remember just what was playing on them.
One of the more worrying things was that he was dressed impeccably and seemed to be in good health.
Considering how he would have only just broken out of Azkaban this was highly suspicious to Shikamaru's paranoia stewed mind. Was there someone on the inside of the new Azkaban Guards helping Death Eaters live in comfort until they broke out?
Just to be on the safe side, he sent a letter to Kingsley Shacklebolt suggesting he crack out the Veritaserum and start checking all his staff in contact with Death Eaters or known sympathisers. Slytherin wasn't known for having a silver tongue just because the school emblem was a silver serpent – they were manipulators extraordinaire and considering how weak minded most Wizards were Harry didn't hold much hope for one of them having not gone turncoat after a few carefully worded arguments.
Still.
If Lucius was here, then so was Narcissa and there was no chance that they would have left their Murderous little Spawn back in Europe. No, they would have brought him with them.
Draco Malfoy was in Japan.
-
He loved watching her play with the cards.
The way her swift, nimble fingers manipulated the thin sheets without bending or creasing them, the faint sound of them passing through the air as she shuffled them with practiced motions. The scent of her hair and perfume lingering in the air, the sound of the trees and plants around them, the occasional shriek of laughter from children far away.
Mitsukuni smiled brightly at her when her eyes flickered towards him, enjoying the slight pink hue that coloured her cheeks and the clumsy, slightly hesitant smile he received in return from the doll-like girl in front of him.
Despite having won the bet between himself and Takashi, his thoughts had found themselves drifting to his forfeit more than once. The idea of going steady with Reiko-chan... it gnawed at him. The idea of being with someone, not because they designated him as their Host, but because he genuinely wanted to be with them, was one that hammered at his skull until he found himself stood in front of Reiko-chan's front gate and ringing the buzzer before he could convince himself that this was a bad idea.
But it wasn't. It was the best one he'd had in his whole life.
Because Reiko had answered the door in a white dress and Mitsukuni found himself unable to say anything for a full ten seconds as he studied her up and down, making the porcelain skin of her face turn pink with embarrassment.
He'd asked her then and there if she would be his girlfriend.
She said yes.
And he hadn't regretted a moment of it, yes he couldn't find much in the way of time to spend with her without Takashi or the other Hosts around, but that was alright, she was fairly devoted to the Black Magic club as well. And the two were still adjusting to one another, for the moment, their relationship was innocent, nothing beyond holding hands or that one time when Reiko-chan had kissed him on the cheek.
Right now, they were in the park, just sitting on a large black velvet ground sheet, it was cold and they were wrapped up warm and Mitsukuni was feeling sleepy and full from all cake he'd eaten earlier.
He was beginning to doze when he noticed Reiko-chan murmuring under her breath as she laid out the cards of the Major Arcana in front of her, expression slightly troubled.
"What is it Rei-chan?" The blond asked, levering himself up to finally hear what she was muttering.
"Judgement – Fate, Wheel of Fortune – An unexpected event, Death – the death of a person, situation or issue." She muttered, fingers tracing the three-card line up with a troubled expression, "An unexpected death... Person or situation... Fate... preplanned? 'You get what you deserve'... A Karmic debt? Human, the death of a person perhaps? A dead person in his future?" She was muttering, eyebrows creased as she began pulling more cards out and laying them down with an almost feverish intensity. Making Mitsukuni sit up fully and try to catch her attention, but she didn't seem to even realise he was there anymore.
"The Magician – Employment, The Hanged Man – Plans suspended, the Sacrifice may be too great, The Emperor – Will." She moved down and made another line of three cards, "The Chariot – Moving quickly, The Lovers – love or choice, The Tower – The chaos that comes before enlightenment..." She chewed her lips, hands fluttering over the cards anxiously. Mitsukuni didn't understand what the problem was, they were just cards, but he remained silent. Reiko followed the ways of the Occult with almost religious reverence; the fact that more often than not she was correct in her predictions was what prevented Mitsukuni from brushing her off as a silly gullible little girl. "Employment and plans suspended, the death means he is stopped from something at work or school... Will 'Intent follows action', he will act? Despite the plans being stopped? Moving quickly, he does it soon, he has a choice... chaos before enlightenment, chaos... his choice will lead him into chaos? But soon it will abate?" She rubbed her face, chewing her lips again, "I don't like this." She finally said, her voice shaky, almost on the verge of breaking, "I don't like it. I really don't."
Mitsukuni hugged her.
He didn't like the sound of the cards either.
She never saw the Fool slip from her deck and land atop the Death Card.
-
"Akegata!"
The green eyed teenager looked up from the large map he and the rest of his group were going over, "Fae-sama?" He greeted curiously.
Ever since Ron, Hermione and the remainder of the DA returned, he had been taken off of his usual team under the blonde woman and placed in charge of them. Meaning that now, apart from time in the office, he rarely had contact with his previous Team as most of his time was spent working from home.
"Get your uniform on." She declared, "All of you." She added, looking at Ginny in her black leather miniskirt, blood-red men's shirt and thigh high black heeled boots. "We have a high profile case, Press are swarming all over the place and the ATOC need to be seen as professionals. Your team is partnering with mine on this, the press coverage isn't something we can wave away this time, add to that, I believe you know the daughter of the deceased, and those responsible for her killing."
Shikamaru nodded, not bothering to argue or obtain more information before he was gesturing to the rest of his friends to follow him into the changing rooms. They each had their own lockers with a full uniform, it was a typical police officers uniform in Navy blue with one or two extra pockets and holsters for their specialist equipment. The group changed and made their way out of the room, following Fae and the rest of her team as she led them through the halls and into the garage where they all bundled into a collection of shiny black cars.
"Who is the deceased?" Ron asked when they were all seated.
"Kanazuki Ayeka, the famous TV clairvoyant. But what a lot of people didn't know is that she is a real Seer. She just decided to do her predictions for cash and fame." Kai explained from the front seat, disgruntled expression on his face, "I heard she has a daughter who inherited her talent."
"She does. Kanazuki Reiko. She's in the year below me at Ouran. Sweet girl, an odd duck but very nice." Shika admitted with a twist of his mouth, "She idolised her mother. She's going to be heartbroken."
"She's the one who found the body." Fae broke in from where she was driving.
Kai nodded, "Her and her boyfriend had just gotten back from a picnic in the park, she'd been doing Tarot readings and had one that concerned her so she headed home. Opens the front door and finds her Ma's dead body at the foot of the stairs with a bloody great big charred hole in her spine." He detailed for them as they drove through a red light, siren whirling, "'Nichi says she's handling it well, all things considered. Hasn't spoken a word."
Shikamaru sighed and stared out of the window, Reiko's mother... Ayeka was a damn good witch, a Seer greater than Trelawny and she was well known for her Curses, Curses that made Reiko's look like loving swats by comparison. No pure magic user in Japan could have taken her down, many of the physical wizards/witches in Japan wouldn't have been able to take her out. Which meant...
"Didn't she have a show on in the Thursday afternoon slot?" He asked a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.
"Yes." Fae agreed, making him groan. "You have an idea of this?" She asked.
"A vague one. Let me examine the scene before I can be certain."
-
The last person Mitsukuni expected to walk through that door was Akegata Shikamaru and his friends.
He knew they worked for Antiterrorism but he'd always assumed they did only Administrative roles, filing, occasionally a bit of research or forensics, but front line officers? That he had not expected.
"Ginny, Neville, you two take their statements. Ron, tell me what you find. Hermione, go with Luna and examine the area, I'll check the body. Sarah-san, would you join me?" The green eyed teenager asked, looking to the tall brunette girl who had come in a few steps behind the group. She nodded and the group of teenagers quickly dispersed, leaving the tall blonde woman to issue orders to those remaining behind.
"Haninozuka-san, Kanazuki-san, this way please." The brunet officer who had been keeping them company spoke, gesturing for them to follow him, Ginny and Neville into the living room, he assumed the brunet was there to act as a translator because it was painfully obvious that neither Neville nor Ginny knew how to string a sentence together in Japanese.
He glanced over his shoulder briefly to see Akegata on his knees next to Reiko's mother, not touching the body and tracing the edges of her charred back with a finger, muttering to the brunette woman who was nodding, a frown on her face. She pointed to the bleed out in the centre of her back and said something; Akegata shook his head and spoke.
He didn't see anything else because at that point the brunet from earlier placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling sympathetically and gently steering him into the living room.
-
Just a short chapter. I wanted to get something out for you guys. My apologies.
Things have been hectic the past two weeks. My grandmother died on the 27th of September, we went to her funeral on the Friday up in Motherwell Scotland. It was a nice service. My uncles got absolutely trashed at the Wake – as is only right and proper in Scotland (apparently). Went home on Sunday, took Monday off, went in on Tuesday, left at Wednesday lunchtime because my housemates gave me flu. Flu. Spent the rest of the week in bed feeling utterly miserable and unable to write because computer screens gave me abominable headaches.
This chapter didn't really have much planned for it, it's really only a filler but it does plan the way for some interesting scenes later on, hopefully.
Hope you guys enjoyed Hani and Reiko's fluffy moment. I know I enjoyed writing it.
Araceil