A/N: Part two of the Su/Motoko/Harry resolution. For all you Su fans (are there even any Love Hina fans in general reading this?), our favorite mad scientist will be back to her slightly-crazy self soon enough, so no worries! Also, to those that have given me their guesses as to whom the spirit of Hina is and who from the Wizarding World will find their way to Hinata House: nice try, but no. The guess for the latter was close, though. You still got two more chapters to guess the spirit of Hina, and three more to guess the identity of the magic user. Good luck!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I'm so pathetic. I think I'll go hang myself now… ((Pulls out hangman's noose from nowhere and walks off))

Chapter 20: Reaching an Understanding

Harry sighed as he looked him at the unconscious forms of Shinobu and his attackers. There went his day. And it had been going so well, too…

"What the hell am I going to do with them…?" he wondered to himself. Rennervate only worked on those that had been knocked-out by magical means, so that was out. There weren't any other ways to magically wake someone up, so that just left the natural way. But how to go about that?

Shinobu was easy- take her to his apartment, lay her down, and wait for her to wake up. But Su and Aoyama though… they had just tried to kill him, and even though he had spoken quite civilly to them, he wasn't exactly happy with the two girls. He was tempted to just leave them there and let them wake up by themselves, but his conscience- which had started sounding suspiciously like Shinobu in the past two weeks- wouldn't let him.

Deciding he couldn't very well leave them, he waved his hands slightly- a spellcasting handicap he never quite got over- and in seconds the three girls were hovering a good three feet off the ground.

He looked at Shinobu, and for a moment of spontaneity, noticed how cute she looked when she was asleep. He blushed and quickly shook those thoughts away. He turned his gaze unto the other two girls instead, and was struck with the startling realization that if this had been several months ago, he would have left them on the street and not thought twice about it. But now, here he was, helping them out also just because he thought Shinobu wouldn't have liked it. He looked over to Shinobu's unconscious form again and sighed.

"Damn it, Shinobu, but I think you're making me go soft…" he muttered. As an afterthought, he smiled softly and added, "…And I don't mind a bit…"

He quickly went over to a nearby shadow, and, channeling the Darkness for a moment, melted into it, taking the three bodies with him.

He and his burden instantly arrived in his room's walk-in closet. A flick of his wrist opened the door, and a wave of his hand gently moved them to his bed and lowered them down onto it. When he was sure none of them were going to fall off, he quickly exchanged his burnt shirt for a new one, not bothering to change outside the room because he knew the girls were going to be out of it for a while yet.

A glance at the ruined shirt had him remembering just what had ruined it in the first place. He was still amazed that the petite blond girl had a gun that seemed to fire bolts of ultraviolet light. Where had she gotten it? Or maybe she had built it herself, if Shinobu wasn't exaggerating when she called Su a mad scientist. Of course, this brought up the question of why, if she'd been a genius, she hadn't caught the little detail of him walking around during the daytime, which made a UV laser gun kind of redundant.

'I'll ask her that later,' he thought to himself as he checked them over for any injuries. He winched when he came to the goose egg he had given Aoyama when he disabled her; even before coming to Japan he had never liked seeing a girl hurt, especially if he was the one who had inflicted the pain. He quickly channeled some of his Darkness again, this time forming it into a small ball of light that glowed a soft and comfortable violet in his hand. He pressed it into Aoyama's bruise, and the goose egg quickly disappeared, leaving a brief purple afterglow that signified the end of the Moonlit Night spell.

He studied the unconscious forms of his two attackers. Thinking back, he wasn't sure disabling them the way he had was really the best idea, since in their state of mind they would probably come to the conclusion that he had purposely knocked them out to kidnap them for some dark purpose or another. Unfortunately, he hadn't been allowed to bring a time-turner on this mission, so he couldn't change that.

'What am I going to tell them…?" he thought to himself. He looked at their rather peaceful sleeping faces, and his gaze came to Shinobu. He sighed. 'What am I going to tell Shinobu…?' he thought mournfully. Surely she would want to break off all ties to him now.

His heart clenched painfully at the thought.

OoOoO

Shinobu slowly woke, reeling from a rather disturbing dream she had. It had been about Harry, which was no surprise, because as of late she'd been having some rather… err… private dreams that she was going to take the contents of to her grave. But unlike the usual dreams, this dream featured him fighting and winning against Motoko and Su, who had attacked him for being a vampire. The strangest thing though was that even after being held at gun point by Su (the gun had been oddly shiny), he had been rather pleasant.

'How absurd!' she thought to herself, 'Harry! A Vampire! Like that's even possible… though he does have the looks for one… tall, darkly handsome… gah! No Shinobu! Bad Shinobu! Bad!' she groaned and rolled over in an attempt to banish her rather traitorous thoughts… only to bump into another body. Her eyes snapped open to see an unconscious Su in army fatigues rather then her usually pajamas. It took her a few moments to notice that said army fatigues were the same from her dream. Faced with such a realization, Shinobu's mind took the most logical route: she started freaking out while simultaneously attempting to convince herself of anything other then the most obvious conclusion.

'No! That's impossible! She must have changed pajamas and accidentally snuck into my room instead of Motoko's!' she frantically thought to herself as she turned to her other side… to see Motoko in her priestess robes, also unconscious. It took her a moment to register that Motoko was also in the same outfit she'd been wearing in the dream. When she did, she did the only thing she could think off: she screamed… loud.

Motoko was instantly alert, springing from the bed and reaching for her sword, only to find nothing there. Su woke more slowly, muttering something about banana pancakes before realizing she was in a different room. As soon as she did, she sprang up, too.

"Shinobu! Are you alright?" Motoko asked, checking her over.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Shinobu shouted instead of replying.

"Well, I kinda put you three in the same bed. Sorry 'bout that," said a sheepish Harry, leaning against the doorjamb. He had rushed to the room as soon as he head Shinobu scream.

"VAMPIRE!!!" Su and Motoko shouted, placing Shinobu behind them and backing themselves into a corner.

"What?! No he isn't!" Shinobu frantically shouted at them. She was still trying to convince herself that her dream had been just that, and was losing badly.

"Err… actually, I am, Shinobu… kinda," Harry said, pulling back a corner of his mouth and showing them a longer-than-natural canine. "I must apologize for keeping this from you, but… well, I didn't want to scare," he finished lamely, looking guiltily down on the floor.

Shinobu remained silent for a moment, looking at the young man she thought she knew. She was surprised to find that she didn't feel anger towards Harry, nor resentment that he had hidden this from her; all she felt was curiosity in regards to what the real story was, and maybe the slightest bit of resentment, which she brushed away. Maybe this was because despite keeping a secret from her during all this time, he had always been genuine in his actions. Or maybe it was because she had just seen the results of if he had been truthful, seeing as how two of her friends had recently tried to kill him.

"Shinobu?" Harry ventured tentatively, chancing a glance at her.

"What else did you hide from me?" she asked, hoping it was not much.

"Selene is a Daywalker and Michael is a werewolf-vampire hybrid, like me. Both are not my parents, though Michael is my cousin from my real mother's side and Selene is his girlfriend. All three of us are not true vampires, even without the… variations. Our vampirism is actually caused by the mutation of something in us called the 'Corvinus Strain'. This also ties into why I can't try any of our cooking without spitting it out, since my metabolism can't take it. I never lied to you, though, because it's also true that I am my own worst critic, but that was just the next most reasonable excuse. Also, along with being a hybrid, I'm a wizard outcast."

"Were you ever going to tell me the truth, Harry?"

"Only some; if you had asked, I would have only told you half-truths."

Shinobu studied him. He looked miserable, and the usual aura of confidence he projected had been slowly dwindling until it was gone. He almost looked more like a lost child then the young man she knew he was. She didn't know much about… vampires (it was strange thinking of him as such now), but she didn't think that aura of resigned doom he was emitting could be faked. Taking a deep breath, she said "Harry, I think we- or at least I -need to hear your story from the beginning."

Harry nodded and took a seat on a chair. Shinobu sat down on the bed, followed by Su and Motoko after a moment of doubt.

"My story begins when I was fifteen months old. That night, my parents were murdered…"

OoOoO

"…And here we are." Harry finished. There was a moment of silence as Shinobu, Motoko, and Su absorbed the information they had just been given. She didn't know about the other two, but Shinobu was having a bit of trouble with that task. One couldn't blame her really; in the last half-hour, she had learned that the Harry she knew was a lie… well, it was actually more of a half-truth then an out-right lie; the Harry she knew was the tip of the proverbial iceberg, as it were.

She mentally recapped the story: When Harry was eighteen months old, his real parents were killed by a dark wizard with some funny name. He would have died too, but something, supposedly his mother's love, saved him and rebounded the "Killing Curse", the dark wizard's murder weapon of choice, back at the caster, throwing him from his body and leaving little Harry with nothing but a lightning-shaped scar. For this, Harry became a superstar in the wizarding world; he and his scar were known everywhere.

But then, Harry knew none of this as he grew up, because a man named Dumbledore (Harry had spat the word out like it was poison) had left him with his supposed last remaining relatives, Vernon and Petunia Dursley and their son, Dudley. They made sure to make his life miserable, making him do any and all chores around the house and were never really satisfied with the results, no matter how clean the floor was or how good the food tasted. This lasted for the first twelve-plus years of his life.

When he was eleven, he was admitted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in which Dumbledore was headmaster. There, he made new friends, helped save the world again from Voldywhatshisface twice, and started learning the ways of magic. He enjoyed it there, and would have stayed there the rest of his life if Dumbledore hadn't constantly insisted that he go back to the Dursleys.

That all came to an end after his second year (he had been twelve, thirteen in a month), when a man named Lucius Malfoy felt he had been shown up by Harry when the boy had freed his house elf (some kind of magical servant/slave) and destroy some kind of magical diary. As soon as school was out, the man attacked and practically killed Harry, leaving him by the side of a road to die alone.

This was when, as luck would have it, Selene the Daywalker (presently going by Selene Potter and working the night shift for the prefectural police) was walking by. Long story short, she brought the beaten Harry to the medically-trained vampire-werewolf hybrid (and her boyfriend) Michael Corvin, who, failing to save him using traditional methods, turned him, thus discovering that they were related because a hybrid could only turn one of his or her relatives.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on one's views on things), Michael and Selene were on the run from both the werewolf and vampire nations (which, confusingly enough, had no relation to any true werewolves or vampires) at the time, so for the next two years Harry ran along with them, learning how to fight, hide, run, and any skills needed for survival. It was around this time that he realized that his famous scar was gone, faded into a thin, pink line.

At the end of his two years, he found Caput Mortuum, the first in a series of four weapons collectively called the Dark Companions. The second Dark Companion, Thanifex, came some time later, brought by a man named Alucard (who used to be the mythical Count Dracula), who then brought them all to the headquarters of Hellsing Agency, a secret branch of the Protestant church founded to combat any kind of supernatural threat.

There, Harry was trained in the arts of something called Dark Psynergy and other ways to fight, even meeting and training under the four founders of his old magic school. The training had progressed until three months ago, when, on Harry's fifteenth birthday, he was made an official member of Hellsing Agency. His first mission was to find the third Dark Companion, which, according to their information, was in Japan.

It was at least five minutes before Su spoke. "I take it you want us to keep this between us?" she asked. Harry nodded in answer, and she continued, "Then in that case, you have my word, Potter-san."

Motoko turned to Su so fast that her neck gave an audible crick. She didn't seem to notice. "Su! Are you serious?!"

"Of course, Motoko."

"B-but… he's dangerous! He's a vampire, for goodness' sake!"

"Actually, I'm not a real vampire, if you forgot," Harry put in. They didn't pay him any mind.

"I agree, Motoko, but on the same token, he could have easily killed us back in that alley. Instead, he spared us. Hell, he didn't even drink from us!"

"So?"

"He had mercy on us, his enemies. He even went as far as to bring us home and let us rest in his bed. If he would do that for us, then Shinobu, his friend, will be safe from him."

"He kept secrets from her!"

"And you wouldn't have? Would you have told the world that you were a vampire?" Shinobu asked the older girl, making her first contribution to the conversation. Motoko did a good impression of a fish out of the water, opening and closing her mouth as she tried to say something, anything. Shinobu didn't let her, "Also, you've had some secrets too, you know. I mean, we didn't even know you had a sister until the Hina incident!"

Harry choked on air (though how he did was a mystery, since he technically didn't have to breath, being undead and all), and Shinobu quickly looked over, thinking something was wrong. Instead, he looked almost… excited. "Did you just say Hina?" he asked, almost impatiently.

"Err… yeah," Shinobu replied, uncertain.

He looked more excited. It suddenly occurred to her that he looked like he was about to solve some great mystery. "By any chance, would Hina be a sword?"

"Yes. You've heard of the Urashima family heirloom?" Motoko asked stiffly.

"It's a family heirloom?" Harry deflated and swore colorfully, though softly.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Shinobu asked, worried and a bit curious as to why he would know about this particular katana.

"…Remember me telling you girls about the four Dark Companions I have to find…?"

Su nodded. "You mentioned something like that, yes. You have already collected two out of four, correct? Caput Mortuum the scythe and Thanifex the great… spear..." a look of comprehension dawned on her face. "You're not saying…?"

Harry chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck. "Yep. The blade Hina is Companion number three."

There was a moment of silence as this sunk in. Su was the first to speak. "Well, it's cursed, so maybe Urashima will be willing to part with it. I'll be glad to see it out of Hinata House, certainly."

Harry perked up. "Really, Su-san? You think so?"

Su shrugged. "You've got a chance. A small chance, I'd admit, but it's a chance at least."

"Cool! Though… I should come over and check it out; maybe it's not the right one. I mean, there could very well be more then one sword named Hina out there, you know?"

Su nodded. "That would be best. I'm not sure we can even touch it if we had to bring it here anyway." She got up. "Well, it's getting rather late, so we better get back to the dorm." Shinobu got up, followed by a still frowning Motoko.

"Do you need a ride? Or an escort, girls?"

Su shook her head and smiled. "No, thank you, Harry-san. We'll be perfectly fine."

"Oh. Alright then. Good night, girls."

"Good night, Harry. See you tomorrow," Shinobu said as she followed Su and Motoko out the door of the apartment. She was just past the door when, for no reason she could think of, she turned around and said, "Oh, and Harry? Just because I know your secret doesn't mean we're not still friends, 'kay?"

The look of relief on his face made her heart flutter.

A/N: This chapter roughly marks the half-way mark for this story, so I tossed in a summary for those that were lost… that it helped me when writing this story was just a bonus… Next stop: the Dark Companion Hina!

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