Okay…[sigh] I was going to update this the other day, but FF.net was broken and I couldn't log in. Pretend that you're reading this on July 7, m'kay?
- - ♣ ♥ ♪ ♥ ♣ - -
YEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! [slams into pole from last chapter] Ow…Hello, minna. I updated! YEAH!!!
Otogi: Yeah!
Bakura: Yeah.
Ignore him. He's sulking 'cause he's not in this story.
Bakura: Shaddup.
Meh. [glomps pole] SMACK [hits head] Ouches…meet Skelly! He is the pole that I keep running into. He is now the official muse for Magic Dice. Isn't he cute? [huggle-smack]
Otogi & Bakura: O.O [back away]
Mokuba: [walks onto set] Hey, 'Zure.
♥ MOKY-CHAN!!! ♥ [super-glomp] HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOKY!!!
Mokuba: Can't…breathe…
July 7 is Mokuba's birthday! Two days before mine! Yes, that's right, my birthday is July 9! I will be 14. [winkwinknudge] Not that I'm hinting at anything ;-) … So Moky-chan, what do you want for your birthday? ♥
Mokuba: …air…
- - ♣ ♥ ♪ ♥ ♣ - -
Japanese
Ja ne: Later, see you later
Minna: Everyone
Tenshi: Angel
- - ♣ ♥ ♪ ♥ ♣ - -
Disclaimer: [playing with Mokuba's hair] Skelly, do the disclaimer.
Skelly: … (He's a pole! What did you expect?)
Fine then. I don't own Harry Potter, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or London City Airport, which is mentioned briefly in this chapter. Yes, it's real. If I did own those things, I'd be veddy, veddy rich. But I don't. I'm poor. [sniffle] I wish I owned this cute lil guy, but I don't. [continues playing with Moky's hair]
WARNING! Crappy dream sequence ahead! Seriously, I don't know why, but I can't do dreams. Sorry! I made up the girl in the dream, and it's pretty obvious who she is. Look at the description. Seriously. Look! You're not that stupid. Guess.
- - ♣ ♥ ♪ ♥ ♣ - -
Magic Dice
Chapter Deux
- - ♣ ♥ ♪ ♥ ♣ - -
Otogi leaned back against the trunk of the willow tree and closed his eyes happily. A soft breeze whispered through his jet-black hair, and he could hear birds singing in the branches overhead. Opening his eyes, he stared across the glassy surface of the lake before him, rippling slightly with the wind, to the forest on the far side. Off to the side of the lake near the forest, he could see a humble cottage, surrounded by a well-kept vegetable garden. The postcard landscape was all gentle hills and green grass, clear blue skies and puffy white clouds that drifted lazily across the early summer afternoon.
Turning his head to the side, he smiled at the girl lounging next to him. She seemed to be in her early twenties. Curly black hair cascaded over her shoulders and past her waist to brush the ground. A light pink dress complimented her slender figure and brought out the brilliant yellow-green of her eyes.
Feeling his eyes on her, she turned to Otogi and smiled back at him. She had such a sweet smile, red lips parted slightly, eyes twinkling with an inner laughter that suggested mischievousness. Just looking at her smile made him feel nostalgic.
"Otogi…" Her voice whispered in his mind, so soft it could be lost in the gentle breeze. She took his hand in one of hers, the other finger-combing his hair. "My dear Otogi. I have a prophecy for you."
"Oh?" He smiled up at her.
"Be very careful, my tenshi. You carry a powerful secret within you, a great power that was given to you. They will try to take that power from you, but you must not let them. You must protect your secret gift."
Otogi frowned. "What secret? And who will try to take it?"
The girl sighed. "You can't lose it. It's just not yours to lose."
"I don't understand."
"You don't have to." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "It's time to wake up now, tenshi. You don't want to be late, do you?"
"Wait-"
He woke up.
♥ ♪ ♥ (See? I told you it was crappy!)
"Harry! Harry, over here!"
The black haired boy turned towards the voice, pushing his glasses up where they had been slipping down his nose. He smiled as he spotted the familiar brunette girl waving at him from the nearby ice cream shop. He hurried across the street, and as he neared he could see her red haired companion sitting at the small table occupying himself with a large bowl of ice cream.
"Hey Hermione. Hey Ron." The redhead grinned up at his friend and greeted him around a mouthful of banana split. Hermione frowned at his behavior before turning back to Harry.
"I'm so glad you could make it, Harry," she said as he took a seat next to Ron. Harry laughed.
"It's no big deal. My aunt and uncle were more than happy to get rid of me a week early. What have you two been up to all summer?"
Hermione shrugged and started to answer – "Oh, you know, this and that," – when Ron caught their attention by nearly choking on his ice cream. Hermione watched in slight disgust as Harry pounded the redhead on the back. Ron coughed for a minute, then caught his breath and smiled sheepishly at them.
"Sorry."
Hermione made a disapproving noise. "Well, I told you that would happen if you didn't slow down-" Ron cut her off as she started in on her lecture by turning excitedly to Harry.
"Guess what Dad told me! I was waiting till you got here and I almost forgot about it."
"What is it?" Harry asked eagerly. Hermione was still miffed at being interrupted, but looked interested in spite of herself.
"Well, Dad's been in contact with Dumbledore over the summer, right? A few days ago he was visiting, and Dumbledore mentioned that were getting a new student this year."
"But we get new students every year" Hermione pointed out.
"Yeah, but this kid's our age, so he'll be starting in fifth year with us! And that's not all! He's coming in all the way from Japan!"
"But why?" Hermione questioned. "There's a perfectly good wizarding school in Japan." "I guess he heard Hogwarts is the best."
"And why is he starting so late?" Harry was equally confused.
"Well, don't ask me!" Ron snapped in frustration, "All I know is what Dad told me. I guess we'll have to find out when he gets here."
"Is it a boy? I wonder what he's like. I wonder if he's very different, coming from Japan and all." Hermione got a dreamy look in her eyes. "Oh, I want to go to Japan someday. I can't wait to meet him, he'll just be so fascinating to talk to…"
Ron wrinkled his nose, disgusted. "I'll bet he's a fat, boring slob. He's probably illiterate." Hermione ignored him.
Harry smirked at the disgruntled redhead. "I'll bet he's smart and handsome. I'll bet he's just like Lockhart."
Ron paled, looking horrified. He pushed the remainder of his ice cream away, suddenly losing his appetite. "Ugh. I haven't even met him and I hate him."
♥ ♪ ♥
Otogi stepped into the brightly lit airport terminal, his bag slung over one shoulder. A voice came in over the loudspeaker, welcoming him to London City Airport. Otogi could hardly believe he was here, in London, over six thousand miles from the only place he'd ever known, and for what reason? To attend a wizard school, of all things! A week ago, the raven-haired teen was sitting on his couch, never imagining that such a thing could be real, and now he would be a part of it.
If it existed at all.
He had seen many strange things lately, mostly thanks to a certain spiky haired midget, and he had become the kind of person who, given semi-reasonable evidence, was liable to believe almost anything. Some would call this gullible.
Otogi Ryuuji preferred "open-minded".
The letter had included two tickets: one for his plane and the other for the train that would (supposedly) take him to this "Hogwarts". His father had been completely disbelieving about the whole situation, so Otogi had reasoned that, even if it was a silly prank, it was still a free vacation to London.
The letter from the headmaster had said that someone would be at the airport to escort him to this "Diagon Alley" place (he wondered if that was a misprint). It also mentioned that they would easily recognizable. Otogi glanced around the terminal, half expecting to see a cackling old woman with a broomstick and a posse of black cats.
The sight that met his eyes, however, was no less strange. Towering above the crowd was a giant of a man, easily twice as tall as anyone around him and three times as wide. His face was mostly hidden by a tangled mane of black hair. He was holding in his massive hands a sign written in a messy scrawl: OTOEGEE REYUJY.
- - ♣ ♥ ♪ ♥ ♣ - -
To be continued.
- - ♣ ♥ ♪ ♥ ♣ - -
[hides behind Mokuba] Yes, yes, I know it was short, I know it was stupid and crappy and all that, but I really wanted to get it up in time for Moky's birthday. I'm very, very, very sorry.
Readers: [holding torches and pitchforks]
Um…I love you? [runs away dragging Mokuba]
Otogi: [sweatdrop] Uh, yeah. If you leave nice reviews and sugary treats, Azure promises to have another chapter by Haga's birthday (July 21) or, at the latest, Bandit Keith's (August 12). So, make sure you review!
Bakura: And guess who dream-girl is! If you get it right, Azure will give you a…[squints at cue card]…metaphysical cookie. [shrug]
Ja ne minna!