A/N: As you could probably tell, I like researching things to make it as real and honest as possible. For an upcoming scene I tried to research toilets in Japan, but it turned out to be unnecessary for my scene because there wasn't much of a difference. I tried to keep it original, but I changed it a little bit to give me more thinking space. I apologise if I offend any readers because of this. Oh time-zones are a B*** for a story line. Fact: there is an eight hour difference between Britain and Japan.
Chapter 2
Unwilling students and fitting puzzle pieces
As the summer reached its end Haruto became more nervous about going to school. Even Yuugi became less talkative as the holidays came to a close. Sure he was less nervous about going to school and more worried about his little brother going, but he was also frustrated that he still wasn't able to finish his puzzle. He had picked up working on it during the summer when Haruto announced wanting to go to school. A new sort of determination was growing inside of him. The more Yuugi worked on the golden puzzle, the more he wanted to finish it.
Haruto became a little distant as he would not enter Yuugi's room. He remained silent, always standing in the doorway of his brother's bedroom, waiting until Yuugi exited the room before talking to him again. Yuugi hadn't asked why, Haruto had tried to explain it before after all, but he was a little disappointed. Their bond had intensified after that stormy night, but now it seemed that the pressure of school and Yuugi's golden puzzle was driving them apart again.
Sugoroku had told him not to worry about it. When school would start and Haruto would find his rhythm and strength, things would go back to normal again. But Yuugi wanted things to be normal now. He wanted Haruto not to worry about school because things would be fine for him. Or he really wished they would be alright for the raven haired child. He knew the legend of the puzzle; that a wish would be granted once you would finish putting it back together. When his grandpa gave Yuugi the puzzle eight years ago he just wished for a friend. Someone he could rely on till the very end. He still wished for it sometimes, to have someone who would look out for him at school. But ever since Haruto had been brought into their little family that wish had changed. Now he wished for Haruto to be alright and to have the courage to look out for his little brother. That was probably why he wanted to finish the puzzle so badly these days. Why he couldn't stop working on it.
Trying to explain this to Haruto had been challenging. His little brother didn't want Yuugi to work on the puzzle, but he stopped protesting and Yuugi stopped explaining. Now it was the 31st of August and school would start after the weekend had finished. They had planned a long weekend to celebrate the end of the holidays and the beginning of school. Yuugi couldn't sleep once again, but this time it had nothing to do with a storm. He stared at the half (well not half) finished puzzle on his desk. Why was this so hard for him? Was he not worthy to finish this puzzle because he didn't understand Haruto, the one who he was wishing for?
Yuugi sighed softly picking up the strangest piece of the puzzle and trailing the design with the tips of his fingers. This piece of the puzzle always felt warm in his hand, something that had kept him wondering. "Maybe it's just my imagination, but it can't hurt," he whispered to the piece as it shone in the light of his desk lamp. "Something about you just feels right. I can't explain it to my brother, just like he can't explain why he is so scared all the time. He always talks about the Shadows, but not the ones from buildings or trees. The Shadows of people, the Shadows you seem to have too. That's why he doesn't want me to finish this puzzle."
He let his voice trail away and he sighed softly. Somehow it felt so natural to talk to the puzzle piece. Yuugi wasn't even worried of what other people would think if they would ever find out he had been talking to it. "I hope that one day he'll understand and that I will be able to understand his fear as well. For now I just wish that he will be okay. This weekend will be our last distraction, our last chance before we will both go to school." He chuckled softly to himself. "I'm making it sound like I'll never see him again."
…
Haruto had the feeling he was being watched. The day had been wonderful. He hadn't fallen asleep at all today and had been able to enjoy the zoo they had gone to. Now they were sitting in a small restaurant to celebrate the ending of the summer holidays. Tomorrow they were going to an old friend of grandpa, who had just returned from America and was here for the week on some kind of business. Everything had gone great so far, so why was he feeling like they were being watched?
The raven haired child bit his lower lip and tried not to squirm in his seat. Haruto had already finished his meal and was waiting for grandpa and his brother to finish, but the prying eyes were making him uncomfortable. "Are you okay Haruto?" Sugoroku asked, noticing his grandson's discomfort. Yuugi raised his head, worry clearly shining in those almost violet eyes.
Haruto gave the two a half hearted smile, showing that he was fine but that he just needed a short break. "If I could be excused for a second. Don't worry, I'll be right back," he added when Yuugi looked like he wanted to come with him. Haruto stood with a small apologetic bow and tried to walk to the bathroom as calmly as he could. Being in the restaurant hadn't bothered him so much at first. Sitting at the table and eating meant he didn't have to worry about the amount of Shadows in the restaurant. But walking through the restaurant Haruto had to fight with himself not to run in the opposite direction.
Haruto quickly stepped inside a cubical and locked the door before sinking in a crouch to the floor. He supressed a few shudders and pushed down the tears that were threatening to surface, when he heard someone else enter the restrooms. Of course it wasn't very unusual since he was in a public area, but when the shadow of the man passed him, panic took control over Haruto's mind. They had to leave… now!
Trying to push down the panic, Haruto flushed the unused toilet and opened the door of the cubical. A tall man with dark hair and pale skin was standing in the corner with his back to the washbasin. The Shadow of the man was currently on the wall, hissing at him menacingly but with curious eyes. Haruto tore his eyes away, quickly washing his hands and wiping them on the handkerchief in his pocket before making his way back to his family.
Yuugi and Sugoroku had finished eating by now and had been waiting patiently for Haruto to return so they could order desert. "Are you alright now Haruto?" Sugoroku asked the moment the raven haired child took his seat again.
Haruto flushed slightly since he kept glancing in the direction of the restroom door. "I… I mean, could we…" He had failed at being brave, at having courage. His eyes fixed themselves on his brother who was looking at him with the kind of pity that made Haruto look down in shame. "I'm sorry," he whispered, fresh tears prickling in his eyes. "I'm not feeling so well. Could we please go home?"
Hands in his lap and shoulders hunched low Haruto couldn't possibly see what his grandpa and big brother were discussing. He just wanted to disappear or fall asleep. For the first time in years he wished to fall asleep. But sleep never came. Instead a soft hand startled him out of his depressed state of mind. Haruto looked up to see his older brother standing next to him. "Let's go," Yuugi said kindly. "We can have desert while we watch Dragon Quest*. You remember that it's starting today. Can we Jii-chan?"
Sugoroku paid the waitress who was seeing them out with a smile. "Sure you two can. I was looking forward to seeing it as well. Come on then you two. Let's go before you have to carry these tired legs home."
Yuugi and Haruto both chuckled, the older man successfully getting his youngest grandson out of his mood. The feeling that he was being watched still followed Haruto all the way home, but when they were all sitting comfortably on the pillows in front of the TV, waiting for the new Anime show to start, fear was forgotten. That was until the doorbell rang…
Haruto was trying his hardest to focus on the opening song, shifting slightly closer to his older brother. Yuugi grinned at him, oblivious of the possibility of something much more frightening being given entrance to their home by Sugoroku. "Exciting, right?" he said, taking a spoon full of ice cream. "Do you think it'll be like the manga?" The blue eyes of his brother were dancing with excitement. Dragon Quest was one of his favourites after all.
"You should know Onii-chan," Haruto whispered, trying not to freeze as words of a different conversation drifted into the sitting room. "They usually change a few things though." He hadn't started on his ice cream yet, pushing it around a little in his bowl. It was already slowly melting, so he focused himself on the show again, shifting a little bit closer to Yuugi.
"Are you tired?" Yuugi asked, casting a glance at the uneaten ice cream of his brother. "You don't have to eat it if you don't want it."
"Just a little…"
Haruto was interrupted when Sugoroku entered, frowning slightly but otherwise showing no concern, together with another man. The raven haired boy stiffened slightly as he recognised the man from the restaurant. "I'm sorry boys but the show will have to wait for a second. This man has come to ask us, or rather Haruto, something." The man was staring at Haruto with intense, dark eyes. It was like staring into deep cold tunnels, but with no light at the end of them.
Haruto shifted even closer to Yuugi, who was pouting slightly when he turned off the TV. "What is it Ru-chan?" he whispered.
The raven haired child bit his bottom lip, holding out his hand so his brother could take it. It was a sign of insecurity and weakness, but Haruto didn't care and neither did Yuugi. He took the hand with a kind smile before turning back to the tall man who was watching the exchange expressionlessly. "Would you like to sit?" Sugoroku asked in English, startling the two boys. They hadn't expected that at all.
"Thank you," the man said in a sleek voice. He clumsily sat on the large pillow without losing his stiff composure. "As I said before, I did not wish to intrude, but I saw you in the restaurant and I couldn't help but recognise the boy sitting before me."
Yuugi glanced questioningly at Haruto, squeezing his hand to show that his little brother didn't need to be afraid. One of the things they had learned from each other was the others language, so Yuugi could speak and understand English quite well as he had proven reading the letter, but they never spoke English in the house. They didn't need it anymore after all. But now someone who could obviously only speak English came into their house. This conversation wasn't going to help Haruto one bit.
In the mean time the man continued. "My name is Severus Snape and I'm a professor at Hogwarts School," he introduced himself, still not letting his eyes wonder away from Haruto's face. "I know you received a letter of Hogwarts School this summer and we started to wonder why you received one when Japan has its own magical community."
"Excuse me for interrupting," Sugoroku said, bringing in a tray of tea. "But I thought you just said magical community." The professor nodded, clearly unfazed by the question. "My grandsons aren't… I mean, surely magic does not exist outside of books?"
Haruto started to fidget with his hands, not liking where this conversation was going at all. "When a child is still young magic will only show itself on accident when it is scared or panicking. However, in some cases magic won't show at all unless it is to save the child from a life threatening situation. This doesn't matter to the school. A magical child will be on the list as long as it is registered with us. I see that you do not believe me completely. May I show you?"
Taking out his wooden stick, Haruto went into lock down when the Shadows swelled in size around them. Severus Snape, however, continued to make the cups of tea flout in mid-air. "Haruto?" Yuugi whispered, when his brother's hand grew slack in his own. "Ru-chan?" But he got no reaction at all out of his younger brother. "Jii-chan, Haruto is having one of his absences again."
The cup flouted back to the tray and the professor at Hogwarts School waved his wand once more, this time in Haruto's direction. The raven haired boy glowed slightly before sagging completely against his brother. "What did you do?" Yuugi asked clear panic on his face as his little brother rested against him. He tried to shake him awake, but Haruto's eyes remained closed. "Wake him up," Yuugi demanded. "Wake my brother up!"
The last words flew out of him in Japanese but they seemed to snap Sugoroku back into action. "We belief in your magic sir, but I would appreciate it if you did not do anything to harm my grandsons. They have done nothing wrong."
The professor seemed to have been waiting for the paper which suddenly appeared before him. "I never wished to alarm any of you," he said calmly as he scanned the document. "I simply wished to verify the boy's identity and why he so suddenly fell into an absence. I will undo the spell, but I'm afraid I will have to take him back to Hogwarts with me."
"What?" Yuugi hissed, panicking slightly at the prospect of Haruto having to return to the country he feared.
"Yuugi, calm yourself," Sugoroku said quickly before turning back to Snape. "Sir, we don't need your help. Like you said before, there is a magical community in Japan as well. If Haruto needs to learn magic like you claim then he can go to a school here. Haruto needs to be with his family."
"That he does," Severus Snape said calmly, handing over the paper which had appeared. "Harry James Potter, however, belongs in Britain in his original magical community. His parents may be dead, but he still has family and others who wish to take care of him."
Yuugi's eyes were spitting fire, sparkling dangerously. "Haruto belongs with us. I've seen the letter your school send him. It was addressed to Mutou Haruto. He belongs here and will go to school here. You won't even know…"
"Yuugi enough," Sugoroku said sternly. Yuugi had never seen his grandfather look this stern and he lost his fire right away. He pressed Haruto protectively against himself, wondering what would happen if the professor would take him away. He had promised Haruto that they would always be together. How could he keep that promise if this man was going to take his little brother back to England? "Sir, I understand that you want to help. Haruto belongs with his family, but we are his family also. You must also understand that Haruto needs a lot more special care then you might think. The absence you just witnessed has become less frequent but will pick up again with stress. Taking him out of this area of comfort will be a bit shock for him."
Professor Snape still looked indifferent. "We are more then capable of taking care of Mr Potter," he said. "I see that you still have your doubts though, so let me make an agreement with you. Let Mr Potter participate until the Christmas holidays. He will be sent back to you by then so he can make his own decision if he wants to stay or not."
Sugoroku bit his lip and Yuugi looked at his grandfather. He felt like they didn't have a choice in the matter at all. "When does your school year begin?"
"Today. You have exactly three hours to make the decision."
The silence in the sitting room was deafening and Yuugi resisted the urge to bury his face in his brother's shoulder. "Could you at least wake him up so he can have a say in this as well?" Yuugi whispered, fighting against the fear of his little brother being taken away from him. The professor did not say anything but waved his wand nonetheless. Yuugi felt the difference right away and Haruto woke up slowly from his absence. The raven haired boy started to shiver and shake, almost as if he wanted to cry, but he fought against them. Sugoroku calmly told him what was going to happen if he decided to go with the professor today.
Haruto remained silent through the explanation and Yuugi could feel the minutes ticking away as his little brother tried to make his decision. Suddenly the newly discovered wizard raised his head, turning slightly to look at his family. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked softly almost breaking Yuugi's heart at the question.
The soon-to-be-freshman gave his little brother another comforting squeeze. "Of course you don't have to go," Sugoroku said. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to, Haruto. But these people will want to see you no matter what at some point. And Christmas isn't that long. You can come back anytime you want. I'm sure Nakada-sensei will understand too if that's what you are worried about."
Yuugi could tell that his school teacher was the last thing Haruto was worried about, but both brothers remained silent about it. The blue eyed boy shot another look in the direction of the Hogwarts professor who was looking at the little family with interest. "I can come back if I don't like it?" Haruto asked softly.
"Of course," Yuugi said immediately. "I will even come and get you if that is what you want."
Haruto remained silent for a little bit longer before he finally nodded. "Okay," he said, looking the professor in the eye. "I'll come with you. But only if I can leave right away if I want to."
The professor remained silent, but nodded almost straight away. He finally tore his eyes away from the family to check his watch. "If we leave now, we can get you settled in without drawing too much attention to yourself, since you don't have a uniform yet. Don't worry, we will purchase one for you this weekend and money is not an issue either. Your parent will have left you enough to get you through your Hogwarts education if you wish to complete it."
…
Yuugi couldn't believe it. He was currently clutching the pieces of his half finished puzzle like it was a lifeline. Somewhere in the darkness of the night he heard the clock strike twelve. His brother had left him. Yuugi still couldn't believe it. Without even asking for Haruto or Sugoroku's permission Yuugi had dragged his puzzle to his brother's room and dropped himself on the bed.
He understood why Haruto had left of course and that it wouldn't be forever. But Yuugi just didn't like the idea of his little brother being so far away from him. Hadn't the professor told them that there was a magical community in Japan too? Haruto could have gone to school here, so why did the professor take Haruto, who was already fragile, all the way to Britain?
That was a bit unfair. Haruto wasn't fragile; he just needed a comfortable and loving environment. He needed Yuugi, just as much as Yuugi needed Haruto. It hadn't even been two hours yet and Yuugi was already wishing that his little brother had never gone away.
His hands were fiddling with the pieces of his puzzle, but Yuugi couldn't help looking away from it. The one thing he had kept on wishing for, beside friendship, was strength so his little brother could step into the world without fear. And now that Haruto had taken that chance, had stepped into the British wizarding world on his own, Yuugi was fighting against it. What was that saying about his strength? About his own ambitions?
Yuugi didn't even notice it when another puzzle piece fit into place. His hand was already searching another piece while his eyes were still locked on the wall in front of him. Yuugi wondered what Haruto was doing at the moment. Was he already at the school? Did he have someone looking after him? Yuugi hoped that his little brother wasn't panicking because of the Shadows or that he didn't have one of his absences. He was worrying again, but wasn't that a natural reaction? Or was he being too overprotective? Should he learn to let go? Haruto wasn't even his real brother and had only been with them for four years.
No, Haruto was family. It didn't matter that he wasn't blood. Haruto belonged with them just as much, and maybe even more, as he belonged to the British wizarding world. His eyes were now following the patterns on the wall. Another click echoed through the room, but Yuugi was still not paying attention. The patterns were starting to make sense. With each soft click that the puzzle made another pattern on the wall became clear when suddenly Yuugi jumped up from the bed and moved to the wall. "Haruto what have you done?" Yuugi whispered.
The drawings were done in simple pencil. Normally Yuugi wouldn't have noticed them, but a few had been lined with ink or coloured in. The first one was a set of eyes laced red and a green glow surrounding it. It was hard to distinguish anything in the dark but the colouring was vivid enough to send chills down Yuugi's spine. He quickly looked away, trailing down the thin line with his digit as it connected to another picture on the wall.
Two lone figures with intertwining hands. Their faces were blurred but white animals and flowers surrounded them, making them glow. Sadness filled Yuugi as he watched these two and he silently wondered just who they were. Why were they here, on Haruto's wall? They were sketched with great care, but it was as if Haruto had been trying to protect them with the white surrounding animals. The grooves were deeper as if he had pressed too hard. Had Haruto been trying to keep these people safe? Were these… his parents?
A few stray animals escaped from the painting, springing towards the next one. This one was more cheerful and Yuugi recognised the little family portrayed on the wall. Haruto was sitting in the front with Yuugi behind him, his arms wrapped protectively around his brother. Grandpa was behind them with a hand resting on Yuugi's shoulder. He was smiling proudly at the two in front of him. Yuugi smiled softly as he trailed the drawing of Haruto and then the one of his grandfather. His grandfather... Yuugi had been so selfish. He had only thought of how it affected him and not about his grandfather.
Had he always been like that? When his father left, he had always asked when he was coming back. Now he knew his father had never actually left. His father had died and his mother had followed soon after. Grandpa had tried to explain to him why they wouldn't returned, but he had been too young at the time. When he had finally understood he had cried and been in denial about it all. But he had never once given it much thought about how his grandpa had felt about it all. And when Haruto joined their family…
Yuugi sighed and cast his eyes downwards, his hand still on the drawing of their little family. "How disappointing," he said with a sigh. "No! I will not disappoint them any longer!" Yuugi looked up with a new light shining in his eyes. Sure it wasn't something he hadn't said before, but this time… this time he would have the strength to keep his promise to his little brother and be strong.
As Yuugi quietly made his way to his own bedroom he didn't notice the light from outside falling on his almost completed puzzle. He also missed the last drawing on the wall. It was one of an eye, similar to the one on his puzzle. It had only been half coloured and a few strange creatures were surrounding it. They seemed to glow along with the half finished puzzle, eyes glowing red.
…
A/N: oh, look! A polite Snape!
*Dragon Quest: Dai no daibouken used to run from 17th October 1991 till 24th September 1992 (so I changed its airing date slightly)
Updated 21-07-2013
