"So" Harry starts, his hand fiddling with the napkin wrapped silverware. He's not sure how long they had stood on the side of the road but they eventually got to a 24 hour diner. No waiter or waitress had greeted them at the counter, so they seated themselves in one of the red booths by the front windows. Which left them here, with Harry messing with the silverware and the guy checking his phone. "I never caught what your name was."
The man looks up from his phone, a smirk on his face. He goes back to the phone. "I thought I already told you what it was."
"Well I kinda... forgot."
Without looking up he asks "How old are you again?" As he rapidly taps something into his phone.
"Fifteen?"
"That's too early to be getting Alzheimer's kid."
Harry huffs at the comment. "And aren't you too old to be addicted to your phone?"
"I'm only 25, and besides, "he lays down the phone staring at it expectantly. "I'm addicted to causing chaos more than my phone." As if to punctuate the statement, the phone starts to ring and buzz in an angry flurry.
"You plan on getting that?" A woman's voice asks. She eyes the phone in annoyance as if the thing had personally offended her while her hand twirls a pen. Her long brown hair is tied in a ponytail, with dark eye bags that match her dark eyes. A writing pad is tucked in a pocket of her green apron, she looks dead on her feet.
"Nope. But you can if you want to explain why having sex with your clone isn't incest."
She gives the man a disgusted look. "What do you want to drink?"
"Black coffee." He states, looking pleased with himself.
"And you?" One of her eyebrows raised, expecting something weird to come out of Harry's mouth.
"Uh… I guess a coke?" Her other eyebrows join it's twin before she shrugs her shoulders.
"Be back then." Her trainers squeak on the shiny tiled floor.
"Having sex with your clone?" Harry asks, his face a little perturbed.
"Old argument. When a certain someone gets drunk in the group chat we always somehow end up back on this topic. Dumbass should be sleeping instead of playing strip go fish with goldfish crackers."
"It's almost-" his head whips around until spotting a clock near a doorway, "5 o'clock, why is he drinking?"
"Why does he do half the shit he does?" The man asks. Almost as if he himself can't figure it out, he shrugs at both their questions.
"Your coffee and your Coke." The waitress sits both the cups down before sending a look at the man. "Know what you want to eat?"
"We would if we had menus." He airily replies. Huffing a little, the lady leaves again, disappearing behind the open kitchen archway. "Someone is in a bad mood." He grabs two white packets from the table carousel, ripping them open and pouring the sugar into his cup.
"We are two random guys who showed up at four in the morning." Harry tears the straw paper off before balling said paper and depositing the straw into his blue plastic glass.
"A 24 hour restaurant is kinda novel. At least it's not vending machine food." He pops the lid of a creamer cup and deposits the liquid into his coffee.
"Vending machine food?"
"You know, like, hot food vending machines?" Lazily he rolls out the cheap napkin, stealing the spoon away to mix his drink.
"There's nothing like that here in Britain." Harry goes to grab his cup. Later he would swear he felt the glass under his hand, but just like the glass at the zoo or maybe a little different but with the same results.
"Bloody hell!" He exclaims jumping from his seat the second the coke goes gushing all over the table like a fizzy brown lake. Likewise the man jumps up from the booth, taking his coffee cup with him. Harry's hand is covered in sweet sugary coke and he's not sure how. His cup is nowhere to be seen. He goes to grab his own napkin that covers his silverware but that too disappears. Or more like he feels it crumple under his hands like Quirell's face and that's just an oddly specific sensation he never wanted to feel again.
"Stop stop stop." He hears the man say grabbing him by the shoulder before Harry can really examine or process what's really going on. He rounds Harry around him before seating Harry into the booth behind them. "Sit and keep your hands to yourself."
Harry can hear the grumble of "もちろん、あなたは手コキのように見えるだけでなく、あなたはどちらも似たような癖を持っています。 性交はオッズです。" from the man but any type of meaning he might have grasped is lost once he disappears into the restroom.
Harry really wants to question what in Merlin's name happened, he's tempted to competently ignore the guy but before he can do anything he spots their waitress taking in the coke mess. "Oh fuck this. Melissa take over before I choke someone." She stomps back into the kitchen while another girl, much smaller with curly hair peers out.
"Angelica you can't be serious?" She says turning her head back into the kitchen. There's no answer and she sees the girl sigh. She quickly comes back out with some towels. "You're okay right?" She asks as she attempts to clean the mess up.
"Y-Yeah." He scratches his neck. It's rare that he goes to an actual muggle restaurant. He's only really been to two "restaurants" and both magical with one being an ice cream parlor and another an inn, but he's pretty sure what was going on wasn't normal. Honestly he feels awkward and almost in the middle of the cross fire.
"Ah don't worry about her,"Melissa says as she takes the wet towels from the table, "she's always like that at the end of her shift. I'll finish cleaning this up and I'll be back with your menus okay?"
"Okay" he agrees as she disappears again. The guy hasn't come out of the bathroom yet, which is a little weird. Harry's not planning on following him in there, but he seems to be taking his time.
The little bell at the front restaurant door jingles aggressively and someone yells "荼毘!", makes him turn to see who in their right mind is shouting only to catch bright yellow eyes zeroing in on him. The man is short with blonde windswept hair in a black shirt, jeans, and a dark gray jacket. He practically jogs to Harry, skidding slightly on the spilled cola only to stop directly in front of him. Like the guy had planned on skidding and sticking the landing like it was a show.
"あ、こんにちは、信楽。" the man says slightly out of breath, a big nervous grin plastered on his face, "最近ダビを見ましたか?"
At this point Harry has no idea what the guy is saying though he's pretty sure he asked a question with how imploring he sounded. His face must reflect this because his smile falls a little. "それはノーですよね?"
Harry wishes this interaction would end. Could people please speak English to him. It was getting old.
"Oi, bird what the fuck are you doing?"
Harry almost sighs in relief. The guy in the alleyway was weird but at least he spoke English. In his hands is the largest stack of tiny cut brown paper towels and Harry instantly understands what was taking so long; those motion-detecting paper towel dispensers sucked.
"荼毘! そこにいる! 私はあなたを探していました。" The guy is quick to go to other. To Harry he looks almost like Fawks when frazzled, the man's sharp eyes and eyeliner made it a bizarre but comparable contrast. "そして、なぜあなたは英語を話すのですか?"
"Because my companion today only speaks english."
The man looks at Harry before replying "じゃあ大丈夫。" Even Harry can hear the sarcasm dripping in his voice.
The dark clad man just rolls his eyes before shoving the paper towels into the others hands. "If you're going to be a jackass, make yourself useful and clean up the soda."
The blond squawks as if insulted. "荼毘これは深刻です。"
"Yeah? And I'm being serious too birdbrain. If anyone trips on it none of us will be having a good time. And I know it was you who played in it considering your shoes keep sticking to the floor."
The man walks a few steps before the other in the most grave of voices responds "パッドフット についてです。" Harry feels a cold shiver down his back. That first word he said, it sounded like Padfoot. "あなたがこの場所を燃やさないことを約束する必要があります。" the blond sends his most pleading smile and Harry feels sick. He feels off kilter, like the world is going to spin and keep spinning. How does this man know Sirius? At least with black haired one, he knew they were friends. Sure he didn't know the circumstances but a stranger knowing that name feels wrong. Only people close to him should say it.
The black haired man stops."I already know. Don't be so incentive." He stents a heated look at the other.
"どうして知っていますか?" he stares at the man's back before looking at Harry. He knows he's digging his fingers into his palms but he can't help it. The longer the man looks the more and more his face scrunches in confusion.
A look of horror dawns on his face, "because his godson already told me."
"申し訳あり- I'm really sorry." The blond launches in, his remorse palpable.
The other man's face has cooled into a calm mask but whatever heat that escaped seems to just have hidden itself under his skin. Harry just feels cold.
"It's fine", Harry feels himself say distantly. Like his head is stuffed with cotton or drowning in deep water. He wants to sleep.
"No it's not." He hears the man say, his voice clearer, "But it's okay if it's not." He offers a smile. And Harry doesn't know why, but it almost feels as reassuring as the hug from earlier. Like someone else who knows exactly how he feels. Harry gives a wobbly smile back.
"You gonna put those paper towels on the ground birdie or do you like holding them?" The iciness is gone, the warm and easy-going back. The man is sitting in the scruffy booth, sending a smirk at the other.
"Oh yeah." 'Birdie' looks as if he's forgotten about the paper towels in his hands. He's quick to drop them on the mess of liquid under the abandoned table. "So." He makes a little motion with his head. The black haired man raises his eyebrows.
"Oh." He smirks as If he finds something particularly funny, which Harry can't figure out what that something is."Sure." His head twists a little as he gestures with his knuckle, "Keigo Takami, Harry Potter. Harry Potter, Keigo Takami."
Keigo's reaction is… Interesting. He doesn't react like most people who recognize his name, actually he looks more like a confused dog who's realized the owner didn't really throw the ball. He's staring at the other guy as if expecting him to say something. The guy does nothing more than raise his eyebrows as he sips his now probably lukewarm coffee.
"彼はミニバージョンのように見えます-" Keigo starts before looking Harry in the eye. "You can't be Harry Potter." A very serious look on his face, he almost looks like a Hawk studying him. The black haired man chokes on his coffee and Harry can already feel his blood run hot under his skin. Who is he to say he isn't Harry Potter, after every hardship, trials, deaths, heartache, and accomplishments, WHO THE HELL DOES HE THINK HE IS? He feels the heat running to hands, and can almost physically feel the metaphorical gloves covering them coming off. He doesn't know what will happen if he gets his hands on the blonde, but a little voice in the back of his mind says it'll be worse for him than Bellatrix and for some reason he doesn't mind that fact.
"You can't be Harry Potter because Harry Potter is supposed to be only like 5 centimeters taller than me." His eyes are closed with a joking tilt to his voice. His left arm behind his head, a passifying smile on his face. "And you're obviously way taller than that. So what gives?"
"Uh." Harry feels like a huge bucket of cold water has been poured on him. Everything inside him instantly calmed."Uh- I had a growth spurt." He awkwardly finishes. It was almost like before, with Bellatrix. With her it had made sense for him to be so angry, but just now. He couldn't really explain it but, something inside him really didn't like what Keigo had said and wanted to hurt him. Frankly he was a little terrified about it.
"What's with the scary face? I just said you're taller than me. " he laughs. "Unless you're telling me you rather be short too."
"I did hit my head less on doorways."
"Yeah?" He turns to the other grinning, "You hear that Dabi? Being tall isn't all that cut out as you all say it is." Keigo crows, like he finally was getting validation on an old argument.
The newly crescened Dabi apparently got over his choking which Harry was sure was him trying not to laugh earlier. "And yet you still need me to grab stuff from the top shelf or to crawl onto the counter." He takes a loud slurp.
"I can grab stuff fine on my own." The man pouts, his whole frame feels ruffled. "Besides I can just f-" He stops himself from continuing by covering his mouth with his own hand. The whole thing seems suspicious but makes Harry feel better about earlier. Honestly the banter relaxes him more than shutting himself in his room when the thing with Bellatrix happened. The whole exchange reminds him of nights at the Weasleys, except everyone's snark level was several times greater.
"You can do what now?" Harry asks, his voice falsely innocent. His attempt to school his face which doesn't work as Keigo slightly narrows his eyes. He's pretty sure he's got a grin at the other's gaze.
"Look what you did" Keigo points at Harry as if he's evidence, "You've already corrupted him."
"I've only known him for two hours at the most. He's naturally like that." Dabi takes another swig of his coffee before Keigo pilfers it from him.
"Uh huh" He barely gets a sip before his face contorts and he gives the cup back. "What did you put in that coffee?"
"That's what you get for stealing someone else's coffee. Get your own."
"Sugar and Cream in coffee is a crime against society."
"You would know wouldn't you birdie?" Dabi gives an appraising look.
Keigo gives him a frown, "You going to let me sit down or?"
"I don't know. I think I like you standing there." He gives a smirk.
Completely ignoring Dabi, the man goes to crawl in his lap or over it. "I swear to god if you sit in my lap, I will light your ass on fire." The man makes a hasty retreat off Dabi's lap before moving to the booth behind Dabi, climbing over said booth back and planting himself firmly beside the other.
"Is that better?" Keigo says giving a similar smile to Dabi that he gave Harry earlier. He unsandwiches his legs and slips them under the table.
"Sorry for taking so long!"Melissa apologizes, coming from the kitchen. In one hand is a new glass of coke, and the other two menus. "I didn't think that call would take so long." Spotting the new addition she sets the menus down. "Ah sorry, Angelica only said there were two people. I can grab another menu for you."
"Oh no it's okay!" Keigo waves it off, "Me and him" he says pointing to himself and Dabi, "can share this one."
"Are you sure?" Her tone, unsure.
"Absolutely." He answers warmly.
"Okay then." She smiles at him, her cheeks a little flushed. "What can I get you to drink then."
"A coff-"
"Get him orange juice." Dabi interrupts. "He's been up all night and doesn't need any more caffeine."
"Sounds good, I'll be right back with it."
The second Melissa is out of sight, Keigo sends his best puppy dog face, "Dabi-"
"How many energy drinks have you had?"
"Uh, tw-"
"In the past twenty four hours."
Instead of saying anything in his defense, he instead responds "And how many hours of sleep did you have?"
"Four."
Grumbling, Keigo looks over the menu, apparently bested at the second.
Looking at his own menu, Harry asks in his more nonchalant voice, "So Dabi then right?" He doesn't miss the way the man looks at him nor Keigo subtlety lifting the menu till his face can't be seen. He remembers the name well from the Daily Prophet, it being one of the siller names of the bunch. "That isn't your actual name is it?" He knows he can't really trust the Daily Prophet or anything Rita Skeeter has had a hand in, he doesn't know if it's just a random circumstance that met a 'Dabi' or if this is the one from the paper. The description is way off if it is, but he needs to confirm if they're not.
"You're smart." Dabi smiles, his lips stretching wide.
"Here's your drink", their waitress states, putting the juice in front of Keigo.
"Thanks, give us a second okay?" Harry hears him say, Melissa's footsteps disappearing as she leaves.
"Most people call me Dabi. " Dabi's eyes almost seem like they're aflame with how much they pierce into Harry. It's not like Voldemort's or Bellatrix or any other death eater Harry has faced so far, there's a fierce fire glowing in his eyes, a vibrancy that he had seen echoed within his own reflection several times before. "Though some people including Padfoot called me Blue Flame. I would tell you my real name, but my old man killed the boy I once was." There's a flicker of a snarl and despite the difference of circumstances, Harry's sure his guess was wrong.
He's not sure how many Dabi's there are in the world, but whoever 'Dabi' is, it sounds more like someone who has been constantly pushed and ripped into till he's been trapped into a corner only able to snarl and scratch to escape. A place that Harry himself feels like he's closely approaching. He did say he was coming here to visit Sirius but maybe it was more of an attempt to escape. He has no idea if Japan has its own Protected Persons Service, but if Japan was like the UK about its sucky child services programs, then maybe this was the only chance of escape he had.
"Do you have a place to stay?" Harry asks, staring directly into what might be danger. He can't help his own circumstances but he does own a lot of money thanks to his parents. Sure Harry has never met his father or his mother, but he was positive that Sirius would approve if he extended his help out. Hell it was even possible that Dabi was supposed to stay at 12 Grimmauld Place with Sirius. Harry knew that his godfather was unbelievably restless being cooped up in the house, and if Harry was reading correctly, if Sirius had - ...if Sirius was still- ….if he was here then Dabi and him would've met under extremely different circumstances.
"Yeah why?" The intensity not diminishing in his eyes, anger turned to curiosity.
"You were supposed to stay at his place? Someplace safe right?"
Dabi's eyebrow quirks at the question, "I'm safe where I am right now. No need to worry about me." Something inside Harry calms at his answer.
Needing to confirm one last thing, he questions with a challenging tilt of head, "That isn't actually how you really look is it?"
He doesn't confirm or deny the accusation, there's almost a demented smile on his face as he gently tugs off a silver ring with a blue jewel that Harry just now notices. There isn't much of a change in color or appearance of hair, eyes, or face shape, but something that Harry wasn't expecting was for Dabi's skin beneath his mouth, eyes and skin above his hands to be suddenly covered in grotesque twisted purple scarring that couldn't possibly still be alive. Between the dead and healthy skin is shiny slick staples marring both sides equally. Seeing him like this, this looks more natural, more real than the earlier look.
"You're the wizard from the Knight Bus." Harry states, realization dawning on him.
As if he himself is realizing something, Dabi's eyebrows raise, "And you're the kid from that torture contraption."
A snort of laughter tears out of Harry at "torture contraption". "Come on the Knight Bus isn't that bad. It just goes around really fast."
"Bullshit, that thing was trying to kill me."
At the change of tones, Keigo lowers the menu, suspecting the worst had passed over. "Knight Bus?"
Turning to his companion Dabi points directly at the other, "No. I know that tone, and I ain't riding that fucking thing around again."
"Oooo! Is the burnt chicken nugget afraid of a little bus? It can't be any worse than my flying." With a grin plastered on his face, he wiggles his fingers at the other.
"I'll be making someone into a crispy chicken if they don't shut up." With that he pulls the ring back up, the staples and damaged skin disappearing.
"Flying?" Harry pipes in, his excitement echoing. Suddenly the blonde smiles.
"I'm adopting this one." Keigo points to Harry while looking at Dabi.
"Absolutely not." He responds by taking a gulp of his coffee. "You already have that gothic little shit."
Ignoring Dabi he gestures to himself and then Harry, "You, Me? We're going to go flying some time and Dabi can be a stick in the mud."
"You're not adding him to your damn nest birdie."
"I'm looking forward to it." Harry joins in.
Dabi gives a half groan half growl. "Now you're never going to get rid of him."
"Ah but you love me Dabi!~" he croons.
"Just let the kid pick his food. I don't want to be here all night."
At the suggestion, Harry attempts to grab the menu that's sitting on the table only for Dabi to grab his hand. At his questioning stare Dabi instructs,"Not with all five fingers unless you want another coke lake." Harry's sure there's a mixture of confusion and annoyance on his face which prompts "I'm serious. Hold one of your fingers out or something. I don't want to explain what the hell happened to the menu"
Rolling his eyes at the weird request, he curls his pinky into his palm, having the bottom of thumb muscle hold it in place. "Happy?" He tartly asks, giving Dabi an unbelieving look as he picks up the menu.
"Spooky" Keigo coos.
"Very" he snatches the menu out of Keigo's hand, the very menu he'd been tapping Dabi's shoulder with. "Are you done or you trying to be annoying?" He directs at the other.
"You wanna share?"
"Am I actually going to be able to eat anything or are you going to eat everything again?"
"Well I was looking at that" Keigo's finger taps the menu.
It's not hard for Harry to semi-peak over his menu at his other table mates. Dabi is still mysterious but not quite as unreachable as before. Wherever that other lizard Dabi was he hoped that they never met. He didn't want him to get tangled up in whatever "The Killing Blow" was. And Keigo. Well. He was pretty much an enigma but he seemed like a good friend of Dabi's. The name Keigo Takami didn't ring any bells either which Harry considered a win.
"Earth to Harry. Are you coming in?"
Blinking Harry notices the blonde waving at him, his eyes snapping instantly to his face after spacing out.
"There you are." He says, pulling out his phone. "I said we should trade phone numbers"
"I don't have a phone." His voice deadpan. There was no point to him having one especially since magic always messed with electronics and he wasn't one to go running around in the muggle parts of London. Then again. He kinda had been doing that for the past week and half. Though Hermione didn't really have a phone either and her parents were muggles. She did say she preferred the feelings of paper and books to that of electronics.
"You don't have a phone?" Keigo parrots back in disbelief, "Not even a cheap flip phone?"
"Nope."
"But everyone at least has one!"
"Not everyone apparently." He would find the blonde's questioning more annoying if he didn't have an almost comical face of insult on. Harry was starting to think that Keigo was one of the people "addicted" to their phones.
"But like kids your age always have a phone. Even if it's not a smart phone. Tokoyami even has one. We gotta fix this." At the statement he starts digging through his jacket and pockets as if searching for something.
"What the hell are you doing?" Dabi demands after getting an elbow to the ribs.
"Ha!" He yells, pulling out a sleek black phone. Harry's sure it's one of the newest models of smartphones, but he can't place the brand.
"How many phones do you have?" Dabi mutters in confusion.
"Here", Keigo thrusts the phone at Harry expectantly.
"Uh." He looks at the phone before looking at the blonde. While the phone might be useful for however was left of summer vacation, it wasn't going to work at Hogwarts at all. Plus such an expensive gift shouldn't be even given to him. There were more deserving people who could use it. "Thanks but I wouldn't be able to use it in school."
He decides to go with simple facts and not how strange or wrong it felt to receive such a gift. Even getting presents from his friends felt off, as if he didn't deserve their friendship. He always felt like he had to give them something in return, or otherwise he would fail as a friend.
"Yeah right. I text Tokoyami in class all the time and they still haven't taken his. Plus he's in a big name school so I doubt that yours would take it away either."
Clenching his teeth, Harry isn't exactly sure what to do. He doesn't want to insult Keigo but he couldn't flat out tell him that Hogwarts's professors didn't need to take phones away because magic messed with whatever made the phone work. Flickering his eyes over to Dabi, he tries to send his best pleading look without the blonde noticing.
"It's fine to tell him." He nonchalantly waves his hand,"He already knows about magic."
Breathing a little better as Keigo stares questionally at Dabi, he finally responds to the blond, "Electronics don't really work at Hogwarts and since I'm there most of the year…"
"Kinda pointless to have a phone then." He finishes off for Harry. Putting his hand to his chin he gives Harry a good look over as if deeply thinking about something. As if coming to a solution to a question he seemed to know about, his hand leaves his chin. "How about this then. I let you borrow my phone till the day you leave for school then?"
"Thank you but-"
"With everything that's going on in both the muggle and magical world it's really dangerous for you not to have a way to call for help." Keigo cuts him off.
"He was wandering around earlier in an abandoned alleyway." Dabi adds. Harry sends a disapproving face. "I've seen better." He responds.
"And alone for several hours at night nearly everyday the past week. Today being the longest." Keigo continues from the interruption.
A cold chill goes down his back. "How?" Harry dumbfounded asks.
"Power of the internet." Pulling out another phone from his coat pocket, he unlocks the new phone, clicks a few things and scrolls to what he was looking for. "It's how I found both of you here." He clears his throat before reading from his phone. "Look at this strange fucker walking down the street. Has some big ass white owl on his shoulder. Guy must think he's some type of pimp or something with how he's walking even though he looks closer to a meth addict."
At the reading, he can feel his whole face and neck burn. He knew Hedwig wasn't great for hiding but he wasn't expecting people to honestly take notice of him to the point of writing about him on the internet. And apparently he wasn't doing so great about being inconspicuous if Keigo knew about his walks the past week. Lay low, they said. Harry was doing just a smashing job at that. He's a little surprised none of the Death Eaters had taken notice. Then again most Death Eaters were Pure Blooded and knew very little of muggles and technology. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise.
"Aaaaannd the post is gone." He sing songs bringing Harry back from his musing. "Amazing how quick that man works."he mumbles looking up at Harry again. "So yeah it's good to at least have that option of calling right?"
"I suppose." He sheepishly states, staring at the lended phone as if it were going to strike him.
"Ah. Let me actually," the blond slides the phone back over to himself, "clear some of these contacts and take off the passcode. Most of the people on here you won't ever really need to know or talk to." He only gets half way through clearing it, when Melissa comes to the table again.
"Are you guys ready to order?" Her voice cuts the semi tense air.
"Uh."
"Yep." Dabi states, apparently impatient. Right. He was probably hungry considering that's what he originally was going to do before finding Harry alley crawling. A spike of anxiety goes through him when he realizes that he actually hasn't really looked at the menu as Dabi gives both his and Keigo's combined meal.
"And for you?" Melissa turns, asking him.
A little try mouthed, Harry can only squeak out an "um" before quickly looking down at the menu and choosing the first thing he spots. At his answer, Dabi lifts an eyebrow. His neck feels hot as he hands the menu over, careful of his hands considering Keigo briefly looks up in concern at the menu. He has no idea why either of them seem on edge with him touching stuff a certain way. All he can chalk it up to is the possibility of some powerful foreign magic they associate it with. Asking right now even with Melissa out of ear shot feels too soon. Maybe it has something to do with all the scars Dabi has.
"There we go!" Keigo exclaims, sliding back the phone to Harry. "I left Dabi's number on there and added my other number in."
Harry follows the phone's prompt to swipe and is greeted by a background of swirled colors. A few icons are on the main page, none that he really recognizes beyond the self explanatory ones of phone, text, calculator, etc. Clicking the phone icon has a very short contact list consisting of-
"Burnt chicken nugget and Hawks?" Harry questions.
At the second name Keigo chokes on the orange juice he'd been drinking.
"I have him as KFC combo number 9." Dabi states as the blond coughs. "Guess I need a new one for you since bird brain is giving you that phone." Without much of a prompt he takes out his own phone, clicks a few things, types something out in Japanese and stowes the phone back into his coat. Harry is only slightly unsettled with the smirk Dabi has on his face. It's probably better to not ask what his name is on there.
"So pretty bird. What's with all the phones today?" Dabi asks right as Keigo gets his breathing under control.
"I asked him to bring me one!" A cherppy voice declares as a girl with messy blonde hair in buns and golden eyes seats herself beside Harry. He quickly scuttles over slightly alarmed at the new person. She's dressed in a short skirt, crop top and sneakers. She couldn't be much older than him.
Giving a sharp toothed grin with a jovial tilt of voice as she addresses Harry, "ここで便利な男は何をしていますか?ジンと一緒にゴーフィッシュをプレイしていると思った- " She pauses as if finally taking him in, "ああ? あなたは超かわいいです!" She gets super close to his face, glee written all over her face.
"Back off you little psycho. You're making him uncomfortable." Dabi deadpans kicking the seat right by her legs.
"I can't help it. He's really cute." She answers. Almost in the same breath she states "you're so cute I could just eat you." Her hands grab the little amount of fat left on his cheeks. Harry can feel his face growing hot. Her comments were both flattering and questionable at best. Despite the wild look in her eyes, her grip was fairly gentle.
"Should I be looking for a new girlfriend?" A calm female voice asks as she pulls up a chair. Her hair is a silverish blonde and dressed in a simple black dress. Even if the girl beside him wasn't recognizable, this woman was. At his stare the woman gives him a simple smile. Something about it feeling knowing. "Hello again Mr. Evans." A cold shiver racks up his back.
"Of course not!" The girl beside him says, "you know I like really cute things!"
The newcomer only raises an eyebrow. Even if she made him feel 'off', he was in complete agreement of wondering how he was cute.
There's a growl from Dabi directed at the lady in the chair. "Who the hell invited you Geten?"
"My girlfriend" she shoots back the snide answer. "I thought you could see with your eyeballs. Unless they're for decoration?"
In response Harry spots Dabi's knuckles tightened in a fist. " Well at least I'm not some entitled bitch." Geten's eyes narrow as her mouth turns into a thin line.
"Ah don't worry about them." Keigo says bringing Harry's attention from what is probably a ticking time bomb. "They're both still not over what happened in December."
"What happened in December?"
"They weren't able to beat each other in an ass-kicking match."
"I wouldn't bring it up with either of them, unless you want to hear them whine about it." The girl adds, snatching Dabi's unattended coffee. "Both of them will tell you they would've won if they had more time." She attempts to drink some only to find disappointment in an empty cup. Wordlessly Keigo passes his quarter empty glass of orange juice. She returns it after taking a few dregs.
"They really don't like each other over that?" He's not sure what other words they had exchanged but both looked about ready to boil over. A muggle restaurant was not an ideal place for a wizard duel even if it was early morning.
"Nope." Keigo's P popping. "Hey Himiko," he pulls out another phone, again elbowing Dabi who was too busy trying to set Geten on fire with his narrowed eyes. "Here's that phone you asked for me earlier."
"Ooo?" She leans forward grabbing the phone from his hand. "You have everything programmed in already?"
"Yeah. Wasn't too hard to do." He shrugs.
"I can't wait to give him this tomorrow. He's going to be so surprised."
"Oh?" Melissa's surprised voice rings out over the quickly dying conversation. "I'm so sorry. I should've asked if anyone else was coming." Two large platters balanced in her hands, her face sheepish at her perceived oversight.
"They were just leaving." Dabi states, pointedly glaring at Geten.
"Ah I think we'll stay." She replies. A deep scowl mares his face.
Quickly setting down the plates, one in front of Harry and the other between Dabi and Keigo, Melissa pulls out the notepad from earlier. "Separate bills." Dabi bites, the words directed at Geten. Glancing up he thanks Melissa grabbing a slice of toast as Keigo had already started to ravage the mixed hash. Geten simply orders two waters, sending daggers as Dabi munched on his toast.
There was… only a slight problem with Harry's order. That being; blindly ordering off the menu was a really bad idea considering a cup of tea and a very small cut of a sandwich was too much for him. In his haste he had picked a large burger and fries which was way out of his realm of possibly eating all of it. Instead of saying anything he goes for the plethora of fries, nibbling on them as Melissa brings the water glasses and bidding them a good meal.
It doesn't take more than five minutes for Himiko to pout and then attempt to snatch a piece of toast from Dabi. It ends unsuccessfully as he smacks her hand away while nearly stabbing Keigo with a fork as he attempts to eat what little hash was left. The rest of their plate is clear of any food. Slightly bumping his booth partner, Harry subtly moves the plate between him and Himiko, figuring that he could at least get one of Dabi's poachers to stop. One glance at him and Himiko is hugging Harry, before shoving several fries down her gob.
WIth less competition, Dabi is able to fight Keigo off till polishing off the hash and toast. Leaving Keigo moping until Harry offers up part of his meal. Between the three of them, the plate gets cleared and gets a fairly happy Keigo and Himiko from it.
"So" Himiko starts, licking the salt from her fingers. "Why are you here eating breakfast with Hawksies and Dabs?" While most would've considered this bad manners, Harry didn't exactly mind considering Ron occasionally did the same before Hermimone chided him for it.
"Uh. Well. Dabi kinda invited me." He awkwardly scratches his palm, unsure what he should say. Having either a crying session or another anger episode was not in his cards right now. Or for the rest of the morning.
"So?" She swivels her head to Dabi expectantly.
"It's none of your business", he hands a wad of bills to Melissa before shoving Geten's chair out of his way to stand. She grunts at him, almost toppling her but she puts the chair back once Dabi stops blocking the chair.
"Aw." Himiko pouts, before turning back to Harry, chipper. "Hey you have a phone right?"
"Y-yeah?" His answer was more of a question. Technically not his phone but he doesn't really get a chance to ask if it's okay to add her number before she's nabbing it from his hands and typing her number in. Besides Keigo had slipped out of the bar, talking with Dabi near the counter where Melissa checked him out.
"There we go!" She hands back the phone, two new numbers in the contacts list. "I'm Stabby" she points to the according contact and then to Ice Queen. "And that's Geten. If you're ever in trouble you can call us." She gives him another hug before jumping out of the booth leaving him alone. Running up to Dabi, she gives him a tackle hug making him nearly buck into the counter.
"She's right you know." A smooth voice says making Harry jump. Glancing up he spots Geten casually leaning on the post dividing seating booths. "You call or text us that you need help, we'll come." Surprise must be on his face because she continues. "England isn't particularly kind to people like us. We're seen lower than Muggles and it doesn't help that the wizarding community here is fairly racist."
"Why are you telling me all of this?"
She glances down at him, her lips pursed. "Because Himiko's already adopted you. She's already had enough things stolen from her, I refuse to let her lose something else."
It's roughly 7 or 8 in the morning with how high the sun is shining in the sky. Himiko and Geten are long gone after Harry's chat with Geten. Keigo left only a little bit ago after Dabi threatened to light him on fire if he didn't fly home to sleep. Of course this was with a long prelude of semi-threats and coaxing. The last straw that finally convinced him to go was the promise that Dabi would be back soon. They were walking into the main part of Surrley now. Majority of people completely ignoring the man with his arm slung over the teen's shoulder casually.
"I won't be able to walk you home since the dumbass bird won't go to bed without me there."
"It's probably better you didn't." Some mirth bubbles from the sentence. "People on Privet Drive don't take well to strangers."
"Is that so? Maybe I should pop in some time just to mess with them."
"You'll get the cops called on you."
"Good. I ain't scared of no cop."
"You're absolutely mad." Harry laughs. "You really do like to start chaos don't you?"
"Sometimes you have to add some spice to life." Dabi chuckles ruffling Harry's hair. He pauses, making Harry stop as well. "Sorry about breakfast. That wasn't exactly what I was planning on doing."
"It's fine." He says, unlatching Dabi's arm from his shoulder. "It was kinda fun actually."
"Really now?" Dabi asks.
"Yeah." He answers with a semi smile.
"Wanna do it again tomorrow?"
"Huh?"
"You heard me."
"Uh well. I guess we could…"
"Or we could do something else." Dabi offers alternatively.
"O-okay then." He shrugs his shoulders and gently kicks the ground. Honestly he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about doing it tomorrow. But it was kinda. Pleasant.
"I can text you tomorrow morning and see how you're feeling about it." He pulls out his phone, glancing at the time. "I need to get going. Get home safe okay?"
"Right." Harry hadn't taken more than two steps before he caught Dabi's voice.
"Actually there is one more thing I want to talk with you about." He says.
Turning back he spots Dabi with an uncomfortable look on his face. "It's about your self care."
"Oh." Is all he can feel himself saying. His whole face feels like it's sunburned with how hot it feels. Then again he can't exactly blame Dabi. It'd been May the last time he actually took a legit shower.
Rolling his eyes, the man states, "Relax you don't stink. That's not why I'm bringing it up, though your hair could use a good wash." At the lack of response he sighs before continuing, "Look kid. I noticed you refused to look at any of the windows. I have a few different theories as to why, but that's not exactly my business. The thing I'm more worried about is how drastic it is. Trust me I had the same problem for a long time."
"I-" he barely starts before closing his mouth. There's a lot of obvious reasons why he doesn't want to tell Dabi why he refuses to look. Constantly watching the scene replay over and over, wondering what he could've changed. What if he pushed Sirius out of the way? What if he had shot a spell that hit her? The possibilities of what-if always spiraled out of control. It made his stomach flip sickly at what could have been.
"Hey. It's fine. It's just not healthy is all." Dabi crosses his arms, almost feeling uncomfortable with the conversation as Harry felt. "I don't tell a lot of people about not being able to stand my reflection but. Uh. Well, I promise it's not as bad as me."
One look at Dabi has a shocked face and Harry's sure his hurt was visible at the words.
"Fuck. Shit. Birdie is way better at this emotional shit." Dabi slightly turns almost if closing off himself before thinking about it and turning back towards Harry. "Um." He uncrosses his arms. "Listen. My point is. It's going to get way worse if you don't address the problem head on is what I'm getting at."
"Right." Harry replies. Still not really understanding what Dabi was getting at. He isn't sure how forcing himself to look in the mirror is going to fix any of his problems but he did have a point. Refusing to look at reflective surfaces had started to spiral further; even looking at something even relatively showing a reflection was making his throat and chest tight. Even thinking about it was making it harder for him to breath. "I can try." He offers, swallowing at the thickness in his throat.
"For shit like this I guess it's all I can ask." He smirks, scratching his head. Turning he offers a salute before walking off with a "See you soon kid", as his parting words.
Despite Dabi's claim of him not stinking, Harry is… quite aware of how grimy his clothes feel. It's true that he'd been changing into new clothes every few days and taking what could be equivalent to sponge baths now (even if it was technically with a washcloth but details are details) but, a shower did sound kind of nice. Which leads him sneaking back into the house after making sure Vernon had left for the day. It's harder to guess if his aunt or Dudley are around, but he lucks out as he gets to his room without incident. At the sound of his door clicking quietly, there's a small sleepy hoot from behind him. On the bed is Hedwig, somewhat cozied into his bed and pillow, her eyes drooping in drowsiness. The sight makes him smile.
"Sorry didn't mean to wake you up." He offers, softly padding over to the untouched owl treats he has by the window. She mumbles another hoot in response, taking the offered treat from his hand. She's surprisingly quick to eat it but fluffs her feathers before settling into the bed to sleep. At the foot of his bed is a large stack of letters and a few packages. Curious he flips through some of them, realizing that they're birthday letters. He's quick to drop them, feeling a bit bitter that they're just now writing to him instead of earlier in the summer. Not feeling up to opening anything yet and really wanting a shower, he nabs some boxers, an oversized t-shirt and sleep pants figuring he can open the letters and then go to sleep.
It's not hard getting to the bathroom unseen with it being almost directly across his room. The house is quiet beyond the sink downstairs running. Probably Dudley preparing some tea. He'd been getting better at making some cuppas for both of them.
Harry again is near silent as he closes the bathroom door depositing his clean clothes on the counter, pointedly ignoring the mirror in favor of staring at his feet. The shower door is reflective. He didn't quite think this through. Taking a deep breath he reaches out and grabs the door. His throat is raw, his heartbeat thundering, as he climbs in and starts the water. He jumps not expecting the cold, but manages to get himself washed after it warms. It's as he's drying his hair, that he notices it.
Silvery blue hair on the fringe of his vision. Messing with the longer pieces of hair he manages to get a clump in view. It's also silvery blue. Steadily breathing through his nose, he digs his fingers near his scalp, pulling back his soft slick hair. Feeling more steady he methodically puts his clothes on unsure how to process what he's just seen. How the hell are you supposed to react learning that you went from black hair to basically blue hair. Dabi's advice earlier in the morning is making more and more sense now.
He finally finishes to his disappointment. He's tempted to just ignore what he saw and go curl up in bed with Hedwig. Happy to believe its a figment of his tired mind. Another part of him is curious though. If his hair is a new color, then what else has changed? A nawwing panic eats at the edges of his mind. Why was everything suddenly transforming if it really was transforming? There's isn't anything that he can really pinpoint as being the trigger for this. Chewing on his lip he flip flops between his options. To see and know or to ignore and forget.
Ultimately, his curiosity wins out. He can't run away again like he did for Belltrix. It was going to get way too big and complicated to ignore, especially when he was at Hogwarts. He has to psyche himself up. The sheer thought of seeing Sirius's death once terrifies him but he wants, no needs to know why everyone is acting the way they do when they see him. The only clue he has is his hair is different. And not just in color. It feels different. It's lighter. It's thinner. It's soft. The longer he waits the more it dries. It has a curl or wave to it. It's… soft. Softer and finer than it's ever been. It's his hair but it's not.
Attempting to quell his racing heart, he does relays of breathing. Believing he'll get a calm as he possibly can in this situation he turns his closed eyes to the mirror counting down to opening them. At zero he slowly opens them, dreading the worst. The fear is unfounded as neither Sirius or the Veil show up in the mirror. Instead though, is someone he's never seen before. Only his green eyes and the thunderbolt scar hiding under a wave of untrimmed bangs are recognizable to him.
The teen in the mirror blinks, his face obviously baffled. Beyond the blue hair the lays in lazy wavy short curls the teen has a slightly wider face, his chin less severe softening the sharpness in them. The sharpness now in the eyes; they're slightly larger and longer, almost thinner in calculation. A few barely visible wrinkles frame the top and bottom, making them seem even more tired if not evidenced from the purple bags hanging below the eye. Tiny little laugh-like lines dot the outer edges of the eyes. The nose is tilted slightly up, the mouth a little wide but not off putting and a tiny little mole beneath the mouth on the right side. The teen is very much Asian or of Asian descent.
Harry slowly raises his hand and places it on the side of his face. The teen in the mirror does the same.
TRANSLATIONS:
1. Of course you don't just look like handjob, you both have similar quirks. What the fuck are the odds.
2. Dabi!
3. oh, hi there Shigaraki. (Technically: oh, hello Shigaraki). Have you seen Dabi around lately?
4. That's a no isn't it?
5. Dabi! There you are! I've been looking for you. And why are you speaking English?
6. uh, okay then
7. Dabi, this is serious.
8. It's about Padfoot. But I need you to promise not to burn this place down
9. how do you know?
10. He looks like a mini version of-
11. What are you doing here handyman? I thought you were playing Go Fish with Jin and-
12. ah? You're super cute!
