AN: Guess who's back-back-back! Back again-gain-gain! THAT'S RIGHT! YOU ARE NOT HALLUCINATING, THIS IS A NEW 'SHIRAYURI POTTER' CHAPTER!

Holy shit look at the time! I'm only 4 years late!...

Hehe, yeah. So it's been a long time people! I am sorry for the delay, but as I have said before:

No matter how long it takes, I will NEVER permanently abandon a story! It may fall to the wayside a bit, but I am not a writer for a living and so sometimes have to put my projects down!

I want to thank each and every one of you for your support even when it seemed as though I disappeared forever! I will be honest though. What finally kicked my ass into gear was that this story has been added to communities. You may ask yourself why that did it?

Well my friends, I recently (within the last few weeks - I guess the shitstorm of a pandemic is good for something) checked in on this to look and see what reviews have been made since I was gone as well as what communities this story made it into. Shirayuri Potter was added to 'Fanfiction Hits that were Never Completed!'

Don't get me wrong, I perused this community and found some AWESOME stories in it, but I never wanted to leave all of you hanging as long as I did.

I can't promise that there won't be large gaps in between chapters, but I WILL finish this story.

I will be adding my responses to reviews in the bottom AN this time! For now, Read on my lovelies! (There is no shame in starting back at chapter 1 since it has been so long!) You may or may not have received alerts on Chapters 1-11 - If you did, do not feel as though you have to go back and read those chapters. I did not change any of the story, I just did some long-awaited editing (spelling, grammar and layout). Nothing has changed!

DISCLAIMER: I still don't own either of these wonderful worlds. In fact, I am pretty sure I own less things now than the last time I updated… Freaking adulting.

Yuri and Shuurei listened with trepidation as the head guard read out a list of accusations against Ensei.

Yuri could feel Shuurei's confusion when Satsujinzoku was brought up, especially when they claimed that Seiran was also a part of the gang, but the younger woman kept her questions to herself for the moment.

Yuri could practically feel Seiran's rage as the murderous gang was mentioned. Possibly because he did not want Shuurei to have any idea of his past. She would have to speak with him about that, Shuurei had more fortitude than he seemed to realize. She didn't need to be sheltered from the truth.

Yuri tensed as the guards led everyone, bar the two women under the bed, from the room. She did not relax until almost a quarter of an hour had passed with no sounds coming from the room and no guards returning to check that it was empty.

She hurriedly pulled herself and Shuurei from under the bed and ushered the younger woman out of the room, they had the essentials on them already, they could purchase what they needed. They had to leave their clothing and other large bags behind unfortunately.

It finally hit Shuurei that her close friends/family had been apprehended and she wasn't sure what would happen to them. She began to hyperventilate as the worse possible outcomes flew through her mind.

Yuri stopped walking as she heard the hitching breaths behind her. She turned and grabbed Shuurei's shoulders comfortingly, "They will be fine Shuurei-chan."

"H-how can you know that?!"

"For several reasons - first, I seriously doubt that they could actually hurt Ensei or Seiran even if they wanted to. Second, they will not hurt Eigetsu or Kourin as they believe that they are the governors and are more likely going to try to use them instead of harm then. Third, they will be looking for the seals of the Governor and can't risk hurting any of them for fear of not finding out where they are."

Shuurei calmed slightly at Yuri's calm explanation. "Okay." She took a deep breath, "okay. What is our plan now?"

Yuri smiled at the young woman and gave her shoulder a quick pat. "Now, I need to go get us some new clothes so that we can hide in plain sight and make our way to Kinka first. That is where I am sure we will be able to meet up with the others."

Shuurei nodded her head, "We should split up in order to gather supplies more quickly!"

Yuri hesitated, "I'm not sure…"

Shuurei cut her off, "It will be fine!" She pumped her fist into the air, "The faster we shop, the sooner we can move on to the next step!"

Yuri sighed in resignation, "Fine. I am leaving you to pick up some food for us to be able to easily carry and ration without need for fire. I am going to go grab us some clothing." She pointed to some benches that she saw near a Sakura Tree. "Meet me at those tables when you are done. Do NOT speak to anyone if you can help it."

Shuurei nodded her head in acknowledgement and the two went their separate ways.

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Yuri shook her head in fond exasperation. She had only left Shuurei alone for about an hour and somehow she ended up surrounded by people as she played some sort of musical instrument. Granted, the younger woman played beautifully, but Yuri was baffled in how the situation came about.

"And I thought that Potter Luck was bad. I suddenly have chills thinking about our luck meshing on this trip without Seiran and Ensei obviously tempering it."

"Potter Luck? What is that if I may ask?" Yuri whirled around, completely shocked that someone had managed to sneak up on her as wound up as she is.

The man standing behind her was utterly attractive. Even though his hair was long, there was a very masculine vibe coming from him, preventing him from being beautiful and instead launching him into the handsome category.

What truly caught Yuri's attention however, was the aura surrounding the man. She hadn't felt such a dark aura since fighting Death Eaters who enjoyed the Unforgivables way too much. She withheld her shudder of revulsion and forced herself to speak when she realized the man was waiting for a response.

She gave a nonchalant wave of her hand, "Just a phrase that some friends came up with a long time ago. My family runs a pottery store in our village and we tend to have odd luck so it was dubbed the Potter Luck." Yuri truly hoped that he did not question why she used the japanese word for the noun potter instead of saying the english name again.

The man attempted to smile gently, but all Yuri felt was fear-nerves-terror. Merlin, something was seriously wrong with this pink-haired man. Something other than his hair color.

Yuri backed away as she gave her farewells, "I must go meet with my sister now, it was nice to meet you." She began to turn when her wrist was caught by deceptively gentle hands. She knew that there was strength behind the grip, even if he was trying to act like some soft prince or merchant. She was not fooled, this man was deadly.

"I never caught your name, mine is Li Senya." Bullshit. If that was his real name, she was the Queen of England.

Yuri wasn't offended however, considering she was going to throw a little bullshit herself. "I apologize!" Her eyes darted around for inspiration, landing on the trees overflowing with blossoms, "My name is Sakura! Ryuu Sakura. I am sorry Li-san, but I really must be fetching my sister so we can be on our way."

Before he could ask any more questions, she smoothly freed her wrist from his grasp and quickly walked away, towards Shuurei. She was greatly disturbed by the interaction she had just experienced and was determined to get as far away as possible from the man.

So disturbed was she, that she never saw the man's smirking gaze flicker between her hair, her hand, and Shuurei.

When she reached Shuurei's side, she found that the girl was trying to barter for the instrument. Yuri quickly paid the man full asking price, ignoring Shuurei's complaints about not being able to barter.

Yuri ushered her away from the crowd, carefully choosing her words, "Imouto, I am sorry to cut your fun short, but we must be on our way. Aunt and Uncle are surely waiting for us to return and we shouldn't keep them waiting."

Shuurei, realizing that something was truly wrong, nodded. "I am sorry for getting distracted, Onee-sama, I just couldn't resist playing the erhu. I will explain to Aunt and Uncle why we are late."

They made their way to a secluded alley in silence.

Yuri looked around for a more private area and found what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. She gently pushed Shuurei in while ensuring they were not followed. She held her finger up to her lips when Shuurei went to speak.

After a few moments of silence where Yuri listened for any possible followers, she spoke. "Sorry Shuurei-chan, I had a disturbing encounter and felt that we both needed to disappear urgently."

Shuurei paled, "Do you think someone realized who I am?!"

Yuri grimace. "I am not sure, but we are going to proceed as if someone has. It is time for Shuu-kun and Shi to make reappearances." Shuurei only noticed the bags when Yuri began pulling men's clothing out of them. "They should have lowered their guard after catching the others, but just in case, they are looking specifically for Ensei, Seiran, Myself (if they don't know my name then just a woman in her early 20s), girls that are 16-17 and boys that are 12-13. If we dress as men, we fit in none of those categories."

Shuurei nodded in understanding and they both quickly changed. Yuri pulled out two hair cloths and handed one to Shuurei. Once she deemed them both respectable, Yuri pulled Shuurei out of the warehouse with her and they quickly made their way out of the town.

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In the next town, Shuurei insisted on buying all of the Kanro tea, much to Yuri's bemusement.

"Shuu-kun, why are we buying all of the tea?"

"Because you know how much Seiran and Ensei enjoy this tea, Nii-san."

Yuri quickly realized that Shuurei was laying a trail for the others to follow. She gave a gentle grin to the younger woman and chuckled. "You are too smart for your own good sometimes."

Shuurei just pouted as they made their way to the nearest gate. Yuri, realizing that they would not be able to keep carrying the tea, noticed that the gate guards looked exhausted. She took most of the tea from Shuurei and gave it to the guards as a donation.

They continued out of the town proper, not stopping until it was closer to nightfall.

Luckily for Shuurei, Yuri was able to procure one horse. Yuri walked as Shuurei rode, allowing them to go farther each day than they would if Shuurei was having to walk as well. Although she was no wilting flower, Shuurei did not have anywhere near the stamina that Yuri did.

And if Shuurei fell asleep on the back of the horse? Yuri just made sure she wouldn't fall off before continuing on.

The lack of sleep could cause a real problem in the near future, but Yuri would push through in order to protect her companion.

She took an oath to do so after all.

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Almost three weeks later, a worried Shuurei was following after an exhausted Yuri, trying to think of a way to get the older woman to rest for once.

She was about to suggest they get a hotel room when they saw a group of men surrounding a couple of posters. As they walked closer, they heard what was being said.

"It seems like they escaped the border patrol and have been taking out groups of Satzujinzoku bandits."

"They are still wanted by the Sa Clan and border patrols, but it appears that they are in Rosen now."

Yuri's attention span was almost non-existent from her sleep-deprivation, but hearing escape and Satzujinzoku was enough to garner her attention. She grabbed Shuurei's hand and together they pushed through the crowd to look at the poster. Even though they were both exaggerated in different ways, they were able to recognize that the two 'wanted' men were Seiran and Ensei.

Shuurei tightened her grip as Yuri seemed to sag in relief.

At the gentle reminder of where they were, Yuri straightened back up and led her charge to a less busy part of the market. They were heading to the tea shop to buy yet more Kanro. Even if Seiran and Ensei were ahead of them, it was best not to change their modus operandi.

As soon as they left the shop, Yuri's hackles raised at seeing an unfortunately familiar head of pinkish hair. Said hair was walking directly towards them, caramel eyes locked on her emerald gaze. Yuri stiffened and hurriedly shoved Shuurei behind her in a protective burst.

Shuurei must have also seen the man and recognizing him from Yuri's description kept utterly silent so as not to draw attention to herself.

"Ah, Sakura-chan! I did not expect to see you here! I wondered who had been buying all of the Kanro tea in each town, and now I know." He leveled her with a knowing smirk. "It was almost as if you were leaving a trail… for me."

Yuri wasn't sure what had given them away at their initial meeting, but she was now sure that this man had known who she was immediately upon meeting her. That meant that he most likely knew who Shuurei was.

Her theory was proven correct when he glanced at the head peeking from above her shoulder and spoke. "Have you heard the news?"

Yuri rolled her eyes, "About the bounty hunters escaping? Why yes, I have heard that."

His laugh caused goose bumps to raise on her arm, "No my dear, the news about the upcoming nuptials!" At her bland, uncaring look, his expression became gleeful, "My dear Sakura-chan, I am talking, of course, about the upcoming marriage between the youngest son of the Sa clan and the incoming female governor, the daughter of the Kou clan!" Shuurei flinched behind her and then froze in shock.

Yuri was just as shocked, but she kept her face controlled. "Why would I care for such information, Li-san? Marriages in the political arena hold no interest to me." She forced herself to give a short bow before turning towards her still-frozen companion. "Farewell." Yuri had no intentions of acknowledging the man again, but his next words made her turn around instinctively.

"Mah mah, you are an interesting woman Sakura-chan. I should snag you up right now and… marry you!" She whirled around in shock and horror at the idea of this man being interested in her in that way. His amused visage began to irritate her. "Don't look so shocked Sakura-chan! You are a one-of-a-kind woman. Any man would want to possess you." Yuri understood perfectly well what he meant by possess. She would not allow any man to 'own' her. Her marriage would be one of equals, she would not become a broodmare.

Yuri glared at the man and then turned away once more, this time not stopping when he spoke.

"I will be seeing you again soon Sakura-chan!"

Shuurei decided to not bring the man up when she noticed the disturbed look the older woman wore. Yuri surprised her by broaching the subject herself.

"Shuurei, if you ever encounter that man without one of us there, run. Do not look back, do not listen to him, just go."

"Yuri-"

"Promise me Shuurei! That man is… there is something not right about him." Yuri shuddered.

All Shuurei could do was nod her head in acquiescence.

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After another week, the two women had finally arrived in Kinka. There was still another leg of the journey to go until they reached Koren, the capital, but they had planned to stop in the town for a few days even before the group was split up.

Shuurei led Yuri to the largest building in the market-place of Kinka. On the way there, they both noticed the subdued atmosphere of the citizens as well as the presence of the brutish thugs that all seemed a part of the same gang.

They quickly figured out that this was the Satzujinzoku that they had been hearing about.

As they stopped in front of the opposing building, Yuri looked at Shuurei in question.

"We will need the Merchants Guild on our side if we want to make it to the Capital of Sa Province. This is the headquarters of said guild. We will need to most likely bargain with them to gain their help."

Yuri nodded in understanding, "Shuurei, this is where you need to go in on your own. There are a few things around town that I need to gather." At the questioning look she received, she clarified, "I know you have wondered where the governor's seal and stamp were as well as mine and Seiran's swords. The answer is simple, we sent them ahead to be picked up here. We wanted to make sure we had gotten a majority of the way to our goal before carrying items that would distinguish us."

Shuurei looked dumbfounded for a moment. "But how were you able to ensure that they all arrived?"

"Ah, well… Kouchou was very willing to help ensure the blades arrived. As for the seal and stamp… Ryuuki handled that part all on his own although he did have the forethought to warn me…" Yuri sighed, "I think I will leave that as a surprise."

Shuurei frowned, "I can wait until you return before going in."

"No, Shuurei. This is something that can be considered your first act as Governor of Sa Province. Show these people that you mean business and can handle things on your own." Yuri smiled, "Besides, this way you can let them know that although you are alone in the meeting, you are not alone in this city. If anything happens to you, I will bring devastation down upon them." Yuri looked to the side where a tall man wearing glasses stood. Both women could easily discern that he was part of the Merchants Guild considering he was wearing some of the symbols associated.

The man looked amused as he bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Now I understand why none of my fellows were able to keep track of the Kou Princess. It seems that not everyone was captured by the border patrol and she was able to avoid using her border pass." He smirked, "Your message has been received and understood, Kazeno-dono." He turned to Shuurei, "Now my lady, I believe you wanted to speak with the head of the merchant's guild. Please, follow me."

Yuri nodded to Shuurei and watched as the two disappeared into the building before she herself turned and began to walk towards the store she knew would hold the swords. Then she needed to get herself to the gates to ensure the safe arrival of the Seal and Stamp.

Not that anyone except a select few even knew how they would be arriving. She prayed that the music had improved over the last several months.

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"Ahh! Kindred Spirit #3!" Yuri laughed as she took in Ran Ryuuren's appearance. He had somehow managed to stick entire pear branches out of his headband. They almost looked like antlers. "I was not sure who I would run into first, but I am glad it is you!"

Yuri gave the man a welcoming smile, "It's good to see you as well Ryuuren - I believe you have something that belongs to Numbers 1 and 2?"

Ryuuren nodded and patted his headband, "I have them right here. Should I give them to you?"

Yuri shook her head in the negative. "Take them to Shuurei instead. If all went to plan, she is being guarded at the Merchant's guild… Actually, on second thought, take them to Eigetsu and then help him and Kourin get to the Merchant's guild. Maybe with both of them there, we can eradicate the Satzujinzoku a little more easily."

Ryuuren nodded absentmindedly as he seemed to realize something. "Shirayuri, where are Kanshou and the swords His Majesty gave to you?"

Yuri got an irritated look on her face as she reached behind her back and brought forth Seiran's Sword, "I got Kanshou from the Pawn Shop as planned, but a Sa Sakajun picked up my sword. Who the hell is that exactly?" She paused as she saw the worried look on Ryuuren's face. "Ryuuren?" Suddenly the pieces began to fall into place, "Ryuuren… Who is Li Senya?"

Ryuuren closed his eyes in resignation, "The Li family was slaughtered in their mansion two weeks ago. There are no survivors in the Li Family."

"...Then if I were to say that Li Senya approached me almost a month ago in Sakyo?"

"I would reply that he was in Kinka at that time."

"There are three sons of the Main Sa Family, right?"

"Yes. The oldest is Soujun, the youngest is Kokujun and the middle is…"

"Sakujun." Ryuuren nodded morosely. "Goddamnit. Okay, then I will just have to go get my sword back. I still need you to get to Eigetsu and give Seiran Kanshou as soon as you can." She took a moment to think. There was only one place a lying psychopath would wait for her, considering the only piece of information she has is the name he assumed. "Where did the Li family live?"

"They lived in the Chrysanthemum Mansion." He gave her brief directions on how to get there. "Be careful Kindred Spirit #3, that man is not to be trifled with."

Yuri gave a tired sigh, "This one doesn't seem to want to kill me at least, that's got to be a step up." She grinned at Ryuuren's exasperation. "Don't worry about me Ryuu-kun, I'll be fine. If worse comes to worse, tell the others that I will catch up with them in Koren." She didn't give him a chance to respond, ignoring the fearful widening of his eyes. "Remember, give the Seal and Stamp to Eigetsu and give Kanshou to Seiran!"

She took off running towards the Chrysanthemum Mansion.

AN: I hope that I did not disappoint with this chapter! I won't lie, it did take a few tries to get back into the rhythm of writing, but now that I am I don't know how I went 4 years without it!

I had forgotten how much of a stress reliever this was for me!

I think there were about 3,400 words in this chapter. Not as large as some of the others, but this was a good stopping point! Luckily for all of you I am working from home for the foreseeable future, and since there is not much I can actually do from home, I foresee more writing in my immediate future.

Also, my reasoning on why Sakujun fixated on Yuri instead of Shuurei like in canon: In canon, Sakujun admits to Shuurei that her strength caught his attention. Considering said strength is mainly her political aptitude and the fact that she became governor, I imagine that finding out about a woman who joined the imperial army and fights as well as any man would be of more interest to him.

Women in this universe have been known to lead, they just generally do it from the shadows (Cough*Kouchou*Cough). Shuurei would have caught his attention alone, but when you throw the curve ball that is Yuri into the mix - a woman who does not base anything on gender, who treats those of every class the same, and who can kick ass? Hook, line, sinker. Plus, with the heart-to-heart that Shuurei and Yuri had regarding romance, I don't see my Shuurei as likely to be affected by Sakujun as she was in canon. Thus I am going to make my Sakujun a little more psychopathic/sociopathic/evil. Sorry, not sorry!

Now to answer reviews:

Xenocanaan - You poor poor thing. I went and granted your wish of updating only to disappear for 4 years! I hope you can forgive me and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!

Outra - You were always one of my biggest supporters! I hope that you kept faith in me long enough to see this update! Don't give up on me yet! How did I do with shoving Yuri in with Shuurei so far? There was a lot of in-between-the line traveling going on in this chapter, but it is beginning to pick up and greatly veer away from canon!

Tristi Lynne - Good points, but Yuri does not use the cloak mainly because with the others getting captured A) Kourin will be treated for her sickness, B) if both Shuurei and Eigetsu were missing from the room, it would have been searched immediately and they would have been found, C) This way, those two were able to continue on in order to keep the ball rolling as it were.

Also, for the plot!

As for the bag, it can still be stolen from her and so Ryuuki did not want to risk that happening. Thus in this chapter, you find out he sent them with Ryuuren. Cause honestly, who wants to mess with crazy? Sorry that you did have to wait so long!

Lady Kaiki - hopefully you enjoyed this chapter as well!

Angel4EverLostInLife - not this time! If I ever revisit this crossover after this story is complete, I am thinking either Ko Kijin or Ryuuren. Possibly Shuuei. Mainly leaning towards Kijin TBH. *Shrugs* We will see!

Shadow Wolf 15846 - *Cackles* It will happen soon! Probably!

MoonGoddess111 - The romance is most likely about to kick into over-drive. A month long separation, plus creepy stalker boy? 2 + 2 = possessive protectiveness.

Pixiecropse - Patience my lovely! We will get there! And I am still not sure of who will actually get to the point first, Yuri or Seiran!

Joyce & Guest(s) - I hope that you read my top AN. I will NOT permanently abandon a story, but I do not guarantee consistent updates.

Yorushihe - Don't you apologize! I am sorry that I took this long to update! Hopefully as one of my non-anime-watchers this is making sense! If it ever starts reading to where you have no clue what happened because I do the "I assume my readers have watched the anime" please let me know! Hopefully you enjoy this chapter as well!

Nogizaka Ayumi - I am glad you find it exciting! I don't think I will be going through the novel, I haven't even necessarily decided how I plan on dealing with the 2nd half of the 2nd season of the anime. Or if I will even be getting to that point.

DINGDINGDING you were already on to my plan with Sakujun. With his character, it just made sense for him to fixate on Yuri who is even more of an enigma that Shuurei is for obvious reasons. Plus, I live for drama sometimes. And Sakujun is as dramatic as you can get, for multiple reasons! XD

Belladu57 - Thanks!

I will see all of you next chapter!