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~Chapter 2~
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Series: Harry Potter, Saiyuki, Count Cain, Tenipuri
Warnings: Slash, violence, probably some unintended OOC-ness and full spoilers for all series
Disclaimers: All characters in this story do not belong to me, only the plot of this fanfic does.
Author's Notes: Well, I finally managed to update this fic. ^^;;; Took me a long time cos I had a writer's block halfway. Hope you like it, Kirui. ^^
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Remus Lupin strolled through Radrain Town quietly, inconspicuously. Unusually, he had chose to come to do some shopping in this town in the day, and was in no hurry to return either. It had been a week since the last full moon, and he felt that it was more than enough for rest already.
The 'Day' of Radrain was quite different from the 'Night'. And by that sentence, he did not mean in terms of time only. Shops and places belonging to the 'Day' were the surface that most of the ordinary saw, while those that belonged to the 'Night' were quite the opposite. However, you had to be really good, or by really bad or good luck, to actually spot the 'Night' of Radrain. Government officers, ministers and Aurors had long tried to totally put an end to the 'Night', but to no avail. Whoever had created and ruled Radrain Town was not only clever, but also cunning and certainly underhand as well.
Like the rest of the tenants of the mansion they lived in together, Remus liked Radrain. It was full of intrigue, and it seemed to Remus that Radrain had a habit of having a double-side to everything found in it. Like the three apothecaries found in Radrain. Two of the three were unorthodox, and almost illegal, while the third was a very normal one, which usually had schooling wizards and witches, everyday housewife-witches, etc. for customers.
And Remus Lupin, landlord of a certain mansion inhabited by eccentric tenants, unqualified full-wizard and a Merged werewolf, decided then, as he passed by a large ice-cream parlour, he would visit one of the "unorthodox" apothecaries. After all, Inui had asked him a favor to help replenish his stock of potion ingredients, as he was too busy experimenting with his new potion to go downtown himself.
Besides, Remus mused, as he turned and disappeared into a narrow alley that was only a short way from the ice-cream parlour, that it was about time to remind his acquaintances in Radrain that despite the fact that he had been absent for about 2 months, he was still alive.
With that single cheerful thought, Remus smiled faintly to himself as he walked down a dimly lit and almost hidden stretch of stairs. He paused at the door at the bottom of the stairs to stare at the sign above it, and then stepped through the door as though it did not exist. The door shimmered.
" Well, hello, Riff, Cain," Remus's pleasant greeting drifted faintly through the non-existent door. " Long time no see."
As the sound of his voice faded away, so did the door's shimmering. Outside the barrier of the door, all was eerily silent once more.
Poison Manor.
Those were the only two words on the sign above.
*****
Sirius Black narrowed his eyes in surprise as he saw an unexpected figure pass by the window he was sitting at. His companion, who was a fifteen-year-old boy sitting directly in front of him, paused in the motion to eat his sundae and stared at Sirius in vague puzzlement instead.
" What're you staring at, Sirius?" Harry Potter, only son of James and Lily Potter, asked.
Sirius turned his attention back to Harry and shook his head. " It's nothing," he replied shortly. They were in the famous and only ice-cream Parlour of Radrain Town, Kawamura's. It was a very warm afternoon, so Sirius decided to bring Harry here to have a sundae or two as they waited for James and Lily to return.
" It must have been something, or someone in particular," Harry persisted, watching Sirius carefully as he scooped his sundae into his mouth. " You looked too intense to be staring into space."
" Well, you're right," Sirius conceded. " But unless I want Lily to come after me, I can't tell you. And I don't particularly want to lie to you, either."
" I'm already fifteen, Sirius," Harry fumed. " I'm old enough to know about such things already!"
Sirius shrugged. Giving Harry a lazy smile, he replied calmly, " That's up to your parents to decide, Harry, not me. Of course, if it were me, I'd tell you."
" Tell him what?" a new voice interrupted cheerfully.
" Dad!" Harry exclaimed in half-surprise and half-guilt.
" Finished, James?" Sirius inquired nonchalantly.
James Potter nodded. " Lily's already at the hotel," he replied. " Come on, let's go now."
Harry looked peeved. " Sirius saw someone, Dad," he reported, in hopes that his father would allow him to share in some secrets. " He was just going to tell me about it. Now that you're here, he can tell you as well."
Sirius laughed, eyeing Harry with mild approval. " Good try, that," he commented.
" So, who was it?" James put an arm around his son affectionately.
Taking James' question as permission to allow Harry to know some things, Sirius answered, " I thought I saw Remus Lupin passing by the ice-cream Parlour we were in just now."
Harry widened his eyes. " Remus Lupin? The werewolf wanted by the Aurors?" he asked hopefully without thinking.
James narrowed his eyes. " You eavesdropped on us again, huh?" he said, without much surprise. Harry was his son, after all.
Flushing in guilt and embarrassment at revealing himself so carelessly, Harry nodded. Much as his father was easy-going and fun to be with, Harry never dared to try to fool him, especially when it came to serious matters. Despite the fact that Lily was supposed to be the strict disciplinarian in the Potter family, James was the one that was really merciless when it came to dealing punishments.
Sirius grinned. " Sharp, isn't he?" he noted. " Just like you were in our younger days. He'll become a brilliant Auror like you, if he wants to be one when he grows up."
Glowing with pride at his father's best friend's compliment, Harry looked up at James eagerly. " I do want to be an Auror, Dad," he voiced. " Just like you, and Sirius," he added.
This time, it was James who laughed. " Then you still have a lot to learn yet, Harry," he said, as they walked off to the hotel Lily was waiting in for them.
******
Fuji Yuuta, only younger brother of High Mage Fuji Syuusuke, wore a rather grim look as he walked through the streets of Radrain Town. If fact, anyone would, if they had traveled hard on foot for a fortnight without stopping at all.
Yuuta was tired, hungry, dirty, dusty, and most of all, feeling disgusted and annoyed. He had not dared to use magic to make his travel easier at all. Not even once, even a simple, minor Light spell. Not if he wanted his whereabouts to be tracked by the Fuji Clan or his older brother, Syuusuke.
It was night already, and Yuuta decided that he'd rest at a nearby inn. A hotel would have been more luxurious, true, but not for Fuji Yuuta, who, for some reason, usually avoided staying at hotels. The Fuji name was famous, after all, even in the western parts of the world. If he did stay in a hotel, especially one in Radrain, the news of his presence would immediately leak out and spread like wildfire to the ears of the Fuji Clan. And that was something Yuuta definitely did not want.
Of course, there were other reasons Yuuta avoided hotels, which were about the same ones he avoided attending large ceremonies and functions. When people knew about his identity, they always referred to him as Fuji Syuusuke's younger brother, and the one they would always ask about first would be Syuusuke. He was getting really tired of it.
Now, inns were a different matter altogether. Unless there were no hotels in the area, people usually didn't stay long in an inn. Those who had the money always preferred to stay in hotels, so those who stayed in inns were usually travelers merely passing through, or those that were not as rich. It was easy to stay anonymous in an inn, especially if you knew the correct type of inns to choose.
Fuji Yuuta definitely knew the difference between a Night inn and a Day inn, and naturally, the one he chose was the former. Not that the latter would be an unreliable place to stay in, but the fact that most of the company of a Day inn would be wizards and witches, and Yuuta didn't really like to mix in the company of wand magic users. He was a Mage, after all. There were exceptions, of course, but Yuuta preferred to think of them as individuals rather than belonging to the wizarding society.
As he entered the inn, a cheerful voice interrupted his thoughts. " Yuuta-kun, welcome!" exclaimed a pretty woman with short blonde hair, who was standing at the counter, speaking to a tall, orange-haired boy by the counter.
" Yuki-san," Yuuta inclined his head towards the proprietress of the inn. Nodding his head at the orange-haired boy, he greeted politely, " Hello, Sengoku-san."
Sengoku Kiyosumi grinned lazily at Yuuta. " It's been a long time, Yuuta," he replied cheerfully. " What brings you here?"
Akutsu Yuki shook a finger reprovingly at Sengoku. " Yuuta-kun must be tired, Kiyosumi-chan," she scolded. " You can talk later."
" It's quite alright, Yuki-san," Yuuta hurriedly said, looking a bit sheepish and nervous to be talking to Yuki, who seemed to him to be as young and pretty as the last time he saw her, despite the fact that he knew that Yuki was almost 33 yrs old already.
Sengoku gestured to the stairs. " I'd better show you to your room then, Yuuta," he said, winking at Yuki. " Before Yuki bans me from having tonight's supper for neglecting your rest."
" That's right, Kiyosumi-chan," Yuki agreed pleasantly. " Now take Yuuta to his room, please. I think he's about to faint with exhaustion."
Yuuta turned slightly red at her words. " I'm alright, really," he assured quickly, even as Sengoku started to drag him along up the stairs to a room.
" Sure you are, Yuuta," Sengoku smiled in false agreement. " You're just tired to the point that you're prepared to sleep standing if I kept you talking."
" Hey!" Yuuta protested half-heartedly as Sengoku led him to his room. " Don't you look down on me like that! I can still last well for at least 3 more days!"
" Yeah, yeah," Sengoku nodded insincerely. " Here you go," he unlocked the door of an empty room and practically tossed Yuuta inside. " Yuki's gonna make supper at 10 o'clock," he added, " So just go and bathe and take a nap. Don't worry, I'll come to wake you up when supper's ready!"
With that, Sengoku left, humming as he walked down the corridors. Yuuta glared at the firmly shut door for a moment, and then relaxed, smiling sheepishly to himself.
" Sengoku-san still hasn't changed," he murmured, as he took off his traveling cloak, and laid his staff against the wall, by the bed. For the first time since he started his journey, Yuuta felt safe and relaxed.
" Well, Echizen Ryoma," he spoke aloud to the room determinedly. " I've finally arrived. Hopefully, aniki hasn't found you yet."
*******
In a certain mansion somewhere a short distance away from Radrain, the resident vampire sneezed sharply.
" Ah, Echizen," Inui spoke up. " Have you caught a cold?"
" Iyada," Ryoma snapped back, rubbing at his nose absently.
" Sssss….never heard of vampires being able to catch colds," Kaidoh muttered disbelievingly.
" In any case," Inui continued calmly, " Do any of you want to try my newly developed Cold-Prevention Remedy? It's a 100 percent effective potion." He held up a bottle of fizzling liquid, which was currently a disgusting brownish-green.
Ryoma and Kaidoh blanched.
" Iyada!" Both refused vehemently.
~TBC~
Started: 13th January 2004 (11:16 am)
Ended: 19th January 2004 (12:19 pm)
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Author's Remarks:
I know it's a bit long-winded in the description parts, but well…it's one of my bad writing habits. Heh. ^^;;;
And I know this chapter is remarkably short. But no fear~ it'll definitely be longer in the next chapter!
Pls review! Suggestions are welcome as well!
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