"When I hear somebody talk about a horse or cow being stupid; I figure it's a sure sign that the animal has somehow outfoxed them"
― Tom Dorrance, True Unity: Willing Communication Between Horse & Human
Wizards, aside from his shikā, were idiotic herbivores by nature, it seemed.
Subtlety was lost on them entirely. It was very hard not to notice rustling coming from nowhere, wooden tips appearing seemingly from the air and indents in the grass where there is no weight to be making them.
All of this combined made for a very easy dodge.
It didn't take much to avoid the bursts of light- tilt his head there, bend down to pet that squirrel here and all was good.
Over time, Hibari noticed that the spells were becoming more frantic- really, if they wanted to keep their secret so badly then they could at least try a little harder. This was getting boring and so very predictable.
Disgusting- he would even prefer dealing with Rokudo over this silly game.
Yes, it was that annoying.
After a few hours of this it became increasingly clear that his pursuers were entirely done with him.
That was good. He's pretty done with the herbivores himself.
Luring them into an isolated alley, Hibari turned to face the idiots that dared try to mess with his memories.
"Kyoya Hibari," one intoned, stepping out of the shadows in a pitch black cloak with heavy, dramatic steps. This was Vernon Dursley all over again, it seemed. "It is imperative that we remove your memories at once. Cease your resistance or else this will get ugly."
Hibari smirked in response, flicking out his tonfas. Finally. "Kamikurosu."
Their screams were much more pleasant than their tactics.
"They threatened to snap your wand over something so minor?" Hibari questioned incredulously as he put down his tea for the moment. Were there no intermediate punishments?
These wizards were getting more herbivorous by the second.
Harry shrugged in response. "I think they're just getting desperate at this point. To maintain secrecy- that is. They probably just don't want to deal with muggles on top of everything else."
Something still didn't right with him- or perhaps he just didn't like the thought of them punishing the little animal? That was possible too- they were unworthy of even speaking to her, much less imposing their idiocy upon her. "Have you angered them before, shikā?"
The little animal paused to ponder his question. The silence stretched on for a minute or two before she responded. "I might have… once or twice. Maybe a bit more than that. But none of those times were my fault, I swear!"
"Good."
She blinked. "What."
Hibari finished his tea, gesturing for the cafe-owner to refill his cup. Harry looked like she was going to strangle him for his 'unnecessary spending'.
He wondered what would happen if he actually did set her off. Was the little animal hiding a pair of fangs? Or would she attack him with words instead of with hooves?
"Good," he repeated. "It would be disappointing if you were to always comply with the rules of the unworthy. I prefer you this way."
A hot blush began to spread across her cheeks, much to his pleasure. "I just told you that it isn't even my fault most of the time!"
"I wonder," he drawled in response, a smirk tugging on his lips, "-who it was exactly that revealed the existence of this magical world of yours to me?"
Harry looked away, a pout forming on her thin lips. It was a rather cute expression, he noted.
Perhaps he should make her do it more often.
"This is the exception," she insisted. "I don't actively try to get into trouble, thank you. Trouble just so happens to like me. A lot."
Hibari looked over at her imploringly, not feeling the need to actually tell her to elaborate. His desire was obvious enough.
She got the message, thankfully. Elaborating could be such a bother- which is probably why his Sky was so exasperated with him half the time. Probably. "Nope, I am not digging myself any deeper here."
Hibari rolled his eyes. He'd get it out of her eventually- she liked telling him stories, no matter what she said, and he enjoyed listening to her speak. She was just so… expressive. "How did they even find out?" he questioned instead.
The girl bit her lip, frowning thoughtfully at the question. "Hermione, a friend of mine, once told me that a spell can be cast upon a word or a phrase to notify the caster every time it's used. But… I don't know if it could be used on an entire topic or if it could be cast conditionally."
"Nothing is ever so precise, shikā. Someone is watching us."
Emerald eyes widened dramatically. "But you said-"
Hibari cut her off swiftly. "No one can hear anything that I do not let them hear."
Then how did they know what the pair was talking about? The illusion was suspicious, sure, they were not his strong point and he did not know enough to make bystanders hear things that were different from the actual conversation. But that still could not have produced enough evidence for a government to go this far…oh.
Of course.
He had been sloppy in his interrogation of the swine.
Hibari had been meticulous in ensuring that there had been no listeners to their conversation, if it could have been called that, but he had failed to account for a magical listener and decided against using an illusion.
He had been using them often enough as is and he didn't feel the need to use another one without any real need.
That was a mistake- they must have magically concealed their presence and he had been none the wiser.
"Then how did they listen in?" Harry demanded.
"Your swine of an uncle has loose lips." And he had been careless, but she didn't need to know that.
"You were speaking with Uncle Vernon?!"
"You weren't talking fast enough," Hibari explained as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which it was.
Harry leveled him with a glare. Hibari nearly grinned. "You are an insufferable prat," she informed him.
A chuckle escaped his lips at the sight of the little animal puffing up her chest as though she could face a carnivore and win. "Perhaps. What will you do about it?" he challenged.
Harry looked at her already cooled cup of tea and back at him. "This," she said.
And then she poured the tea over his head.
A/N
Wow, I'm on a roll today, aren't I? Thanks for the reviews everyone, I actually got a lot of ideas from them. A lot of people seem to want Hermione/Gokudera, which is cute and all but I have other plans for them.
Ciao!
