Slytherins, a naturally sneaky and tricky bunch, have been acting even more secretive recently. One of their fifth years have been witnessed sneaking into the Restricted Section of the library and lurking among the books about Dark Arts. The witness, the very night after those events, was attacked by acromantulas in his dorm room.

With this much evidence, it's obvious to Akashi what is going on. But what he need is proof.

Which is why Akashi is standing outside the Slytherin common room despite knowing for a fact that Nijimura is still training on the grounds with the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team at this time. That's why he's here.

It is just as Akashi expected. The Slytherins in the common room are well used to him showing up to talk with Nijimura, and pay him no mind beyond telling him that Nijimura won't be back for a while longer. Akashi pretends to be disappointed, and gives the excuse of hanging around the common room until Nijimura comes back. It is a mark of how often he shows up that the others don't even blink, going back to their conversations like nothing had happened. Akashi sits at one end of the empty sofa nearest to the door that leads the fifth year boys' room, opens a book he had brought along for camouflage, and waits.

It doesn't take long before everyone is back to what they were doing before Akashi had arrived. Making sure that none of their attention is on him, Akashi is just starting to stand up when someone takes the empty seat next to him. It's a Slytherin second year, Takao; Akashi has heard Nijimura talk about what a good Chaser he will make.

"Hanamiya isn't dumb enough to leave any evidence in his bedroom," says Takao bluntly, draping an arm familiarly along the back of the sofa behind Akashi's head. "You're better off searching the crooks and crannies of Hogwarts and hoping you stumble on his stash."

Nijimura did not mention Takao's ability at Legilimency. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about," says Akashi after a pause.

Takao smirks at him. "I saw your eyes widen just now. I'm right, aren't I? You're here because Ogiwara was attacked by acromantula and you think Hanamiya is behind it."

"You sound like you know a lot about this." Akashi narrows his eyes at Takao, unobtrusively putting a hand on the wand in his pocket.

Takao dares to roll his eyes at Akashi, not a hint of tension in his movements. "I just stopped a Hufflepuff first year from doing the same thing earlier this evening. I had no idea Ogiwara was friends with one of the Generation of Miracles."

"Despite how he looks, Kuroko is very good at making friends," Akashi says blandly, not letting go of his wand. "Since you have been so nice as to be frank with me, I shall do the same. Whose side are you on?"

"There are two factions in Slytherin; Imayoshi's and Hanamiya's." Takao smirks again. "I'll leave it to you to make up your own mind." Behind him, the Slytherin Quidditch team enters the common room, raising the ambient noise level by a magnitude. Takao stands up, moving behind the sofa so he can lean over the back and say intimately, in Akashi's ear, "Don't be the stereotypical Gryffindor and try to face Hanamiya on his home ground. I would hate to see another Gryffindor be attacked by acromantulas."

Akashi allows the small pat on his head as Takao leaves for the staircase going further into Slytherin Dorm; it is infuriating, but Takao is right. Akashi hadn't taken Hanamiya seriously enough. He allows the exasperation to show on his face for a moment, staring at Takao's back, then smooths the expression away, turning forward to face Nijimura and his suspicious expression.

"What was that about?" Nijimura asks, eyes shifting in the direction Takao had gone in.

"A flirtation. Possibly," Akashi says as drily as possible.

Nijimura narrows his eyes. "Tell me if he gives you trouble. And why are you here anyway?"

"What if I was the one giving him trouble?" Akashi asks as snottily as possible. He would rather not answer the second question.

"One, I expect him to deal with trouble," Nijimura says, counting off his fingers. "Two, I also expect him to come to me with any trouble."

"You are looking down on me," says Akashi, half-reassured that his obfuscation seem to be succeeding.

"I am not," Nijimura snorts. "I know you're a menace."

If at first you don't succeed, then you are obviously going about this the wrong way. They are words Akashi has lived by for most of his life, and they have always served him well. Which is why his plan of attack has changed to following Takao, using the tracker he had placed on the Slytherin boy during dinner.

Thanks to Takao's Hawk Eye, it wasn't an easy feat; Akashi had to fake a stumble after he had drawn his conversation with Nijimura to a natural conclusion – a clichéd move, but one Akashi is confident had worked. That Hawk Eye is also why Akashi is shadowing him from 100 metres away, not daring to go any closer.

Such an intricate tracking spell is not one a first year should be capable of; but against such a troublesome ability, Akashi has to use any advantage he has – including his access to the rare magic texts in the library of his family home.

But even the effort spent on such a difficult spell does not seem to be yielding the results Akashi wants. He frowns down at the rough map of Hogwarts he had bound the tracking spell to; the dot that indicates Takao has been in the same spot for the last five minutes, right in the middle of the corridor. Akashi's instincts clamours.

"Pretty clever for a Gryffindor, but a tracker isn't hard to find." Takao's amused voice whispers in Akashi's ear.

The scowl on Akashi's face deepens as he whirls around. Takao stands behind him, one hand on the wall besides Akashi and the other on his hip. The aura of smugness makes Akashi want to kick him very, very badly. "Don't try to sound like you knew from the beginning. Your pattern of behaviour up until now very clearly indicated that you were searching for something. Taking your own advice and trying to find Hanamiya's stash?"

It is a bold move, but the look on Takao's face tells him it worked. "And here I was thinking that you were after me because I foiled your attempt. When did you realise that I'm also trying to expose Hanamiya?"

"When you mentioned catching Kuroko," says Akashi, tilting his chin up and trying to show how little he cares that Takao is in his personal space.

"Because I wouldn't have been able to unless I was also watching Hanamiya's dorm." Takao sighs. "Me and my big mouth."

"Tit for tat, how did you find the tracker?"

Takao smiles ruefully. "I kept thinking about you bumping into me and how cliché it was. And then I checked and there really was a tracker. You really dashed my hopes."

"You're twelve," Akashi says acidly. "Who would want to bump into you?"

"Don't be so cruel." Takao pouts. "I'm very appealing."

Akashi narrows his eyes. "If you're trying to take my attention off what you're doing, it's not working. Now that I know what floor Hanamiya's stash is, I can do my own searching."

"Hanamiya is a Slytherin, he's for us to take care of." Takao holds up a hand quickly. "But I realise that you aren't going to accept that, so how about this? Let's work together. This way we can pool our resources; and it'll be easier for me to keep an eye on you and make sure Hanamiya doesn't put you in the infirmary too. Nijimura'd have my head."

"Why isn't Nijimura dealing with this himself?"

Takao makes a face. "The Quidditch team are the ones who're keeping tabs on Hanamiya, but they don't dare raise a fuss when they have no proof. And their hands are tied anyway because everyone knows about the grudge between the Quidditch team and Hanamiya and his gang."

"But you're not officially on the Quidditch team so you decided to act on your own." Akashi takes in all the minute details in Takao's expression, he's not the only one who can see more than others. "And the Quidditch team doesn't know this."

"Okay, but now you realise that I can no longer allow you to not work with me." Takao does his best to loom over Akashi with only three centimetre difference in their height.

"That's fine." Akashi shrugs, doing his best to look unconcerned. "I doubt Nijimura would be any happier to know I'm going after Hanamiya either."

Takao grins happily. "Alright! Glad we could reach an agreement."

Akashi's chest thumps, taking the full force of that smile right in the face. Maybe Takao's boast about being appealing wasn't just a joke after all.