Over the next few weeks, Yusuke and Kurama eagerly traveled to and from Head Quarters to Diagon Alley for about an hour each time to explore. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were able to accompany them every once in a while, but more often than not, Master Genkai kept them at the old Black Mansion for training. As their new school year drew closer, Kurama and Yusuke started to grow anxious and fidgety. Genkai tried to pull it off as nerves because they were going to a large school, but Harry and the other three knew it was because they hadn't received word from their friend, Hiei, at all since they arrived.
Harry wasn't quite sure, but he was certain that Genkai and her students were hiding something from them, but he also knew-strangely enough-that none of them would hurt them or betray them. Harry sighed. In two days, they would be returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and to him, it seemed unreal. Plus, he still had nightmares about Sirius' death. He knew, technically, it wasn't his fault, but he also knew some of the blame lied with him. He truly missed his funny godfather. He just wished, he could have told the old prankster how much he truly meant to the Hero of the Wizarding World.
"Harry, are you all right?" asked Hermione concerned for him. She knew things had been bad for him in the past few years and wished to any Gods in existence, that he'd let her in and help.
Harry smiled slightly at her and said, "I miss him, you know? I never got to really tell him how much I loved him. I always thought we'd have more time…more time to talk, more time to laugh, and more time to just be together. I guess, I just need a way to find closure. But, we don't have his body, so in away, we…I can't have closure. Does that make any since?"
Hermione smiled slightly and said, "In away, yes. Harry, you grew up in an environment that berated you and hurt you emotionally. When you finally found the love of a parent, you latched on because you had never known it…well you didn't remember it since your parents died early in your life. Harry, he was the only link you had to a family that truly loved you. It's understandable that you miss him. Just don't forget that you have others that love and care for you-even if we're not to conventional family."
Harry smiled and in a burst of emotion, hugged her tightly. Hermione gasped slightly. This is the first time he had initiated any sort of physical contact in the five years she has known him-not counting the time in second year when they both jumped into each other's arms when she awoke from her frozen state. She held on as tightly as she could. She knew these times, were going to be few and far between and she wanted to cherish the ones she had.
He pulled back a few minutes later, blushed, and mumbled something that sounded like 'sorry' and 'need to practice with Genkai'. She laughed; he was embarrassed.
She followed behind him and when she arrived in one of the many small private studies, she found Yusuke and Kurama inside. Currently Kurama was lying on Yusuke's lap fast asleep with Yusuke gently and lovingly combing his fingers through the young man's silky red hair. The look in the black-hared man's eyes made Hermione realize that her new friend was in love with the red head. She tiptoed out of the doorway and quickly ran to the others.
As she skidded to a stop, Genkai demanded, "What is the trouble, NOW?"
She was gasping as she said, "Yusuke…love…Kurama! In…study…you could…see the…love in…his eyes!"
Genkai snorted and said gruffly, "It's about time! I've been waiting for 3 years for him to make his feeling known to the fox…now I can tease the dimwit!"
Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at their DADA teacher in shock. One, she wasn't surprised. Two, she actually looked pleased. And Three, she actually smiled when she said Dimwit!
Ron asked softly, "Is it okay in wizarding Japan for on boy to like another?"
Genkai snorted and said, "All of Japan has one philosophy, Love is love-no matter the shape or form. Any person, who is lucky enough to find a love that is strong and true, deserves it even if it is boy/boy, girl/girl, or boy/girl."
"Why? Do you have a problem with it Mr. Weasley?" she demanded hotly as she stared into the blue eyes of her student.
Ron shook his head quickly and said, "No! Here in the Wizarding World, it is the same! I was just asking! Besides, with the newest potions, same sex couples can be together and still have children!"
Hermione, Ginny, and Harry all nodded when she turned her red-hot stare onto them. None of them wanted to be on the receiving end of that one EVER again!
Genkai snorted and said, "All right, now, we will be starting the HARD part of your training."
Harry gulped and said, "You mean, all the training before was EASY!"
She looked at him in the eye and said, "That was just everyday NORAML exercise to get your body prepared for the real training. Now, do you four see those metal spikes?"
They nodded fearfully.
"Good, starting today until we go to Hogwarts, you are to spend at six hours a day balancing yourself on the tip with your POINTER FINGER using your magic as a buffer. Do you understand?"
"Ah, could you show us" timidly asked Ginny as she stared at the tiny point and thought, 'How the HELL are we to balance on THAT!'
Genkai snorted, raised her pointer finger, watched it glow blue with her four newest students, and bent over to the spike. As her finger touched it, she threw her body into a handstand and the group watched as the blue energy wrapped around the spike and her body swayed slightly. When it stopped, she was standing perfectly straight on that tiny little point. The light unwrapped itself from the point, and returned to a small ball of light at the tip of her finger buffering it from the metal point. She stayed there for three minutes before she threw herself off, flipped in the air, and landed softly and silently on her feet in front of them.
As she left, she said, "Like that."
When they were alone, all four groaned and Ron asked, "Can you imagine going through this torture when you were nine or eleven!"
"Shut it Ron, and no I can't. We need to get this practice done with." Retorted Harry as he closed his eyes and summoned his aura. It shined emerald green. He focused it all into this pointer finger and hesitantly pushed himself onto the point. He overbalanced and tumbled to the floor. The other three had similar responses.
Genkai's voice could be heard, "And those six hours don't start until you are standing on your finger!"
They groaned and hurried to obey. The only good thing they could think of was when classes finally started up again; they have a large edge over the others in their year. They couldn't wait to see Malfoy's reaction when their Master taught all the Slytherins about what Magic TRULLY was.
Meanwhile, FLASHBACK 6 WEEKS AGO
"Prince Ko-Enma! Prince Ko-Enma! We've found it sir! We've found it!" shouted Ge-Orge-san excitedly as he rushed into the tiny Prince's office and threw a file on top of his desk.
"Give it here!" ordered the tiny Prince as he opened the file.
Name: Fudge, Cornelius, O.
Occupation: Minister of Magic (1982-2205) and Senior Auror (1975-1981)
Alias: Sweetie-Pie (wife-divorced), Black Death (Auror), and Fudgey-Wudgy(Political enemies)
Address: #456 White Marble Castle
Magical London, England
4582-Oval Room
Highest Achievement: Pulling together so much 'Fudged' evidence so that rival Auror, Sirius Orion Black, would be put into Azkaban without a trial.
"You see sir, it says here that he was the investigator in the Potter Murders. He added and tainted evidence and brought it before the Wizengamont. They had so much and were so desperate, they sent him to prison without a trial. It's his entire fault! This proves it! This proves that Black-san is innocent of the crimes!"
Ko-Enma sucked on this pacifier and said, "It's a good discredit to use to make our case, Ge-Orge-san, but we need the actual papers that bonded Pettigrew to the Potters as their Secret Keeper. Keep looking along these lines though because we're getting closer- I can feel it!"
"Yes Sir!" shouted the blue orge as he ran back out of the office.
Ko-Enma sighed, jumped off his large chair, changed into his teenage form, and entered Black's room that was just left of his office so he could keep and eye on the malnourished man. Black looked much better than when Hiei had brought him in. He had been washed and clothed by the doctors and nurses of Spirit World and he looked a decade younger for it. His cheeks once again held a rosy hue to them and the dark black circles under his eyes were nearly gone. He should be waking up soon because the medicine was designed to heal all the problems he had physically and they were almost all gone.
He sighed and sat down next to the mortal man.
"Black-san, the passage to your freedom is a hard one indeed. Even we, the Spirit World, are having trouble proving your freedom. But don't worry, you WILL be free again! This is promise on my title as Prince."
With that, he sighed again and left. As he closed the door and returned to his work, he thought, 'I wonder how Hiei's second mission is going?'
Hiei was quite ready to murder all of his allies really. He felt anger and disgust swell in his breast because these demon's had lowered themselves to actually WORK for an insane mortal NINGEN? He arrived less than a week ago and he was already close to frying every D-Class Youkai in their newest hideout. They were constantly boasting about how they fought and survived the Reikai Tantei. Hiei sneered. He knew that the only way Youkai could survive against them was if they let the Youkai live to be judged by Ko-Enma, befriended them, or they were just too weak to fight against. The third reason was the true reason as to why most of the Youkai here were still alive. He rolled his eyes. At first, many thought he was Hiei, but when he powered up to measure his power, it only showed 13,450. A high C-Class Youkai and Voldemort was happy with the results of his test. Hiei scoffed as he remembered what his so-called Master said to him and the others the night of his initiation, My Demons! Today marks a new beginning in our history! Tonight, humans and demons, come together as one to wipe out our enemies-the ones who took you homes in this world-MUGGLES! From this day forth, MUGGLES WILL DIE!
Hiei knew most of the demons didn't even know what Human World was, but they were there to join in on the Bloodlust.
Currently, he was standing in formation with the other C-Class demons and waiting for the Dark Lord to address them. With skills that supported his experiences, Hiei entered Voldemort's mind in an attempt to find out his plans. What he found wasn't good. Voldemort's mind was closed off far better than they had thought. This was going to take longer than what they planned for. He sighed unnoticed; he'd just have to improvise-nothing new there.
"Hi-Shi! Come here boy!" ordered Voldemort as he drank a cup of red wine.
Hiei growled under his breath. Hi-Shi was his undercover name. Voldemort thought it was funny because it meant Deadly Fire and so far, his Class-C fire attacks were hardly fatal.
When he reached the man's side, Voldemort said, "Our ally, Black Hawk, has lost his prized prisoner, Sirius Black. Black was to be my gift to Black Hawk to cement our partnership, now that he's gone, our partnership is in need of grounding. I want you to go to him and act as our Ambassador. He might listen to you, since you are of his kind and I am not."
Hiei raised an eyebrow and asked shortly, "And just what am I to use to 'break the ice' as it were?"
Voldemort laughed at him and said, "You do not need anything my Deadly Fire! Just use your amazing wit!"
Hiei frowned at him slightly, but bowed, and left. As he reached the edge of the premises, he sighed and thought, 'This is definitely going to take longer than we planned. I had better get in tough with Kurama-kun and Yusuke-kun and tell them what's happening!' Yusuke! Kurama! Can you hear me!'
'Hiei-kun, what's up?' asked Yusuke through telepathy.
'Yes, where are you? You sound farther away than normal.' Replied Kurama worriedly.
Hiei rolled his eyes and answered, 'I am currently at the southern most tip of England. Voldemort-no-baka has decided to send me to Black Hawk to act as an Ambassador to help mend the partnership between them. Apparently, Black-san was Black Hawk's gift from Voldemort to cement the pact. When I rescued Black, the truce turned slightly sour. I won't be able to contact you a lot because of the distance between Ma-Kai and here, so don't worry to much! Hiei out!'
'Good luck!' exclaimed both agents as the connection closed with a loud snap.
NOW BACK TO THE PRESENTHiei closed his eyes in pain. He couldn't believe what he found out about Black Hawk and Voldemort. Their plans didn't just cover that take over of the Ningen-Kai, but of all THREE WORLDS! He needed to escape here and tell the others, but…he looked down at the shackle around his ankle. Black Hawk had taken a deep interest in him upon his arrival. So much so in fact, that he had attempted to take him as a Sex-Slave in the beginning. Thankfully, he had been able to push him away, but that revealed to Black Hawk that he was stronger than a C-Class Superior Youkai. The shackle suppressed his energy making him truly no better than C-Class-he couldn't escape. He needed help…not just any help…He needed Kura-chan and Yu-chan. The gate to his cell opened. He winced-not another TRAINING activity. Black Hawk truly was a perverted insane maniac.