Aaand done with the first arc! I rewrote this over and over because I want to give this story some continuity apart from the main plot, and I think I did an okay job! After this we get into original mystery territory, so strap in!

Riiiiiiiing!

Riiiiiiing!

Riiiii-!

"I'm up! I'm up! How do you turn this off?"

Beep!

A rustle of fabric right by his head.

"Harry... Hey, Harry…"

Weight dipping the mattress.

"Come on, it's time to get up."

Harry was unwillingly yanked from his state of semi-consciousness by a hand on his shoulder and an Australian accent in his ear. He peeled his eyes open unhappily, trying to focus on the half-lit blurry figure sitting beside his bed.

"...John?"

"Yes, it's me. Come on, it's been three hours. You need to stay awake for ten minutes."

Harry carefully levered himself upright, his whole body was riddled with hurts and he had an awful taste in his mouth. What had happened? Had they run into Snatchers again?

"My turn to keep watch, then? You should relight the fire and get some rest."

He couldn't see the campfire light dancing across the side of the tent, and it could get so bitterly cold when the warming charms wore off in the middle of the night.

"Um, no Harry. No watch and no fire. Do you remember where we are?"

Not really, they moved around so much it was hard to keep track. Their focus was more on closer-to-a-Horcrux and farther-from-Voldemort then any actual landmarks and territories.

John must've read his dubious expression. "You're in your motel room. In Japan."

"Well, wherever we are, there should still be a watch. They track us too quickly." Harry winced as his headache started to really pound in his ears. The Death Eaters had done a number on him, thank Merlin John looked unharmed, just concerned.

"Are you okay? I could get you a cold compress. You just took a painkiller so I can't give you another just yet."

"No, I'm fine." Harry assured, pulling a hand away from his temple. "Sorry, I might be out of commission for a few days. Can you and Hermione handle getting food on your own?"
It was tough, thankless work to catch even a squirrel when werewolves were tramping up the same hills and clawing down trees on their hunts. If they couldn't do it, then Harry would pitch in and forage for anything edible, injuries be damned.

"What? Who's Hermione? Harry, you're on a case in Japan. Remember? There's food in your fridge." John sounded worried now.

"'Who's Hermione?' She's my friend! Remember? Didn't you two…" They hadn't met. Harry didn't remember them ever meeting. Harry only befriended the priest recently and Hermione was in England. Which wasn't where he was, he was in Japan. On a case.

Wait.

Like a rushing wave, memories from that night crashed over him, flooding his head with new understanding and focus. It felt a bit like not knowing he was in the dark until the cover was lifted.

"There was another attack at the schoolhouse!" He exclaimed, looking on John for confirmation. The stark relief was enough encouragement for him.

It was still hazy, Harry didn't remember much before the lights went out and the boards began groaning. But he knew it had been dangerous.

"Was anyone hurt?"

The motel room's phone blaring jangle jolted Harry from his vivid dream. The phone beside his cold plate was positioned unfortunately close to his ears, and Harry was quick to pop another aspirin before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Potter. I trust you're feeling better today?" It was Shibuya.

"Er, yeah, thanks. Um, how did you get this number?" Harry had never mentioned where he was staying before last night when he was pretty sure he'd given Matsuzaki vague directions to his room.

"I got into contact with Miss Matsuzaki. I understand that you are unable to travel at the moment, so I would like to visit you in one hour."

"For what?" He asked curiously.

"I am conducting an experiment that requires the cooperation of all those who have been involved in the case thus far. It will only take a few minutes."

An experiment? So he had another theory?

"Sure, I guess. As long as it doesn't require a whole lot of brainpower or coordination, I'm game." He chuckled weakly.

"It's a very simple procedure. See you then."

The line went dead and Harry went to work.

He found it frustratingly difficult to clean up after his and John's breakfast when it felt like he was in the body of a newborn colt and a mass of bruises at the same time. It took a good deal of time and energy to remain standing while he was washing his fork alone. By the time he was satisfied with these small chores, if extremely light-headed and a little woozy, the doorbell was chiming.

"Almost there!" He huffed, and stumbled to unbolt the door and let Shibuya step inside.

The ghost hunter took one look at him and already seemed unimpressed.

"Please sit down." There was no room for argument in his voice.

Harry did just that, trying not to appear eager for a chair. While he certainly didn't appreciate being ordered around in his room, his hip wasn't forgiving even a single shift in weight.

He settled into the chair with a quiet sigh, propping his leg on the bench John set close by and replacing the ice pack. The cruel throbbing eased under the chill and Harry let some tension leak out of his frame before turning back to his guest.

Shibuya shut the door behind him and carried in the oddest looking contraption. It was fit for Dumbledore's desk, angular and ambiguous. Harry stared in fascination. Was this another high-tech thing he'd missed at Hogwarts?

Shibuya placed it on the coffee table in front of Harry, the odd circular head facing him.

The teenager pressed a switch and the head began to pulse with a soft red light.

"Focus on the light, but if it becomes too painful please let me know." Shibuya instructed, and sat opposite Harry and the lamp-thing.

Harry did as he was told. The light did sting at it's brightest but faded quickly enough that it wasn't too distracting.

After a few moments, Shibuya spoke in a low tone. "Control your breathing so that it is in sync with the light."

Was this like meditation? Harry slowed his breathing, keeping track of the light's pulsing rhythm

"Very slowly relax your shoulders, concentrate on your breathing."

The wooziness had increased in Harry, he blinked dizzily at the pulsing red light. He felt heavier now. Should he alert Shibuya? Harry wasn't sure what he wanted from this experiment. Would Shibuya tell him if he wasn't supposed to get drowsy?

"Now count your breaths."

"Tonight you will go to sleep, and use your magic for nothing."

"Tomorrow we will all meet in the laboratory."

Harry was distantly aware of the red light being shut off. Without the direction, it was confusing to breathe off-beat.

A hand landed on his shoulder, and suddenly Harry was awake. Shibuya stood over him, the contraption in hand, making no attempt to hide his scrutiny.

"That's all I needed. Thank you for your time." Shibuya finally said. "I can see myself out, please get some rest."

And before Harry could ask exactly what happened, the ghost hunter was out the door, shutting it closed behind him.

The next day Harry felt better. His legs weren't so unreliable and his eyes weren't so sensitive to light that he needed complete darkness to continue living.

That's not to say he was in top form, he was still under strict instructions to take it easy and fully intended to do just that. He would watch his coworkers and intervene if his magic might finally become useful. If there was another attack like last night Harry wasn't going to hesitate a second time. Cover or no cover, no one was getting hurt again.

"Oh hey, you made it! How are you feeling, man?" Monk grinned crookedly when Harry found them inside the school building. Everyone was there, packed tight in the hallway. Matsuzaki, Monk, Hara, John, Taniyama, Shibuya, Kuroda, and even Shibuya's friend Lin.

"Yeah, I'm better. Thanks." Harry smiled uncomfortably, he was still mortified over what little he remembered from the other day. He had passed out, thrown up, and been carried all within a handful of hours. He would be surprised if any of them took him seriously by the end of the case, he'd performed so atrociously.

"Harry!" Kuroda cried, shoving out of the hallway to run at him full-speed. Harry dodged the aggressive embrace, cringing at the very thought of a tight hug right then when even a quick jolt to the left sent needles through his joints.

Thankfully Kuroda calmed once she stood before him, eyes shiny behind her glasses.

"I was so worried about you after that vicious attack! They said it was only a concussion, but I wasn't sure. Are you really okay? Are you feeling better? That spirit was so powerful I couldn't stay next to the schoolhouse, it's presence was suffocating me. I'm sorry I couldn't help you home!" She spoke rapidly enough that Harry could only understand after years of conversations with Hermione.

"I'm perfectly fine." He reassured, giving her a quick pat on the shoulder that had her face lighting scarlet. "And I'm glad you went home, you have some good instincts. It was much too dangerous to stay near the schoolhouse." He caught John and Monk ducking their heads a little, so John must've delivered Harry's lecture to the other man earlier. Good, hopefully they'll both be more careful in the future.

Stepping past the girl, he caught Monk, Matsuzaki, and John's attention and bowed shallowly. He didn't want to get light-headed too. "I just wanted to thank you all very much for your help last night, I really appreciate your kindness. If you need my help at any time after this is over, please feel free to ask." He was certain it wouldn't be for his runes. But he was game to record paranormal activity reports or even help spring cleaning if that would repay them.

Monk laughed it off while Matsuzaki gave a false sniff. "Well, you didn't ruin my car so I suppose it wasn't much trouble."

John grinned in a self-satisfied manner. "It was my pleasure after all the care you've shown me."

Harry checked him over, hadn't John caught the shelf across his shoulder? But he couldn't detect any bandages under the priest's shirt, so he supposed he'd only walked away with a colorful set of bruises.

He looked to Taniyama next, and she appeared just as perky and excitable as she always did. Harry couldn't say he was worried when he saw her unconscious form, he hadn't been capable of focusing long enough after finding out she was still alive. But he was glad to see she was alright. "I'm happy to see you've recovered as well, Taniyama." He greeted warmly.

"Yeah, just a knock on the head." She winced, "I hope you're feeling better."

Harry bobbed his head and moved on to see what everyone was in the hallway for. One of the rooms had been boarded up with plywood and paper, and it looked like John and Taniyama had scribbled their names across it over and over again to make for odd looking graffiti.

As per usual when it came to Shibuya's experiments and methods, Harry didn't have a clue to what it meant.

"So what's the plan for today, Naru?" Monk asked Shibuya with a mocking grin. There was that nickname again, was it some Japanese thing Harry had missed?

"Yes, and let's hope for your sake you don't embarrass yourself yet again." Matsuzaki simpered.

Shibuya completely ignored them, glancing to Taniyama and John. "Now, would you two please confirm that the paper you signed yesterday hasn't been tampered with."

They approached the boards and paper and studied their respective signatures for a moment before agreeing that it was untouched. It must've been important because Lin lifted a camera to record their compliance.

"Alright." Shibuya picked up a crowbar and, without any warning, jammed it under the plyboards. Harry jumped, almost crashing into Monk before he caught himself in a throbbing heap.

The wood was pried off piece by piece until only a deathly silent classroom remained. Both Taniyama and John peered in cautiously, clearly looking for something in the inscrutable shadows. Harry watched with wide eyes as they stiffened and gasped simultaneously, what was inside the dark room?

The others eagerly followed Shibuya inside in a shuffling line, and at the very back, Harry finally got to see what all the fuss was about.

"The chair, it moved!" John told them, looking at the chalk circle drawn in the middle of the floor. Standing in front of the empty circle was a camera and across the room, sitting under the window was a battered, upturned chair.

Had it originally been inside the circle?

"So what exactly does this prove?" Matsuzaki asked cluelessly, and Monk joined in with his own confusion.

"Would you care to explain?"

Shibuya opened a laptop on the podium and checked something before a tension Harry hadn't known was there drained from his frame in one easy breath.

He pulled away from the screen to watch them calmly. "I'd like to thank you all for your cooperation, I'll be finishing this investigation today." He announced.

"So you figured out what it was?" Harry asked, trying not to get too excited again. Shibuya had been wrong before, but it was easy to get swept away in his thorough and methodical nature.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Shibuya confirmed.

"The ground sinking?" Taniyama prodded, and the ghost hunter answered immediately, like he'd practiced his lecture a dozen times over.

"Yes, all of the issues that the principal originally brought to my attention can be explained through ground subsidence."

"Yeah? Then what about the disturbances we saw the day before yesterday?" Monk challenged.

"Now those were from a poltergeist." Shibuya acknowledged cooly, only riling the monk up.

"You're not making any sen-"

"What else can he do? We all know that he can't exorcise it, right?" Matsuzaki interrupted.

"Why can't it be both?" Harry pointed out. He tried not to sound too irritated, he did owe them a lot, but he couldn't stand how they ganged up on Shibuya.

"There's no need for exorcism in this circumstance." Shibuya looked to his laptop, "Watch this and you'll see."

Everyone gathered around the screen and Shibuya played what looked like green-tinted footage of what the camera had recorded of the chair. It sat in the circle, untouched and unassuming.

Harry watched and waited, something had happened to knock it so far away. Suddenly, the chair began to tremble and shake. It slid out of the circle and continued to creak and move until flipping on its side and coming to a halt. It went quiet.

"What was that?" Taniyama whimpered into Monk's sweater.

"It's obviously a poltergeist." He huffed.

"Humans are to blame for over half of reported poltergeists every year," Shibuya stated.

"You mean like a prank? But no one could've gotten in there." Taniyama pointed out, even as she sounded calmer.

"True, we did seal off every entrance. I even had John and Mai sign their names on each panel so we could tell if someone had tampered with one." Shibuya murmured.

"If someone had attempted to replace any broken pieces, there's little chance they could've replicated my signature." John agreed.

"This only proves I've been right all along!" Kuroda barked loudly, and it was a testament to how much shouting had been going on over the past few days that she was easily ignored.

"I placed a hypnotic suggestion into everyone's mind yesterday that this chair would move before we met here this evening, excluding Potter." Shibuya continued. "So far this method has never failed me, and I have no reason to believe it will today."

"What did you do to me, then?" Harry asked curiously. Why hadn't he been given the same suggestion?

"There were extenuating circumstances. I simply suggested that you wouldn't do anything to hinder the experiment." Which meant it was probably related to Harry being a wizard, so he would have to ask again more privately.

"Yeah but that still doesn't change the fact that no one got in here." Taniyama refuted.

"Poltergeists are a form of latent mental powers, often by people who have an unconscious craving for attention. When stress is introduced, a self-defense type mechanism reacts in the brain. Hypnotic suggestions can become a reality in these types of situation." Shibuya explained.

Harry deliberately kept looking at Shibuya, but he could feel everyone's attention shift to Kuroda. There was no getting around her aggressive need for recognition and the overwhelming eagerness to believe in possessions and hauntings.

"So you're saying I'm responsible for this?" She croaked, and Harry could see her wilting under the others' combined stares from the corner of his eye.

"From the moment I met you, you were trying to impress me." Shibuya focused on Kuroda, watching her with sharp eyes. "For example, you claimed to see spirits that still remained her from the war. However, there is no evidence of this area being bombed during the war, or of this building being used as a hospital. In fact, there was never a hospital built on this land, period. That means that you were either mistaken or intentionally lying to me and the others."

"I'm not a liar." Kuroda bit automatically, but even then she sounded much less convinced.

"At first I thought you were just pretending to be spiritually sensitive," Shibuya plowed on. "so when things started happening that could only be explained as a poltergeist I became quite perplexed. My scientific experiments, Miss Hara's readings, and Potter's detection glyph all came up clean."

Shibuya glanced to Hara and Harry in turn, and Harry tried not to look too proud that Shibuya had taken his runes seriously enough to factor into his theory.

"We determined there were no spirits. That means the haunting was of human origin. Poltergeists activity is often caused by children in their early teens. There are numerous cases involving teenaged girls in particular. It's a form of psychokinesis that can occur during periods of great stress. Ever since middle school you were known amongst your peers for being sensitive to spirits, but once it was proven by me that the strange phenomena was in fact due to ground subsidence you naturally lost whatever confidence or faith you held in your own psychic abilities."

"This caused you immense anxiety because it went against your own beliefs, and although you could see the merits of my evidence you still wanted to believe that spirits were to blame. You told yourself there was no other way. You simply couldn't face the truth."

Kuroda's lip began quivering helplessly, and her glasses started to fog up. By the end of Shibuya's lecture, Kuroda buried her face into her hands to hide her tears.

Harry shuffled uncomfortably. She definitely needed the reality check, but he didn't like so many people being witness to it. Judgemental crowds had followed Harry wherever he went during Hogwarts, and he didn't want her to feel the same muddled sense of helplessness he had.

"You had no idea you did it, wow." Monk murmured sympathetically, and Harry sighed. Maybe not so judgemental then.

"I firmly believe that you're a latent psychic, Kuroda." Shibuya added.

"And that means?" Taniyama prompted again.

"A latent psychic is someone who has supernatural abilities. She's not aware of it, but she has some level of PK. I'll just say this for your sake, Mai. PK is short for psychokinesis."

"Thank you, I'm so grateful." Taniyama drawled sarcastically, but Shibuya didn't miss a beat.

"She believed that there had to be spirits present in the old school house in order to attract the attention of those around her. In order to be who she was."

There was a pause afterward, Kuroda was determinedly looking down at the ground to avoid eye contact.

"You know, I think I can understand." Taniyama announced. "It's natural, really. Think about it. Everyone wants to believe their special in some way, a desire to stand out from the crowd and be unique as a person. It could be a talent, or just the hope that you're recognized as an honest and kind human being. In your case, Kuroda, I would imagine it's your ability to communicate with spirits."

Harry blinked, he felt a little bad for it but he hadn't expected deep introspection to come from such a bubbly little school girl. But she was right, he supposed. While Kuroda was overzealous, it was easy to understand where she was coming from. It wasn't like he didn't get touchy when people questioned all the qualities he was proud of, like his talent for runology.

His accidental magic had even surged up when adults had told him cruel lies or belittled him in public, such as blowing up Marge Dursley or turning his teacher's wig blue. He hoped he never became passionate enough to deny truths like this, but he could connect to the base desire to prove people wrong.

"Does that explanation satisfy everyone?" Shibuya asked dryly, and though Harry was pretty sure it had been a joke, Matsuzaki stepped up to plate.

"Not quite. According to that account, her elevated stress came after you gave us your little theory on ground subsidence or whatever it was. What about me getting stuck in that room or the video being erased? Explain that!"

"The reason you became trapped in that room is simple." Shibuya hummed, pulling a rusty nail from his pocket and showing it to everyone. "There was a nail sticking out from the floor."

"That's it?" She gasped.

"I had noticed it that day but I never mentioned it because I didn't feel it was necessary at the time." Shibuya shrugged.

Matsuzaki's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Then someone did that on purpose?" She didn't waste any time skewering Kuroda will a hard glare. "Was it you?"

Harry tried to look non-threatening even as he shuffled in between the two, pulling Kuroda away from the hot-headed woman. He doubted she would actually hurt Kuroda, Matsuzaki had a heart underneath her sneer, but he was still a little on edge. Kuroda looked so lost and shaken and Harry didn't want to overwhelm her any further.

Matsuzaki caught his intention anyways and pulled up short, Harry sent her an apologetic look.

"You were just trying to get back a little at Miss Matsuzaki, after all she had verbally attacked you outside just moments before." Shibuya soothed. Kuroda clutched at Harry's sleeve but said nothing.

"What about the video?" Matsuzaki switched, stepping back from Harry and Kuroda.

"The videotape was intentionally erased. When you became trapped we all left the base to come to your aid, there was plenty of time for someone to slip in here and erase the tape without ever being seen." Shibuya said.

Harry held in his sigh, Kuroda was astonishingly childish. That incident had terrified Matsuzaki and put everyone at risk rushing through the unstable schoolhouse to rescue her.

Kuroda must've sensed the impatience in the room because she clenched Harry's sleeve a little tighter in her fist.

Then Harry remembered something. "Wait, I checked my glyph when that happened. There were only three women in the schoolhouse when Matsuzaki was trapped, Matsuzaki herself, Taniyama and Hara."

"That really wasn't so confusing to figure out. You sensed three women, one being someone you hadn't seen yet. That was Kuroda, but because Miss Hara introduced herself first you assumed it was her. In reality, Kuroda arrived first and hid from Miss Hara before revealing her own presence later on." He answered patiently. It made sense.

Shibuya had revealed a weakness in his detection glyph. Next time he would make one that could better distinguish spiritual signatures.

"This is ridiculous." Matsuzaki growled under her breath.

"What are we supposed to do now? The principal hired all of us to get this place ready so they could continue construction." Monk asked, sounding a little lost himself. He had also been entirely convinced that the problem was supernatural.

"I plan to report the following story to the principal;" Shibuya told them. "the old school house was haunted by those who died here during the war. They've all been exorcised and the structure is now clean of any paranormal activity."

He slanted a tiny smile behind Harry. "That sound okay, Kuroda?"

Harry felt the girl nod silently against his shirt, the hold on his sleeve slipping loose.

"That's very kind of you, Naru." Hara shuffled close. "But will you really lie to the principal? He deserves to know the real story." Naru again, Harry really had missed something. Would it be embarrassing if he asked Shibuya about it later? Would it sound like he was jealous he didn't get to call him that?

"Kuroda's doing an excellent job suppressing her feelings now, I don't think it's necessary to embarrass her any further."

That's right, Kuroda was finally accepting the truth with grace. She was childish, but she was also learning. This was probably a great lesson in maturity and humility for her.

Ron once noted, in a rare bout of introspection, that it odd how easily Harry forgave spoiled children after being raised with the Dursleys. But it was those exact levels of intolerance that gave him his own patience. He had yet to meet a child as cruel as Dudley had been or as malicious as Malfoy, and yet both had managed to earn his forgiveness, or at least his indifference, by adulthood. It was hard to begrudge typical entitlement in children after seeing how far they could rise from those spiteful beginnings. He carefully left out that it was why he could forgive Ron too.

"Oh, I had no idea you were so sensitive. Do you have a girlfriend?" Matsuzaki purred, and Harry snapped back to find her pressed up against Shibuya flirtatiously. Harry wasn't even sure the ghost hunter was eighteen yet, should he intervene?

"I'm not sure I fully understand your question." Shibuya said bluntly, looking much calmer than Harry would ever be in the same situation.

"I'm saying I wouldn't mind getting to know you better, even though you are quite young." The shrine maiden grinned coyly.

"Although I do appreciate the offer, I must decline. I'm too used to looking at myself in the mirror." Shibuya gave another minuscule smile, though it had much more snarky humor in it.

That sounded like someone Taniyama would say to him, and her loud guffaws made it clear who he was quoting.

Matsuzaki spun away, red-faced, "Let's get serious and decide who's going to take credit for this job!"

"Everyone contributed equally, are we all okay with that?" Shibuya suggested.

Harry had no problems with it, he had helped in a small way. And he was glad to walk away with another successful case to add to his Asian reputation. It wasn't like their pay had been hinged on their results, anyway, Shibuya wouldn't be stiffed for his generosity.

"And Mai-"

"I already know, boss!" Taniyama blurted happily, so Shibuya turned to Lin.

"Lin, let's start breaking camp."

Harry blinked away the tears that pricked at his eyes once he stepped into the sunlight. It still burned, and it felt like his painkillers were wearing off. His headache was a warning drum in his head, growing louder by the minute.

At least he found his bag again, only a few rooms down and completely untouched. He couldn't wait to go to sleep with a charmed ice pack on his leg, and didn't that just make him feel ancient.

"Um, Harry?" Kuroda finished bowing to Taniyama and hopped over to him.

"Hey Kuroda. Are you going to school now?" He hummed, rubbing at his temple.

"Y-yeah, in a minute. You can c-call me Naoko, you know." She stammered to her shoes.

Harry smiled. He doubted he would ever see the girl again, but it was sweet that she considered him a friend. "Naoko, then."

Her face went scarlet and she took a few steadying breaths. It was a little funny how shy she was when they weren't talking about spirits, like she saved all her temper and conviction for those few moments.

"U-um, okay- Harry. What school do you go to?"

"I'm a runemaster full time, I graduated when I was eighteen." If he counted studying for his license, he had technically dropped out of Hogwarts at sixteen.

"Oh! Y-you've graduated..." The red on Kuroda's face was spilling onto her neck now. "How long will you stay in Japan, then?"

"I travel all over the world, but I like coming here. So after I've finished a few cases, I'll probably return in a year or two for the next run."

This seemed to bolster her, and she nodded with that steely conviction once more. "Okay then, please be sure to come back, H-Harry."

Was she concerned Harry would abandon her? It would be inappropriate to visit her or maintain contact without her parents' permission, but he supposed promising wouldn't be too bad. It was vague enough that he could pop in on his way to a case without fanfare.

"I will, Naoko."

She remained perfectly motionless, eyes wide behind her glasses.

Harry shifted uncomfortably, she wasn't even blinking. "Um, Naoko?"

Was she even breathing? Harry was growing alarmed. He leaned in closer, searching for what had frozen her so completely. "Are yo-mmph!"

Before Harry could do little else than rip himself away, the girl had already turned tail and began to sprint away at full speed, her face a glowing fuchsia in the sunlight.

"W-wha-wha…" Harry scrubbed furiously at his lips, the faint taste of a fruity lip balm in his mouth. "What the hell…"

Breathless guffaws announced John's approach, he was wrapped around his stomach like it hurt to laugh so hard. Harry could only gaze helplessly at him, not a clue in the world as to what just happened.

"I-ha! I knew that Kuroda had a crush-hehehe! But I definitely underestimated just how daring she is." He gasped out, shamelessly laughing at Harry's expression.

"A- a crush?" Harry managed, his head still buzzing emptily. When had she gotten a crush? He'd hardly done anything flirtatious, in fact, they'd spent most of their time together in silence. And more importantly, she was a little girl for Merlin's sake!

John adopted an entirely false appearance of sympathy and shrugged. "That poor girl has been smitten with you since you rescued me during my exorcism, at the very least. She certainly didn't offer to walk me home afterward."

"B-but...I didn't rescue you, remember? And...what? That can't be right."

"No, it's true." Matsuzaki sighed, bursting into the conversation with a pointed look of irritability on her face. "You should've heard how many demands she had for us before you got here today. You'd have thought we operated on you in the back of that van."

"B-b-but why?" What on earth had Harry done for a girl hell-bent on being haunted to become interested in him?

"Well, there's no accounting for taste." Matsuzaki sneered, but with a warning look from John she added, "Although I suppose you're not unpleasant to look at. And the attention you gave her could be...considered charming to some."

Whatever showed on Harry's burning face, it was enough for John to give one last snort.

"Pfft! Okay, okay." He visibly tried to school himself. "I didn't come over here to just to laugh." At you, went unsaid. "I really enjoyed working with you on this case. Can I have your number so I can contact you for future work?"

To Harry's irritation, he couldn't muster up enough resentment to even attempt to make the blond squirm. He jot down his phone number readily and made a mental note to keep the number next time his phone had to be replaced. He would love to work another case with the priest in the near future.

John took the note gratefully and instead of pulling away, captured Harry's hands together for a fond shake. "I hope to see you soon."

Harry bobbed his head a little too quickly, just as eager, and that sent the priest bounding up the street himself, heading off to another case a few cities over.

"If you need a ride back to your motel you'll have to wait until we're done packing." Shibuya spoke up, passing by with an armful of monitors.

Harry hadn't asked for a ride, and though he foresaw a long nap in his future, he could've walked back home himself. But he caught the invitation and smiled warmly at the ghost hunter's back.

He couldn't allow the Shibuya's surly nature to cloud just how supportive he had been of Harry's opinion, even going so far as to hold it as partial evidence in his theories. He appreciated the respect and, in turn, greatly admired the teenager's deductive capabilities.

Harry lowered himself onto the curb, using the van as a shield against the biting rays of sunlight and watched Lin and Shibuya put the last of the camera stands and wires into the back.

"You should know something." Harry gave a guilty start, he hadn't realized Matsuzaki had followed him after John left.

"What?" He asked.

She eyed him seriously. "You should know that you were chatty with that concussion last night."

Before Harry could register more than trepidation, she continued. "It was mostly in English so I have no idea what you were saying. But John took over for the last stretch and he heard a lot."

Wait, that dream Harry had earlier...It had been so jumbled and confusing, had that been a memory? He said a lot of things that hadn't made sense, but what would John make of them?

"I don't think he's the type of guy to go spreading things that aren't his business. But you should still probably know." Matsuzaki finished flippantly.

"Thank you for telling me." He murmured, thoughts racing. With any luck John would swipe it all under the rug as feverish rambling, he certainly hadn't given away any misgivings that day. But the next time Harry saw him, he might need to address some things. Hopefully all Harry had spoken about was his time in the woods and not something along the lines of killing Voldemort or something more incriminating.

"Eh, don't mention it." She turned on an expensive heel and trot for her car without another word.

Monk had left without Harry catching him, so after Matsuzaki pulled away it was only Harry and the SPR.

Once they were finished, Harry waited for them to climb in first before clambering into the back seat. Shibuya already knew where he lived so he didn't bother giving instructions.

"Oh hey, we've never been formally introduced. My name is Harry Potter." He angled himself toward Lin. They had met under awkward circumstances, so he wanted to clear the air. That and he wasn't quite sure if Lin was a nickname and didn't dare address him out loud yet.

"I know, you told me." Lin stated bluntly, but knowing Shibuya made it easier to recover.

"But you haven't told me yours" Harry remained unmoved by the impatient glower sent his way.

"It's Lin Koujo." He sighed like it was a chore. Either the leg was still bothering him or the man always acted this way, Harry didn't foresee a lot of conversation happening between them.

"It's nice to meet you." Harry said anyway, and let the van drift into silence.

It was a weird way to end a weird case, so Harry found it more fitting than uncomfortable.

"Oh yeah! Why did you give me a different subliminal message from the others anyway, Shibuya?" Harry recalled absently a few minutes into the drive.

"Accidental magic is very similar to latent psychokinesis, though it obviously manifests in a much wider spectrum than PK. If I gave you the same suggestion I gave Kuroda, your own magic might have reacted the same way and ruined the experiment." Shibuya explained, he would've made a good professor. Though it was long-winded, his responses were always informative and educational.

"I see, you really know a lot about magic." He hummed, impressed.

"I know a lot about many things." Came his not-so-humble reply, but it felt more humorous than anything else.

Shibuya dropped him off and Harry spent two more days resting before he flew to a neighboring city to ward a bookshop.

He found he was glad to have taken the principal's case, and for all its difficulties, he didn't regret the time he spent on it. Hopefully he would find one just as colorful and challenging in the near future.

Just for clarification, I do not promote or tolerate underage relationships with a minor and an adult. Harry will not develop romantic feelings for Kuroda and no character in this story besides Kuroda wishes for that.

Okay so what did you guys think? Less action packed than I would've liked, but I can make up for it when I have Harry go on some cases not previously created. Speaking of, please review or PM me for any suggestions or requests, especially concerning the next case. I haven't written any further than this and am open to opinions.

No questions to answer this time, but please feel free to ask if you're confused or curious about anything. The next update might take a while, but I'm already working on it so please be patient!