Anyway, that out of the way, I have a small note to add about last time, when I used Japanese particles in the spar match. The 'wo' in one was a source of confusion, but It is actually not a miss-type. I looked it up, just to make sure. The particle 'wo' is actually said after the use of a noun or pronoun. As it says in my Collins English-Japanese dictionary. Just to clear that up. I have been asked to type up a Japanese-English translation for the Japanese I've used in this. Well, I've complied. Translations will be found at the end of this chapter!
Oh, yeah…one last thing. I …ahem… miss-spelt the chapter title last time. I typed 'Floo Fowl-ups', instead of 'Floo Foul-ups'. Just to tell you, there's nothing to do with birds in this! Damn…I feel like a dunce…
Anyway, you've been patient, so please, go on and read the new chapter.
Disclaimer: This story is Fanfiction only. Therefore the rights to Rurouni Kenshin and Harry Potter are reserved by their respective owners, these being Nobuhiro Watsuki and JK Rowling. RuroKen and the Chamber of Secrets, and the rest of the RuroKen Potter series (see RKatPS) are not intended as infringement on those copyrights.
Last time on RkatCoS
Harry and the younger Weasley boys go to watch Kenshin spar with Hiko, but are caught. Later they made arrangements with Hermione, Kaoru and Sanosuke to meet in Diagon alley in a week's time.
Chapter Seven Floo Foul-upsWhen the following Wednesday arrived Kenshin and Hiko walked into the Burrow after practice to find the Weasleys and Harry all up and sitting around the table ready and waiting for Mrs Weasley to serve them bacon sandwiches. Mrs Weasley looked up as they walked in and smiled warmly, despite the slightly surprised expression on the boy's face.
"Ah, Kenshin, Seijuro. You're finished your practice? Sit down then and get yourselves some breakfast."
"Hai, Weasley-dono," Kenshin replied and settled himself between Harry and Percy, resting his sakabato on the floor beside him. He flashed Harry a small smile. "You're all up early, aren't you."
"Yeah," Harry said as he took a bacon sandwich offered by Mrs Weasley. "We're going to Diagon alley today to get our things for Hogwarts, so Mrs Weasley got us up early so we could get everything done."
"Aa, I see," Kenshin said, before saying a quick thank you to Mrs Weasley as she loaded his plate with food. "How exactly are we getting to London anyway?" he asked.
Harry hesitated. "Err…" he looked at Ron questioningly.
Ron, who had been busy trying to eat as much of his bacon sandwich as he could in one go paused and blinked as he noticed both boys looking at him, before it dawned on him that they were waiting for him to answer the question. "Huh? Oh! Floo powder, I think Mom said."
Kenshin covered a slight grimace. Floo powder, he had to say, was not one of his favourite modes of transportation, he had decided after his last journey. However, Harry just looked confused.
"Uh…Floo powder?"
Kenshin blinked, before he remembered that Harry had never travelled via a fireplace before. He had to be just as confused as Kenshin had been when Mr Weasley came to fetch them from Hiko's hut. But before Kenshin could open his mouth and explain to Harry what Ron was talking about, Mrs Weasley was calling them over to the fireplace, where she was looking in a flower pot with the strange, silvery dust at the bottom. As they approached, Kenshin heard her muttering to Mr Weasley that they were running a little low.
"We'll have to buy some more today… ah well, guests first!" Mrs Weasley turned to Harry brightly and held the flowerpot out to him. "After you, Harry dear!"
Harry stared at the flowerpot as if it was about to leap out of Mrs Weasley's hands and bite him, before looking at everyone in confusion. "W-what am I supposed to do?"
Kenshin decided to save him. "Weasley-dono, I think that Harry hasn't travelled by Floo Powder before. He won't know what to do." He turned to Harry apologetically. "I'm sorry, I should have said something earlier, de gozaru."
Before Harry could answer, Mr Weasley spoke up. "Never travelled by Floo? But how did you get to Diagon Alley last year?"
"I went on the underground –"
"Really?" Mr Weasley said excitedly, his eyes sparkling. "Where there escapators? How exactly –"
Hiko slapped a hand to his forehead. "Baka…" he mumbled in Japanese, while Mrs Weasley scolded her husband before worrying over Harry about their travel arrangements. Kenshin glanced at him, hoping that Hiko was going to keep it at that.
"He'll be alright, Mom," Fred interjected. "I mean, Kenny here did just fine his first time."
"Surprisingly"
"Shishou!" Kenshin exclaimed indignantly. Hiko just smirked.
Fred turned to Harry with a grin. "Harry, you watch us first."
With that he took a pinch of the floo powder from the flowerpot and stepped into the fire, tossing the sand into the fire where the flames licked it up and roared as it leapt high and turned emerald green. Harry stepped back in surprise, but Kenshin stayed still, however much he still felt the flames might become out of control. Fred stepped straight into the fire and shouted "Diagon Alley!" before the flames swallowed him and he vanished. Mr and Mrs Weasley began telling Harry advice in travelling by floo powder as George vanished after Fred, but the poor boy was looking more and more confused.
Finally it seemed that Mrs Weasley was just fretting herself and Mr Weasley put a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be fine, Molly, don't fuss. Here you go, Kenshin." He added, passing Kenshin the flowerpot.
However, Mrs Weasley wasn't going to be so easily deterred. "But, dear, if he got lost, how would we ever explain it to his aunt and uncle?"
Somehow, Kenshin thought they would find it hilarious.
"They won't mind," harry reassured her, immediately proving Kenshin's silent point. "Dudley would think it was a brilliant joke if I got lost up a chimney, don't you worry."
Mrs Weasley hesitated. "Well…all right…you go after Kenshin and Seijuro."
"Come on, Baka Deshi," Hiko drawled. "We don't have all day."
Kenshin tore his attention away from Harry and the Weasley's convocation, blushing slightly as he took a little of the powder and tossed it into the flames. Once more the jumped higher than Hiko and turned a bright emerald as it waited for him to step in and state his destination. Taking a deep breath to prepare him-self, Kenshin stepped into the flames. Tilting his head a little to stop any ash getting into his mouth, he shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and the room began to spin fast, before whipping out of sight as the flames sucked him away.
The blurred flashes of other fireplaces made him feel ill, but Kenshin forced himself to keep his eyes squinted open so he would have some warning of when he was about to stop. It wasn't long – or at least, compared to the first time he used the Floo Network – until he felt himself slowing down and prepared himself. His feet struck the ground hard. However, instead of having to roll, Kenshin folded neatly into a defensive crouch, as he would when finishing a Ryutsuisen, one hand splayed against the stone lightly for balance. Feeling a little dizzy, Kenshin moved himself out of the way for when Hiko arrived.
He was immediately met by the identical twins. "Nice of you to join us, Kenny!" Fred said brightly. "We were wondering what was taking so long."
"Was Mom fretting over Harry?" asked George with a grin.
"Just a little bit," admitted Kenshin as he lent on a scrubbed wooden table, glancing around at where he had ended up.
He had arrived at some sort of inn. It was pretty dark, even though it was sunny outside the small dusty windows and was lit by candles. The pub of the inn was quite busy, but the people looked very odd. A large group wore a strange set of robes, one woman smoked on a pipe that was releasing blue bubbles and smelt of peppermint. The bar area itself was a little shabby too… In fact, he realised as he looked around - it looked sort of familiar. Kenshin frowned a little as he looked around. Suddenly it hit him. This had to be the Leaky Cauldron, the inn at the entrance to Diagon alley – the inn that Hagrid, the large gamekeeper at Hogwarts, had lead Hiko and himself to on his first day in the wizarding world.
A 'whoosh' from behind him broke through his thoughts and Kenshin glanced round to find that Hiko was now walking out of the fireplace, gaining a few strange looks from the customers before they turned back from whatever they were doing. Hiko, however, ignored them and only gave Kenshin a smirk and a raised eyebrow as his eyes travelled over the redhead's clothing. Blinking, Kenshin glanced down and blushed as he realised that his clothes were covered in soot. He tentatively began to bat the soot away in vain.
It wasn't long before Ginny, with Ron close behind came stumbling out of the fireplace, soon followed by Percy, Mrs Weasley and lastly, Mr Weasley.
"My word, the fireplace is so dusty today," Mrs Weasley muttered as she search her handbag and pulled out a small hand brush. "Come here Ron, dear," And to Ron's horror, she grabbed him and began to dust him off with the brush.
"Mom! Gerroff!" Ron squirmed as he attempted to pry himself from his mother's grip futilely. The twins snickered.
Kenshin looked expectantly at the fireplace again. However, the fire seemed to have settled down into its ordinary orange-coloured flames, so it seemed that no one else was going to be coming through at any point in the near future. Kenshin frowned as he looked around the sea of ginger heads, but it seemed that one member of the group was missing.
Quietly, Kenshin glanced over at Hiko, who seemed to have a slight frown on his face too. Obviously, Kenshin wasn't the only one to have spotted the missing presence. "Shishou…Where's Harry?"
Immediately, the Weasley's fell silent, looking over at the two Asians, Mrs Weasley pausing in mid brush.
"You mean…he's not come through here?" Ron gasped.
"Just Kenny and Hiko," George said. "I thought he was with you?"
"You don't think he said it wrong, do you?" asked Mrs Weasley, her face tense with worry.
"Say, brother mine," Fred said with a grin. "Where do you think he came out?"
"Bet you a galleon that he came out in Knockturn alley," George said with a grin.
"Cool, I always wanted to go there! (Lucky bugger.) You're on!" Fred said, clasping George's hand.
"Done!"
"Boys, this is serious!" Mr Weasley scolded. "Besides, you're far too young for gambling."
"Ah, nuts." The twins grumbled.
"Oh, the poor boy, what if he got stuck somewhere! He must be so scared." Mr Weasley fretted. Ron rolled his eyes.
"The guy faced you-know-who on his own last year, and mom thinks he'll be scared about being stuck somewhere?" he muttered under his breath, earning him a rather hard stare from Percy. Kenshin sweat-dropped.
"It's typical that you would make friends with a boy who is even more trouble-prone than you are, Baka Deshi," Hiko sighed, rubbing his forehead with a hand as Mrs Weasley continued to fret. Kenshin could understand the woman's worry, but this wasn't helping out Harry in any way. Obviously, Hiko thought so to, because he interrupted. "Instead of standing around here, why don't we go and look for him? Any clues as to where he might be, because I doubt that he's stuck in the chimney. My deshi would have done that."
Why was Kenshin not surprised that Hiko added that snide comment in there? He sighed.
"Well…He did say 'Deagon alley', or something similar, so he can't have gone too far," Mr Weasley mused.
"Oh, I do hope that he only went one grate over…" Mrs Weasley murmured, as she twisting her hand-brush in her hands with worry.
"Alright then, lets split up and meet outside Gringotts when we find him." Hiko said before heading off towards the back yard of the inn, where the entrance of Diagon alley was. "Well, what are you waiting for, Baka deshi? Get out that magic stick of yours and open the door."
Kenshin jumped before emitting a quick "Hai, Shishou!" and scampering after his master. Hurriedly, he pulled out his wand and, after a moment's pause to remember the 'code' of the bricks, he tapped them lightly with its tip. The wall wiggled and the bricks pulled back; rolling into the archway of the entrance. The street was busy and bustling with people. Kenshin looked at the sea of heads worriedly. He seriously hoped that it wouldn't hinder them, especially trying to find such a small boy as Harry in this crowd. It would be like trying to find a short needle in a stack of needles.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Kenshin focused and attempted to reach out for Harry's Ki.
Damn it, how are you mean to pick out one ki when there were so many in one place? Kenshin griped mentally. It looked like Kenshin would have to relay on his eyes and ears for this. He just hoped that Hiko, with the advantage of being much taller than just about everyone else, would have more luck.
"Well, deshi, don't just stand there. Get going. This is your friend – go find him." Hiko said.
"N-Nani!" Kenshin exclaimed.
"Well, you can't exactly expect me to look on my own, can you? (Although I could probably find him faster on my own with how bad you are with your ki-sense still.) So go and search over that way."
"Hai, shishou." Kenshin said, sighing with relief. That made sense. He thought Hiko meant that he wasn't going to help at all. Jeez, if he meant that, why didn't he just say that in the first place? Hiko gave Kenshin a nod of acknowledgement and, turning on his heel, his cloak billowing out behind him, disappeared into the crowd, leaving Kenshin blinking behind him. Shaking his head, he began to weave his way through the crowds in another direction, narrowing his eyes in concentration as he tried to spy Harry, occasionally stretching out to sense any familiar ki. After a few minutes, however, he stopped outside Eeylops Owl Emporium having gained nothing more than a sore throat from asking after Harry or trying to get through the crowds, a few bruises and a headache from being bombarded with so many ki.
There was absolutely no way he was going to find Harry like this!
Panting a little to try and get his breath back, Kenshin glanced round for any ideas of finding Harry, when his eyes landed on the roof. Kenshin straightened slightly, inspiration forming as his eyes took in the sight. The roof was tiled, shaped like an upside-down 'V' and looked rather sturdy. Kenshin smiled. Now, that gave him an idea! If he was too short to see through the crowds, then he just needed to get over them.
Looking around to make sure no one watching, Kenshin edged back towards the side of the building between the owl Emporium and Quality Quidditch supplies. Everyone seemed to be busy going about his or her own business. Well, that was fine by him. Glancing one more time, Kenshin bent his knees slightly and leapt high into the air, landing lightly on the ridgepole with a small 'tap' as his sandals touched the tiles. With a slight pause to gain balance, he began to run lightly along the roof so that anyone looking up could only make out a slightly red blur. Now he could see over the crowds and his ki sense was no longer being bombarded by hundreds of other ki. Scanning the crowds as he ran, he spotted Mrs Weasley looking very flustered as she flitted around in her search, Ron and Ginny being dragged along behind her. He sensed Fred, George and Mr Weasley somewhere close as he leapt onto the roof of Ollivanders wand shop. However, he didn't see or sense Harry anywhere near – hang on…
Kenshin skidded to a halt, stretching out his ki-sense as far as he could get it. He had felt a slight peak in ki – a ki that was familiar. Kenshin's heart leapt. Harry! Kenshin sighed in relief. So Mr Weasley was right when he said that he couldn't have gone more than a grate or two over. Kenshin leapt down from the roof and sprinted across to the place that he had felt Harry's Ki coming from. However, he wasn't the only one who had the same idea as him. As Kenshin came close, the large, cloaked form of Hiko looked round and smirked. Kenshin stuttered to a halt.
"Shishou? Why are you…"
"Don't you think that I wouldn't be able to sense your friend's ki, baka," he said, rolling his eyes. He smirked again. "Well then, perhaps your ki-sense isn't as bad as you let it on to be, baka Deshi," he commented dryly.
Kenshin felt himself blush a little at the comment, but decided not to rise to the bait and instead glanced round Hiko to see where Harry's ki had come from and felt his heart sink immediately. Well, there was one thing he could say for this place, and it wasn't that it was a nice, safe and pretty place, either.
The place called Knockturn Alley, as an old, wooden street-sign hanging over a shop selling poisonous candles told him, was dark, dingy and narrow. Even the sun seemed to refuse to shine its rays to lighten the place up. It wound and twisted its way round rundown-looking shops that seemed to sell things that screamed dark arts, twisting its way out of sight round the dusty, shaded buildings. There were very few people down there and all seemed to have a slightly shifty look to them. It reminded him a little of the way their previous DADA Professor, Quirrell, looked, once he had dropped his nervous, stuttering persona, deep down in the flame room at the end of his last term at Hogwarts. He barely suppressed a shiver.
"It looks like the boy is even more of a baka than you are to come down a place like this," Hiko commented dryly, the words softened slightly by the slight frown on his face. Despite what his master said, Kenshin realised with a start; Hiko was actually worried for Harry. Kenshin almost felt himself seeing Hiko in a new light…until he suddenly found himself being pushed forward.
"Oro?"
"Just standing there isn't going to help your friend, deshi," Hiko said shortly. His expression hardened slightly, stepping forward as his hand strayed to the sheath of his katana. "Keep your Sakabato loose and stay on your guard."
Kenshin nodded in understanding, loosening the hilt of his sword from its sheath with a thumb. "Hai."
Cautiously, Kenshin followed his master down the alley, his muscles tense, as if ready for battle, and his ki-sense on high alert for any danger that might be hidden within the shadowy corners of the winding alley. It almost seemed to become darker as the walked further in. People leered over at them, only hurrying away when Hiko glared at them, or seeing the swords clasped in their hands ready to strike out, slinking back into the darkness like wraiths. The quiet was setting Kenshin's nerves on edge and with every drip of water, or pebble scuffed, he almost drew his sword. The only reason he hadn't thus far was because he couldn't bear to think what Hiko would tease him with if he did. Taking a deep breath to try and steady himself, he continued to follow Hiko and the familiar pulse of Harry's ki.
He almost jumped when he heard someone saying, "Not lost are you, my dear?" somewhere up ahead. Hiko halted, almost causing Kenshin to walk into him. Carefully, he peered round his master's large form. He almost gasped with relief.
There in front of them stood Harry, his round glasses broken and held onto his face with one hand, his clothes soiled with soot, backing away from a hideous looking woman, leering at him with mossy teeth. He looked rather scared. Who wouldn't be, stuck down this alley and with some sort of hag advancing on you with what looked like a tray of Human fingernails?
"Harry!" he yelled.
Harry's head snapped over towards them, relief spreading all over his face as if he'd just been saved from certain death. (To which, Kenshin reminded himself, he damn well could have been in such a cutthroat place like this.) The witch, on the other hand, jumped in sock at his yell, sending the nails cascading everywhere with a squawk. She snapped round, as if she was going to scream at Kenshin, but she stopped short as she saw Hiko striding towards her with his cloak billowing behind him, his sword in full view, ready and waiting to be drawn at a moment's notice in his lethal techniques. She backed away, terrified. It didn't matter if Hiko was Muggle or Magical, Nobody would want to try and face down someone like Hiko, who emitted an aura that said he would be just as calm and confident if he was striding over their prone corpses. Harry, on the other hand, looked cross between relief and fear at Hiko's imposing presence.
"This place isn't fit for a child to be down here, least of all you," Hiko said icily. "I thought you had a little more sense than that, boy."
"K-Kenshin! M-Mr Hiko! I was lost…the floo-powder…" Harry spluttered. Hiko, however, just grabbed Harry by the scruff of his neck and hauled him off his feet, slinging him over his back like a sack and walked back towards the exit, despite Harry's stuttering protests. (CK: Think how Kenshin carried Yahiko in the episode Kenshin saves him from Yakuza.) Kenshin winced at the rough treatment, quite used to that himself.
"Well, what are you standing around there for, Baka deshi? Hurry up." Hiko shouted over his shoulder. Kenshin jumped to attention, running after his master's retreating back.
"Coming, Shishou!"
It didn't take long until they walked out of the dark alley and Kenshin had to squint as he stepped into the bright streets of Diagon alley. As soon as they were a few metres in, Hiko dumped Harry unceremoniously on the floor. "I suggest a little more caution from you, child," He said shortly.
Kenshin immediately hurried over. "You could be a little more gentle, Shishou," he suggested. Hiko, however, just looked at Kenshin in amusement. The redhead sighed. Right, as if Hiko was going to listen to him anyway…He shook his head and instead decided to see if Harry was all right, helping to pull him to his feet. "Daijobu – I mean, are you all right, Harry? How on earth did you get down that place?"
"I told you, I got lost." Harry said, trying to fiddle about with his broken glasses, which refused to stay on his face. "It landed me in this place called Borgin and Burkes – what were you two doing down there?"
"Looking for you," Kenshin replied. "We saw you hadn't come through over at the Leaky cauldron, so we all split up to look for you. It's a good job you weren't wearing you're invisibility cloak, or we never would have found you, de gozaru!"
"And while this is all wonderful, that Weasley woman is fretting, so unless you want her to call the magical equivalent of whatever this world has for police, I suggest we go to our meeting point, idiot apprentice." Hiko interrupted, causing Kenshin and Harry to blush a little and they began to sprint after Hiko towards the white building of Gringotts looming up ahead. Kenshin sighed slightly, just glad that Harry was safe and not dead in a ditch somewhere. With any luck, they might e able to finish their shopping without any more problems.
…Too bad Kenshin's luck has never been all that good…
TBC
Chosha's notesWell, here we are at the end of another chapter. Now, before I comment on anything, I'm going to fulfil that little promise I made at the start of this chapter. Namely this:
Japanese-English translations!
Gi: a type of shirt that folds over on the front (think the tops that karate people use.)
Hakama: skirt-like trousers (think Aikido)
Shishou: Master teacher of sword arts
Katana: Japanese long-sword
Sakabato: a reverse-blade sword
Kata: set moves proscribed for kendo or kenjutsu training
Saya: a sword's sheath
Kenjutsu: sword arts. Has more traditional and thought to have more emphasis on realistic techniques than kendo. Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu is Kenjutsu
Oro: Kenshin's form of the Japanese 'Ara', which means something like 'huh'. Oro is also used as an exclamation of surprise or pain in Kenshin's case.
Obi: in this case, a type of belt on hakama.
Sake: rice-wine
Zori: straw-sandals that were worn by Japanese men
Fushuma: sliding doors
Baka: idiot
Deshi: apprentice/ student
Kami: god or deity
Iie: no
Hai: yes
-Chan: a suffix meaning little - i.e. "Little Yahiko" - or an endearment - as in "Dear So-and-so"
De gozaru: a suffix conjugation for "to be" or can be roughly translated as "...so says this humble person". An archaic form of the modern Japanese word of "desu"
Ki: a person's "life-force" or "aura"
Ano: "um…" or "uh…"
-Dono: a suffix that is more respectful than "-san", translated today as "lord/lady so-and-so"
Doryusen: "Earth-dragon strike" – a Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu technique that strikes the ground to send missiles at the opponent such as stones and bricks
Gomennasai: "I'm very sorry"
Maa, maa: a calming sound that means something like "Now, now, calm down"
Yo: how you say "!"
-Kun: a suffix used to male students, or a 'superior to inferior' form to indicate difference in status, as well as familiarity or affection. (Or, that's what the manga says...)
Aa: the male form of "yeah"
Battojutsu: "lethal sword drawing", also called "Iai", "Iaido" or "Nuki" in other kendo/kenjutsu styles. Kenshin's favoured technique in the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu from where the manga Kenshin gets his nickname "Battosai"
Yatta: Yay! (Something like that)
Ne: "right?"
Sessha: "this unworthy one", and archaic form of "I"
Baka na: stupid
Sumanai/Sumimasen: pardon me/ excuse me/ forgive me
Nani: what
Daijobu: "I'm alright", or "are you alright?" (Usually "ka" is at the end to voice a "?" in the latter, but not always)
-Sama: a suffix meaning "lord/lady" (or just used when addressing someone with whom you have a big crush – like with Misao and "Aoshi-sama")
Umaku. Yori yoi, Baka Deshi: "Alright. Better, idiot apprentice"
Ima, Suparingu no junbi wo suru, Deshi: "Now, prepare to spar, apprentice"
Yoi ga dekite iru ka: "Are you ready?"
Ryutsuisen: "dragon-hammer strike", a Hiten Mitsurugi technique that strikes from above.
Ryushosen: "dragon flight" or "rising-dragon strike", a Hiten Mitsurugi technique that brings the sword in an upward arc. Sort of the reverse of Ryutsuisen
Jou-chan: "missy" – Sanosuke's nickname for Kaoru
CK: Phew! That was a long part! I went back over the entire RkatCoS so far to find all the Japanese I'd used. But this means that unless I do something new, I won't have to think about this part again. If I do use any new bits of Japanese, be assured that I will add it on to the end of the chapter. Or you could check my other fic Meiji High Samurai, which has most of the things I use in my Japanese orientated fics at the end of the chapters anyway.
I don't think there's much to comment on. Kenshin didn't get lost with the floo as well as Harry, because he's already flooed once, so he's not likely going to mess up the second time, is he? Other than that…(shrugs) well, if you do see something to comment on, be my guest – please review. Actually, I want to know what you think anyway, so review just to tell me what you thought. Was it good? Was it bad? Just press that little button in the corner.
Next time on RkatCoS
Kenshin, Harry, Hiko and the Weasley's join up with Hermione, Sanosuke, Kaoru and another familiar face. But who the hell is that Burke at Flourish and Blotts? Next episode: Gilderoy
Ja ne, Minna-san! See you next time!
Chosha Kurenai xXx