Ron groggily woke the next morning. "Ugh..." he groaned, rubbing his throbbing head. "I need breakfast...Hey Harry! Time to get up!¨ Ron looked over at his friend's bed, then stopped short at the sight of immaculate sheets. "Huh...that's right, Harry's in the Infirmary again.¨ he murmured. "I'll go see him after breakfast.¨
Ron stretched, vaguely wondering why he was so sore, changed, and got ready to eat. As he left the room, he looked over at the corner where the tapestry hung and somewhere, in the back of his mind, he distractedly noted that the roses were wilting.
Kurama sat down onto bed, and waved a hand at the youkai, wordlessly telling them to make themselves comfortable in the partitioned off area. Hiei, perched on the window sill facing the bed, and snarled at Jin, who was doing loop-de-loops around his head. "Stop that, you miserable cretin, or I'll burn you to a crisp."
Jin immediately ceased, and amidst the chuckles from the rest of the group, he flew to Touya and hovered there, gazing warily at Hiei. Touya reached up from where he was leaning against the wall and gently tugged on Jin sleeve so that the Wind Master was level with the rest of them. Kurama chuckled, then sobered.
"So what do you plan to do with Liseab? When is he returning to Hogwarts?" He turned to look at Yukina, who was sitting on the chair next to his bed.
"Touya-san will bring him back tonight, after I make sure he's strong enough to be able to handle sudden increases and decreases in youki. Growing up in Ningenkai has prevented the ability to adjust to youki level changes to mature as it should have, should he have been brought up in Makai."
Kurama frowned. That was not something he had expected, though he should have known. Being able to shield youki in a split-second could save your life so youkai learned at a very young age...it was a matter of survival of the fittest... also, in the Makai, youkai become used to fluctuating youki levels without ever experiencing long periods of time without being surrounded by youki in one's youth. By the time a youkai's about a hundred years old, they're old enough to be able to stay in the Ningenkai without becoming ill. Kurama thought back to when he first started training his youki again in Ningenkai and a random thought walked through his mind: so that's why I used to feel sick after working out before my youki levels were raised again... and Yusuke...Yusuke's a special case... he's Toushin. Speaking of the youkai...
"Why are you all here in the first place?"
Yukina spoke up again, in her own gentle way. "Koenma-sama sent us here, Kurama-san." Kurama's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he focused the cold gaze onto the two shinobi.
"Why?"
Jin gulped nervously and let Touya answer. The Ice Master sent a long-suffering gaze at his partner, and replied, "He sent us to help Hiei protect 'Harry Potter'"
"Why Yukina?" Kurama then asked, already suspicius.
"She was to help heal us."
"I don't buy that," Hiei interjected.
"Neither do I," Kurama agreed. "Any of it. Koenma has no reason to think you would get hurt while protecting 'Harry Potter' if Hiei was already here. This isn't fighting youkai. Harry's enemies are human, and no match for Hiei. As a matter of fact, there should be no reason to have sent you along. Hiei alone would have been enough."
"Actually..." Jin said, "Its not just ningen."
"What do you mean?"
"Koenma said that there was youkai movement in parts of Makai. Apparently, there is someone trying to gather the youkai and bring them to Ningenkai to fight this battle."
Kurama's eyes closed. "Voldemort. It has to be." He absent mindedly ran a hand through blood red locks and, when a few black strands came out with his hands, he sighed. He shook the strands from his hands and watched them flutter down to lay on his crisp white sheets. Hiei's eyes watched them fall, and then snapped up to meet Kurama's.
/What's going on? Black hair when you're in control? Red while in Harry's body, I can understand, since you're dominant...but vice-versa/
Kurama gave him a tired smile. /Harry is stirring. He will wake soon. / He stared past Hiei, out the window, where the sky was just starting to turn red. "Beautiful, isn't it..." Hiei stared at him, uncomprehending. "The sunrise, Hiei. Look." Kurama gestured for Hiei to turn.
"Hn." Hiei obligingly twisted around. The rest of the youkai shifted so that they, too, could see. Silence fell in the room as the sun slowly lit up the fall sky. Yukina sighed softly in contentment and though he would never admit it, Hiei too, was calmed by the dawn.
The soft sounds of movement broke into the comfortable silence the group of youkai had fallen into, and in a sudden movement, all traces that anyone else had been in the room was gone. Jin and Hiei had picked up Touya and Yukina, respectively, and left through the window, heading back towards the Forest clearing where Blaise was deep in meditation, protected by Touya's kekkai.
Kurama reluctantly pulled in his youki, causing his body to give the impression of collapsing into itself as he changed back into the smaller form of Harry Potter. He had just finished when the curtain was carefully pulled aside to admit Madame Pomfrey. She softly replaced the curtain, turned around, and screamed when she met Kurama's eyes.
Kurama's hands automatically shot to Harry's wand and had it in his hand by the time Madame Pomfrey had collected herself. He stared in horror at his hand, then, at the wand. His hand had moved of its own accord, not to his hair where his weapons were, but to the wand. His eyes widened imperceptibly. If he had really been attacked and reached for the wand first, he could be very well be dead by now... Kurama's emotions churned in within him, as he mechanically followed the now calm and collected Madame Pomfrey as she scolded him while prodding him with her wand.
/Koi? Daijyoubu/
/Hai. Daijyoubu./
/hn. Whats going on/ Kurama could almost hear the mental frown as Hiei warned him. /Truth./
/I'm fine. Harry's just waking a bit faster than I expected.../
/That's not all, is it... very well. Your business is your own./
/Arigatou./
"...you nearly were the death of me! Next time, say something if you're awake! Mister Potter! Are you listening to me?" The nurse's irritated voice broke into Kurama's thoughts, and he smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry, Madame Pomfrey. My mind was miles away." Which it had been. Literally. Well... almost miles away...it actually was just a little under a mile away...not that anyone would know or care. "You were saying...?"
Madame Pomfrey heaved a sigh. "No matter. Here." She took from her tray a vial of orange liquid. Then another of purple. Then blue. Red. Yellow. Green. Clear.
"Uh...Madame Pomfrey?" Kurama stared, wide-eyed at the growing number of potions on his nightstand. "Are these all for me?"
The Hogwarts nurse looked up from where she had just put down the last vial of liquid. "Of course. No one knows what kind of nasty effects that botched potion could result in, so between Professor Snape, Professor Dumbledore, and myself, we decided to have you take all the preventative potions." He answer was crisp and stern. "Now take them one at a time, with a minute or so in between. I expect you to be finished by the time I come in to take away the bottles."
"Yes, Madame Pomfrey." Kurama obediently, yet reluctantly, answered.
Madame Pomfrey turned to go, then paused and turned. "If Minamino comes around from wherever he went." Her brows creased disapprovingly. "Have him report directly to me to take his potions."
"I will, ma'am."
"Thank you. Remember to rest, Mr. Potter." With that, the nurse turned and strode out, heels clicking as she went.
Harry shifted slightly and opened his eyes a crack. The world was silver and green. Very pretty. He shuthis eyesagain. He didn't know where he was, or what he was doing, but he wasn't scared. This place was warm and familiar and made him feel safe. He let himself drift off again.
chapter owari
translations, though i think that most of you should know these words:
Kekkai- barrier, shield type of thing created with ki (anime word)
Daijyoubu- Are you ok/ I'm ok
Arigatou- Thank you