What Are You Withholding?
Disclaimer: I do not own anything but this idea for a plot and alternate storyline, the characters and places mentioned, except for a few created by me, belong to the creators of either Yu Yu Hakusho or Harry Potter, and any resemblances to people, living or dead, are purely the figment of my, or your imaginations. Also, I do not own the "mission" thing from "Mission Impossible", oh, and don't sue me; I don't have money, I even have to go to a community college.
For those of you who have already started reading this before, I've made some changes based on the suggestions I received from my boyfriend (It's too slow and boring and you don't even foreshadow anything!). This part is relatively unchanged, but the second prologue part has been removed, and a few paragraphs have been added to the end of this to wrap things up. As such the rating has now gone down, and I can start immediately on the main story. The chapters I had finished up to this point have been moved to a new side story, Origins of a Bastard, one of many in a series of side story biographies I will finish eventually explaining the backgrounds of my new characters (the ones that matter at least). Hopefully this will make the story move a little faster and you as readers will not have to waste time reading what you don't want to read.
Prologue
A young man of 17 sat at his computer desk working on his first English essay. He scratched his western, '80's style orange-hair with a pencil as he tried to turn his thoughts from Japanese into English, having a hard time coming up with a title to begin with. Sighing, he banged his rough, beaten up face against the desk for a few minutes. "I don't have a clue about this Christianity thing." He managed to mutter in English before he heard a tapping on his bedroom window. Seeing a familiar bouncy girl with blue hair and a pink kimono riding an oar in midair, he smiled, and then he opened the window for her to fly through. "Hey Botan-chan, long time no see!" He exclaimed in his native tongue upon seeing her.
"Ohayo! It sure has been Kuwahara-kun," the 'Grim Reaper' started, "and I would like to say this was just a friendly little visit, but Koenma-Daioh has some serious business to discuss with you." Kuwabara Kazuma groaned inwardly, for the last time he had anything to do with the Reikai Prince was when Kurama came back from Makai. "Here, I'll just let you watch the tape, it's still encoded," she paused for a short chuckle and tossed the tape to him, "but it's not like THAT matters much here, ne?"
He joined in with the little joke, for the encoding was meant to prevent non-spiritually sensitive people from seeing, or hearing, the message, but the only other person in the house, his sister Shizuru, was also spiritually sensitive. "That's for sure, why'd he even bother?"
"Oh, just formalities I guess," Botan sighed, "Well, I have to get going, and dead souls don't just collect themselves these days. Tell Yukina-chan and Kurama-kun I said hi? Okay?" With that the bubbly girl flew out the window with a little spin outside and disappeared from view.
'Odd,' Kuwabara thought, 'why would Koenma-Daioh contact me? We aren't tantei anymore. And I wasn't really one to begin with.' He put aside his glum thoughts as he popped the tape into his VCR and pressed play. Immediately, a toddler dressed in blue, old style clothing appeared, "Not much like his first production," Kuwabara noted idly as the image began to speak.
"Hello Kuwahara-kun, it's been a while hasn't it? You probably are aware that you are no longer employed by Reikai," the toddler's voice began.
"It's not as though you paid us anyway." Kuwabara interjected, still not in English.
"And you are not required to help in any missions now or in the future, but I have a personal request to make. As always, keep this information secret, for if normal humans found out about the existence of the Spirit World, or the Demon World, or just about anything else in here, it would cause complete and total mayhem." The screen changed to a peaceful setting of what appeared to Kuwabara to be a castle. It was similar to the ones he had seen in English class, only functional by the state of the giant building and the amount of people on the grounds. The people, mostly children his age and younger were all dressed in strange uniforms, robe style. "As we are currently working without spirit detectives, we are searching for people in their prime with spiritual capabilities to replace the former detectives in trouble zones where demons don't follow Enki's Law, namely in countries other than Japan. As Botan-chan informed me that you are in your second year of English, I request that you visit this school shown here and demonstrate your spiritual abilities in an attempt to find others like you to help the Spirit World. Now, this school doesn't look very ordinary at any glance, and it isn't. This school is far from ordinary for it is a wizard school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Wizardry is the ability to perform magic using props such as wands, spells, and potions, but the key ingredient in any magic is the spirit energy that comes from within the human, and well, so demons have the ability for wizardry too, but they use demon energy of course. Since I know how dense you can be I'll repeat various key points here as I tell you in detail what I want in a familiar format, you have seen 'Mission Impossible', right? Okay, your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to join Kurama-kun and Yukina-chan, who have already agreed to this," the picture of a beautiful young Koorime with pale blue to green hair and blood red eyes popped up causing Kuwabara to fall into a hypnotic state in which he would agree to almost anything, "on the first day of your winter vacation in Genkai-shihan's temple so that you may travel to Hogwarts and demonstrate your spiritual abilities for the week and observe EVERYTHING observe EVERYTHING observe EVERYTHING observe EVERYTHING observe EVERYTHING," this repeated for about five minutes as the picture of Yukina rapidly switched with a screen displaying subliminal messaging before turning back into Koenma to finish, "and tell me all that you see and hear. Now, have fun with Yukina-chan, pack for a week's stay, and please listen to the Headmaster of the school. See you later at your debriefing!" The screen faded to black as the words "first day of winter vacation, Genkai's temple, Yukina" were repeated until the sound faded with the screen.
"Creepy." Kuwabara said in English before he sighed happily at the thought of a week with Yukina and he turned back to his English paper.
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"Are you sure he's coming?" A soft, high, feminine voice asked in English shyly. The owner was a young girl with hair the shade of pale blue or sometimes green ice; her eyes were as crimson as newly shed blood. Yukina was short, and not exactly young or human, for she was much older than she looked and a demon of the Koorime tribe. Behind her sat a faded old woman, Genkai-Shihan, with pale hair that appeared to have been bubblegum pink once. She was a human, and fairly old, with lines of fate etched into her skin and a tired, worn expression as she glanced at a wristwatch.
"He will be here; I contacted him before I came over myself." A deeply feminine voice answered her. A red-haired young man of 18 was the creator of the voice, with feminine beauty to match his voice and silky, long locks. Piercing green orbs peered out a window in the temple, searching not just for a figure, but also the ki of the one who was late. Kurama stiffened feeling the familiar energy signature, the others followed suit quickly as the old woman's wards were felt shifting around the guy and a low wail was heard getting closer.
"Yukina! Yukina, Yukina, Yukina!" Oddly, the orange-haired Kuwabara pranced to the temple on tiptoes, heading straight for the trio. "MY LOVE! IT IS THE MIGHTY KUWAHARA KAZUMA," the door flew open as he entered, hearts filling his eyes. He ignored the chuckles of the old lady and Kurama, "and I...."
He was cut off sharply by Yukina's soft voice, "Oh, Kazuma-kun, I thought we were supposed to be practicing English, but you've been talking in Japanese as usual."
He stuttered, scrambling for the right words, "Yukina-chan, I... I'm sorry, um... uh... please forgive me.... I don't speak English very well." They all had slightly British accents, the style used mostly by people who have never been there, but by those who try and imitate the language after a teacher. Her kind smile stopped his heart and made him grin.
"It's alright Kazuma-kun, Kurama-kun and I can help you." She giggled at how silly he acted and wondered how many humans are like that.
"Our transportation should be arriving in this room at any moment." Kurama interrupted, and pointed to the lit fireplace. "I do not understand why we are supposed to light a fire, but I expect it has something to do with our travel guide appearing." Kuwabara didn't understand any of this, but he obediently waited and wondered if Yukina would be angry if he held her hand.
Suddenly, the fire flared bright neon green, and a figure appeared from inside it. The person walked, unharmed by the flames, into the room. He wore robes, very similar to the students' in the video but with stars, and he appeared to be an elderly bespectacled man with white hair, a beard, and a moustache, although not as old as Genkai. If she could have heard Kuwabara's mental comparison, Genkai would have smacked him.
As the flames drew back to their normal shade, the man began to talk in a perfect northern Britain accent. "Hello, I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore," he added a formal bow, "and I am here to take you there per the request of Lord Koenma. We shall be going through the floo systems. We shall each take a pinch of this green powder, throw it into the fire, say, 'Hogwarts: Headmaster's Office', and then walk into the green fire. Just remember to keep your elbows in."
The three took a pinch of the proffered powder; Kurama deftly pocketed some for future use, and nobody noticed. Then they each entered the fire as ordered. Yukina and Kurama wondered how the whole magic thing worked as they went through, but Kuwabara cried because unknown assailants were hitting his elbows.
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Once there, Kurama found himself in a nice office with odd doohickeys and thingamajigs. As Yukina entered behind him, he moved over and noticed that the paintings of sleeping people are moving. "Odd." He stated before turning to the carrot-top and the Headmaster.
Kuwabara whimpered a little in pain. Noticing, Yukina went to heal him as the Headmaster gave them final instructions. "Well, there aren't as many students here as normal, so you will be staying in the dormitories with them. We have a special ceremony to pick which house you will be staying in. It's about suppertime already, and we will perform it there in front of the remaining students. Please behave and follow the instructions of the teachers and the rules of the school; they are there for your safety." Dumbledore handed them each a copy of the rules, only a page long, grabed a beat up old hat, and started out the door. "Now just follow me, it shouldn't be too hard for you to learn your way around the castle, just stay with a student." He continued as he led them to the main hall, "You will be exhibiting your skills once a day, right after lunch, and I do look forward to seeing a real fox demon. However, the day after tomorrow and Sunday are Hogsmeade weekend days, so you won't be performing although you are welcome to accompany the students into town then."
The three nod their heads graciously as they were led into a large room with four rows of tables, half-filled with students. The table on the far left held the fewest students. Four banners marked each table as distinct houses, and Kurama pondered a moment on what they stood for. 'A snake, a raven, and a griffin, I only really recognize three, but I do not quite understand what they represent.' He thought as the trio was led up to a platform where the teachers eat.
"When your name is called, sit on the chair and put the sorting hat on." A tired looking male teacher in blue robes said before placing the same worn hat Dumbledore had on the stool. Picking up a very short scroll, he called, "Kurama".
Kurama obediently sat on the stool, but reluctantly put the shabby hat on his head. Almost immediately, he heard an odd, cranky voice in his head. 'Darn it, I'm only supposed to do this once a year! Do you hear that, once a year! Not twice, once! Stupid new program, why did you have to come here?' The voice stopped whining and started sifting through his mind.
'You are very shabby at this, are you not? I can feel you and even tell what you are looking at.'
'I'm not paid to be quiet, let's see, you are very intelligent, that would make a good Ravenclaw, but you are shrewd and cunning. Hm? You were a demon, and a thief as well? You were mean to your "ningen" mother just because she wasn't a demon? Well, well, these certainly qualify you for Slytherin, even if you are very intelligent.'
Suddenly, the same voice that was in his head erupted with a cry, "Slytherin it is!" Deciding that this was a signal that his mind probe was over, he stood up and replaced the odd hat on the stool and headed toward the 'table of few people' that were waving to him. He sat down next to a brunette boy and a blonde girl, but before introductions could be made the teacher called another name.
"Kuwabara, Kazuma."
As he walked past the teacher, Kuwabara said in perfect English, "You pronounce it wrong. I am the Mighty Kuwahara Kazuma! They spell it with a 'b' but pronounce it like an 'h'." He grinned before sitting down and placing the hat on his head.
'Another one?' A voice started in his head as he felt odd prickling feelings in his head.
"Ah! The tickle feeling!" He looked around for ghosts but only saw one near the students at the table to his left, which wasn't the same one Kurama was at because he was facing towards the doors now. Everyone was either laughing at him or giving him odd glances.
'No, I'm not a ghost; I'm just searching your brain to find out where to put you. Well, Ravenclaw is out.'
'Why?' Kuwabara thought, realizing it was telepathic and he would only embarrass himself further by speaking aloud.
'Okay, so you aren't THAT dumb. Hm, and you aren't like the last guy at all, but you are brave, and you have done everything you could for your friends. You've nearly died for one friend, stolen for your cat, allowed people to possess you, killed demons, studied all night long for your other friend, been beaten up all week for that friend, and you've nearly died! You're easy to place.' That hat spoke aloud again, "Gryffindor!"
The half-filled table to the left with the ghost erupted in clapping and cheers, so Kuwabara went down to join them, but stopped when everyone started laughing again. "Um, I did something wrong?"
"You forgot to take me off, you dolt!" The hat wailed before Kuwabara grabbed it off of his head, ran over to Yukina, and handed it to her.
"Oops, sorry, but, that is the right table, ne?" The teacher nodded as Yukina stared at the hat, still waiting for her turn. As Kuwabara sat down next to some still laughing kids his age, the teacher spoke for the last time ever.
"Yukina."
By this time, both Yukina and Kurama realized that while the sorting hat talked telepathically, its lips still moved, so Yukina, after seeing two people go up, had a clue as to what will happen. She sat down and placed the hat on her head. 'Hi!' She greeted the hat mentally.
'Ack! Are you the last one? Please be the last one.' She gave an affirmative and it continued to probe her mind. 'Hm, you are a demon as well; however, you defied your elders and searched for this "forbidden child", you are very nice, and not selfish at all. You aren't too intelligent, so Ravenclaw is out, so is Slytherin. You aren't exactly brave, but very determined, so, yes, I have the answer.'
"Hufflepuff!" Yukina frowned slightly at not being in the same house as one of her friends, but she brightened at seeing all of the welcoming faces at the table she was sent to, and she was able to sit across the aisle from Kurama.
As Yukina sat down, the Headmaster stood up to finish their introduction to the school, "These three are going to be here for the next week, so be nice and try not to break too many of the rules around them, we want to make a good impression. Now it is true that Yukina and Kurama don't have last names because they aren't actually human, but please treat them as you would your friends, be courteous. Tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday they will give demonstrations on the use of an alternate source of magic, 'reiki' and 'youki'. Feel free to discuss this and ask questions, but give them room if they request it. And be especially understanding with Kazuma, he's still learning English and he may have trouble understanding what you say. For those of you who know Spanish, you may want to talk to him because he took six years of it when he was younger and may understand that better after a little practice. Now, let's eat!"
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"Hi there, you all know my name, so why don't you tell me yours'," Kurama started as he filled his plate full of food that had magically appeared. He wasn't too fazed by this, considering Yomi had had most of his meals delivered this way, saving the cute servants for delivering dessert.
"Why should we? After all, we don't really know anything about you, except you aren't a wizard, and that makes you a muggle." The brunette 17-year-old guy beside him sneered. Kurama changed his tactics, following what the hat had found.
"Because you are just a lowly, stupid, low-class human, and I am offering to grace your life with my presence and not kill you like I should, or eat you as many of my friends would if put into this situation." He stated calmly with a mild glare. Behind him, he felt Yukina stiffen.
"Eh, wait, I was joking, see, I um, wanted to make sure you were one of the cool non-human ones." The boy lied, being just a little scared since Kurama's eyes changed color for a second from the usual emerald green to a hard gold.
The group of ten Slytherins quickly introduced themselves.
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"Hi, my name's Yukina." She started shyly as the others started dishing out their food. The girl next to her introduced herself and the other five seventh years and the three sixth years. There were fourteen other Hufflepuffs at the table.
"Try the mashed potatoes, they're delicious." The seventh year girl advised with a smile. As she started putting food on her own plate, Yukina stiffened, hearing him insult the other students and feeling his ki change slightly. It passed and she relaxed hoping that he wasn't really being mean to them.
"Hi, I'm the Mighty Kuwahara Kazuma, number 1 delinquent at Sarayashiki Junior High, I'm the only normal human in my group!" Kuwabara introduced himself to the forty or so Gryffindors. With that he helped himself to food as the other students his age introduced themselves and any close relatives they had at the table.
"So, what are the other people?" A dark haired girl asked leaving Kuwabara to try and explain all of their adventures in English, only using present tense, and with a small Japanese-English dictionary that really doesn't have enough terms for the topic.
"Hey, I speak Spanish, maybe you can try it in that language?" The same dark haired girl asked politely as her friend, a brunette from Wales, giggled at his discomfort. And so he continued his tale using a Spanish translator for help when it got rough.
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"So, what exactly are you?" A blonde Slytherin girl asked Kurama shyly. He finished his mouthful of stew and began to weave his tale of being a fox demon spirit merged with a human, a former thief forced to help fight demons and crazy humans that employed demons for a special government organization as parole for stealing three magic artifacts. They assumed he meant the Japanese Ministry of Magic and likened his job to that of an auror.
Halfway through dinner, Kurama heard the Hufflepuffs asking Yukina the wrong question. A red-haired boy asks shyly, "So, um, do you have a boyfriend or anything?"
"Boy friend? Well, there's Yuusuke-kun, Kurama-kun, Kazuma-kun, Hiei-kun, Koenma-sama, Kazuma's little friends." She almost continued but they start laughing at her for some odd reason, so Kurama turned around to help her.
"She is confused because you used a word that does not mean what she thinks it means," Kurama stated bluntly before telling Yukina in Japanese, "They meant one male who you would have special feelings for, and go out on dates with, such as a lover." She blushed slightly. "They did not mean to offend you, Yukina-chan."
"My mother had a boyfriend, and then she died." Yukina whispered so that only a few around her could hear it; her eyes start to glisten with tears. She quickly found herself in a warm, brotherly embrace.
"Do not cry, not here, not when they did not mean to hurt you." Kurama whispered in her ear before releasing her, "I will tell them your story, if you allow it."
The Koorime nodded and Kurama weaved another story. "Yukina-chan is a very rare demon; in English her race is known as the Ice Maidens. There are no males; therefore, her kind reproduces asexually, without males. However, they are all female and can reproduce with a male of another demonic species, but it is rare, taboo, and leads to disastrous consequences. Her mother fell in love with a fire demon, and then she gave birth to twins, but one was a male child, so under Ice Maiden law, they had to kill it. Her mother died from grief after he was thrown over a cliff." He gave Yukina another small hug and smiled at her, "But he managed to survive, so she is looking for him, you will find him Yukina-chan." She smiled back and nodded.
"Hiei-kun will find him, someday."
Kurama turned back to the students, "Please refrain from discussing such topics as 'boyfriends' and sex around her, for it makes her uncomfortable and sad." Some of the students on the other side of the table were turned around to ask the Ravenclaws for clarification on what he said.
"What's a 'taboo'?"
"What does 'asexual' mean again?"
At this point Kurama looked over to the far table to see how Kuwabara was doing, and noticed that he is surrounded by questioning students. 'He has resorted to Spanish and two dictionaries. I hope he is having a good time over there.' Kurama finished his thought just as he was distracted by a flash of lustrous red hair at the Ravenclaw table. He quickly memorized the girl's face, hair, and body before turning back around.
"Wow, so perfect: shiny, long, good body, and I bet she doesn't even get split ends." He looked up suddenly, realizing that he had just spoke aloud.
The blonde Slytherin girl beside him asked, "Who's got a good body?" and all eyes turned to him.
"Oh, that red haired Ravenclaw over there," Kurama pointed to her cautiously, "Although I was talking about her hair, not her body. However, that is nicely done as well."
"Humph," the Slytherin boy on his right started his rant, "She's sexy, yeah, but I tried to get her, just for a little tumble and all, and she turned me down so fast. Ravenclaws just aren't interested in sex; they think that they are too smart for us. And since she's friends with a mudblood that's about all she's good for."
"She seems to be worth the challenge though." Kurama forced himself not to stare at her. "What is her name?"
"Michelle something or other, something Irish."
The boy added to the blonde's information, "She's best friends with Annabelle, a mudblood in Gryffindor. If you're serious, you will have to ask her for help. That is, if you really want to lower yourself to speaking with such trash."
Kurama thought for a moment, trying to form a plan, "I will think about it. I have not had a woman in the past 19 years because of my rebirth and my mother. It would be nice to let loose for once."
A voice whispered in Japanese behind him, "Kurama-kun, you can't mean that. You can't just sleep with a girl; it would be cruel to her."
"Do not worry about my actions." Kurama replied in Japanese, "Besides, I will tell her before hand that I do not plan on a serious relationship with her."
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Soon after that, dessert was finished and everyone left for his or her common room. Kurama found himself in a damp dungeon filled with furniture and dusty tapestries. It reminded him of his life as a thief, living in caves scattered around Makai. "Cozy, and just like home." He smirked as the others wonder at his words.
Kuwabara, on the other hand, was in a tower room with a warm fire and leather armchairs. The boys showed him to his room, but he returned downstairs with them to talk and marvel at their magical abilities. "Hey, I want a wand thingy." The Gryffindors laughed, feeling at ease with his juvenile, friendly ways.
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Yukina was led into a nice little third floor common room filled with nice paintings that waved hello and tapestries of flocks of sheep and beautiful meadows. Here the girls asked her for more details on Yuusuke and Keiko's relationship, Kuwabara and his kitten Eikichi, and the boys asked about Hiei and the demons they had fought. "Oh, Eikichi-chan is the cutest little kitten, sometimes Kazuma-kun brings it over for me. Kuwahara is his family's name. I think it is so odd how you have your family names last." Yukina and the girls gossiped long into the night.
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Elsewhere, in a deserted classroom, five of Hogwarts's ghosts were deep in discussion. The Bloody Baron yelled at the four in front of him, "He's brought bloody demons here!"
"Oh push off," Nearly Headless Nick interrupted, "They came with that nice human chap, so they can't be evil, and I'm certain that Dumbledore would never let soul eaters in Hogwarts."
"I agree with Nicholas here," said the Hufflepuff ghost, "That female demon seemed nice enough, just shy. And she mentioned that she didn't like eating meat because the animals were her friends. She only ate it because she didn't know what sheep were." The ghost paused, "Oh no, what will she do when she finds out what the animals on the tapestries are!" The ghost quickly disappeared.
Growling the Bloody Baron resumed his rant, "Well, I still don't trust that Kurama, he used his demonic reputation to get the students under his thumb. Peeves!"
"Yes sir!" The mischievous ghost responded quickly.
"Keep tabs on that demon, and report to me if he does anything fishy." With that Slytherin's ghost disappeared and hid in an empty part of the dungeon. The others quickly left as well.
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After breakfast the next morning Yukina, Kuwabara, and Kurama tried to find each other in the hall so that they could decide where to discuss their demonstration. Kuwabara walked up with a few of his new Gryffindor friends. One just happened to be Annabelle. Kurama saw his opportunity to ask some questions while Kuwabara started grinning and tripping over his feet and tongue for Yukina's attention.
"You are friends with Michelle from Ravenclaw, are you not? I am Kurama." He asked politely.
"Well yes, I'm Annie." She smiled a little confused, "How would you know that?"
"Oh, I asked around," he smiled, flashing one of those polite little things that made the girls in his school swoon, "but what I would really like to know is the name of her favorite flower."
"Oh, I see." She giggled, "You think she's pretty. Well, even though you ARE in Slytherin, Kazuma here says that you are really nice except in a fight, so I MIGHT tell you."
"Well, I am not ALL nice, I do occasionally crack jokes at Kuwahara-kun's and Yuusuke-kun's expenses."
Yukina piped in after being introduced to the other Gryffindors, "And didn't Hiei-kun threaten to pull out your voice box when you teased him? Don't worry Annie, he's just mischievous like all fox demons."
Kurama smirked, "I'm supposed to set a good example for the younger ones."
"The only fox demon you've seen since becoming a human was Koto." Yukina replied with smile.
Annie decided quickly that Kurama couldn't be too bad and decided to tell him Michelle's favorite flower. "She likes Bluewart Thistles because of the leaves and how they flower only once in their long lifetimes."
Kurama didn't recognize the name of the plant, but he did know which teacher to ask. One of the professors at dinner gave off the smell of fresh soil and growth, so he decided to go visit him before lunch. He thanked the seventh year girl before going to the library with his friends to discuss their plans.
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After lunch, the dining tables were cleared and rows of chairs were added facing an empty platform. Students sat down in the chairs as Dumbledore helped Yukina adjust the voice projectors she and Kurama were to use. Kuwabara was too loud to use one. Soon they were ready to start and Yukina walked up to the front center of the platform.
"Hi," shyly, "I'm Yukina-chan, and the first thing we are going to do today is an introduction of 'reiki' and 'youki'." She waited for everyone to quiet down before resuming. "In English, reiki means spirit energy, and all humans have a little bit of it. Some humans like my friend Kazuma-kun have a lot of spirit energy, which allows them to do amazing things. In theory, all of you have an unusual amount of reiki, allowing you to tap into the magical energies of your wands. Youki on the other hand means demonic energy, which all demons have, again in varying degrees. I have a little youki while my friend Kurama-kun over there has an enormous amount. Demonic energy acts in different ways. Some demon's ki manifests itself along the lines of the elements. As an Ice Maiden, I am strong in ice powers, I can use it to freeze a room or create a barrier. I can also heal. Kurama-kun has earth powers that manifest themselves in the area of plant manipulation. He can control his powers so well that he can make just about any plant do as he wishes. Spirit energy though is centered mainly in spirit, but it can also take on elements that the users are familiar with. This is what allows Kurama-kun to control certain plants even in his human form. Humans tend to specialize in certain techniques of use, such as healing, ki blasts, telekinesis and other mind powers, and materialization. Kazuma-kun is very good with materialization; he creates a sword of pure spirit energy, and he can manipulate it at will. Now I'll stop boring you so that we can give you a visual and tactile demonstration."
With this, Yukina began to send out her youki, forming ice on the ground around her and bringing the room temperature down by forty degrees. Some people reacted quickly, their bodies noticing the increased output by Yukina. Others close to the platform reacted upon seeing the ice form at the Koorime's feet. By the time Yukina was finished, everyone was sure of her power because they were freezing cold. She quickly stopped and signaled for the charms teacher to bring the temperature back to normal.
"Well everyone, that was one of the things I can do with my powers, now I'll let Kurama-kun show off his plant manipulation abilities." She waited for Kurama to step up and take her place, but when she didn't hear him moving she looked back at him. "Oops! I'm so sorry!" Kurama's feet were stuck in place, and he was trying to cut through the ice with the stem of a rose.
"It is alright, I will just be a minute." Yukina attempted to bring the ice back in to her, and it melted more quickly than before.
Kurama smiled, and laughter hid behind his eyes as he stepped forward. Before him was a group of seventh year Ravenclaws, the house that had filled the chairs closest to the platform. He began by reaching into his mane, disguising it as a flip of his hair.
"Yukina has already introduced my powers and I; therefore, I present to you a seed that I knew as the Frostbitting Thornbush. It is a demonic plant that lives for centuries feasting on the frozen bodies of travelers that get stuck nearby the roads that cross the tundra wastelands in Makai. However, it seems as though a subspecies of this plant has evolved in this world. It looks the same, only more juvenile. It dies before it can flower a second time, most likely from a lack of a specific nutrient that is available in Makai soil. In the Ningenkai, there are only trace amounts of this nutrient, thus stunting the growth and life span of this plant. Most of you know it as the Bluewart Thistle. I thank your herbology professor for the specimen." With this he ended and brandished the seed he pulled out of his hair.
He held the seed before him, allowing all a good view as tendrils of roots and stems slowly emerged from the seed. The multiple stems twisted, thorns grew, buds formed into leaves and after a minute the few remaining buds blossomed into a deep, though cold, blue flower. Several students and professors gasped in amazement. "This is the first blooming stage of the Bluewart Thistle. In the human world version, the plant would shortly die for lack of that one nutrient, but with my energy, I can spur it into its second stage, where it will become the demonic thornbush."
He inserted more energy into the plant. The blossoms matured, the petals fell to the floor. Seedpods grew. Then slits formed in the pods, which then opened up like triangular mouths; the ends formed pincers. Kurama held the plant by the roots, watching the small open-mouthed pods move around searching for food. "Generally, this plant is harmless, but it does have its powers. It will only attack and feed upon frozen creatures: beasts, demons, unfortunate humans that wander into their areas. Once each pod eats roughly two human-sized portions of animal matter; the seeds mature and grow from the energy the pods gain from digesting the bodies. After this, the pods spread open completely, and ten seeds per pod fly out into the air like dandelion fluff. The seeds are fairly heavy, so this procedure is timed with a blizzard that the plants can sense based on wind speed and temperature." He graced the room with a small, thoughtful smile here. "In the demon world, these plants flower again, and THEN they become dangerous. During the second eating phase, the plant's seed pods can actually fire blasts of ice at potential food sources, freezing them when they get close to the plant." Suddenly the plant fired a blast into the crowd of humans, freezing an unlucky Ravenclaw fifth year. Kurama stared in shock at the boy, and then glanced as the plant oriented itself on its prey. "Um, then again, when one messes with plants such as these, giving them extra energy, they usually, well, not usually but sometimes turn more dangerous than before. Or it might be because I'm so used to turning plants into weapons." His face still looked a little comical because he wasn't expecting the plant's reaction.
"I'm just going to return this to a safer version and tie off the energy so it shouldn't be able to do that anymore." He composed himself and turned toward Yukina, "Could you go and help that poor student, he should just be very, very cold."
He pulled back enough energy so that it was just at the point were it should bloom for the first time. He tied off the energy, keeping it in that form until it found its own nutrients. He leaned over to a certain red-haired Ravenclaw girl. "If you pot it today, it should bloom over the weekend." She tried to hide her blush with a nervous smile as she accepted the gift. He grinned back at her as he stood up and waited for Yukina to thaw the student and introduce Kuwabara.
"Hey! Kurama, just how many dangerous plants are there in this demon world?" A very bold Gryffindor boy shouted.
Kurama grinned mischievously in his direction. "Actually, the correct question would be, 'Are there any plants that ARE NOT dangerous in the demon world?' The answer to that question is one, common grass, but there are roughly 539 species that are merely poisonous to eat. Do any of you know what the Venus Fly Trap is? It used to be a demonic plant by the name of the Venus Man Trap, until some human dragged a seed pod into the human world and it started growing there, after awhile no humans were stupid enough to fall into it, so it started feeding on smaller animals and its name changed."
He fielded a few more questions about demonic plants before Yukina stood back up on the platform.
"Okay, um, well, that was very unexpected. Anthony-kun, please accept our apologies. If you wish, Monday you can assist us in the instruction and act as a guinea pig." She smiled hesitantly, "Now, for something that shouldn't hurt you, Kazuma-kun and his materialization techniques!"
"Hey everyone! It is I the Mighty Kuwahara Kazuma, number 1 delinquent of Sarayashiki Junior High! And this is my cool sword thingy!" He summoned his spirit sword, "Reiken!"
He smiled broadly and started posing so the students can see how cool he looked with it. "See, I create it one day while I is fighting this guy with a boken, that's a, Kurama-kun?"
"Wooden sword."
"Yeah that's it, but he uses his reiki to make his sword really tough. I, Kurama-kun?"
"Managed."
"Okay, um, managed to break off the tip of the wooden sword, and then I use it as a, um, Kurama-kun?"
"Medium."
"As a medium for my reiki, making this cool sword. And look, I can do fun things with it: reiken get long!" The spirit sword elongated and hit the stone roof above them. "My reiken is really powerful, and it looks way cool."
Yukina walked up to the front of the stage and began to speak again, "Thank you Kazuma-kun! Well that's all for today, but on Monday, we will explore the psychic aspects of spirit energy, and on Tuesday, these two brave men will duel, and then I'll heal their injuries." She smiled and started waving goodbye. A few students stayed behind, mostly Ravenclaws, and asked more questions which the 'spirit detectives' happily answered.
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For Yukina and Kuwabara, the week flew by quickly. Between their short lessons and vain struggles to keep Kurama in check as he flirted uncontrollably with the Ravenclaw, the two spent most of their time questioning students politely about the school and Voldemort. The students were quite helpful, except on the one subject that Koenma wanted to know about. People walked away from Yukina the second she asked about some wizard lord who was hurting people, and one girl actually fainted when Kuwabara forgot to say "You-know-who" instead of Voldemort. The pair didn't find much information, though Kurama found even less because he didn't seem to care at all, and he would disappear for hours at a time, presumably with Michelle. Before leaving the school, the Koorime and the human decided that it didn't matter too much because Reikai was out of its jurisdiction when it came to a human hurting only humans and normal monsters. However, even Yukina started getting chills at some of the rumors floating around. Only a few humans could ever become demons, right?
A/N: For the full story of what happened to Kurama, read "Origins of a Bastard." I'm still debating whether or not to add the other parts from that into this though, but it's long enough.
