Chapter Eight: Morinozuka Compound

Harry jerked awake. His heart raced. Sweat poured down his face and body. His mouth gaped open as he panted worse than a woman in her twelfth hour of labor. Bed sheets lay twisted around his body. Harry fought to free himself, sure for a few paralyzing seconds he was back in the healing chamber at Gringotts. In a few seconds the fight would leave him, he would suffocate while the basilisk rose and sank its poisonous teeth into every piece of skin it could find.

It took some time for Harry to orientate himself.

He was alive. He could breath. He was at Longbottom Manor. He was not lying on the floor of some chamber waiting to die. Still breathing heavily, Harry lifted his hands to his face. When he pulled his hands back, he saw they were wet from the sweat on his skin. A nightmare. It was just a nightmare. No matter how many times Harry tried to remind himself of that fact, he couldn't prevent his body from shaking or get his breathing under control. Despite reality, despite knowing he was now safe, a part of him was still stuck in the chamber, whether it was the healer chamber or the chamber of secrets, it did not matter. He was still terrified.

The door to his bedroom opened. Through hazy eyes, still half trapped in dreamland Harry recognized Sensei stepping over the threshold his whistle poised to his mouth. Remembering yesterday, Harry waited for the whistle to blow, maybe the sound would help the last dregs of the nightmare to fade. Yet, the whistle didn't blow. Harry watched as if from a distance as Morinozuka-sensei climbed on the bed and sat cross-legged in front of him. Sensei held out his hands and grabbed Harry's. Harry listened as Sensei spoke in a calm, soothing voice. Soon, his body relaxed as he followed Sensei's whispered commands to mediate and examine his magical core. Once he relaxed, he reached his brain, found the nightmare, examined it, and then locked it away in the area that specifically dealt with bad memories.

The next time Harry opened his eyes, Sensei thrust his clothes at him just like yesterday. Groaning, Harry grabbed the clothes and stumbled into the bathroom to change grateful Sensei wasn't making a big deal about his nightmare. Sensei's blasé acceptance made him feel less like a loser who couldn't overcome a few bad memories.

"Thank you," Harry managed when they reached the grounds. "It helped."

"You're welcome."

With that, sensei explained the principles of a combat version of Tai Chi, a Chinese martial arts form. According to Sensei, it was the perfect form to start his weak body with (Harry tried not to take offense to the weak body comment), because it focused on strengthening the mind as well as the body. Tai Chi was also great for bringing mental calm and clarity of thought, which he would need to master before they delved too deeply in Occlumency.

Sensei did an amazing demonstration on what he'd be learning and Harry was eager to get started even if it would take him awhile reach the mastery Sensei achieved. He was clumsy at first, but Sensei was patient as he led his body into the correct breathing patterns and forms. By the end of the session, Harry was pleased with the start he made. By the time, he joined the Longbottoms for breakfast his nightmare was a distant memory. The day was looking up.

The invitations to his end of summer party went out and he didn't need to feel guilty about going to Tokyo and abandoning Neville. Neville had already made plans to go to Susan Bones's manor to hang out with her and his Hufflepuff friends. To top of his morning, the papers were full of the results of Peter Pettigrew's trail. Pettigrew was sentenced to lifetime in Azkaban and Sirius Black was now a free man with a full pardoned and restitution of a million galleons. If Sirius wanted, he could have everyone's head for sending the heir of the Ancient and Noble House of Black to prison without a trail. In twenty-four hours the ministry went from a kiss on sight order for Sirius to bending over backwards to make amends for the terrible injustice Sirius, now Lord Black was subjected too. To cap off the day, a reporter had gotten wind of Dumbledore's vaults being seized and audited because of his stealing Harry's mail and hiding it inside his personal vaults. The Daily Prophet had a field day with that information and Dumbledore's reputation took another hit, much to Harry's glee. Maybe that would be enough to get the man fired and away from Hogwarts.

Harry literally skipped to the reception room to wait for sensei. Now his godfather could stop running. He hoped he was somewhere where he could get the news of his freedom. With that thought pressing on Harry's mind, he called for May and Dobby. When they both popped in, Harry couldn't help but smile at the change in the house elf. Gone were the rags, Dobby now wore a Castle Potter uniform. Dobby's body was no longer slumped and hunched over but stood straight with pride. Unfortunately, the little elf still gazed at him as if he were the second coming of Merlin.

"Hey Dobby, are you settling in okay?"

"Master Harry Potter did not forget Dobby. Master Harry Potter is the best wizard ever asking on how poor Dobby is doing. Dobby is thanking Master Harry Potter, and tells him that Dobby is the luckiest elf in the world."

Out of the corner of Harry's eyes, he could see May rolling her huge, elf eyes at Dobby's antics. Harry bit his lip to keep himself from laughing.

"I'm glad Dobby. Let me know if you're unhappy okay," he told the excitable house elf before turning to May. "I'm sorry for pulling you away from what you were doing but I wanted to see if Dobby had time to do a special project for me. I want him to locate Sirius Black, feed him, give him medicine, clothes, and a copy of the Daily Prophet so he knows it's okay to go to St. Mungo's for treatment. Does Dobby have time to do this? I don't want to upset your work or plans."

May beamed at him. "You are very considerate, Master Harry. Dobby isn't doing anything that can't wait or be diverted to someone else."

"Are you okay with this, Dobby?"

Dobby was practically vibrating with excitement. "Yes, Master Harry Potter sir!"

"Okay then, find Sirius Black and give him a care package, but I don't want to hear you neglected to take care of yourself. You need to sleep, eat, take breaks, and take care of whatever else you need. Okay?"

"Yes Master Harry Potter, sir. Dobbby be doing what Master Harry Potter says."

Both elves popped away.

"You are a good man."

Harry jumped and turned to see Sensei standing at his side wearing another black immaculate suit, this time the shirt and tie were turquoise.

"You're always popping up from nowhere. It's annoying."

Sensei smirked. "And I will continue to do so until you learn to spread your magic out and know when I'm near."

Harry eyed Sense suspiciously. "You're always near, aren't you?"

"I or another member of my team is with you whenever you go out."

Harry sighed. He had a lot to learn. It was a wonder he hadn't been killed yet. "How many are on your team?"

"There are six of us. Ready?"

Sensei held up an empty bottle and explained about international port keys, when to know when you were getting close to your destination and the best way to let go without making a fool of yourself. Fifteen minutes later, they landed in Tokyo's magical district. Harry's eyes widened to the size of saucers. It was so different from London and Britain's magical district as you could get. It even smelled different. Harry inhaled the air, it smelled like fish, flour, and spice. The streets were wide and clean, stores were in neat little rows at street level, then a second layer of shops above the first with wide walkways with banners advertising the products in the stores. Food vendors lined the streets advertising their wares. People were moving about at a fast pace, or riding some type of magical hover scooters or bicycles with baskets on the fronts that seemed to zip through the packed crowds without bumping anyone. Everyone looked so put together. Elegant. Were their poor people here? He couldn't tell who was rich or who was poor just by looking like he could in Diagon Alley. People wore either muggle attire or some type of robes that looked better than their English counterparts did. It was organized chaos compared to the disorganized chaos of Diagon Alley. From one glance, he preferred the Japanese district to the English one.

"Japanese robes look cooler than English ones," he told Sensei as his gaze swung around all taking everything in.

"Those are more modern version of the kimono. We can go to a shop later and get you fitted for one, if you'd like."

"I wonder if I can blend their style with a muggle one?" Harry asked then blinked when a couple walked past him talking rapidly in Japanese. He pouted, he so wish he could understand what everyone was saying.

"They do custom orders," Sensei waved his hand and Harry felt something warm wash over him and all of a sudden he could understand the language being spoken around them.

"Wow, thanks."

"You won't be able to speak the language, but you'll be able to understand what is being said to you. The spell I cast lasts for about twelve hours."

"It's not permanent?" He sighed. "It could be useful to learn another language with just a flick of your wrist."

"Magic doesn't work that way. You have to actually learn languages on your own."

"Figures," Harry pouted. "Maybe next summer, I can come for a longer visit and learn the language. I have a home here. I wish I'd remembered before now. I could've stopped and saw what kind of condition it was in."

"You expect too much of yourself, it's only been a week since you've found out about your inheritance."

Harry nodded. Sensei was right, he wanted everything done and fixed right away. Harry walked next to Sensei as he made his way to the shop with the focus rings inside. The area was buzzing with people and the day was in full swing, when they left England it was only eight in the morning.

"What time is it?"

"A little after four. Tokyo's eight hours ahead of London."

As he spoke, Morinozuka-sensei opened the door to a shop. Glass cases lined the space from floor to ceiling and inside the cases were all kinds of things from rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, to weapons, knives, guns, and swords of all kind sitting in neat little rows. Harry immediately went to the knives while sensei spoke to the owner. Unlike Ollivander's, this shop was pristine, not a dust mite in sight.

"Harry," Sensei called out, "what color is your magical core?"

"Green." Harry called out not looking up from the elaborately decorated knives. They looked cool. He wondered if he could get Sensei to teach him how to throw and fight with them. When Sensei remained quiet, Harry looked up to see Sensei and the shopkeeper gaping at him. "What?"

"You're magical core is green?"

Harry frowned. "Yeah, it's that big ball thingy by my heart that glows right. I assumed it was my core. Was I wrong?"

"No," Sensei said amused. "That big ball thingy by your heart is your magical core. I was just surprised it was green."

"What, is green bad? I figured it was green because my eyes were green."

"No, you're magical core has nothing to do with your eye color," sensei began with a smile. "Green is a rare core color for wizards, so rare that it only shows up once or twice every couple hundred years or so. It means that once your trained you'll be very powerful."

"Really, are you sure? How do you know when it shows up, it's not like everyone is tested to see what color their core is, are they?"

"In most cases, witches and wizards are tested during a medical examination before they attend magical school."

Harry sighed. Something else that had been skipped over. He wondered if Dumbledore knew his core was green. With all the trips he made to the infirmary, he would be surprised if he didn't know. Just one more thing to make him different from everyone else.

"What color are cores normally?"

"Blue or red. Most witches and wizards have blue magical cores; I'd say about eighty-five percent. Red makes up the rest, which means you're an above average wizard. My magical core falls in that category. Green is so rare; it's not counted into that matrix. Some squibs, if they are strong enough, have a core and theirs is yellow."

"With a green magical core, you aren't going to find a focus ring to fit you among the items on display. I'll have to go get my special stock," the shopkeeper said in a heavy accent. "I'll be back shortly."

When the shopkeeper left, Harry looked at sensei curiously.

"Squibs have different power levels?"

"Yes. High-powered ones can have an affinity for different skill sets, what normal humans would call any type of psychic ability. My family line's abilities aren't as flashy like that though. My family's magic is geared towards speed, precision, and agility. My nephews, for example, despite being squibs, are strong in our family's magic. They're top of their class in school, can process information more quickly than their counterparts, and think on their feet. They are also superb martial artists who are the National Champions in their age class."

Harry smiled at the pride shining from sensei's eyes as he spoke of his family. "Even though you're the first magical in generations, your family still knew about magic?"

"Yes," Ikeda gestured around the shop at all the weapons. "Most of these were made by my family. The Morinozuka's have been weapon manufacturers and artisans since the age of the samurai. We began as artisans who served a family of warriors the Haninozuka's, who we still serve much in the same way that the Longbottoms serve the Potters. However, over the generations, the master, servant relationship blurred just as it did for you and the Longbottoms. We became warriors in our own right and we're actually higher than the Haninozuka's on the social ladder because of our manufacturing empire. Morinozuka Manufacturing Group is an international corporation that is well known not only in the muggle world, but in the magical one as well."

Harry googled at him. "So why are you working for me?"

"Higher brain function, speed, and agility makes me uncomfortable sitting behind a desk. I believe you westerners call it ADHD."

Harry laughed. "So, you're only here because you're an adrenaline junky and bored."

Sensei shrugged with a smile on his face. The shopkeeper returned with an elaborately carved wooden trunk when it opened the case was lined with rings made out of silver, gold, and platinum with various stones embedded in the rings. Harry found himself drawn to a platinum ring with a black stone inside. The shopkeeper smiled.

"You're being pulled to one, aren't you?"

Harry nodded riveted and reached out for the ring. The second he slipped it on, the ring sized to fit his finger and he felt power flow through his body before the ring merged with his core. Harry thought about the incantation to the levitation charm and focused on the fountain pen on the counter lifting in air. Shocked, Harry gasped and lost his concentration.

"Wow, much better than a wand."

The shopkeeper laughed. "That's a platinum ring with a black diamond stone mined in Africa two hundred years ago."

"Where do the magical properties come from? The stone?"

"Yes, the metal as well. Runes are etched around the metal when the ring was crafted. The Runes symbolizes protections keyed to the ring and stone. Can you see the grains in the ring?"

Harry lifted the ring to the light and saw the crushed diamond mixed in with the platinum and tiny writing engraved all around the ring.

"Amazing. How much?"

"Twenty galleons."

He looked to Sensei who gave a minuscule nod so Harry went into his backpack and pulled out his coin purse to pay the man.

After they left the shop, Sensei showed him around the magical district and Harry went crazy. He was like a kid locked in prison for years who just got an hour of freedom to buy whatever he wanted. The bigger items like paintings, scrolls, pottery, he had shipped to the castle, the smaller stuff like gifts and souvenirs he stuffed in his expanded backpack. But his favorite purchase was the men's clothier and the custom robes he had designed. The robe had a high mandarin collar with long sleeves that was tight around the arms and upper body and buttoned up from waist to throat. From the waist down it flared open and billowed around him so well Severus Snape would be green with envy. Underneath the robes, were dress pants in the same fabric as well as matching dress shoes. He brought three of the custom outfits, one in black, white, and silver.

"I am so badass."

Sensei rolled his eyes.

"You are just jealous." Harry grabbed a pair of sunglasses and put them on, went into himself, concentrating hard until his hair lengthened, which he put into a high ponytail while he preened in front of the mirror. "I'm definitely coming back once I finish my potions and get the growth spurt they promised. This is awesome. All I need is a weapon." Harry made his voice deepen and went into the basic poses Sensei had shown him that morning. "I am Harry Potter and I am the One." He said mimicking the movie, he and Neville saw the other day.

Sensei sighed. "You are so mature I forget you're only thirteen. I'm remembering now."

Harry stuck his tongue out at Sensei. He had to literally force himself out of his new robes and put his street clothes and his hair back to the way it was. Once he got back on the street and smelled the food, his stomach growled reminding him that they had been walking around for several hours.

Sensei chuckled. "Have you ever ate with chopsticks?" Harry shook his head. "I know a place. Take my hand."

Harry felt as if his body was being squeezed into a small tube and in the next second, he was standing in a new location. He fought the urge to barf and once the urge passed he noticed they were standing in front of a traditional single story Japanese home that had floor to ceiling windows on all sides and Asian style landscaping.

"Where are we?"

"My home in the Morinozuka compound. My elder brother and his family live in the main house about two miles away."

"Wow," Harry said looking around trying to see any other houses in the distance. He couldn't. "How many homes are on the property?"

"Seven. The main house, my home, and my parents' home are occupied. My nephews will pick out their homes when they turn twenty."

"Why twenty?"

"Twenty is the age children are officially recognized as adults in Japan."

Sensei opened the door and led him through a beautiful room with bamboo flooring, modern furniture, and an extensive music collection of instruments, cds, and records that lined the walls. He entered the kitchen and was impressed. It had character. The kitchen had wood flooring and dark blue granite countertops with flecks of black with a large island with a vegetable sink. The appliances were all top class and the surfaces blended in with the custom cabinets with black pulls. A blue textile screen was behind a glass screen. Sensei went into the freezer, pulled out a frosted mug, and poured ale in it before sliding the mug over to Harry who took a sip with a big grin.

"You are the best adult ever!" Sensei arched an eyebrow. "You gave me ale!"

Sensei rolled his eyes. "That's Hoppy, its beer flavored but non-alcoholic."

Harry sighed. "Oh well, at least I can pretend."

Sensei handed him a pair of chopsticks and a saucer then put a platter of cut up fruit and vegetables in the middle of the island. While Sensei cooked lunch, he instructed Harry on how to use chopsticks. Harry nearly lost his grip when the front door slammed open and footsteps ran into the kitchen. A boy about Harry's age jumped into Sensei's arms ignoring the flour coating his hands.

"Ojisan, what a surprise. Why didn't you let us know you were here? Don't you love me? Are you making ramen?* You know ramen is my favorite and yours is the best." The boy talked faster than Hermione at a book sale. Harry bet that the boy had inherited the family's ADHD. The boy rattled on about everything Sensei had missed since the last time they had spoken which mainly consisted of complaints about a boy named Chika. Harry felt someone else's eyes on him and turned to see an older boy standing in the doorway. He looked a lot like Sensei, but oddly enough, looked more masculine despite being younger. This older boy and Sensei could've passed for brothers; the only difference aside from the slightly more masculine look was this boy had a pointed chin and features that are more angular. The boy smiled shyly at him and Harry smiled back. The tall boy waited patiently for his brother to wind down before going over and hugging his uncle.

"Have you eaten dinner yet?" Sensei asked.

"Ah."

"Taka-ni," the younger whined. "I wanted ramen."

"What about you Takashi? Can you stay and eat some ramen?"

"Ah."

"Harry," Sensei said switching to English, "these are my nephews. Morinozuka, Takashi and Morinozuka, Satoshi. Oi's this is Potter-Tono, Harrison, the Earl of Welburn."

Both boys got a surprised look on their faces and bowed, Harry waved to them.

"Hi, Sensei speaks highly of you."

The boys moved to sit at the island, Takashi in the stool next to him and Satoshi next to Takashi so he could keep an eager eye on Sensei's progress with the ramen. Once Sensei set the dough to rest, he washed his hands and got his nephews drinks and saucers so they could eat the fruit, vegetables while they waited, before he went to get the ham and other ingredients to chop for the ramen. It was eerily quiet and Harry searched for something to say to the shy boy next to him.

"Sensei said you're the National Champion in your field. What martial arts forms do you practice?"

"Kendo and Judo." Harry must have still looked confused. "Kendo is fighting with swords and Judo is similar to your . . . wrestling, only more elegant."

"Taka-ni is amazing," Satoshi said tearing his eyes away from the ramen preparations. "No one can come close to defeating him except for Ike-oji."

Harry watched a slight blush flare on Takashi's cheeks.

"How old were you when you began training?"

"Six, but before that Ojisan taught us meditation."

"Really, how does that help with martial arts?"

Sensei went into a drawer and pulled out a large hand towel. "Put this over your eyes and go stand over there and meditate," he said pointed over to the corner of the kitchen. "This time instead of just focusing on inside your body focus on the outside as well and see if you can find the energy in the air while you run through the exercises I taught you this morning."

Harry nodded and moved to the side of the kitchen and placed the blindfold over his eyes before meditating and getting in tune with his core before seeing what he could find in the environment. To his shock he felt energy in the particles in the air and he could tell where the furniture sat. There was a big blob in the place where Harry assumed the countertops and other kitchen equipment should be. He followed Sensei's orders and ran through the simple forms Sensei showed him making sure he got the movements right since he was performing in front of three masters. The more he ran through the exercise the more natural the movements became. He suddenly felt someone in his personal space and as he focused, he began to 'see' the body like he could see his own. The person in front of him had a bright, yellow magical core that spun around looked like a kaleidoscope with the way the light and other vessels inside the person's body streamed and reflected through and around the core. He could literally see the person, who he assumed was either Takashi or Satoshi reach for him. Harry ended up placing his palms on the other's chest pushing him away like the way Sensei taught him, utilizing the movements. When the boy stumbled back, Harry let go and lifted his blindfold to find Takashi in front of him.

"Cool. When you got close, I could see your magical core, it was beautiful like a kaleidoscope in the sunlight."

"The force is strong with this one," Satoshi quipped.

Since Star Wars was the first movie, he'd seen thanks to Mrs. Figg and a weeklong vacation the Dursley's took, the movie was his favorite. So, he understand the movie reference and giggled.

When lunch (for he and Sensei) and a second dinner for the brothers was ready they sat down and ate. Takashi quietly helped him with the chopsticks so he could eat comfortably.

"Wow. This is amazing!"

"Ike-oji makes the best ramen better than the ramen shops."

Takashi and Sensei rolled their eyes.

"He's a ramen addict," Sensei explained.

Harry asked the brothers what they typically did and learned they woke up at four-thirty each morning to train before getting to class at eight. They went to Ouran Academy the best private school in Japan and were usually at school until six because of clubs, since it was an unwritten rule that every student participate in a club activity. Takashi was in Kendo and Judo club while Satoshi was in the Kendo and Karate club for and middle school and elementary school respectfully. As a result, they didn't get home until late so they just ate dinner and studied before bed. Takashi's favorite subjects were History and Geography and Satoshi loved Business and History. They both expected to work in the family business once they finished their education and now that they were on vacation from school, they were thinking about going to their chalet in Switzerland. Of course, Satoshi said all this; the older and quieter Takashi just nodded occasionally in agreement.

For dessert Sensei served dango, which was a sweet dumpling served with green tea to drink. It was delicious and Harry made a mental note to vacation in Japan and explore the food soon. After eating, Harry moved to the living room to give the family time to themselves. He curled up on the sofa and brought out his father's journal feeling a little lonely right now. He had to hope that one day he would find the right person and have a dozen kids, so he could have the family he always wanted. Until then, he was just going to have to be patient.

Soon he got lost in this father's journal. James Potter had finally realized he had a crush on his mother; unfortunately, he didn't make his infatuation known in a smart manner. Harry was actually surprised his mother didn't hex him to death. Their relationship reminded him of Ron and Hermione. Harry knew Ron would be just as big of a jerk if Hermione's best friend was a Slytherin boy. Harry could only hope he wasn't as much as jerk as his father had been. His dad had been so jealous of Snape it was insane and yet he didn't know what to call the feeling, so that just made everything worse. Aside from his dad's stupidity about his mother and Snape, he enjoyed reading the journals. The best was reading his father's notes on animagus transformation. Wondering how long he'd been absorbed in his Dad's journal, he thrust it back in his book bag and went in search of the Morinozukas. The kitchen was spotless and empty. He finally found them in a large empty room with wood flooring. Swords and other weapons lined the walls. In the middle of the room, Sensei faced off with Takashi. They were both shirtless and in their bare feet as they faced off against each other as they fought with long bamboo like sticks. Although Sensei obviously had more experience, Harry couldn't keep his eyes off Takashi. He was very graceful in the way he fought as if he were dancing instead of fighting. Harry loved the way he moved and wondered how he could emulate him when Sensei began teaching him. Harry sat on the floor, carefully examining Takashi's moves. A few second later Satoshi sat next to him, sweaty and obviously fresh from his own fight.

"Isn't Taka-ni awesome? I only lasted five minutes; they've been going on nearly twenty."

"Well maybe you just tired Sensei out for your brother."

Satoshi laughed. "Oji was right; you are a good person Potter-tono."

"What does tono mean?"

"Lord, you are a lord right, that's how Oji introduced you."

"Yeah. Oji is uncle right?"

Satoshi nodded. "Ojisan, yes."

"What's ni, brother?"

"Big brother it's short for Nichan or Nisan, it's how younger siblings address their older brothers. We'll have you speaking Japanese in no time. You're already halfway there loving ramen."

Harry laughed. "Glad to know it's that easy."

They turned back to the fight; Sensei finally brought Takashi down with a blow to the neck, Satoshi clapped loudly for his brother.

"Taka-ni, that's the longest you lasted. That was awesome."

Takashi blushed faintly. "Ah."

"I'm going to jump in the shower before Harry and I leave, you two wore me out."

Satoshi jumped up to follow him. "I'll get drinks for us. I'm thirsty."

Takashi shrugged into his shirt hiding an impressive set of muscles and sat down by Harry.

"That's really awesome, how many levels is Sensei ahead of you?"

"Three."

"See, it'll take me years to get to your level and I doubt that I will be as graceful as you."

"You will surpass me and Oji if you stick to it."

Harry goggled at him. "You can't be serious? Me?"

"You're just untrained. You have better instincts than us."

"It must be the wizard thing."

"No. I've trained with wizards before it's you. Oji likes you."

Harry was confused by the abrupt switch in topic. "Sorry?"

Takashi smiled. "He wanted us to meet. He knew we'd come when security showed he entered the compound. It's why he made ramen."

"He probably felt sorry for me. You have a great family."

"Ah."

It seemed that Takashi reached his capacity for speech for the day because he stayed quiet for several minutes.

"Do you write English?" Harry asked trying to draw the quieter boy out again.

Takashi tilted his head and looked at Harry curiously. "Ah. Standard subject taught in school."

"Will you write to me? I'll be homeschooled for the next couple of years and I don't know if I'll still have my friends. My life might've changed too much for them. Do you want to be pen-pals?"

Takashi nodded. Smiling happily, Harry dug into his backpack and pulled out two journals, both black. He had bought them for him and Ron but if Ron's response to the letter he'd sent were positive, he'd just get another pair for them. He handed one of the journals to Takashi.

"It's a two-way journal. You write in one and it will automatically appear in mine. It'll make it easier to communicate."

Takashi flipped through the journal curiously then held out his hand palm out. Harry figuring out he wanted a pen slipped one in his hand. A couple seconds later the diary in his hands warmed. In neat handwriting he read.

When were you born?

July 31st, I'm 13. You?

5th of May. I am fifteen.

What is your favorite color?

Green. You?

Green.

Satoshi returned carrying two bottled waters, which he handed to the two. Takashi just glanced at his brother who pouted.

"I got distracted."

Takashi stood and bowed to Harry.

"It's been a pleasure Potter-Tono."

Harry smiled. "Call me Harry."

"Takashi."

They smiled at each other before the brothers left. Harry decided to be good and pull out his charms book but instead of using a wand, he tested out his ring by focusing on the spell's incantation and visualizing what he wanted done. He learned a lot reading the book cover to cover instead of just doing the spells the teacher assigned. No wonder Hermione did so well in school.

"It looks like your foci ring is working."

Startled, Harry jumped up off the floor and shoved his book back in the bag. Sensei was in the doorway in another one of his suits.

"Ever since you showed me how to access my core, I've been finding it almost too easy to do magic. I can see the difference; I usually struggled twice as hard to do spells."

"It wouldn't surprise me if your first wand wasn't a complete match. By the way, I would keep the ring and silent casting a secret from everyone except your tutors. You don't want to give away all your secrets."

Harry nodded and pointed to the wall behind him. "Secret room?"

"You're learning." Sensei smiled proudly and placed his ring on one of the panels and a door slid open revealing a small room filled with exquisite weapons of all types.

"Wow, are they all from your company, or is it just a personal collection?"

"The wall on the other end are collectors' items, the rest are from the company. I design and craft weapons in my spare time. So does Satoshi and Takashi. The precision it takes to craft weapons helps focus our minds."

Sensei went to the wall and removed a twin blade weapon from inside a black lacquered sheath from a beautiful stand on the wall. The sheath was engraved with an etching of griffins. He removed the weapons to show two short swords. He re-sheathed them and handed them to Harry along with two matching daggers.

"For you. Keep the daggers strapped to your body at all times. I'll be showing you how to use them soon."

Harry was floored. "For me?"

"Of course."

Sensei the person who worked for him was giving him a gift. Harry was floored. "Are you serious?"

Sensei smiled. "If you want, think of it as a thank you for becoming friends with Takashi." Harry didn't bother to ask how he knew. "Takashi is so intense and quiet that he doesn't make friends. His only friend is his cousin Mitsukuni, who he sees as a younger brother he must protect despite Mitsukuni being older than him."

"Takashi's cool," Harry shrugged, "and he must be an amazing person for Satoshi to worship him like he does."

Sensei reached over and ruffled Harry's hair. "You're a good kid. Where do you want to go Castle Potter or Longbottom Manor?"

"The Castle. I've got a couple hours before dinner at the Manor. I'll wander around maybe sit at the café and study."

"As long as no one sees a magical cover on your books, make sure you switch them."

"Agreed."

Fifteen minutes later, he was standing in the living room of his apartments in the castle. It was a little after two local time, so Harry figured he'd wander around.

Author's Notes:

*Hey everyone. Thanks for all the support. This past week has been hectic for me as I moved over the holiday weekend and I've literally just got my internet turned on (with a new slower provider which I am not happy about). Anyhoo, I'm a little behind with reviews and such. Please be patient.

*As far as Ouran High School Host Club canon, I've watched the anime, but I've only read the magna up to volume 9. I'm not sure if it was canon or fanon that Satoshi was addicted to ramen. I couldn't find a reference in the wiki, it just states he loves spicy things. If his ramen addiction is not canon, I stole that ramen addiction tidbit from Stalker of Stories and another persons story that I cannot remember at the moment. If you haven't read Stalker of Stories crossover, do, it's great. And if Satoshi's ramen addiction isn't canon, blame me.

*Once again, this story is complete. I am my own beta so all mistakes are my fault, especially as I have never been to Japan or the United Kingdom.

*I do not own Harry Potter nor Ouran High School Host Club. If I did, I doubt I'd write fanfiction about it.