Warnings: Slash, book spoilers, manga spoilers, angst, clichés, brooding, chocolate abuse, reflected-upon child abuse, trauma, crude language, mentioned character death, Ron bashing, Ginny bashing, Dumbles bashing, mild sexual situations, AU for books 5, 6, and 7 of Harry Potter. Sort of fillery, but it's a lot of introspect for this one. Sorry!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and her affiliates. Ouran High School Host Club belongs to Bisco Hatori and her (it is her, right?) affiliates.

Features: Independent!Brooding!Isolationist!Harry, Clingy!Paternal!Sirius, and the host-bu guys being themselves

Chapter 25

Harry spent all the third second guessing himself. Was he right to protect the Hosts from something they didn't even know they were in danger from? He hadn't told them about Voldemort, his scar (well, Mori – Takashi – knew about his scar, but only that he'd had it since his parents died), or his true role in the wizarding world. He had mentioned that his parents were murdered by the leader of the Death Eaters who then went underground only to pop up again a year ago and die after the attack on King's Cross. He had mentioned – briefly – the kidnapping by Lucius Malfoy and one Death Eater unknown that had resulted in his coma.

Harry had told them a few bits and pieces of the Hogwarts stories, the way to the Philosopher's Stone being guarded by traps that a trio of eleven year olds could get through without too great an effort. There had been some mention of the basilisk and the petrified students (told only in explanation of the scar in his elbow from that particular incident), though he hadn't mentioned his parseltongue ability; there had been no real reason to mention it after all, though he supposed maybe he ought to. Revealing that Sirius was actually an escaped prisoner from Azkaban wasn't as surprising to the group as it should have been – they had read the articles published n the muggle world on the matter – and tales of the Triwizard Tournament that a spiteful Death Eater had entered him in had them at the edges of their seats.

There were plenty of things that Harry told them that had them worried for reasons both good and not, and others they were less worried about than they might have been had they known all the facts. A game of logic was something they found fairly normal and not worrisome, as well as setting a plant on fire; death-defying stunts on a broom to catch a key and the coma itself had them worried when Harry found these things fairly easy to overcome. The Hosts knew more about his adventures than anyone but his "family", Ron, and Dumbledore.

But he hadn't told him why those adventures were so important, why Harry was always at the center of them. He hadn't told them that they were under Ministry protection or why they would need that protection to begin with, which was really quite selfish of him. Sirius had suggested telling them, which was perfectly reasonable, but he just couldn't do it, and for much the same reason as why he couldn't simply leave them.

Harry James Potter was a coward, or so he thought. In truth, he was simply quite attached to his new friends and was afraid that the revelation of Voldemort might be the straw that broke the camel's back. Even more so now that Mo- Takashi apparently wanted to be... involved with him. That more than anything should have been more than enough reason to fess up, yet the more he thought of it, the less he felt that he could.

What Harry didn't realize was that his "cowardice" was more and more his protective instinct, overdeveloped as it was, clashing with his nature as a human, to be social. He wanted friends, and he wanted those friends safe. Instinctively, he knew that leaving them was a bid idea, that leaving them in the dark was a bad idea, and that making them dislike him would break him. These all clashed and created the current dilemma, which was something that he had no clue how to deal with.

The fact that he was supposed to be interviewing applicants for the job of being his chauffeur – all of them being aware of magic, thankfully, as Nekozawa had been the one to send him the contact information for the agency – meant that his attention was horridly split. The fact that he couldn't get his mind of the kiss – his first kiss and first snog, both of which made his mind squirm even as he held his body stiff – made that situation worse. And, since the drivers were aware of magic, they were aware of him, and most of them were terribly fan-ish. He did find one though, before returning to his house to agonize over his current predicament and attempt to study for his upcoming Saru exams (1).

The next morning and the thought session in his bed did not provide any further answers as the scent of lemons floated from the candle and the scent of Takashi came from the Weasley Sweater that Harry had used as a pillow for the night. Still, Harry felt significantly calmer as he got up to go about his day, even when Hedwig brought him a howler.

He was scheduled to study geography that day, as well as some Ancient Runes (how he hated that subject), and he had a floo call that evening with the Head of the Potter-Black's Plushy Buddies Corporation (started by his grandmother, Dorea Potter-Black) over a donation he had made to orphanages around the globe, and one after that with the head of his textile company about the plans for outsourcing jobs to other countries – he was hoping to keep the same number of jobs in Britain as before and simply create another factory in a less fortunate country to stimulate their economy, but he had to speak to Fergusson about it.

It was midway through his geography study time – it was so difficult to account for the 17 islands hidden from muggles, never mind the amount of inland that was completely unknown to them!) – that Harry got a phone call. He was nervous. Was it Mo- Takashi? Was he meant to have called the older boy or something? He had no idea how any sort of relationship worked, and he wasn't entirely sure what he and M-Takashi were, really. Friends with benefits? Boyfriends? Lovers? Simply at a very awkward stage in their lives?

As the tiny screen on the front of the cell phone showed, however, it was not Mo-Takashi. "Harry-chan! Haru-chan was kidnapped!" Hani said as soon as Harry had greeted him. Previously, upon hearing such news, Harry had gone into full-on protective mode. Now, however, after over a year of not having to do anything death defying or anything, he calmly stood up and started walking to his room.

"Kidnapped? As in honest-to-goodness kidnapped or that those Lobelia-girls borrowed her again?" he asked over the line.

"A lawyer from Tama-chan's father's hotel chain said that she saw Haru-chan get pulled into a car," Hani explained. It was then that Harry noticed the lack of childish whine to his voice, but rather that he was all business. It was a strange thought, that Hani would act his age, but the thought was dismissed as Harry doubled his pace, already thinking of what he should bring with him – Peruvian darkness powder was a must.

"Can you give me the coordinates for where to meet you lot? I can get Sirius on the job too and contact the aurors," Harry asked quickly. The moment he'd heard the word "car" he'd become fairly certain that this had nothing to do with him, in that it wasn't Death Eaters (as if they would use anything so muggle as a car!), which made him wonder who was doing the kidnapping. Probably someone with something against one of the Host boys hoping to get a decent ransom for their friend.

There was a moment of silence – relative given the clamor in the background – before Hani spoke again. "Kyo-chan thinks he knows where Haru-chan is," Hani imparted. "We're in a cab right now, but we're still ten minutes away from there. He said the coordinates were..." he trailed off for a moment before listing off the longitude and latitude, which Harry knew fairly well. It was the right next to the apparition point nearest the ramen shop he frequented, a dry-clean service that was right on the alley.

"See you soon, Hani-senpai," Harry said before both phones were clicked and he set to work, sending a text message to Sirius. The adrenaline pumping in his veins was like a natural high that he only experienced nowadays in flight, and even then rarely. It was intoxicating. But Harry didn't allow himself to drift off topic in his thoughts and apparated to the small alley. He didn't even think of the press appearing, as they had been doing for the past... was it only five days? He was more interested in why Haruhi had been taken to a dry-cleaning service by her captors.

Many things may be said about the Weasley twins, and one of them is that they are ingenious inventors. This had been proven quite thoroughly when they came up with the "Extendable Ear" and other such marvels. While Harry did consider using one of their products, he found that somehow it lacked. It didn't lack anything in particular, it just lacked. Maybe it was his Gryffindor side coming out to play – it hadn't the chance in a long time – but Harry instead went around the back and knocked on the door.

When it was opened by a young man – no older than twenty-five, surely, and not much taller than Harry – who was looking a bit teary eyed, Harry realized that something was up. Again. The fact that he could actually see Haruhi tied to a chair by a sheet (with a shoe-knot of all things, and notably loosely) made that all the more obvious.

"Good afternoon, sir, Haruhi-kun," the adrenaline died down, leaving Harry slightly shaky. There was no need... again... but it was better safe than sorry. Even if t had been a prank of some sort this time, he would go to help his friends every time, even if each time it was a joke, for the fear that he really might lose them. Really, he was immensely pleased to find that she was safe and sound, without so much as a scratch on her. Harry liked healing, he even liked coming to the rescue, but he liked even more when it was unnecessary. Every time he had a potion that didn't need to be used, he felt just a little bit better about the world as a whole.

Or maybe he was just an idiot like Snape had always said. There was really no knowing.

Of course, the man panicked and pulled Harry through the door, allowing him to see an older man and another about the same age as the first. They were very inexperienced as to what they were doing, obviously. When he pulled out his phone to call of Sirius, the aurors, and tell the Hosts that Haruhi was fine and that they could probably forego kicking down the door or any other such thing, the third man panicked as well and tried to take the device away.

"Stop it," Harry warned. "I'm just calling my godfather to tell him that he doesn't need to bring in a SWAT team." This shut them all up quite soundly as they seemed to realize that Harry was of the elite. Ironic in that any half-experienced group of criminals would have noticed the size-difference and taken him down, threat or no threat. Instead they bowed backwards to Harry's commands and hushed up while Harry called Sirius and said that he could call of the aurors (he made sure to talk in English so that any odd words would go unnoticed by the men), and that he could come if he liked, but to go through the back way.

It turned out that the three men ran a dry-cleaning service that had taken care of the laundry for the Suou hotels, but the contract had been terminated on the New Year by the matriarch of the Suou family, taking away 70 percent of their income. Harry untied Haruhi (it was very easy, as they really had tied it loosely) while they spoke, and noted that they did a better job than even Rory, who was in charge of the laundry at the Potter household. When Sirius came bursting through the back door to find everyone talking, he got into the act, and exactly point-eight seconds before a knock sounded from the front of the shop, he could be found declaring that he would "totally use their laundry service!"

When Tamaki, Hikaru, Hani, and Mor-Takashi entered the shop and found Harry sitting cross-legged in his chair, Sirius being himself, and Haruhi looking completely unharmed, they all calmed down... though Tamaki still took the opportunity to be the first hug his "daughter" (though he had not referred to her as such at the time, curiously enough) and apologize for the harrowing adventure. Hikaru got second hug, and when the second car arrived, Kasanoda got the third hug of the girl's admirers (2) (Harry figured that the hug Hani received didn't count as from an admirer since he didn't seem interested in Haruhi beyond a friend or sibling type relationship).

With the promise from Tamaki to talk to his grandmother and his father about resigning with the small business – not that it was necessary now that they had been signed with the Lord Sirius Black and, by extension, the Harry Potter (who was less known to muggles, but would eventually be a big name) – everyone left the shop. The multitude of paparazzi outside who immediately started snapping pictures of Harry in his comfy day-ware with his friends who were dressed for the temples and Sirius who was wearing a suit from his interrupted date with Ranka. It was an eclectic mix that would make the front page, the gossip columns, and likely decorate girls’ walls worldwide in a matter of hours. It was honestly ridiculous.

“Mr. Potter, how does it feel to –“

“Why did you –“

“Is it true that –“

“Why Japan?”

“Who are these –“

“Mr. Potter –“

Harry grimaced mentally – he couldn’t show any weakness to the world, let alone his adoring public and the Death Eaters who would be reading whatever this moment ended up in – and sighed just as mentally. Great. He had to deal with being chilly (it was, after all, January, and he hadn’t dressed in anything warmer than a sweater and jeans) and the paparazzi. Had he been thinking when they were still in the Laundromat, he would have gone out through the back door same as he entered to get to the apparition point, never mind what the muggles who ran the place would think. At least it would have saved him from… this.

Harry raised his hands in a placating gesture and the reporters hushed, though cameras still clicked wildly. “Please keep in mind that this is a muggle neighborhood,” he began – or it would seem he began. Really, he was trying to figure out how to get his muggle friends away and keep his sanity intact. Reminding the reporters that they were around muggles – even if he didn’t state that his friends were muggles – would stem the flow enough to stem the encroaching headache. “I can guarantee that I will not be footing your bills.”

It wasn't really a warning, just a note. Still, the reporters did pause for a moment, which gave an opportunity. In particular, it gave Mo-Takashi the opportunity to strong-arm a path through the throng of clamoring reporters, a few rabid fans, and the wildly clicking cameras. With Harry's wrist clasped tightly in his hand and Hani riding on his shoulders, Takashi shoved a path through them, allowing the rest of the Hosts (as well as Kasanoda) to barely squeeze through behind them to make their own escapes, though Sirius made a human sacrifice of himself and stayed behind to keep the reporters at least somewhat busy.

As he was ushered into a swiftly flagged taxi, Mori-Takashi sliding in beside him and Hani taking the other side, Harry let out a breath of relief. Being famous sucked.

He didn't often ride in cars – something that was going to change in about a week when his driver started – but he did know that, normally, it was the smallest person (or a smaller one than Takashi at least) that rode in the middle seat, as the 6'4" Host would be blocking the rearview mirror. Kaoru slipped into the passenger seat of the car and told the taxi driver to follow the black car that the rest of the group was taking back to the temples.

And, really, he could understand why the boy beside him – he still didn't know what yesterday made them – had placed himself between Hani and Harry. Sort of... though it was a terribly symbolic motion that a literature teacher would pick apart were it written in a book. Takashi was dedicated to Hani and had been since... well, all his life so far as Harry knew. Whatever it was that Takashi and Harry were to one another, Harry wasn't going to interfere with that dynamic; he wouldn't "get between them". Likewise, Hani wasn't going to "get between" Harry and Takashi.

The fact that Takashi had lifted his arm to give Harry a bit more room (and "discretely" have said arm over the younger boy's shoulders) caused Harry to lean on him slightly and made it so he wasn't squished up against the door. It was a highly intimate action to Harry, who didn't let just anyone hug him – the arm-over-the-shoulder motion was, in his book, a sort of half-book – which he was sure that Takashi had noticed.

He almost wanted to ask what exactly they were, but... well, there were other people around them, obviously. So it wasn't going to happen. It was one thing to confess to Takashi in private, even to be cuddled up to him like this (though Harry's face was feeling rather warm) with Hani and Kaoru in the car – to someone who didn't know what had transpired between the Wild Type and the young wizard but did know Takashi's personality at all, it would be taken as Takashi being his usual considerate self by not forcing Harry to be jammed up to the door – but bringing that up, especially around others, was sure to be more than a little embarrassing. It promised it, actually.

As they pulled away from the curb (and the reporters), Harry wondered just when he had been invited to accompany the Hosts on their outing to the temples, though he didn't protest. If he did, they would pull over, the reporters would reappear, and he would probably have the truth about everything divulged to the Hosts through one question mentioning his defeat of Voldemort. Hopefully, he could lose them before apparating home to study, though... well, he didn't much feel like studying all of a sudden.

It was as that thought flitted through his mind, that Harry thought of something that he really hadn't been thinking of and probably should have. Mor-Takashi was not as safe as he might have been a few days ago, and it had nothing to do with Death Eaters.

Harry had forgotten about the fangirls.

While Takashi's fangirls from the school were generally shy, mild-mannered girls who would like squeal (and cry) in secret over the thought of their beloved Mori-kun being at all taken with another boy that way, Harry's weren't half so nice. When he had popped into Diagon Alley after being released from St. Mungo's, he had felt rather like a rock star after he escaped the mob of people given the amount of panties, bras, and – Merlin forbid – g-strings that had been stuffed by various witches and wizards into his pockets (he was fifteen years old! It was disturbing).

Never mind those who were obsessive and delusional like Ginny or Colin Creevey; whatever fate the fangirls/boys brought down upon someone who did have Harry's affections would be horrible to contemplate. The impossible became reality around Ouran often enough as it was. Whatever it was that existed between Harry and Takashi was probably best kept secret if only to keep the fangirls and fanboys happy. His ruse to keep them complacent before going to Ireland with Sirius had been – telling the girls that he liked boys and the boys that he liked girls (it wasn't a lie, technically) – had only worked for so long before he snapped and went into recluse mode to await his escape with Sirius to Ireland.

The rage accompanying this action had made him fear the wrath of the rabid fan.

"Harry-chan, what are you thinking about?" Hani asked, his head peeking around Takashi's torso. Harry leaned forward slightly, though he didn't lose any contact with Takashi (actually, he might have increased it a bit since his hand was now brushing the older boy's knee). Kaoru wasn't paying attention as he was already on the phone with his brother about something, likely to do with Haruhi.

"The horrors that are my fanclubs," Harry admitted. "I hadn't really though of it before, but they'll be absolute terrors."

"So you really are famous then?"

"Aa... yeah, I am," He responded a bit bashfully. "I said so, didn't I? That's part of why I came to Tokyo in the first place; I'm best known in Europe, particularly Britain. This is about as far away as I could get, and it's the last place anyone would have thought to look for me. No one here would have recognized me before without seeing this –" he pulled back his bangs, revealing the scar that, in all likelihood, Hani had only seen once or twice, "and I've been covering that up. Now though... well, my face is plastered over the front of every newspaper in the world."

"But why?" Hani looked genuinely confused, and while Harry knew what he meant by the question... well, he pretended to take it another way.

"I was injured about a week ago and had to go to a wizarding hospital to get fixed up," no need to mention the how of that one. If Takashi hadn't mentioned it, than Harry wasn't going to divulge the embarrassing episode unless directly asked by Hani (he was already stretching the unwritten law by taking the question the wrong way). "Tipsy used my name in the elevator though, and the woman in it with us told the papers. The article was worldwide next morning, and I've been dodging reporters, pictures, and fans all week. I thought they might be smarter than to mob me in a muggle area, but... well, they obviously aren't." Mori – Takashi damn it! Why was it so hard to remember? – shifted slightly in his seat, though given they were all sort of crammed together, Harry noticed easily and sighed. "It wasn't your fault, Takashi."

The world seemed to grind to a halt at that statement. Hani stared at Harry and Takashi as though Harry had purple skin (when they had both shown up for Harry's second dance lesson and Hani's second interrogate-Charlie-about-dragons session, Fred and George had spiked Harry's coffee to turn him purple) and Kaoru's head whipped around from the front seat, cell phone slightly slack in his hand, just as surprised. It took Harry a moment to process why they would react at all; only he and M-Takashi knew that he was calling Takashi "Takashi." Really, he had reacted the same way when Harry had first called him "Takashi-sensei", so it was hardly unexpected. Harry opted to ignore this.

"Anyway, that's why there seems to be about a million foreigners in the area right now," Harry continued as if he wasn't getting stared out. Knowing Hani though, the unanswered questions, both spoken and not, would have to be answered later. "They're mostly from Britain, but there are loads of others from what I've read. Actually, I've seen some people I know personally as well, though I haven't had the opportunity to say hello to them given the sheer amount of people who tend to appear at once."

Well, there had been the maybe-sighting of Oliver Wood at the first swarming, and he was sure that the Patils and Ernie McMillan's family had popped up on New Year's day when Harry and his "family" had been out. Also, he'd read an article on the second that reported that the post-poning of the up-and-coming Japan vs. Bulgaria Quidditch match due to some personal issues with Bulgaria's seeker, Viktor Krum. Both Krum and his purported girlfriend, the French veela and his fellow Twiwizard Champion Fleur Delacour, had been sited in Tokyo. (They were not really dating, as Harry knew.) Harry had even received a howler from Fleur that very morning. Apparently, Harry was a hard person to find.

The reporters would disagree, he was sure, but Harry was more wondering why they cared... and why Hedwig had gone to find them.

Kaoru sent Harry another strange look before returning to his conversation with Hikaru, staring out the window instead, and Hani seemed to decide to held his tongue on the matter... for the moment. Conversation returned to normal – that is, being not about Harry – with Hani talking, Harry interjecting on occasion, and Mori-Takashi simply being there, though he did pipe in with several sentences to settle a debate between Harry and Hani about the merits of scar tissue over proper healing of flesh (as Harry couldn't mention magic, it was hard to support his side). It was odd to feel Takashi's voice rumbling and vibrating through Harry's side, though it wasn't a bad odd, and Harry really did like his voice.

He honestly considered the Hosts friends, he had for going on three months now, but it was strange to think of being comfortable around people as he found he now was around them. It was almost surreal to the orphan, especially considering how much he knew they knew of him. Even the pitying looks from Tamaki had stopped before the revelation of magic and they hadn't resurfaced – a good thing since Harry really did hate pity, unreasonable as he knew that to be. Life was good, really good, and he knew that it wouldn't be for long because he was Harry-Bloody-Potter.

As it was, Harry simply allowed himself to enjoy the waning New Year's festivities, ducking through the crowds to keep hidden from reporters and genuinely having a good time. He knew that he ought to study – exams were only a couple of months away and he wasn't even getting a formal education in his magical subjects – but he didn't really feel like studying. Besides, as Sirius had said many times before dragging Harry off to do Merlin on KNEW what, his “brain needed to cool off a bit.”

At one point, Harry found himself standing in a line to get sodas with just Hani. Kasanoda had bought Haruhi some dango, which prompted Hikaru and Tamaki to try and buy out the entire stand for the girl. Kyoya and Kaoru had gone along to prevent their respective charges from being more stupid than usual, and Mei because... well, Harry didn't actually know her very well, but he suspected that she just liked to watch her friend be terrorized by the Hosts. Harry, Hani, and Takashi were not getting involved because they honestly didn't care to interfere in the love quadrangle, and since Kasanoda had been the one to buy the dango anyway, he was involved rather than interfering... Harry truly felt sorry for him for that. Then Harry had decided he wanted a soda, as did Hani and M-Takashi, but Hani also wanted to go to a stand that had something very much coated in strawberries. So Takashi had left the sodas to the shorter pair and gone to buy some of the desserts himself.

Hani took this opportunity to ask Harry the one of the questions that had gone unanswered before. Specifically, he asked, “what happened that got you hurt, Harry-chan?”

It was better than him asking why Harry was so famous. He'd told them something, about surviving the attack on his parents, but beyond that... well, it was only a matter of time before he was asked something he could not in good conscience avoid answering. And everyday they grew deeper into it, too.

“It was during one of the dancing lessons with Takashi, the last one actually,” he shifted slightly from foot to foot. “We took a break and... well, he was exhausted, I guess. He even yawned; I dunno if that's abnormal, but it seemed that way to me. He ended up falling asleep on the couch in the room we were using as our dancing space, but he was sitting up... so I tried to figure out how to get him laying down so he wouldn't have a crick in his neck, you know? He ended up falling over – unbalanced himself – and he landed in my lap.” He got to that part easily enough – he didn't even blush! “I ended up falling asleep after a while... but I guess Takashi didn't react well to waking up in my lap.”

Which was an understatement, but in Harry's opinion, there was nothing wrong with the response. Takashi probably hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep, and suddenly he had awoken with his head in a lap, which was certainly a confusing prospect. Still, Harry's tongue had been a bit sore for the next day after the pain killer wore off. He recalled Takashi's own tongue brushing that scar and held back a shudder... he shouldn't be thinking about that stuff while he was talking with Hani though.

Besides, the younger boy was urging him to continue, so he did.

“When he woke up he hit my chin sitting up and I kind of bit half-way through the tip of my tongue,” Harry scratched the back of his head in an abashed manner and still managed to contain his blush... though he was feeling a bit hot under the collar regardless. Maybe he should tone down the warming charm. “But Mo-Takashi got me to the hospital within a minute. I could tell he felt horribly guilty about it, though I tried to tell him it wasn't his fault... but well, he's Takashi.” Far too noble – like Harry.

“Takashi doesn't yawn when he's sleepy though,” Hani murmured, almost too quiet for Harry to catch. “What was he like before he fell asleep?”

“Well, he was exhausted, like I said,” Harry furrowed his brow. What did that have to do with anything? “You know, dead-on-his-feet style tired. Like in November, the when you guys thought I'd been kidnapped. I was going to send him home, but he fell asleep and I didn't want to wake him up.” They stepped up to the front of the queue and Harry ordered the sodas – strawberry for Hani, grape for himself, and root beer for Takashi – while Hani had a contemplative look on his face. Takashi was still in line for Hani's desserts so they waited near a fish-catching booth.

“He wasn't... acting funny? Not charming or like... like Tama-chan?” Hani asked after a moment.

“Er... well no,” Harry took a sip of his soda and thought for a moment. “I only saw him like that once... over the summer I think? Sometime after Fred and George's first visit, I mean. I don't remember it very clearly mind, but he wasn't like that this time.” It wasn't like Takashi was like that every time he was sleepy. He remembered quite distinctly seeing the dead-on-his-feet M-Takashi in November.

The confused look on Hani's face stuck until Takashi returned with the strawberry... whatever it was. It looked like a sort of funnel cake, but Harry wasn't sure, and he was fairly certain that they didn't usually have strawberries, but that's what it looked like. Surprisingly, he had something covered in cinnamon and sugar for Harry as well, which earned him a smile. Harry did rather like cinnamon... but the short conversation with Hani did leave him somewhat suspicious, especially since the boy was sending his cousin confused looks that only Harry caught.

They met up again with the rest after Haruhi had convinced her two most persistent admirers that she rally didn't need that much dango and he remained with them for another couple of hours (the dessert was terribly messy, and Harry could swear he could feel Takashi's eyes on him as he licked the cinnamon from his fingers) before he really did have to go home again.

Therefore, he did not hear Hani when he turned to Takashi and asked him a question that all of the Hosts, Kasanoda, and Mei did hear (for Hani would have asked in Harry's presence just to get the two to do something about one another).

“You pretended to fall asleep, didn't you?”

Of course, it was all Greek to everyone else as they hadn't gotten the back story from Harry, but the fact that the tallest Host actually blushed before letting out a small “Aa” certainly perked their interest.

Author's Note: Just as hard as it is to change in writing how I refer to Takashi, it is for Harry to call him Takashi. Seriously, have you ever had anyone you know change their name? It will take a bit before the occasional Mori stops slipping in... which makes a nice cover for me forgetting, ne?

(1) Saru, meaning monkey, is the Japanese equivalent of OWLs (so says me)... but don't ask for what it stands for, 'cause I dunno. Since Harry is sixteen and approaching the end of the school year, this would be the time when, were he a student in Japan to begin with, he would have taken the Saru exams anyway. As a note, he did take OWLs before going to Japan, but the only ones he got better than an A on (since he didn't have all the material, duh) were DADA, Charms, Herbology, and Potions (this was after he got his magical first-aid license, so he knew a lot about Potions and Herbology by then, plus he's always been good with Charms with some exceptions, and he knew a lot of DADA stuff from the TWT). He scraped an A in several other classes, and his worst grades were in History, Transfiguration (remember how much trouble he's had in that class through the years?), and Divination.

(2) To those who read the manga, yes, I know he wasn't there canonically. Nor was he at the New Year's Party or any other number of events I have placed him in. See the pattern? Deal with it. Mei, of course, is still at the temples with one of Kyoya's bodyguards... because I wanted Kasanoda to go in the car and not her. So nyah.