Maito Gai

[[Private; hackable by Lee and maybe Wolfwood]]

This assignment will likely be the hardest yet. Undercover work is so... so... SURREPTITIOUS. Pretending to be somebody who is entirely unlike me.... rrrgh, I'm sick of it already! I can take it -- I can take TWICE that time limit -- but there are reasons to return as fast as possible. And for the sake of those reasons, I will work twice as hard and five times as efficiently, and bring this to a close in a third of the time required. That's a promise from Maito Gai!!

Lee... don't forget all we've worked on. I won't forget you.

[[/private]]


*dispatches an ENTHUSIASTIC, CHEERFUL letter to Sophie's new location and looks around his London flat, which is almost bare*

Every beginning must come with an ending. But there isn't any reason to worry! Even if my new training schedule doesn't allow me to get back to England for the beginning of school, I will never forget my amazing comrades at Hogwarts. Students!! Make the most of your remaining vacation -- these are the best days of your lives!


[[And so Gai goes off on his most advanced Auror mission yet. DX Wish him luck!]]

Ah, to be in London again!! It brings TEARS to my eyes or maybe it's just the humidity! Tomorrow: summer training in Brighton -- that's the seaside, probably? Why Professor Bones is taking us to the seaside... it boggles the mind, but whatever it is, I'M READY!!!!

Assignments for today... hrm, California, Timbuktu, Tokyo, Hawaii, New Guinea, Holland, Norway... good grief, how many Portkeys am I going to need!? HEY, LEE!! What are you doing today? ^____^d


[[Plotless stopgap post in which, if you like, Gai unexpectedly shows up WHERE YOU ARE. XDDDD My computer's still in the shop, but they're talking end-of-this-week or early-next-week, so... hm. Miss you all!]]

*gulp*


I never expected this....


BUT NO MATTER!! In fact, this is a positive development *BLUSHES* experience -- I shall have to take today's exam under unexpected and baffling conditions, which is an excellent opportunity to transcend my limitations and DO MY BEST!!

..and also practice Transfiguring clothing to different, uh, measurements.....


*stares in the mirror* Egad, I'm gorgeous. *SHINY GRIN*


[[Filtered to Wolfwood]]

I hadn't looked at my journal the other night, but -- you say you need an assistant? Well, when I get back from my exams, I might have something to say about that

..but you should know that at the moment, I am, erm, female. For some reason. Which I will FIGURE OUT BY THE TIME I GET BACK, or... or I shall add an extra thirty pushups to my normal training routine because somehow, bafflingly, my arms currently lack their usual steely strength!!!

[[/filtered]]



[[For once I'm taking part in a gender-based plot. *snicker* In today's episode, the part of Gai will be played by Wendy Hamilton. Lucky man. He She will also be returning to Hogwarts before curfew, so feel free to notice his her stunning womanly beauty~!!!]]

It's RAINING.



[[Private?]]
*due to magical bleed-through where Reparo didn't do such a good job on Gai's ripped-up journal, a few words from his private notes are accidentally open to all readers....*

..at the Apparition point knows me by sight!! And for good reason; it's been
                    waiting is the hardes
          mbledore said (but it was as confusing this time as
...
[[/notprivate]]


..I should probably use that charm again. In class. On the targets. The turning of the year shouldn't be dreary and droopy. Even Auror training and especially Professor Marchbanks needs a little perking up up once in a while!! >D


[[Hello, exceedingly vague can-has-no-details post. ^^ Just a placeholder for certain matters. Oh, look, something shiny!]]

Well, I'm back on the job... wrapped snugly in the soft wool of my oh-so-fluffy brand new scarf and bright orange legwarmers!! THANK YOU, SYAORAN AND RINALI!!! Of course, Neji, I am saving yours for a special occasion!!!!

We have to do twice as much as usual this week, so nothing is left over for the New Year break and there's a series of special Stealth and Tracking lectures coming up and a rain curse flooded out a lot of rooms on the fifth level, so it's c-c-c-COLD in here and everyone is running around like headless chic MANIACS!!!

My youthful friends at Hogwarts -- EXPECT MY PRESENCE AMONGST YOU IN THIS COMING WEEK!!!!


( Private )


*continues guiding a chain of hovering crates from one end of the Ministry to the other, unaware that the tune he's humming is registering on his journal*

No-eyed four-armed mutant ninja Santa monster,
No-eyed four-armed mutant ninja Santa monster,
No-eyed four-armed mutant ninja Santa monster,
Don't you touch that tree.....


[[Rose, Jen, poke me if I should change this.]]

No Portkey available today. But I will not be late while I have a broomstick!! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. ..I saw the train while I was flying north.... what's it doing making a trip at this time of year? Supplies? A new teacher?? Good grief, I hope no one else got hurt....


[[Filtered to Neji]]

This is another new journal, so maybe it will actually work and you will be able to read this.

WHERE ARE YOU??

[[/filtered]]


[[Filtered to TenTen]]

My journal blew up and I did not receive your latest messages. What is going on?

[[/filtered]]


[[SO TOTALLY PRIVATE]]

I should talk to the Counselor. The Ministry has pamphlets about depression, but they are too general to be any use. If it's this bad, I cannot fail him through incomplete understanding. I... as much as I care about him, I cannot do this alone....

This has gone far beyond poor Neji. Ah, my Lee... loss and rejection have ruled his young life. His foster parents, resenting his magical disability. His best friend... disappearing for years, trying to kill him, and then disappearing again after they'd reconciled.... other friends leaving, one by one... perhaps only his youthful spirit sustained him for this long.... confound the Ministry, keeping me back in London after the paperwork was in already.... ..does he think that even I will leave him? These wounds are so deep, so deep....

I can't lose him....

[[/private]]


Only another week, then the winter break and we will -- but...

*swears blackly, then covers the words with a heavy strikeout when he realizes what he's said*

That assignment.... I had forgotten.....


[[Due to ministry work and his all too convenient journal malfunctions, Gai has NO CLUE what has been happening since he left Hogwarts on Wednesday. He will be arriving on the castle grounds as you read this, nearly frozen solid from flying all the way to Scotland in the dead of winter, visibly shaken by Lee's recent signs of major depression, and with his hair significantly shorter in front. Rose, Jen, Cella, Kris, EMAIL MEEEE!~]]

*sitting on a Muggle train, staring off into the rainy darkness*

*pulls out his journal and smiles at all the usual weirdness* Where did Gintoki GET that picture, anyway!???


..Lee's mother... after all these years....


[[Filtered to Hirako]]

Well? Did the Drama Club come up with something new yet?

[[/filtered]]


... *uneasy and doesn't know why*



[[First strike hackable to Fakir, Ahiru, Mytho, and Gintoki. XDDDD]]

[[Private, partially (and inadvertently) hackable to friends]]

AUGH. Training this week was more grueling than ever. I didn't even have a chance to work on tracing... well, Madame Vance has been looking at it. Maybe she had time.

Is it my imagination, or have some of the Hogwarts staff been acting a little bit... odd? Hexing one another in the courtyards -- they're supposed to be protectors and sources of inspiration for the youth under their care! What is this world coming to!?

Strange... how the world changes as one's youth passes by... Three years ago I would have laughed! But there's a point where laughter becomes cruelty. There was a time when I, too, took offense at the smallest slight to my honor. Sometimes, though.... sometimes the obvious answer makes things worse. I could get mad at him for being mad at me, but isn't it more important to remember that he's my friend?

Does that mean... I'm more mature than Kakashi???? *boggles*

[[/private]]


Of all the strange holidays they observe in England, Halloween has got to be the best. Costumes, jokes, even more weirdness than usual, and a chance to face your darkest fears in a secure environment.... what's not to like? BE SAFE WITH YOUR PRANKS, PEOPLE! If it's fun, it should be fun for everyone, not just you. What better way to spread hilarity and joy?

Some of my London comrades are planning to celebrate with a scary movie night!! There's something I never did before! Ah, how I wish my good friends at Hogwarts could share this amazing experience!! Ooh, ooh!! Speaking of experiences, who else is helping with the haunTED HOUSE?????

*a few VERY LARGE scribbles, then something that sounds remarkably like a book being whacked repeatedly with a wand*

Gah, it's doing it again! My journal is JINXED!! JINXED, I SAY!!! Aaaaugh, why me? I thought I got rid of my journal problems when I THREW THE LAST ONE OUT.



[[Strike = absolutely unhackable.]]

.........


I'm back to my old self!!! The prank wore off this morning... at long last. I thought Madame Pince was going to kill me. It's not my fault that pile of books was such a convenient staircase when I was twelve inches tall!! And -- s-sorry, Professor Dwayne! I didn't know that was you!

Anyway, Professor Marchbanks is better now, so it's back to London at the crack of dawn. Lee, if you see another bottomless pit, STAY OUT OF IT!!!! Not that it's likely on school grounds, but you can't be too careful! I'll see if I can find out what's going on.


[[Filtered to Grimmjow]]

Jaggerjack, there's still a ban on student sparring, so I suggest we take advantage of the next Hogsmeade weekend or wait till the holidays when we're not on school grounds.

[[/filtered]]


[[Private]]

Another few laps around the lake ought to suffice for breaking my last rule. I'll do it this evening. Anyway, that... gives me a chance to be outside. I don't know... should I even.... But it doesn't make sense; he's never this touchy! Or at least... he never let on....

I thought... our friendship was stronger than that.


As for Lee... it's going to be hard to let him out of my sight. If not for his magic, he could've been... *clutches hair* Who put that hole there in the first place?? Madame Vance could analyze it, but that wouldn't tell me who was responsible... or whether it was meant for him or someone else.

If Sir Integra were still here, this might not be happening.

There's only one thing I can do.

[[/private]]


*goes off in search of Neji*


[[Just messing with possible plot points -- it doesn't need to mean anything yet. Everyone please note that Gai is EXTREMELY broody and morose at this time.]]

*as Tuesday dawns over Hogwarts, Gai's bed in his temporary quarters is mysteriously empty.....*



[[A hurried summons for an unexpectedly early training session forced Gai to leave Hogwarts without warning, so you may note a strange absence of PROUD GREEN ENTHUSIASM IN THE HALLS.]]