The sunlight felt good on Harry's skin. For a moment he just wanted to stand and purr. Even better would be going down to the river for a swim and cat nap... Ah… a nap in the warm sun…
"Hellooo! Anyone home?" Harry blinked a jerked his head back slightly as a thin hand waved in front of his eyes. He glanced up at Dazai in slight confusion as he was brought back to the present.
"Ah! Sorry! I got distracted for a moment!" Harry blurted in embarrassment. He could feel his cheeks heating up with color. Dazai's amused expression didn't help either. The man stood a few feet before Harry. He held his phone in one hand while the other remained lazily in his pocket. Dazai seemed to have been texting one-handedly. The detective chuckled at Harry before promptly reprimanding him.
"You shouldn't be so easily distracted Hari-Kun. After all, we are currently on the way to meet the guarantor for your future job! You should be alert and make a good impression." Dazai coached Harry gleefully.
"The guarantor?" Harry questioned nervously. He'd never been to a job interview before. What would he say? What should he do? Was what he was wearing okay?
"Yep! Don't worry though, I'm sure he won't hate your for almost committing murder." Dazai chirped innocently. Harry flinched and looked away.
"I really am sorry." He murmured softly. Regret and guilt burned at his heart in an uncomfortable imitation of heart burn.
"I know. I just want to make sure you keep in mind your situation when applying for the job." Dazai murmured somewhat threateningly. Harry turned timidly back and was rewarded with the sight of the detective peering at Harry from the corner of his eye. Harry grit his teeth.
"What's the job?" The Were-Tiger asked. Dazai turned to him and grinned. He transitioned from passive aggressive to happy and playful in a matter of seconds. Harry felt taken aback by the swift change.
"I'm not spoiling the fun. However, you should prepare yourself. This boss likes to test his future employees quite vigorously." The detective mischievously informed Harry. Harry gulped.
"A test?" He asked worriedly. Harry hadn't been to school since before Hogwarts. All he knew were the basic skills of a ten-year-old. His writing had improved at Hogwarts, but Harry hadn't practiced more than basic math skills in ages.
"Hari-kun, do you know how to read and write?" Dazai asked curiously.
"Y-yeah, I know how." Harry answered nervously. Just so long as they didn't put his math skills on trial, Harry might be able to 'pass' this test.
"Then you have a chance of being fine... maybe. I suppose it all depends on you, little thief." Dazai taunted. Harry once more grit is teeth and told himself to endure. Dazai deserved to have a little vengeance. The detective had just seen Harry gut his partner the night before. It would have been weird if the man had just taken to Harry like a fish to water. The fact that Dazai was still ensuring that Harry got a job, despite his very obvious and pointed dislike of Harry, was very kind and likely rather difficult for the man.
"Thank you." Harry muttered quietly.
"Eh?" Dazai looked over at Harry in surprise.
"Thank you for helping me find a job. I know it's probably difficult for you to do. I hurt your partner last night, so I know you must be angry." Harry shuffled his feet and looked at the ground. He had never been very good at expressing himself when on the topic of emotions. Harry blinked when he felt a hand ruffling through his hair. He looked up to see Dazai looking at him with an actually positive expression. In fact, if Harry wasn't absolutely sure Dazai hated him for gutting Kunikida, he would have said the expression was somewhat... fond.
"Maa... leave it to me, kid. Everyone deserves a second chance... besides, I am the one and only Dazai, trusted by the agency and adored by the populace!" Dazai grinned and waved his arms flamboyantly.
"THERE YOU ARE DAZAI!" Harry jerked back at the loud roar of rage. He looked for the source and was shocked to see a very irate Kunikida heading their way. The man stormed his way over to them and let loose another scream at his partner.
"You bandage squandering machine!" He shouted loudly. Dazai's reaction was just as dramatic as Kunikida's abrupt entrance. The dark detective stumbled back a few feet and melodramatically clutched at his heart.
"Ni-nice nickname, Kunikida." He moaned as he acted out his internal pain in the form of clutching his heart and writhing. Kunikida paid his overly sensitive dramatics no mind. Instead he continued to berate his partner rather angrily.
"Who's the one and only one trusted by the agency?" The blonde growled threateningly. "You're the one and only who we get complaints, curses, and grievances about!" He yelled.
"W-what?" Harry asked bemusedly. He looked between Dazai and Kunikida in confusion. Why would Dazai give the agency a bad name? He had seemed rather professional the day before, if one discounted the suicide attempt...
Dazai huffed and ran his hand through his hair while flashing what Harry was sure was meant to be a winning smile. He pulled off an innocent act that Harry was sure would have had Hermione swooning if she had seen.
"Since when did I ever get a complaint?" He asked somewhat suavely. Kunikida's visage crystallized into feral annoyance. His eyebrows formed an angry 'V' and he pulled out his green book. Harry took another, very, very large, step back.
"Complaint in August," Kunikida read aloud. "One of your employees has been caught in an offshore fishing net. Can you come retrieve him?" Harry blinked. Offshore fishing net? Did that mean...?
"Call in September: Some weirdo's got himself buried in my farm. Could he be one of yours?" Harry's eyebrow twitched. It did mean...
"Call in the same month: Pay your tab, okay?! All six months!" Harry turned to stare at Dazai. Really? Six months? The man had gone pale and backed up a further few paces.
"Th-th-that's impossible!" Dazai shrieked. "Who knew you were so good at imitating other people, Kunikida-Kun?!" Harry blinked again. He's not even denying it!
Unfortunately, Dazai's words had the effect of finally sending the vexed Kunikida over the edge. The man's glasses cracked from his rage and he leapt forward to grab Dazai. Kunikida gripped his partner by the collar and shook him back and forth in his mounting fury.
"You bastard!" He roared. "Stop ridiculing me!" Harry continued to watch Kunikida take his anger out on Dazai in several very violent ways. As he watched, his confidence in Dazai's ability to find him a job slowly melted away. Did he really want to even meet the person Dazai was recommending? The man didn't exactly seem to be the pillar of excellence from his own job…
After a few more moments, Kunikida seemed to settle down.
"Oh, right!" He exclaimed. The man turned to look at Harry while muttering about wasting time.
Ah... I wonder how mad he is about last night? Harry hunched his shoulders defensively and loosened up a bit. If Kunikida tried to strike him...
However, Harry's worries were unfounded as Kunikida once again turned his attention to his partner.
"Let's hurry to the agency!" He shouted into Dazai's face. Dazai blinked before lethargically responding.
"Why?" He asked blandly.
"We have an emergency!" Kunikida announced frantically. "A bomber's taken a hostage and holed himself up in our office." The blonde's voice was deadly serious. His green eyes seemed both conflicted and more than a little worried. Meanwhile, Harry watched on in alarm.
A bomber?
Like a muggle Terrorist?!
Harry had luckily (amazingly considering his brand of Potter-Luck) never run into any muggle terrorist, but he had often heard about them on the telly or in conversations Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would have late at night. The two had done their best to keep such terrifying happenings from Dudley, but there had never seemed to consider keeping Harry from hearing. He could still remember trembling in fear as the couple discussed the news quietly in the living room. Bombings, shootings, stabbings, and even running people down with a truck had been a frequent topic when the two heard of something particularly gruesome on the news. At one point, Aunt Petunia had become so frightened that she had urged her husband for a move.
Now, as Harry heard of such an incident happening in his vicinity, fear once more bubbled beneath his ribcage. It curdled his stomach and laced its deathly claws around his racing heat.
"A bomber?" He asked shakily. Harry's yellow eyes were open wide, and he was quite sure his skin had become the palest it had ever been.
A muggle terrorist?
Harry felt terrified.
Dazai looked over at Harry and nodded.
"Yes, a bomber. We need to stop him. Will you help, Hari-kun?" The man asked seriously. Every trace of humor and jovial countenance had fled the man. Earlier, he had been Dazai, the prankster. But now, he was Dazai, agent of the Armed Detective agency. He stood straight and tall. He held a sense of strength and a danger that Harry had not placed on him before. And currently, he was waiting for Harry's answer.
Harry gulped.
Fear clawed at Harry's insides and the force of it made him tremble. Harry had been terrified of terrorists since he had been young and now that same irrational, animalistic fear made him want to run and cower in a ditch somewhere. His instincts practically begged him to run for the nearest cover.
And yet...
These people needed him. It was true, Harry's presence did not denote a successful battle against the bomber. Him being there, might not have any effect on the outcome of the situation at all. However, with his magic and varied skills, Harry would be an undeniable asset in freeing the hostage and ensuring the safety of those in the office. Perhaps his could even use his magic to somehow dispose of the bomb…
Harry opened his mouth and hesitated. It was a muggle terrorist...
...
But he was Gryffindor. And Gryffindors always protected the weak, even if they had to fight their own fear to do so. To fight one's fear was to be brave. To have no fear was to be an idiot.
"Yes. I will." Harry heard himself say. His voice was cracked and frightened, but he uttered his acceptance all the same. Harry's posture remained hunched and frightened and his pallor did not lessen. His heart continued to race. His knees would not stop shaking.
However, none of that actually mattered.
A person being in danger, mattered.
A person needing his help, mattered.
And Harry was nothing if not an idiotic hero.
Harry had faced down Dark Lords and lesser wizards. He had tackled deadly magical beasts, tricked a werewolf, murdered a thousand-year-old basilisk, and won a war. Harry ridden a dragon, stolen from the heart of goblin security, outrun a horde of giant spiders, and out flown a literal queen of the sky. He had fought wraiths, destroyed homicidal memories, and brought down a dark empire.
Truthfully… this was a single drop in comparison to the oceans of danger he had been in before.
All that held him back was his own irrational fear.
Surely, he could fight that, right?
Okay, so... I had this episode divided into three parts. When I wrote this part, I was like... TOO SHORT! REJECTED! So... I thought a bit and realized that there might still be one thing Harry might have a little bit of an issue with. And to be totally honest, I'm sure most everybody has an issue with terrorists. Heck, they terrify me! So, in light of this, I was able to lengthen the chapter a little. Also, sorry for its continued shortness... but hey, at least you didn't have to wait a whole month for it!
Anyway, I want to finish this episode quickly so I might be updating again sometime in the next seven days. Of course... I will feel even more motivated with reviews!
Please Review for my motivation!
~Blitza :)