Author's notes:
For all intents and purposes, god's of death from Britain are technically called 'Reapers' instead of 'Shinigami' (makes sense, different culture... different language, hence different name).
Disclaimer: Yanagi-sen and I are only borrowing the characters from Yami no Matsuei and Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books to torment for a while... Don't look for Harry to be appearing any time soon in this fanfiction. We claim no ownership over any character that does not belong to us... Itami Korin and Ishida Nanjiro are mine... those I claim and abuse at will.
Special thanks to Kara Angitia who is currently helping Draco speak more British style English.
Enter the Reaper.
Chapter nine.
The phone was clicked shut when someone yanked Draco around and slapped him across the face hard enough to send him a couple of feet. He clutched at his cheek, the heat already rising telling him that it was going to bruise. He shook the stars from his vision, looking around. "Hey... who the hell..."
Lucius glared down at his son. "Pathetic..."
"L... Lucius!"
"You are an embarrassment to Slytherin... using muggle trash."
Draco sneered. "It is useful. Think of it as using a fire without the smoke and soot. And what are YOU doing here?"
With his wand, the wizard lifted the edge of the teen's scarf and scowled. "I should have guessed that you would have stooped to using a cheap and paltry imitation of true sorcerer's robes..."
The young blond grabbed the end of his scarf, annoyed. "A friend made this for me. As you should remember, MINE was destroyed." He sniffed haughtily. "Besides, THIS one is made from silk yarn."
Lucius snorted then struck Draco across his other cheek with the wand, "that weak little half breed?"
The boy ignored the small cut that the tip of the wand made in his flesh. "In fact, yes... and some others made me my new robes, as mine were mangled by a demon."
"You were mis-sorted... you should have been placed with those miserable hufflepuffs. I knew that Narcissa had cheated on me... nothing as low as you could have been produced from my family."
Silver eyes flashed, but Draco's voice was coolly composed. "I wouldn't be surprised if Mother had cheated on you. She was undoubtedly looking for someone a little more virile."
Sneering, Lucius pointed his wand at the young wizard, "Petrificus totalus."
Draco was frozen in place. His eyes widened with fear. He couldn't be killed again, could he? The scarf was roughly taken from around his neck. "What are you doing?"
"You are no more a Slytherin than you are alive..." A horrible ripping sound was heard as the wizard began to tear the knit scarf apart.
"Stop it!"
It didn't take long for the silver and green scarf to be in shreds. The teen's wand was also taken and broken into several pieces. Silver eyes turned back to the teen and locked on the patch carefully sewn onto his robes. Ripping that off as well, Lucius dropped the items onto the ground, pointed his wand and muttered, "incendio," Sparks flew to life as the yarn and patch were soon devoured by flames.
"You bastard!" He tried to fight the spell, but without a wand of any sort, much less a functional one... Whatever the wizard was going to say next was lost when he was hit from behind... by the oar in Watari's hand. "Watari..." The relief and barely repressed panic was obvious in Draco's voice and expression.
"Touch my partner AGAIN and I will ensure that you will curse the day you were conceived!" The shinigami growled, oar held ready to strike again and mentally prepared to teleport out of the way of any spell the warlock should like to throw at him.
The man snarled and vanished. Draco seemed frozen in place. "Watari... you came."
Arms wrapped around the enchanted teen. "Of course I came..."
"Aaah... be careful!" Tipped off balance, the still frozen boy started to fall backwards.
Watari moved quickly to catch the falling wizard. "What the?"
"Its a body bind spell... it doesn't fade just because the bastard is gone!"
Blinking a few times, the shinigami opts to just lay the reaper down. "How is it taken off?"
"Finite Incantatum... but without a functional wand I can't work it. Even if I had a working wand I can't do the movements that go with it."
"Then we'll have to get either Tsuzuki or Wakaba to try a fuda." Looking around, the scientist consciously overlooked the charred remains still smoking on the ground, "where did you leave your broom?"
"By the tree... at the entrance to the park."
"I'll take you back to Meifu and then come to get the broom..."
"okay..."
---
Staring at the ceiling of the medi-center, Draco frowned. Thankfully Tsuzuki had been able to get the petrificus totalus off of him... but Watari still had yet to return with his broom. He hoped Lucius hadn't come back and gotten a hold of Watari... Not that it would make a bit of difference if he'd been there. He rolled over and on to his feet. The hole in the robes tore at his heart. He yanked the robe off and threw it as far from him as he could. That bastard... the anger he'd been holding back nearly blinded him. He was going to explode... he had to get away from everyone.
"Are you alright?" Standing in the doorway, Watari looked at the reaper with concern etched across his features.
"i need to get out of here..." He clenched his fists. It wouldn't do anyone any good if he lashed out at the blond.
"I'll be in the lab if you need me... when you are ready to leave come and get me, I don't want you being alone tonight."
Draco nodded and headed for the small dojo he'd seen. Hopefully he could find something to hit repeatedly.
Watching as the teen stalked off, the shinigami sighed. He'd found what was left of Draco's broom... the scarf and the patch hadn't been the only victims of that man's attack.
---
Fortunately for Draco, and everyone else, the dojo was empty. Hanging in one corner was a large punching bag. The blond started to vent his fury and frustration on the defenseless padding. He didn't really notice when the beads of sweat turned to tears. He ignored the sting of salt in his cut on his cheek and when drops fell on his now bleeding hands.
Finally his knees buckled and he fell to the floor. He sat there, chest heaving, blood dripping off his knuckles. "damn bastard..." He could still smell the smoke from when his things had been burnt.
How dare he! HOW DARE HE! How could he destroy them? Hadn't the bastard taken enough already?
Someone stepped into the open doorway to the dojo... at first the only thing that the teen recognized was that the person was male, adult and had long blonde hair. "You fucking bastard! Why can't you just leave me alone!" He slammed his fist into the wall, his rage manifesting as spontaneous wandless magic. It was wild, without direction or intent, raw power that burst out of him... setting the wood of the wall on fire. Draco gasped but just sat there staring at the growing flames.
"If that is how you feel... then as soon as the fire is put out then I will respect your wishes." Watari said as he went to get a fire extinguisher.
The voice penetrated Draco's shock. "watari? is that you?"
Foam and chemicals sprayed out, drenching the flames. "Who else would I be?"
Silver eyes, shiny with unshed tears, looked around at him. "you're big..."
"Hei... it was about time that I returned to my proper age."
"Oh... I thought... I saw a big person... and the hair." He cradled his hand
to his chest.
Putting the extinguisher down, Watari went over to Draco, "let me see your hand..." he said in a soothing voice.
"My hand?"
"Hei, your hand, chibi..."
Draco looked down. "oh..." He held it out to the shinigami. Blood still stained both hands.
Taking both hands into his own, the older blonde started to look them over as carefully as he could. The skin over the knuckles was healing. However the right hand... the one that he had slammed into the wall didn't look right. "Draco-kun... we need to go back to the medi-center for a moment, alright?"
"okay..." The boy just sat there though, staring at the broken hand. Teleporting himself and Draco, the shinigami splint and secured the hand... hoping to get this done and some pain killers into the teen before he comes out of shock. The boy stared at the ruined robe laying crumpled in the corner of the room. "Why did he do that.?"
"Because he could."
"But he was a Slytherin too?"
Watari pulled the slender teen into a comforting hug. "It is horrible what people do when they believe that they can get away with it..." he whispered.
"I didn't think he would find me..." Draco buried his face into the man's lab coat.
Petting the teen's hair, the shinigami kissed the top of the boy's head. "I won't let him hurt you again."
"I want to go home..."
"I'm taking you home with me... I don't want you along for now..."
"Can we go soon?"
Gathering up the reaper, Watari nods, "hei hei..."
Draco sniffed. "It hurts..."
"I know it hurts." The blonde murmured as they teleported to his house. Not bothering to change the teen, Watari simply tucks him into the bed. Stripping off his blue turtleneck, he contemplates removing the rest of his lab gear... His black body suit might look like something Nanjiro would have loved to borrow to go clubbing in, but the material was a polymer blend that he had come up with to provide him with at least a little more protection from the occasional explosion. With a sigh, the rest of his clothes went, and pair of pajama bottoms were pulled on. Retrieving Kuma from the bottom drawer, Watari handed the antique bear over as he slipped under the covers next to Draco.
The boy clutched the stuffed animal like it was a lifeline. He pressed as close to Watari as he could, the bear held protectively between them.
The older blonde stayed awake long enough to watch as the small teen reluctantly drifted to sleep. Sighing, Watari brushed a few strands of that silky hair away from Draco's dark lashes. The boy mumbled and shifted a bit. His face looked tense and worried. Smoothing down the pale blonde hair, the shinigami murmured a few comforting words into the teen's ear... hoping that would allow him an easier night's sleep.
Draco snuggled a little closer to the scientist, Kuma clutched in a death grip between them.
---
It was the thrashing around that woke the shinigami. It took him a little bit to realize why there was a person drenched in sweat, whimpering, tossing and turning from side to side in his bed... "Draco... Draco-kun... you need to wake up now..." the older blonde grabbed the teen's shoulders and tried to bring the boy out of his nightmares. Draco whimpered again, whipping his head to the side as if he'd been struck. He started to mumble in English, all Watari could understand was 'father' and 'why'. "Draco... WAKE UP!"
Silver eyes flew open as the boy inhaled sharply, his muscles locked. His eyes darted around as he panted, nearly hyperventilating. Almost instantly the teen found himself pulled into and held by a set of strong arms wrapping protectively around him.
"shhh... It's alright..."
"wh... where am i? what happened?"
"you were having a nightmare, chibi..."
"f... father..."
The embrace strengthened at the shiver that ran through the boy's body. "he won't hurt you... i won't let him..."
"i couldn't fight... i couldn't do anything... it's just like he said..."
A hand pet the teen's hair lovingly. "they were only empty words used as weapons to hurt you..."
"but I couldn't fight him... I wanted to, but I couldn't do anything." Draco twisted a bit in the blonde's hold so he could hide his face in Watari's chest. Tears begin to dampen the scientist's shirt.
The shinigami continued to stroke the fine blond hair. "it's all right..." The tears fell faster and Draco's fingers twisted into the fabric. He curled up, pressing as close as he could to the one being that represented safety. "don't worry... it will be all right..." Watari whispered.
By the time the tears ebbed, the teen was even more exhausted than before. Draco sniffed, rather un-Malfoy-like and lay there limp. He just had to know something. "what if he was right... what if I am just a weak disgrace..."
"I don't think that you are weak... or a disgrace..."
"really? but I caused you so much trouble..."
"hei... you caused trouble... but not intentionally..."
"you're not going to send me away?"
"Send you away?"
"please don't... he'll find me..." Draco clutched the blond even tighter. "please... i'll do whatever you want... anything..."
Pulling the small teen closer, Watari rested his head against the scared boy's crown. "i've never sent any of my partners away... i'm not about to start now with you..."
Draco was silent for a long time, when he did speak, his voice was faint and close to sleep. "kuma?"
"i think that you tossed him over the edge..."
"oh..."
---
Sitting high in a tree, Nanjiro watched as the sun rose. Humming he swung his legs back and forth... heavy dirty white running shoes weighed his legs down. Even though he was still in spirit form, he knew that he would have posed an odd sight in his jogging sweats. Black racing shorts and a tank top, that if it had been green instead of blue to match his hair, he would have claimed to be cosplaying that pilot from Gundam Wing. Chuckling he tried to imagine himself at one of those anime conventions that came by every so often. He'd seen enough people come out of the airport going to one... sometimes it wasn't a pretty sight... much the same as that puffy haired girl, Hermione, this early in the morning.
The witch was wandering somewhat aimlessly, carrying a notebook. Occasionally she would pause and write a bit before walking on again. "Hey bushy hair girl! You never apologized to Dray-chan!" he called over to her from the tree.
"What!" The girl looked up, trying to find the voice. "oh... it's you... are you okay?"
"No, I died..." Nanjiro said smugly.
"What!"
"Baaaaaaaaka..."
The girl frowned. "What do you mean?"
"It was a joke... baka, do I look dead to you?" The blue haired teen jumped down from the tree and landed on the pebbled path with the grace of a cat.
"You look remarkably healthy considering what you looked like the last time I saw you." A dawning look crossed her face. "Oh, of course. You have a form of healing magic here, don't you?"
Mismatched green eyes blinked. "You magic-users rely on magic for everything, ne?"
"I don't, but then I'm muggle-born. I swear that some of those pure blood families have never done anything without magic in their entire lives." She rolled her eyes.
"So, Dray-chan is from a pure blood family?"
"Dray-chan?"
"Draco... Dray-chan."
"Oh... you mean, Malfoy..." She sounded disgusted.
Mismatched green eyes slit at her tone of voice. "What is your problem, are you too stuck up and self-righteous to see that he is just a kid that was shoved into a hellish situation?" Perhaps sending her to see Muraki-sensei wouldn't be such a bad idea...
"You don't know him... He's obviously putting on a good show for your benefit. He was the most prejudiced and nasty Slytherin in the whole school. He spent years tormenting one of my best friends." She thought of the times Malfoy had made Harry's life miserable... and her own life too.
"With thirty-plus empaths and telepaths doing research directly above Watari's lab... I don't think so. The Draco you knew is dead and buried... he's starting out new here, and it doesn't help at all when fucking magic users come along and attack him!" Nanjiro crossed his arms... it was just too tempting to say 'well... he was MURDERED by his own dad... so give him a break.'
"Attack him? I didn't touch him. I don't want to touch him or ever see him again. If he's staying here that's great. I hope what you say is true and he doesn't turn on you."
The shinigami sniffed, "did I say YOU attacked him?"
"What other 'magic-user' is around?"
"Draco's father." The reply was as flat as soda that had been left out for a week.
The girl gasped and looked around. "He's here! You have to believe me, he's extremely dangerous. I don't know why he'd be here but you have to be on your guard."
"Well, he was here yesterday when he paralyzed Dray-chan and torched his scarf and snake patch." Nanjiro shifted his weight to his left foot and continued in a humorless voice. "All while insulting him... nice dad, reminds me a little of mine."
"He burned the scarf and patch? But... he was a Slytherin himself." She seemed genuinely shocked at the notion of insulting one's house or former house in that way.
"Draco saw his father murder his mother... he might have completed destroying Dray here, if Watari hadn't arrived and beamed him in the head with the oar."
"Narcissa is dead? The rumors were true then."
"Hai, she's dead."
"So how did Malfoy end up here?"
"A subdivision of your magic department more secret than that phoenix order managed to pick up Draco..."
"Oh... Well... hopefully things will work out."
"It will... as long as Draco stays around Watari." Nanjiro smirked. "Malfoy shows up and tries anything against them... well, let's just say that he'll never know what hit him."
"Good. I have to get going. Thank Watari again for the scrolls, I'm almost done if he wants to set up a meeting to return them."
"I can take them for him," Nanjiro offered, it would be kind of hard for Watari to explain why he was suddenly several years older overnight.
"Oh... okay, I'll go get them."
---
Reading over some documents, Watari brushed a few sakura petals away as they floated down. Lazily he reached down and ran his fingers through Draco's hair before looking down at the head resting in his lap. He smiled when he saw silver eyes peeking up at him. "waking up?"
"Would you believe me if I said no?"
"not really... because you are talking to me." Watari winked.
"There is that." He pushed himself up, rotating his head to work out the kinks in his neck.
Blushing slightly, the scientist looked up into the trees. "I was thinking..."
"Oh?" Draco stretched his back.
"Maybe you should move in with me for the time being..."
The Reaper turned to look at Watari. "Move in with you?"
"only if you want to."
Draco picked up a handful of sakura petals, watching as they fell to the ground. "i haven't been sleeping good... i don't want to keep you up."
"Don't forget that the mighty Kuma is at my place... guaranteed to chase away nightmares." Watari chuckled.
The younger blond blushed. "I... I would feel safer... I think... If you don't mind that is."
The files were put down... they didn't need to be finished until the next day, right? Laying down, the shinigami put his head on Draco's lap. "we can pick your things up on the way back today..."
The boy started to play with the long blond tendrils. "You'll let me know if I become a nuisance, right?"
"hei hei..." he said with a contented sigh as he closed his eyes.
A slight smile crossed Draco's face as he continued to play with the long hair. Some five minutes later a voice spoke up in the Reaper's mind and sounded quite amused. /You put him to sleep.../ Draco only barely restrained himself from jumping, and surely waking the other blond. Silver eyes darted around, seeking out the speaker. From behind he heard a twig snap.
This time his reaction was involuntary. The scientist's head was unceremoniously dumped on the ground. Draco scrambled to get his back to a tree and face whoever was trying to sneak up on him.
"Itai!" Rubbing his head, Watari sat up just as Nanjiro hit the ground laughing and apologizing.
The Reaper's heart was pounding in his chest, his face almost devoid of color. He sagged to the ground, wrapping his arms around his shaking knees. Watari scrambled to his knees and immediately wrapped his arms around the teen. Draco concentrated on controlling his breathing. "i'm... i'm sorry..."
"No... it's the joker rolling on the ground that should be sorry..."
"it's not his fault... i should have known HE couldn't get here..."
The shinigami gently tilted Draco's chin so that the teen was looking up at him. "I also asked Nanjiro to meet us... so you could get a pet."
"A pet?"
Nanjiro managed to stop laughing and sat up, still giggling. "a hei-hei."
"But why a pet? I've never had one, even the owl I had at Hogwarts wasn't really a pet." From Nanjiro's bag a small kittenish creature with fluffy wings is pulled out. With a yawn the small animal curled up. Draco looked at it, fascinated. "What is it?"
"That is a Hei-hei... while here in meifu and in gensoukai it will look like that, but in chijou it'll look like a normal kitten when it isn't in a defensive mode." Watari explained as Nanjiro handed the 'kitten' over to the Reaper. The boy cradled the creature. Hesitantly he stroked the soft fur.
"Before it will be completely loyal to you," Nanjiro started, "you have to ask it for a challenge... and pass the test."
"Ask it? Do they speak?"
"This one doesn't in this form... "
"Oh."
