Leftover Advent Prompts (1)

I'm in a celebratory sort of mood since I finished a particularly difficult chapter for my AtO draft so... here's one of the leftover prompts that I never had a chance to write during my Advent postings.

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“Could I see some guys trying to ask Harry out but Izumo amd kotetsu try to stop guys fr asking harry out?”

“You know I can go shopping on my own,” Harry told the man by his side. “I've been doing it for a long time.”

Kotetsu shook his head. “That was before. Things have changed. Things are much more dangerous.”

“How?” Harry prodded, unable to hide his annoyance at having an escort to go everywhere for the past week. “How is it dangerous? No one else seems to be in any danger.”

“They aren't. You're the only one in danger.”

“Shouldn't you at least tell me what kind of danger I am in?” Harry asked with exasperation. “You and Izumo have been acting weird for the past week.”

Kotetsu seemed to think about it for a moment and then dismissed the idea. “No, it's better if you don't know. There's no need for you to be bothered about it.” Kotetsu punctuated his words by glaring at a passing ninja, something that had become the norm over the previous days. 

I am bothered by your constant hovering, Harry wanted to say, but he bit back his words as they walked through the village heading to the markets.

They barely took a step forward before Kotetsu straightened with a stern expression on his face. Giving Harry a look to stay put, Kotetsu disappeared in a swirl of leaves. 

Harry blinked at the empty spot for a moment before he turned to walk forward but had to pause as someone blocked his way.

“Harii-san?”

Harry frowned as he looked up into amused eyes. “Is the Hokage calling me?”

The ninja, clad in the usual green flak jacket over blue, shook his head. “Ah no, I'm not here to deliver any messages.”

“Then why are you stopping me in the middle of the street?” Harry asked, not bothering to tame his ire from the past few days.

“Because I wanted to talk to you,” the ninja replied. “And you have been a hard person to get to talk to over the past week.”

Kotetsu's words of danger made Harry wary. “Talk to me?”

“More specifically,” the ninja said. “I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me tonight. Just the two of us.”

“What?” Harry was sure he misheard the man's words.

The ninja didn't hesitate to clarify. “I'm asking you out on a date tonight.”

Harry stared at the man for a long moment. “I'm male.”

“I know,” the ninja said as he gave Harry a long once over.

“Are you...” crazy, Harry instead said, “taking part in a bet or something?”

Something in the ninja's carefree posture tensed for an instant.

“It is a bet,” Harry decided with surety. Then he glanced at the spot where Kotetsu had vanished from and had an epiphany. “And Izumo and Kotetsu are in on it too, right? They always get serious about bets.”

Seeing no point in lying, the ninja nodded, “You're right. There's a bet.”

“To mess with me?”

“To ask you out on a date,” the ninja said. “The bet was that if one of us can get you to agree on a date, then Kotetsu and Izumo will owe the winner paperwork duty for an entire month. They've been making sure that no one can even come close to ask you out. But I have a few tricks up my sleeves.”

Harry stared at him blankly for a long moment. “So basically, I don't benefit in any way.”

The ninja blinked as though he hadn't expected Harry to say that. Then his lips curled in amusement. “Most people would consider it a prize to date a handsome ninja.”

Harry shot him an unimpressed look. “No.”

“No?”

“No, I'm not going to date you. Not even to just make Izumo and Kotetsu pay up,” Harry said. “For one thing they're my friends. And for another, you're really annoying.”

Instead of being insulted, the man just smiled wider. “You're breaking my heart here.”

Harry rolled his eyes and walked past the ninja.

He chuckled in response. “Hey, you don't even know my name.”

“You should introduced yourself before asking me out,” Harry said without turning back.

“All right. I'll introduce myself properly the next time I ask you out,” the man said.

Harry walked faster.

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Generic no-name ninja because I couldn't decide which canon ninja to settle on for this.

Polar