A/N: Gomen nasai minna……………! Gomen! Gomen! ( ; . ; ) I've been so busy with school; actually there's been the middle-term exam, 11 May 2006 to 25 May 2006 THREE WEEKS OF EXAM! My brain had to make room for all the school thingy etc, etc, so I'm quite exhausted, not to mention I have no time to write my story. (Waterfall tears) So, this is the next chapter, I hope you like it. Oh yeah, not to forget, thank you to all readers and reviewers and also to those who put me in their C2's. You ALL are so kind and I love you all! (Sniff! Sniff!) And thank you Novice91 for pre-reading this! THANKKKKKK YOOOOUUUUUUUUUUU!
Chapter 25: Finding A Way To Her Heart (Part 2)
"There's three more days before Hogwarts starts," Resha thought as she lay on the rooftop, looking at the night sky. She had told Ranma all about the wizard world. She was somewhat excited about it, but, deep inside, she knew she hated to be even farther away from Ranma. It's hard already living in Sarayashiki with Ranma living in Nerima. Their twin-bond, and the fact that they rarely were apart from each other more than three days when they were kids, made it hard to live separately for so long.
But they are not kids anymore; she forced the thought into her head sternly. No, not kids anymore; no Ran-chan, no Rara-chan… just growing up teenagers.
Resha sighed and shivered a little. It was getting chillier now that autumn is coming.
'Yo, Resha. When are you going to bed?'
Resha looked down to see Ranma looking at her. Ranma had come to stay with the Minamino family until school began.
'Hey Kurama, you're right. She's up here,' Ranma said. Resha got up and jumped down onto the tree next to Ranma. Kurama was leaning on his windowsill like always, and even Hiei was there.
'Hn.'
'Hello to you too, Hiei,' Resha said grinning. 'What've you guys been talking about?'
'Nothing! Koenma wants to see the two of you at his office, now,' Hiei uttered indicating Resha and Kurama.
"Koenma? Whatever for?" Resha thought.
"Hn. You'll know when you get there, ne vixen?" Hiei said telepathically to her, mocking her.
"Humph! I didn't ask you!" she thought back disdainfully as a portal opened and they all went in. Ranma went with them.
Once at the office, Resha noticed that Koenma was in his teen form; Yuusuke and Kuwabara were also there, with two peculiarly dressed people; an old man and a woman. She realized their chi were odd and grasped the fact that they were wizards.
'Wizards?' she and Ranma inquired in unison.
'Yes. This is Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall from Hogwarts.' Koenma introduced.
Resha studied them both. Prof Dumbledore seemed to be in his late 50's. But the glint in his eyes and the strong chi she felt from him made her realized he must be around his hundreds. While Prof McGonagall, especially the stern eyes, reminded her of Madame Saint-Paul, Picolette's instructor she once unluckily met. She shuddered at the thought.
'It's very nice meeting you, professors,' Kurama greeted politely.
Prof Dumbledore smiled a gentle, kind smile. 'You must be Kurama and you must be Resha,' He said politely in Japanese.
Kurama nodded decently but Resha just shrugged.
Koenma coughed twice to get everyone's attention. 'Well, you see, Kurama is going to Hogwarts for a mission actually.'
'What? A mission? Then why aren't we involved?' Yuusuke demanded.
Koenma glared at him irritably. 'I was getting to that! Yes, you see, Prof Dumbledore wants him to keep an eye on a boy, Harry Potter. He is in grave threat of a dangerous wizard, Lord Voldemort, and it's hard to put a grownup wizard beside him all the time, so Kurama will go to Hogwarts undercover as a new exchange student and stay beside him to guard him.'
'Then, why was I invited to the school too?' Resha spoke suddenly.
'Well, since Kurama's stepbrother, Suuichi, is also a student there, I thought their parents would be pleased if I invited both of you rather than just one; besides, it will arouse suspicions in school if only one student suddenly changes there… and anyway, they will think that you both changed school to be with him,' Prof Dumbledore answered.
'Reasonable' Resha nodded.
'Oh, yes. And it's also because of the fact that you two are engaged… it won't be nice to be apart for a long time, ne?' he added, beaming.
Resha's left eye twitched but she was too stunned to answer. Kurama only treated it lightly.
'This Voldemort guy, who is he? And what does he want with Harry Potter?' Kurama asked attentively.
Prof Dumbledore and Prof McGonagall began to tell them about Harry Potter's sad life until the death of his godfather, Sirius Black. (C-chan: I'm lazy here)
'No wonder his chi was so depressed, he had had a terrible life!' Resha said when they finished.
They all, save for Kurama, looked at her surprised.
'You've met him already?' Prof McGonagall asked, which, in Resha's opinion, was more like a demand.
'Well,' Resha said remembering her encounter with Harry. 'I was running from cats, and knocked onto him, kissing him in the process.'
She caught Kurama's sudden defiant stare and said hurriedly, 'It was an accident, honest!' she felt as if Kurama was going to strangle her, but he looked away instead.
'Oh…' Prof McGonagall muttered.
Resha sweatdropped as they all stared incredulously at her.
'Wait, if Kurama is going, then the Reikai tantei will only be three!' Kuwabara exclaimed suddenly.
'I'm surprised you can count, baka,' Hiei said, rolling his eyes.
'Hey!' Kuwabara started, but Resha suddenly cut him off.
'Ranma can take his place.'
They looked at her before turning their attention to Ranma beside her. Ranma was staring in pure disbelief at Resha as if she just gone mad.
'Are you alright, sis? You sure you're sane?' Ranma asked, putting his palm on her forehead to check her temperature.
'Of course I'm sane! What the hell makes you ask that?' she said annoyed.
'Well, you would never let me do something so… err… dangerous, so err…' he stuttered, sheepishly.
Resha felt her cheeks became pink. 'Well, why not? You said you want to be stronger! And you can't be stronger without lunging into danger yourself.'
'Well, that settles that. Ranma will replace Kurama, for the time being,' Koenma announced. He knew Ranma was strong, and was the kind to think tactically before taking action, it wouldn't be as efficient as Kurama, but close enough. 'And, mind you, when Voldemolt strikes, you all will be ported to help Kurama and defeat…no, kill him. He's wanted dead in the wizard world. Might as well, kill him,' He indicated to the Reikai tantei.
'Sounds like a plan,' Yuusuke shrugged.
They were about to leave when Prof McGonagall suddenly spoke, 'Kurama, I hope you will cut your hair a little… it is too long for a boy.'
Kurama blinked in surprise.
'See? I told you that you should cut your hair, but no, you wouldn't listen to me,' Resha lectured him.
Kurama looked at her, half annoyed, before assuring the professor.
After that, they parted back home.
Ranma was very touched at Resha's idea. He was now a Reikai tantei. He knew Resha was always worried about him, it had taken guts to actually say that.
"Resha…" he thought. He turned on his side in the dark. He was now in Kurama's room, on a comfy mattress. Suddenly, he noticed that Kurama's chi was quite intense; he was still awake, and upset.
'Kurama, what's wrong?' he asked quietly.
'Nothing,' Kurama sounded calm, but Ranma knew something was wrong. He thought for a while.
'Is it about Resha kissing this Harry guy?' he guessed.
Ranma felt Kurama's chi flare for a split second before he calmed himself. He sighed instead.
Ranma was silent for a while before saying, 'She loves you, ya know.'
Kurama snorted. 'Then, she has an unusual way of showing it,' he said sarcastically.
'No, that's not what I mean. She does love you, she just don't want to and is afraid to admit it to herself!' Ranma explained then sighed. 'We've been through a long and really hard journey in China all these years. We've seen deaths and loves and betrayals and vengeances and a whole lot more. Seeing all these had unconsciously made us train in reading chi. But Resha was more curious about people's feelings more than I. That's why her awareness of chi is greater than mine. Then again, it also made her draw her own conclusion: Nothing last forever. She's afraid of that fact, you see, 'cause she's afraid to be lonely. That's why she's reluctant to let me go; she's afraid of me leaving her forgetting her. The same goes for you; she knows you love her, but she's afraid that someday you will leave her, and that all her love and time for you would be empty. Oh, the simple conclusion here is she is afraid!'
Kurama listened silently. 'It doesn't mean I cannot get to her, ne?'
'No, of course not. She's human after all. "A heart of stone", Kinu had said…'
'But a stone can still be molded… by water.' Kurama cut him off.
'Exactly!' Ranma nodded in the dark.
'So, it will take a very long time to make her love me,' Kurama muttered.
'No, I told you, she's already in love with you. What you need to do is make her love you so much that she cannot do without you. You're sweet and kind and always help her, and not to mention the fact that you pamper her every so often, which is why she's in love with you in the first place. You are already molding her heart, slowly and efficiently. One warning though: don't be too protective to her, she doesn't like that. Her ego speaks out loud on that one. She's no damsel in distress.' Ranma grinned.
Kurama smirked also. 'You know, we always have weird talks at night, don't you think?'
Ranma laughed.
'Resha, it's too short!' Kurama frowned as Resha cut his hair.
'It's not, silly. It's just right. Now sit still, I'm almost done,' Resha said happily. 'It's good that you're cutting your hair. Now you won't look like a girl!' she hummed.
Kurama growled. This girl…
'Should I cut your bangs? They're getting into your eyes.'
'No,' Kurama said flatly.
Resha shrugged. 'Fine. There, finished. Let me see your face,'
Kurama sighed and brush off his shoulders. He looked up and saw her looking at him with starry eyes.
'Oh! Kurama, you look sooo kawaiiiiii!' she exclaimed and pulled his cheeks apart like a child.
Kurama yielded a huge sweatdrop. 'Resha, I'm not a kid.' He stood and sighed, looking down at his precious long hair on the floor.
'Don't be so sad. You can always grow it back,' Resha grinned evilly. 'Since you're so agonize about it, why don't you clean it up, okay? Bye!'
Resha ran away before he could even protest. "Lazy girl," he thought, running his hand into his short hair. He turned to look at the mirror and frowned at the very attractive reflection looking back at him. Why does he have to cut his hair? It only triples the magnetism he already had on women. He looked simply stunning. His bright emerald eyes shaded by his bangs gave him a mysterious air. And his silky scarlet hair was simply alluring. Wait… WHAT did Resha say before? He's CUTE! He definitely doesn't look cute. Resha really has a weird way of telling a man he's good-looking. He blinked in puzzlement as he stared at the mirror. He suddenly smiled. He realized she was only acting. Surely she was attracted to him. Hmm… this is a good opportunity to draw her closer to him. He smirked impishly at the idea.
A/N: MWAHAHA, I'm so evil but I'm ending it here. I'm really sorry for not updating earlier. (gomen!) I think my plot is getting sort of slow, don't ya think so? I'll try and make it more faster next time. Love you all! REVIEEEEWWWWWWWWW………………
