elmo-doodle: first of all, I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed this fanfic so far! Seriously, reviews really make my day! And secondly, I'd just like to apologise if this chapter seems rushed. I'll probably go over it again at a later date and alter it, but then again, I probably won't _ . Haha. This chapter was written while I was wearing gloves, so more apologies for any spelling mistakes. It's too cold here to have bare hands. I'm probably more layered than a cake right now. Other errors in this chapter can be blamed on my headache, and also alternating between writing and doing a composition on a laptop. Anyway, please read! :D

Chapter Three

"He welcomes you to his opera house."

Haru had to give it to him – that stranger sure was fast. Haru was lucky to be able to keep him in sight.

She weaved in and out of the people on the sidewalk, shouting apologies now and then whilst keeping her eyes trained on the orange-furred man ahead of her. One thing Haru was positive of was that no-one else saw the strange creature that she was pursuing. Well, people saw him, but the obviously couldn't see the fur that lined his face.

The man disappeared down a hidden alleyway and Haru, thanks to her cat-like reflexes, was able to make a sharp turn before she ran straight on past it.

It suddenly became even harder to follow him. The alley became narrower and Haru found herself following the man up a flight of stairs, across a roof, over a wall… she began thinking that maybe he was leading her on a wild goose chase, when he slowed down and passed through an archway.

Haru stopped to catch her breath, still clutching the man's book in her hand. She could see through the archway that there was a semicircle of house, so it meant that the man wouldn't have anywhere else to run. Slightly hesitant now, Haru made her way towards the white arch, not fully aware that she was crouching defensively as she did so. She steadily approached the archway, and passed under it.

As she walked through, she felt some strange energy pass through her body. Spinning around, she tried to find anything to indicate what could have caused it, but the archway just stood there innocent. Shrugging it off, Haru observed the collection of houses that now surrounded them. All of them were daintily built, ranging in size, colour and shape. As she walked further in to the enclosure, she observed a tall pedestal at the centre and on top of it was the gargoyle of a crow. For some reason it creeped her out.

Haru looked around the houses again to try and figure out which one the man had gone in to. All the houses appeared to be empty. She took a quick look around again before noticing something different about on of the houses. It was a smaller than the others. This house had a green frame around it which also stretched around the windows and the large wooden doors. There was a balcony which had a pair of glass doors leading inside, and a stone barrier surrounded it. The windows at the bottom had cream-coloured stones set around them, which also went around the door. These features drew Haru's attention to it, but the chair, streetlight and post box outside the front of it possibly indicated that it was occupied. Deciding that she might as well give it a go, Haru walked up to the house and knocked on the door.

She heard something being set down as footsteps moved towards her.

"Muta, since when do you knock?" Haru recognised the man's voice. "You usually don't have such manners…"

When the door opened Haru tried not to laugh at the man's shock when he saw her standing there. Instead, she smiled politely.

"I don't mean to intrude, sir," she said, "but you dropped your book in the park." She held out the item for him to take.

The man didn't make any movements, still appearing to be in a state of shock.

Haru frowned. "Sir…?"

He blinked once. "How did you find this place?"

Haru tilted her head to the side. "I followed you…" she explained.

"No, no," he said, shaking his head. "You shouldn't have been able to see the archway to the Refuge. No one can see it except for me and Muta."

"Well, it isn't exactly hard to miss," Haru said. "Especially with all the brightly coloured houses on the other side…" He didn't say anything. "Are you okay, um…" She still didn't know his name.

"Oh, excuse me," he said, and he bowed. "My name is Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, and this is the Refuge." He gestured to the area surrounding them. "And what might your name be?"

"Haru Yoshioka," she said, bowing. "Again, my apologies for following you… it was just that…" She didn't really want to say that she had followed him because of his strange features.

But she didn't need to. "I understand why you did follow me," he said sombrely. "Please, come inside." He stepped to the side of the door to allow Haru to enter.

"Thank you," she said, and she stepped inside his home. "Wow…" The house had looked small from the outside, but inside the ceiling was impossibly far above her. The inside walls were covered in light butterscotch coloured wallpaper, which was separated at intervals by painted green frames. The room on the other side of the door was wonderfully furnished with slightly old-fashioned armchairs, an ornate mirror and a grand white cabinet.

"This place is beautiful," Haru said once she was fully inside.

"Thank you," Baron said, closing the door behind him. "Please, sit down."

Haru nodded and seated herself on one of the armchairs. When she was settled she noted that the chair was as comfortable as it looked.

"Would you like some tea?" Baron asked as he busied himself at the cabinet.

"Yes please," Haru said. She remembered the book that she was still carrying. "Oh! You dropped your book on…" she looked at the title and stilled for a moment. "… on Perfecting the Magical Talent on Elemental Control…um…"

Baron chuckled as he brought her a cup of tea. "It's probably a good thing that you were able to follow me here," he said. "If the wrong person had picked that book up it would have resulted in chaos."

Haru nodded and handed the book to him and accepted the tea. "I've seen a book similar to that before…" she said, almost to herself.

"I'm not surprised," Baron said, sitting in the chair opposite of her. "I imagine that someone with your bloodline would encounter many books like this."

Haru frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"There is strong magic that flows in your blood," Baron explained, also frowning. "If I hadn't been so hasty to escape you earlier," he smiled a little guiltily, "I probably would have noticed it sooner. I only took the time to investigate when you appeared on my doorstep."

He gazed intently at her. Haru felt a little self-conscious, so she took a sip of her tea to distract herself. "Whoa, this is the best tea I've ever tasted!"

Baron smiled. "Thank you," he said. "It changes every time I make it."

Haru nodded and focused on drinking the rest. When she had finished, she set the cup down on the table in front of her.

"Um, Baron-san," she began.

"Just 'Baron', please."

"Baron," she began again, trying not to notice how nice it sounded, "I was just curious… but why did you run from me in the park?"

She had expected him to be offended that she had asked, but instead he smiled. "I was expecting you to ask me that," he said. "I was surprised. You see, I have a spell which enables me to appear, shall we saw, 'human' to those that encounter me. There's never been someone who had seen past that disguise. That's why I panicked when you fearlessly reached out to my ears." Haru giggled nervously. "I was worried that maybe the spell had broken, but nobody on my journey home reacted as if they had seen what you saw. It was appropriate that I returned home as soon as possible to see if anything was wrong."

Haru stayed silent through his explanation.

"Miss Haru," he began after a moment. "It shocks me more that you do not seem to be… troubled by my appearance."

Haru smiled wryly. She closed her eyes and focused on herself. Baron watched her in confusion before suddenly a pair of cat-ears, the same shade of brown as her hair, appeared on the sides of her head. When Haru opened her eyes she almost laughed at his expression.

"Let's just say that meeting you wasn't the strangest thing to me," she said. "I was born under the spirit of the Cat, and for some reason I took on certain cattish attributes: I have a tail; I purr and hiss. Heck, I can even climb up a wall like I'm Spiderman."

Baron broke out of his shock with a chuckle. "You certainly are unusual," he said, still slightly disbelieving at what he saw. "I take it that you descend from an ancient magic bloodline?"

Haru nodded. "It runs on my father's side of the family. They're all experienced magicians."

Baron studied the strength of the aura surround her. "Miss Haru…" Haru smiled to show that she was giving him her full attention. "I noticed that you have strong blood… but it is not refined. Do you practise with magic at all?"

Haru shook her head. "My father has always wanted me to become more practical with magic. I'm the only one in the family who doesn't want to improve my power. What about you?" she asked. "Does magic run in your family?"

Baron suddenly looked downcast and Haru immediately regretted her question.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" she said quickly. "I didn't know- it's obviously a sensitive subject for you…"

"Don't apologize, Miss Haru," Baron said, smiling gently. "It's good to ask questions – curiosity did kill the cat."

Haru laughed lightly at his attempt at humour. He still looked slightly troubled but began anyway. "When my mother-"

"Hey, Baron!" The front door suddenly burst open, causing Haru to instinctively move in to a defensive position. Baron watched her with amusement. "There's a letter from King Lune about – oh, who's this?"

Haru stared up in terror at the large white cat that was towering over her.

"It's a giant cat!" she exclaimed in fright.

"Muta, must you make such a loud entrance?" Baron said, sighing as he got up from his chair. "Muta is giant, Miss Haru, it was actually you who shrank when you passed through the archway."

Haru focused on calming herself down while remembering the strange sensation she felt when she entered the enclosure. "Oh," she said simply. She looked at her hands to focus herself when she noticed the time on her watch. She gasped. "Mother was expecting me home hours ago!" she said. She picked up her bag and slung it around her shoulders. "I'm sorry to leave so hastily."

"It's quite alright," Baron said. "Would you like me to accompany you back to the town?"

"It's okay, I can find my way okay," Haru said. "But thanks anyway."

Baron walked her to the door as Muta busied himself in the kitchen.

"Miss Haru," Baron said while holding the door open for her. "It would please me if you were to return here tomorrow, so that we may continue our discussion."

Haru couldn't think of anything to say, so she nodded her head.

"And I would appreciate it if you didn't mention me to your family," he added. "At least, not yet."

"Sure," Haru said, stepping outside. "Thank you again for the tea."

"You're welcome," Baron said. Haru was just about to turn away when he spoke. "Oh, Miss Haru?" She tilted her head in question as Baron reached up and gently placed his hand on one of her ears. "Unless you have a spell that would conceal you from the public, I highly recommend that you hide your ears first."

"Oh!" Haru exclaimed. She probably would have completely forgotten about those. "Don't worry, I'll get rid of them before I reach the town."

Baron nodded and withdrew his hand. Haru bowed quickly before waving and running out of the enclosure. She felt the strange magic as she passed under the archway, and she assumed that she was returned to her original height. As she ran through the alleys and over the roofs, Haru's curiosity was peaked by the strange cat-man that was still a mystery to her. She only hoped that she could find out more about him tomorrow.

Please review - even if this chapter sucks worse than my school windband (and believe me, we're bad).