Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Power In Many Forms ❯ Reapers and Mikos and Demons Oh My ( Chapter 12 )

Power in Many Forms

Word Count: 3,412 (not counting the Disclaimer and Notes)

 

Disclaimer: YuYu Hakusho, Inuyasha, Harry Potter, and Anita Blake are not mine; they belong to their respective creators. I hold no claim on them; just minor original characters.

 

Author's Notes: This chapter did not want to cooperate. It just didn't want to be a super chapter like 11. ::grumbles:: Stupid stubborn chapter.

 

 

XXX

 

The halls echoed with his every footfall, the soles of his sneakers landing heavily on the stone floors.

 

Yusuke was a man on a mission. A Keiko appointed mission, a mission that was not to be taken lightly. Especially since Keiko was more prone to mood swings while pregnant. Which was why Yusuke had readily agreed to come to Reikai in the first place on this mission…he needed a break from her pregnancy induced mood swings from hell. They were much scarier than her normal mood swings, and made her hit that much harder.

 

He made his way through the many corridors of the castle until he came to the doors that opened into Koenma and Kurama's private quarters. He readied himself mentally, after all, Kurama was practically a genius and he was here to get any details that Neville may have left out.

 

He opened the double doors, not bothering to knock, and stomped in. His heavy footsteps halted abruptly at the scene before him. He'd walked in on a tutoring session.

 

All the furniture of the main room had been pushed back against the walls, leaving the center of the room free of clutter. Kurama sat to the side as he watched Neville. Yusuke took in Kurama's expression of wonder accompanied by a smile.

 

Neville sat at the very center of the room in the midst of a bunch of vines. The vines were moving, writhing, and coiling around the boy. Yusuke stared at him for a moment. “What kind of weed is that and why are you petting it?”

 

Neville grinned at him, making eye contact for a moment. “It's Devil's Snare. Look at it! I've never seen it act like this before!” His voice was near giddy in excitement.

 

Yusuke shook his head and walked over to Kurama and sat beside him.

He punched the redhead lightly on the arm causing his friend to glare at him. “Next time you have something this big come up, give me and Keiko a call. We are your friends ya know.”

 

Kurama gave him a confused look. “I assumed Kuwabara would have told you. He, Hiei, and Botan were with me when I met Neville.”

 

“Neville left that part out.” Yusuke's eyes bugged. “Kuwabara knew and he didn't tell me! Oh I am so gonna kick his ass!” He grumbled a bit longer before calming down enough to watch Neville's progress with Kurama. Neville played with the Devil's Snare like it was a pet, and Yusuke found it very eerie and familiar. “He really is related to you, you got him carrying roses around yet?”

 

Kurama rolled his eyes. “Of course, but the plant he's working with now is one he's already familiar with. It's a plant that he's studied in school. But before he can actually use a plant as a weapon he needs to master coaxing the potential out of a plant. You can't just make the plant do what you want; it's about giving in order to receive.”

 

Yusuke held a hand up. “I don't need the lecture sensei; I'm not a plant person.”

 

Kurama glared at him before sighing and returning to observe Neville as he got the Devil's Snare to coil up on the floor away from him. He snorted at a sudden thought and glanced at Yusuke. “Next time you might want to knock. What if I'd been in here with Koenma instead of Neville? I've heard from Botan that you seem to be good at walking in on intimate situations.”

 

Yusuke blushed. “Hey I learned my lesson; Hiei does not like to be interrupted.” A choking noise came from Neville and Yusuke made a face at the teen. “Besides, I'm not an idiot. I checked already, Koenma's in his office.”

 

“Ah, so you are capable of learning.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

xxx

 

Harry had been nervous ever since he sent Hedwig off with a reply to Ron's letter. He'd written that he already had plans with someone else but that he'd definitely see everyone on the train. Even with Hermione's support he was worried over Ron's reaction.

 

He sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time, though he'd stopped counting at thirty, and glared at his Herbology book from last term. While there were some interesting plants in it, the book just wasn't holding his attention, no matter how much he tried. Disgustedly bored, he shut the book. Neville was very good with plants and Harry hoped to brush up on the subject, but it looked like it wasn't going to be easy, at least not right then.

 

He reached for another book, one that concentrated on magical creatures, hoping to find some mentioning of Grim Reapers, but so far none of his books held any information on them. It was frustrating, but he figured that only those that died had any real information on them so nothing was ever published…then again Kurama was friends with a Reaper.

 

A gentle and rhythmic tapping on his widow caught his attention. It didn't surprise him when he looked up to see a young woman sitting on an oar, floating outside his second story window. He was getting used to women flying around on oars. What did surprise him was that it was a woman he hadn't seen before…and she had a young boy with her that looked about twelve or thirteen.

 

He squinted against the afternoon sun streaming in and motioned her to come inside. She raised an eyebrow at him as if he were insane before floating through the closed window.

 

The woman had very dark hair, black that almost looked a deep blue when the sun hit it just right. She wore jeans and a short sleeved shirt instead of the robes and ceremonial wear that Botan and Ayame had sported. His eyes moved to the boy sitting behind her but she spoke and drew his attention back to her.

 

“If it's not too much trouble, can you please open the window from now on? Botan and Ayame may not mind flying through solid objects, but I'm still not used to it.”

 

“Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed that you would…well, fly on through. Botan didn't even knock, she flew through the ceiling, startled me so bad I almost hit her with a curse…”

 

“That definitely sounds like Botan.” She waved him off. “It's okay, you were expecting one of them…I just don't like to fly through stuff. I'm only a part timer anyway…oh, sorry. I didn't introduce myself. I'm Kagome.”

 

Harry stared at her, mouth agape. “How can you only be a part time Grim Reaper?”

 

“Eh, I broke a few rules and Reikai officials didn't like it too much. So I'm on probation.” When Harry continued to stare at her she elaborated some. “I traveled back in time about five hundred years. I went back and forth for a while and when I came home to stay, I ended up bringing someone from then to the present.” She nodded at the boy behind her as she slid off the oar. “But I couldn't leave my adopted son Shippo behind.”

 

Harry looked at Shippo, blinked, removed his glasses, rubbed them clean and looked again. When Shippo's appearance didn't change he simply stared, eyeing the boy's tail and feet. “What is he?”

 

Shippo snorted. “I'm a kitsune.” Harry didn't respond. “A youkai?” Again silence. “I'm a fox demon.”

 

Harry stood from the bed and stepped back a few paces. “Demons are real?” He took a breath and calmed down a bit. “So…” Shippo seemed harmless enough, but so did Ginny or Hermione at first glance. He wasn't sure how to proceed.

 

Kagome, who seemed to be a step ahead of him, slowly reached into the small back pack on Shippo's back and withdrew an envelope. “We have the latest letter from Neville.” She held it out and Harry reached for it, suddenly very eager.

 

“Thanks.” He continued to eye them, but only in curiosity now.

 

Kagome smiled. “If you have a question I can probably answer it.”

 

“Are you a demon?” Harry asked unabashed.

 

“No, I'm a Miko. Anything else?”

 

“So…Shippo is a demon?”

 

“Yup.” Shippo grinned.

 

“I don't suppose you could give me more detail on that?”

 

Kagome smiled and sat down at his desk while Shippo hopped off the oar and landed on the bed. “I can do that. Sit down, this will take a while.”

 

xxx

 

Richard marched ahead of us as if he had a specific purpose and that worried me. I had set up another meeting with Gil; I hoped Dolph never found out that I'd been talking to him, he'd probably arrest me. We'd gotten lucky that Gil had given the okay to bring company, bringing in RPIT would have pushed things too far. But now I was regretting letting Richard tag along. I glanced at Micah and we shared a look. He nodded at me. We did that a lot, spoke without words and knew exactly what the other wanted to say. Micah understood that it was his job to keep Richard from hurting Gil…just in case.

 

We walked through Windsor Park, Gil's newest choice in rendezvous points. I could see him ahead of us sitting under a maple tree, his features hidden in the shade of the low hanging branches. I sped up my pace, determined to keep up with Richard as we made it to the tree.

 

“How's the hunt from your end?” Gil asked quietly as he leaned back against the tree trunk. “Anything?”

 

I shook my head. “The police have nothing. He hasn't attacked in any set pattern so they're stumped.”

 

Micah nodded. “No one has been able to find him; each group has had members searching the area. No one has found anything.”

 

Richard snorted. “How about your lover Gil? Has she found anything?”

 

Gil shook his head. “He's either really good at hiding, or managed to leave town without being noticed. She's looking outside the county for him.”

 

Richard took a step forward. “And what are you doing Gil?” Gil didn't say anything, but he didn't shrink in on himself either.

 

Micah pulled Richard back and they exchanged growls and bared teeth at one another. But Micah was in the right, without an Alpha to speak for him; Gil was under the protection of the Coalition. Richard didn't need the hassle that would result if he violated one of the Coalition's rules.

 

Richard backed off. “At least she's doing something.”

 

I started to defend Gil, after all he'd saved the kid, but Gil met my eyes and shook his head. I stayed quiet and let Richard stomp off.

 

“Sorry Anita.”

 

“Don't be, he's just being Richard.”

 

“How are you doing Gil?” Micah asked, taking up a patch of grass a couple of feet from Gil.

 

“No luck. I keep checking the crime scenes, all of his old hang outs…I've even gotten in touch with the other people who quit because he was sexually harassing them. But there's no sign of him, nothing I can find anyway.”

 

I sat beside Gil and gently bumped his arm with mine. “You get a lead on him you call us.” He met my gaze and held it.

 

“If there's time.”

 

“No, call us no matter what.” He looked away, finding his shoes suddenly very interesting.

 

“Mason is fast, there may not be time to do anything but react.”

 

I sighed and shared another look with Micah. It was the closest thing to a promise we were going to get out of Gil.

 

xxx

 

Breath in, breath out, breathe in, breath out. Neville was centered, he was calm and in the middle of a perfect meditation. He'd been practicing clearing his thoughts in between all the other lessons Kurama had been giving him. And he'd gotten the hang of it with only a little trouble.

 

So for his first solo meditation session, he'd decided to use one of the gardens in castle courtyard. He'd found a grassy patch near a small waterfall and had used the sound of the water to clear his mind.

 

Unfortunately the sound of footsteps broke him out of his reverie. He opened his eyes expecting to see Kurama, or another familiar face. Instead a strange man wearing an odd helmet with horns towered over him. Neville blinked. “Um…hello?”

 

The man laughed and sat across from him on the grass. “And hello to you Neville.”

 

Neville tried to get a feel of the man with his aura the way Kurama had shown him. But the amount of power nearly made him fall over; it was a good thing he was already sitting. But the feeling was vaguely familiar. “You—you wouldn't happen to be Koenma's dad?”

 

“I am.”

 

“Thought so, K-koenma's aura seems to nearly knock a bloke out like that as well. It's a pleasure to meet you your Majesty.”

 

“Please, just Enma-sama is fine. But after my son and Kurama are bound you may call me Ojiisama.”

 

Neville blinked at him. “Are you sure? I mean you're a—a god and I'm…I'm just a half d-demon…I'm just me.” He gulped at the large man.

 

Enma laughed again. “Don't worry boy. You're already family as far as I'm concerned.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really, now tell me, how goes your training? Learning anything interesting?” Enma reached out and put a hand on Neville's shoulder, the teen's eyes widened then glazed over for a moment before clearing again.

 

“I'm learning quite a bit, I'm already doing a good job at manipulating plants that I've studied in Herbology. Kurama said we'll try regular plants next before Makai plants.”

 

“A wise decision, plants from the Makai can be very dangerous, even to immortals.” Enma smiled and listened to Neville talk about his training, as he spoke he grew more relaxed and animated, and the King's worry ceased. Neville would do alright. Especially if what the fates said was true about him. Everything was going as it should.

 

He continued to watch Neville, concentrating not only on his words, but his aura. The marker he'd tacked onto the boy's aura was already dissolving into Neville's spirit energy. Soon it would be completely untraceable, even to Hiei's Jagan. He smiled to himself and at Neville's obvious pleasure.

 

“Enma-sama?”

 

“Yes Neville?”

 

“Um…the next time you want to charge my aura with something would you…would you please ask first? I've only just learned to tap into my fox abilities; I don't want anything to mess up the balance I've got right now.” Neville bit his lip, a slightly nervous gesture in response to Enma's surprised expression.

 

“Of course my boy, what I did was harmless. Just trying to give you an edge is all. I won't need to do it again.”

 

“Alright.” Neville seemed ready to let it go, though suspicion still lurked within his eyes.

 

“So tell me. Any love interests?”

 

Neville ducked his head and blushed. “Sir I only just joined the family…I'm not ready to share that with you.” Enma chuckled.

 

xxx

 

Harry had spent hours conversing with Kagome and Shippo; luckily she didn't have any other stops that day and was only too happy to answer any questions he had regarding demons, Mikos, and Reapers. It was the easiest research he'd ever done.

 

Even better was the letter she'd delivered from Neville.

 

Harry,

How have you been? Botan told me that a subordinate of hers delivered my last letter. A guide named Ayame? I haven't met her, is she like Botan at all? And I think Kagome is supposed to be delivering this one, along with Shippo. They're both very nice. Sorry to be sending so much traffic to your room, hope it hasn't gotten you into any trouble.

Anyway, remember when I wrote and told you that Kurama wanted to meet you before letting us go on holiday together? Well he suggested that the three of us go on a day trip to London. He's taking being a guardian very seriously and wants to get to know you. I hope that's alright. He's a nice guy, and his mother, Shiori, is the perfect grandmother. It's still a little overwhelming.

I'll talk to Kurama again so that we can decide the best time for a trip to London…if you want to go that is. Let me know? I'm sort of nervous about it, so don't laugh okay? I don't know if Kurama wants to visit Muggle London, or Diagon Alley. More details to discuss with Kurama…

So you've met Kagome and Shippo…what do you think of them? And Shippo being a demon…does that bother you or anything. I really like both of them, they're nice. Shippo's decided to make me his older brother already. He's a good kid.

I believe I've rambled enough for one letter. Kagome should come back in a couple of days for your response. I can't wait to hear from you again…God I sound like a girl. Anyway, take care of yourself Harry.

 

Neville

 

 

Harry grinned and let out a quite `whoop' and punched the air with his fist. Kurama wanted to meet him. Neville just might return those kinds of feelings and he was one step closer to a vacation with Neville, he could hardly believe it. Some of the nervousness he felt about Neville had dissipated, but much of it remained. If Neville did feel that way about him…well it could make a holiday very tense. He shuddered as he remembered his disastrous date with Cho. Hopefully the day trip to London with Neville and Kurama wouldn't be so bad.

 

He paused for a moment as something dawned on him. Neville was getting very familiar with not only Grim Reapers, but Mikos and demons as well…just what was going on?

 

xxx

 

Hermione stood just out of sight of her mother who was in the kitchen fixing tea. She took a deep breath and stepped into the room.

 

“Mum, may I talk to you for a moment?”

 

Mrs. Granger looked over her shoulder at her only child and smiled warmly at her troubled gaze. “Boy problems?”

 

Hermione nodded. “In a way.”

 

“Don't worry so much, your father will adjust to Ronald eventually.” She finished pouring two cups of tea, and handed her daughter one. “Let's have a sit down and you can tell me about it.”

 

Hermione nodded and followed her mother into the sitting room. They sat in silence for while allowing their tea to cool. “It's not really Ron…”

 

“You're friend who called yesterday?”

 

“Harry, yes. It's complicated, well maybe not that complicated but Ron might make it that way.”

 

“Hermione dear, you're babbling.”

 

Hermione acknowledged that with a nod and took a breath. “Have you ever had a friend who was---gay?”

 

Her mother blinked. “Back at University, but that was ages ago.”

 

“You got on with them alright?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Right. Well, a boy in our house, Gryffindor, you remember?” Her mother nodded. “His name is Neville Longbottom and his grandmother recently threw him out because he…likes boys. All of us, his friends, knew that he liked both genders and none of us have a problem with it. But it's not a widely accepted view; it's similar to the old prejudice against muggle born.” Her voice was bitter.

 

“She just threw him out?”

 

“Harry has been writing to him, and evidently another relative, who was fairly outraged at Mrs. Longbottom's actions, took Neville in.”

 

“That's good, but why do you still look so worried?”

 

“Well, normally Harry and I go to the Burrow before fall term…this year Harry won't be going. He's already owled Ron…I'm just waiting for Ron to call and rant. I told Harry that I'd tell Ron to back off…I just don't know how Ron will take the news.”

 

“What news?”

 

Hermione smiled a little. “Harry's making plans to go on Holiday with Neville. They don't have any solid ideas yet, and Neville's new guardian wants to meet Harry first. I just never expected Harry to like boys like that.”

 

“It doesn't bother you?”

 

Hermione blinked. “Why would it?”

 

Her mother just smiled and laid a reassuring hand on her arm. “The three of you are good friends. And all of you have accepted young Mr. Longbottom's preferences, you just need to remind Ronald of all that. It's nothing worth destroying such a long friendship over.”

 

“Thanks Mum. I guess I just needed to speak with another rational mind before dealing with the Weasley temperament.”

 

“Anytime dear.”

 

XXX