Anaya's Creator: Kaiba, would you do the honors?
Kaiba: Here's chapter 2.
Anaya's Creator: Thank you! (eats a spoonful of her chocolate sundae)
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH, INU-YASHA, OR HARRY POTTER!
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Chapter 2: Strangers and Strange Occurences
Just as Kaiba thought he was going to slam into the barrier, he went straight through it. He turned and saw a huge scarlet train surrounded by crowds of people in strange clothes. There was a sign overhead bearing the words Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Confused, he looked behind him, where a brick wall had once been, was a wrought iron archway with the words Platform Nine and Three Quarters on it. Then he saw Sakura appear behind him.
"Miss me?" she asked.
"Not particularly," he answered sourly.
"How sweet of you," she said with a playful smile.
"Come on, Seto; Yugi and Ryou have already gone to find a compartment for all of us," Mokuba called from up ahead.
"Well, you heard the kid," Pushing her trolley, Sakura walked off with Kaiba staring after her.
After a few minutes of walking down the platform, the group heard Yugi shout: "Hey Kaiba, Mokuba, Sakura, we're over here!"
The group turned and saw the King of Games and Ryou sticking their heads out of a compartment window. One by one, Sakura and the Kaiba brothers got on the train and took their seats in the compartment.
Sakura placed her backpack on the floor, drew out a black leather bound book, a quill and a bottle of ink, and began writing on its aged yellow pages.
The train whistle whirred loudly and, slowly, they left the station. As the train went out of the station the rain had gotten heavy again and thunder and lightening graced the terrain with deafening booms and blinding flashes of light.
Stitch, who had been clinging to Sakura's shoulder, crawled off, and settled down on the empty seat beside his master.
Kaiba stared critically at the creature. Sakura had claimed that it was a "dog", but only a complete idiot like that mutt Wheeler would believe that explanation. It had long, almost rabbit-like ears, with a small bob for a tail and forearms thinner than its back set of legs. If that thing was actually a dog, he was the emperor of Japan. "Sakura, what exactly is Stitch?" he asked.
"I've been wondering that too," Yugi said.
Sakura looked up from her book. "Well, I don't..." but she paused as the door to the compartment opened.
A pale girl with light brown freckles across her slightly pink cheeks, around Sakura's age, stood in the doorway. Her cyan blue eyes glanced around until they fell on Sakura. "I wondered where you were hiding, Sakura." Her white teeth flashed as she spoke.
Sakura looked at the stranger in bewilderment for a moment then got up and walked over to her. The newcomer had golden-orange blonde hair and was slightly taller than her. "Britts," she gasped. "What have you done to your hair! It used to be to your mid-back and now it just reaches your shoulders."
"I cut it; you like?"
"It's a surprise; I'll give you that," Sakura replied. "And you're still wearing that morbid pink sweater. You have no idea how much I want to tear it apart. Such a disgusting color pink is... Anyways, come in, sit down."
"It is not a disgusting color!" Britts retorted as she sat down next to her friend. (Stitch had moved to sit on Mokuba's lap.) "You're still the same old tomboy. So back to Hogwarts again, eh? Who are these people?"
"Oh, this is Yugi Mutou..."
"The Duel King?"
"Yep,"
"Wicked,"
"Ryou Bakura, and Seto and Mokuba Kaiba,"
"As in Kaiba Corp?" Britts asked.
"You got it," Mokuba said.
"Double wicked, I'm Brittany, but Sakura calls me Britts," Britts said. "Just be prepared for one ruddy load of fan girls when you get to Hogwarts, Seto Kaiba."
"Why?"
"Oh Merlin's beard Kaiba, don't be so dense!" Sakura exclaimed. "Even here in the Wizarding world, you're considered the most friggin' eligible bachelor."
"Oh, goody," Kaiba said sardonically. "I feel at home already."
Sakura reached into her backpack once more, this time pulling out a deck of Duel Monsters cards. "Then this aught to make you feel more at home then. You up for a duel, Kaiba?" she dared, shuffling her deck.
He snorted. "Me, go up against an amateur like you? Why should I waste my time?"
"How do you know if I'm an amateur or not? You just met me. Besides, don't tell me that you're afraid of dueling a girl like me."
"Sakura!" Britts chastised.
"What?" He's got nothing to lose nor do I," she retorted. "Come on Kaiba, no strings attached. I won't tell anyone when I totally slaughter you."
"Fine, I'll take you on. She reminds me of your friend Wheeler, Yugi." Kaiba growled, getting out his own deck from a pocket in his trench coat and shuffling it. "Prepare to be humiliated."
"Be ready to suffer a hard battle. You have no idea who you're dealing with." Sakura said.
"I assure you, Sakura, it's just the opposite."
They cut each other's decks and the battle began.
LP (Sakura): 4000LP (Kaiba): 4000
"Ladies first," Sakura said, drawing a card.
"I'm to assume thatyou are a lady?" Kaiba taunted.
She ignored him and simply considered her options. "I place a monster facedown in defense mode," she stated nonchalantly.
A monster facedown, eh? Kaiba thought. Well, let's see what I can do. "I summon Sagi the Dark Clown (600/600) in attack mode and place one card face down." He chuckled to himself silently. My trap card will totally devastate her hand and deck.
His plan is obvious; he wants me to attack so that I'll activate his trap card. And knowing Kaiba, it's his infamous Crush card. I still pay attention to what's happening back home in the dueling world. Sakura drew. "Perfect," she muttered under her breath. Her eyes caught a glimmer of curiosity in Kaiba's. "I summon Trap Master in attack mode. Using his special ability, he can attack your facedown card and, if it's a trap, destroy it. Flip it over."
Grudgingly, Kaiba turned over the card, revealing his Crush card, and put it in the Graveyard pile.
"Next I activate a magic card; Ragaki. This magic card destroys one monster on the field. Say good-bye to Sagi! Now, I switch my Spear Dragon (1900/0) into attack mode and attack your life points directly.
LP (Sakura): 4000LP (Kaiba): 2100
-Wow! Check this out, Yami. The duel's already begun and Sakura's taken out nearly half of Kaiba's life points. - Yugi said over mind link.
--Very impressive on Sakura's part, -- Yami agreed. –Let's watch and see how Kaiba retaliates.
"You got lucky that time, Sakura, but it won't happen again!" Kaiba stormed.
The duel went on and on without either side showing any mercy. Finally the duel ended with Seto winning, or so it seemed until Sakura activated a magic card that forced it to end in a draw.
"Damn," Kaiba muttered.
"Good show, the both of you," Ryou commented.
"Anything off the trolley, dears?" asked a voice from the door of the compartment A smiling, dimpled woman stood there, pushing a cart full of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, and other wonderful sweets.
Seeing the anticipated looks on everyone, except Seto's, faces, Britts and Sakura both pooled their money and bought a little bit of everything, which they were more than willing to share.
The rest of the ride was spent getting to know each other and, of course, discussing the ever popular wizard sport, Quidditch.
If there was one thing Sakura could talk about for hours, it was Quidditch.
"I play on the Gryffindor team. Last year, we had to replace four members on our team because some stupid Ministry of Magic woman who kicked our seeker, Harry; the two beaters, Fred Weasly and I; and one of our Chasers, Fred's twin brother George, off the team because we attacked the other team after a game."
"Why did you attack the other team?" Yugi asked.
"The gits insulted one of our team member's family and mine. They deserved what they got," Sakura spat resentfully.
"You can't take what the Slytherins say to you to heart, Sakura. That's your problem. You take insults too personally and, with your quick temper, the result is normally a black eye or two," Britts scolded.
"But this year, we're gonna have the most kick-ass team ever, beat the pants off Slytherin, and win the Quidditch Cup!" Sakura exclaimed, jumping from her seat with a fist in the air.
"It will be quite amusing to see your pathetic team try, Yasha," drawled a taunting voice from the doorway.
"Malfloy," Sakura spat; her voice sounded as if the name alone were poison. "If I remember correctly, our "pathetic" team still whooped your slimy Slytherin butts in the final match."
"You got lucky," the boy said. He had a pale pointed face with blue eyes and short silver blonde hair. There were two other boys beside him, brawny gorilla-like boys.
"Go away, Malfloy," Britts ordered. "No one invited you and your cronies." The guys next to Malfloy flexed their muscles threateningly.
"Crabbe, Goyle, and I have as much right to prowl about this train as you and that filthy half-breed do, Trifler," he sneered.
"Then prowl away then," Sakura hissed, fuming. Red orbs flaming with fury, she leapt up from her seat; she grabbed the sliding door and slammed it.
A loud groan echoed from out in the hall and everyone looked at the door to find fingertips stuck in the door. Sakura had "accidentally" closed the door on the tips of someone's (probably Malfloy's) fingers.
Britts stood up from her seat and opened the door slightly so that the fingertips could escape. She turned to Sakura with an exasperated look. "Was that really necessary?" she asked in a firm tone.
"He deserved that. And if I hear one more crack from him about my heritage, or anything else for that matter, I swear I'll..."
A loud clap of thunder cut her off and suddenly the train hit a bump and lurched forward. Sounds of disgruntled passengers, human and animal, and luggage hitting the floor boomed throughout the box car as the lights flickered out.
When they returned, a rather peculiar situation was to be found. Britts had fallen into Ryou's lap and his arms were around her, the two of them blushing madly. Mokuba and Stitch had fallen to the floor and Sakura was in the most interesting position of all... She had landed on top of Kaiba, her hands braced against the seat on either side of him, his arms around her waist, and her face pressing into his neck.
Sakura shook her head a little as she came back to her senses, her lips accidentally brushing against his neck as she did so. Straightening up, she realized how close she was to Kaiba and she shoved herself away from him, unintentionally ramming her back into the edge of the seat behind her, making her feel a bit dizzy and disoriented.
"Ow," she groaned.
"Such a frisky little demoness, you are today, Mistress Sakura," said a tiny old-sounding voice in her ear.
These words immediately brought Sakura back to Earth. Ignoring the new throbbing pain in her spine, she got up off the floor. Suddenly she became aware that everyone was staring at her, and sent a glare as cold as Kaiba's around the compartment. "What are you all staring at?" she demanded irritably.
"Well, uh..." Ryou stuttered. "Train hit bump... lights go out... lights back on... Brittany on lap... you kissing Kaiba's neck..."
"I think what Ryou's trying to get to," Kaiba cut in. "Is, what's with the dog ears?"
"Dog... ears?" Sakura stammered. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Britts (who had gotten back into her seat) gesture to the crown of her head. Immediately, her hands went to the top of her head and found that the blue hat she was wearing was askew. She sighed, took it off, and began to explain. "All right I admit it; I haven't been completely honest with you guys for the past two days. What Malfloy said was right: I am a half-breed... well; I'm actually a one-fourth breed if you want to get technical. My father was a half-demon and my mother was the reincarnation of a powerful human priestess."
Kaiba put up a hand to stop her and turned to the blonde girl next to him. "Did you know about this?"
Britts nodded. "I found out in my first year on accident, but soon everyone in the whole school found out, one way or another."
"And you were just going to leave us in the dark?" Yugi asked.
What looked like a large speck, leapt up from somewhere on Stitch's back and landed on one of Yugi's fingers. "I assure you young man, that Mistress Sakura has her reasons for keeping this a secret.
Yugi brought his hand closer to his face, staring at the tiny figure a little bigger than his fingernail. Quite frankly, it looked like an overgrown flea wearing clothes. "What are you?" he asked in astonishment.
"Myoga, there you are, you cowardly parasite!" Sakura said. "And where exactly have you been since the first week of summer?"
"Milady, I uh..."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "You ran off again; how predictable."
"Mistress, how dare you suggest such a thing!"
"Oh, did you get lost?" Britts commented sarcastically.
"Take a wrong turn?" Sakura added.
"Get violently ill?"
"Did we miss any of your excuses?" Sakura concluded. "Oh, guys, this is Myoga. He's a flea demon that serves my family. His advice is fickle and he runs at the first sight of danger."
"But, my lady,"
"Whatever, Myoga; go back to Stitch's back or where ever you were hiding."
The flea gave an awkward sort of bow and jumped back onto the dog.
"Well, on a lighter note, this would probably be a good time to change into our school robes. Britts and I will step out into the hall so you boys can change." Sakura said, changing the subject. She got up and went outside the compartment door; Britts followed.
A few minutes passed, and then the boys filed out and Britts and Sakura changed.
When the boys stepped back into the compartment, they all resumed talking.
About fifteen minutes later, the train pulled to a stop in Hogsmeade Station.
"Attention, Hogwarts Express has come to a stop. Please leave your luggage and pets on the train, they will be taken to the school separately," a voice announced.
"Stitch, that means you stay here and cooperate with whoever comes to take you to the Hogwarts dormitories," Sakura ordered.
As the group got off the train, they got mixed into a mob of black robed students.
"It's practically raining pixies out here!" Britts exclaimed as she pulled her robes over her head in a futile attempt to shield herself from the driving rain.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here," shouted a familiar voice.
"Mokuba, you go with Hagrid since you would be with the other first years." Sakura explained, gesturing to a gigantic shadow.
"See ya, Seto," Mokuba said, throwing his arms around his older brother and running off to the figure.
"Let's go grab a carriage and get out of this hell-storm," Britts suggested, gesturing to a bunch of stage coaches pulled by what looked like large black x-rayed horses with large bat-like wings.
With much pushing and shoving, Yugi, Kaiba, Ryou, Britts, and Sakura managed to pile inside one of the coaches before getting too soaked. As soon as they got comfortable in the musty straw-smelling transport, it began to move.
"What are those back skeletal things pulling us?" Yugi asked.
"These carriages are pulled by thestrals," Brittany explained, "You can only see them if you've seen death itself." She cast a sideways glance at Sakura, who was staring out the window at the peculiar black winged horses, not blinking.
/Let me take over, hikari. I want a look/ Bakura demanded over his and Ryou's mind link.
/Fine, but only for a minute. Don't do anything/ Ryou suddenly climbed halfway out the window and peered at the creatures through the driving rain. "I see them," he grunted as he climbed back in.
Sakura blinked for the first time in about five minutes and turned to Ryou. "Who did you see die?" she asked.
Quickly Ryou regained control over his body and with a slightly confused look in his eyes, only noticed by Sakura. "Sorry, what did you ask me?"
"Whom did you see pass on?"
His face fell and sorrow formed in his chocolate eyes, "My little sister, Amene (3)."
Sakura nodded sympathetically and Britts put a hand on his forearm in a gesture of consolation.
"I see them too," Seto said.
"Did you see your father, Gozaburo, die?" Sakura inquired.
"Gozaburo was my stepfather," he corrected. His face darkened. "But yes, I did see him die and I wasted no sorrow over his death."
"You felt no remorse, I pity you."
There was a flash of lightening and a large stone castle with many towers and countless bright windows burning with light came into view.
"Hey Kaiba, that castle beats your mansion by a landslide," Yugi said as lightening lit up the sky once more.
As the carriages approached their new home, one question raced through the minds of all: What gonna happen this year?
Anaya's Creator: Chapter 3 is on it's way.
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