"Xian Pu!" Mu Su yelled with joy as he leapt at his beloved.

Enveloping her in a hug he squeezed tight. Immediately he knew this was not his Xian Pu. For one the figure was leaner, less curvier. Second they had let out a cute little squeak that Xian Pu would never make. Mu Su freed an arm from the hug and dug into his ki pockets for his glasses. Pulling them out, he set them on his nose and actually looked at the person he had embraced.

The man, for it was male, was short, no taller then Xian Pu herself and very lean. He was pale, like he had never seen the sun, and his hair was as dark as Mu Tsu's own black hair. It was much shorter though, being ear length and tussled to boot. The young man, whom looked no older then Mu Tsu's own eighteen, was staring at Mu Su in a stunned sort of surprise, peering at him through silver wire framed glasses.

"You're not Xian Pu." Mu Su said stating the obvious just to get a conversation or something of the sorts started.

"Um, sorry?" The young man offered with a slight accent. "I'm Harry, not Xian Pu."

Mu Su paused slightly at the boy's correct pronunciation of Xian Pu's name. Most people called her 'Shampoo'.

"I apologize." Mu Su said finally letting the boy fully go.

"Oh, that's fine." The boy blushed brushing his shirt off in a nervous manner. "Do you know the way to uh, Cat Café?"

"You meeting friends?" Mu Su raised a brow.

"I'm supposed to meet a woman named Ke Lun."

"You are here to see the elder?" Mu Su blinked.

He did not look like a warrior so he was not here to challenge. Mu Su wondered what the boy wanted with the old woman, or what the old woman wanted with the boy. He ran his options over in his head. If he went back to the café he'd get pressed into working but he had nothing else to do at the moment anyways.

"I can take you there." Mu Su said. "Can you jump?"

"Um, jump?" The boy blinked jumping slightly.

Mu Su took that as a no.

"I will carry you then. Much faster my way." Mu Su said, grabbing the stranger, Harry, and lifting him bridal style.

The teen gave another squeak but it was cut off as Mu Su leapt from the road to a nearby roof and from there to another roof. He had expected a scream or two but the teen was just staring wide eyed at the ground. Five minutes of silence later they landed on the road next to the Cat Café.

"That was amazing." The boy grinned as Mu Su finally set him back on his feet.

Mu Su raised a brow and got a look of both awe and respect. He flushed slightly at such a gaze, also feeling a stirring of pride for winning such a look from the boy.

"Come in." Mu Su said. "Elder Ke Lun!"

"What is it Mr. Part Time?" The elder's voice asked from the kitchen.

Mu Su left the man at the front counter and ducked back into the cooking area.

"There is a boy here to see you."

"A boy?" She blinked. "What's his name?"

"Hari." Mo Su said, tongue turning over at the foreign name.

"Harry? Good, good. Give him a meal while I finish up in here. Then start closing up."

Mousse complied and grabbed the last bowl of ramen, setting it in front of their guest.

"Elder Ke Lun will be a moment." He told the foreigner who thanked him and dug into the meal.

Seeing as there were no other customers at the moment (since it was so close to closing time) he closed the door and hung up the closed sign. After that he started to wipe tables and put up chairs, keeping an eye on the guest who ate the ramen easily and swiftly.

When the boy had finished his meal Ke Lun appeared as if knowing he was done and eyed the boy from atop her cane.

"So you are Harry Potter?" She said dubiously. "I thought you would be older."

"So you're Elder Ke Lun? I thought you would be taller." Hari mimed smoothly, voice full of confidence and politeness.

Mu Su marvelled at how he had gone from a blushing teen to a strong confident man. Mu Su wondered which one was the mask and which one was the real one. Ke Lun smirked at him.

"I heard you were a smart alec." She said. "You'd better be as good as my informants say."

"I am." Hari grinned. "Now what was it you wanted me to fix?"

Ke Lun pulled a large trunk onto the counter and opened it. Mu Su swept closer to subtly peer into the box. He found himself looking at the array of magical items Ke Lun had used both recently and things he'd never seen. All appeared broken or had an aura of use.

"That's a lot." Hari said simply picking up a mirror.

"It is. But I pay well, so that shouldn't be a problem." She said. "How long?"

"Depends." Hari said. "Some of these will take a long time, and some will be quick. At the very least, a month."

"Hmm. You may stay in the room beside Mu Su's for you stay. Do you need a work area?"

"If I do I can find one myself."

"Good. I shall subtract room and food from your pay."

Hari laughed at her words and closed the trunk with a snap.

"It'll be fun." He grinned.

"He is fixing your things grandmother?" Xian Pu asked stepping into the store.

"Yes. Harry here is a magic user. They are rare. It is even rarer to find a man who has extensively studied ancient artefacts and has good magic senses."

"You're making me blush." Haru laughed. "I just have a knack for it."

"I show you room." Xian Pu smiled.

Hari thanked her and followed her up the stairs to the second floor leaving Ke Lun and Mu Su alone.

"A knack." Ke Lun snorted. "He calls being one of the only people on earth able to fix ancient objects, of magic and ki, a knack."

Mu Su wondered who this boy was and why Ke Lun could speak of him with such respect.

.-.

.-.

"That was wicked!"

Mu Su blinked in surprise and spun to face the magic boy. Said boy was sitting on the edge of a fence behind him.

"You must have trained long and hard to be able to do that." The boy grinned at him.

"Yes. You were watching?"

"Came about five minutes ago and saw the end. You have a lot of weapons."

Mu Su frowned slightly. He hadn't sensed the boy at all. Perhaps he had been too distracted by his practice. But no. Even now he could not sense the boy. He felt like a part of nature, like he was nothing more then a tree or a rock. Something you wouldn't sense.

"Thank you for the compliment." Mu Su said bowing slightly.

The boy smiled at him and Mu Su was once again struck at the respect he saw in the boy's eyes. Respect for him? No one respected 'Mousse'. He was a weakling, unable to defeat Ranma and in his village he was a male. It felt…nice to see someone look at him with eyes like that. It made his heart beat slightly faster and his face flush slightly. To have someone recognize him for his skill.

"Are you a fighter?" Mu Su asked quickly.

"A bit." The boy shrugged. "But I specialize in magic fighting, not physical like you. You guys use your ki in such fascinating ways. Those spaces you put your weapons in are very advanced. They must have taken you years to master. And mastered at your age even! You are very talented."

Ki pockets had actually taken Mu Su four years to even use and four more years on that to master. He flushed again. Finally someone had recognized how much work he had put into his training. He'd always wanted someone to come up to him and congratulate him on such a hard training technique. No one in his village had master ki pockets to the same degree as him. None of the other weapon masters had mastered it as fast as him.

"Thank you." Mu Su smiled. "Do you use ki?"

"Since I learned of it I have used it slightly." The boy shrugged. "But I haven't had the time to train or learn. And with no teacher and only books I've stumbled over many parts on my own. And to use ki one has to be very physically fit. I have been working on that mostly."

"…Would you like to train with me?" Mu Su offered hesitantly.

The boy's face brightened and Mu Su smiled.

"Sure! Can you teach me how to jump as high as you?"

.-.

Mu Su couldn't help but give a grin as he heard Harry's shout of laughter as they flew over a building.

"This is great!" Harry grinned. "It feels like flying!'

"You fly often?" Mu Su asked amused.

"Oh, yes, quite often. It's my favourite pastime."

Mu Su nearly tripped over a roof as he heard this. He had asked in jest. He supposed that the boy truly did have magic. They both landed softly in front of the Cat Café. Whereas Mu Su was unruffled, Harry's hair had become a bit windblown and he was panting slightly from the physical strain. Mu Su was surprised the boy had worked his way to such large jumps so quickly but it was no surprise he still tried easily. He needed more work on stamina.

"Is our training still on tomorrow or do you need to do work?" Mu Su asked.

Harry glanced at him with a wide smile and appreciative eyes.

"It's still on. Thanks Mu Su. You're a great teacher."

Mu Su blushed slightly at the praise and watched as the boy headed inside the café.

"You have done good Mr. part Time."

Mu Su nearly leapt out of his skin as Ke Lun appeared beside him.

"What?" he asked more calmly.

"He is a very powerful man. It would be very advantageous to have him think fondly of us. Continue to train him."

"Yes Elder." Mu Su said simply.

She headed off and he frowned after her. Now he felt as if training the other man was a duty, not a pleasure. He immediately blushed at that thought wondering where it had come from. But it was true. He'd had fun training the boy, even if it cut into his own training time and his 'impress Xian-Pu' time.

.-.

.-.

"What are we doing here?" Mu Su asked looking about the restaurant.

"I'm treating you to breakfast." Harry said as they sat.

"Why?" Mu Su asked confused as he took an offered menu.

"Well because you're training me. You take time out of your day for me when you don't have to. I thought I should give you a thank you." Harry grinned at him widely.

Mu Su found himself blushing just slightly at the bright mischievous grin that seemed to be Harry's trademark expression. Having a wide smile directed at him was something strange to the weapons master, but it was really nice he was discovering. For someone who only had either scorn, disgust, or taunting expressions directed at him daily he was finding that harry's vast range of expression of joy, glee, happiness, and determination were very refreshing.

He smiled back at the man and looked down at the menu. Only to almost have his eyes fall out of his head.

"H-Harry!" He stuttered.

"Yes?" Harry asked browsing his own menu.

"T-this is too expensive!" He squeaked.

"Hmm? It's only a middle priced restaurant." Harry said confused.

Mu Su didn't bother to point out the most expensive restaurants he had ever been too were small ramen stands.

"But..." He said, nervously closing the menu.

"Mu Su." Harry said smiling in that cheerful sort of way. "If you don't order I'll order you three of the most expensive things on the menu."

Mu Su found himself looking the menu over again and ordering without further complaint.

.-.

.-.

"Mu Su!"

Mu Su looked up in surprise as he heard the startled cry. He found himself looking at the short figure of Harry standing in the doorway, radiating concern and worry. The young man swooped down on him and quickly examined his beaten form.

"Are you okay?" Harry blurted out. "Who did this to you!"

"It was just a spar." Mu Su said quickly. "I just lost is all."

"This was not just a spar!" Harry said, voice higher with his emotion. "These were deliberately made to hurt more then a 'training punch' should. Tell me who did this."

"It was just a spar." Mu Su said firmly.

Harry's eyes hardened on him and Mu Su almost shrunk at the hard chunks of ice looking back at him.

"It was Xian Pu wasn't it? That absolute bitch! What did you do, giver her a gift, flowers, a compliment? And she of course threw it back at you then beat you up for 'wasting her time'!"

"I was wasting her time!" Mu Su objected.

"No you weren't! You are not a waste of time!"

"Harry." Mu Su pleaded. "Just leave it be."

The green chips of ice softened just slightly and the hand that had been holding his arm gently loosened even more. Mu Su felt the familiar tinge of magic tingle up his arms and felt his pain fade slightly, the bruises healing a good deal.

"Mu Su." Harry said, "You are not a waste of time, or space, or air or anything. Xian Pu is an absolute bitch and she doesn't deserve you."

Mu Su would never say how much those words lifted him up. Somewhere in his mind behind the stubbornness and determination he had been hiding such worries. Hiding thoughts that he truly was useless, better off dead, a waste of space. Somewhere in his mind, after hearing it so many times, he had started to believe it. They had always been eating away at him. Harry's genuinely honest words soothed such worries and made him relax into the wall, his heart humming with what could be happiness.

"Thank you." He whispered.

"You don't need to thank me for the truth." Harry whispered pulling him to his feet and helping him up to his room to lay down.

.-.

.-.

"Ah!" Mu Su yelped almost instinctively as he was blown back from an attack.

Ranma didn't even bother to knock him out or tie him up as he moved onto Ryoga and it made Mu Su burned with anger and shame. Even his 'rival' didn't respect him enough to see him as a threat. And somewhere down, that burned at his pride as a warrior. When your rival didn't even see you as a slight threat, left you conscious and free, it was like a slap in the face saying you weren't worth the time of day.

Mu Su didn't even bother to catch himself as he flew back, expecting to hit a wall soon. Maybe the impact would knock some of the anger and shame from him. If not it would at least make him feel alive.

Soft arms wrapped around him suddenly, and then he hit the wall. But the wall was far to soft to be a wall. A soft groan came from the owner of the arms and Mu Su quickly stood, spinning to find Harry wincing as he rolled his shoulders from the impact. He'd hit the wall much harder then Mu Su would have considering Mu Su had been like a hammer, driving him further against the stone.

"You fool!" Mu Su hissed. "You could have been hurt."

"Not a big deal." Harry said. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I am! And I would be if I hit the wall! I could have badly hurt you!"

Harry gave a soft chuckle and Mu Su steamed at his crass attitude towards his own health.

"You're a moron!" Mu Su hissed turning away both angry at himself and worried for Harry.

Harry chuckled again as he stood and stepped beside him.

"Well maybe. But I'm a hungry moron. Want to get dinner?"

Mu Su looked towards the sounds of destruction coming from where he'd been kicked out of Ryoga and Ranma's fight, then back to Harry's smile.

"Yeah, sure." Mu Su cracked a smile. "But you're paying."

"I'm the one getting paid." Harry agreed grinning.

.-.

.-.

"You're… done?" Mu Su asked softly watching as Harry repacked the room he'd been staying in.

"Yeah. Finished the last item a week ago." Harry said. "Was just bumming about since then."

Mu Su didn't like the way his stomach clenched with the thought of Harry leaving. He'd been there for a little under three months and Mu Su already felt as if he'd been there forever. To have Harry missing form daily life was just…wrong. Mu Su was horrified to find a lump in his throat. He watched Harry pack his bags and stuff all the fixed items back in Ke Lun's trunk.

"Help me carry it downstairs?" Harry asked with one of those sloppy carefree grins.

Mu Su picked it up one handed and carried it downstairs, shoving it in the elder's room.

"So, you're just leaving?" Mu Su asked. "I mean, will you ever come back?"

"I need to return home." Harry answered. "And I'm usually to busy for many vacations.

This hurt more then any of Xian Pu's rejections, or Ranma's dismissals, or Ke Lun's words, or his village's laughs. It was this dull ache inside of him and he suddenly felt hollow and numb, to cold to feel anything.

"Oh." He said and his voice sounded despondent to his own ears.

Harry looked at him with glowing green eyes that Mu Su had to say were the most beautiful eye's he'd ever seen. Everything about Harry was beautiful, Harry was just beautiful. Mu Su felt the urge to blurt such a thing out but smothered it behind the lump in his throat and the slight burn at the corner of his eyes.

"Will you write to me?" Mu Su asked, pleaded.

"Mu Su," Harry sighed.

Mu Su flinched as he suddenly realized what this was. Harry was trying to tell him this was it. This was the end of their friendship. Mu Su wondered why he was hurt and surprised by this. He'd never had a friend before, and Harry was only here for a job.

"Stop that." Harry hissed and Mu Su jerked at the words. "I'm not brushing you off."

Mu Su looked at him, confused. Harry gave him one of this soft smiles that was a mix of happiness and warmth and hope. Mu Su melted at those smiles. Then Harry held out a hand. Mu Su looked at it confused.

"Mu Su, would you come with me?"

Mu Su stared at him, bewildered.

"Go with you?"

"Come live with me." Harry said. "Work with me. Just be with me. I can see you're not happy here. I could make you happy. I would give you anything."

And to Mu Su's ears this sounded almost like he was begging, soft hopeful eyes alight. Mu Su wanted to deny he wasn't happy, say he had to chase after Xian Pu. But then he really stopped and thought on it for once. He was unhappy. His whole life he'd been quite unhappy. And the one man who had brought him happiness was offering to take him away, give him anything he wanted. He looked at the soft waiting hand, with long fingers and pale skin. He could see the untold possibilities behind it. He looked at green eyes and could see the promises there.

He took the hand.

"I'd like that." He smiled.

Harry's wide smile at these words, as if they were everything he ever wanted. Then they were gone in a flurry of a color of lights. No one would notice for a day or two and that would only be Ke Lun, who'd chuckle softly to herself knowingly.

.-.

THE END

.-.