And So I Paid the Troll, Chapter 2

Sold into the Underworld when he presented Quirkless, he lived his life as an expendable asset until he turned against his masters. Retiring to Japan was... difficult. Inactivity didn't suit him. It was probably why he took the brat in. Mentor!Harry, Quirkless!Harry, Quirkless!Izuku. Slash.

Mild Kingsman, Black Lagoon, and Katekyo Hitman REBORN crossovers.
Slash. Quirkless!Disabled!former-villain!Mentor!Harry, Quirkless!Izuku, Character-Development!Bakugo-Mineta, Trans!Mic/Hizashi, Aro-Ace!Toshinori.
Pairing unknown, potentially Aizawa/Harry, Mirio/Izuku.

000

CHAPTER TWO

Izuku very nearly paid for the incident between Harry and Kacchan yesterday. But he managed to slip away without a beating, or Kacchan even noticing despite the blond's increasingly furious attempts to locate him and prove himself still top dog. Scary. He didn't want to know what his friend would do if he knew he was still going to go and see the strange foreign man again today.
Nervously, he checked over his shoulder as he jogged to the park where he could already see the strange man leaning against one of the fences that surrounded the children's play-area. There was a bag at his feet, and he wore a plain pair of baggy grey sweats, and a weird tunic kind of sleeve-less shirt belted around his middle, with his wild black hair, and heavily muscular arms patterned with various scars he looked like an off-duty Pro-hero at best, or a villain out on parole. The odds were tipped firmly into the latter by the resting bitch-face of a serial killer written across his expression. Yikes.
Izuku swallowed dryly, once again wondering what it was he had gotten himself into, but at the same time, he carried on walking, pushing forward to the first person in his life that hadn't doubted or brushed him off for being Quirkless.
Green eyes snapped to him, and the old man straightened up and nodded, almost approvingly, to see him. Was that nearly a smile? Izuku couldn't tell. But the lines around his eyes definitely seemed less harsh than before.
“Right on time, Midoriya,” Harii greeted before reaching down and hauling his bag up onto his shoulder, “This way. Training at the park will draw too much attention. We're going to the beach. Call who you need to,” he ordered as he gestured towards the path leading out of the park behind him.
The-the beach? That actual trash-heap?
He fought to keep himself from grimacing at the thought of future tetanus jabs, and rummaged for his phone obediently. He had done as he was told, and reluctantly told his mother that he met someone who wanted to teach him how to defend himself, which prompted her into asking why, and he had to come clean about some of Kacchan's more aggressive actions – not that he named names at all, but his mother wasn't an idiot. She'd seen him trying to tend to the worst of his injuries more than once. She was a bit hesitant, but gave her permission with only a request to please be careful, and no matter what he was taught not to go looking for trouble. She didn't want him getting into trouble with the Law. Izuku didn't have the heart to tell her that Harii-san was correct when he said that no one would believe a Quirkless capable of making trouble, so there was no risk of that.
Harry didn't wait for him for long, as soon as Izuku had finished texting his mother he started jogging away, forcing the thirteen year old to run in order to keep up with him. They didn't talk, and in the quieter moments Izuku could hear the ever ever so faint clicking and whirring of gears as Harry moved, easily keeping a pace or so ahead of him. Were they going to run the whole way to the beach?
Yes. Yes they were.
Izuku was pouring with sweat and on the verge of collapse by the time they reached the waterfront, gaping for breath and staggering on wobbly legs to the near-by bench. Harry looked fresh as a damn daisy.
“Not much stamina,” the foreigner observed in disappointment. “That's going to have to change. One of the best things to keep you out of trouble will be your ability to run from it. Jacket off, bag down. We're going to play a game,” he announced, making Izuku pause as he folded his school jacket. Game? He thought this was training? Harry gestured to his eyes as he explained, “Kids your age still haven't finished developing the cognitive memorisation of adults; you're better at it, but you don't have the staying power to keep your focus up. Games are just training made fun. Your memory retention is increased, and you find practice both more rewarding and interesting if it is enjoyable. Physical exertion also allows for increased - ” he cut himself off, seeming to realise he was explaining too much, and shook his head, “It helps you think better,” he finished simply.
Izuku pouted, “You don't have to dumb it down for me,” he pointed out nervously, a little put out. His grades were actually very good, he was in the upper percentile, and tied with Kacchan for most of it even though he didn't study as much as he probably should have – Hero Analysis was just so much more interesting.
“I wasn't,” the old man stated as he stretched his neck out, “I just over-explain things sometimes. Bad habit I picked up.” He looked sad all of a sudden, distant and regretful as he slowed his movements.
He shook himself suddenly, and looked down at Izuku, “Tuck your stuff just down here out of sight,” he suggested as he set his own belongings in the small corner of space between the stairs and the embankment that separated the beach from street level. “The game is Chase. You have to catch me.”
Chase?
Izuku had actually been really good at that as a kid, and hide and seek. This should be a piece of cake!
He paused, frowning when he saw the old man take out several bands from his bag. Weights? Did he expect Izuku to chase him while wearing – no, he was strapping them onto himself? Wasn't that dangerous to his musculature?
“Just to make it easier for you, I'll be wearing these. Don't worry, you won't have to. Your body is still developing, putting weights on at this young stage can permanently warp your bones and muscles so we won't be doing it. Ready?” he asked as he finished strapping his left wrist, and looked up expectantly.
Izuku nodded, and before he could even say or ask anything, Harry bolted.
The Middle School student yelped, scrambling after him.
Running on sand was Hard.
Harry though – Izuku was never going to catch him!
It was still fun though.
The old man was fast and agile, able to turn literally on a hair. He bounded up piles of trash and crouched atop them waiting for Izuku to catch up, calling suggestions of where to put his hands and feet whenever the Middle Schooler slipped. He stayed just close enough for the green haired boy to follow, to nearly snatch the back of his clothing once or twice, but always just out of reach.
An hour passed before Izuku even realised.
He was soaking wet after a few tumbles into the ocean, absolutely filthy with dirt and oil and sand, he probably had a few bruises here and there, and he'd broken two nails off trying to climb various trash piles, but he didn't think he'd ever had so much fun before! He, in all honesty, hadn't wanted to stop. Hadn't realised how much time had even passed as Harry discreetly lead him back to where their bags were until he slipped and tumbled down the side of an abandoned industrial fridge to land on his butt in front of the foreigner. Harry just smirked and handed him his water bottle.
“Break time,” he announced cheerfully as the Middle Schooler hesitantly accepted the bottle before greedily beginning to suck down a good half of it.
As they drank and Izuku caught his breath, Harry went through explaining where he needed improvement and what he was actually fairly good at. He moved well, he just needed to be more aware of his footing and surroundings. He was good at predicting Harry's movements, and developing methods in which to counter him, but not so good at coming up with something on the fly when someone defied those expectations, or when he didn't have the physical abilities to counter them.
“When you're chasing me, you need to focus on where I put my hands and feet. Not everyone is going to show you the best routes for getting up a slope, but at this point I am,” Harry explained as he sipped his waterbottle watching from the corner of his eye as the Middle Schooler frantically scribbled in a fresh notebook, “When you're better at figuring out how to safely traverse various obstacles I might start trying to mislead you, but for now my aim is to teach. Eventually, when I'm confident in your ability, we'll be swapping roles. I'll be trying to catch you.”
Izuku nodded, “Right. So, what you're teaching me right now are the basics of Parkour, right?” he asked curiously.
Harry grinned in approval, “Yes. I'm surprised, not many figure that out.” Or know the difference between Parkour and Free Running. So many got them mixed up, but yes, Harry was teaching Izuku the basics of Parkour – getting from Point A to Point B in the shortest amount of time possible in the most economical manner possible. Free Running was the flashier cousin to Parkour, same principle, but with a great deal more energy wasted. It took a lot more power and effort to flip over something than simply to vault over it, after all.
The green haired boy smiled, “I've done a lot of reading,” he admitted proudly, “I – I want to get into UA. I doubt I'll get onto the Heroics Course, though that would be really cool. But General Education would be fine, I think.”
“UA, huh?” the old man observed with a scowl, making Izuku flinch. “Forget General Education, kid. Do you want in on the Hero Course?” he asked shortly.
Izuku fidgeted, “There's nothing saying I can't, I mean, I know it's never happened, but there's no precedent saying I can't, I know I don't have a Quirk and there's never been a Quirkless in UA but there's nothing in any of the rules or entry requirements that say I can't,” he began to babble, his voice dropping into incoherent mumblings that the foreigner couldn't hear.
Harry jabbed him in the side of the head, making him yelp and nearly drop his water-bottle, “Do. You. Want. In. On the. UA Heroics. Course?” Harry asked again, slowly and firmly, glaring at him.
Izuku pressed his lips together, “Yes. More than anything.”
The foreigner nodded, “Alright then. Your goal is to be a Pro Hero then, yeah?”
He nodded.
“Then we've got a lot of work ahead of us,” the old man declared getting to his feet and holding a hand out to him, “On your feet. I've got a lot of training to cram into that fluffy head in the next two years if you're going to make it into the Heroics Course.”

000

Izuku cried all over him.
Harry wasn't entirely sure of how to handle that.
Emotions were more Knight's thing than his, he would have known what to do, the big softie. But it was his example that Harry never the less used when trying to deal with Izuku. He probably didn't do it right though, he thought. Awkward back-patting commenced followed by a gruff demand to get the hell off of him and get into the stance he showed the kid yesterday probably didn't do an awful lot, but the child stopped sniffling and settled into the rest of his day's training with single minded dedication.
Most of what followed was combat training, just the basic of basics. Harry tended to teach the intermediates who had finished Basic, so he was a little lost on how to teach a complete novice on how to handle themselves, but he figured the best starting point was teaching him how to fall without hurting himself, how to handle certain movements too. Best to minimise the risk of injury before they get into the kind of things that might cause that injury.
The next day, while Izuku was at school, he worked up the courage to approach the boy's family.
Harry knew he had a mother, and that she was involved enough with his life to care if he were late home or anything. But aside from that, he hadn't the faintest idea of what he was going to be walking into. Family was a strange thing. But if the woman had kept her son despite his being Quirkless, and he held no actual fear beyond normal teenage alarm at the possibility of being late home, then she was probably just a normal mother. Either way, he made a little bit of an effort before approaching her. He made sure he was showered, that he had shaved, he wore clean clothes that were at least semi-presentable, a pair of plain black slacks and a white button up shirt. He brought a folder of papers that he had been working on, his plans for the kid's training, explanations for it all, meal plans, things to teach him. He dug out UA's entry requirements, their examinations, which schools provided 'Recommendation' Slots – he didn't know what school his new student attended, but he doubted it was any of them. Just in case though, he provided information of what would net said student a slot.
He wanted the kid's family to see that he was serious about this, that he knew the kid had a chance and wouldn't be going into this half-baked or cocked. He had two years to get up to snuff, and Harry would make sure he got there.
Finding Izuku's address in his student handbook was easy, thankfully Japanese people were very particular about their personal details going where they should on paperwork. He waited until Izuku had left for the morning before approaching the small flat – surprisingly in the building behind his own. He could look out from his living-room window and see their front door on the floor below.
He rang the bell and took a step back to wait patiently.
“Izuku? Did you forget- oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were my son. Can I help you?” the older woman that answered the door asked, her green eyes widening. She was a portly middle aged woman who greatly resembled her son, possessing the same colouring and shape to her eyes, the same height as Harry himself, she was.... soft. The worn pink cardigan only added to his impression of her as she blinked up at him in confusion.
“Midoriya-san? My name is Potter Harry, do you have a moment? I'd like to talk to you about your son, Izuku,” he explained, backsliding into trained mannerisms of 'gentle professionalism'.
Alarm washed her face, quickly followed by concern, “Is everything alright?” she burbled anxiously.
He nodded kindly, “Everything is fine, Midoriya-san. Izuku is on his way to school, he's fine. But there is something I would like to speak to you regarding him, if I may? I hope I'm not interrupting your day,” he added now frowning a little. He didn't get the impression that she was part of the work-force, but she could be employed.
“No, no, please, come in. I was just cleaning up after breakfast, please be welcome, Potter-san!” the woman flustered, stepping aside to let him in.
“Thank you.”
He carefully nudged off his shoes as she bustled back into the living space and gathered up what remained of the small family's breakfast dishes. Only two places were set, meaning that it was only herself and Izuku – looking around surreptitiously, there were no photographs of anyone else present, only images of herself and her son, and occasionally another family of blondes. He paused at one in particular, his eyes narrowing as he recognised the aggressive little shit with the chemical quirk that had been brutalising young Izuku the day they met.
“Midoriya-san, you are familiar with this family?” he asked curiously, nodding to the photograph.
“Oh, oh yes. That's the Bakugou family. Mitsuki and I are friends from school. Is everything alright?” the woman asked worriedly as she set a kettle to boil.
“Yes, quite. I may just have to drop in and speak to the Bakugous about their son as well,” he explained slowly before turning away from the photographs and setting his papers on the table.
“Would you like something to drink, Potter-san? I have tea, water, coffee, some juice,” the ever gracious hostess listed as she flitted around the small kitchen.
“A glass of water would be lovely, Midoriya-san,” he told her calmly, and found a glass of chilled water presented to him shortly before she sat down at the table opposite with a cup of tea for herself.
“Now, what is this about Izuku?” she asked worriedly.
Harry nodded and opened his file, “Two days ago, I witnessed something of an altercation at the park between your son and a few delinquents.” She gasped in worry, her hands flying to her mouth, Harry shook his head and gestured her down, “I intervened, no one was hurt, though young Izuku-kun had a few bruises. Being that I'm Quirkless myself, I've seen that kind of behaviour more than once in my years, so I thought to give him some advice on how to defend himself, or at least on how to run away a little more effectively,” he explained. “He took to it.... fairly well. I've taught a great deal of Self-Defence to other Quirkless children over the years, he's far from the worst to reach me despite his reluctance to throw a punch,” he joked a little, managing to wrangle an upset smile from the boy's mother.
“And those boys.... You asked about the Bakugous.... It was their young son, wasn't it?” she asked, her voice full of heartbreak.
The former assassin nodded, “I am afraid so. The lad with the chemical quirk did seem to be their ring-leader. As I said, I plan on having words with his parents later if you would be kind enough to share their address when we're done?” he asked, watching as she nodded almost tearfully. “Thank you. Now. Over the course of teaching your son, he mentioned his desires to attend UA, and, I apologise, but I got a little caught up in the moment and promised to help him. I can't very well go back on that now, so I thought it best to approach you and inform you of what was going on, as well as share everything that I had planned.”
She stared at him, green eyes wide.
“You.... UA?” she asked weakly. Harry nodded. “You think he can make it into UA?” she asked, her voice breaking.
“At this exact moment in time? No. But we have two years. Izuku-kun is smart and dedicated, with two years I can get him up to standard. Whether he passes the entrance exams will be entirely up to him, but I have full confidence that I can get him to that level in the time allotted,” he declared firmly. He had worked with worse on shorter deadlines. Admittedly he'd also had more time in the day to teach said worse students, what with Izuku also having to adhere to a Middle School education on top of his training. However, it also meant he wouldn't have to worry about the boy's rest periods as they would already be handled via that school period, giving his muscles a chance to rest.
Midoriya-san drank her tea, draining it dry as she blinked rapidly against her tears. She took a deep breath and after she set her cup down, she folded her hands in front of her.
“What did you have in mind, Potter-san?” she asked, her voice still shaking, but that familiar steady look in her eyes that he had seen in her son when he asked him if he wanted into the Hero Course.
Harry opened his folder and showed her the pre-requisites for UA, his training plans, the meal plans, and his timetable, and began to explain.

000

One meeting with Midoriya Inko down, and a standing invitation to afternoon tea in his folder as well as her contact information in his phone, he went to go and speak to the Bakugous.
Neither were home, which was unfortunate, it would have to wait for another day. He should go home and get changed ready to meet with Izuku later. His chat with Inko took a great deal longer than he had anticipated as she had been very interested in knowing what it was he planned on teaching her son, and how she could help facilitate his desire to become a Pro-Hero. It was.... refreshing, and strangely pleasing to know that she loved her son wholeheartedly and without reservation or exceptions or 'regardless's.
Izuku was Quirkless. He was her son, and Inko loved him. There was nothing else to it, for it, or about it. She felt guilty about her lack of support in the past, and was now determined to help him go as far as he wished. His tentative training and meal plans were now in her grasp, and she had already expressed intentions of looking up appropriate recipes online to facilitate her son. Harry would be handling the rest. He certainly had the finances for it, part of his agreement to witness protection in Japan was financial support in exchange for Consultancy work on occasion. And he also had access to the remaining assets of the Order, the ones he didn't give up when he cut his deal. No matter how tired he was, he wasn't suicidal, if the Japanese Government rolled on him, he had resources to fall back on and a means to vanish. This was just..... easier, and safer.
He met Izuku at the park again, and they jogged to the beach where they played Chase for an hour and a half. Izuku was getting better at following him up the piles of garbage now that he knew Harry was going to show him the safest paths. When they sat down to rest and drink, Harry had him detail the safest routes over the near-by obstacles, identify loadbearing points, weak points, unstable ones, and places to avoid, places that were strong enough to use as a launch pad, places good enough to fight on, and places where he could obtain a weapon with a little creativity.
That last one had thrown the twelve-year-old through a loop, at least until Harry got to his feet and in two simple movements wrenched what looked to be the discarded remains of someone's backgarden renovation out of the pile. A length of stainless-steel piping crowned with concrete, and the lid of a metal compost-bin that he then held up as a shield.
“You're not always going to be in a position to either reach for a weapon, or even have one to hand. Being able to use your environment in a fight is key, either in procuring your own weapons to level the field, or using it to your advantage,” he explained, twirling the make-shift hammer and shield combo around and then proceeding to swing the length of metal hard enough that the concrete shattered with an alarming bang against the metal casing of a car-engine amidst the trash. When he lifted it, the concrete crumbled away, leaving just a few thumb-sized chunks stubbornly clinging to the slightly bent metal. “I've already started teaching you to utilise your environment in one way, Parkour and situational awareness. We'll be continuing that first thing, but after our little break, I'll be continuing your combat training in some.... varied ways. Your mother has also given me permission to visit in the evenings to help you with other things,” he added with a smirk as the boy jolted and stared up at him in horror.
“Y-y-you spoke to M-mum?” he spluttered.
Harry nodded, “Yes. She's completely on-board with your training. I've left meal plans with her, along with all my contact details and such. We don't want you to fall behind on your studies, so I'll be dropping by to help you with homework in the evening as well,” he explained almost cheerfully, the look of dismay on the teenager's face was surprisingly pleasant.
It was wholly different to the stiff blank faces he was used to seeing looking up at him from trainees, from children who had been snatched or sold by their families. Children who had been torn apart, their good parts thrown away, and the holes filled with obedience, with information, with orders and false understanding. When he had been younger, the way that the people around him just acted startled and alarmed him, it made him wary, fearful, anxious to be around these untrained, uncontrolled individuals who would get loud, who would move and act without thinking of consequences, who could be read so clearly, who changed what they thought and felt so swiftly and of their own volition. It was wholly jarring and unsettling to him.
But then as the years marched on, and the number of missions he had piled up, and the time spent out of the Order's grasp grew, the more he grew to prefer that harsh raw world. Of how honest the people around him were. Yes it could be frustrating sometimes, but he preferred it. It was bright and painful but real.
Whenever he was injured and forced to remain at the Order and train new recruits he couldn't hide the unsettled twist to his stomach when he looked across a sea of blank faces, and dull eyes. All in uniform straight lines, grey clothing, their backs straight, their arms at their sides, their feet together. Eyes and hair as varied as a colour wheel, but every face the same.
Like a room of dolls.
“On your feet, kiddo,” Harry declared as he casually tossed his shield at the green haired boy's feet, “I'm going to attack you with this pole, and you're going to use that lid to shield yourself. And just to warn you, I firmly believe that pain is a fantastic motivator. Better think fast to avoid some bruises.”
If he had his way, there would be no more dolls.
And if he trained Izuku right, then parents wouldn't automatically assume their Quirkless children were useless.

0000

Chapter two finished. Harry's going to be teaching Izuku a lot of stuff on top of physically working with him. Right now he's in his second year of Middle School and has two years before UA, so only the one before he meets All Might for the first time, IF he meets All Might this time. ;D
I’m still debating how much of his training I should be showing off. What do you guys think? Is there anything in particular you want to see?

And so I paid the Toll, Chapter 1

Sold into the Underworld when he presented Quirkless, he lived his life as an expendable asset until he turned against his masters. Retiring to Japan was... difficult. Inactivity didn't suit him. It was probably why he took the brat in. Mentor!Harry, Quirkless!Harry, Quirkless!Izuku. Slash.

Mild Kingsman, Black Lagoon, and Katekyo Hitman REBORN crossovers.
Slash. Quirkless!Disabled!former-villain!Mentor!Harry, Quirkless!Izuku, Character-Development!Bakugo-Mineta, Trans!Mic/Hizashi, Aro-Ace!Toshinori.
Pairing unknown, potentially Aizawa/Harry, Mirio/Izuku.

000

CHAPTER ONE

He should have been happy. He just felt tired though. Japan was a very different world to the one he left behind, he had been there a handful of times but it never ceased to feel just a little... uncanny valley. It was so clean it was almost alien he decided as he stared out of the car window, watching the city of Musutafu pass him by. He had never actually been to Musutafu in all honesty, one of the few cities he hadn't in actual fact, though he rarely had work given to him in Japan. All the better for it, less chance of his being discovered, or running into old 'associates'.
His driver shifted for the third time in as many minutes, and the dark haired man slowly closed his eyes focusing his attention on the soft strains of classical music playing from the car stereo system. Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa, first name Tsukauchi, last name Naomasa. A Quirkless detective of Musutafu Precinct in his mid-thirties. Unmarried. Undoubtedly chosen as his chaperone in this instance because his superiors thought that a Quirkless Detective would be either less threatening, or that he would be better behaved in the man's company. Idiots. Naomasa had two arms, two legs, and a working brain between his two working ears and behind his two working eyes. Just because other morons underestimated Quirkless individuals didn't mean the everyone did, and he, more than anyone else, knew better than to be dismissive.
“This is it,” the Detective announced, jarring him out of his thoughts as the car pulled to a stop in front of a rather harsh looking cement tower-block. His new home. “Let's go see what the folks at Witness Protection have arranged for you,” he declared, trying to sound chirpy, but just coming across as strained. His body language and facial expressions didn't suggest fear, rather, anger and disapproval. An intelligent degree of wariness, but no fear.
“Yes.... let's,” he murmured softly as he unclipped his seatbelt and followed the Detective out of his neat black car. No doubt there would be an entire plethora of surveillance equipment stuffed in there, discreetly and non-discreetly, it would be the work of half an hour to an hour to destroy all of the microphones and cameras, but that carried with it some consequences he didn't particularly care for right now. He was too tired to deal with another interrogation, more suspicion, more.... he just wanted to be left alone. He was tired.
If listening to him taking a shit put Law Enforcement at ease, well, what the fuck ever. He'd shared a dorm room with thirty children for the majority of his life, no consideration for separate genders, all of them within the same age bracket, there were no shower dividers, no toilet dividers, and a two-way mirror dominating the far wall, security cameras at every corner. Privacy was a luxury none of them had heard of until they were being given social training. Everything was so much less complicated back then. 'Ignorance was bliss,' he thought with bitter wistfulness as the two of them climbed the stairs to the third floor. It was somewhat strange though, he noted as they walked down the corridor. Each floor had ten flats on it, but as they stopped outside room thirty-one... it was in the middle of the right hand side of the building. Where flat twenty-eight should have been. Hm, oh, the Japanese didn't like the number four because it sounded like death. Just like with old buildings in America and the number thirteen, they would just remove it and keep counting. Fair enough. Mystery solved.
The room Detective Naomasa showed him to was modest, larger than he was expecting given what he knew of Japanese minimalism and apartment life. It was two rooms, both very small, and luckily it was furnished, if sparsely. It still smelt of fresh paint in complete honesty. They stepped into a small, dark wood porch with a tiny shoerack on the right, the kitchen immediately on the left with wooden bars going from the counter-top to the ceiling in order to separate the porch from the work-surfaces. It was nothing fancy. A small counter-top, sink set beneath a window, and another counter-top with a small fridge set beneath it. There were cupboards beneath the other counter-top and the sink, a small plug-in hotplate beneath the cupboard and a single tea-towel folded over one of the cupboard door handles. There was a small living-room type space of light yellow varnished wood leading to a large window, currently cracked open to take away the worst of the fresh paint smell. A small low-slung coffee table in the middle of the room, an empty bookcase behind it, and a flatscreen TV on a stand beneath the window. To the right were three doors, a quick glance once he'd removed his shoes proved that one of them was to a bathroom, sink, shower, and one of those deep-set Japanese tubs. Middle door was to a toilet, nothing else, not even toilet paper. And the final door was to a small narrow bedroom, single bed with basic white bedding, and a bedside table with a small black lamp, and a small black desk at the end of the bed with a lone pencil-pot set upon it.
“Nice,” he commented idly. Compared to some of the places he'd been forced to live and work in, this was amazing.
“I'm glad you approve,” Detective Naomasa said, still sounding a little strained. For a moment, he gave thought to commenting, to dismissing the man but.... too much effort. “Right, here are your papers, house-key, identity papers, cover story, local map, bank details, debit card, and your tenancy agreement for the flat,” he continued a little more briskly as he rummaged a plastic wallet from inside his coat filled with papers that he presented to him.
“Thank you,” he said as he pulled the tenancy agreement out to give it a quick read. He was largely unfamiliar with what was expected, but it did seem reasonable. No pets though, shame. “Does this mean all manner of pets, non-furred included?” he asked curiously as he pointed to the clause in specific.
Naomasa nodded shortly, his eyes narrowing suspiciously for a moment before he seemed to remember he was supposed to be non-hostile and hastily trying to relax his features. He gave the man a particularly bland look before returning to the papers. Naomasa sighed, “Saint, I – ”
“Harry,” he interrupted, making the Detective pause and blink at him. “My name. My real one, or so I believe. They didn't exactly keep good records, and what little I recall of my childhood before I was sold, they never referred to me by name. Just Boy. I.... cannot explain why it is important that I don't let them take that from me again,” he admitted, struggling harshly with his words as he tried to explain why his birthname just felt... important to him.
Naomasa was silent for a time before he nodded shortly, “Alright, Harii,” he stressed shortly, “You are aware of what will happen to you should you breach any of the laws here in Japan. I don't think I need to stress the consequences any further. Here is a map of the local area, and a list of contact numbers. You'll be required to check in with this one every day, and this one once a week. Understand?” he asked in clipped tones.
'Harry' nodded, looking up at him dully. “I understand Detective. Thank you for your help.”
The dark haired man nodded shortly, and walked out quickly, closing the door with a snap behind him. Harry stared at the small flat, and wondered what Archive and Knight would have thought about it.
“.....Needs more books,” he said too loudly in the too quiet, Archive's voice whispering in the back of his head those very words from their first long-term mission where they had to live out of a Russian apartment suite in what was basically a slum, just mostly frozen over.
Bile rose like a fist, and he bolted for the toilet, vomiting the entire contents of his stomach into the bowl, all the tea and water he'd drunk while in the police station. Archive's voice whispered to him in detail about the properties of bile, and tea as he rested his head against the plastic seat and tried to breathe even as his whole body began to shake. His skin crawled, the phantom sensation of Knight's calloused too hot hand on his shoulder, how often had they found one another like this? He lost count. And even though he was alone, he could feel the hands that pulled his hair from his face, that ghosted across his skin. He threw up again. Retched hard enough to hurt. And curled up into a ball, clutching at his hair, trying to breathe.
They were dead. They were dead. They were dead.
All of them. Every single one of them.
Archive, Knight, Loyal, Foxglove, Morrow, Hen, Judge, Thicket, Thistle, Dragon, Owl, Iron, Emerald. Everyone. Even Winter and Cage were gone, but out of all of them.... those two always seemed to be able to slip out of even the most dangerous of situations.
They were all gone. And only he remained.

000

Retirement didn't suit him.
He started drinking. Heavily.
Alcohol dulled the whispers, the memories, helped him sleep. He was religious with his recycling, with keeping the flat he had been given neat and tidy, his training and ingrained discipline wouldn't allow him to let it devolve into a hazardous hovel.
He called the numbers he needed to, every day at the same time on the mobile phone he had been given.
And aside from trips to the convenience store, or the laundrette, he did not leave his flat. He sat, and he drank, and he stared out of the windows at the world afar and wondered what it was he was supposed to do with his life now.....
Archive would have known. She knew everything.
Knight had a painstakingly kept list of his secret desires, he whispered it like a prayer before bed every night. Only Archive and Foxglove knew what it was he whispered.
Loyal would have been just as clueless, but at least willing to go out and find it.
Winter..... Winter would have hit him about the head and told him to stop moping already. He was getting fat and soft and pathetic. Thistle would have tried to stab him for being so unacceptably off his game, as if his lack of focus or readiness were a personal insult. Judge would have.... ironically judged him in that stern silent way of hers. Foxglove and Morrow would have banned together with Thicket, Hen, and Finch to drag him out and explore Musutafu thoroughly. Every knook and cranny.
“.....Know your escape route,” 'Harry' echoed, the voice of their trainer, of his dorm, every single one of them droning that commandment in sync.
Slowly, as though it physically pained him, he set his half-full beer can to one side. He heaved himself to his feet, his joints aching as he found his balance and squeezed his eyes shut to the pain for a moment before pushing himself forward. With the alcohol he had drunk already, he should have been unstable, but he wasn't. He was firm, he was steady, he was moving. One foot in front of the other.
Across the room.
He stared at his shoes, they seemed so far away. But if he didn't put them on, he would never leave this flat. It felt like an age. He bent, and he slipped them on, fingers fumbling on the laces.
His hand hovered on the door handle.
He had left plenty of times before now, to the convenience store, to the laundrette, to the bins. Why was it suddenly so hard?
He grabbed the handle and shoved the door open hard enough for it to bang against the wall, he suppressed a wince and offered his neighbour a mental apology as he shunted himself out of the flat, slamming the door shut behind him. He gulped back bile and forced his hands to steady as he locked up and walked. Down the stairs, one foot in front of the other, he kept walking.
He walked. And he walked.
The convenience shop where he bought beer and groceries. He stopped. And he wavered.
He kept walking.
His hands were shaking. But he kept walking.
Why was this so hard?
It couldn't be fear. He had wondered through Cartel controlled territories in Mexico, crept on slippered feet through Villain lairs; no matter the city, no matter the country, he had never had any difficulty scouting an area, no anxiety, no reluctance. Had he already lost his edge? So soon? It had only been two months since he came to Japan. His concept of time was still as sharp and precise as ever, so it couldn't have been a mental problem brought about by the beer, otherwise he wouldn't be able to parse that anywhere near so well.
There was a park.
He hadn't known.
Just what else was around here that he hadn't known about? He needed to scout the area, it was no longer a matter of preference, but it was unacceptable that he had been so lazy in not doing it so far.
He had planned on walking past, planned on coming back later when there were no more children or teenagers lingering to eye him as he explored. But the jeering shouts, and the word 'Quirkless' caught his ears.
And he stopped.
Young teenagers, same age as his last training group, six of them all young males. Three mutation quirks, two elemental – no, one elemental, one chemical. And the final, smallest, on the floor shielding his head and neck, quirkless, victim of the other five.
'Harry' stooped low and scooped up a stone.
He had seen normal people do this song and dance a hundred times before, it was the same damn story no matter where in the world he went. The people of 'civilised' society always viewed Quirkless as burdens, as lesser. Meanwhile those within the underworld only saw a resource to be exploited. He juggled the stone for a moment, eyeing the group of boys, and nodded to himself. The blond with the chemical quirk was the ringleader.
In respect for their ages and lack of training – he used his left hand when he made his throw.
Blondie screeched in pain as the audible crack of the stone probably busted a knuckle.
Immediately the boys jumped backwards with yelps of shock and surprise, the kid on the floor peeked out between his arms with green-green eyes and freckles.
'Harry's stomach flipped over at the sight of them, and he had to look up at the other teenagers before he threw up. Knight had freckles. Bracken and Judge too. But only Thicket and himself had eyes that shade of green. That clear dragonfly metallic green that occasionally saw them assigned Seduction missions. He needed to focus, he needed to pick up more stones. Which he did in one smooth scooping motion with his right hand as he stalked towards them.
“Bare with me if I'm wrong, I've only been in Japan for a few months, but I believe your Laws have some strict words to say about the use of Quirks in urban areas,” he droned lazily as he juggled the stones in his hand, coming to a stop just outside the elementalist's range. At his age, he shouldn't be able to jet his water quirk at lethal velocity over ten feet, and 'Harry' was fast enough to dodge most things he felt, even with the amount of alcohol he had in his system.
“I'll fucking kill you, you shitty old geezer!” the blond snarled, his hand already blackening with a truly beautiful bruise even as his other hissed, cracked, and popped with explosions.
“Oh no, a villain is attacking a defenceless middle schooler and now a passer-by!” the former assassin lamented at volume, left hand coming up to cup his cheek as the teenagers stiffened and exchanged looks, apparently only now realising just how this may look to someone else, five teenagers ganging up and physically attacking a quirkless boy, and then threatening to kill someone when they stepped in. 'Harry's expression darkened as he smiled at them, all teeth and lidded eyes.
He crushed the stones to dust in his right hand.
“I'll just have to defend myself, now won't I?” he announced menacingly as he lifted his fists in front of him.
“Kacchan, he's right,” one of the kids hissed, grabbing blondie's arm, “We'll get in trouble, big time. If he gets the police involved, you could lose your shot at UA!”
For a moment, it looked like the blond 'Kacchan' was going to ignore his buddy and go for him anyway. 'Harry's grin widened in anticipation, if this kid thought he could handle it, he would gladly rip him to pieces and teach him exactly how small he was in this world. It would be doing him a favour. And it would hardly be the first time 'Harry' had done so. So many trainees had come to him after completing Basic thinking that they were the hottest shit next to Thermite. He had taught them very swiftly the error of their stupidity.
'Kacchan' spat to one side, quietly seething as he straightened up and shoved his hands in his pockets, “Fucking Deku, not worth it,” he grit out with a malevolent red eyed glare at the kid on the ground before stomping off.
'Harry' watched the brats rush off with a sigh and a shake of his head, “Useless the lot of them,” he complained bitterly before turning to the scuffed kid on the ground. Kid was a lot younger than he originally assumed at a distance, pre-teen, probably about twelve if anything.
“Stop crying,” he commanded gruffly as he knelt down and dug a handkerchief from his pocket to drag across the kid's dusty tear blotted face. The boy squeezed his eyes shut and cringed under his probably rougher than comfortable touch, but otherwise didn't react until 'Harry' pulled it away and frowned at him. He peered up anxiously through thick shaggy green hair, and for a moment, 'Harry' didn't feel sick because of the resemblance to Knight and Judge and Bracken, but because with a face and eyes like that? He'd have been sent out on a fuckton of Seduction and Termination missions already. That was probably why he was so harsh with what he said next.
“You need to take more care, stupid brat. Quirkless doesn't mean worthless, people like you and me sell for disgustingly high prices on the black market,” he snarled bitterly as he shoved himself to his feet, and then hauled the kid up with one hand on his shoulder. He probably left bruises thinking about it. He had never been taught to be gentle or soft, he was fairly certain that he wasn't physically capable of such a thing anymore.
“W-what?” the kid whimpered in fright.
'Harry' scoffed, “You heard me. Quirkless kids sell for ridiculous sums of money to the right people. You need to watch your back, it's worth more than you'd think,” he spat resentfully as he glared at a parked black car on the far side of the park. “After all,” he began, his voice dropping to a cold dull whisper, “everyone knows Quirkless people are weak and pathetic. There's no way the recent string of Pro-Hero murders could be their fault. Let them go, they can't be responsible for it.”
The kid's face lost three shades of colour, and his eyes grew another two sizes larger, if it were possible.
The former assassin nodded grimly, “You get it now. That's the kind of life that waits for people like us in the Underworld. You need to be more careful. Did you even try to defend yourself? Can you?”
The boy looked down at his shuffling feet, mumbling something about 'Kacchan' being his friend.
“You have shit taste in friends,” the older man told him flatly before sighing and rubbing his face with his left hand. “Okay. Okay-okay-okay,” he huffed and leaned back, “Stand up straight!” he barked harshly, startling the boy into doing just that.
“Hands up,” he continued, grabbing the kid's hands and lifting them to his head, “Fists curled, there we go. Turn your hips, legs apart,” he continued, kicking the child's back heel into position or grabbing a belt-loop with a finger and forcibly moving him. “And bend your knees. Good, bit shaky, but fair for a beginner.
“Now, punch me,” he commanded, standing in front of him once more, palms up and facing forward. “I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself kiddo. So you never end up like I did.”

000

Midoriya Izuku had no idea what was going on, he was aching, terrified, but he had never felt such a mixture of confusion and elation before in his life.
This strange man, gruff and disturbing, was.... Izuku was fairly sure he should be frightened, should be worried that he was potentially a villain. But.... there was just.... something.... Maybe it was the way he looked at Izuku and didn't immediately assume he was useless just because he was Quirkless. Maybe it was because he too was Quirkless and knew what it was like, but somehow, the green haired pre-teen didn't think that was the case. He carried himself like he knew exactly what he was capable of, and knew it was no small thing. He stepped in when no one else had and ran Kacchan off without hurting him (too badly anyway), and instead of just carrying on.... he actually tried.
No one else bothered, even if they cared to try and address Kacchan's behaviour towards him, they never bothered with Izuku afterwards.
This weird rough old man talked to him, watched him, and despite calling him a dumb brat every now and again, never once said he couldn't do something, or said that he should give up. It was surreal. Even when Izuku struggled, he just said work harder. Not, be better, or give up, just.... work harder. Practice. And, kami, Izuku wanted to?
“What.... what's your name?” he finally asked as the sun was going down, and sweat dribbled off his chin. He had long ago shed his school jacket and rolled his sleeves up. His arms were decorated with a hundred new bruises, none of them from Kacchan, and his legs were burning with exertion, but he couldn't help the flutter in his veins.
The old man paused for a moment, thinking about it, before he shrugged, “Harry. Potter Harry. You?” he asked idly glancing over his shoulder at Izuku with those weirdly heavy expectant eyes.
He straightened up under them almost without realising, “M-Midoriya Izuku. Thank you for teaching me. It was....” he relaxed a little, feeling himself flush and cursed his pale complexion, “It was nice.”
The old man scoffed, “If you thought that was nice I'm going to have to go harder on you tomorrow.”
Izuku stiffened, “Eh?”
Harry threw him a Look, one that made his insides twist, one that silently said 'I expected better of you', “I don't half-ass things, Midoriya Izuku. Until you can put me on my ass at least once, I'm going to keep training you,” he declared firmly stretching in the cool evening air.
Izuku was about to protest but he paused, watching the way the street-lights cast deep shadows across the old man's body as he stretched, every muscle in sharp definition. His eyes widened in shock because Harii-san wasn't much taller than him, nor was he all that broad, however, he was built like a Pro-Hero. He took Kacchan down with a stone from the pavement, he – he crushed three more in his hand?
“You.... you aren't quirkless,” he blurted in shock.
Harry paused and stared at him, “Yes I am,” he refused.
“No, I saw you! You crushed those rocks. The physical strength- ”
Harry jabbed himself in the elbow joint, and then ripped his arm off.
Izuku screamed. Only all the air was stuck in his lungs, not even a squeak managed to get out through his open mouth as the foreigner held his right arm out, and then flipped it over to show the trailing wires and metallic port.
“It's prosthetic,” Harry corrected idly. “Got it torn off by a villain when I was about your age actually,” he admitted as he draped it over his shoulder, the false coloured skin disturbingly real right up to the elbow where it vanished into what looked like an elbow support wrap one would wear for sports.
Izuku wheezed and Harry.... laughed.
He stopped sharply, looking surprised and confused at himself.
There was a moment of awkward silence between them before Harry shrugged a shoulder, “Be here tomorrow after school. Bring some gym clothes and a bottle of water,” the old man commanded starting to walk off only to pause and look back at him, “And..... tell your family? If you have one?” He scratched his head looking a little uncertain, “If they care?” he continued curiously.
Izuku nodded rapidly, “Y-yes! I – oh no, it's super late! Mum's going to freak!” he squawked when he realised, hastily zooming to the pile of his belongings.
By the time he had struggled into his jacket, Harry was gone.
Now. How to explain this to his mother?

0000

Ta'dah?
Quirkless!Harry meets Quirkless!Izuku and decides he needs to teach this kid how not to die/get kidnapped.

Shall We Dance? — Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Tsuna was pretty sure he was completely doomed, but at least he would die happy.
Potter-san had the prettiest eyes.
Takeshi-kun had yet to stop laughing at him, he was silent but Tsuna could tell. It was in his eyes whenever he looked them all over, especially whenever Tsuna spoke to Potter-san who also had the prettiest smile too. Yes, Reborn could stick a fork in him, he was done. Completely. There would be no coming back from this, not like Kyoko-chan and Haru-chan. He could feel this in his flame, burning deep within his bones and blood, his Hyper Intuition as still and silent as a lake with the certainty of it all. As deeply and wholly as he had known when he stood in front of the prior Dons of the Vongola during the Ring Battles, when he burned Byakuran to ash in the future, when he took that second Dying Will bullet from Reborn when he faced Bermuda von Licktenstein in the Arcobaleno Tournament. He knew.
There would be no forgetting him.
Even if Potter-san left tomorrow and Tsuna didn't see him again for fifty or even eighty years, he would remember this boy, remember the curve of his nose, how it turned up a little at the tip, how his glasses slipped down them because they didn't fit right, the exact shade of red his cheeks turned when embarrassed, the green-green of his eyes, almond shaped, a little round, and upturned. That single dimple on his right cheek whenever he grinned. The thin lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead that he tried so hard to hide behind his hair, little more than a thick mane of curls and spikes and waves. How he would smile at his friends, one arm around his cousin as she clung to him in overheated misery, talk to them with just a glance and a quirked eyebrow, dry sarcasm and laughter between them.
He was.... kind.
That was something Tsuna hadn't seen for a while. Not with the kind of company he kept. Kyoko-chan and Haru-chan were the closest he could claim to being kind, and they were. But it was the soft kind that came with naivety and ignorance, and not knowing how to be anything but kind. When he looked at Potter-san, it was hard for his eyes to miss the deliberate brand upon his forehead, the words carved into his hand, the thin slash that went from elbow to wrist, and the tail of something thick and ropey just peeking out from his t-shirt collar. He was hurt, had been harmed in ways that were cruel and deliberate. His hands were calloused as though he worked with a lot of tools, or weapons, his knuckles were scuffed as though used to fighting. His kindness was a choice. Much like Tsuna's was.
“Which would you rather first, phone or icecream?” he found himself asking as they stepped into the main high-street of Namimori.
Potter-san glanced down to his cousin and smiled a little, “Sunscreen and icecream first,” he decided, as she fanned herself miserably.
“The drug store will have sunscreen. We can pick a phone up on our way to get icecream?” Takeshi-kun suggested from the back, hands behind his head cheerfully. Tsuna beamed at his Rain who winked.
“That works,” Granger-san agreed with a short nod, “We should pick up some sunscreen for you as well, Ron. You burn just as badly,” she pointed out as she rummaged in her bag for something.
The red headed boy scowled in offence, “Luna goes to bloody Finland to get away from the sun. Mum puts us to work in the garden, I'm fine!” he objected.
“You peel. I don't want to go to sleep in a bed full of skin peelings,” she huffed in disgust, while Tsuna flushed brightly at the insinuation that their relationship was that far along.
“Me either,” Harry agreed with a grimace, making Tsuna's brain stall out. “Just wear the suncream Ron, you complain like a first year after Snape when you get burns.”
“Soo.... you three are?” Takeshi asked curiously, crossing his fingers together as the three looked at him in abject confusion. Granger-san got it first and started laughing, which made the boys peer at her in curiosity.
“No. Ron is my boyfriend yes, but he and Harry are practically brothers. We've been on the move a lot and sometimes there's just not enough beds, we've all gotten used to sharing,” she explained mirthfully while Harry and Ron exchanged long glances, and then theatrically fell into one another. Harry wrapped a leg around the red head's waist, the two of them speaking loud breathy dramatic English to one another that set the brunette girl into hysterical peels of laughter, and even had Reborn snorting a little from Takeshi's shoulder. Tsuna really wished he had paid more attention in English classes now. He had focused more attention on learning Italian because he was scared that Nono and his father may one day just yank him out of Japan to take over the Vongola – and without knowing the language, the two could make whatever decisions they pleased from behind the scenes and let Tsuna be the public face/puppet.
Harry shoved his hand into Ron's face, and practically threw his upper body backwards, hand on his forehead, exclaiming something melodramatically which was apparently the end of Ron's self-control as he burst out laughing, and made Harry crack up hard enough he lost his balance to the point where the two of them were having to use each other as support as they cackled.
Tsuna grinned at their antics, a little jealous that he couldn't really do the same with his own Guardians, though he knew Takeshi would probably be up for it – Gokudera-kun would pitch a fit and get upset though. He was getting better..... but still.....
“Every Sky need communication,” the blonde girl mused from beside him. Tsuna stiffened and looked down, she smiled distantly at him and directed her fan in his direction, “No one is a mind reader, and when you've been alone for so long, you forget how to talk those unspoken things. So you need to say them. Sometimes a Sky needs to be thunderous, even on a clear day.”
What.... what did that mean? Did she know about the Mafia? About Sky Flames?
Tsuna felt a chill, how ominous!

000

It was strange, Tsuna decided, the way that the red headed Ron-san and the blonde haired Luna-chan behaved in the convini. Hermione-san was carefully counting out how much change she had, squinting at the neat notes and coins in her hands with a suspicious glare on her face, Harry-kun meanwhile had immediately moved to the back of the store towards the hygiene section. Takeshi-kun moved to the drink fridges, muttering about melon cream-soda and ramune, leaving Tsuna at a little bit of a loose end until he awkwardly followed after Harry-kun, feeling a horrible mixture of lost and guilty – was he being creepy by following him? He didn't know. His only dating experiences were Kyoko and Haru, and they both became lesbians shortly after. Was he really that bad at dating that they would swear off all men?
“Is this... sunscreen? Or handcream?” Harry-kun asked slowly, crouched in front of several face-wash tubes.
Tsuna huffed a small chuckle at the cute frown on the foreign boy's face as he eyed the selection dubiously, “Face wash, actually,” he corrected.
“Ah. Right.” He scratched at his head with a frown, “I'll be honest, none of us actually know how to read Japanese,” he admitted wryly before turning those devastatingly green eyes up on him, “Help?” he pleaded.
Tsuna was pretty sure his brain broke a little.
“Y-yEaH! S-suRE!” he agreed, his voice cracking to his utter mortification.
He could taste the disappointment and scorn from Reborn, even here, on the otherside of the convini.
“Th-this one is pretty good. Factor thirty-five, and it's fairly cheap too,” he explained, his face practically burning as he leaned down and collected a tube a row to the left of where Harry was crouched.
“I think Loulou might need something a little stronger,” the foreigner admitted quietly, sounding a little concerned as he stood up and looked over to where the blonde girl was holding a bottle of chilled ramune to her cheek while Takeshi laughed at something Ron said as he peered into the fridges curiously – as if he had never seen one before.
Tsuna swallowed his embarrassment, and shook himself.
“Then.... here, Factor fifty? It's mostly for kids, but if she has delicate skin it should protect it,” he suggested, putting the first tube back and collecting another one, orange in colour with colourful rainbow hued bubble hiragana on it.
Harry-kun accepted it a little dubiously, “So little,” he muttered, weighing it in his hand.
“I think it's mostly for children when they go to the beach. But it isn't that expensive so you should be able to afford more than one, right?” Tsuna asked with a small frown, people on holiday usually brought a fair bit of money, right?
Harry-kun grimaced, “Our finances are a little tight,” he admitted before glancing over to Ron-san and Luna-chan. Instead of collecting a second factor fifty, he picked up two of the first factor thirty-five that was about twice the size of the children's tube. “As long as we use the fifty on really sunny days, it should be alright, shouldn't it? Does Namimori get very hot?” he asked curiously.
Tsuna shrugged a shoulder, “Eh, not too much. But it can get fairly bright. Definitely t-shirt and shorts weather, but we don't get many melty-days.”
“Melty-days?” the green eyed boy asked curiously, the look on his face suggesting that he didn't understand the words. Tsuna forgot that slang often wasn't taught when foreigners learned Japanese, unless they were picking it up from anime at the same time.
“Uh, days where it gets so hot that you feel like you're melting, those kind,” the Sky explained as they made their way over to the counter.
“Ooh, I understand,” Harry said with a nod and a grin before Hermione-san caught his attention with some rapid fire English. Tsuna stood back a little, watching curiously as Harry showed her the two tubes and likely explained his reasoning. Hermione-san's face spasmed a little before she looked down at the money in her hands and then said something almost gently to him. Harry grimaced awkwardly, and Tsuna really wished he knew what they were saying.
“Potter-kun is being cheap, and Hermione-san is telling him that they have enough money and he shouldn't worry so much,” Reborn announced, hopping onto his shoulder.
“It isn't being cheap!” the brown haired girl defended hotly as Harry-kun flushed and looked away awkwardly.
Tsuna caught the glance the green eyes boy flickered to his red head friend. Ron-san got burnt and peeled in hot weather too.... He was here with his younger sister and his twin brothers. That meant all four of them were likely to get sunburnt just as easily as they were all fair skinned red heads. That explained the two large tubes that Harry picked up, but that didn't..... It was definitely something about the price and – Tsuna took a closer look at the red head from the corner of his eye, and spotted the awkward stitching here and there of clothing repaired time, and time, and time, and time again. Clothing that had been taken in, and let out, that had been hemmed up, and then unpicked, that had been washed, and patched, and darned to the point of falling apart, but was still serviceable and – of course.
Second hand clothing. Four children. Not wanting to spend too much money.
“It's not embarrassing a friend,” he concluded, looking away from the red head to Harry who twitched a little and looked up at him with wide eyes. “You don't want to embarrass him.”

000

Takeshi had gotten them all drinks, none of which they would be allowed to take into the phoneshop, so the group sat down on one of the benches not too far away to finish their drinks and relax. Right now they were discussing what animal they would turn themselves into if they could, and what animal would suit them best.
Thus far, everyone was having a laugh. Takeshi had declared himself and Ron-san as dog-buddies, the two of them having concluded that they would turn themselves into dogs if they could, and had agreed that they had personalities suited to the animals as well. Hermione-san had concluded that while she would like to change into an otter, she couldn't think of something better suited to her, and despite suggestions, she adamantly refused being an owl, mainly because despite their symbology, owls were not actually all that intelligent. And she pointed out to neither being quiet, nor fond of heights.
“You could be a Burrowing Owl,” Harry suggested playfully, and ducked away from the slap she aimed at the side of his head.
Takeshi tried to declare Tsuna was a lion, the Sky refused frantically because Box animals were not symbolic of their personalities despite sharing them. Natsu was far more awesome than he was. But he couldn't say that around Harry-kun and his friends without awkward questions. It didn't help that Reborn was declaring that as lions were the King of the Jungle, Tsuna had better be one.
“Wh-what about Harry-kun? What do you think?” the brunet deflected desperately. He did want to hear about what Harry thought of himself, and what his friends thought of him too. Tsuna may like him, and everything about him made his Sky flame practically purr (which was so many levels of weird that he had yet to stop screaming internally and was kind of trying to ignore it for the moment until he could properly panic later), but he wanted to learn more and what one's friends said about him could paint a much clearer picture than anything he himself said.
Both Ron and Hermione fell quiet and went thoughtful.
“Horse,” Luna declared almost immediately, sipping at her drink slowly.
“Horse?” Harry choked with a laugh.
She nodded, “Ginny's patronus is a horse,” she explained, “She might have grown out of such beliefs, but somewhere deep inside, she knows you'll still protect her. They're loyal, symbols of freedom, intelligent, and have quirky personalities.”
Hermione nodded slowly, “It does fit,” she murmured.
Ron wrinkled his nose, “But he's totally lion material too. C'mon, he wielded the sword of Gryffindor for crying out loud,” he complained pointedly.
“That doesn't mean he's Godric Gryffindor reincarnated, Ronald,” Hermione objected with a scoff, “I think the man would spin in his grave fast enough to drill through to the other side of the planet if he knew what we got up to.”
“Clearly you've never spoken to the Grey Lady or the Bloody Baron for long,” Harry stated blandly.
“Gryffindor would have gotten along rather well with Grandfather, I think,” Luna said mistily.
“See? Lion material,” Ron stated.
“Harry isn't lazy enough to be a lion,” Hermione refuted.
Tsuna spluttered, a little offended, but also unable to deny it because – yeah, he was a little lazy. Especially when it came to studying, and cleaning up after himself, and doing his own laundry.... and home work.... and chores....
“Lions are lazy?” Takeshi asked.
Hermione nodded, “Male lions spend more time sleeping than anything else. Lionesses are the ones who hunt, bring the kills home, rear the cubs, and patrol their home territory,” she explained factually, waving a finger at them which had Ron wrinkling his nose.
“Okay, that.... that doesn't sound like him at all,” he complained.
“See?” the girl declared smugly.
“I think I'd like to be a bird,” Harry announced, breaking the argument up, “It'd be nice to fly.”
Tsuna had to physically bite his tongue to stop himself from offering to give him a lift. Piggy-back rides via the X-burner did not a romantic evening make. And now his brain was filled with memories of flying Spanner through those tunnels on his parachutes, and, oh god, why – why brain?
“I could see you being a peregrine falcon,” Hermione admitted thoughtfully. “They're fairly small and fast.”
Harry gave her a wounded look, “Are you calling me short?”

000

They got Harry his phone, though, he hadn't the faintest idea of how to use it. And it was only when he explained that his Aunt and Uncle never allowed him to get a phone that Tsuna quickly realised he was practically dealing with a technophobe – or at least someone on that level. Which was alarming especially when considering that Harry apparently knew how to fix just about every kitchen appliance known to man, and how to rewire light fixtures amongst other things. Evidentially his Uncle didn't trust electricians, so Harry learned how to do the household maintenance himself.
Tsuna taught him how to add contacts into his phone, and tried not to squee too much when his name became the first in his address book. Quickly followed by Takeshi, Hermione's home-phone, and another number titled 'Emergency'.
When asked, Harry just shrugged and said it was one his grandfather told him to ring if he ever got in over his head, a distant family member would come and bail him out. But it was only for emergency-emergencies.
Somewhat despairingly, Tsuna wondered how long Harry-kun would last in Namimori before he needed to dial that number.

0000

And chapter finished. Slightly shorter, but mainly because I am literally falling asleep into my keyboard. Enjoy your new chapters y'bastards. That's two in one day! This and Rabbit's Foot!

Shall We Dance? — Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Ginny, the utter bitch, took one look at his face and lit up like the Hollyhead Harpies had just sent her a personal invitation to join the team.
“Oh my fucking god, Harry!” she shrieked gleefully, slapping his arms and chest.
He groaned in utter mortification because of course his ex-girlfriend would notice. “Ginny, stop it!” he hissed, face burning as he tried to bat her hands away.
“Which one is it? Tell me! Is it the tall one? Cho was pretty tall, and she had dark hair, you have a thing for that. No? Your face says no,” she babbled quickly as the twins appeared on eitherside of their Lord.
“What's this?” Fred crooned mischievously as they draped themselves over his shoulders, and Harry felt his stomach clench in horror.
“Does ickle Harrykins have his eye on someone?” George asked slyly.
“What?” Ron yelped while Hermione looked up from her papers in interest. Luna giggled.
Ginny was eyeing the group thoughtfully, head tilting this way and that as she looked each of them over with narrowed eyes. Her fingers twitched on her chin, and her eyes widened before she slowly turned to look at him. Oh no. He knew that look. She knew. She knew exactly who. And she took one look at his face and knew that he knew she knew.
She grinned, all teeth, and Harry wheezed lunging for her – Fred and George handily picking him up before he could get to her and cackling as they pulled him away.
“OI SAWADA!” she screamed down to the group in her slightly awkward Japanese, immediately stopping the chaos happening below, and making them all look up in surprise. She pointed at him, and Harry hissed, twisting and slipping free of his Dark Sapphires in one of Felis's favourite evasion techniques. “MY FRIEND THINKS YOU'RE HOT-” Harry tackled her, just that split second too slow to cover her mouth as they both went down, Harry with a furious shout, and Ginny with a cackle of laughter while the twins positively hooted with glee.
Someone from Sawada's group 'hiiiiiieeee'd, and the group exploded into noise, laughter, and screaming while Ginny rolled backwards under him, planted her feet against his legs and neatly threw him over her head. He let her, rolling to his feet and directly into the hands of the twins.
He froze at the identical evil grins on their faces, “The best way to gather information,” Fred began.
“Is to cause chaos and see what happens,” George finished as their grips tightened on him.
“Oh hell no!” Harry squawked, squirming desperately as his Knights grinned wickedly.
“Hey, let's not – ” Ron began to say, taking a step forward right before the twins scooped him up bodily and threw him at the approaching Vongola group, flickers of Sapphire Aspect catching at his eyes, ears, and ankles. Light touches, not enough to dye their hair or eyes, but enough to disorientate their little Lord, prevent him from righting himself. Making him blind wouldn't work, he was too well trained for that, but putting his perception half an inch off, and tricking his inner-ear into thinking he was rightside up when he was upside down, and making him think his ankles were heavier than they should be....
He flailed like an alarmed cat in the split second before he landed on the Vongola.
Yelps went up amongst the teenagers, the girls squealing as they scattered, and shouts going up from the pale haired boys while the tall one danced back with a burst of laughter.
“Juudaime!” the silver haired Ruby Knight yelled, and Harry groaned, shaking off the lingering wisps of Aspect that clung to him and glared at his cackling Knights.
Someone groaned under him.
The Gryffindor yelped, scrambling to his feet, “I'm sorry!” he squawked feeling his face burn dark red as he found himself getting shoved away by the Ruby Knight who immediately began to flutter around his Lord. Harry covered his face with a hand, “I didn't think they would actually throw me at you.”
Sawada huffed an embarrassed laugh as his Ruby helped him up, and Harry wanted to die a little because that smile was not fair. “It-it's okay. It's not the first time someone's landed on me,” he assured him as he dusted himself off and looked up, immediately turning red when he realised who landed on him, and rubbed the back of his head as he quickly looked away. Harry was going to kill Ginny, and the twins. Tell their mother what they did and watch the – damnit, no, he couldn't do that, because then she'd know that he left the country as well. “A-are you alright?” Sawada stuttered awkwardly, peeking up at him and then away again.
“I'm fine! I – ah – I had a soft landing,” he joked quietly.
The smallest of the children, the little boy in the hat that had been waving around a rifle earlier, leaped up and kicked Sawada in the back of the head, pitching him forward directly into Harry, who froze on the spot. Did he catch him? Did he sidestep? What did he do?
“Don't be so pathetic Dame-Tsuna!”
Harry caught him. The child landed lightly where Sawada had been standing a moment later, and pointed at the pair of them scoldingly as the brunet grabbed the back of his head in pain, whirling around to face the child.
“Reborn! What was that for?!” he cried in dismay.
“You're too naïve, Dame-Tsuna,” he chided, “Your seduction techniques are too childish, and shoddily demonstrated! You are still Dame.”
The brunet went sunset red, wheezing and spluttering in utter mortification as he flapped his arms, frantically trying to formulate something to say. Frantic garbled denials and incomprehensible stutters spilling from his lips as he blushed from ears to neck, and possibly lower. And to Harry's complete and utter horror, his brain disconnected from his mouth and he found himself saying: “...I wouldn't call it shoddy.”
Immediately everyone looked at him, and he felt his face burn.
Fuck.
He immediately turned away, woodenly dropping his hands from where they had been braced against Sawada's shoulders when he caught him, “Excuse me. I need to kill my cousins,” he decided tightly, distantly hearing the sound of Ginny and the twins howling with laughter in the background.
Ginny took one look at his face as she wheezed on her laughter, and bolted, while the twins squeaked in alarm and followed suit, splitting up in three different directions; leaving Ron, Hermione, and Luna to watch their retreating backs and then see the way that Sawada caught hold of their Lord's wrist when he moved to follow the trio with a scowl.
“W-wait!” the brunet spluttered, only to freeze when Harry glanced back at him, his eyes frantically darting to anywhere but his face as his mouth opened and closed soundlessly, “...C-can we exchange numbers?” he finally burst nervously.
Harry's stomach clenched, and he felt his heart give a particularly hard thump.
“I uh...” he didn't have a mobile phone, but, he couldn't – he really wanted – but – “...S-show me where to buy a mobile phone first,” he said, butterflies erupting in his stomach at the way Sawada's face went very still for a moment as he blinked, before he lit up excitedly.
“Sure! I'd be happy to!” he said brightly, only to freeze for a moment and then turn brick red, “I – I just realised, I never asked for your – m-my name is Sawada Tsunayoshi! It's very nice to meet you!” he shouted, letting his wrist go and darting backwards a step to bow frantically and repeatedly at the waist.
Harry almost wanted to say that he knew, but he recognised a social cue when he saw one and quickly followed suit, “Ah, it's nice to meet you too! I'm Potter Harry! Uhm, my cousins behind me, the red heads are Weasley Fred and George, the twins, Weasley Ron, and Weasley Ginny, the girl. The blonde girl is another cousin, Lovegood Luna. And the brown haired girl is my friend Granger Hermione, and Ron's girlfriend,” he introduced, turning and gesturing to his trustworthy and most beloved Knights to come down and join him.
Sawada flushed and flapped his arms, “Hiiiiee! I – yes – these are my friends! Yamamoto Takeshi-kun, Gokudera Hayato-kun, Sasagawa Ryohei-niisan, Sasagawa Kyoko-chan, Miura Haru-chan, Dokuro Chrome-chan, Bovino Lambo-kun, I-pin-chan, and Reborn-san,” he introduced quickly, turning to each of his Knights in turn, the unknown little girl who seemed to have a Sworn Hand bond instead of Knight one, and the child that kicked him earlier, Reborn. His bond was.... strange. Almost a Knight bond, or would have been if the male Sasagawa sibling were not already filling that position. Regardless, there was a bond there, a powerful one. The other two girls were only Aspect Apparents, an Inverted Dark Sapphire for Sasagawa Kyoko, and a Classical Emerald for Miura Haru, neither of which had any manner of bond beyond the faintest of Territory Influences to Sawada. Aside from them, Gokudera, the Ruby Knight, glared hot death at Harry from where he was in a firm headlock, his mouth covered, by the Turquoise Knight Yamamoto who was smiling brightly at them all, the male Sasagawa stood to the back looking confused, but quiet, next to his sister while the three girls were beaming and giggling to one another with the two children, the girl, I-pin, and the seven year old Lambo who happened to be Sawada's Emerald Knight.
A seven year old Knight. Harry found his gaze lingering on the little boy with a sting discomfort. What kind of person would drag a child so young into such a dangerous situation that their Aspect would manifest? He was seven, and Sawada had been fully Crowned for three years already, meaning the child would have had to be four or five when he was put into a situation so dangerous he believed himself about to die.
“What are you guys doing in Japan? Are you liking it so far?” Sasagawa Kyoko asked brightly as the rest of Harry's friends and family arrived.
“We only arrived today,” Hermione explained with a small smile, “It's probably why Ginny and the twins have been such a pain, they don't particularly like being cooped up for long periods of time.” She, of course, meant Grimmauld Place and the Order, but the teenagers took it to mean the plane flight over and nodded knowingly. “It's very clean, I've not seen at litter yet which is surprising!” she gushed a little with a grin.
Ron rubbed the back of his head, “I – haven't really seen enough to say. Sorry,” he apologised with a sheepish smile while Luna faceplanted into Harry's back, wiping her face on his t-shirt.
“The heliopaths are mating today,” she complained breathily.
Harry squawked, “Luna! Don't wipe your sweat off on me!” he complained.
“But the heliopaths – ”
He sighed and patted her head, “I know it's hot, we'll stop off for icecream in a bit, yeah?” he suggested kindly as she nodded miserably, looking flushed and damp in the summer heat. He felt a bit like kicking himself, he had no idea Japan would be so hot in Summer, but he knew that Luna spent a lot of the summer up in Sweden and other equally Scandinavian territories to avoid the heat and sun of the British summer. She was going to burn pretty badly in this weather. He looked at Hermione, “Did we think to pack any sunscreen?” he asked anxiously.
It took her a moment before she glanced at Luna and realised what was bothering him, her eyes widened as a hand rose to cover her mouth, “No, we didn't. Damnit, I knew I should have researched more!”
He shook his head, “Not your fault. We'll just have to pick some up in a bit.” He turned to Sawada with an apologetic smile, “Sorry guys, we should probably head off. I promised this one icecream, and we still haven't found a hotel yet,” he explained as he patted the thoroughly miserable looking blonde girl on the head as she clung to him, getting him just as hot and sweaty as she herself. Gross, but he wasn't about to shove his Amethyst off when she actually wanted physical affection – it had taken a long time for Luna to feel comfortable to get clingy, and he didn't want to undo that.
“Ah, I – we could show you a good icecream place?” Sawada suggested in tones bordering desperate as he glanced over to his friends, “Right? And- Gokudera-kun should know some good hotels right? From before?” he asked the still restrained Ruby Knight who kept giving Luna wide-eyed looks of interest, having practically lit up like a puppy at the mention of heliopaths as he did at the mention of UMAs.
“Sounds like fun, I'm in! Oh, and I can show you the best sushi place in Namimori! My dad runs it, so maybe I can swing a discount on your first meal!” Yamamoto boasted proudly with a laugh.
Miura Haru giggled, “Sorry, I have a lot of homework tonight, you guys go without me,” she said.
“Yeah, me too. Sorry, Tsuna-kun,” Kyoko-san agreed with a bright smile and a small bow.
Tsuna drooped a little, “Oh, that's too bad. Get home safe you two, see you tomorrow.”
“WE WILL BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL, SAWADA!” the thus far quiet Sasagawa Ryohei abruptly roared, making all of the foreigners skip back a step. The movement jarred Luna, drowsy and miserable as she was, it startled her into snapping her hand up to her head where she had her wand twisted into her hair, her other knotting into the back of Harry's T-shirt, ready to physically launch him halfway down the street and out of danger if need be. Harry jerked at her hold, making her pause, and hummed soothingly, pushing back against her hand as he glanced over his shoulder to her. Slowly, the slightly heat-frazzled Knight relaxed, and then whined, burying her face into his arm as he huffed a small laugh at her. She didn't appreciate the momentary alarm ramping her Aspect, and thus her temperature, up.
“Bye bye, Tsuna! Nice to meet you all, I hope you enjoy your stay in Japan!” the two girls chorused as they moved off with the noisy Topaz Knight.
“You have good reflexes,” Reborn observed from beneath his hat, his head tilted towards Luna and Harry.
Harry shrugged, “We get into a lot of trouble at school,” he admitted self-depreciatingly as he gently petted his Amethyst.
“That's for sure,” Ron grumbled shoving his hands into his pockets.
“S-should we wait for your friends?” Tsuna asked, using the excuse of peering over Harry's shoulder for any sign of the trio of red heads that ran away to get a little bit closer to him.
Ron snorted in amusement wrapping an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, “Nah. They'll come back begging for scraps soon enough. Or rather, the twins will. Ginny'll just try to steal either mine or Harry's,” he said with a grimace while Harry folded his arms and huffed.
“She'll get it in her hair if she tries that after earlier,” he promised, flushing darkly in embarrassment. She was super lucky that he loved her, or he'd have done more than tackle and try to tickle her for that stunt. She knew he hated it when people drew attention to him, screaming down the street that he thought someone was hot was.... he suddenly wanted to strangle her all over again.
“LAMBO-SAMA WANTS ICECREAM!” the Emerald Knight yelled brattily latching onto Sawada's trouser legs, “Dame-Tsuna! Let's gooo! Icecream! Icecream!”
“Lambo-kun, don't yell,” the little girl, I-pin, scolded as Sawada laughed.
“Yes, yes, let's get icecream,” he agreed brightly, making the boy leap back with a 'diabolical' laugh as he struck a pose, it was actually pretty cute, a moment before Reborn attempted to round-house kick the young Emerald Knight. It probably would have landed, if Harry hadn't reached over and caught the little Knight by the back of his school uniform, neatly hoisting him out of the way, and onto his own hip. Somehow, he got the feeling that attempting to do the same to the violent child, Reborn, would have gotten his arm removed, or one of those guns aimed at his face. The fight that would have kicked off then would not have been pleasant.
“SHUT THE HELL UP, COW-BRAT!” the Ruby Knight bellowed, snatching the seven-year-old away from him, and then shaking him. Harry spluttered in horror, glancing back to Hermione who had her lips pursed in anger. Was this normal behaviour towards Emerald Knights in other parts of the world? She nodded unhappily, and he scowled. The first person to raise a hand to her was going to be beaten to death with it.
“G-Gokudera-kun!” Sawada squawked immediately flailing and snatching the seven year old away while his Turquoise Knight just laughed. Well, at least their Lord didn't treat him poorly, he noted as the brunet gently allowed the slightly dazed seven-year-old to slide down to his feet.
“Che, bothering Tenth all the time,” the Ruby Knight huffed caustically.
Ron strained chuckle, falling into step with his contemporary as the large group of teenagers began to walk away, “He's a kid. All kids are like that,” he pointed out.
“And what about you? Bothering Tenth, I won't accept it. No way,” he seethed glaring at the back of Harry's head as Tsuna lead them towards the only dessert parlour in Namimori that hadn't yet banned them for Lambo or Reborn's antics.
Ron shrugged a shoulder, “Well, you kind of have to,” he pointed out lazily, meeting his fellow Ruby Knight's furious glare with his own steady one, “It isn't your place to decide how he lives his life, y'know?”
“Just to make sure he doesn't get hurt in the process, and pick up the pieces afterwards,” Hermione agreed solemnly as she rummaged through her bag, careful to prevent their research papers from being seen as she carefully pulled out a rolled up sun hat. “Luna? Here, this should hopefully help a little,” she said, gently plonking the large hat on top of her fellow Knight, and then handing her a small wooden hand-fan.
“Thank you, Hermione. Harry, look what Hermione gave me,” the blonde said dreamily, wafting cool air in his direction using the fan.
“That's nice. But I'm alright, Loulou. You focus on yourself,” he told her gently, nudging her wrist back so she could fan herself under the hat. “– We're looking into a few things our School Headmaster said,” he explained to Tsuna with a small smile, “We wanted to form our own opinions before agreeing or disagreeing to his plan.”
“Plan?” Tsuna asked curiously.
“S-so,” Gokudera began, sliding to the otherside of the foreigners to get closer to the tiny blonde girl, “You said something about Heliopaths earlier? What are those?” he asked excitedly, digging into his pocket for a notebook and pen.
Harry nodded, paying no mind to the conversation that started up next to him between Sawada's Ruby and his Amethyst, only patting Luna's hand when she linked their arms instead of hung off him. “Mm. He wants some kind of business deal, but it involves a bit of a sacrifice on my part. So I figured I'd look into the situation personally and find out whether it was worth my while.” Right now, while part of him wanted to say yes please right away, the other part of him was significantly more pragmatic and wary. “The others came because I could find trouble in a laundry basket and refuse to leave me unattended,” he added with a grin over his shoulder at Hermione and Ron who snorted and laughed in agreement.
“When we were eleven, Harry and I were in detention helping out the groundskeeper. One of the school horses had been found dead, and another had gone missing, so we were helping him look for tracks in the forest next to the school, just in case she got loose and one of the local wolves got her. Instead, Harry manages to not only find the horse, but also the psycho that had been killing and eating them raw,” Hermione explained with a disbelieving shake of her head as she edited that horrible first detention they ever received and their adventure finding Voldemort eating unicorns in the forest, ignoring the horrified squawking of those present. “He was lucky that one of our teachers had been out star gazing that night and heard the commotion.”
Ron nudged her with a grin, “Don't forget the time when you were too ill to leave the hospital wing where we found Slytherin's secret lab, and all the horrible creepy crawlies that had been in there,” he continued blithely.
“Or the one unguarded secret passageway from the school into the village where you ended up face to face with a rabid wolf and a murderer,” Hermione continued as Harry grimaced.
“In Sirius's defence, he never actually killed anyone, he was just trying to,” he said weakly, attempting to defend his late godfather's poor decision making skills.
“Hiiiiiiieee! Th-that doesn't make it any better!” Tsuna shrieked flapping his arms in disbelief while Yamamoto-san laughed, and Gokudera sweated, making notes over whatever it was Luna had been saying in his little notebook, his recently appeared glasses fogging up with excitement.
Luna hummed dreamily and leaned even more firmly into Harry's arm, “Harry started a school wide rebellion against Government interference where he taught all of us self-defence when Professor Umbridge started torturing us.”
“And told Snape to go fuck himself!” Ron added with relish.
“Clearly the greatest accomplishment of my life,” Harry added dryly.
“Definitely the most dangerous,” the red head agreed, the two high fived while Hermione groaned, rubbing her temple in exasperation.
“Ahaha, sounds like you guys had as interesting a school life as we did, right Tsuna-kun?” Yamamoto laughed breezily, hands braced behind his head as he followed the group next to Chrome and Hermione.
Tsuna seemed to be struggling with himself as he stared between Harry and the rest of his friends, flushed to the tips of his ears, and twisting his fingers, “I – uh – Gokudera-kun and I blew up the school playground once?” he offered shyly, “B-but we were told to! One of the teachers said there was a time capsule there and that we had to find it!” he spluttered.
“What, really?” Harry squawked, while Ron whispered a heartfelt 'wicked'.
Hermione spluttered, “Blew it – you blew it up?!” she screeched, eyes widening.
“Uh oh,” Ron muttered, exchanging a glance with Harry who nodded grimly and quickly slid himself between the two as Hermione bore down on the Japanese boy, while her boyfriend caught her by the shoulders to try and hold her back.
“Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?!” she shouted, “You could have been hurt, or even killed! Or worse! Expelled!” Harry snorted, turning her glare onto him, “I don't see what's so funny Harry James Potter!” she exclaimed, jabbing him in the chest.
“Just that you said that the first time we met Fluffy,” he pointed out cheerfully, not in the least bit cowed as Tsuna practically cowered behind him.
“I knew what I was doing, damn woman!” Gokudera spluttered in mortal offence, “Tenth was perfectly safe and knew exactly what to do! If not for him, we'd have never found the proper fault line! He did the most damage and found the time capsule!” he gushed proudly, turning adoring eyes to his Boss who wobbled a weak smile in his direction.
“I think Snape would have pickled our entrails if we ever dared do something like that,” Harry said with a grimace and an admiring glance at Tsuna who flushed and smiled.
“Haha, it was really cool! They got Nezu-sensei arrested for fraudulent teaching qualifications after that stunt!” Yamamoto Takeshi explained with a cheery laugh as Hermione spluttered in wide eyed horror.
“Sorry about her, she's, uh, pretty intense about education,” Harry whispered softly to Tsuna who flashed him a significantly more relaxed smile and, fuck, his stomach fluttered making his fingertips tingle. That smile was entirely unfair.
He tripped.
He actually tripped. Him. Heir to the Black family legacy, personally trained by the World's Greatest Master Thief Felis Black, The Ghost.
He tripped over his own goddamn feet because a boy smiled at him.
Someone kill him. Please. Let the floor swallow him whole. Let him become one with the stone he was about to meet with his face.
Tsuna caught him, and they both went down with yelps.
“Tenth!” - “Harry!” - “Ahaha, wipe out!” - “You okay there, Tsuna?” - “Boss, are you alright?”
Harry grimaced and looked down at the Japanese teenager, “This is getting ridiculous. This is the second time I've ended up on top of you in an hour, and you haven't even bought me dinner,” he complained making the other seventeen-year-old squeak and flail as Harry got to his feet, and hold a hand out to help him up.
That seemed to be a bit too much for Tsuna's Ruby Knight who immediately knocked his hand away and got between them, “Keep your hands to yourself! Tenth, here, let me help you up!”
Tsuna drooped in disappointment as he let the silver haired boy pull him up, “Gokudera-kun....”
The Ruby Knight ignored him, or just didn't notice his expression as he turned on them, “Who the hell do you think you are, coming out of nowhere, bothering Tenth like you're actually worth his time! Go sniff elsewher– ”
“Ah, noisy as ever, Hayato-kun,” a smoky female voice greeted, making the group turn and the Ruby Knight to gurgle, his face immediately greying as he crumpled like wet tissue in front of the plum-pink haired young woman.
“Bianchi-san!” Sawada yelped as she immediately swept forward to hug the tiny Reborn, blushing happily as she cuddled him to herself.
The woman smiled serenely at him, and Harry felt a fissure of unease but.... She was most definitely Scorched. A broken Knight. But it was old and healed. Sawada's Amber had patched her up, she was supported by a small rainbow of Aspects belonging to the Tenth Generation, the little Topaz in her arms, and a muffled Inverted Sapphire had wrapped her up in the feeling of home and contentment. This was unprecedented, a broken Knight, almost whole? How?
“Your father rang,” the young woman announced sweetly, “He intends to visit next month. Your mother and I are cooking tonight in celebration, I'm just fetching more ingredients of love.”
Sawada blanched, “I-I see. Wh-what will you be cooking Bianchi-san?” he asked warily.
She blushed happily, “Mama said I could help her with the rice and the sauce. I should get back soon.”
“You should take Gokudera too. He's had a hard day,” Reborn pointed out, nodding to the boy on the floor that Hermione was slightly panicking over. He was foaming at the mouth now.
She sighed and set the child down on the floor, “My troublesome little brother. He's old enough now to know not to push himself.” She blushed happily then, cupping her cheek, “But it would be nice to share a meal together. Alright.”
“Forgive me if I'm too forward,” Hermione began tightly, scowling as the strange woman walked off with her brother slung over one shoulder, “But I can't help but notice the lack of concern any of you displayed when one of your own collapses like that.”
Sawada stuttered, flapping his hands while Yamamoto-san just laughed, “It's always been like that. Though sometimes it doesn't happen. I wonder why,” the taller of the two mused curiously, blinking up at the sky.
“That's because Bianchi hides half of her face,” Sawada whimpered, covering his face in both hands with dispair.
“GYUPAA! WHO CARES! LAMBO-SAMA WANTS ICECREAM! DAME-TSUNA MAKE THEM HURRY UP!” the Emerald Knight screeched, stomping and jumping up and down in the middle of the street.
“Lambo-kun!” Sawada moaned in a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.
The girl who had been silent thus far, Chrome, knelt down next to the screaming child, “You want icecream, Lambo-kun? That shop sells really good grape flavour, why don't we get some, and Boss can help Potter-san and his friends while we play?” she suggested sweetly, her girlish voice barely above a whisper but enough to be heard and get the tantrum throwing child to stop immediately.
“And we'll play? And get more candy?” he demanded insolently with narrowed eyes.
“Yes. But not too much, or Mama will be upset when you don't finish your dinner,” she explained, casting a small smile up at Sawada who relaxed and looked like he could have kissed her.
“Thank you, Chrome-chan!” he exclaimed, “I'll buy you lunch tomorrow!” he promised, clapping his hands together and bowing his head.
She giggled, “Have fun, Boss,” she said as she corralled the two older children and began to lead them towards a small cafe down a side road.
Tsuna smiled awkwardly back at them, “Shall we? The icecream place is only another ten minute walk,” he said.
Harry exchanged a glance with the others, Luna was still fanning herself and a little dazed, she would follow his lead regardless. Ron and Hermione though. Hermione wore that sour lemon expression of displeasure she had once when she found out about the house elves, he knew he was going to have to brace for an earful tonight. Ron looked a little disturbed, but he wasn't angry, just watching the way Bianchi walked away with her younger brother with a thoughtful look on his face. He caught Harry's eye when he realised he was being watched. Harry twitched an eyebrow in askance. Ron twitched his nose and flicked his eyes between Sawada and his Turquoise before looking back to Harry and then over to the departing Ruby. He shrugged a shoulder, and Harry nodded slightly in understanding. Alright, Ron wasn't too worried about that, something he was going to have to talk to him about later. Of them all, Harry had the most reliable and finely tuned Intuition of them all, but both Ron and Luna could sometimes get insight that bordered on foresight sometimes. It depended on the circumstances, he just had to trust them.
The Gryffindor turned back to Sawada and nodded with a small smile, “Sure. Lead the way.”
He'll give it a bit more time, get some more information, before he passed judgement on Sawada and his Court. Nothing was ever clear-cut, and he wanted to know the why's over the how's right now. He just had to talk Hermione out of bundling them all up and immediately cutting back to England to reject Dumbledore's plan straight out.
Sawada beamed at him, his cheeks flushed happily, and Harry swallowed back the fluttering in his stomach.
He really hoped this didn't bite them in the ass. Ginny would never let him hear the end of it if he got duped by a pretty face.

0000

Done. Special thanks to Reighost and Eyugho for helping me hash out this chapter. Also, as a heads up. I am moving TOMORROW. And the new place isn't going to have any internet for at least a week, on top of that, my phone has no data anymore, and I have no means of getting more. Hah, great stuff. O2 your mobile top-up plan sucks testicles.
So, I'll be gone for a while. Hopefully with a few more chapters to give you once I'm back but still. I'll be exhausted and probably bruised from getting everything up three flights of stairs. Should be fun 8/