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All That Glitters

You accepted without giving it much thought when your friend Youko invited you to her house when you saw her one day while you were both out running errands. In fact she said you could stay overnight, and you gladly agreed, perhaps hoping to hear a story from the famous mystery writer, Kantaro whom Youko lived with.

You didn't expect that the third member of the family, Haruka, would be that man you met a few days ago; that handsome man with an aura of mystery that did not leave your thoughts. You got along quite well and you found yourself visiting more often. Kantaro would always say "welcome" and Youko would offer a snack, which usually included tea.

Though Haruka was very quiet, he would come down from the roof when you arrived, a gesture he did not have with all visitors. More often Haruka found himself preferring to stay up on the roof while Kantaro went about his business, gathering information from the clients. Then Kantaro, Youko and Haruka, and sometimes just Kantaro and Haruka, would head out to perform an exorcism.

Time passed and you continued frequenting Kantaro's house. Until one day Kantaro and Youko had gone off to do some research, leaving only Haruka in the house. Or at least that was what Youko claimed was going on, but you saw the glint of mischief and encouragement in her eyes as she dragged the confused Kantaro away.

Haruka wanted tea and you offered to make some having learned it from Youko. Preparing the tea was relatively easy and soon you had a steaming tea pot filled with tea, ready to be served. The tea pot was white with a picture of a blue fish, it wasn't particularly expensive, but it had a touch of elegance that could be seen as cute. Such was not the case of Haruka's chosen tea cup.

You raised an eyebrow at the famed tea cup, which Youko had warned you about. Though the fox girl had scrubbed it repeatedly with all her might, it didn't look as if it had been washed for a long time. But its stains were not because it was dirty, but rather from its age and use. Peaces were missing from the sides so that Haruka had to hold it in a certain position to avoid bringing the broken sides to his lips. A crack at the side threatened to widen until the dull green tea cup became unusable. But Haruka refused to throw it away.

You looked around Haruka's room, filled with a variety of things. There were many glass bottles and containers, marbles, silverware, a thermometer, metallic ornaments, anything the glittered in the light. Haruka loved shiny things; that was how you met him.

At first, you had wondered if that handsome man was looking at you or at someone behind you. You looked back but couldn't precise what he was looking at if it wasn't you. Then you walked and noticed that the direction of his gaze changed as you moved, until you finally stood directly in front of him. "Were you looking for someone?"

"No," his voice seemed somewhat devoid of emotion, but not purposely cold. Then his eyes wondered to your head and you realized he was looking at your hair clip, a strange thing for a man to be so interested in.

You took off the clip, the silvery glitters that covered it shining in the sunlight. "Do you like this?" He nodded and you took his hand and placed the shiny item on it. "You can keep it." Later you learned that Haruka liked all shiny things, hence why his room was full of such things.

But alas, his beloved tea cup was anything but shiny, yet it was his beloved tea cup none the less. Many times you were inclined to give him a new cup, a shiny one. But Youko had advised that you treated the subject with care, since Haruka was very attached to his tea cup. Plus you felt that maybe Haruka wasn't ready to accept a new tea cup just yet. Though you did ask Youko to let you know when his tea cup finally broke so that you could be the one to give him a new one. By the looks of it, what was left of the tea cup's useful life would not be long.

Haruka noticed your distracted look and called your name; you smiled and poured his tea on the beat up old cup. Though Haruka liked shiny things, he was not shallow, he was loyal, and would not throw away his tea cup simply because it was old and no longer shiny. Even if eventually it would be inevitably replaced, until that day he would treat his tea cup with respect.

Haruka was no ordinary man; hiding black wings that he could make appear at will. It was only a matter of time before you found out the truth about Haruka's wings and Youko's fox transformation, as well as the depth of Kantaro's spiritual powers. Yet when you did, Haruka was still the same Haruka, showing no signs of discomfort because his secret was known.

Silence had overtaken the room while Haruka drank the tea and you spaced out again, missing the point in time in which Haruka pulled the silvery hairclip out of his pocket and held it up to the light. "You still have that."

"Of course," indeed, Haruka seemed happy to accept what was given to him, and he would always keep those things. You noticed that his tone was much friendlier than in the past, though he was always polite; his voice had more emotion now.

"I was surprised when I came to visit Youko and found out that Haruka was that same man from before. I was surprised that day too when I gave you that clip. That shiny clip was the first thing you noticed," it was somehow amusing.

But Haruka shook his head, "I noticed this after you spoke to me, at first I was looking at you."

"Really? I thought you were looking at the clip the whole time."

Haruka gave you one of his rare smiles that were becoming less rare lately. "I like what shines..."

End

Disclaimer, I don't own Tactics.