Chapter Three: The Game and aftermath
Sakura, Tomoyo and Syaoran found their way up to the stadium thanks to Yukito, but they had no idea where the top box was. Fortunately someone noticed their confusion.
"Which section are you heading?" asked Harry. He had hung back because he had noticed that they needed help.
"Ano... Nii-san and Yukito-san gave us tickets to the top box... but no one seems to know which way we're supposed to go," said Sakura.
"Why don't you follow our group? Ron's dad got tickets for the top box as well, and we're heading up there now," said Harry.
"Arigato, Hari-san!" said Sakura.
Harry blinked, before he remembered what little Japanese he knew.
'Arigato' meant thank you very much if he remembered right.
The three followed Harry up to the top booth which was practically full. He ended up sitting next to Sakura to his surprise.
"I wonder what Tori-san has planned for you Sakura-chan," said Tomoyo.
"You know the captain of the Japanese team?" asked Ron.
Harry gave him a look. It was clear from the expression of the girls that he was being rude.
"Tori is my big brother," explained Sakura finally.
Harry elbowed his friend.
"What?"
"Ron, you're being rude. From what I remember of my collection, the Japanese use honorifics to convey respect and they certainly don't jump into other people's conversations like that," hissed Harry.
"You seem very knowledgeable about Japan, Hari-san," said Tomoyo.
Harry blushed.
"I own a rather large amount of manga, and they have pages that explained the honorifics in the front," explained Harry, though he did add "Doesn't 'Hari' mean needle in Japanese?"
"Hai. I mean yes," said Sakura.
Someone walked up and said something rather derogatory to Harry, and he made an annoyed face in return before he gave a scathing retort. It was clear there was bad blood between them.
"I cannot wait until I graduate," muttered Harry.
"Why?" asked Syaoran. Out of all the English, he seemed to be the only tolerable one of the lot.
"I fully plan on moving to Japan once I graduate and leave England far, far behind. Anything has to be better than dealing with this nonsense," said Harry.
There was a sudden boom as the five minute mark came for the game to start. The mascots would strut their stuff first, then the teams would fly onto the pitch.
Harry and the others would admit that while the Veela were impressive, they were all eagerly awaiting to see what Touya had come up with.
A slow rhythm started up with a pair of unseen drums. In the Japanese half of the stadium, the people worked up to a fevered pitch. Suddenly the sound of a melodic bird was heard above, and everyone looked up to see a massive oval shape that looked like a giant egg up in the sky, though what was holding it up no one had any idea. The clouds above began to crackle ominously. Suddenly shapes began to descend in a stream of colors and varying notes.
The drums worked up into a crescendo as it took people a few seconds to realize that what they were seeing was a massive flock of phoenixes flying down from above. The birds flew in formation around the stadium, their songs creating a fever pitch for the fans. The 'egg' above glowed the longer the song went on until there was a loud thunder crack.
Some people actually screamed in alarm as a large silver and black serpent appeared from the clouds, tendrils flowing freely in the obviously violent wind above. It was one of Asian origin, for it had no wings.
It roared loudly and the phoenixes flew in a tight corkscrew towards the egg and the dragon descended into the cloud of feathers.
Sakura gasped when it flew above the top box...and it took her a few seconds to realize it had dropped a rather nice bouquet in her lap.
Suddenly the dragon turned inward on itself...and a broom flew out of the Japanese section to catch...Touya in midfall! He stood on the broom and took a bow as the phoenixes flew around him. The drums slowly faded as the show ended.
(It wasn't until later that Yuki showed Syaoran the quartet of players who specialized in using the large Japanese drums at shrine festivals, which was the source of the sound. He was more than impressed that they had gotten the timing right.)
The Japanese section went wild as they applauded his little show.
"Your brother is a big show-off," said Syaoran in admiration.
There were very few people who could turn into a magical creature, and fewer still were as impressive as Touya's dragon form.
"So that's why they called him the Daring Dragon," said Tomoyo. She was very happy that Touya had given her a magical camera that could be used with their non-magical equivalents.
Syaoran stared when he realized that the phoenixes had all settled around the top of the stadium. A very regal looking one in particular settled on Sakura's shoulder, to her delight.
Sakura was torn between awe in how easily her brother flied like a bird (there was a reason why the team had jokingly called him Tori before he finally mastered his animal form) and fear for his safety at some of the insane stunts he kept pulling.
Finally Touya swooped in like a falcon and caught the snitch, which only Harry seemed to be tracking with any luck without the omniculars he had recently bought.
"Well, we fought very bravely. And to a better opponent than most," said the Bulgarian Minister in his thick accent.
The English Minister sputtered in shock, as he had been trying and failing to mime for the visiting Minister with no luck of conveying anything properly. The Japanese Minister, who had been on the other side of Harry's group, gave Sakura and the others a conspiratorial wink.
He usually got away with a similar prank by making Touya act as translator...and Touya always acted like he had to look up the right English words when he could speak it perfectly well in front of Minister Fudge.
Touya and the rest of the team landed in the box to accept their trophy (third year running) and ruffled Sakura's hair.
"How did you like the game?"
"Dad's going to kill you if he sees half of what you did," she said.
"Which is why I'm bribing you both to keep quiet and not share that video with him," said Touya.
Touya then looked at Harry.
"I've heard about you, Harry Potter. Rumor has it that you're a pretty good Seeker yourself," said Touya.
"Hai!" said Harry, blushing.
"Tell you what... If you want to get a few tips about how to catch the snitch even faster you can come visit our tent. Just follow this kaiju's stomping..." said Touya, before Sakura stomped on her brother's foot.
"I am not a monster!" said Sakura.
"Then why do you always make a racket coming down the stairs every morning?" asked Touya, but it was clear to everyone that he was teasing her.
"Now, now...there's no need to tease Sakura-chan after that victory," said Yukito smiling.
Harry came by the tent a few hours later, having asked Mr. Weasly if he could. Since the Japanese were known for being honorable and wouldn't try anything, he allowed it...so long as Charlie dropped him off first.
Charlie spent an hour of his own talking about dragons with Touya, who seemed amused for some reason.
Harry really wished he could spend the rest of the night talking to the team, but eventually he had to return.
Not only did they not care one whit about his scar, they also spoke to him like a normal fourteen-year-old.
He was so caught up in his discussion with Touya and Yukito about Japan, that they lost complete track of time. Sakura, Syaoran and Tomoyo had gone to bed earlier, as they were exhausted.
It wasn't until the screaming started that they knew something was very wrong.
"Big trouble! Some of the Europeans are causing a ruckus!" said Tsurara, having gone into her tent with the girls.
A very sleepy Sakura and Tomoyo were right behind her.
"Sound the general alert for our section and throw up the wards. Yuki, you're with me. Lets get the civilians into a safe zone until the English get their act together," said Touya firmly.
"Right," said Yukito. He grabbed his broom and his bow. Since he specialized in using moon-based magic, Yukito channeled his powers primarily into magical arrows in a fight. Touya had a weapon as well, but it was a bit hard to explain to air port security why he carried daggers or a sword with him.
"With!" cried Touya as he exited the tent.
"Kyuu!"
The tiny rabbit jumped onto Touya's back, turning into a pair of magnificent pure black wings. His outfit changed from the casual one he had been wearing to his battle armor. For some strange reason, Touya's armor looked more like something a thief would wear than armor.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Touya heard Harry ask.
Touya thought fast.
"Harry, what I want you to do right now is make sure that my sister and the others are safe. They've only just started learning magic, so they might get hurt. Let us handle this mess while we secure the area until the Aurors get here and put a stop to this mess," said Touya seriously.
Seeing the genuine surprise in Harry's face, Yukito felt a twinge of sadness. This poor kid was always expected to clean up after the adults. Were the English really so irresponsible that they forced a fourteen-year-old boy to fix their mess?
Touya knew that yes, yes they did. Harry had never had a chance to be a kid, let alone enjoy being taken care of for once. Which was why his message to him would be so important later.
It was time for the English to grow a damn pair and leave this boy alone. Even if it meant taking his former self out of the equation permanently.
Touya flew around the perimeter of the Japanese section, directing people further in while placing temporary ward stones at the edge. When he had gotten everyone in sight (most of the English had fled into the woods for some odd reason) the guards that they had brought activated the stones.
A giant bubble erected itself around the area, insuring nothing with magic could get in. Those inside could leave, but spells, wands, and anyone marked with active magic would run headfirst into a barrier.
"Touya-nii, what's going on?" asked Sakura, wide awake.
"The idiots who managed to bribe their way out of the European jail apparently got drunk and brought their little outfits with them. So long as the barrier is active, we'll be fine. Harry-san, Charlie-san, I think it would be safer if you two stay here, at least until your Aurors arrive to clean up the mess," said Touya, deactivating his armor.
Charlie snorted.
"That will take hours. Their track record isn't the best," said the red head.
"Well, until then let's all stay put. How about Yuki and I share more about our magical community while we wait?" said Touya.
Harry nodded in agreement. Considering he fully planned to leave England and move to Japan later, he wanted to know what he would be in for first.
And if he later found a note from Touya about how to contact a certain witch by the name of Yuko, he kept his mouth shut. It would be a few months before he would dare to summon the Dimensional Witch in Hogwarts to work out a deal.
"It's good to be home," said Touya with relief. England always brought up bad memories of when he was still Harry. Seeing his past self made him very glad he had made that deal with Yuko almost 18 years ago, his time.
"You do realize Sakura has that outdoor class coming up with the test of courage soon, right?" said Yukito, mouth twitching upwards.
"I would send With, but he hates water... hmm..." said Touya. Then he had an evil idea.
He went into Sakura's room, grabbed a rather sleepy lion plushie who was exhausted from the World Cup (plus all the sweets he had been stuffed with courtesy of an amused Yukito and the girls) and brought him into his room.
Kero blearily glared at the teen.
"What do ya want?"
"How would you like to join a certain kaiju to the beach?"
Kero sat up entirely awake now.
"I'm listenin'," he said.
"Sakura's outdoor class to the beach is coming up soon, and with all these dangerous magical artifacts she's supposed to capture still out on the loose, there's no way I'm letting her go without any magical back up."
"But I can't operate among the civilians without people finding out!"
"I happen to know how to cast the notice-me-not charm, baka. If I make it strong enough, then anyone who doesn't have actual magic won't even realize you're there. I can even put it around a collar so you can join her during the day too," said Touya.
Kero stared.
"Why would you know that charm?"
Touya hooked a thumb at his familiar.
"With sometimes sneaks into my bag, so I had a collar made so he could get around school with me without getting me into serious trouble. After I found out you were in the house, I had them make a second one. It's charmed to adjust to any sudden increase in size, so that should keep the screaming to a minimum," deadpanned Touya.
Kero blinked.
"Seriously?"
"Touya might tease Sakura, but he takes his duties as an older brother seriously. If he thinks you can keep her safe, then he will help you anyway he can to insure that she has a guardian with her at all times," said Yukito.
Kero nodded. Touya handed him a long strip of dyed leather that matched Kero's coloring. It was almost invisible, but it suited him perfectly.
Kero looked at it from the mirror in Touya's room. He could feel the active magic in it, and it had a few extra charms Touya hadn't mentioned.
Charms to keep him safe as well as hidden from the uninitiated.
Which made him wonder...why hadn't Clow made something like this for him and Yue when he was still alive? It would have made things so much easier.