Into a new world we go

[captaincatblock]

[It had been exciting news at the start, to be invited into the exchange program his wizarding university had with the Hogwarts. Ever since Kuroo had discovered the strange world of wizarding, Hogwarts had been the school everyone this side of the world looked up to. He looked forward to the opportunity to learn Western magic, and to see how the foundation of their wizarding differed from what he knew.

The preparation leading up to the program, though... That was quite tedious, and Kuroo's excitement grew less and less after struggling through Nakano's secret alleyways to look for a bloody oversized cauldron.

Now, after landing in Britain and being in the train, all Kuroo wanted was to sleep. He had gotten there ahead of most other students, stored his baggage, and then just sat to sleep. It was cold, though, so he'd pulled off his jacket, transformed into a cat, and just curled up underneath it. With luck he'll stay asleep for most of the ride. He was sure that the other passengers would just mistake him for someone's pet and leave him alone, especially since his things were right there.]

Comments

[hellacene]

[their carriage was full. he's really happy to be the only representative karasuno has for this exchange trip in hogwarts, but right now tsukki was really tired and almost every seat is full. he doesn't really have a lot with him, however; learning the extendable charm from his brother came in handy with his baggage and he's managed to fit what didn't fit in his luggage into a large satchel.

his owl hoots as he tries to avoid banging the cage from wall to wall, and he chances on what seems to be an unoccupied room. maybe the other person isn't around? he sets his things on the side, cage and all, and then flops onto his seat tiredly. it was a very long trip to get to the portkey that took him to england, and he was tired.

apparently the other person's pet is also tired, and he watches a cat sleep beside him.] Hello, [he says softly. since no-one's around, he starts to let the cat smell his hand first, and then tentatively pet its forehead. it's a rather pretty black cat.] I hope your owner won't mind.

[captaincatblock]

[Kuroo drowsily peers at that hand, noting the nice voice the newcomer has, and peers up at him with one golden eye.

Oh, wow, what a beautiful human being. He stares for a while longer, a little awed, and then contemplates to himself the pros and cons of changing back to human form right now.

He did just use an illegal spell, though...

Decision made for him, he slinks over and sits presses to this beautiful person's thigh, rubbing his head against that pale hand.]

[hellacene]

[tsukki is surprised at the gesture. what a friendly cat. he pets the cat for a while, until - glancing around their cabin for the owner, and finding no-one - he sets the cat onto his lap so he can scratch the back of its ears, and at the bottom of its chin.]

Oh, you don't have a collar or something. Your owner's a bit careless, huh ....

[but it's about that time that his owl starts hooting disapprovingly at the cat, flapping its wings in a rather threatening gesture. tsukki attempts to placate it by tossing it treats, but it seems hell bent on pecking its cage and trying to get at the cat on his lap while he shushes it, shielding the cat with a hand so it doesn't get scared.]

[captaincatblock]

[Kuroo would have protested being picked up, but then he was on this beautiful person's lap and being scritched at a nice spot. It was enough to melt even the hardiest of cats, of which he was definitely not one. He starts purring.

Silly owl, though. Most animals could tell that he wasn't really one of them and reacted differently. Kuroo's parents' dog, for example, liked to play.

Well, there's nothing to do about it. Kuroo ignores the owl and makes himself comfortable on this blond's lap.]

[hellacene]

[the owl gives up and is silent after a while, too full of treats to keep complaining about the strange cat on his master's lap. tsukki is just happy that the cat didn't seem to be that bothered at all. it wouldn't do if its owner came back and finds that his cat is being harassed by someone else. he ends up playing with it for a while, enjoying the soft purring sounds it makes as he continues to pet him while the sun shines through their window and onto them.

tsukki eats lunch in relative silence, offering the cat bits and pieces of his bento that he'd like to eat, leaving it the fish or the seafood parts of his sushi. when the cat lady comes by with a trolley of sweets, he buys a bit of cake and some milk for the cat. tsukki is careful to open the top for it, trying to see if he'd like to drink.]

[captaincatblock]

[Kuroo accepts the fish but declines the milk, since for some reason it always upset his cat stomach. Some part of him knew that he should transform back and eat enough food to sustain his human body, but on the other hand, Kuroo didn't really want to ruin the moment. The blond boy might be upset and never talk to Kuroo again, and he knows he doesn't want that.

He does stay silent and behaved when Tsukki is eating, though, so he doesn't disturb the blond's meal. He looks thin enough as it is! No, what Kuroo does is nap a little beside him.]

[hellacene]

[he wonders when his owner is coming back. maybe he knows more friends than tsukki does. despite his status of being pure blood, he had more or less avoided everyone else who knew his family name and had ran away from questions from wizards and witches regarding his life. he didn't want to be interrupted.

which was, of course, what happened after lunch. he pulled out a big, annotated book on defense against the dark arts - or at least, one of his many dada books - and was in the middle of making notes about motive and intent on one of the hexes (and which charm it was similar to, since that was the subject he was good at) when visitors started appearing in his carriage. he had chased them away with terse answers and replies of how the cabin is actually full despite appearances. he was a bit nicer to akaashi, however - he'd met him on the platform earlier before he was dragged off by another boy, and they made promises to meet each other in the feast once in hogwarts.

there's an announcement later that day notifying staff on board and students that they'll be arriving in hogwarts soon. he's napping at that time, however, fingers hovering over the still-drying notes on his page.]

[captaincatblock]

[Kuroo watches him work for a while and interact with others, trying to piece together a picture of this boy's personality beyond how he took care of animals. The blond seems a lot more acerbic to humans barring that one kid that Kuroo vaguely recognizes from a neighboring school (neighboring being the other side of Tokyo), and he must be some sort of a nerd to be studying this early on in the school year. They haven't even gotten there!

Kuroo peers at the book for a moment, to see what it's about -- hexes?? Ah, but it's material a few years lower than what Kuroo is on now -- before concluding that despite his initial kindness, the blond must have some personality issues of his own. It's kind of cute.

He doesn't bother Tsukki after that, just keeps napping. Hopefully when they get to Hogwarts, Tsukki will leave immediately so Kuroo can transform back and make it off the train in time.]

[hellacene]

[it's slightly worrying that by the time they get to hogwarts, the cat's owner was still not there. but he has no intentions of being late to the sorting, as reluctant as he is to leave the cat. (he had half a mind to just stuff it in his bag.)

as it stands, he ties a small ribbon around the cat's neck loosely, because he otherwise looks a bit plain, with a small message out of ripped parchment that said you left your cat here which was really irresponsible of you and i hope you don't do that anymore next time. and then he pets the cat before one of the porters announces that the door is open and everyone in their carriage was to disembark.

it's a long walk to the great hall where the sorting was to take place, and even while he was in line, he kept looking over the crowd and on their feet to see if the cat made it out.]

[captaincatblock]

[What a sweet gesture, Kuroo thinks, completely and absolutely charmed. But still, time is of essence, and as soon as occupants of the car leave, Kuroo pulls the curtain on the car, transforms back, and rushes out with his things. The ribbon, he keeps in his pocket for now.

He just makes it time as the sorting on the exchange students start (before the actual first years), and takes his place in line huffing a little. He can see the blond ahead of him, taller than he expected, and wonders if he'd be rebuffed harshly if he tried to make small talk.

Eventually, though, he does find out the blond's name -- Tsukishima Kei, Ravenclaw! -- and Kuroo makes sure to remember it.

(And then he has his own argument with the sorting hat, before it throws him into Hufflepuff.)]

[hellacene]

[he's a bit disappointed that he didn't see the cat again. hopefully its owner had taken good care of it, because it'd be sad otherwise to have a cat roaming around the castle halls. he sits beside akaashi after the sorting in their table, and tsukki starts talking with him about their schools back home while they help themselves with food. tsukki tried very hard to resist the lure of the cakes, but akaashi points out to him that there's going to be cake every day, so he sighs and helps himself to two slices after a rather light dinner.

it's not surprising that after the feast and after they've settled into their rooms, tsukki gets hungry. he supposed that eating a few potatoes with sausages and then rounding off his dinner with a heaping serving of cake was probably not the best idea. the problem is that he doesn't really have anything filling in his luggage beyond .... more sweets. so he makes the trek to the kitchens that night, careful to walk around the halls as he tries to find the right staircase on his way.]

[captaincatblock]

[Kuroo, on the other hand, is hungry simply because it's lunch time for his stomach, and his actual lunch had been a rather small portion of fish from Tsukishima Kei's bento.

He's wandering around as a cat now, because he prefers to explore new places both from the point of view of someone on the ground and as a human, and being a cat during daytime is harder. The castle has other cats as well that Kuroo meets and ignores -- pets of other students, it seems -- before he comes upon, of all things, Tsukishima.

He should have worn his ribbon or something. Still, Kuroo meows and comes padding over, rubbing himself at the blond's ankle like a real cat would.]

[hellacene]

[he nearly trips when he feels something brush on his feet, and has his wand out at ready, only to find a black cat on his ankles - the same black cat, it seems, that had been with him in the train. tsukki sighs.]

Oh. Hello there. [and then he leans down to pick him up when he notices he didn't have the ribbon anymore, and he frowns. that must mean his owner took it off, but now this cat has wandered off again. they must be looking for him.

.... still, there doesn't seem to be anyone around the halls who's looking for a cat, and, well, it's getting quite late. he looks like he's struggling with something, until in the end, he decides to just take the cat with him to the kitchens, petting its furry head as he quickly makes his way there.]

You know, this is the second time I've fed you. [he mutters to the cat as he hides from prefects patrolling the area.] Your owner really ought to pay me.

[captaincatblock]

[Kuroo meows as if in agreement, poking his nose at Tsukki's hand. This isn't the first time he's been showered with affection as a cat -- girls in Tokyo really liked that sort of thing -- but Kuroo's never been picked up by a budding crush before. He feels happy.

He smells the kitchen down the hall that Tsukki passed, though, so he struggles out of the blond's arms and walks down that hallway, hoping Tsukki will follow.]

[hellacene]

No no don't - [he hissed, as the cat moved out of his grip. terrified that he might get detention on his first night, it took him a while to follow after the cat until he realized that they were in the kitchen, and he breathes a sigh of relief. he didn't want to be the first ravenclaw who'd put a dent on their house points on day 1.

the elves are nothing but helpful - then again they always are regardless of which house they serve - when tsukki explains to them their predicament, and at the end of their talk he's given a small basket full of sandwiches and two bottles of pumpkin juice and a bottle of water, and a small saucer for the cat, as well as a whole mackerel. he picks up the cat and then heads to an empty classroom, which he secures with a charm and then sits at a desk near the door so he can start eating and the cat can eat too.]

[captaincatblock]

[Kuroo just preens through all of the commotion with the elves, satisfied that his sense of smell (and for food!) was helpful.

All that pretension dies at the sight of the mackerel, though, and he attacks it with such gusto he might as well have been a dog. Uugh, so hungry. Kuroo wishes he could transform back into his human form, but this sort of magic is incredibly illegal in Britain and may or may not be sanction to penalties even in Japan. As much as he liked Tsukishima, he doubted if the terse boy would forgive his transgressions, either.]

[hellacene]

[even with the amount of food given to him, though, it's clear that tsukki just doesn't eat as much as he should. he picks the desserts first and then eats a little bit of his sandwiches, and only manages to finish one of the smaller-sized clubhouse sandwiches because he was hungry before he decides that he'd rather not eat the rest anyway.

it's nice to watch the cat eat, though, though it's raising some concerns to him as to whether or not his owner had been feeding him properly, if it looked this hungry. he adds more meat to the cat, and then puts water for him. if the cat misses a piece of the mackerel he puts it back in front of him. he wishes he has a pet cat, now. it seems like it'd be a lot of fun to have a cat as well-behaved as this one.

when it was done eating, kei resumes petting it, even nuzzling its face on the desk as he yawns.]

[captaincatblock]

[How does a cat make a human eat food? Kuroo considers this question as he sleepily nuzzles Tsukki back, satisfied at being full of delicious food. If he was human right now, he'd be blushing a lot at the private, midnight affection session.

Eventually, he pulls away and pushes the basket of sandwiches to Tsukki, and gives him an expectant look. It's not entirely beyond the ability of a cat to take care of people, right? Probably not. His parents had dogs like that.

Meow?]

[hellacene]

I don't want to eat anymore. [pushes the basket back.] I'll just save it for tomorrow.

[of course tomorrow means pancakes and jam and fruit in the morning. for now all tsukki seems to want to do is to just nuzzle the cat and keep a hold of him for the next few minutes, or until he hits curfew time and he has to run.]

[captaincatblock]

[Well, all right. Kuroo meows sadly at the stubborness, but seems happy enough to just nuzzle. He headbutts the blond at the chin, and then tucks himself in the space between his neck and shoulder. Kuroo as a cat still has a tiny puff of hair over his head, so it might tickle a little.]

[hellacene]

[he's so happy with this cat. he wonders if he can just take it to his dorm. its owner doesn't seem mindful at all, and this isn't the first time the cat has decided to look for him.

eventually he tidies up their food in their basket and decides to make their way back to the dorms. he has no idea where to leave the cat, so he leaves it in the middle of the giant staircase, hoping that it'll find the right way back home.

he pets it a few more times on the hand before murmuring,] I have to go to bed.

Come find me in the morning, okay? I'll feed you again if your owner won't do it.

[he feels kind of ridiculous to say this to the cat when he's not even sure if it can understand him.

and in the morning, tsukki wakes up early to mail a letter to his brother, and then heads to the breakfast table, piling up his pancakes with syrup and jam and whatever else he can take, akaashi shaking his head at him as he reads the prophet.

he also keeps a bunch of meats in a small plate. just in case the cat comes. he and akaashi started looking at each other's schedules. akaashi has about the same amount of advanced courses as he does, but tsukki has advanced subjects like charms and potions. the rest of his schedule includes herbology and magical creatures and defense against the dark arts, though tsukki has arithmancy as well.]

[captaincatblock]

[Have a small cat kiss goodnight on your hand, Tsukki!

But Kuroo does not, in fact, come to breakfast as a cat, mostly because he has early morning class and finding a place to transform without being seen is difficult when everyone's awake. He wishes he could join Tsukki's table and eat from him, though. And nuzzles are nice. Ugh.

Still, he wants to see if he can at least befriend the boy as a human, because it would be totally uncool and pathetic if he couldn't. So after eating his fill (grilled fish and tarts, because why not), he sidles over to Akaashi and Tsukki and sits on Tsukki's other side. He and Akaashi are familiar, though -- their schools played Quidditch against each other -- so he mostly just nods at him.]

Hey, good morning. Kuroo Tetsurou, from Tokyo. May I know your name?

[hellacene]

[this is not the cat he was looking for. akaashi at least seems to know the guy, so he tries to put in a bit more effort and not just seem like a dick.]

Tsukishima Kei, from Miyagi. Nice to meet you.

[kuroo looks a lot older than he does, and akaashi didn't even mention him at all specifically during their talks, so he doesn't really see why the guy's interested. then again, there must only be so few of them who were exchange students, so maybe he's just being nice.] We were just talking about our schedules.

[captaincatblock]

[Kuroo beams at him, then tries his best not to blurt out anything stupid like ask about Tsukki's cat. Smoothly, Tetsurou, he tells himself.]

What year are you in? Are you the same as Akaashi?

[hellacene]

Third year.

[so a year younger than akaashi. kuroo's smile, however, isn't exactly the most sincere-looking thing; coupled with his terrible hair it looks more of a leer than anything else, and beside him akaashi snickers.] You?