Chapter 32
25 October, 1994
Juuban Ward, Tokyo
2:30 P.M.
Harry was sitting in the little restaurant area of the Crown Arcade, inwardly reflecting on the last couple of days. He'd made a deal with the oni, made a new friend, and spent almost two days shopping, studying, and sightseeing. After he found the Magical Ward of Tokyo, a lot more shopping happened.
Today, he was waiting for Usagi to show while idly doodling. A young lady spotted his odd doodling, and had asked to sit with him. That was at One. Since that point, she'd been showing Harry her own drawings and concepts.
"So you have the battle scenes and the over-arcing story," Harry summed up, flipping through various rough draft pages, "and it all looks really good. What I think that you and your partner are missing are the little in-between moments."
"Such as?" the young lady identified as Shibuko Ebara asked.
"Well," Harry paused for a moment, before saying, "like this part. You say that outside of combat for this Alice Game, they're basically animated dolls that act like little girls, right?" Shibuko nodded. "So what are they doing in between? What shows do they watch? What makes them endearing?"
"I... I don't know," Shibuko replied, going through the sketches.
"What if... What if you added a television show? Say, a puppet dog that solves kid mysteries," Harry suggested. "Maybe have one 'steal' a favorite food from another out of petty, child-like selfishness, and when accused, she draws back dramatically."
"Those are really good ideas, Harry," Shibuko replied, already in the process of sketching the ideas. "Just, common, little girl stuff. They're all inherently troublemakers, so work with that, right?"
"Exactly. Oh, I do have an idea that I think I'd like to see." Shibuko raised her eyebrows, as Harry grabbed another sheet of paper, crudely sketching two little girls in victorian dresses. One held a green alligator out to the other. "The Alligator of Truth. If you lie, it'll bite your hand off."
"As a real thing?" she asked in confusion.
"No, it's a plush crocodile," Harry explained. "But little girls have those kinds of beliefs, right?"
"Of course!" Shibuko exclaimed, now drawing feverishly. "Thank you so much, Harry. This really helps us out."
"Never a problem," Harry replied, sipping on his refreshed milkshake. "I'm just glad I could help out that other guy. He looked like he was going to cry into his sundae."
Shibuko sighed, shaking her head. "Hideaki's been depressed for a while, now. We've all been pretty worried about him. What did you give him, anyways?"
"A book on Jungian Personality Archetypes," Harry replied. "He had an idea using some translation of a religious text, but his characters were all messed up. He seemed to like where his mind went with it, so..."
"At any rate, thanks again, Harry," she gushed out with a smile before packing up her drawings, bowing to him, and leaving.
Relaxing in the booth, Harry began paying attention to the rest of the arcade. A few boys were dumping yen into various games, and a small gaggle of girls was over by the window. An oddly colorful bunch, three of the four were wearing the same school uniform.
One was blonde, with an absolute mane of hair. She was bright and bubbly, and was talking about joining the volleyball team come spring.
The bluette wore glasses, and was happily talking in her own turn about the study school she was attending, about how challenging it was going to be.
The brunette was tall, taller than any of her friends, but vulnerability lurked in her green eyes as she mentioned joining the cooking club at their school.
The last was raven haired, with classical Japanese features. She mentioned that she couldn't afford to join clubs at her own school, since her shrine maiden duties took up so much time.
The bell at the door jingled, and Harry saw Usagi walking in, her school bag in hand. She lit up when she saw Harry, but her face fell a little when she saw the four. Still she walked over and sat across from Harry.
"I'm glad you made it," she commented with a smile.
"I'm glad I did too," Harry returned with his own smile. "How's your weekend been?"
"Productive. I did what you suggested, and made the call," she answered softly. "Mousse and I went, and we're working something out."
"That's great!" Harry enthused. "We both have stuff moving forward, and that's awesome. Are you hungry? Ice cream isn't the most filling thing."
"I could eat," Usagi replied with a shy smile. Harry stood up, and she took his proffered hand to help her up. Harry heard the silence from the four as he and Usagi walked out of the arcade.
Threading her arm through Harry's, the pair walked down the street, with Usagi pointing out various shops and landmarks. Then they reached a small park, and Usagi pulled Harry onto the tiny playground.
The two sat on the swings, and Usagi asked, "So, what is Harry Potter doing in Japan?"
Harry chuckled at the question. "Well, last summer my new legal guardian was going on an archaeological expedition, and I ended up going with. Long story short, our ship got pulled in and wrecked, and the surviving members of the crew had to survive against cultists and undead samurai. I managed to get ahold of the magics controlling the storms, and part of our group got an old patrol boat up and running. There's... a lot I'm not saying," Harry edged out, "but there was also a lot of bloodshed. Like, a lot. So, that was bad. Also, my legal guardian died there in a helicopter crash, so there was that.
"We got picked up by a container ship, ended up in Thailand," Harry continued. "Since my legal guardian was dead, I couldn't travel internationally, so I ended up being stuck. Almost three months in the tropics," he went on with a smile. "Fresh fish, sea air, and I joined the Healer's Guild. There was some weird stuff," Harry admitted, "and some messed up stuff, but overall it went really well.
"You heard about Hong Kong, right?" Usagi nodded; the explosion of the Aberdeen docks had made international headlines for weeks. Her own father, a reporter for the Tokyo Shinbun, was sent to do interviews for his newspaper. "Well, the military exercises finally ended, and I was gotten to Hong Kong. Since I have a magical bank, they were able to get me to Japan by plane, and I took the ferry and then the train to Tokyo.
"Now, I'm waiting on the magical international travel thing that they do twice a month. That's on November the First, so a week from today."
"Interesting," Usagi mused aloud, not seeing the black cat hidden under the slide. "So we have a week to get to know each other?" Harry nodded. "That sounds wonderful," Usagi stated, getting up to grab his arm. "Let's go get something to eat, and I'll tell you all about Usagi Tsukino, okay?"
Ten minutes later, they were seated at a little restaurant that specialized in katsudon. Once they were served, Usagi led with, "I was born on June 30th, 1980. I lived my whole life right here, in Juuban. My dad's a reporter for the Tokyo Shinbun, and my mom's a housewife. My little brother is three years younger than me. We'd go on the occasional vacation, but mostly we were just here.
"Until Luna found me," she sighed out. "And you've already heard about all of that. Luna was sad that I was depressed, and my friends were confused when I pulled away from them. They were the four at the table at the far end of the arcade," she admitted, nibbling at her breaded, friend pork.
"I see," Harry replied, nibbling at his red cabbage.
"So, who is Harry Potter?" Usagi asked cheerfully.
"Harry Potter was born in Blackpool, England, to James and Lily Potter on July 31st, 1980," Harry began. "They met at school, the same one I go to now. There was a kind of civil war happening, but they managed.
"Until Hallowwen of 1981. The head bad guy," Harry explained, keeping in mind the mundane setting, "decided to come after me as a baby. My parents died protecting me, but something happened and the bad guy died." Usagi's eyes were glimmering with sympathetic tears, as Harry continued, "Somehow, I was placed with my mom's sister. And it was horrible.
"Ten years later, I finally get a letter from the... from my school," Harry corrected himself, "saying that I'd been accepted, and what to bring. My relatives didn't want me to go, but the school sent someone to come and get me."
Harry sighed before taking a sip of his drink. "An awful lot of stuff happened. A teacher died, a student was... You know what?" Harry asked, finishing his dish. "We should be taking this talk elsewhere. What do you say?" Harry asked, holding out his hand. Usagi smiled, taking his hand before Harry paid, and they left.
Two hours later, Harry finally finished his story of Hogwarts up until the end of his Third Year. The pair had made their way up and down streets, grazing at various food stalls catering to students, talking the entire time before finally ending up at the little park that they'd started at.
"That's a crazy story, Harry," Usagi admitted, shaking her head as she swung a little on the swingset.
"I'm guessing that the family motto is 'Potters Don't Do Normal'," Harry chuckled out.
"And you say that there's more?" Usagi asked, stopping her swinging.
"Oh, yes," Harry confirmed, still swinging a little. "There was all the stuff with my family and the inheritance, and then Yamatai, and Thailand for almost three months. I packed a lot of busy in those three months," Harry commented with a smile.
"I guess so," Usagi returned, subtly looking Harry over.
Not that Usagi had a frame of reference, but she would have been shocked at the difference in Harry's appearance since he'd left Britain. Unlike before, he was richly tanned, and his black hair was slightly sun-lightened. He was now well-built, with a runner's physique, unlike his scrawny earlier state. And his body language spoke of confidence, rather than the nervous self-doubting of before.
All Usagi knew was that she liked what she saw.
The two parted ways, agreeing to meet again the next day. Usagi went home, even as Harry wandered off in a different direction.
She began laying out her homework as Luna jumped in through the window, demanding, "Usagi, how could you tell him so much about yourself?"
Turning with a frown on her face, Usagi asked, "You were following me?"
"Of course I was following you!" Luna exclaimed indignantly. "I want to make sure you're safe!"
"I was perfectly safe with Harry," Usagi stated, returning to her homework.
"I'll be the judge of that," Luna snapped out, jumping up onto Usagi's desk.
"No, you won't," Usagi snapped back, finally looking Luna directly in the eye. "I will. You won't do anything to interfere, Luna. Nothing."
Luna shivered a little, before countering with, "What about Mamoru then, hmm?"
"What about him?" Usagi asked disinterest lacing her tone.
"The two of you were meant to be wed," Luna reminded her as she sat down on Usagi's math book. "The Moon Princess and the Prince of Earth, love through the millennia, a fated pair! What about all of that?"
Pushing Luna off of her math book, Usagi opened it, saying, "Just because something happened thousands of years ago, that doesn't mean that it has to happen again. Besides, what's Mamoru the prince of today? Is the UN going to take him seriously? Is any government? I have the Moon Kingdom as soon as I can get to it, but what does he have?"
"He has his love for you, Usagi," Luna further reminded her. "A love that crossed time to be with you, to protect you, even though he had no memories of it."
"Or," Usagi countered, "he's the guy who can't move on. I won't deny that he helped us," Usagi admitted, "but that was then. Today, we have to figure out what we want for ourselves, and for the good of our futures."
"You sound as if you've given up on him," Luna shot out bitterly.
Usagi sighed, rolling her eyes. "I haven't given up on anybody, Luna. But Harry's only going to be in Japan for the next week before he goes home, okay? As far as I'm concerned, he's a new friend who helped me out in a spot. He's a nice guy, so don't tell me to just drop it."
"I have to!" Luna exclaimed, her ears twitching as her tail lashed about. "You can't forget your duties, Usagi. What about your duty to your friends, hm? And Endymion?"
Luna watched as Usagi's mouth firmed up, her expression growing calm and flat. "Luna, I am the Moon Queen. And I forbid you to interfere in this. End. Of. Discussion."
Out of shock, Luna allowed herself to be picked up and placed on Usagi's bed. Usagi then went back to her homework.
Late that night, Luna snuck out, heading for the secret back room of the Crown Arcade that was filled with Moon Kingdom technology.
"You look like you're in a mood," came the voice of her usual co-conspirator, Artemis.
"Usagi met a boy," Luna spat out as she jumped up to a console, and the pillow she kept there. "Apparently he helped her against werewolves when her partner from Nerima couldn't make it."
"Odd," Artemis commented. "Wait, werewolves? Not youma?"
"Werewolves," Luna confirmed with a sigh. "And now there are magical police. Where were they when we were battling the Dark Kingdom?"
"Minako worked with aurors when she was in England," Artemis admitted. "We had our own go-between with the Ministry Law Enforcement and the London Met. His cover was as her English tutor, and the auror, or magical policeman, that he reported to was named Shacklebolt. Minako was in Japan for three months before we revealed ourselves, and we spent two of those months trying to find the magical society here. We didn't say anything because we didn't want to give anyone false hope."
"That... makes a lot of sense," Luna admitted. "I just wish she wasn't acting like a girl with a crush. And she ordered me not to interfere! Can you believe that?"
Artemis' eyes narrowed before he asked, "How did she order you?"
Luna sighed as she planted her face into the pillow, Her reply was slightly muffled. "She's not the Moon Princess, she's the Moon Queen. And she used her authority to command me not to interfere between her and this Harry Potter."
Artemis' eyes widened at that. "Harry Potter? I wonder..."
"What do you wonder," Luna asked tiredly.
Drawing a deep breath, Artemis explained, "When we were in England, there was a Harry Potter who was something of a legendary figure. He apparently defeated an evil wizard as a baby. Our go-between went to school with his parents. I wonder if it's the same one."
"Any idea when he was born?"
"July 31, 1980."
"It's the same one, then," Luna groaned out. "He told Usagi some of his life story. It matches."
"Huh. What a small world," Artemis chuckled out.
"Yes, small world," Luna replied in a snide tone. "But what are we going to do about it? Usagi won't let us reawaken the Senshi, and now she's acting like she's given up on Chiba! Oh, she says that she hasn't, but her interest in this Harry is too much!"
"Tell me all of it," Artemis calmly requested. And Luna did. From the fight with werewolves, to the reveal of magical police in Japan, to Usagi apparently telling Harry everything.
"So he leaves next week," Artemis stated in a calming tone. "That's good. It's means that their time together is short. Having the assistance of the aurors is also a good thing, especially if we can't reawaken Minako and the others. So far, there's nothing too bad happening, Luna. Usagi's fourteen; it's not like she's picking out the wedding kimono."
Luna slumped at that thought. "I know, but I still worry. She's still my charge, and she might as well be my own little girl."
"You're not wrong, but little girls leave the nest eventually."
Meanwhile, halfway across Juuban, a blazing fire roared as the girl dressed in a red and white priestess outfit performed her hand signs before it inside of her family's temple. And then she gasped as two separate visions came to her mind.
One was of a huge city made of crystal, and the people were happy, content. The leaders were kind and just. Challenges arose, but were managed mostly through peaceful negotiations.
The other was a vision of a storm-wracked beach, and above it a pair of rulers. Their people were hard working, and the rulers were harsh, brutal to anyone who threatened their citizens. Challengers came, and were fought to the death.
Blinking in shock, Rei Hino could only marvel that the visions were equally solid. But for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what the sacred flames were trying to tell her...
Over the course of the next week, Usagi and Harry spent a great deal of time together. Wednesday had them on the train to Roppongi, where Harry was shown something completely outside of his experience.
"Wait, you're telling me that these vending machines dispense freshly cooked cheeseburgers?"
Usagi nodded, smiling at Harry's startlement. "Mm-hmm! And that one dispenses udon, those do ramen."
"Are... Is any of it very good?" Harry asked nervously.
"They are!" Usagi laughed out. "All of them are inspected regularly, and all come highly rated."
"Well," Harry admitted, "I have a pocket full of Yen, so let's eat!"
Thursday, the pair walked through Harajuku, and Usagi led him around the various high-end fashion stores that catered to people their age. Harry did buy some clothes on Usagi's recommendation.
Friday brought them to the yearly festival at the Hikawa Shrine. Outside the shrine were food stalls and games, while within the shrine the priest and the shrine maiden were doing fortunes and blessings.
Snow had begun to fall that morning, and by the time Harry met Usagi out front of the Crown Arcade, it was coming down quite nicely. Usagi shivered at the chill; the newscast that morning had called for the snow to stop and the weather to grow warm again.
Smiling, Harry pulled off his greatcoat that he'd gotten in Roanapur, settling it around Usagi's shoulders. Looking quickly around, he cast a spell to resize it slightly before pulling out his basilisk-skin trenchcoat.
"Harry, why didn't you just hand me that one?" Usagi asked curiously, her fingertips almost caressing the exotic hide.
"Three reasons," Harry replied as he settled the coat onto his own shoulders before activating the heating runes. "First, that coat is already warm, so handing it to you was sensible. Second, I can magically hem that one, but this one is highly resistant to magic. Third," he wrapped up with a mischievous twinkle in his eye," is that you look really adorable in that greatcoat."
Usagi blushed with a smile, but still snuggled into the oversized coat.
Harry discovered that he was absolutely crap with many of the festival games. He tried Goldfish Scooping first, but discovered that his reflexes were too fast for the thin paper to survive. Usagi ended up scooping one up and giving it to him. Harry promptly tucked the goldfish bag into his backpack's Access Room.
The Rifle Shooting game was much better for Harry, and Usagi was really bad at it. Harry won her several little things, including two stuffed bears, a mask, and an embroidered money pouch.
The Plate Shaving game went to Usagi, who had a much more delicate touch than Harry, as did the String Lottery. Usagi pulled out a tag that won her an engraved, commemorative plate, while Harry's tag landed him a small stuffed tanuki.
Finally, the pair entered the shrine itself. Usagi clung to Harry's arm as they entered, and he could feel her working not to cry. But they got their fortunes, tied them to the cherry tree, and left.
Several blocks away, Usagi pulled Harry into an alley. Grabbing ahold of his coat, her resolve finally broke, and she wept into his shirt as he held her. Several minutes passed before she got control over herself, saying, "Thank you. That... That shrine has a lot of memories for me that I gave up."
"Anytime, Usagi."
Saturday found Usagi in school for her half-day, as she got out her supplies while looking forward to spending more time with Harry. He'd filled her in on the rough outline of Yamatai (heavily edited, as Usagi told him she didn't want to hear about the bloody stuff), as well as his time in Roanapur (less edited, as there had been less bloodshed there).
"Hey, Usagi," came a very familiar voice from her left.
Usagi's left eye twitched as her heart ached, but she still replied, "Good morning, Minako. How has your week been?"
"Not bad. But I've heard that your week has been better. Look," the blonde (former Senshi of Venus) continued, leaning down to look Usagi in the eye, "I know you've pulled away from us. We don't know what happened, but can we talk about it sometime? I miss all five of us hanging out."
Usagi sighed, having known for some time that this day would come. "Later, Minako. After Tuesday."
"Oh? And what happens on Tuesday?"
"Tuesday is when Harry goes home," Usagi softly replied, a trace of sadness in her voice.
"So, the mystery boy has a name," came the teasing response. "I'd wondered who the cute foreign boy was. So, how'd you meet?"
Usagi sighed, now realizing the mental gymnastics that Harry had described whenever he told anyone non-magical about his life. "We met in Shinjuku, a week ago. He's waiting on his flight to come through, and he and I just started talking. It's been really nice, you know?"
"C'mon, Usagi," Minako cajoled. "Nothing more fun? I remember you pining over Chiba, but this looks different."
"Because it is," Usagi admitted.
"And our whole class is talking about it," Minako added. "You and him on the train, at the Festival... Seems a bit serious," she commented with that teasing smile.
"I don't know," Usagi admitted, opening up her English book. "We have a good time, and we get along really well. Does it have to be more than that?"
"I suppose not," Minako pouted in disappointment, "but that's pretty boring. Why not go for it? After all, a boy in the hand is worth two bushes!"
Usagi groaned as Minako's usual mangling of a phrase of wisdom, but shrugged as the bell rang.
At the end of the day, Usagi swiftly left the school; she and Harry were planning on another long afternoon together. After she changed into something weather appropriate (the snow was still sticking around), she met Harry again at the Crown Arcade. Harry, meanwhile, was furiously playing the Sailor V video game, and working up a decent score doing it.
Finally, the game killed off his last life and Harry, huffing in exasperation, grumbled, "I swear, I almost had it that time." Harry started as an object rolled out of the hatch below. Reaching down, Harry lifted what looked like an ornate pen. Rolling it between his fingers, he mentally shrugged before tucking it into a pocket.
The pair left the Crown Arcade, and once they weren't around anyone, Usagi asked, "Do you know what that is?"
"Looks like a fancy pen," Harry stated, shrugging.
"Except that that machine is connected to the Senshi," Usagi hissed out. "I got my disguise pen from that, as well as my communicator."
"Huh," Harry commented before fishing the pen out. Looking it over with a critical eyes, he said, "Looks clean. No magical residue, it's a pen, I think."
Usagi looked it over, before saying, "I think you're right. It doesn't feel like something connected to the Moon Kingdom. Anyway, do you want to hear something interesting?"
"Go for it."
"Apparently, my entire class is gossiping about the class klutz with a cute foreign boy," Usagi managed to get out between giggles. "The rumors would be hilarious, if they weren't about me."
Harry considered that for a moment, before asking, "Do you want the rumors to grow or shrink?"
"Grow. Definitely," she smiled out.
"Then how about an afternoon in?" Harry asked.
"And how would we do that, Harry?" Usagi asked.
"Well, I have my bag," Harry reminded her, "and thanks to some innovative engineering, I have clean electricity in there. I also got a laser disc player, and something called Macross Plus. I figured-"
Harry cut himself off as Usagi fairly climbed him, raising herself up by her grip on the lapels to look him in the eye. "You have Macross Plus." It wasn't a question.
"Uh, yeah," Harry replied, now quite nervous. "Y'know, you're stronger than you look..."
"We are going into your bag, you are making snacks, and we are watching Macross Plus," Usagi stated, finally releasing him to descend back to the ground.
Three hours later, the pair was on their way to a video store, to correct Harry's woeful lack of knowledge of the Macross series in general. They still laughed and had a good time, but Harry found that Usagi could be incredibly focused. Sadly, he did let her know that he would be unavailable on Sunday, as he'd be in Nerima talking with Cologne most of the day.
Sunday came around, and Usagi finished her homework, did her chores, and mostly relaxed, warmed by Harry's scent surrounding her; he'd inadvertantly left his coat with her.