Sunlight dappled through the leaves of tall plants, landing on the figure of a young boy crouched in the undergrowth as he peeked through a well-placed space. He grinned mischievously as he watched his prey as the target glanced from side to side as if they were trying to find something. Slowly he shifted his stance from a stalk to an attacking one. Just as the target turned to look in his direction he launched himself forward and tackled them.
"AHH! Harii-kun!" Tomoyo shrieked as she fell with a thump. Harii laughed as he rolled off of her to lie beside her.
"Harii: 7, Tomoyo-chan: 2." Kaito called from the porch steps as Shinichi chuckled at the kids actions.
"I win!" Harii glanced over at Tomoyo who pouted and crossed her arms.
"See if ever invite you over here again." She grumbled making Harii smirk before holding his hand up to cover his heart.
"You wound me Tomo-chan! And here I thought we were the best of friends!" Tomoyo's pout trembled as she held in her laughter.
"Not anymore! This travesty will never be forgiven!" The dark-haired girl turned away.
"How about a do over then?" Harii snickered when the girl leapt up determinedly.
"Ok! This time I'll beat you for sure." The girl poked his glasses before taking off into the forest again.
Harii grinned and sat up to begin counting. The Hoshino summer house was the perfect place to play hide and stalk (hide and seek for Kuroba). The forest undergrowth provided excellent cover as well as keeping the sticky summer heat at bay. Harii glanced over at his fathers to find them in deep conversation; Shinichi sitting on the step below Kaito in between the other man's legs with a book in hand not minding when Kaito would randomly sweep him up in a hug or kiss.
Kaito caught Harii's eye and winked before gesturing to his wrist. Harii held up three fingers making Kaito roll his eyes. Shinichi flicked up his eyes before rolling them at the Kaito-esque smirk Harii had on his face. Sometimes that boy was just too much like the thief.
Harii stood up and started to walk around, his emerald green eyes flicking around to spot signs of which way his friend had gone. A footprint in the dirt and a broken twig in the undergrowth. Harii started for that before pausing, glancing around to stare at a bush that looked rather ruffled. The boy spun on his heel to trudge off in that direction.
A sudden shriek made him break into a run; behind him he could hear his parents stumble up to follow him. A few more feet and he was in a clearing.
The scene that met him made Harii flinch. Tomoyo was on the ground, her once white shirt stained green and brown, with a snake rearing up as if to bite her. Harii spotted the tears streaking down her face as his brain pulled up a memory of Tomoyo confessing how afraid she was of snakes. That thought alone made him sprint across the clearing to stand between the frightened girl and the angry snake.
"Stop!" Harii yelled. The snake jerked away in what could only be described as surprise.
"What the-?!" The snake hissed in shock making Harii blink.
"Holy crap! You can talk?!" Harii gaped.
"Of course I can talk. And since when is poo sacred?" The snake scoffed as it shifted out of its defensive stance. The pattern of the serpent's body, intermediate bands of midnight black, pure white and ruby red, rippled as its muscles relaxed.
"It's just a phrase." Harii smiled in amusement at the oddly human look of confusion the snake had. "I've never met a snake that could talk."
"We can all talk, silly human. Just like the squirrels and the birds." The snake snorted.
"I knew birds could talk, but squirrels?"
"Oh yes. Wretchedly chatty things, they are." The serpent tipped its head to the side. "How can you know that birds can commune but that snakes cannot?"
"My Oyaji's doves talk to him." Harii pointed over at Kaito who blinked in surprise.
"Can you understand it?" Tomoyo crouched next to Harii, who had at some point crouched down to hear the snake better.
"You mean you can't?" Harii asked.
"No, I can't. What is it saying?" Tomoyo asked. Harii internally snickered at how a new phenomenon could make the dainty girl forget about her fear completely.
"It's saying that birds and squirrels can talk and that it has never met a human that could talk before."
"Whoa!" Tomoyo's eyes sparkled. "What is its name?"
"Um…" Harii turned to face the snake. "What is your name?"
"You first." The snake said suspiciously.
"My name is Kuroba Harii."
"I am called Zaire." The serpent seemed to puff up with pride. "One of the few daughters of Kwanna-sama."
"Kwanna-sama?" Harii blinked.
"The goddess of mercy." The serpent gloated.
"Her name is Zaire." Harii chuckled as he said to Tomoyo before turned back to Zaire. "I haven't heard of her but I'm sure I could find something online."
"On line? Why would a line tell you about Kwanna-sama?" Zaire asked.
"It isn't a real line. It's like a thing we humans have to share information."
"I don't trust this 'online'. I will tell you about Kwanna-sama myself!"
"Do you want to come inside then? I'm sure we have something you can eat." Harii held out his hand, ignoring his parents' calls of warning.
"I suppose I could eat." Zaire moved in way that Harii assumed to be the snake equivalent of a shrug before wrapping herself around Harii's wrist.
"Alright!" Harii stood up before moving to walk back to the house. After a moment he paused and glanced back at the three awe-struck spectators. "Well? Are you coming?"
Tomoyo jumped up to follow Harii, passing Shinichi and Kaito without a thought.
The two parents stared after the kids before glancing at each other.
"… Well this is interesting…" Kaito finally said.
"Our son can speak to snakes and all you can say is 'interesting'?" Shinichi raised an eyebrow.
"… I wonder if Harii can convince his new snake-friend to nap in Hakuba's sock drawer…"
-I stopped fighting my demons; we're on the same side now.-
May I introduce Hoshino Tomoyo, Harii's best friend whom he met in school, and Zaire, Harii's familiar.
Tomoyo will not be paired with Harii. She is simply his best friend. And Zaire's presence will not affect Harry's getting into Gryffindor.
Poison: You got Tomoyo's first name from Cardcaptor Sakura. Didn't you?
Yes… I just love Tomoyo so much!
Hua: What about Hedwig?!
There isn't a rule saying you are limited to one familiar.
Hoshi: Who exactly is Tomoyo?
She is the daughter of a wealthy business woman, Chinatsu, and she befriended Harii after he moved to Japan during elementary school. She is a muggle born witch and goes to Hogwarts with Harii but she will be sorted into Ravenclaw.
Sketchy: Info on Zaire?
Zaire is an Iwasaki's wamon beni hebi. Her name is derived from an Arabic name that means "blooming flower" at least according to . I went by looks so if this kind of snake doesn't live in forests… meh *shrugs*.
Also, I won't be able to post anything for the rest of the week. We are going to the cabin and it doesn't have internet connection...
