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

[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?

[captaincatblock]

Fifth. I'm there in Hufflepuff. [He may or may not be super successful at saying the word, it's hard with his Japanese tongue. But he points at the table to convey the thought.]

[He looks over at Akaashi.] Bokuto's in Gryffindor, right? [At Akaashi's nod, he glances back at Tsukki again.] Our schools used to play against each other in Quidditch.

[hellacene]

Oh. [about the first time genuine emotion actually entered his voice. he knows a bit about quidditch and has played in teams from time to time, but not regularly and at this level of competition like akaashi or kuroo, whose schools apparently competed against each other.]

I play Quidditch as well, but it's more of a pastime for me than anything else.

[captaincatblock]

Oh? [he, too, looks interested.] Are you joining here? Bokuto and I talked about it before that we'll join the teams here, but I'm not sure yet what format they use.

[hellacene]

I'm not sure.

I have a lot of subjects this year, and I may not have time to fit in Quidditch practice at all.

[but akaashi tells him that he's taking two or three subjects already which means that he already knows how to balance his time. he doesn't really think that adding quidditch will take too much - unless he's been adopting cats again, in which case tsukki just sputters and huffs in annoyance. because of course he's told him about the cat and now akaashi teases him about his 'friend' a lot.]

[captaincatblock]

Cat? [grinning] But I think it'll be fun if you tried. I heard the Western style is quite different from how we do it in Japan.

[hellacene]

I've seen one of the English teams play live before. It's interesting.

And don't listen to him. [annoyed;] I've been feeding this cat that I found roaming around the halls, because their owner's quite irresponsible .... this is for him. [points at the plate.] For when I see him again.

[captaincatblock]

[He looks thoughtful for a moment.] Black, kind of long, puff of hair on top?

[hellacene]

[he looks surprised at him.] Yeah. That's how he looks like.

[looks at him suspiciously - ] How do you know?

[captaincatblock]

I've... seen it around? [fidgets.] It was wearing a ribbon last night.

[hellacene]

["didn't you say you gave him a ribbon?" akaashi asks him as he finishes his coffee. "the owner must've read your message sometime before you went to the kitchens."

"but that doesn't mean they take care of it ...." tsukki frowns at that, feeling rather irritated at this invisible owner. glances at kuroo.]

If you see the cat again, will you tell me?

[captaincatblock]

It's not like the cat looked malnourished. [Embarrassed at this blatant lying oh my god.]

But if I do see it, where do I find you?

[hellacene]

[rather annoyed at kuroo;] There are plenty of creatures in the castle and outside of it that can hurt a cat. It shouldn't be wandering about by itself in the first place.

[and then akaashi explains to kuroo that tsukki gets top marks in care of magical creatures a lot, in case he's wondering.]

You can send me an owl, if you want.

[captaincatblock]

Whoa. All right. [Right. A lot of things suddenly make so much sense, like how nice Tsukki is to animals but not to people.]

An owl when we're in the same school? [chuckle] I'd only be able to access it in the morning.

[hellacene]

This is a castle, in case you haven't noticed. It's easy enough to lose people in here.

[much less a cat.

akaashi then tells him that he'd better get going to potions. tsukki sighs and finishes the last bit of his pancake, and juice, before fixing his bag, and then whipping out a map of the school because he still isn't quite sure yet about where his classes are.] I have to go.

[captaincatblock]

Right. [He checks the time as well, and pushes himself to his feet. He was right, the blond is slightly taller than he is.] I have transfigurations myself. I'll see you guys around, Tsukki, Akaashi.

[Oops, the nickname just slipped. No, no, he's so embarrassing! Kuroo flees.]

[hellacene]

[akaashi and tsukki end up looking at him as he flees. hufflepuffs are so weird. akaashi glances at tsukki, telling him "apparently you have a nickname now." and he just makes a face at that because it's kind of a really childish nickname and he's not sure he likes it at all. still, he's going to be late, so he tells akaashi that he'll catch up with him later on.

he ends up studying near the lake at his spare, watching the giant squid float lazily in the waters, terrifying some other first years who were teasing it with some gentle freezing spells. kei sat underneath a tree while eating the rest of the food in the basket the elves have put together for him the night before. he's attempting to transfigure a pin cushion into a hedgehog and back again, which was his homework for the day, but he can't seem to get it right; the pincushion still squeaks when he pokes it with the tip of his wand. still, he makes sure he has the forms right, and awkwardly says the latin over and over to make sure he's saying the spell correctly.]

[captaincatblock]

[Hogwarts lives up to expectations, Kuroo thinks as he ponders a charms spell, aimlessly wandering about the school grounds. A lot of his difficulty is in remembering how some Western spells are spoken, of course, when he only knows the Japanese equivalent, but it's only been a couple of days and he thinks the professors so far are a lot better here than in Japan.

At least he's still pretty good at transfigurations and potions. Numbers are numbers and plants are plants, wherever he goes. Even if some of the plants are foreign to him, it's easy to remember what they are for depending on the genus, and he remembers that.

He sighs and thinks of Tsukishima Kei, wondering when he's going to bring up the courage to talk to him again. He's been lacking the excuse to do so, because it seems so odd to lie to him about his cat form just to pick him up. It's as Kuroo is thinking this that he rounds a tree to take the closer path to the lake and nearly stumbles on said blond.]

Ack! Sorry-- [Oh, no, no, he's embarrassing himself.] Oh, Tsukki, it's you.

[hellacene]

That's not my name, [he says in annoyance - and then sighs as he realizes that his pincushion had apparently regained its legs and has attempted to ran away. he retrieves it back with a summoning charm, where it lands squarely on his lap, comforting it with a gentle hand.]

You're awfully distracted today, Kuroo.

[he takes his scarf and uses it as a paperweight on the page he's studying about transfiguring small mammals as he leans back against the tree, studying him.]

[captaincatblock]

Trouble with charms. [He might mean that for both the subject and his clumsiness with Tsukki. He smiles wanly, and then bends down to look the trembling hedgehog over.]

You like small animals?