Chapter 13

Monday – April 13, 1992

Akira stared at the red stone that had appeared in his pocket with curiosity. It had been his reflection – though older – in a strange mirror that had put it there after being handed it by Akechi's that was also older than he currently was. A part of him begged him to study the image that included their new team at older ages closer, but a larger part screamed it was a bad idea. It said trap in the same way Akechi teaming up with the thieves for Sae's Palace had, and he knew better than to ignore it. Instead, he returned the stone to his pocket, took Akechi by the hand, and left as quickly as he could without running. He didn't even let the other boy glance into the mirror.

Once they had returned to their dorm, he sent off an all-clear message to the rest of the team through the linked journals Akechi's mom had bought and warded for them using blood magic, keeping one for herself and passing along another for Snape just in case. It was only then that he looked at Akechi.

"Before we get to what we've obtained, do you know what that mirror was?" he asked solemnly.

Akechi nodded and sighed, "Based on the inscription, I would guess it was the Mirror of Erised. It shows any who gaze into it the deepest desire of their heart, but those desires are often unattainable; it's been known to entrance people, driving them mad or leading to their death via dehydration or starvation. How did you know it was dangerous though?"

"My instincts started screaming at me. I barely glanced over the image, but I could feel it trying to take hold, I guess, and most of me rebelled at the feeling." He shrugged, unable to describe it better, "It's why I didn't let you look." He watched as a myriad of emotions flashed over Akechi's face faster than Akira could read before acceptance dominated. What he had accepted, the boy still didn't know but he decided to change the subject and pulled out the red stone, holding it out to the other. "The mirror could probably be considered a Treasure on its own, but this was the final prize. Do you know what it is?"

Akechi stared at it in visible shock before whispering, "I believe that is the Philosopher's Stone..."

Akira blinked before looking at the stone again, "Huh... Guess I shouldn't be surprised it actually exists in this world... I assume Flamel is still alive then?"

"Yes." Akechi confirmed with a deadpan look.

Akira nodded slowly and said, "We tell your mother and have her send a letter to Flamel saying we found it and are willing to return it but the earliest we can do so is the start of summer break. We can't risk it getting intercepted by Quirrell or Dumbledore or this entire thing will have been a waste of time. Of course, it would probably better if he came to retrieve it, but we can't exactly demand that."

Akechi had already pulled out his linked notebook to do just that before Akira had finished talking. Both knew though, that once Flamel was involved, it would be impossible to predict what he would do. They could only hope he wouldn't be angry with them.

Tuesday – May 26, 1992

It was the middle of breakfast when the doors to the Great Hall opened suddenly and in walked a tall man with short salt and pepper hair with a petite blonde woman. Dumbledore immediately hurried towards them, but they ignored him and instead scanned the students. The woman locked eyes with Akira then Akechi, before getting the man's attention and he looked at them before turning back to the headmaster. He snapped something at Dumbledore while she motioned the boys to them. The boys exchanged a look before getting up and heading over. The woman smirked at them before murmuring to the man and walked off to meet them halfway.

"Follow me boys, my husband will keep the goat distracted." she said.

Akira smirked at that and followed her while Akechi finally told him who the couple were. Nicholas and Pernelle Flamel. That explained what they were doing here and why they wanted to talk to them, but he wondered if they were being cold to Dumbledore because he had lost the Stone to two eleven-year-olds. He couldn't blame them if that was the case because they had no way of knowing he and Akechi weren't normal eleven-year-olds and the Stone was very important to them and their survival. He did wonder though if they had just come to retrieve the Stone but was glad either way that he had taken to keeping it in his pocket in case they came.

The duo were led to a disused classroom on the second floor, Mrs. Flamel ushering them in gently before warding the room with enough privacy wards to choke a troll were they corporeal and turned to them.

"So," She began, tone surprisingly light, "the two of you managed to steal our Stone out from under Dumbledore's nose?" her voice lilted up as if to signify a question, but they both knew she only wanted confirmation.

Akira pulled the Stone from his pocket and held it out for her to take while Akechi explained, "We are fairly certain he was using it to lure Voldemort, or at least someone who follows him, here so that Harry would have a confrontation with them."

He went on to explain Dumbledore's warning on the first day and the sheer simplicity of the traps he used to "protect" the valuable object. He even explained their suspicions about Quirrell with the reminder that they were only that. She listened closely and didn't even have to ask for any clarification as he had slipped into the same methods he would use when writing or giving in person reports for his job as a detective or when Shido demanded it of him.

Akira shook the last part of that thought away as he doesn't want to think of that man right now. Instead, he focused on watching as Mrs. Flamel's face darkened at what she was hearing and supposed Dumbledore hadn't told them, or at least been truthful, about why he wanted the Stone to begin with. It didn't surprise him, but he found himself disappointed. The Flamels were supposed to be close personal friends of his, but he didn't hesitate to risk their lives on a dangerous gamble. To some degree he could understand using the school as a focus as it was where he was, and he was old enough to have completely lost touch with the students and therefore not really understand the danger he had put them in. The Flamels were another story entirely. He took advantage of their trust in him knowingly and put them in unnecessary danger in the process. It was sickening to him.

"When did you find out what he was hiding in the third-floor corridor?" she asked finally.

Akira answered, "Only after we retrieved it. All we knew was that it was valuable and/or dangerous. We didn't want to risk someone else getting whatever it was, but I had intended to return it to its rightful owner so long as it wasn't inherently dangerous with no positive uses. Then I would've looked for a way to destroy it."

"We." Akechi reminded him darkly.

"We would've looked for a way to destroy it." He corrected without missing a beat.

Just like that, Akechi was back to easy pleasantness. Mrs. Flamel looked from one to the other of them a few times before nodding to herself and said, "You are reincarnations."

Akira blinked while Akechi went almost unnaturally still beside him. The thief tilted his head and asked, "What do you mean?"

She gave them a shark-like smile, "Your speech patterns and vocabulary, your abrupt shifts in demeanor that indicate expert use of masks well beyond the talents of any eleven-year-old, all of it adds up to you remembering at least one previous life. It also explains your closeness despite the lines that were drawn before you were born."

Akira bit back a sigh. He wished he could say he was surprised but given the years she had lived he could believe she had met others like them in the past and would be familiar with the signs. They hadn't intended to spend enough time with her or her husband for it to be a problem, but they had underestimated how long it would take them to figure it out. That didn't mean this wasn't potentially disastrous.

Akechi brushed the back of his hand against Akira's and asked, "What do you intend to do with this information?"

"First, I want to know who all knows so far."

"Snape, but he's under a very tight oath not to reveal it, my mother, and a group of eight year mates, two per house, we've taken under our wing and are our team." Akechi admitted easily, dropping his mask after Akira tapped his leg.

Mrs. Flamel tilted her head, "Your team?"

"Akechi worked alone for the most part," Akira said softly, "but I worked with a team and Akechi allied with us sometimes." He tugged on the other boy's sleeve to say he shouldn't correct him this time.

Her eyes narrowed and she asked, "What did the two of you do?"

"Publicly or in the shadows?" Akechi drawled almost teasingly.

"Both."

He hummed but answered, "Harry worked as a barista officially, but he was also a phantom thief, a damn good one I have to admit. I was a detective, but I did moonlight as an assassin for an especially corrupt politician that I always intended to double-cross."

She nodded slowly, as if she expected the answer to be something extreme, but Akira couldn't read her beyond that. Her centuries of experience ensured that much. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. They couldn't prevent her from revealing their secrets nor could they do anything to make her forget. Akira had never been this nervous when someone had figured him out before, but normally by then he had a strong bond with the person. This life had thrown that out the window from the word go. Still, he would adapt. He always did.

"And what are you planning now that you needed to create a new team?" Mrs. Flamel asked evenly.

"Less of a plan, more an idea." Akechi explained simply, "We know we can't trust Dumbledore due to some things concerning Harry. They are private though, and we don't know you well enough to tell you." It was a half-truth. It was more accurate to say that Akira merely doesn't want anyone to know the whole story other than Akechi. "We don't know for certain he'll be an enemy, but he's not an ally. It's also true that Voldemort is still out there somewhere, and he will be targeting Harry if only to save face. We have to be prepared for that and I doubt he'll wait for us to graduate before becoming a problem. Unfortunately, we don't know what exactly we have to be cautious of from either of them for the time being, so all we can do is try to prepare. There's also the corruption in the ministry we would like to do something about in the future, but we don't have anything solid yet."

She nodded but her expression was contemplative and after a few moments she asked, "Are all of you outfitted with what you need?"

Akira shook his head, "Gabrial and I are, mostly, but we don't have the resources for the others. We also still have to create our outfits and even design them for the others. Gabriel had recommended using dragon hide for at least part of the designs, but that can get expensive and the Notts will only allow so much. There's also the fact we will outgrow anything we make now."

Mrs. Flamel hummed but seemed to be considering something before saying, "If someone were willing to found you and the rest of your team, would you be willing to keep them in the loop about your goals?"

Akira tilted his head in consideration, piercing dark grey eyes never leaving hers while Akechi tapped a rhythm against his leg. It was simple enough to understand what she meant, it was an offer they could really use, but they didn't know if they could trust her not to inform others of what they were doing or what they had for gear. Then again, she only wanted to know their goals, not their methods or plans which gave them a lot of leeway. He looked over at Akechi to see if he had come to a different answer, but as soon as their eyes met, he knew he hadn't.

So, he wasn't surprised when Akechi said, "I think that's a deal we can agree to."

"Perfect!" she said as she clapped her hands together with a smile, "If you can give me a list of what you need, we'll get it together for you. Should we send it directly to you?"

Akechi shook his head, "Send it to my mother first and she'll send it to me. It's less likely to be intercepted by Dumbledore if it's just a package from a parent to her child. He may not like me, but he's not so callous as to interfere with that, at least for now." Akira handed over the list the others had compiled of their weapons after adding nine more grapple guns to the order. Akechi then continued, "We'll send any other requests back along the same path for the same reason. If it becomes a problem, we may have to find an alternative, but it will do for now."

She looked it over quickly and nodded, "All doable. Given it's nearly the end of the school year and half of this won't be ready until part way through the summer, I'll send that directly to you to distribute, but any supplies sent during the school year will go through your mother."

"Acceptable."

After that, they quickly wrapped up their discussion and Mrs. Flamel left to meet up with her husband and leave the school. Akira wasn't certain that this move wouldn't come back to bite them later but for now it was the best move they could make. He had to put his faith in the strange luck that he had always had.

Sunday – June 20, 1992

The rest of the school year passed normally for the most part, although Quirrell vanished the day after exams had ended. Akira had no idea what had happened to him, and Akechi could only guess that he was likely dead. When asked why he thought that the other boy only said that Voldemort had never been very forgiving of failure. He supposed that made as much sense as anything else, but there was a chance his punishment hadn't ended in death even if it was slim.

Training the others had also gone better than expected, and he had found out that they sometimes gathered on the weekends on their own to try and combine everything they were being taught during the week. He hadn't expected that much dedication, but he was glad they felt it that important. No matter what they ultimately decided to do, those skills were useful. He wondered if he should start including some thief skills such as lock-picking to the training, but decided he would wait and talk to Akechi about that later.

The exams had been easy thanks to Akechi training him in magic the way he did, and even the others had to agree. The group of ten easily took the top spots when it came to grades, though Neville did struggle when it came to practicals. It turned out though, that it was because his grandmother insisted he use his dad's old wand instead of allowing him to match with his own. Akechi told him he already had a plan in the works to deal with that but hadn't elaborated. Akira decided to just let him do as he pleased in this regard.

The end of year feast had also passed and wasn't all that different from any other feast the school seemed to host. The thing that was most important to the students though seemed to be the house cup. In the end Slytherin won that by a landslide, marking the eighth win in a row for the house of snakes according to the seventh years. Akira and Akechi didn't really care one way or another, but at least their housemates were pleased including Theo and Blaise.

Now, Akira and Akechi were making their way off the train after it had pulled into Kings Cross where they met up with Akechi's mother. In seconds they disappeared via a portkey. Their first year had ended, but who knew what lay ahead?