Beta'd by Ie-maru.

Chapter 3

"Where is he?"

"We lost him, Boss."

"You incompetent fools; none of you could catch a single thief?!"

"But ... Boss, he dropped your wallet."

"Stupid! It isn't about the wallet!" the Bochi boss yelled. "You thief!" he shouted as he shook his fist at the sky. Passersby quickly walked away.

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As for Harry, he was hiding in a bar. After he shook off that drunken man's hand, Harry ran at an almost breakneck pace, accidently knocked over a few more people, and finally turned around the street's corner. Then he met the strangest man. He had green hair! Is he a creature? No, he didn't feel like one. Or is he like Tonks, a metamorphmagus? No, there was no magic to him. Was it hair dye, then? He didn't look the type, but what did Harry know?

'Gah, I don't have time for this!' he thought in frustration.

The green-haired man was sitting on a bench and reading a newspaper. His white lab coat was carelessly spread out over the bench and it look like a most convenient hiding place for Harry. Harry quickly rolled under the bench and hid, using the lab coat as a curtain. The suited men ran straight by him. They did not even give a second glance to the man who reading a newspaper.

"Stupid," Harry muttered with a sweat drop. He wiped his forehead and decided to hypocritically ignore how stupid he himself had been. Honestly, if they had rounded the corner even a little sooner, they would have seen him and Harry would've been stuck under the bench. What had he been thinking? Why had he suddenly felt the urge to hide here?

As he crawled out from his hiding place, the green-haired man looked at him flatly. "Hmm, you are the one who's causing all this ruckus. I don't really care for that."

Harry, not wanting the man to call back the men out of spite, smiled. "Thank you for your help. Here's your coat," he said as he tried to give the lab coat to man. However, when the man's hand brushed against Harry's, the man gasped sharply.

"Harmonization at first contact." The green haired man's cheeks started to get flushed and he clutched weakly at the bench.

"Hey, are you okay?" Harry worriedly grabbed the man by his shoulder to help steady him.

"Strange...ah...interesting!" the man shouted. "This is science! Exciting, mysterious...yes, science should be like this!"

"Eh..." Harry awkwardly lifted his hand and leaned back. "Good for you? I have to go now."

"Don't worry! I will take good care of you," the man said with excited eyes. The man began to laugh hysterically and his previously calm aura darkened. Harry could almost see unimaginable pain in his future with that declaration.

"WE WILL EXPLORE THE DEPTHS OF SCIENCE!" The man raised his hands as if he was inviting him to join.

"Let's not!" Harry shouted and tried to run. 'I need to get away from this lunatic!'

"Oh, no!" the man said as he fixed his glasses, "I can't let you go, my valuable assistant!" and then it became hard to breath. Almost like the air itself began to harden and weigh down on him. It was a struggle just to fill his lungs, almost as if he were trying to breath water. Harry chocked as he dropped to his knees, his lungs burning and his vision starting to blur.

"Let him go," a calm voice interrupted. The heavy, hard atmosphere cleared out, as if the heavy aura was suddenly disintegrated by this new arrival. Harry breathed deeply, occasionally coughing, as his lungs greedily took the oxygen previously denied him.

"Ah...thank you," Harry said as he looked at the new voice. A black-haired man stood calmly beside Harry. His grey eyes were sharp as he carefully looked over Harry's body, inspecting him for injuries. Harry stood up quickly as the man scowled at the green-haired man.

"Verde, the mad scientist who sacrifices anything in the name of science," the man said. Harry could hear a threat in his tone and couldn't help but wonder if the man was protecting him. Surely not. They didn't know each-other at all. And Harry had bumped into him earlier; therefore, the man had probably been chasing Harry and only stopped because he saw the green-haired man as the greater enemy. Yes, that made much more sense!

He tried not to feel too disappointed. Really, what had he been expecting?

"Fon, thrice winner of the Goshu, where many assassins are born." The newly dubbed Verde grinned madly, "I will not let you have my assistant!"

"And I will not let you have my Sky!" Fon said, to Harry's utter confusion. "Please, stay away from this place," Fon warned him as Verde took something from his pocket. Harry didn't even think twice before running away from these mad men. Although, he couldn't help but re-think his earlier assumption. Why else would Fon tell Harry to go?

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And that was why he was here now, sitting behind a counter with a glass of water. He had found quite the empty bar; only the bartender and himself were inside.

'That was close! I almost got experimented on!' Harry thought, shaken from the whole experience. Most fights he participated in this world included only a few gang members who tried to beat him up. It was the first time he felt as if his life was truly in danger since he came to this world. The men's auras had been so intense, filled with blood-lust and on the tip of violence. It was like the war all over again. Harry really didn't like thinking about that time. He shook his head sharply and decided to look over the inside of the bar he had taken shelter in.

'This place, it's almost like the Leaky Cauldron' Harry thought fondly. The bar's design theme was obvious from the start with rich brown wood, soft light, music and bounty posters… 'Wait! Bounty posters? It looks awfully like the real deal.' Harry peeked at the posters closely and shook his head. 'Nah, probably just a western theme decoration.'

"Thanks for the water, Mr..." Harry led with a smile.

"Carl, call me Carl," the nice bartender replied. "You looked like you really needed it! You looked seriously winded."

"Yeah, sun up there, you know," Harry said nervously.

"Ah, yes, I sometimes believe the island's weather is trying to kill us." Carl laughed.

Harry looked around for something to change the subject and found a suspicious red spot on counter beside him. It was a faint scarlet, like someone had tried to clean it, but couldn't do it thoroughly.

"Oh, don't mind it! You know how hard it is to clean this sort of thing." Carl laughed again as he tried to clean it.

'Well, wine can be rather hard to clean without magic,' Harry mused. 'I didn't know that bars served wine too. Then again, this island is already strange, so why not?'

"It's fine. So, did you decorate this bar?" Harry asked as he shoved red spot to the corner of his mind. There was little point on distracting himself with such a small thing. Harry needed to concentrate on his main goal.

He had to find that creature so he could ask it about possible gateways between worlds; after all, if that creature was the only magical creature here, it stood to reason that it came from another world like he did. It was much more likely than it being the only one of its kind born in this world. And to find such a strange person, he needed a network on this island. Surely he's not the only one to have noticed how odd the man was. He stood out a lot.

"Yes, I did my best. For a retried man, this bar looks really homely, don't you say?"

"It sure looks nice. The theme is a good one for this bar. Are you recently retried? You look like you're only in your forties!" Harry said, surprised. Carl's hair hadn't even greyed yet!

"Ah, you know, hair dye. You sure look young to be here, though. What are you, fifteen?" Carl put down his cloth and leaned closely to Harry. "First time, I'd say. On this Island, that is."

"Actually, I'm seventeen. How did you know this is my first time here?" Harry wondered, "Am I that much of an open book?"

"Nah, I've just been around a long time. You can see it in their eyes. They look around with such eagerness and wonder. This place is really one of a kind," Carl said as he took a different cloth from beneath the counter to clean glasses. He'd obviously given up on the spot. Harry didn't blame him.

"I guess with a luxury cruise and that huge roller coaster anyone can be a bit..." Harry cut himself off as the door opened with a bang.

"Hey owner, two beers! We are celebrating. Kora!" a blond-haired man shouted as he kicked the door open. Curiously, he wore military cargo clothes and a green hair band. His blue eyes shined with excitement as he claimed a seat at a booth.

"Yes, yes, two beers." Carl muttered.

With a lack of anything else to do, Harry shamelessly eavesdropped on the two. He ignored Carl's obvious amusement as he did.

"Stupid pupil! It's much too early for a beer!" His companion angrily shoved him aside as she took a seat. She also wore military clothes, but in a more feminine style. However, unlike her companion, she wore a hat and visor as well. Her blue hair swayed a little as she growled at her pupil. "And there is nothing to celebrate! It is your fault that we are in this predicament!"

"Don't be like that! We'll just catch that thief and all crime on the island will be clear. Kora." The golden haired man grinned impishly and squeezed her in a side-ways hug.

"Watch where you're touching," the woman growled and punched the man hard enough that he flew into wall.

'Awa, what a couple.' Harry sweat dropped. Then the topic of their conversation caught up to him. 'Didn't he say that "thief"?!' Harry started to panic. He can't get caught here. The creature, or information about him, had to be on this island. Harry started to look around for an escape route as subtly as he could.

"And you, there! From the moment we walked in, you spied on us." The woman marched up to Harry and leaned against the bar counter, glaring at him from behind her visor. Harry smiled at her, trying to hide his uneasiness and look as innocent as possible. The blue haired woman just looked at him, unimpressed. "And your reaction to that word, thief." She muttered with suspicious tone.

"When you look closely, doesn't he look like this?" the blond said as he held up a poster. A poster with his look-alike drawn on it. The man walked to Harry with an anticipatory grin.

"Oops, here!" Harry suddenly shoved the woman at her companion. The woman lost her footing and crashed into the blond when he tried to catch her. They both fell to the floor, which Harry was quick to take advantage of.

"Sorry, Carl!" Harry shouted as he ran away again.