*Disclaimer*
A.N.: Now they are back to class!
For the Cure for Boils I'm using the recipe written in Magical Drafts and Potions instead of the Pottermore mini-game version (differs mostly on the times and amount of ingredients) as each Harry Potter media has a different method to brew this.
I'm so sorry this took so long. The last chapter has been ready for ages, but I just forgot about it :( This chapter in particular took me a bit more than a few days because I got sick and just refused to move or think. It was awful!
Thank you YJV, BreeBBreakDance, KuroichiRukibara, Fi Suki Saki and Guest (OHSHC is great!) for your lovely reviews. They make me very happy!
Yes there will be couples of more than two people (and a lot of them too :9 ) And don't worry; they work. they really work! There will be KiKasa (maybe I forgot that tag) in the future and if you don't remembre were you stopped reading, I suggest reading it all again. The manga is great so why not!
Also, it is likely that my Akashi feels a bit strange to people, but really every reader I know has made a diferente interpretation on his personality. My idea here is to try to keep him in that point where he is about to give in to his other personality and keep him there for as long as I can. Lets see if I can do it :P
Now, please enjoy the chapter!
xxx
Tetsuya was about to take the force of an exploded pseudo Cure for Boils to the face.
It wasn't something easy to achieve. The Cure for Boils is a very easy potion, the very first they learned to brew. So naturally Professor Goose asked them to brew one from memory right after they returned from the holidays as a way to freshen up... to see what they had retained from the last semester before jumping into something new. Also, to make it fair, she decided to pair up the students randomly.
That was the first mistake.
Generally Potions works in groups of two or three. On the rare occasions where three people could take on a more challenging potion, Tetsuya would gladly sit by Kagami and Aomine to avoid problems. When the groups were of only two people he would take who was closer and generally not one of the idiots, so as not to look like he was picking sides.
But today, Professor Goose had made a fatal mistake. A combination that had never happened before and should soon prove to be very dangerous. By an unlucky strike of fate, Kagami-kun and Aomine-kun were paired up.
You should never pair up two idiots when it comes to brewing.
The thing about this particular potion is that it is not very dangerous. The only inconveniences that it may fashion would be even more boils when brewed incorrectly or having the cauldron melt with a ghastly bad odour if the same is not withdrawn from the fire before adding the porcupine quills.
So her second mistake must have been letting people pick their ingredients from the storeroom instead of giving them the correct ones; which led those two into adding sneezewort in their potion. Sneezewort! A proper cure for Boils has only snake fangs, horned slugs and porcupine quills for ingredients! Whatever else they had added was unknown because Testuya had been busy with his own potion and did not pay too much attention.
The only reason Kagami and Aomine's potion looked ready to explode could only be because it was no longer a Cure for Boils. Whatever it was, it was dangerous!
Professor Goose didn't seem to notice anything yet, which was bad for Tetsuya, because despite not working – at the moment – with the two panicking morons, his brewing stand was just to their right. Thankfully there was no one to their left but Holmes-san and her Ravenclaw partner, working behind those two, were starting to back away.
"Kuroko-kun, the colour is almost right. Should I start preparing the horned slugs?" Furihata-kun looked perfectly at ease with his work despite one or two nervous looks to his right and few other over his shoulder to where Akashi-kun and a Hufflepuff girl where brewing – Furihata-kun's fear of the redhead Slytherin had increased magnificently since right before the holidays, just after his little stunt with Kagami-kun.
"We're 36 minutes in so it should be about ready. If you do not mind Furihata-kun, four horned slugs please." Testuya nodded approvingly at how their potion was turning. After leaving the crushed snake fangs to brew they were almost ready to finish up and leave early, hopefully before whatever Kagami-kun and Aomine-kun brewed detonated. "Protego Duo." He cast to his right as an afterthought. No need to take risks.
The brunet by his side sighed in relief and held his horned slugs over the cauldron watching for the correct colour change. To their right someone yelped and somebody started cussing. Not a good sign. But hopefully his shield would hold.
Risking a few looks over the classroom, Testuya watched in high amusement, as Midorima-kun fumed in rage while watching his potion and Murasakibara-kun napped by his side. Kise-kun and Drosselmeyer-san were both looking absolutely puzzled as their concoction was the opposite of the desired colour. Takao-kun seemed trapped in between keeping Momoi-san from adding ingredients to their mixture – Potions was certainly her worst subject – and trying to compete with Akashi-kun in speed. The last one barely seemed to pay him attention as he carefully but efficiently finished his work and his partner Andrino-san – that had given up on suggestions from the beginning –warily handed him the requested ingredients.
"Can I add them now?" Furihata asked him suddenly, his face the picture of nervousness.
The colour looked nice, maybe a bit over what they wanted, Tetsuya noted. "Yes. Quickly please, Furihata-kun." The other skilfully added the ingredients and started looking for the porcupine quills. Tetsuya prepared to remove the cauldron from the flames. "You don't have to ask me about all the steps, Furihata-kun. You have a lot of talent when Potions is the subject. Please have more confidence in yourself."
"Ah… I guess." The other boy chuckled without much joy over a theme that he probably heard a dozen times a day. "I'll add the two quills now."
That said, Tetsuya let the other stir as the stands to his right got his attention. Holmes-san was finished it seemed, her partner was already hiding under the table and the Professor was on her way to examine their potion before letting them go for the day. The hazardous potion made by Kagami and Aomine seemed to finally reach her attention just then and she quickly tried to herd the two idiots away from its newly gained black tentacles of death.
"It's done! Huh… might be a bit darker than what we wanted…"
Tetsuya peeked over the cauldron and sure enough, Furihata's momentary hesitation had cost them a perfect grade. Not that he would admonish him for that any further. It was a perfectly functional Cure for Boils and that was the most important.
He was about to appreciate the other's help and work when the monster finally erupted and chaos and panic flooded the room along with screams of pain.
x
Kazunari was in between covering up for Kaoru and Hikaru and waiting for Shin-chan when he spotted Aomine and Kagami climbing the dungeon stairs looking as miserable as they could be.
After the incident on the first day of the semester, where the two of them managed to injure half of the class with their potion, they had been put on mandatory Potion tutoring every other afternoon. By some magical miracle they actually seemed to be hanging along fine and their numerous arguments felt almost friendly in nature; very different from the first semester.
The situation could have been fun, and Kazunari was certainly the type to laugh at these things, when no one died, but it had hurt like hell and even now his hand stung where it had been burned. Had he been caught on the face or worse his eyes he would be on his death bed by now. He absently rubbed the fading scar and watched them leave without seeing him.
The two idiots had been saved by Professor Goose and her shield charm, whereas Clerence-san – that had stubbornly refused to leave the table she was hiding under – had only been able to leave the hospital the day before; just after two long weeks unable to move in a bed.
He personally had gotten lucky and half of Kuroko's shield charm – that allowed him and Furi-chan to escape completely unharmed and earned him fifty points, balancing Kagami's lost sixty – had kept the toxic goo from catching him in any bad places that incapacitated him.
"Takao." And that was his Shin-chan walking down the stairs.
"Shiiiiinnnnn-chan! Hello! Did you miss me? I missed you!" He made sure the twins could hear him from where they were.
The green haired boy did not look happy with the ruckus he was creating, though, and the pink zebra plush-toy bulged weirdly when he hugged it too tightly. "Don't be so noisy, you idiot-nanodayo!"
"Wow, today's thing is kind of cute! What do you call it?" He leaned forward to watch the bulged eyed zebra more closely but made no effort to move away. He was still waiting for his signal after all.
"Hintaro; but leaving that aside, are we going or not? We have plenty to do-nanodayo!"
He just had to laugh at the other's naming sense. He pretended not to hear the last part because he was trying to buy some time. Shin-chan did not look pleased as he laughed on. "Hintaro! That's rich! What's with that?! Shin-chan is great at naming things!"
"I fail to see what is so funny about this. You should close your mouth Takao, you look like a cow." The Ravenclaw was tapping his foot impatiently as he petted the furry pink head of his toy with his bandaged hand. He had not let Kazunari see it after the accident two weeks ago, but his hand had to be quite bad for him to keep it tapped like that.
Thankfully, before Shin-chan exploded as well, he noticed two red heads slipping through the corner before Hikaru quickly waved at him. That was all he needed.
"Buuuutttttt...! Your names are soooooo funny!" He pulled his favourite Ravenclaw away from where the other two disappeared and the boy seemed to relax a bit, completely oblivious to his intentions. "Like… The frog was Kerosuke and the panda-pig was Booki! Oh, and that usagi was Kuchako! Like really! But my favourite…" He kept enouncing them as Shin-chan grew redder and more uncomfortable by the minute. "… is probably Gaoumaru! Just listen to this samurai name: GAOUMARU! It's so magnanimous! I would never think of naming a teddy bear like that! Never! Shin-chan is just that special!"
"Shut up-nanodayo!" The green haired boy was pouting and refused to look at him for the rest of the way to the library.
Knowing Shin-chan's mood swings fully well by now it was bound to be a very quiet walk. Because he hated quiet, Kazunari still kept talking all the way. Menial things just to fill the silence, with no hope of Shin-chan actually answering him back. He started with his sighting of the two idiots which led to him speaking of their classes. It quickly became a series of complains about Professor Looney and an interested remark towards her new attention towards fashion, which seemed to include sparkly effects for some reason and soon he had lost track of what was leaving his mouth way before they arrived. The Ravenclaw made no mention to stop him until they reached the heavy door, though.
There he stopped as if waiting for something. Not realising it Kazunari just kept going with what he was doing without much thought. It was a curious look from his friend – a look he had actually never seen on his friend's face before – that brought him back to reality only to discover that along the way he had begun to quietly sing. That realization brought it to an immediate stop.
"Y-you... Why didn't you say something!? You should have warned me!" Gosh he was embarrassed.
Without waiting for the other, he quickly entered the room only to be greeted by the quiet hushes of the Sunday studying students of the library. He made his way to their usual table in the back, by the Astronomy section, and took a seat without greeting anyone. Deciding to wait for whatever Shin-chan was going to grab from the shelves – he already had forgotten what they had been planning to study – he buried his head on his book bag and tried to ignore the world.
He had never felt more embarrassed! He probably sucked badly and Shin-chan just had to listen to that! Damn! Thankfully they had been heading there, because otherwise Shin-chan might have had no other way to tell him to stop. He was very kind, Shin-chan. Even if he disagreed with that fact, it was true. It was one thing entering a library while talking, but it was another completely different to do so while singing.
Kazunari was just so distracted trying to ignore everything – he really wasn't capable of dealing with anything right now – that Shin-chan's close by voice made him jump considerably high. He had not noticed the other returning and sitting beside him.
"I see you decided to forgo books for this study session-nanodayo." The greenhead was glaring at Kazunari's empty bag but seemed to avoid looking at him directly.
Truly, Kazunari's bag had been very much full just an hour before, albeit with a completely different arraign of things that were most definitely not study material. "... yeah... I kinda forgot..." Shin-chan gave the most exasperated look and Kazunari actually felt bad.
A quick look through the books the Ravenclaw had picked told him exactly what he was dealing with. Ah, Transfiguration... How depressing... It was a special type of hell that class. All because they had a crazy hag for a teacher that had yet to properly teach them.
When Shin-chan suddenly closed his heavy volume of advanced Transfiguration and sighed, the Gryffindor felt scared that he had upset his friend too much and was being sent away.
The spectacle boy was pouting as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You don't have to keep me company if you don't want to study, Takao." But thankfully, his curled posture and his almighty pose quickly reassured him that the other did not truly want him to leave. "We are severely lacking in our Transfiguration education though... So every open minute to study by ourselves should be taken advantage of to the max of its capability! But I won't do the work for idiots that do not do their best-nanodayo!"
Shin-chan's "don't leave" aura was strong despite his conceited speech. It was kind of cute how he was incapable of being truthful despite being blunt about so many things.
"No! No, no, no, no! I want to study with Shin-chan!" And to emphasize his point he quickly stole the Ravenclaw's book from his hands before opening it while ignoring his surprised and annoyed face. It was as dull and uninteresting as one would expect which made him frown. "It's just... What interest is in knowing that certain intonations or gestures do "this" or "that" when we can't practice!? I mean... We have five years until we have to take a test Looney hasn't written or classified... as well as a true practical evaluation. We haven't used magic in that class other than trying to make Looney trip or change her hair colour to green-puke! Not a single Transfiguration spell! It's a bit... discouraging."
Wow, now that he had put it on words, their situation was bad. Really bad!
He half expected Shin-chan to huff and call him an idiot before forcing him to study so when the other just sighed and slumped in his seat, Kazunari was dumbfound. "I know... It's awful and even I couldn't help being lazy with it!"
Kazunari thought back to the other day when the green haired boy had written a report for the class, seven pages longer than required, knowing full well that Looney rarely collected homework and more often than not, forgot se had asked for any. "Lazy" wasn't exactly the word...
"But it's not easy to find somewhere to practice Transfiguration. What if something goes wrong? It could be dangerous-nanodayo!"
The brunet just watched Shin-chan, fascinated, as he dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling. What a unique day.
"What kind of place would be good for it?"
He felt sad when the greenhead straighten out, as if he had just remembered he was not made of flesh and was nothing but a doll. "Somewhere contained and safe. Close to any teachers that we might need to call for help if something goes wrong. Uh... There's no place like that! We would have to build one-nanodayo!"
The look on Shin-chan's face was of pure frustration but his words had sparkled one of Kazunari's memories and the Ravenclaw had not finished talking before the Gryffindor had a solution. It would imply having many more study sessions with Shin-chan, and betray the location of a secret place that otherwise could be used for mischief but for his cute green haired spectacles wearing Shin-chan it would be worth it!
"Pack your stuff." He told the boy that looked at him as if he were crazy. "I know a place like that!"
"Wha... Takao!"
xxx
The journey to the seventh floor was rushed in excitement from Kazunari's part and swallowed in nervousness from Shin-chan's. It was only when he reached the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching ballet to trolls that he begun to explain.
"My uncle used to tell me many stories about his time during the war. He told me about this particular room where had to hid for a while, because he was Muggleborn, and how important it was to win the war!" He was talking really fast but he was very anxious to see if it worked. "Now... on his last year here at Hogwarts he came to see if the room, Room of Requirements as it is known, still worked because part of it was destroyed with Fiendfyre and he discovered it could still be accessed! Ah, he also told me to be careful of the other room because it is still burning and it's dangerous!"
"Calm down for a second! I can't understand a thing-nanodayo!" Midorima had to physically restrain him to force Kazunari to stop jumping around in excitement. "I don't understand, what is this room you keep talking about?"
"Okay! Here, come with me!" With two quick breaths, and feeling a bit less electric, the raven took his friend's hand, half of his mind noting the occurrence with renewed embarrassment, and pulled him. "Now, we are going to walk but don't think too much into it! Just keep thinking about that room you imagined in the library!"
He could sense Shin-chan's dubiousness through their linked hands but decided to focus on making them walk through the correct path and repeating "We need a place to practice Transfiguration safely" over and over his head.
When the door showed up he was glad it seemed to attract Shin-chan's full attention because he didn't felt like explaining why he thought holding his friends hand was a good idea. Mainly he had just wanted to keep him walking in the right direction. Thankfully there was no one to see them; because they were boys and some mean people – Slytherins – would definitely laugh at them if they caught them.
The room itself was wide and all the articles it contained were arranged with a note of precise neatness that clearly had come from Midorima's mind.
The green haired boy minutely observed the room quietly and Kazunari let him do so, too amazed to comment.
In half of the numerous shelves that covered the walls of the space, there was a huge assortment of various objects meant to be Transfigured, as well as different sized cages, where animals were meant to wait.
"I guess the room can't create actual living creatures for us to practice on…"
The other half of the shelves was loaded with books of several sizes and thickness. Kazunari could recognize a few, as well as a copy of his own Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration but the others were all too advanced to be seen outside of the Restricted Section. There was one though... that looked super interesting...
"I suggest you study the basics of Transfiguration before you attempt that-nanodayo." Shin-chan had suddenly materialized beside him. "Particularly: Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration!"
The dark blue thick cover was slid back in place and the green haired boy quickly pulled him aside. Pouting but chuckling on the inside over Shin-chan's worrywart attitude, Kazunari let himself be dragged over the middle of the room. This particular space was ample, cleared of any items and cushioned all around. It was obviously meant to be used for practice.
The outer corner of the room had an extensive first-aid kit – also Shin-chan's idea, most likely – with everything needed to attend any injury: from a running nose to a severed limb; before they had to run to the infirmary. Shin-chan gave it all a nod of approval.
"It's okay I guess…"
"Just okay?! It's awesome! Come on Shin-chan, admit it!" His friend's Tsundere attitude could be equal parts cute and annoying, but seeing the other trying and failing to hide his excitement was hilarious.
"Shut up, Bakao! Let's get started-nanodayo!"
"Eh…?"
"Practicing. That is why we are here, no? Now get your wand ready-nanodayo!"
"Eeeeehhhhhh…"
And it was like this that Takao Kazunari lost 60% of his already very limited free time.
x
Taiga skipped over the stairs, two steps at a time, and nearly collided with the Fat Lady trying to reaching the Gryffindor Tower.
"You're late!" Aida Riko's voice reached him first, followed by an angry smack upside his head.
"Ouch! Sorry…" The redhead softly rubbed the tender spot as he joined the rest of the team on the couch. He had, of course, told her that his Potions tutoring was going to take longer that day – so that he could be free that weekend and play on the match. They just loved to hit him though.
"Did you manage to finish everything, Kagami-kun?" It was almost not surprising anymore to suddenly find the blunet beside him but it still startled him a bit. The boy in question was whispering in order to avoid the wrath of the coach, as she had started her meeting over the game plan for the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw game.
"Yeah…" He whispered back carefully. Being invisible sure was helpful in this kind of situation – the sly bastard! "Aomine too. He was very happy about that. It looks like he really wanted to go see our game. Ah… Mother Goose is the best!"
" . ! Is there anything you'd like to share with the rest of us?" Damn, she caught him!
After a few powerful blows, the petit brunette was back on business and Taiga had a few painful extra lumps. As she was describing, they were in a small pinch right now. Their player info was reduced to a few names and positions; all because Looney had decided to give the whole team detention back on the day of the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff game. The Eagles had beaten the Badgers, 460 to 170. Hufflepuff had gotten the snitch. It sounded like something from the World Cup! Taiga would have paid to see that game!
"… and so, the initial conclusion was that the Keeper and main Chaser are the only big threats! It was also a rumour that the Seeker sucked so we should forget about him." Aida-sempai paused in her speech and pacing to give them all a very excited grin. "So! I was a bit nervous about facing an unknown team in just two days but…" Her grin grew further. "… I just found someone that actually has good info on Ravenclaw! Takao-kun!"
The raven haired boy actually looked startled with her sudden statement. He was reluctantly dragged over to the brightly shining Spartan coach.
"Eh… I think you have the wrong person…"
"Nonsense!" Riko was positively shining with an evil red aura now. "Why don't you tell me about that thing we were talking before… Kasamatsu-san and how he has a short fuse…" She swung her arm around his neck and fiercely held him in place.
The sudden change in subject seemed to surprise the boy but he gained an understanding look and a cheeky smile. "Ah! That! Yes, yes… Kasamatsu-sempai is a very cool person and a very strict Captain! He is usually calm and collected when directing the team but he always comes down on them like a ton of bricks! He spares no one!" Takao talked with a cheeky expression as Riko-sempai looked more and more excited.
"And what about Quaffle numbers? What are his stats?" Kiyoshi curiously inquired.
"Hmm… I think Kasamatsu once let out how disappointed he was that his Keeper score was only 8:10! Which means that he misses 20% of the Quaffles!"
There was a collective murmur of awe in the room and the raven haired boy was looking more excited by the second.
"I know a lot of stuff from the players after all! They don't pay me any attention usually!"
"Oh!"
"That's great!"
"I'm getting excited about this!"
"Short fuse… but collected when directing… No point riling him up if he won't make mistakes from it…" Hyuuga-sempai seemed to be working out strategies already and Taiga felt great respect for him and the respect of the sempais. He could barely hold himself still now that the prospect of a real battle was so near.
"No point, really. I would even say that the angriest he is, the more powerful he becomes!" Takao seemed to agree with Hyuuga on that point. "Oh, but feel free to try that on the supporting Chasers. Those are another two that see red easily! Far less composed though…"
"And then the main Chaser will have no support! We can tear them apart!" Koga-sempai looked just as excited as Taiga felt and even Mitobe-sempai was looking less calm than usual. The silent player had a shiny aura around himself but as per usual he did not say a word and merely tapped his friend's shoulder. Koganei nodded as he immediately understood what he meant. "Mitobe wants to know more about the Beaters."
"Hate each other! I think they were dating for a while but someone was caught cheating with someone's best friend and just the other day I saw a few curses fly by! No idea how their field communication works but…" Takao was grinning as he remembered the occasion as particularly funny.
"The Seeker?" This time Izuki probed.
To that question the boy became contemplative. "I heard they had two Seekers… a first year and a seventh year. But I think they weren't so sure about the new one." The boy had a distraught expression as he rummaged his brains for answers. "Knowing Kasamatsu's personality… he would rather use the veteran as we are a completely new team. He'd rather attack with experience and not with a surprise that might not work. But Gouda-sempai is way over due in his retirement as a Seeker. I'm talking about at least twice the size and weight of a normal Seeker."
"So I should be careful of rough play… I wouldn't want to be thrown around in a cheesy away!"
"Cheesy…?"
"Poor Gouda-sempai… such a lack of respect."
"Shut up Izuki or I won't let you play!"
Takao was the only one laughing at the terrible reference and it took him a moment to calm down enough to go on. "Finally… We have their main ace! Scored every single point on their first game!" Now the whole team fiercely focused on Takao. The Ravenclaw ace was their biggest threat! If they couldn't find a way to stop his crazy scoring techniques there was no point in trying to catch the Snitch! "Eheh! He was great, wasn't he? My cute Shin-chan!"
"I believe it won't be very cute when Midorima-kun tries to drown us in scores." Kuroko was very deadpan in his comments.
The whole team seemed to find his remark very funny but Taiga thought of something else. "What is Midorima like as a player? How good is he really?" Certainly there had to be a reason why he had managed so many points. Had he really done it all by himself with only the other two as support? If indeed it was what everyone had said then the guy must have been a genius of his own league.
"Hmm… Midorima-kun rarely played with us… but when he did, and he threw the Quaffle… he was perfect." The blunet had an expression twice more serious than usual.
"Perfect?"
The boy nodded solemnly a Koganei-sempai's question. "Yes. Ten out of ten. I've never seen him miss a shot."
"That's absolutely crazy!" Taiga was getting all pumped up again. Someone that good was sure give him a good run on the field.
"But Kuroko-kun… why would someone as good as Midorima-kun not play with you often?" Coach looked quite intrigued so maybe she was coming up with a plan.
"Well, when we played, Aomine-kun and Kise-kun could be quite rough. Midorima-kun would only shoot if someone passed the Quaffle. Otherwise, he wouldn't get close."
The triumphant grin that the petit brunette sprouted was enough to make them understand that she had a victory-certain plan. "So, what you mean is… Midorima-kun doesn't like rough play, yes?" Hearing her delighted laughter was so unusual outside of the field that a least the team shivered in fear of gruesome practices. "That's perfect for us! Kagami-kun! Hyuuga! Here is your objective: Play as rough as you can!"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"Yeah, let's do this!"
"And Kuroko will seat this one out! Instead… Takao! Can you do rough play?"
"Eh?! Really!? I get to play against Shin-chan!"
While Takao was a bubble of enthusiasm, Kuroko looked like the colour had vanished from his soul. The colour of utter disappointment. Carefully he nudged the boy's side. "I'm sure you can play next time. It's not like you can handle rough play." The guy was more fragile than a piece of paper on the rain.
The blunet still had a sad air but as usual he seemed to recover quickly. "I can handle myself. Please look at these guns!"
"You don't have any!"
x
Their laboured breaths echoed through the cold halls as their shoes slipped and squeaked on the hard stone. Testsuya could only hold on to Kagami's cloak with all his strength as he used the force to help him keep up with the other three.
They had just left Defence Against the Dark Arts in a crazy rush. Professor Daemon was always the first out of the room when the bell rang but this time around they had managed to have him beat. The reason of course was not so bright. Half-way through the lesson, Takao had received a worrying charmed note from the Hitachiin twins. There had been an incident during the second years' Transfiguration class.
"Izuki-sempai!"
As Kagami burst through first in the school's infirmary, Tetsuya took a few minutes to catch his breath and wonder how Takao-kun, Furihata-kun and Kagami-kun were capable of running so much and look so little out of breath.
"Don't yell on the infirmary, Bakagami!" Hyuuga's scolding lacked the appropriate fire but he could not be blamed.
The entire team was surrounding one of the white beds in the room, their expressions full pain. Aida-sempai was crying by his bedside and Kiyoshi-san was softly petting her hair in comfort.
The first years fearfully approached the bed; uncertain of what it contained. All they knew was that one of Looney's Transfiguration spells had gone astray.
What greeted Tetsuya on top of the sheets was something so strange that he had to stop to try and understand it. It was partially Izuki-sempai at least. He could still see the left side of his face and body. The rest... looked like rotten wood.
"Oh, sempai..."
Furihata-kun appeared to be on the verge of fainting and the rest of the younger boys had equally horrified expressions.
"When I die... lay me to rest me here in Hogwarts. This is where I want to bury my roots!" It was strangely comforting to hear the other tell another lame pun, even if it sounded raspy and harsh, as if he was having trouble breathing.
"I swear Izuki..." The Captain had his hands in his hair and looked ready to start pulling. "... if I hear one more pun about this..."
"That's right, dude! You're on the verge of death! At least save your breath!"
The realisation of the true gravity of the situation brought a wave of dread trough the blunet's body. Unfortunately, Koganei-sempai had such an anguished look that it was impossible to confirm if he merely did not wish to listen to the terrible puns.
The pun fan looked like he wished to answer with yet another pun when a terribly pained expression crossed his face and with horror Testsuya noticed that the rot was spreading through his body.
"Come on, guys! Don't scare the first years." Kiyoshi was the only person in the room with a calm air even if his aura was of seriousness. "Izuki is not in any immediate danger. The teachers managed to slow down the transformation and it will take a few hours before it reaches his hearth. Right now they are preparing to transfer him to St. Mungo's. He'll be fine."
The air lightened up considerably with his words and even Izuki was smiling a bit and probably thinking up a new pun, despite Looney's best efforts to turn him in to a tree. Coach Aida was still crying though.
"Come on, Riko. It's going to be alright." Kiyoshi's voice was soft as he hugged the weeping girl.
"That horrible woman!" She truly looked heartbroken.
"We know. But maybe they will fire her after this!" Captain Hyuuga's words actually brought some hope. If there was anything good coming out of this, then it might as well be her dismissal!
"Who cares about that!?" The brunet cried out, this time in anger, and fell free from Kiyoshi-sempai's arms to start pacing the room, leaving Testsuya, and naturally the rest of the room, in utter confusion over the outburst. "Izuki is going to spend weeks in St. Mungo's! Who is going to play Seeker tomorrow?! We never trained a replacement Seeker!"
There was a small moment of stupefaction where they mulled her words over but it was immediately followed by a sense of disbelief.
"... that is what you been crying over...?" Poor Captain looked like he had been hit with a hippogriff.
"Izuki is going to be fine! He's going to St. Mungo's Hospital and is going to get out of there healthier than he was before!" She was pacing angrily all over the room and some people took a few careful steps back to avoid her murderous wandering hands. "I mean... How could I never notice this flaw!? Of course I think Izuki is the best Seeker ever! But he's not immortal! He can't play in every game! What are we going to do!?"
Well, now that Izuki-sempai felt less in danger, they were, in fact, in quite the trouble.
"... actually, Riko... I have something to confess." Tetsuya had taken the chance to sit by his senpai's bed side, near the rotting appendances, so he only needed to turn to his side to see how miserable the other looked. "… I kind of been training another Seeker…"
Their coach's facial expression was hilariously shocked and for once she seemed to be at loss of what to say. "What!?"
It seemed as if whatever Izuki-san was going to say, was more painful than the cursed transformation he was being subjected. "I'm sorry… I was very selfish. I discovered a more talented Seeker than me but I still couldn't tell you…"
"Oi, Izuki…"
"No! Let me say this Hyuuga…" It was probably the first time they had seen the boy so serious and gloomy. "You guys made me very happy last year. You were all so excited about this eyesight of mine, and I had never thought it was anything especial. I… we… we waited a whole year for me to be able to become our ace. A whole year! And then, just as we were getting started… I found this person! The same way I never noticed how especial I was… he never noticed either… I swear I was going to tell you next year! I just wanted to enjoy this year! Leading us to victory! With this Eagle Eye you named for me!"
The whole team had remained silent for as long as the raven talked and by the time he was done there were several wet eyes in the room. Izuki himself was crying – in frustration probably – and Riko was crying again. Tetsuya could understand his pain. The feeling of being unable to play. Unable to be useful.
"Izuki no baka! I would never replace you outright! You have way more experience!"
"I know you wouldn't… You're very kind Riko." Izuki-sempai's smile was still sad. "But raw talent will soon surpass experience."
"Idiot! Stop saying those things! I'm going to hit you!"
But she didn't. Not while he was as sick as he was.
"I have a question. When did you have time to train a new Seeker? You spent almost all your time training with me and thinking up puns!"
Takao-kun raised a good point. Unless he wasn't thinking properly and in that case, Takao-kun might not have been as clever as he appeared. Or maybe he was just a type of chaotic genius.
In any case, Izuki-sempai also seemed to agree that he wasn't being very bright at the moment. "Takao-kun… hmm… do you remember those special goggles I let you try?"
"What!?"
"No way! Another one?!"
The first years were all a bit confused by the frantic attitude of their sempais. Takao had the expression of who felt somewhat intimidated with the not so pleasant spotlight.
"Yes…"
"Did you like them?"
"Yeah… They had great peripheral vision."
"That's why you don't usually used goggles, right? Because it's hard to see."
"Eh… yeah, that's right."
It was obvious that Hyuuga or Aida-sempai wanted to intervene with their own questions but Izuki-sempai kept them restrained with a look. Tetsuya only wondered why it was that Takao never mentioned anything when Izuki-san's out-of-the-ordinary vision was mentioned. If the two of them truly had a visual capability beyond normal, certainly Takao must have felt that there were similarities.
"Now, picture this… You have passed the enemy team's goal posts. While facing the audience and away from the players; how many players can you see?"
"Is that a trick question? I can see all of them!" Poor Takao-kun looked genuinely confused. Despite not knowing how it worked, Tetsuya had once heard that Izuki-sempai could see every player until half of the field; which wasn't particularly impressive – unless you were not facing any of them. His Eagle Eye could apparently see everything half a field of distance away in every direction; his great eye sight had given his team the dream of victory and now an even greater one had appeared before them.
"All of them?!"
"Even Kiyoshi? Can you see Kiyoshi at the other goals?" It was clear that the second years were getting quite excited and the reason Izuki-sempai feared would have him replaced was apparent.
"Yeah, he's a big guy. Very noticeable…"
"Wow… The whole field!"
The second years were already celebrating a certain victory, Furihata-kun was gently trying to explain a dumfound Takao that seeing the world perfectly 360º around one's head was not conventional and Tetsuya couldn't help but feel sorry for his elder. Sure none of them had been permanently replaced, but the feeling of helplessness remained; as well as a small sense of betrayal.
"I shall call him: Hawk Eye; and he will be my minion!" Was the eagle's sudden shout.
"Oh, great! Now he's delusional too!"
"Oh, stop it Izuki! I'm not replacing you! Just because we have two players with the same talent does not mean you will play the same!" The girl's smile was motherly and patient – now that the game was going to go according to plan still – and she carefully pulled what was left of his hair from his precious eye so that she could look him straight. "It just means we can have double the strategies! And double the training!"
"Ahah… Don't worry, I'm just being pessimistic because of this festering situation! I know that no one can chop me down! I'm a force of nature!"
"And he's fine…"
Sadly, Professor Goose chose that moment to enter the infirmary. When she noticed them, instead of nagging for having too many people hovering over the patient – like a proper nurse would have, and not the part-time replacement the Ministry had dismissed for them – she presented them all a sad smile.
"It was very nice of you to have kept your friend company through these horrible moments, but it is time for the mediwizards to take him. Say your goodbyes quickly."
The air immediately became awkward as people tried to decide what to say since this time around, a simple "good luck" or "get well" might not cut it. Thankfully, Kagami-kun seemed unaffected by these airs.
"Get well soon sempai, so that we can play together again!"
It caused a big wave of agreements on the statement, followed by huge declarations of friendship and soon Tetsuya watched the mediwizards and Izuki-sempai disappear through the Floo.
Things quieted down after that.
The Mother Goose gently persuaded them to leave the infirmary and head to the tower and offered them all dismisses from their later classes. They were silently walking up when Takao suddenly spoke.
"Oi! If I play Seeker tomorrow, who is going to do my job?"
Oh, that was right. They were lacking a Chaser now. That meant that Tetsuya could play again!
"Furihata will. Can you handle rough play?"
And all his hope went down the drain. Furihata on the other hand was looking paler than a ghost and shaking more than a jelly on the San Andreas Fault.
"Y-y-ye-yes!"
"Are you sure…? You don't have too, if you don't feel confident. I can ask one of the bigger boys… if they haven't all given up by now." Coach Aida understandably did not look sure about his answer.
"Y-y-yes! I'll do it! I'll scratch it off the list!" Incredibly the brunet managed to look scared and fiercely determined at the same time.
"List…? Do I want know about this?"
Back at the end of the line, forgotten by the others, the blunet decided to drown their hysterically funny stories about Furihata's scary-stuff list and sulked. If it was for the good of the team then he would not protest the choice but it still stung a bit.
"Hey! Why you sulking back here alone?" It seemed that Kagami-kun had not forgotten about him after all. The redhead casually swung his arm around his neck and pulled him close as they climbed staircase after staircase. "We still have six or seven years to play Quidditch together. Me, you, Izuki-sempai… Aomine and even Tatsuya… everyone, really… If you think about it like that, you'll see that sitting out a game, means nothing in the end…"
He couldn't help but be impressed with his friend right now. Truly, his words made his pouting seem far more childish and Tetsuya couldn't help but marvel once more at how Kagami's hearth worked. His desire to enjoy Quidditch did not stop at their team and friends; it extended itself to everyone he could play with or against.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" The other boy was clearly suspicious of him, if his tone and half glare were anything to go by.
"I'm just very impressed, Kagami-kun. I never hoped to reach the day I would hear you speak such intelligent words. It is somewhat frightening."
"Bastard, I knew it! Stop insulting me!"
"Nonsense, Kagami-kun. If anything I'm complementing you."
Of course the other would not believe him on that and Tetsuya was forced to endure some very impolite wordings until they reached the Gryffindor Tower.
xxx
A.N.: (Can you tell I haven't really thought about the other teams very much... like... at all!)
Hi guys! So, in this chapter a few things happened and in place of the usual wandlore I'll tell you all about Midorima's animal names :9 This involved a bit of study on my part.
So first I used the already known name, Kerosuke and I divided it in two parts = "Kero" and "Suke". That gave me an idea right away! "Kero" is the onomatopoeia of a frog/the sound a frog does in Japanese. Japanese animal onomatopoeia is known as Giseigo.
Other known Giseigo are:
. nyaa nyaa – cat meowing
. goro goro – cat purring
. wan wan – dog barking
. moo moo – cow mooing
. mee mee – sheep bleating
"Suke" is a common suffix at the end of a boy's name. It means "help".
So to construct new animal names all I needed were their Giseigo and a suffix depending on the gender. That being said:
. hihiin – horse neighing + "taro" – first son or simply "boy" = Hintaro (it's a boy obviously)
. booboo – the sound of a pig + "ki" – tree = Booki (it's a girl)
. kucha-kucha – the sound of chewing (as a rabbit has no sound) + "ko" – child = Kuchako (girl)
. gaou – the sound of a roar (used for tigers, bears and anything else that roars) + "maru" – valuable = Gaoumaru (boy)