Darkness

Day Eleven

         It was a beautiful morning the next day. We'd all gotten up bright and early and by the time breakfast was being served, we were ready to leave. Most of us had small bags and in some cases a backpack, although Hiei had a cloth bag slung over one shoulder and Shuura's backpack was rather small. Gon and Clapika, used to travelling at a moment's notice, both carried schoolbags. Botan didn't carry anything. Kurama's backpack was only slightly smaller than mine; Su, him and me all carried hiker-sized backpacks, partly being Kurama had all those clothes his 'Kaa-san (Mother) had given him, and Su and me had already purchased our textbooks and some of our equipment. Yokoshima's backpack was larger than Su's and mine combined; I guess he was too used to carrying so many GS equipment he couldn't leave them behind, but we suspected that the contents largely consisted of hentai magazines.
         We left our bags at the concierge and made our way to the restaurant. The hotel's chef was on the verge of apoplexy when he saw the amount of food being consumed by us. I guess that the hotel had prepared for maybe a hundred people, but all of the food vanished within minutes. And that was just the buffet table. Was I glad that not one of us were paying for the food. We all finished eating about one hour later. The sun had just risen.
         Based on Hagrid's information, we made our way to Diagon Alley and were soon inside the place with the brick wall closing behind us. There were so many people here! We quickly made our way to Gringotts, where we waited until Kirua and Peter arrived with Hagrid, a few moments later. They gave me and my sis their money and with Kirua following us, procceeded to change the money inside.
         Inside the bank, the transaction went smoothly. We proceeded to divide the money into two slightly uneven piles, with more for our group, figuring that Kurama and Botan could probably bargain with the shopkeepers about the price of the ingredients. We split up, Kurama and Hiei going one way and Su and me the other. As agreed, Gon, Kirua and Yokoshima accompanied us while Botan, Clapika and Peter followed Kurama and Hiei. Hagrid said that he would meet us at pet shop later. According to him, he had some errands to run.
         We walked into Flourish and Bott's and was immediately greeted by the store assistant. We gave him the list of books and he grinned at us. "A little late to be buying books for school, isn't it?" he said. None of us replied him but were content to look around. He quickly scurried off to find the books. Among them were 'Tranfiguration for all Ages,' 'Tai-Chi for Beginners,' and translated versions of "The Differences between Ninjenkai, Makai and Reikai; Three Worlds Collide" and "Spirits, Ghosts and Demons Explained." Sukina had Gon and Kirua following her as she went around the bookstore, collecting books as she went and dumping them into the bewildered boys' arms. Yokoshima stood next to me, looking very disappointed.
         "You won't find the type of things you're looking for here. If you promise to behave, I'll get it for you," I said.
         "What do you think I'm looking for?" he asked.
         "You know what I mean. I only want your promise to behave in return," I said..
         "When I can get them?"
         "If you're exceptionally good, I'll let you have them once a month."
         "Once a month?" he said incredulously.
         "The magazine only appears once a month. I'll give you a back issue if I don't hear any complaints about you. That's fair, isn't it?" I offered.
         "I suppose," he replied.
         "Here are all the books you requested," the assistant said.
         "Thank you," I said, taking out our money. "How much are they?"
         "Well, if you'll step here, Miss," he motioned me to the counter.
         Yokoshima took the books from me and motioned to the boys. Su came over and helped me pay for the books. She shook her head at Kirua and Gon, who seemed relieved that they would not have to lug the books, but they looked askance at the books we'd just bought. They would have weighed at least 20 kilogrammes! It was not so much as the weight as it was the bulk. "How the heck are we going to carry that?" Kirua asked.
         "We're not going to carry all of them, Kirua, only the heavier ones. Half-half?" Sukina asked me.
         "Seven, eight, nine... Yup, that's the correct change. Thanks. Half sounds about right to me," I replied, carefully counting the change.
         "Mikra, Olanbsi, Tura," my sister said and three Shikigamis appeared. All of them took human shape, but one of them wore a white tiger coat, another turtle scales and yet another had ivory. Wordlessly, they took some of the books from the asthonished boys. The rest of the few customers simply stared.
         "Silara, Kim, Rajah," I called my own out. They did the same thing. The boys were left with two books apiece, which they put into the bags Su had given them. They hefted the bags onto their backs easily.
         "Well, we still have about an hour left, Sukina-chan," I arched my eyebrow at him calling her so respectfully, "what should we do?"
         "How does ice-cream sound to you guys?" I asked.
         "Yipee!" Gon said. I grinned.