I know I should be rewriting Perfectly Alien, but college is kicking my butt and when I manage any freetime it's spent with my family or writing whatever comes to mind. I've been a little nostalgic over Ghost Hunt so I took a whack at it and accidentally wrote eighty pages worth- whoops.
This was inspired by Duochanfan's Yume no Naka ni Seishin rewrite with a little bit of Cywscross' C'est La Vie mixed in (both of which I recommend!). All the nitty-gritty is original, though. I did all the research myself and made sure to keep only to my own sources for all the information I needed. The set ups might be similiar but I promise this story isn't a knock-off and will follow it's own beat.
I'm not gonna information-dump after this chapter if I can help it, so if anyone is confused about what I'm referencing feel free to drop a review or PM me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Ghost Hunt

Harry always had a fondness for runes.

The love affair began shortly after the Triwizard Tournament's First Task, inspired by his success using a broom instead of a wand to get past the dragon. For so many years he'd been in utter awe over his wand and its magic, a symbol of another world where he had friends and triumphs.

But in that moment, as he soared past dragon fire, his adoration for the holly wand and its spells faded. Harry was able to tear himself away and look at the whole of magic in all its different forms with a level gaze.

He'd thumbed over several branches, skipping past potions the quickest and mulling over wandless magic the longest, before he found his favorite. Runology was difficult and finicky, and the amount of memorization could put a strain on even Hermione. But activating runes felt like catching the snitch, a rush of cold air in his face and exhilaration in his veins.

He'd poured over countless books and wasted ridiculous amounts of wood and paper on failed experiments, but it was more than worth it when he first managed to bind a rune to his parchment and set it alight.

Unfortunately, there hadn't been an opportunity to truly put his branch to the test during the Tasks, not when he had been a fresh novice who required time and patience for every symbol he managed.

But Harry had practiced that summer, armed with a small knife and stack of books, he'd carved rune after rune into the ground behind the park. He chanted each rune's verse until they came to him by heart, and poured his magic into his inscriptions until they stopped spitting back at him.

By the middle of Sixth Year, Harry could bind runes together and managed a layered triad after two months of work. He proudly etched them into his bedpost and cast a thrumming protection glyph over his bed that wouldn't fade so long as it remained intact. The success ate at his magic like nothing else, and Harry practically crawled down for dinner, but he had never slept so soundly as he did that night.

For all that he enjoyed it, Runes had just been a hobby then. It was something he could use to take his mind off of Voldemort, and Dumbledore, and the Ministry. Harry hadn't been particularly skilled and he didn't bother using it on things he could do well enough with magic when he wasn't practicing.

Harry hadn't considered it as something he could dedicate his life to until he was on the run in a forest for most of his seventeenth year. Suddenly it was one of his most precious skills, a literal lifesaver on more than one occasion when Snatchers and werewolves flooded the forest and only his runes held up against the waves of Finites.

With Hermione's full support, Harry studied feverishly for improvements, desperate to give them even the tiniest of edges against the overwhelming odds. He improved by leaps and bounds with another person to swap stanzas with and debate theories over. While Hermione proved herself to be a quick learner, it was Harry who managed a six-rune glyph set on their tent that turned it into a fortress on par with Grimmauld Place.

The attempt had cost him enough magic to put him under for three days, but Harry would do it again in a heartbeat. From the second he opened his eyes, Harry was only eager to learn more, and strove to grow until he could achieve full sets without nearly killing himself in the process.

Harry got his opportunity after the Final Battle of Hogwarts, after the parades and funerals hand in hand.

For all that he adored runes, Harry had every intention to become an Auror with Ron after the war. Fighting was all he knew now, and it felt right. That dream had been snatched away in one fell swoop by a pale-faced Madam Pomfrey and two wide-eyed mediwizards the moment he woke up after the battle.

Harry should have been more upset, he was upset. But the bitter sorrow they all expected never came. The Avada Kedavra Voldemort blasted him with had bitten deep and scarred immediately. It wasn't the half-hearted flash of green light that Voldemort thought would do for an infant, it had been a curse brimming with hatred and desperation that had barrelled into his body, and the difference was vicious.

Harry wasn't crippled, but the ugly scar stretched from his left shoulder to his right hip, had burrowed itself into the joint. A crooked lightning bolt to match the one finally healing on his forehead.

Harry could live his life without medication or constant pain after being hit point-blank by another killing curse. He was ridiculously lucky and no amount of pitying looks would convince him otherwise. However, he couldn't run and fight with a hip subject to bouts of arthritis and stiffness, not well enough to duel Death Eaters anyway. Mad-Eye's own leg injury had been the one to finally land him in retirement.

A duelist had to duck and twirl with swift surety. A constant crouch to maintain agility was one of the best stances to use, and Harry couldn't do that for more than five minutes before the burning started and his leg weakened.

Harry could taste the sour frustration and disappointment at the back of his throat when they told him he couldn't hold a career as physically demanding as an auror. He didn't need so many details and platitudes, he understood the moment Pomfrey had explained the damage. Harry just wished they'd stop talking and leave.

Harry was an adult, he had just survived a war that should've killed him. He could handle the disappointment and move on with his life without so much fuss. But Harry wasn't the only one who needed to accept his newfound limitations, and he was willing to hold off on his newly forming plans for now.

Harry allowed Ron to whine and growl for him, disappointment and anger in spades. The redhead wasn't known for his emotional sensitivity and no one was surprised when he took his feelings out harried healers who weren't trying hard enough.

Harry weathered Hermione's long-winded tests and hypotheses as she tried her best to do what trained professionals could not. She'd completed enough research on curse scars that she could've become a specialist, and angrily lectured the potion masters and surgeons with the finest jargon.

Neville and Luna weren't his only former classmates to stop by and express their sadness for his loss either. All of Gryffindor visited one time or another across the duration of his stay, frustrated scowls and wobbly lips abound.

He wouldn't hurt his friends' feelings because of his own impatience, he waited until they had sunk down into sad acceptance a few months later before finally, finally acting.

Harry checked himself out of St. Mungo's three months after the war and immediately buried himself into his runes. They would soothe him once more, as they had over the summer and between calamities. Harry certainly wasn't happy his path had been limited just as he'd finally picked a future for himself, but there were worse fates.

He went to the Ministry and subjected himself to a twenty-page write up and six hours of practical exams for a license and the title of Runemaster. The Ministry was in such chaotic shambles that he doubted any surviving higher-ups even knew he had come, the press certainly weren't alerted. Harry slept away the entire weekend and came out the following Monday to hunt down a job.

Clients varied wildly for Harry, he was a popular choice in the Wizarding World and found all sorts of work for runology. Some were rich nobles seeking love forecasts, others were entrepreneurs wanting prosperity blessings. There were people who wanted protection runes for their children and wards on family estates. Harry had even been hired by the Malfoys to renew their manor's numerous glyph sets after the damage Voldemort had put them through. It had been a fantastic opportunity to study how meticulously layered each glyph was without linking them and overwhelming the runemaster.

His business wasn't only in England either, as Harry's reputation as a runemaster found its way into the ears of people who didn't know about the Boy-Who-Lived, he was called to different countries entirely. America, Australia, almost every country in Europe, but his favorites were the distant ones.

With their own batch of problems and dangers, it was a challenge to find the right combination of runes to fit a need. Particularly Asian countries, with their plethora of spiritual and mythological creatures that were practically impervious to a rune's physical properties. The pay wasn't particularly impressive in those areas, but the experiences more than made up for it.

It was the main reason he'd accepted a request from a muggle school principal in Japan. He didn't have many connections and the problem wasn't very exciting, but Harry was game. The man had worked hard to contact him and Harry wanted to make a bigger name for himself there.

He'd mailed Ron and Hermione about his latest job so they wouldn't worry, and flooed to the Japanese Ministry with a duffle bag and a smile.

The abandoned schoolhouse had enough ghost stories to fuel rumors for years to come, if any one of them were true Harry was in for a rough ride.

Suicides, car-crashes, ghostly sightings, halted constructions- a surprising amount of mayhem for such a quiet town.

Harry chewed on his lip thoughtfully as he trotted up the stairs of the building in question. He wasn't a psychic or any more sensitive to the paranormal than an average wizard, so handling spirits would be difficult. There were a lot of tiny steps to take before he could make any attempts at solving the problem, and those steps were tedious.

Setting up an offensive ward wouldn't do any good without knowing where to tune it, he needed to know as much as possible about the problem first. If the building was even haunted in the first place. The principal debriefing hadn't contained any hard evidence after all. Harry would create a detecting glyph first in order to determine if there was even a presence to begin with.

Harry picked a less worn-down looking room and gingerly sat in the middle of the floor. The wood creaked and groaned around him. Even without the possibility of ghosts, Harry didn't trust the building. He didn't want to cast any shields though, and risk tripping his own detection glyph.

Harry pulled out his runic tiles and sorted them carefully. If he came across anything tied to the building then he would start carving into the floor, but until then he would try to keep the damage to a minimum.

Sowilo first, above all he needed a base grounded in revelation and disclosure. With runic tiles infused with his magic and sufficient knowledge Harry wouldn't need to recite the verses, so his triad would be settled quickly.

Algiz next, it strengthened Sowilo's searching aspect while also providing a better chance for success.

And finally, Ansuz. He would need the messenger rune for its partial strength in revelation and specialty in knowledge.

Harry lined the three tiles together and linked them with his magic. No matter the simplicity, their activation was a welcome rush against his skin.

He allowed the runes to feed on his magic until they could sustain themselves in a glyph triad, the drain was a peculiar feeling, like he were doing push-ups instead of sitting on the ground. It didn't take much power and was over quickly, the tiles themselves were already imbued with magic.

Harry gave them a carefully measured boost of magic afterward, for greater range. It felt a bit like he had run a lap around the room, but he was more than used to it. He didn't want to do this in every room of the building, so an overpowered runebind would have to do.

All Harry had to do now was wait for anything to trip his detection glyph, be it a spirit or a prankster.

It was the most boring part of his job, which wasn't much of a complaint but that didn't make it any less dull.

Harry gave a sigh and reached into his bag to pull out a book for distraction. He would stay for a couple of hours and if nothing happened by nightfall Harry would leave. The triad would send their runemaster a flash of magic if anything activated it and hopefully a good reading on the entity as well.

He propped his head on his hand and flipped through to where he'd left off. It wasn't a very good book, a forgettable romance thriller. But Harry had a very secret soft spot for flowery, cheerful stories that ended nicely. The vigilante boyfriend would no doubt change his ways for the detective main character, and the two would solve their little mystery and get married. Stupid and sappy and sweet.

He flicked through the pages and waited for the sun to go down.

Harry jolted awake, head shooting up and skin crawling. Something had tripped his triad.

He scrambled to his rubbery legs and watched his runes spark and snap before him. A tide of jittery details swam across his vision, and Harry tilted dangerously. He grabbed the splintering wall blindly for support, digging his nails into the wallpaper.

Two people downstairs, they were both male and clearly not spirits. Were they pranksters responsible for the rumors? The building was off limits to outsiders, so no one should be here besides him.

Harry scooped his tiles off the ground, cutting the connection and breaking the bind. He tucked them into his bag and snagged his fallen book on his way out of the room. The journey must've taken more out of Harry than he'd anticipated, how unprofessional for him to fall asleep on the first day.

The runemaster didn't bother sneaking down the stairs. He'd caused quite a bit of noise waking up so suddenly, and there was no point in scaring anyone.

Harry didn't find anyone in the hallway, but sunlight was spilling in the entrance where the door was hanging open. He trot past the bookshelves and blinked when he almost ran right into a camera perched upon a tall tripod.

What was that for? Was someone shooting a student film in here? Whoever had set up the camera weren't in the house, but they had to be close.

Harry poked his head out of the building and found his answer in a van parked across the street. Two men were at the back, pulling out huge technological monstrosities Harry had no clue the purpose for.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked loudly, crossing the street even as the two whirled around in surprise. So they hadn't heard him make such a ruckus? The building must've been unbearably noisy during his nap, then. Harry certainly wouldn't tell them.

"You're not allowed here." The shorter one snapped almost immediately. He looked about Harry's age, maybe even younger. Harry wasn't embarrassed to note that he was striking, lean and light with dark blue eyes. Unusual coloring to find in a small Japanese town.

Harry quirked a brow. "How would you know that? I was hired by the principal to examine the schoolhouse. I understand that it looks interesting in there, but it's much too dangerous for students to play around." He told them simply. But he wasn't so sure they were students.

For one, the other man was at least twenty-five and much too old to still be in school. He didn't look related to the teenager, with shaggy black hair and cold dark eyes. Was he an arts teacher trying to get a favorite pupil an A for a video project?

The younger's scowl deepened, drawing Harry's attention. "I am also taking this case, and I assure you that I have no intention of playing." He hissed.

It was Harry's turn to frown, now a little confused. Why would the principal hire another, separate specialist for the problem? If he didn't have any faith in his runology why hire Harry in the first place?

"You were hired to look into the abandoned school house?" Harry clarified, and received a frosty nod.

"I see...then I suppose we will be coworkers?" Harry said awkwardly, not sure what was going on any longer.

"Is that a question? I won't need a coworker for my investigation, you're free to leave." Apparently finished with him, the other teenager turned back to the piles of blinking metal and began sorting through them. The other man followed his lead.

"I'm not leaving until my job is finished here and I wasn't asking your permission." Harry snapped, he regretted even coming over. What did the principal need them for? He'd understand hiring someone with a more fitting profession than Harry's, but what would all those cameras and monitors do? Was he making a documentary of the school house?

The older man brushed past him as though Harry didn't exist, carrying an armful of wires. The wizard couldn't imagine what they would use it for, perhaps a surveillance system to drive away vandals?

"What is all of this stuff for, anyway?" Harry decided to ask, if they were going to occupy the same building for a while he may as well figure out why.

"This 'stuff', is high-tech equipment to monitor and catch any signs of paranormal activity through audio and visual means. The client is rather skeptical and wants proof to ensure he wasn't swindled when he hired spiritualists. Such as yourself, I presume."

The jab missed, Harry was only more interested in the hulking contraptions. He had no idea things like computer and cameras could be used to capture spirits. The runemaster wasn't particularly protective over his reputation either, even he wasn't sure just how effective runes would be.

"Actually, I'm not really much of a spiritualist." He corrected eventually. "More of a-"

A piercing scream erupted from the school house, followed by a jarringly loud crash. Harry was already running, blasting inside the building and blinking furiously to clear the billowing clouds of dirt from his eyes.

A young girl in a school uniform crouched beside the other man. He was splayed still on the ground besides the splintered remains of a bookshelf and the camera. He ran to the man and began poking and prodding for injuries. It was an easy process to slip into, he'd done it dozens of times for fallen comrades over his seventeenth year.

Harry didn't come close to a trained medic, but he had been in a war without medical support and had picked up enough for quick treatment if it was necessary.

"What happened?" He demanded to the girl. She seemed scraped and stunned, but unharmed overall.

There was a deep cut in the man's scalp, soaking his dark hair in blood, and his leg was twisted at an awkward angle and pin-cushioned from where it hadn't cleared the heavy shelf's descent. His breathing was steady, and his heart rate was quick but strong.

The man shifted and blinked on the ground, coming to.

"Oh my gosh, I'm really sorry! He startled me and I guess I turned around too fast-" The girl stammered, but was cut off.

"Lin, what happened?" The teenager from the van was past the entrance and kneeling beside Harry before the sentence was finished, carefully helping the stirring man up.

"He can't walk with that leg and he's got a head injury, he needs medical attention immediately." Harry reported, wincing in sympathy when the blood began to spill down Lin's face and onto the ground. Head wounds always bleed heavily, and it must've felt gross spilling over his eye like that.

"Where's the nearest doctor?" The younger man asked the girl staring blankly at the both of them. Harry pulled a few tissues from his bag to give Lin something to staunch the blood. It was silently accepted with grit teeth and pallid skin. The man might be mute, now that Harry thought about it.

"T-there's one right down the street! Here- I'll help-" The girl surged forward to help Lin get to his feet and was smacked away sharply.

"No thanks," Lin growled, and Harry almost jumped. Not mute, then. "You've done more than enough."

Harry supposed he should be grateful he wasn't being hit for helping the man up too, but he was too busy trying to check the man's pupils for a concussion or shock in such dim lighting.

His skin was clammy and pale but that could be chalked up to pain. The leg would need a cast and thick bandaging, but no major arteries were nicked and the break looked clean. So long as none of his splinters were pulled out before getting to a doctor he should be fine without a tourniquet.

Harry missed whatever the teenager said to the girl, but she ran out like the building set fire and began dashing up the street to where the principal's school was.

"Down the street, right?" Harry confirmed, looping Lin's arm across his shoulders. It was a bit awkward, Harry was much shorter than the man and made a rather lop-sided pair of human crutches, but it was better than letting him walk on his own.

"You can leave as well. I don't need your help." The teenager rejected, but Lin didn't pull away and that was enough for Harry.

"I don't have anywhere to be right now and it's easier with two people. Just let me help you to the doctor and I'll get out of your hair." He insisted, hiding a hitch in his breath when his hip gave a twinge under the added weight.

Neither men continued the argument so Harry relaxed in his victory and helped Lin limp up the hill. It was then that he noticed it was morning outside.

"Good lord, what time is it? Was I there all night?" Harry yelped in shock. No wonder he was so dizzy from getting up. He had slept in that creepy school house for almost eight hours! "Sorry, I must stink. I had no idea I- Some nap."

"What would possibly cause you to stay there for the entire night?" The teenager sounded incredulous and Harry's cheeks pinked. Talk about first impressions, he must look like a bum now.

"I didn't mean to. I set up a detection ward and was just going to stay for a little while. But I guess traveling all the way to Japan really wiped me out." He mumbled defensively, and he could feel the weight of both Lin and the other teenager's gazes.

"Are you from the UK? Some kind of psychic?" Harry was careful not to let his gait affect his surprise and risk jostling Lin, the other boy had made a very good guess on his first try. Harry's Japanese wasn't superb but it was good enough that he thought the accent was passable.

"Um, yeah, actually. I like to travel a lot but I'm from Britain. I'm not a psychic, though, I'm a runemaster. My name's Harry Potter." He introduced with a smile that hopefully didn't look embarrassed. His hip gave another stinging complaint and it helped keep him focused.

Those sharp blue eyes only sharpened further, and almost too swift to catch they flicked up to his forehead. So this person has heard of him? Was he a wizard too?

"Why would someone as unattuned to ghosts as a runemaster be hired for this case?" The other asked instead of any obvious questions, Harry was happy to answer that instead.

"I know I'm not ideal, but I like the challenge. I've made rune glyphs that affected ghosts before and I'd like to improve. If you're asking why the principal contacted me, I don't know, but I won't turn it down."

"Regardless, you may as well go home." The other teenager huffed, and Harry strove not to take it personally. Even he wasn't sure how much he was capable of so he couldn't get mad at the berk who says the same thing, even if he was being a berk.

"Well then, you must be quite experienced to know so much already." Harry challenged. "Are you a medium or something?"

"Or something. I'm Kazuya Shibuya, paranormal investigator and head of Shibuya Psychic Research." Quite a title, so young and already owning a company that could afford so much machinery. Harry might have even heard of that company before.

"A paranormal investigator, huh? That sounds...interesting." He mulled over the term. That meant this person didn't have any abilities, right? Was Shibuya a squib?

They didn't speak after that, saving their breath as they finally made it over the hill and to the clinic. Harry's hip started throbbing with his heartbeat, but he made sure not to limp as they got Lin settled in the waiting room. Shibuya spoke with the receptionist while Harry stretched Lin out on the bench to keep his leg straight.

The poor man had only gotten paler in the time it took to get him to the clinic. He hadn't gone into shock, but his breathing was coming out in deliberately deep strokes and his teeth were grinding noisily. Lin had to be in an incredible amount of pain for all his stoicism.

As soon as Lin was settled, Harry stepped away and allowed the man to shut his eyes and gain more control. He waited next to the couch until Lin's friend was finished signing forms at the front desk and decided he had worn out his welcome.

"Okay then, I guess I'll see you later. I hope you make a quick recovery." Harry bid goodbye and they both nodded coolly in his direction. He supposed to it was better than being ignored.

Harry stumbled outside and began his long shuffle to his motel room. Thank Merlin he had checked in early to dump his suitcase, or his room would have probably been given away.

He needed breakfast and a shower, or perhaps a bath. Standing didn't sound too attractive when his hip was prickling like he was the one sliced up by splinters. A good soak sounded heavenly too, he felt stiff and musty and probably looked a bit homeless now.

Afterward, he would need to mark down the triad combination he'd used last night to keep track of his results. He wasn't lying about wanting to improve upon his spiritual effects.

It was late afternoon by the time Harry set out for the school house again. He was washed and refreshed from his night in an abandoned building. Ready to make a better impression on his snobby coworker. Perhaps he was being too considerate, but having two best friends that were admittedly a little haughty in their own ways might have given him a soft-spot for bratty behavior.

When he got there the van was already parked outside and emptied of a large amount of electronics. It looked larger without so many monitors crammed in the back.

He stepped inside and heard the low rumble of voices on the second floor.

Was Lin still working? There's no way he could've made the stairs the same day he broke his leg, even with crutches.

Harry went upstairs and poked his head into the last room in the hall, which was now filled with shelf after shelf of shiny technological devices.

Inside the room, wiring and adjusting rows of monitors was the girl from that morning. Shibuya wasn't with her, so Harry frowned.

"Did Shibuya give you permission to handle his equipment?" He asked worriedly, and the girl gave a shrill shriek and spun around, looking ready to leap out of her skin. Was she really so scared to be in the school house?

"I-um, y-you're the foreigner from earlier." She stuttered, and Harry stepped inside the room. He tried to eye the devices for any sign of sabotage but he couldn't find anything obvious like scuffs or cracks.

"If you've tampered with Shibuya's things I'll have to report you to the police." Harry warned.

"No need. She's working off the debt she owes me for damages." Shibuya spoke from the hallway and crossed between them to turn on a monitor. It blinked to life and revealed one of the rooms bathed in green.

"Oh! Yeah, I'm Mai Taniyama! I'm an assistant now, not trying to break anything." She recovered, giving a shallow bow.

Harry reciprocated. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Harry Potter." She didn't look offended so Harry didn't bother apologizing, turning to Shibuya instead. He was taking a camera off one of the shelves and heading for the door again.

"How is your friend?"

"Lin's on bedrest for a week, but afterward, he'll be able to work out of our van." Shibuya said simply, and Harry nodded. The man must've had a concussion after all.

"I see. I hope he'll feel better soon. Now, your things won't be ruined by any runes, will they? I wanted to leave a few disruption runes around to try to stir anything up."

Shibuya didn't seem like the type to carry well-wishes along, so that was probably all they were going to discuss about Lin until the man returned.

"So long as they are not accessories in any of your layers they won't be harmed." The teen threw over his shoulder, and Harry got to work.

He went downstairs to try a different level and pulled out a paper and pen. He wanted to do a few more glyphs before he left, so he would need more than his tiles. Chanting the verses this time around wouldn't hurt either. As fun as showing off would be, he wanted the best chance for his glyphs to succeed.

First, his detection triad. He'd leave one besides the stairs and one on the second level in the hallway.

Sowilo first. He let his hand flick across the paper in smooth strokes, easy as breathing.

"The Sun is ever the hope of seamen

When they fare over the fishes' bath,

Until the sea-steed

Brings them to land."

Harry took out a new leaf of paper and make his next rune, Algiz.

"The Elk's-sedge has its home most oft in the fen.

It waxes in water, wounds grimly.

The blood burns of every man

Who makes any grasp at it."

Then finally, Ansuz.

"The Mouth is the source of every speech,

The mainstay of wisdom,

And solace of sages,

And the happiness and hope of every eorl."

Once the ink finished drying Harry filled the runes with his magic, letting them swell with their own power, before linking them together. They wove their power around each other tightly, crackling to life beneath his hands. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he felt a bit stiff, but the glyph set and he went to work with leaving runes in corners of the building.

Little disruption runes. Not enough to affect the building or hurt anyone, just Hagalaz without its verse to agitate any curses or ghosts that might be hiding.

"What are you doing?" Taniyama asked when he got to the second floor, he didn't look up.

"Nothing showed up yesterday so I'm trying to shake it up a little in here." He explained absently, carefully placing a Hagalaz away from Shibuya's equipment, solitary in the corner.

"What an amateur trick. Are you even activating these?" Shibuya scoffed, stepping over a paper that fluttered a little further than Harry intended.

"I'm a runemaster. It's my job to activate these. So don't touch them. I know it's not the fancy stuff you might be used to, but it gets results." Harry spoke sharply, leveling a glare at the investigator.

Harry might be indulgent over the snobbiness, but he still drew lines. One of them was questioning his ability as a runemaster.

To his credit, Shibuya dropped it and went back to adjusting cameras, and Harry chose the room across the hall to put his second detection glyph.

Sowilo.

"The Sun is ever the hope of seamen

When they fare over the fishes' bath,

Until the sea-steed

Brings them to land."

Algiz.

"The Elk's-sedge has its home most oft in the fen.

It waxes in water, wounds grimly.

The blood burns of every man

Who makes any grasp at it."

Ansuz.

"The Mouth is the source of every speech,

The mainstay of wisdom,

And solace of sages,

And the happiness and hope of every eorl."

"That looks so cool!" Taniyama burst from the hallway, eyes wide as the paper shivered and sparked and drained Harry for power.

Having already infused several dozen runes now, Harry felt worn out and achy. Still, he appreciated the girl's enthusiasm.

"Thank you." He spoke softly, getting to his feet and trudging down the stairs. The runemaster was eager to head back to the motel before he accidentally spent another night in the school house. His head felt heavy and his eyes were becoming unfocused.

"What are you again? How did you make those squiggly symbols glow like that?" The girl continued, scampering eagerly after him.

"I'm a runemaster, I layered those runes into a glyph that feeds off power until it can function independently from me. The glowing means it worked." Harry explained patiently, taking one last cursory glance over his scattered disruption runes and brushing his magic over them. Each and every one rang back, a success. Harry allowed a tired smile to grace his face. His failure rate had dropped in the past six months.

"Are all real spiritualists so young?" Taniyama questioned, not quite hiding the glare she sent upstairs.

"I'm not a spiritualist, runology isn't made for ghosts and the like." Harry corrected, tucking his paper and pen into his bag. He slung the charmed satchel over his shoulder easily, it wasn't nearly as heavy as it should be with all the runological items dumped inside. Hermione had helped make the enchantment permanent after his first few business trips across the globe.

"And I don't know about your boss, but I just...used it very often over a short period of time and gained a lot of experience." He shrugged, tightening his fingers over the leather strap of his bag. Over and over, he'd carved elaborate runes that bounced and snapped and bit at their runemaster until he'd discovered his mistakes. He couldn't slow down or seek help, the only way to survive was to endure until they glowed with their own power.

"I'm leaving now, how much longer are you two going to be setting up?" Harry announced at the door.

Taniyama jerked back, probably remembering she couldn't leave with Harry until Shibuya allowed her to go. Shibuya's voice carried from upstairs.

"We'll be finished in another hour or so. We will see you tomorrow."

"T-tomorrow?" Taniyama groaned, "You mean..."

"You too, Mai."

Harry couldn't hold back a snicker as she groaned and flopped back up the stairs. He would have to remember to be extremely careful around the teenage businessman's cameras to avoid working for him too, it didn't look very enjoyable. He supposed it was better than being sued, though.

"Oof!"

Harry wasn't prepared to smack into another person turning the corner after dark and fell to the ground in an undignified heap.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't...see you there." Someone squeaked. Harry looked up to find a bespectacled girl in the same school uniform as Taniyama staring down at him. What was with these students and wandering around the town at weird hours?

"It's fine. I wasn't looking where I was going." Harry levered himself back onto his feet carefully. He felt like a feeble old man but he had done a lot of walking that day.

"H-here's your bag." The girl snatched his satchel from the ground and practically shoved it at him, eyes averted.

Harry looped it across his shoulder, "Thanks."

Harry studied her for a moment, she seemed agitated, tensed like a coiled spring. But there wasn't much to clue him into her problem in such dim lighting.

"Nice glasses." He murmured instead, taking a moment to appreciate the sleek rectangular frames perched on her face. Before he had gotten his vision corrected during his stay at St. Mungo's, he might have been a little jealous.

"Thank you very much!" She cried too loudly, and Harry tried not to look exhausted when he plastered on a smile and walked around her. It wasn't helping his self-esteem, but he felt far too old to handle the hyper kids in this town.

"Have a nice night." He called belatedly, but he didn't turn back around. He could see the back of his motel in the distance, just a few more blocks. It was just as well, the girl didn't respond and the quieting thunder behind him told Harry she was already running away.

Harry put it out of his mind with ease, breathing a sigh of relief now that he was back to walking. He'd have more energy to deal with flighty teenagers in the morning, right now all he wanted was sleep.

As soon as Harry managed to unlock his dingy motel room with bleary eyes, he kicked the door shut and flung himself onto the squeaky bed.

He should probably make himself dinner or, at least, take his dirty clothes off, but his eyelids were already heavy and his hip was feeling weak. It wasn't worth the effort.

Harry buried his face into his pillow and fell asleep with his shoes on. It's not like anyone would know anyways.

I hope those were believable character interactions. Naru teases Mai the most so it seems like he's a really big jackass to everyone (and he is), but he's a lot quieter about it to everyone else, so no verbal sparring there. Also helping Lin does not win him free conversations with the guy later.

I looked up a ton of hip-joint arthritis medical articles for Harry, but if you think I could improve on some point I would love to hear feedback.

I've never written a romance, so I'm pretty sure you're not gonna seen much in terms of relationships here, but who knows.

The translation is going to be dub, but Harry's going to refer to characters by their last names until told otherwise.