Close Encounters of the Hidden Kind (o.O;;)

AUTHOR'S NOTES: YAY for chapter TWO~~~!!! ^~^ Asato meets Grein Silverbough, who was strange (he was a Westerner who could speak Japanese very fluently) and stranger (he talked of things that were called "Muggles"; must be some sort of code) . He is then given a bit of parchment that he was only to open on his 10th birthday. Asato never really thought much about it until his birthday came and Konoe-kachou comes for a VISIT! Of course his relatives were no more less than totally shocked. Then it's off to a school called the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. R/R please! ^.^

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yami No Matsuei nor Harry Potter; they belong to each of their respective authors; but I DO own the OC's portrayed herein. So NO SUING~~~!!!

In all his 9 miserable years of existence, Asato had never been treated to a sundae cone.

A triple chocolate and strawberry decker sundae cone generously sprinkled with nuts.

Nor a large Vanilla Coke.

By a stranger, nonetheless.

WHAT WAS THE WORLD COMING TO~~~?!

Asato could only stare at the stranger as he talked amiably with the Ice Cream Planet scooper and was handed a Triple Choco-Strawberry Nut Decker and a large cup of Vanilla Coke a little while later.

The small boy was just staring at them open-mouthed until Grein Silverbough smiled at him warmly and nodded. "Go on. It's yours. You look ready to fall off your feet out of thirst and hunger any minute now."

"R-really? This...these are...MINE?!" Asato asked incredulously.

"Yes, 100% sure."

"O-oh, but I really have to pay you for it~~~"

"No, no, no, you don't need to! Besides, I know how much you like Muggle sweets," Grein told him, still smiling. "So it's OK."

"R-really?!? THANKS~~~!!!" SD Asato said happily, looking at his sundae cone and his Vanilla Coke as if it were his idea of a Holy Grail. He decided to let that strange word, "Muggle", slide. Maybe he was just so hungry that was why he was hearing things.

They took their seats on one of the parasol-toting seats of the mall's walkway ice cream and sweets bar, and Asato began devouring his ice cream cone. He was halfway finished with it when he remembered that he was with a total stranger. So he blinked then looked at Grein, who was reading a newspaper in front of him while sipping a cup of iced cream coffee.

"Uh..." Asato thought for a moment, then looked straight at the strange man. "Um...Silverbough-san..."

"Yes?"

"How...errh...you...I mean...this is the first time we've...met..." Asato gulped. "How come...you're so...good to me...?"

"..."

"Oh! SORRY if I offended you...I MEAN~~~"

"No, don't apologize, you don't need to."

"Then...why...?"

"Let's just say...you remind me of someone a long, long time ago. When I see you, I see him." Grein nodded. "You were so much like him. He liked Muggle sweets, too. Very much. He came close to making Honeydukes bankrupt, he raids the sweet shop more than all owls living in England put together."

"England...?" Asato blinked. "So you're...English?"

"That's right."

"How come you speak Japanese very fluently?"

"Let's just say I've been assigned to this part of the world more than half my entire lifetime already, and I've breathed and lived its many traditions and its culture so much that I may have already become more Japanese than English."

"I see." Asato blinked again. "Um...Silverbough-san...what are Muggles?"

"Tell you what, Asato Tsuzuki. I'll tell you more of Muggles if you promise to keep this sealed until your birthday next week. And if you want, we may talk of other 'things'. Other 'hidden things'." Grein stood up, got his newspaper (Asato could see the banner proclaiming it as the Mahou Akamaru Shimbun) and his things and cloak, then gave him an affectionate ruffle of his hair. "I would be seeing you soon."

He glanced at the small piece of parchment that seemed to be sealed with some sort of wax seal Grein left on the table.

It was only when Asato finished his softdrink and sundae cone that he realized that he didn't even introduce himself to Grein just yet.

Asato decided that it was a totally weird encounter.

How could he have known his name...and his birthday next WEEK?!

Was he some sort of secret spy Uncle Shu'un had sent after him in case he spent more than what his 3,000 yen budget could ALLOW?

***STUPID BOY~~~!!!*** Asato could imagine hearing him screaming inside his head in case he asked. ***Why would I even spend THAT much on you, you're nothing but an extra space-taker who COMPLAINS when I put too many burdens upon his BACK. Why, you OUGHT to be ashamed of YOURSELF~~~!!! Imagine all the horrors I've been through just to take care of you through all those YEARS~~~!!!***

***You think you're special enough to be sent a SPY?!*** his Aunt Fuuko would screech next. ***I know enough to learn not to trust YOU when we have our backs TURNED...filching off what he could filch to get through his SCHOOLING! I say Shu'un, you must REALLY think twice in what to give that BOY for his SALARY...he might be embezzling funds from your supermarket earnings the second you just BLINK~~~!!!***

His cousin Kou'un would then just drop to the floor and laugh until he asphyxiates to death.

Asato just contented himself with counting the days until the start of his schoolyear (he was to be admitted into 4th grade by then), thinking it very wise not to ask his Uncle Shu'un anything about it. He was mending what he could salvage from the ratty textbooks his Aunt Fuuko had sniffily lent him (as if it just totally pains her to part with them and then screech and complain loudly that Asato should start living off the charity of some other relative; shame and horrendous he was to be a burden on them, his very hardworking ONLY relatives) which looked as though they ought to be put into the Museum of 15th Century Textbooks (Asato wasn't really sure if textbooks existed by then) by the stables when he heard his aunt screech from about 8 miles off.

"A-SA-TOOOO~~~~!!!"

Asato put his books down, which flapped and fell uselessly down on the floor he just swept clean in case the old man starts bashing him around the head again, then stood up to face his aunt. Of all the times he's seen his aunt very angry, this was the very WORST. Her eyes were no more than littlest slits, and her face was a marvelous kaleidoscope of color, from peach to red to purple then back and back again. She was also trembling, her fists clenching and unclenching, her mouth pursed into a very, very thin line.

"Yes, Aunt Fuuko?"

"IN THE HOUSE~~~!!! BY THE ENTRY HALL~~~!!! NOW~~~!!!"

"B-but I just finished polishing the hall for the 567th time already~~~"

"JUST OBEY ME AND NO BUTS ABOUT IT~~~!!! QUICK~~~!!!" Aunt Fuuko screeched, and Asato was now very sure that it had reached Hokkaido faster than the speed of light.

"Y-yes, Aunt Fuuko~~~!!!"

She stomps off. Asato, wondering what could've made his aunt very angry like that, put down all his stuff and hurried after his aunt as fast as his legs could carry him. He dashed right into the huge house, way past several halls gleaming with toothbrushed fineness of hours and hours of wax and polishing (courtesy of Asato), then by the time he reached the entry hall, he was very out of breath. He leaned over to catch his breath for a full minute, holding his hands on his knees as he wheezed, then looked up. Uncle Shu'un, Aunt Fuuko, and Kou'un were all glaring at him with undisguised hatred.

"U-uh..."

"Asato Tsuzuki?! By the GODS it is YOU~~~!!!"

Asato blinked. A middle-aged man was right outside, smiling at him in a grandfatherly manner, his eyes closed happily. Well, he looked quite normal, except that he was wearing clothes of some faraway mountain temple in flowing white and deep blue (his kosode tunic in white and his hakama in deep blue), holding a ceremonial wand festooned with paper wards, a tall hat on top of his head, 2 rectangular paper wards upon his shoulders along with a double-stranded necklace of amber beads and bright blue feathers about his neck, and a garland of leaves about his hat. He had white tabi and zori on his feet.

And there were others similar like him, forming a straight line on either side of the middle-aged man right outside their very house, holding banners and mini palanquins with his name written on it in flowing kanji. There was even a band playing traditional Japanese instruments, that were normally only seen in the Japanese Imperial Palace in Tokyo during festivals.

As soon as Asato made his appearance, all the other middle-aged man's companions cheered very loudly and the band started up a lively tune as they marched around in a circle. The racket was so noisy that some of their neighbors went outside their houses and watched the weird spectacle happening right in front of the Mishima household.

"Ooooohhhh Mr. Tsuzuki, we've searched every nook and cranny and river and mountain and building and temple for YOU~~~we're VERY VERY GLAD~~~!!!" the middle-aged man said as the cheers and the band playing wore on, tears pouring down his cheeks in wavy torrents.

"..." SD Asato had a huge sweatdrop on his head. "Errh..."

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS~~~?!" Uncle Shu'un bellowed, standing right in front of SD Asato, whose eyes now became miniscule beads. "You're ALL looking for HIM~~~~?! He's my NEPHEW~~~!!! Who are you and what do you want from HIM~~~?!"

"Yes, sir, we're all looking for HIM." The middle-aged man bowed. "My name is High Priest Konoe. We know he's your nephew, and we want him because he was chosen."

"C-chosen?" SD Asato blinked, pointing to himself. "ME?!"

"Come OFF IT~~~!!!" Uncle Shu'un bellowed again. He had to bellow because the cheering and the band playing has already reached a feverish pitch. "How could this boy be even CHOSEN?! And what do you MEAN by being CHOSEN?!"

"He has been chosen to go there," High Priest Konoe said simply. "The oracles have been right. The time has indeed come in order for the Darkness be lifted from the land, and he, along with other children who are 'special' like him, shall be sent to the land beyond the Western Seas in order to hone their gifts."

"G-gifts...?"

"I am sure it is what his parents would have done, as you may probably REMEMBER," High Priest Konoe said, his eyes narrowing.

It was as if the middle-aged man said a very disgusting swearword. Uncle Shu'un's face become purple, and Aunt Fuuko took in a sharp intake of breath with her pallor very pale. Kou'un looked politely puzzled.

Asato blinked. He couldn't remember how his parents looked like; Aunt Fuuko told him that they abandoned him in their care when he was just a small baby barely a week old. Ever since he learned how to think for himself, Asato had been wondering how his parents looked like. All he could come up with were just silhouettes.

"I will NOT have those...those 'things' uttered in my HOUSE~~~!!!" Uncle Shu'un said, clenching his fists. "Now if you have the decency to LEAVE sir, I ask you---no, I ORDER you---to get off my PROPERTY~~~!!!"

"We would not leave without the BOY and you KNOW it. And you can't stop him, either. It had been 10 long years since that 'incident' happened, and we looked all over Japan for their son, and you've hidden him well enough, even better than a tiny needle in a haystack. But don't think that you could hide him forever, we've been searching long and hard for him and now we've finally found him. He is the last Tsuzuki."

LAST Tsuzuki?

Aunt Fuuko clenched her fists. "No, we will not HAVE it~~~!!! We are his remaining RELATIVES and you can't take him away from US~~~!!! You'll see, I'll call the police and tell them about this, what you're doing is KIDNAPPING~~~"

"Oh, go drown yourselves in Lake Biwa, the both of you (based on Hagrid's line when he first met Harry and the Dursleys were forbidding him to tell that Harry's a wizard; just borrowed and modified it a bit, so no suing!). Fuuko, your younger sister's only SON~~~!!! I can't believe you." High Priest Konoe then smiled warmly at Asato again, who by now has become a very confused chibi puppy. "Mr. Tsuzuki...I MEAN...MASTER Tsuzuki. We have come from a very faraway place to search for you...and we've just arrived in time for your 10th birthday."

Chibi puppy Asato blinked once, twice, then his amethyst eyes widen. In all the confusion and weirdness he just encountered, he completely forgot that it was his 10th birthday.

Then, as soon as the high priest said that, all of them knelt down and kowtowed right before chibi puppy Asato, whose eyes had now become miniscule beads. The band started up a "Happy Birthday" tune on their instruments, to which all of them had started crying, their tears pouring in wavy torrents down their cheeks.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MASTER TSUZUKI~~~!!!" they all bellowed in a monotonous, singsong voice. It was like listening to a bunch of arthritic ancient Chippendales doing a capella.

Chibi puppy Asato sweatdropped, a helpless look on his face, one of his tiny puppy ears drooping down low.

From the very murderous looks his uncle and his aunt were giving him, as if blaming him for engineering the whole deal, SD Asato gulped. If they were to ask him, he'd rather eat a million cacti than be horrendously punished after this "fiasco" was over.

High Priest Konoe shot a closed right fist in the air.

"Let's PARTY~~~!!!"

And all of them crashed into the house like one single dark blue tsunami wave, bowling his SD relatives over in the process as they yelled and their voices faded away in the distance.

Asato could feel his insides shrivel up.

This was becoming a birthday party that he would rather NOT remember.

Asato didn't know what scenario made him feel the worst of all ever since the party started.

High Priest Konoe's companions brought along lots of food, carried in all sorts of containers and various expensive-looking lacquer ware, and they ripped right through the main dining hall of the samurai villa like a very furious dervish, and had a dinner spread fit enough for the Emperor of Japan himself in less than 10 seconds flat. It was alright, just don't count in the ridiculous-looking folded paper hats (like the one the high priest wore) and those party favors that sounded like foghorns that exploded in and around the table, amidst their gay laughter and Asato's ears bleeding from all the noise it created (it had enough abuse from his Aunt Fuuko's screeching). And all of them kowtowing in front of him whenever he said anything, whether they were in the middle of eating sushi or drinking sake. It was just making him dizzy, all of them doing the same thing over and over and over and over again.

High Priest Konoe insisted on seating him on a pile of Aunt Fuuko's expensively silk covered and embroidered zabuton all throughout the dinner AND the "ceremonial" bearing of the gifts. Again, it would be OK, just don't count in the way the emcee was announcing them to the whole household. It was complete with frenzied cheering and kowtowing to those listening (kneeling in 2 rows flanking the "pathway"), as if they were all afflicted with some sort of bacchanalian disease. The emcee was reading them off from a VERY long piece of rolled-up parchment in a booming voice that sounded like he was proclaiming some imperial edict, and could be heard for about 50 miles around them.

They also held some games and entertainment fit for temple festivals for their whole neighborhood: a mini bunraku play (depicting the flight of the 12 gods), acrobatics, traditional Japanese archery shooting gallery (OO;;), catch-the-goldfish-with-a-paper-net, fortune-telling, and, to Asato's chagrin, karaoke. Hearing the "Happy Birthday" song from the arthritic Chippendale musical revue was bloody enough, but nobody could have ever prepared him for the high priest's voice. It sounded like a bunch of ancient musical saws with their figurative teeth coming off loose as the songs wore on.

The party well lasted into the night. Just as the clock struck 10:00, High Priest Konoe clapped his hands twice, and fast as lightning, his companions dismantled everything they set up on the estate's vast grounds (for the games and entertainment), cleaned and put everything back in order inside the house (sparkling clean at that), marched out like some soldier regiment outside the compound, and the high priest saying goodbye to Asato.

"Remember to send us an owl by the next moon so we could fetch you," the high priest told him. He then gave his relatives a death glare. "If we don't receive your owl by the next moon, we'll still come and get you anyway. Is everything clear, Master Tsuzuki?"

"E...errh...yes, sir..." Asato replied.

"Good." High Priest Konoe then leaned over and gave him another grandfatherly smile. "Always keep them close to you. They'll protect you from harm."

He gestured to the 2 chicken-like stuffed toys perched on top of his mountainloads of presents. Asato nodded, his eyes thin little slits. "Y-yes, Konoe-san..."

With a small nod, the high priest kowtowed one last time in front of Asato, along with his other companions. "Fare thee well, -Guardian of the Shikigami-. Until we meet again."

"HAIL, MASTER TSUZUKI~~~!!!" his companions yelled.

They then left, singing an arthritic rendition of "YMCA" (OO;; complete with costumes whipped out from nowhere and such) as they went down the pathway leading to their house, and into the highway, the paper lanterns they were holding aloft on bamboo poles swaying like so many fireflies in the dark night.

Asato was about to think where to put all his presents away when a dark shadow loomed over him and whisked him away into nothingness.

Asato knew too well that it was just too good to last.

He was serving his harshest punishment ever, sleeping out in the open where the mosquitoes could eat him as much as they liked, without any protection whatsoever from the insects nor from the bitter, freezing cold of the evening. All his presents were put it Kou'un's room for his own enjoyment, and chances were very bleak for nourishment for the last week before he returns to school (and, in the light of things, his schooling looked doomed also; Aunt Fuuko screechingly told him as she pushed him outside to sleep there that she was considering making him a complete servant boy without any wage and no more schooling). The only thing that kept Asato's mind away from the biting mosquitoes and cold of the evening was the note that Grein had given him which he opened amidst tears that pooled in his eyes and splashed unbidden on the parchment itself.

It was yellowing, and it looked pretty old. The handwriting was neat and very graceful, which showed a masterful touch of a master calligrapher's hand.

Dear Asato,

How are you? By the time you read this, you'll already be 10 years old. Are they treating you well? Momiji had been very anxious that her sister may not be able to accept you into their household in case things go for the worst. Oh, she also sends you her love. As I'm writing this, she's singing you a lullaby. She has a beautiful voice. I wonder...could you hear her voice where you are now? She believes you could hear her, even if you are deep in her womb. I just smile at her, to which she would throw a zabuton at me.

Have you met Grein? Yes, it was to him I gave this letter. With all the Dark wizards going around, he is the only person I could trust aside from Professor Dumbledore at Hogwarts. They are all looking for me. As for your mother, as well. Things have steadily been deteriorating between the Muggles and our kind; especially here in Japan where there is now a very strong anti-wizard sentiment. Yes, Voldemort has been defeated by Harry Potter, but that didn't stop the Death Eaters from marching. They continue to sow discord upon every Muggle nation and schools of wizarding; there is talk of bringing upon the new age of darkness, as they so call it. The last thing I heard before your mother and I went into hiding was that they are out for wizard blood. It's even worse than the days when Voldemort was in power a long time ago.

The noose is slowly tightening, and time is scarce and very precious. Your mother and I had been very anxious, and for this reason, Momiji had asked her father's good friend, High Priest Konoe, to take you to her sister in case things go for a really horrid turn. It is very sad that Momiji and I may not be able to see you, as I could sense the trap laid and ready to be sprung at us any moment now. For that one thing we really regret, is not to see you grow up, and all of us together as one family. It is our dearest, dearest wish; now Momiji has broken into a "Card Captor Sakura" medley, it's a good thing she's pregnant with you or else I'd be forced to see a Takarazuka dance medley AGAIN for the umpteenth time. Oh well. You can't have all the good things in life, anyway.

The stars are quivering in the night sky, as Momiji sings you "Groovy!". Well, it's getting late, and we still have to visit High Priest Konoe in Tohoku tomorrow. Till I could count the sparse hairs on my Uncle Haru's nose, I would be waiting very eagerly for you. As with your mother.

Happy birthday, Asato.

With dearest prayers and wishes,

Makoto Tsuzuki

PS. Do you have Gushoushin with you? In any case, kick them for me.

Asato was still dreaming of a 100 foot tall sundae cone when something soft and warm covered his forehead.

"He's alright, nii, you don't have to worry. By Enma, covering all those presents with anti-Muggle o-fuda sure did scare the hell out of that Muggle devil. Do you think we should report this to High Priest Konoe right away?"

Asato slowly opened his eyes.

And soon uttered a yell that could very well be heard on the other side of the Pacific.