Hermione was beginning to feel desperate. Tetsurou's birthday had technically been last Saturday, but since they weren't celebrating it together until this upcoming Saturday, she'd planned on picking up his present this week at some point. Which was fine in theory, but she still had no idea where to go or what to get him.

Hermione did not even want to think about the studying she needed to be doing or the fact that Malfoy would be staying here for the foreseeable future. That was an added complication that she really didn't want to deal with.

And while she was at Nekoma Highschool, she largely could ignore the problem of the Malfoy heir and focus on the issue of Saturday, but she'd been trying all day and still come up with nothing. The afternoon practice had arrived and she was no closer to a conclusion than before.

She needed help.

Hermione looked around the gym, making sure that Tetsurou would be focused on helping his teammates before she made a beeline for the figure crouched over beside the stands. "Kenma-kun?"

Kenma blinked up at her, then looked back down at his game, a forlorn expression crossing his face before he decided to close the device. "What do you want?"

"It's just…" No. She didn't have time to be vague about this. She should be blunt and direct. "Tetsurou did a lot for my birthday, but I have no clue what there is around Tokyo that we could do, or what he would like or—"

"He's a sap." Kenma shrugged. "It's not that hard. Just take him on a traditional date."

"A traditional date?" Hermione knew what that was in wizarding England—Madam Puddifoot's—but she had no clue what the equivalent would be here. And she couldn't really picture Tetsurou wanting to go to a place like that.

But now Kenma was looking at her like she was testing his patience. It wasn't her fault she didn't know what was traditional here! The blonde sighed. "The leaves are changing colors. Go somewhere you can look at the trees together."

Oh! Right. Japanese culture appreciated the seasons and nature. Doing something like that with Tetsurou sounded enjoyable. "Where's a good place to do that?"

That earned an annoyed huff. "How should I know? I've never been on a date. Ask Tora. And it can't be somewhere too remote—Kuro doesn't like to go to unknown places ever since that time in the mountains."

That time in the mountains? Kenma was looking away now, his shoulders hunched inward.

Oh. When the Jorogumo attacked them.

But Hermione didn't know what places Tetsurou was familiar with, plus… She glanced over at the boy with the mohawk. Yamamoto was currently talking in rapid and enthusiastic Japanese with some of the other second years. Hermione sighed. "He can't speak English, Kenma-kun."

Kenma groaned. "Fine. I'll ask him for you. But only because it would make Kuro happy."

"Thank you!"

Kenma stood up with a sigh, not even acknowledging her as he went toward Yamamoto.

Brilliant. She had an idea and Kenma was narrowing down a location. Now she just had to think of a present, which really shouldn't be this hard, but she always gave practical gifts and she wanted this one to be special. Somehow giving Tetsurou a book on potions or something like that just didn't feel right.

Yet when they went back to the Tsukishima's place that night, Malfoy was there, holding out the cell phone box from that weekend. "Granger, you said you'd help me set this up. I've been waiting."

Bloody hell.

"See you inside, Mio!"

Hermione glared at Tetsurou as he fled. Coward. She sighed, turning back to Malfoy, "Can you wait one week?" She'd been counting on this time to brainstorm for Tetsurou's present and study for her NEWTs.

Malfoy didn't move, simply raising one eyebrow as he stared at her. "If you don't help me with this then Miya-san will just start texting you."

Hermione closed her eyes in frustration. Why did the ferret have to be right?

"Alright. Lead the way."

"Glad we could come to an agreement."

This was going to be miserable.

And it was. The first hurdle was switching the phone from Japanese to English, but many more had followed. Malfoy thought there were two many buttons. Then he didn't understand what a speech bubble was. Then she had to explain texting. Plus he kept fiddling with the phone instead of listening to her and almost fried the thing when he wanted to enchant it so that only he could hear the ring. And then there was the fact that none of the ringing noises were acceptable and he'd looked at her like she was insane for suggesting he turn it to vibrate. There was no way she was going to try to explain custom ring tones to him; it had been hard enough just to reach the point where he set up his ring tone.

Hermione rubbed at her forehead, completely exhausted from dealing with this idiocy. "How are you paying for this, anyways? Do the Tsukishimas need to watch for your phone bill in the mail?" She was pretty sure that Malfoy had never asked for their address, though…

"Address?" Malfoy stared at her. "Why would that matter?"

Great. "Did you give them an address at any point?"

Still a blank stare, but Malfoy at least answered her, "Miya-san provided his."

That had probably been the simplest solution at the time, but still…. "You'll want to ask him how you can pay him back next month, then, or at least thank him."

"Pay him back? But I used my funds to purchase it."

Hermione groaned. "You have to pay every month in order to keep the services active."

"But I've paid."

"For this month, yes, but not for next month."

"Someone would come and take it from me?" Malfoy's stare had turned into a condescending sneer. "I own it now."

Hermione did not have the patience for this. "No, the company would take your number out of service. Which means that when someone inputs the numbers to reach your phone, the call or text would never arrive."

"But that's—"

"How things work in the muggle world. Electricity, water, cell phones, and countless other things are paid for every month and not all at once. The next payments will be cheaper, though, since you now have the physical phone itself."

Malfoy scowled at the device. "Fine. I'll ask Miya-san about it."

"Good." Hermione did not want to explain how bills worked in any more depth. "Now please tell me you remember how to text Miya-san."

"Yes." Malfoy rolled his eyes at her, the brat. "I tap the white oval and then the pencil on the top right. Then I fill in his name as the addressee. We've gone over this several times."

Because he'd kept forgetting. "Good." That was all he'd really need it for, anyway. Though she'd programmed his phone with her number and Tetsurou's, as well as Kei's, her aunt's, and Akaashi's, just in case. She didn't like giving Malfoy instant access to bother them, but it was better to be safe.

Now, though, Hermione needed a break from this madness. "We can go over anything else later, that's the most important part. I'm going inside to get dinner, feel free to join us or fend for yourself."

Malfoy stared at her. "Fend for myself? This is a rural area and I hardly know enough Japanese to communicate at what counts for restaurants here."

That made sense, but he'd never joined them for a meal beforehand, so she had assumed he had found a way around it. "How have you been eating when you haven't joined us, then?"

"I've brought food with me under stasis." Malfoy sighed, adding a dramatic shrug, "Unfortunately, that has run out."

Lovely.

Needless to say, dinner wasn't enjoyable.

In addition, by the next afternoon's volleyball practice, Hermione had yet to think of a present. She sighed, trying to think of anything that would work while she flipped through yesterday's notes.

An envelope fell on top of the notes.

Hermione blinked and looked up to see Kenma standing in front of her. The boy nodded at the envelope. "You can't think of the location without him knowing, right? So I wrote down all the train directions you'd need to get there and put them in this. Don't open it until Saturday. You should leave the Tsukishima's house around nine."

Hermione could feel the stress lift off her shoulders. "Thank you so much, Kenma-kun! You're amazing." She doubted Harry or Ron would have done this extra step.

Kenma shrugged, watching Tetsurou as he yelled at Lev. "What are you getting him?"

Hermione sighed as she slipped the envelope into her bag. "I found a small washcloth for him, but I also got one of those for Kei-kun and Akiteru-kun, so it's not exactly special. I want to get something specifically for Tetsurou, but I have no ideas."

Kenma frowned, his calculating eyes studying the court so intensely for a second that Hermione almost thought he hadn't heard her, but then he responded, "Maybe something sentimental that you could put spells on? You're good at that, right?"

She'd thought of enchanting something, but she'd never been able to think of an object that would work. "It's something I can do, yes. But what do you mean sentimental?"

Kenma glanced over at her, his expression decidedly unimpressed. "Something girlfriends give boyfriends."

This was ridiculous. "Kenma-kun, even in my own culture I have no idea what that would be."

"Didn't you date?" His head was tilted to the side now, studying her in a way that almost made her want to fidget.

"A little, but…" Wait. "How did you know about that?"

"Kuro told me." The shorter boy rubbed at the back of his neck, looking away from her again. "He was really frustrated. That's part of why I was confused about how he could like you so quickly."

Oh. Hermione hadn't thought about that. If Kenma had known that she'd slighted Tetsurou unintentionally, but seen his friend bend over backward to try to make her happy… Hermione sighed. Great. Now she felt bad.

Mio? Everything ok?

Hermione looked up sharply to see Tetsurou was now watching them from across the gym. Fine, we've just been talking.

And you suddenly felt sad because…?

Kenma told me you talked to him about being frustrated that I'd dated someone before you. She didn't really know what else to say. She hated that she'd hurt Tetsurou, but she hadn't even believed in soulmates at the time. Gomen.

Tetsurou sighed. It really is fine, Mio. Yeah, I was frustrated, but I know you have different traditions and everything.

"Stop staring at each other, it's weird."

Hermione blinked, turning toward Kenma in surprise, then blushing when she realized that she and Tetsurou really had been staring at each other as they talked. "Sorry. Thanks."

Kenma gave her a disgruntled look, but before he responded Nekomata-sensei entered the room. Kenma's shoulders sagged and he sighed, then trudged over to stand with the rest of the team.

Hermione didn't get another chance to talk with Kenma until the following day's at practice, and she was nervous because now she only had two days left. As she approached, though, Kenma looked up, his eyes narrowing. He gave a long sigh before sliding his game system into his jacket pocket. "What do you want this time?"

"What did you mean by a traditional present from a girlfriend?"

Kenma stared at her. "You really are hopeless."

"I didn't have any time to look anything up, ok! I asked Kei-kun while Tetsurou was doing his homework, but then Kei-kun laughed at me, which got Tetsurou's attention and made the whole thing hopeless." She would have asked Akiteru, but he'd been out on a second date with Saeko-san, much to Kei's annoyance.

Kenma sighed. "Bento lunches. Make him lunch for the hike."

Ok, she could cook, but how in Merlin's name did she cook without Tetsurou noticing?

Kenma's stare somehow became even more disappointed. "I'll come over Friday night after practice and keep him distracted."

"Thank you!"

"And girls usually give boyfriends omamori for good luck before important events, so you should do that before inter high. Sometimes as a gift they'll give boyfriends a cellphone strap or bento wrap or something small they'd see everyday."

Thank Merlin. Ok. She could work with that. Tetsurou was usually the most focused during his chemistry class, so she would try to block the bond and go shopping then. He'd probably still realize that something was going on, but hopefully he'd be too distracted to question her too much. Parvus in Kotodama had some of those things, but it would be better to get him a non-magical version he could use every day and then do some spellwork herself… Wait. "What's an omamori?"

Kenma groaned. "Just go to a shrine." Without any further explanation, Kenma started to take off his jacket. "Yaku-san is about to go work with Lev, so Kuro won't be distracted anymore."

What? Hermione looked up to see the short third year start yelling at Lev. "Oh. Thanks, Kenma-kun."

Kenma shrugged. "I'm just helping for Kuro."

"I know. I still appreciate it." She patted his shoulder and Kenma gave her a disgruntled look before setting his jacket on the bench next to her and then trudging toward the nearest net.

She could work with this. She would buy Tetsurou something small, then enchant it. The enchantments themselves would probably depend on the object, though, and if she spent too much time researching things in advance, Tetsurou might notice.

So she had to wait until tomorrow.

That was fine. Totally fine. Hermione was perfectly good at figuring out things at the last minute.

Mio? Are you—

I'm fine! Sorry for distracting you. Hermione quickly moved to start helping the first years with receiving drills Focus on practice, Tetsurou.

Hermione could feel him watching her from across the gym, but eventually he sighed and turned away, his mood shifting from concerned to determined.

By the time Tetsurou's chemistry class arrived the next day, Hermione had been frantically practicing occlumency in an effort to keep Tetsurou from knowing what she was thinking. She was pretty sure he'd noticed anyways, but he at least wasn't digging around her thoughts and looking for clues.

She had closed off their bond slowly as Tetsurou's chemistry class had approached, and now she quickly headed away from campus, looking around the streets for anything promising while she pulled open her phone's map.

What stores sold cellphone straps and keychains? Or bento wraps? Or maybe a pen? Tetsurou would see that everyday…

Hermione glanced through each gacha machines she saw as she walked, but none of them had cats or anything Tetsurou might like…

Hermione sighed and looked back down at her phone, searching to see what stores were nearby.

Wait.

Hermione froze on the sidewalk.

Tetsurou didn't like to travel to unknown places. That's probably why he had never taken her to the places around Kyoto. Well, that and because the Miya family apparently frequented those spots.

But the point was that he was uncomfortable in new places. So she could get him something like the dragon bracelet he had made her. She didn't want to copy his idea entirely, though…

But what if she could do a more complicated version of hominem revelio on an object?

Like a pen. One with a cap or a twist mechanism or button…

She needed a nice stationary store.

Hermione searched on her phone's map for any kanji that looked like what she needed—

There!

She turned right, barely aware of her surroundings as she dodged past people and made her way down an ally street and through a side street of houses. It should be nearby, so where…

Hermione grinned when she caught sight of the kanji for paper and was relieved that the store's display did actually look like a stationary store.

When she stepped inside, though, most of what they seemed to have was expensive ink and fountain pens, which wouldn't work. She needed something to trigger activating the charms. There were endless rows of beautiful calligraphy brushes set on small stands, each with a sample paper that contained kanji flowing across the page.

"Irasshaimase! Nani o o-sageshi desu ka?"

Hermione looked up to see an elderly man had emerged from the back of the store, his shoulders hunched forward as he polished something in his hands with a soft cloth.

Hermione bit her lip. How did she respond? He'd said the verb for searching for something. Umm… "Watashi wa presento wo sagashi."

The man smiled at her, setting the cloth down on the front counter. "Pen? Kami?"

Pen or paper. Ok, that one she could answer. "Pen, kudasai."

"Mannenhitsu? Borupen?"

Hermione stared at him. The man smiled wider, shaking his head and shuffling toward a shelf on the right where he picked up two pens. He held up the first one and gestured at the ink tip, "Mannenhitsu?" He then held up the second, which Hermione was pleased to see had a more modern tip. "Borupen?"

Hermione grinned and nodded. "Borupen, kudasai."

"Yoku dekimashita." The man nodded, putting back the pen and gesturing for her to come with him to a row of pens in the back of the room.

They were all beautiful. Some had simple geometric patters, others sakura blossoms or Fuji or even fish. Most were black with the design etched out in gold, but a few were silver; some of the more expensive ones even had colorful landscapes sprawling across their sides.

Then she saw it. The pen was dark blue, a smooth pearly white dragon winding around its length and roaring near the tip. On its lid were several white clouds, each outlined in silver. "Kore wa ikura desu ka?"

"Ryuu?" He gestured at the dragon and Hermione nodded.

"Hai. Watashi no kare wa ryuu ga tsuki desu." Hermione was pretty sure she'd just told the man her boyfriend liked dragons, and he was thankfully nodding. Speaking in Japanese like this felt so awkward. Normally she was just trying to listen and understand the Nekoma team, not actually trying to produce sentences aloud.

The man carefully picked up the pen and showed it to her more closely, uncapping it and demonstrating that the cap could also screw onto the other end. When she nodded that she understood, he listed the price. The pen was definitely expensive, but it was beautiful and Hermione had the money. She nodded again. "Ii desu."

Another smile, and then he was moving toward the counter with the pen. Hermione sighed in relief.

"Presento?" The shopkeeper set the pen down in a felt-lined box as Hermione nodded again. She quickly opened her bag, summoning the money to her hand and placing it on the tray while he was distracted with wrapping the box.

She felt bad that she was going to have to undo that in order to apply the spells… she'd have to try to be as careful as possible so that she could rewrap it.

And then he was taking her money and she picked up the pen carefully, thanking him before heading back out to the street, her shoulders sagging in relief. She had Tetsurou's present! Now she just had to find a way to do the enchantments without him noticing… oh. And she'd wanted to try and grab a bento wrap for the bentos, too…

Hermione bit her lip, looking around to see if there was anything nearby. Thankfully there was a general store not too far off, so Hermione quickly headed in that direction and made her way through the crowded narrow aisles, careful not to knock anything down. The bento wraps were in the back with the other kitchenware and she quickly found one that she was pretty sure would work well, if Kenma was sending them to where he'd said they were going, at least.

When she finally reached campus again, Tetsurou's chemistry class had ended and she could feel his confusion when she opened the bond again. Everything's fine, sorry.

Why'd you close the bond? His mood shifted, suddenly becoming curious and she felt him start to poke around her thoughts, Is this what you've been anxious about all week? Does it have anything to do with—

Don't you dare, Tetsurou! I didn't look for my birthday present.

Immediately amusement filled the bond. Cutting it a bit close, aren't you? Technically my birthday's already happened.

Oh, shush and pay attention to your class. We agreed that you would get your present this weekend.

Hermione could hear him laughing at her through their bond as she reapplied a notice-me-not charm and settled underneath a tree to study. At least she finally felt like she was ready.

Well, almost. She still had to make the dinner, but Kenma had said he would help distract Tetsurou for that. And then she would have to apply the spells to the pen, but she would have to wait until tomorrow's classes distracted Tetsurou again. It should be easy, at least, since she planned on merely modifying the spellwork from a foe glass.

She thankfully managed to study for the rest of the day, and Malfoy was oddly quiet that evening. Apparently he and his soulmate were texting, but that was all the Slytherin would say about it. Hermione couldn't even tell from Malfoy's expression if the texting was going well or not.

Hermione sighed. Well, she could at least use Malfoy quietness as an excuse to go talk to him and have him test the pen for her. Though when she told Tetsurou where she was going, he'd barely looked up from his potion notes, so maybe she didn't even need an excuse.

As she slipped into the tent, the blonde wizard glanced toward her, annoyed. "What do you want?"

"Always a pleasure to see you, too, Malfoy." Hermione held up the pen. "I think I've made this into a foe pointer of sorts. Care to test it with me?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not your foe anymore, Granger." The Malfoy heir did set down his phone, though, and stood up from the table to brush off his pants. "I assume it reacts to intent?"

"Precisely." She unscrewed the pen's lid, then screwed it onto the other end before pointing it away from the wizard.

"You're not going to draw your wand?" Malfoy's eyes were wary and uncertain, his own wand now visible and pointed carefully at the ground.

"We'll call it an exercise in trust. You can choose whether I'm trusting you more or my abilities to dodge."

Malfoy stared at her for a few seconds, then nodded. "Have it your way." He raised his wand and immediately a bright blue line darted from the pen straight at Malfoy.

The wizard blinked at it, startled, and then the light disappeared. "The light wasn't harmful, though."

Such a Slytherin. "The goal is to have it point out enemies, not dispose of them. "

Malfoy sheathed his wand, the movement polished as always. "I suppose it's still useful in its own way. It certainly reacted quickly. If the incantation was long enough, you'd have time to shield."

"It's not meant for a warfront, Malfoy."

"Obviously."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Thanks for testing it with me. I'm glad it works."

"What happens if there are multiple enemies?"

"Multiple lights will appear, just as you'd see multiple faces in a foe glass."

"That's good, at least. And it's convenient that it can pinpoint a direction." He frowned, thinking. "How far can it sense people?"

"Presumably the same distance as a foe glass since I used those spells as a base."

Malfoy sighed and grabbed a quill and parchment from the table, then started sketching out a diagram. Curious, Hermione moved to stand next to him. It was some sort of rune work that explained the foe glass but elaborated on it, adding another layer.

"I assume your light will taper out just as the figures in the glass become less discernible. Dark wizards have always been a bit more concerned about this particular spellwork than light wizards, and my grandfather found a way to extend the effective radius of a foe glass if you alter the incantation and add these three runes along the rim. It should work the same way if you put the runes on the inside of the pen's lid."

"Why are you telling me this?" There was no need for him to give her this information and the last thing she wanted was to be in Malfoy's debt.

"It's hardly rare knowledge among death eaters, Granger. Even Crouch Jr.'s foe glass that he used during class had it because Mad Eye would have known about the alteration. It's just never been published." Malfoy picked up the parchment and held it out to her. "Ask Potter to check it if you don't believe me. Any auror that survived the war can probably confirm it. Of course, you're smart enough to be able to check the runes themselves and see that it would work."

From what she'd seen, it probably would, but still, Hermione didn't understand it all. "That makes the information less valuable, but it still doesn't explain why you're telling me."

"Because we're currently allies and I'd rather your defensive tools be as strong as possible."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "We're not under attack at the moment, Malfoy."

"At the moment, yes. Yet you're still giving your soulmate a present to detect enemies."

Hermione's hand tightened around the pen. "I have my reasons."

"I'm sure. They probably involve my own soulmate as well as a certain potion overseas."

Hermione glared at Malfoy. Neither of those was the main reason, but she wasn't about to explain that to him. She did take the parchment, though. "Thank you for the advice. I'll take it into consideration."

Malfoy smirked at her. "Appreciated."

Hermione turned on her heel, leaving the tent far more annoyed than when she'd entered.

Malfoy do something?

Just being annoying and enigmatic as always. And Hermione didn't exactly have a lot of time to tweak the spellwork at the moment. I'm going to go talk to Harry for a bit, but I'll try not to distract your studies.

Potter? You sure everything's alright?

Yes, Tetsurou. Everything's fine. Now focus on potions or I'll block the bond.

That earned an annoyed huff, but she felt his presence ease from her mind. Not trusting that to last too long, Hermione hurried upstairs and closed the bond anyway. She quickly pulled out the mirror. Harry should be at lunch now, but who knew if he actually had his on him…

"Hermione?"

Brilliant. "Sorry, Harry, just a quick question because I need to check something Malfoy said. You had a close look at Crouch Jr's foe glass right? Do you remember if there were runes?" Normal ones didn't have any, so—

"Yeah, I think so."

Well, maybe the ferret was being truthful. She held up the paper Malfoy had given her, positioning it so Harry could see the markings. "Were they these?"

"Maybe? I don't know, Hermione, that was years ago and runes haven't exactly been a strength of mine."

Hermione sighed. It would have to be good enough. "Thanks Harry." She'd double check the configurations herself, and only if they seemed to work would she alter the spellwork.

"That's it? He told you something about a foe glass you needed to check?"

Right. Harry was probably confused. "I'm trying to modify its spellwork for a present for Tetsurou."

"Oh." Harry's face cleared of confusion and he grinned at her. "Yeah, that sounds like you. Good luck, but remember to sleep, too."

Like he was one to talk. And the perfect time to modify all this really would be if she stayed up tonight. "I'll try my best." The spellwork didn't look too complicated, thankfully.

It did last her a fair amount of time, though, and she hid up in her room for most of the night.

And then the next day was Friday. Hermione thankfully managed to get some studying done while Tetsurou was in class, but before she knew it, Friday's practice had ended and Tetsurou was emerging from the club room with Kenma trailing behind him.

Tetsurou gave her a sheepish grin as he rubbed at the back of his neck, "Mio, you mind if we have dinner at my place instead of the Tsukishimas? Kenma wants to play some games together and we haven't spent time just hanging out recently, so…"

"That's fine, Tetsurou." Hermione tried to hold back her thankfulness and keep her mood reassuring. Kenma must have talked to Tetsurou and now she had the perfect excuse to be in the kitchen, too. "If your mother needs help cooking for more people, I'll be happy to do so." She'd rather cook with her aunt, sure, but she really should spend more time with Tetsurou's mother.

"Thanks!" Tetsurou grinned at her, then started talking about the game he and Kenma were going to play. It sounded like a fantasy game of some sort? It was cute that Kenma liked to play the wizard character, but she doubted Kenma would appreciate her saying that.

Once they arrived back at the Kuroo household, Hermione disappeared into the kitchen where Tetsurou's mother was already preparing dinner.

Hermione fought not to bite her lip. Why were the women in Tetsurou's family filled with so much poise? Hermione knew she could be powerful and even intimidating, but poise was definitely not her strength.

Crookshanks came around the corner, as if summoned by her insecurity, and Hermione bent down to scratch the cat between his ears. They really should try to stay over here more. Crooks was probably lonely.

"Can I help you?" The woman turned to look at her, though thankfully she didn't seem disturbed by Crookshanks' presence in the kitchen.

"Kenma-kun wanted to spend some time with Tetsurou, so we thought we would stay here for dinner tonight, if that's acceptable?"

"Of course." His mother went over to the fridge and pulled out more vegetables. "You're always welcome here."

Right. "I'd be happy to help with dinner and… well… I was thinking Tetsurou and I could have a picnic tomorrow, so I'd like to make a meal for that, too, if I wouldn't be in your way?"

Brown eyes turned to stare at her. "So you want to stay in the kitchen and 'help' me with dinner so that Tetsurou doesn't realize what you're doing?"

Hermione winced. "Well, yes. But I can actually help with dinner, as well."

"You focus on your lunch, it's fine." She moved to a cabinet, reaching under it and pulling out three bento boxes. "You should make three. Tetsurou always eats enough for two people."

Right. Making a bento. "Um… I can cook just fine, but… Kenma-kun said Tetsurou would like them because he's wanted to do date-like things. Are there things that should typically be in a bento like that? Or should I just make what I'm best at? Or what he likes the most? Or—"

"Calm down before Tetsurou feels your anxiety and realizes it's not just adrenalin from whatever game Kenma-kun must be distracting him with."

Hermione groaned. "Right." And of course the woman had already figured out that was why Kenma was here.

Tetsurou's mother shook her head as she cut up the lettuce."Kenma-kun relies on video games too much. Typically nowadays a girlfriend only gives a boyfriend a bento on special occasions like Valentine's day. If they're in a serious relationship she might do so more often, but only if the boy is living on his own. It's hardly a common romantic experience for a high school boy."

"His birthday is a special occasion, though… or should I not make them?"

"It's fine. Like you said, you're celebrating his birthday, and you both are serious about each other. Plus Tetsurou won't be expecting that he'll need to bring his own food."

Well it was good to know that Kenma was right about the social circumstances, then, even if he was a little bit out of touch. Not that Hermione was too surprised by that; the boy never seemed to pay attention to social customs unless he had to. "Is there anything specific I should do when making them for another person?" When she'd helped Aunt Sarah there hadn't seemed to be any necessary details or customs, but the circumstances were different this time…

"Often the food is presented in a creative design, especially for special occasions. "

Hermione stared at the woman. "A design?" She wasn't exactly an artistic person.

"As long as it looks well-organized, that's fine." Tetsurou's mother threw her an amused smile, then went back to the fridge and handed Hermione a container. "You can have the salted salmon. It'll be bad by Sunday, so you might as well use it for tomorrow's bentos."

Hermione took the container from her, a little dazed. "Arigatou." She'd had salted salmon before, and she knew Tetsurou liked fish, but she wasn't exactly sure what would go well with it… "Will there be leftover rice from dinner?"

Tetsurou's mother nodded. "The rice cooker is in the far corner. Help yourself when the timer sounds."

"Arigatou." That was one less thing to worry about, at least. She'd memorized the kanji on the Tsukishima's rice cooker, but who knew if this one would use all the same characters.

Hermione circled around Tetsurou's mother, opening up the fridge to see what else she could work with. Asparagus maybe? And there were cherry tomatoes… Carrots would be easy to cut into some sort of shape…

Shapes! That was it. She needed lots of things that were long and straight. Asparagus and carrots would still work, and she could put the cherries at corners, but what else? She could probably make apple slices work and she could put the edamame beans in the small compartment that one of the bentos had…

Hermione set up the food on the counter next to the salmon, trying her best to stay out of the way for Tetsurou's mother. She was pretty sure that this idea would at least amuse Tetsurou, and it was personal, too.

When she finished them, they didn't look too horrible. Being such simple designs definitely helped. Hermione sighed in relief and applied a stasis charm to keep the food cold, then slipped them into her bag where Tetsurou would see them.

Of course, when the next day arrived and she was waiting outside the tent for Tetsurou, Hermione couldn't help but feel like she could have done a better job. The designs' edges were a little sloppy, not to mention they weren't very colorful, which bento boxes were supposed to be. She'd not used a single thing that was yellow and—

"What are you anxious about? We're supposed to be having fun today."

"Nothing!" Hermione tried her best to take a deep breath and calm her nerves. "You just had a lot planned for my birthday and it was wonderful, but I feel like I've had to throw yours together last minute because of everything that's happening."

"I'm sure it'll be great, Mio." Tetsurou stepped out of the tent's entryway, his hands shoved into his jean's pockets and the sleeves of his black sweater already pushed back to his elbows. "You ready to go… wherever we're heading?"

"Well, that's part of it." Hermione held up Kenma's envelope and shrugged nervously. "I don't actually know where we're going."

Tetsurou's smile grew amused. "Oya?"

"Well since I'm not familiar with Japan, I asked Kenma-kun what might be a good place." Hermione fidgeted. Hopefully this had been the right plan. "The next day he gave me this envelope with directions and told me not to open it until today so that it would stay a surprise for you."

Tetsurou laughed. "That's Kenma for you; he always thinks ahead." He gestured at the envelope. "It's Saturday now, so go on and open it and we can find out."

Hermione shrugged and did so, then frowned as she stared at the paper. "All it says is that we should get a taxi to the following address from Miyagi Station."

"Short and easy, then." Tetsurou turned and headed toward the door. "So we're staying up North and not going into Tokyo?"

"Yes. You really haven't tried to figure it out?"

"Unlike some people, I like surprises." Tetsurou stuck his tongue out at her and Hermione rolled her eyes. Good for him.

The route was fairly uneventful. Tetsurou kept pestering her with questions to try to figure out where they were going, but since she knew barely anything herself, it wasn't very useful. He did manage to guess that they were going to look at the fall leaves together, but considering that the taxi was driving them up a secluded mountain, that wasn't exactly difficult.

The car ride itself was gorgeous, but when the taxi rolled to a stop Hermione was surprised to see only a small trail entrance and one wooden sign.

The taxi driver said something in Japanese, along with the price of the drive, and Hermione hurried to pay him while Tetsurou responded.

The second the car doors shut behind them, Tetsurou turned to Hermione with a teasing grin. "I know where we're going."

"You do? Did the driver mention it?"

"Yup! And there's no way Kenma-cat found this place on his own; it's way too romantic for him."

Too romantic? Where were they? "He said he was going to ask Yamamoto-kun."

"Knew it!" Tetsurou's hand slipped into hers and he tugged her further down the road. "I'll have to thank him. Come on!"

"You've been here before?" She'd wanted to go someplace new for him…then again, it wouldn't be good for Tetsurou to be uneasy the entire time, either…

"I've heard of it. It's really popular with tourists, so as long as we stay on the trails we should be fine."

So he wasn't nervous because it was a popular area, then? Hermione could hear water rushing in the distance through the autumn leaves. "Are we near a waterfall?"

"Correct!" Tetsurou bounded down the pathway, and Hermione followed, one hand trailing along the rail.

It was beautiful. The path was along the side of the mountain, overlooking a huge drop where they could see waves of red and gold leaves.

Gryffindor colors. Hermione smiled to herself and slowed to a stop, staring out over the mountainside. She'd never really thought about. It's not like she'd been able to enjoy them once she started Hogwarts, really… the Forbidden Forest wasn't somewhere you went to look at the leaves, so she hadn't been able to stop and enjoy them like this since—

"You ok?"

Hermione looked down the pathway, startled. Tetsurou was staring back at her. "Your mood shifted."

"Sorry." She tucked her hair behind her ear and followed after Tetsurou, slipping her hand back into his. "Old memories, that's all."

Tetsurou sighed. "I don't think I've seen that one."

"Exactly." Hermione looked up at the leaves, "It's been a long time. Since before I turned eleven, really. Before Hogwarts I used to go camping with my parents. That's how I knew where to take Harry and Ron in the woods when we were on the run."

"You never went camping with them after you were accepted into Hogwarts?"

"A couple times over the summer, sure. But not during the fall like this."

And now she never would.

Tetsurou's hand tightened around hers, and Hermione shook her head, trying to chase the tears away. This was supposed to be a day to spend time relaxing with Tetsurou and enjoying themselves.

"What were they like?"

Hermione blinked and looked up at him. "My parents?"

He nodded. "Obviously they must have been intelligent. You're smart, and so is Tsukki, so I figure it runs in the family."

Hermione smiled. "I guess. They were both dentists with PhDs. They always encouraged me to read and ask questions. And even though they both had full time jobs they still tried to spend as much time with me as they could so that I was never alone. I struggled to make friends before Hogwarts, so they were really the only company I ever wanted."

"They sound like great parents."

"They would have done anything to protect me. I knew it and that's why I…" Hermione swallowed. "Not that it mattered, I guess."

"You did everything you could to protect them. Just like they would have protected you."

She shook her head. "But I didn't succeed. I failed. The one time It mattered to protect them, I couldn't do it."

"You're being too hard on yourself, love." Tetsurou slowed to a stop, pulling her into a hug. "You helped save your entire country. I know that can't make the pain go away, but what you did was incredible. You were only seventeen, of course you weren't perfect."

Hermione tried to hold back the tears. "I needed to be, though." There hadn't been room for errors. Errors cost lives.

Tetsurou sighed. "I know. You shouldn't have been in that position to begin with, though."

"But I was." Hermione pulled back from him, brushing away a loose tear. "Anyway. We're supposed to be enjoying today, not talking about my miserable past."

"Talking with you is enjoyable, though." Tetsurou swung their arms a little as they began walking again. "We've been studying so much or worrying about politics, it's nice to just come out and spend time together."

It was. "My parents always insisted that quality time is important for any relationship."

"Yeah?" Tetsurou started walking up the next incline as Hermione nodded. "My family's always tried to have dinner together, but that's meant we often eat pretty late. Our schedules are so busy that's really the only time we're all home, though."

"Sorry for disrupting that." Because they slept in Miyagi, there were several nights where they'd eaten dinner here and not in Tokyo. "Do you want to make an effort to eat there more often?"

"Ah…" Tetsurou rubbed at the back of his neck uneasily, "That wasn't what I meant, but yes, it would be nice. I was just…" He frowned, pausing at the top of the incline. "I guess what I was trying to get at is that our families are pretty different. Do you think your parents would have liked me?"

Oh. "Yes." Hermione squeezed his hand. "You care about the muggle world and want to be involved with it, so they would have loved you for that alone, really. They were always scared that the magical world would take me from them." When really it had done the exact opposite. Hermione swallowed. "And they always wanted me to find someone that cared about me and didn't just see me as smart or anything like that, so they would have liked that about you, too. Dad probably would've made corny jokes with you, and they could talk about science some. They valued teachers a lot, so they would have approved of your dream to teach…"

They'd hated politics, though. Understood the necessity, but always complained that it was dividing the country.

But Hermione didn't have a choice. First it was that she had to be politically aware and involved or die, and now with Tetsurou… the wizarding world back home was trying to change, she would be foolish to allow that desire stagnate.

There was another couple further up the path, so the two of them fell silent, watching the leaves as they walked past the couple posing.

Oh.

Through the trees behind the couple she could make out a gorgeous waterfall, plummeting from the top of a cliff down to a large river below. The white water provided a stark contrast with the leaves around it, making them glisten in the sunlight.

"Come on!" Tetsurou nodded toward the path. "It'll look even better close up."

"Right." Hermione tore her eyes from the waterfall and moved to catch up with him. "It looks like we're getting close, at least."

"Yeah, not too much further."

Hermione wasn't prepared for just how massive it was up close. The water cascaded down the cliff in a thundering roar, a misty spray encompassing the area from the water's impact. The shore was covered in rocks, some as big as Hermione herself, but each one smooth from erosion, wet yellow leaves sprinkled over them and glittering like flecks of gold in the sunlight.

Tetsurou bent down to roll up his pants and pull off his socks and shoes.

"What are you doing?!" It was November, the water had to be freezing cold!

"You can cast a warming charm, right?" He grinned at her. "No one else is around and I've heard that it's best to see the falls from out in the water where you can look at them straight on."

Hermione looked around, sure no one was nearby, but—"Tetsurou the overpass above is crowded with people viewing at the waterfall."

"Yeah, tourists come down here a lot in the summer, but typically watch from up there in the fall since the water's cold."

"I think you might be missing the point. People are watching us."

"You've done magic in the middle of a crowded gym, Mio. We look like two stick figures to them. At the most they can see that we're teenagers and they'll just think we're being stupid because of our age."

"You are being stupid."

Tetsurou grinned at her, "Not when you can warm the water!"

Hermione groaned, but released her wand as Tetsurou waded into the water and let out a soft hiss. "Idiot!" Hermione turned so that her body blocked the sight of what she was doing and whispered the incantation. "At least wait until I cast the spell!"

"But then you wouldn't ever cast it. Now come on!" He waved her forward. "The water's great!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. It was great because she'd made it so, the brat. "I'm fine here, thanks." Tetsurou might be able to resist the current, but it looked strong and Hermione had no doubt that the river's bottom was slippery with all these rocks everywhere.

"Aww, don't be like that." Tetsurou bent down, his playful mood shifting to mischievous and that was all the warning Hermione had before he was splashing a wave of water at her.

She dodged to the side, but it still hit her right leg and Hermione glared at Tetsurou. He was so lucky she had an impervius charm on her bag. "You are so going to regret that." Hermione took off her bag and set it further back on a dry rock, then pulled off her socks and boots before wading into the water. She didn't bother with rolling up her jeans, though—she'd just dry them with her wand afterwards.

And then she slipped on a rock, Tetsurou's hand grabbing her arm before she fell. She glared at his playful grin.

"How are you going to make me regret it if you can't even stand, love?"

Hermione pulled her arm away, stepping back and gaining her balance against the pull of the current. She may not be able to openly use magic here, but it's not like she didn't know wandless spells.

Hermione stuck her hand in the water, moving to splash him while casting a weak wandless and nonverbal blasting charm that doused him in a blast of water.

Tetsurou stood there, spluttering. "What happened to not using magic?!"

"You're the one that insisted we could use it." Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Or can you not take it."

Tetsurou brushed his hair from his eyes, glaring at her like a sulking cat as he stood there, shivering.

Hermione rolled her eyes and cast a warming charm on him, Tetsurou's shoulders sagging in visible relief. "Better now? I told you it was too cold for this."

Tetsurou shook his head, water droplets spraying everywhere, then turned toward the waterfall. "It really is a better view from out here, though."

Hermione followed his gaze. Staring straight at the waterfall from the river beneath it was definitely awe-inspiring. The waterfall was a solid wall of white water two meters wide and over fifty meters tall, with orange and red trees lining both sides. "Are you going to tell me the name of this place yet?"

Tetsurou laughed. "Sorry. We're at Akiu Otaki. It's the biggest waterfall in Miyagi."

Hermione stared up at the cascading water. "It's certainly impressive." And peaceful.

"Man, we should've brought something to eat. The trail map earlier said the hike to the shrine was even further than our previous hike."

"I did bring something. Kenma-kun told me to, so that's what your mom and I were doing last night while you and Kenma played video games."

Tetsurou grinned. "Knew you were up to something."

"How?! Kenma said he kept you distracted!"

"Well yeah, but it's not like Kenma's ever been that determined to distract me before, Mio. Kenma's apathetic about everything."

Hermione groaned. "Oh, fine. Yes, I made bentos and they're in my bag, along with your presents."

"Yes! Presents!" Tesurou bounded over toward the food (well, he tried to, but the water definitely slowed his movements).

Hermione watched the water for a little bit longer. The last time she'd been at a waterfall had been the thief's downfall in Gringotts…

Hermione shook her head and turned back toward Tetsurou. She didn't want to think about that right now. They'd succeeded and everyone was safe.

"You all good, Mio?"

Drat it all, Tetsurou must have sensed her shift in mood. "Fine, yes. Sorry. Just a memory."

"Did you go see a waterfall with your parents?"

"No, it was one of the traps when we broke into Gringotts." Hermione reached into her bag to grab the food, ignoring how Tetsurou's mood shifted from concern to befuddlement. He'd eventually see the memory, no doubt, and then he'd understand.

Hermione pulled out the bento, suddenly feeling awkward. "Here. I umm… well, the wrap is part of your present."

Tetsurou blinked in surprise, then held the bento up, twisting it around so that he could see the design. "Fall leaves at an old mansion?"

"There's also a black cat in the tree. Well, normally in the tree. I charmed it so that if someone with a magical signature touches him, he'll move around, and I don't know if you've touched him, so…" Hermione shrugged, uncertain about whether or not he'd even like that trick.

"That's awesome!" Tetsurou's answering grin was bright. "Did you do anything else to it? Knowing you there's probably some practical things as well, right?"

Hermione blushed and nodded. "Impervius and other spells like that, yes. And it will also keep your food warm like a cloth thermos. I didn't want to do anything too obvious, though, since I imagine you'll want to use it around muggles."

"That sounds amazing." Tetsurou gently set it aside as she handed him a small bag that held the pen box and wash cloth. "This is the other part of my present, then?"

Hermione nodded. "One of the items I picked up while I was in Minami Ichiba, and the other one I picked up this week and enchanted it, as well."

Tetsurou pulled out the cloth first and he stared at it for a second. "I'm assuming this is from Minami Ichiba?"

Hermione nodded. "It was made by a Kejoro to absorb only water, so you'll be able to use it around non-magical people, but be careful about leaving it sitting around or anything like that."

Tetsurou laughed. "That would definitely cause confusion, but it looks great, thank you. Did you go with a cat theme?"

"Not entirely."

Tetsurou's fingers were careful as he undid the wrapping around the pen's box, and his eyes widened when he pulled off the lid. "It's beautiful."

"I'm glad you like it." Even his emotions were happy and appreciative, which was reassuring. "You can use it as a pen still, but it will also act as a laser pointer and point toward any nearby magical signatures that intend to harm its holder."

Tetsurou looked up at her, his eyes wide. "That's… that's really impressive spellwork, Mio."

"It's not that big of a deal. I just altered existing spellwork that's used for a foe glass." Hermione shrugged, unfamiliar with her spellwork being so openly and honestly appreciated. "Kenma-kun mentioned that you don't like going to new places ever since the incident with the Jorogumo, and I'm sure the summer's events didn't help, so I thought it might bring you some peace of mind."

"Thank you." Tetsurou looked back down at the pen, his emotions swirling between appreciation, sadness, fear and trust. "I'll treasure it." He placed it gently back in the box, then handed her the gifts once more. "Would you put those in your bag for safekeeping? I'd put them in my pocket but someone soaked my jeans."

"Oh!" Hermione quickly took the gifts and put them in her bag, then hurried to dry off first Tetsurou's clothes, then her own jeans "No need for you to stay like that, really, though of course I'll hold onto the wrap for you."

"Thanks a bunch!" And then he was carefully opening the bento wrap and handing her that cloth, as well. Amusement rippled across their bond and he looked up at her with a grin. "Really? You designed the bentos as runes?"

Hermione could feel herself blushing as she nodded. "It was the only kind of design I could think of."

Tetsurou started snickering at that. "So laguz, then. Water's certainly fitting for us, even if you didn't know that we would be coming to a waterfall. Are the other two the same rune?"

Hermione shook her head and his grin widened as he set the first bento on the rock next to him and eagerly moved to the others. "Why'd you make three, anyway?"

"Your mother said you would eat two."

Tetsurou scowled. "I don't eat that much all the time. It's not like I have practice or anything today."

"It's fine, Tetsurou." Hermione shook her head. "I grew up with Harry and Ron, remember? I'm used to the appetites of male athletes."

Tetsurou sighed, but was distracted by opening the second bento. "Isaz? You sticking with the water theme, then? I don't know of any others besides water and ice, though."

Hermione shook her head again. "Just those two are water themed."

"Hmmm…" Tetsurou eyed her skeptically, then set the second one aside and opened the lid to the third. "Raido?" He looked up at her, one eyebrow raised. "Are we going on some journey that I don't know about? I think our first adventure was good enough for me."

Hermione shrugged. "Hiking is a journey, and then there's the more metaphorical interpretation of life, and we'll be going on that journey together, so…" She looked away, tucking her hair behind her ear uncertainly. It still felt odd to talk about that with certainty, even if it also felt right.

To distract herself, Hermione picked up the first bento and took the chopsticks from its lid. The salmon was thankfully still good, though it was certainly on the saltier side. By tomorrow the taste really would be too strong for the fish to be palatable.

"You're really good with all of this, Mio?"

Hermione looked up to see Tetsurou evaluating her. She wasn't really sure how to respond.

"Malfoy's right, after all, we have kind of jumped into this face first. We can still try to find a way to slow things down."

"No." She shook her head "I do want this. The war made me realize that life can be so short and even though it's over I still just… I know I want to live the rest of my life with you. Why wait longer to get married? Sure there will be social inconveniences in the muggle world, but there would be inconveniences in the wizarding world if we didn't, and as much as I enjoy the muggle world, the wizarding world has always been where I've felt most at home. Though I know it's the opposite for you, so—"

"It's fine." Tetsurou sighed, running his free hand through his hair. "It certainly won't be easy, but… " he shrugged. "I've seen Bo and Akaashi struggle with not even being able to declare affection for each other in public. This is nothing in comparison."

Right. They really were lucky. Not to mention they had managed to find each other, despite living continents apart from one another… even though she'd brought the war here since Bellatrix had followed her, Hermione couldn't regret it. Life with Ron… they would have found happiness, but it wouldn't have been the same. "I really do love you, Tetsu."

Tetsurou choked on the rice, his face turning bright red.

"Tetsurou!" Hermione hurriedly summoned a water bottle from her bag and he gratefully took it.

"Sorry. You uh.. You keep surprising me with that." He swallowed, carefully chewing as he considered his next words. "It's just… We don't really say that very often in Japan. Probably not until after marriage, at least. It's understood before then, of course, but…" Tetsurou shrugged, "We're better about declarations of dedication and respect and things like that than vocalizing our feelings, I guess."

Oh. Hermione hadn't really thought about that. "But you said earlier that you liked hearing it?"

"I do! It's nice to hear it instead of just feeling it or assuming it based on your actions and things like that." Tetsurou rubbed at the back of his head, his smile sheepish. "I just never really expect it, that's all."

Hermione could understand that. Tetsurou was always trying to make sure their longterm goals were both achievable and that she was able to get along with his family and friends and be part of his life… that in and of itself said that he loved and valued her.

She and Ron had never thought about that. Sure, she loved his family, but their long-term goals…

Tetsurou reached over his hand gently resting on her shoulder for a second before giving it a reassuring squeeze. "We'll just have to figure things out as they happen, right?"

"Of course. We have our exams to worry about first, plus that potion and Malfoy and occlumency." Hermione groaned, taking a bite of rice while closing her eyes in despair. "Tetsurou, how in Merlin's name are we going to plan a wedding when we're so busy with everything else?"

He laughed. "Well do you want a British wedding or Japanese one? Or a magical or non-magical one?"

Hermione wrinkled her nose. There were definitely too many choices. "I don't even know the differences between our traditions."

Tetsurou shrugged. "Honestly I'm probably a terrible person to ask about that. Traditional weddings follow Shinto practices, but that's all I really know."

Shinto? "But don't you associate that with the Miya family? Do you want to have a wedding like that?"

Tetsurou shrugged. "Weddings are different. They've become more of a cultural thing than a strictly devout thing, so I don't mind as long as we're not at an Inari shrine. And more people in Japan are doing Western marriage ceremonies if you would prefer that."

Hermione frowned. "Would one or the other be preferable considering we're getting married so young?"

"Who knows?" Tetsurou set down an empty bento. "My mother would probably know better than me, honestly."

Lovely. That would be a fun conversation.

Hermione sighed. She couldn't keep putting off these details. One way or another, she had to face this.

So I completely forgot to cross-post the last chapter here, which means y'all are getting two chapters at once! Thanks to my lovely beta for beta-ing this for me! And thanks for all the comments y'al really appreciate them! 3 3 3 You can find me on tumblr at haruhi1020 and A03 as toboe 1087! I put research posts about settings and other things for my fics on tumblr for anyone interested in that.

If you want to talk about my work, writing, art, or anime in general, we always love to have new people join us on my discord server! We recommend fics to each other, have writing and art challenges, and play games :D You can be active as much or as little as you want. I try to keep ppl informed about upcoming works I'll be posting and there's also some fan art there of some of my works. won't let me link to that here, but you can message me on tumblr for the link or find it on any of my Ao3 posts :)