this is really loosely based off some prompt which was like 'a meets b by cleaning their glasses on bs cloak' or something idk? but yeah feat. 12's cute as hell round frames
[a christmas present for audrina (awkwardedgeworth on tumblr)! merry christmas bbg hope ya like it :))) ]
Arata shifts on his feet, anxious. His eyes travel around the Great Hall—rows and rows of students, all old and in uniform and mature. He casts a glance at the nervous kids around him and feels slightly embarrassed at how pathetic they all look. There's a tiny girl in front of him who's actually shaking in her cloak. Her hair's wet, too—she must have been one of the unfortunate few who managed to actually fall into the water when they were crossing the moat, even though the big man guiding them (Harold? Hagar?) had warned them about the unsteadiness of the boat.
Headmistress McGonogall stands, and silence sweeps across the room. Arata quickly straightens and snaps to attention.
"Good evening, to faculty, staff, and students—both old and new." She smiles a little, nodding in the direction of Arata and his new classmates. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! This year is promising, as…"
Arata tries to pay attention to the Headmistress' speech, he does, but his feet hurt and he's cold and she sometimes uses words that are too big for him to understand. He's tired, too, but stifles his yawns, unlike some of the less conscientious eleven year olds around him. He feels very polite and proper until he sees a sixth-year's head fall onto the table in fatigue.
Even if he was in perfect health, it's not like he would be able to hear the Headmistress anyways—there are two boys in front of him who keep nudging each other and giggling. He notes with a small amount of surprise that the chubbier boy has managed to sneak snacks into the room under his cloak—he slips his friend a chocolate frog, and Arata's stomach growls.
"Shh!" he leans forward, and they both look at him. "No talking during ceremony."
The chubby one flushes, red spread around his round face, but his friend—a thin boy with lidded, sly eyes—frowns.
"You're not the boss of us," he says, and Arata's brows shoot up. He wants to argue that some people are trying to listen, but wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose of his argument? Talking about not talking? The kid smirks and tugs Chubs back around in obvious dismissal.
Arata blushes a bit, makes eye contact with the shivering girl, and jerks away to focus on the ceiling. He's momentarily lost amidst the swirling clouds and stars. Fascinating…
Arata starts when he feels a sudden tugging at his cloak. He swivels and glances down and is met with a small boy with wild hair.
"W-what are you doing?" he hisses as quietly as he can. Still, the two in front of him turn around with wide eyes. "Turn around," he snaps, meaner than he intends, and Chubs pauses with a hand halfway to his mouth.
"No talking during ceremony," says his friend with a sharp face and a sharper grin. Chubs and the guy next to him laugh. Heat spreads through Arata.
"Shut up," he mutters. Sharp laughs a little and he and Chubs face forward again. Wild Hair is still rubbing at his cloak.
"Stop that!" he says, and jerks the cloth away.
"Hey!" says Wild Hair, and reaches for it. "I'm using that!"
"What do you mean, 'using'? It's my cloak!"
"My glasses are all smudged," says Wild Hair, and waves around wire rims. "I need to clean 'em, and my coat's not the right material." He points to the pair settled on Arata's nose. "You of all people should understand that!"
Arata looks at his coat and scowls—the thing is, he does understand. Some materials have no effect, and others actually succeed in making the grease even worse. "What kind of coat is that, anyways?"
"Muggle clothing!" says Wild Hair, cheerfully. "I'm a muggle-born! And your wizard coat is perfect!" He grabs at Arata's cloak and scrubs at his lense. Arata watches as he brings them up to his face, peers through, and smiles.
"All good!" he says, shooting Arata two thumbs up. "Thanks for that!"
"No problem," Arata mutters, running a hand through his bangs. He wants to face forward and listen to the finishing words of the Headmistress' speech, but of course, Wild Hair isn't done.
"I'm Touji Hisami," he says, and sticks a hand into Arata's space. "Nice to meet you!"
"Arata Kokonoe," says Arata, and shakes.
The Sorting isn't anything like how Arata expected. Each decision is met with cheers and jeers from the upperclassmen, taunts and praise thrown at the trembling first year on their way to their table. Arata knows that they don't mean it, that it's all in jest, but still—he feels a bit like throwing up at the prospect of ridicule from some of the bigger seventh years. Touji keeps fidgeting next to him, but when Arata looks, he's got a lopsided grin plastered on his face.
"Kokonoe, Arata," says the Headmistress, and Arata jumps.
"Good luck," Touji whispers, clapping him on the back. Chubs looks at him in awe.
Somehow, he makes it to the front of the Great Hall without fainting or tripping. He can feel a light sheen of sweat on his brow, but he's too stiff to reach up and wipe it away.
Headmistress McGonogall smiles down at him when he reaches the stool.
"Don't be nervous," she says, before dropping the Hat on his head.
Hello, Arata.
Arata knows that this was coming, the Hat's voice in his head, but it doesn't make him any more prepared.
It's alright, you're fine. Mind if I take a peek inside your brain?
Arata carefully tries to keep his mind blank, irrationally afraid of engaging in conversation with a hat older than his grandfather.
A silent one? That's alright—I get types like you more often than you would think. This will only take a second…let's see…resourceful, quick-thinking…there's a lot of room to grow, a lot of potential…significant proficiency in spells and charms…as well as integrity and a strong work ethic…a bit on the serious side, huh? Very in control of emotions, even at such a young age…I'm excited to see what kind of an adult you turn out to be, Mr. Kokonoe. I think you are best suited for RAVENCLAW!
The Hat is lifted of his head and he is met with strong applause and wolf whistles from the silver and blue table to the right.
A gentle push sends him stumbling toward the table, and he takes a seat at the first open spot he can find, tugging on the strands of hair in front of his eyes. He silently accepts the handshakes, high-fives, slaps and hugs from the students around him and wishes that the Sorting was a more private affair.
"Yo," says a girl next to him, with silver hair done up in two small pigtails. "Congrats, from one new Ravenclaw to another." He remembers her Sorting but not her name, so he simply nods his head in thanks.
Arata watches as the soaking little girl ("Mishima, Lisa!")trips onto the stool and gets promptly sent into Hufflepuff; Chubs joins her a little later, but after a call of "Shibazaki, Kenjirou!", Sharp sits down at a table of red and gold.
They're reaching the end and Arata is almost asleep when Touji is called. He perks up, interested—Hufflepuff seems like it would fit, but he doesn't know Touji well enough to make an educated guess.
The Hat sits jauntily on his head for a few seconds before it opens its mouth and—Arata sucks in a breath—announces, "SLYTHERIN!"
Touji rips the Hat off his head, and the curve that cuts across his face is big enough that Arata can see it from where he's sitting. Touji bounds over to the Slytherin table and is immediately taken under the wings of two very pretty upperclassmen.
He pulls his arms in a little tighter around himself, wishing that he had sat on the other end of the table, where other first-years had congregated. Arata can't help but feel a little disappointed—it's not like he and Touji are friends, but he would have appreciated having someone he knew slightly better next to him, instead of the silent silver girl, who gazes around the room with disinterest in her eyes. Touji's already laughing with other students, and even Lisa Mishima seems to be enjoying herself.
Touji catches Arata's eye across the sea of people, and salutes. Arata turns away.
It's first period Herbology on the first day of his seven years at Hogwarts, and the professor expects them to already be able to partner up for an introductory lab. Arata coolly glances around, but panic internally. Kids are simply glancing to the side and joining up, but there's no one next to him, and with every passing second there are less students available—
"Yo," says a voice, and Arata snaps to the left and is met by Touji's wide smile. "Which lab bench do you want? Here, I got your goggles."
"What?" says Arata, "Who said—how are we partners?"
"We're friends, right?" says Touji, and loops the googles around Arata's neck. "Remember? We met yesterday!"
"Of course I remember," snaps Arata, "but that doesn't mean we're automatically friends!"
"You don't want to be friends with me?" asks Touji. "And here I thought we had a real connection…"
Arata scowls at him, and to his surprise, Touji laughs. "Hey, come on, it's fine, right? I mean, who else are you going to be partners with? But if you really hate me that much, I can always go find someone else…" He makes to turn away, and Arata lets him, testing him. When Touji actually does start wandering off to claim another student, he panics and grabs his sleeve.
"It's not like there's anyone you could have chosen, anyways," he mutters when Touji smirks.
He's surprised with Touji's intelligence—he handles the lab well, even better than Arata, and despite himself, he finds himself actually enjoying Touji's company. He's slightly disappointed when Herbology ends—they've all got a free period next, and he figures Touji only approached him in class because he needed a partner. No doubt he has other classmates to hang out with for the next two hours.
"Wanna go toss food into the lake to see if that Squid will eat it?" asks Touji when they're putting away their materials.
"There's a squid in the lake?" asks Arata, surprised. How does Touji, a muggle-born, know information like this when he doesn't?
"Yeah, totally!" says Touji, nodding his head. "One of my seniors told me—she said the squid likes chocolate best, but don't even try to feed it vegetables, those come right back at high velocity. Let's go, let's go!"
"I don't know," says Arata. "I was gonna…read some books…maybe write a letter to my mother…" He trails off awkwardly and brushes a few strands of hair away.
"Come on, Arata," whines Touji. "Who else am I gonna go with?"
"Don't you have any other friends?" says Arata, frowning a little.
"No, of course not, it's the first day of school," says Touji, looking confused. "You're the only friend I've made!"
Arata wants to say something along the lines of "You really want to be friends? You weren't just using me to clean your glasses and complete the lab?" but doesn't, knowing about the delicacy of new situations and the unsteadiness of new friends. (Still, he privately thinks Touji wouldn't be uncomfortable with words like that).
"Alright," he says, and smiles slightly when Touji lets out a cheer. "Do you even have any food to use?"
Touji's already set off in the direction of the lake, his bag bouncing over his shoulders. "Yeah, that Mukasa kid from Hufflepuff was sneaking chocolate and I took some from his pouch!"
This draws a sudden laugh out of Arata. He looks up at the sky with a faint smile, alongside Touji, whose mouth is running faster than his legs, and is happy.
YO havent written for znt in SO LONG duuuuude i need to update znm FASTanyways
audrina DUDE omg we've gotten to be such good friends and i love love loved trading fics with you i really hope its to your liking :)
come yell at me abt znt and threaten me so i keep writing znm bc i actually really need to... didsw on tumblr!