Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A strange murmuring brought him to consciousness. For a few precious, delicate moments, he was balanced in equilibrium on the edge of sleep and the rest of the waking world.

And then that equilibrium was shattered, as were his eardrums.

“HINATA, YOU DUMBASS!” screamed Kageyama, and Tadashi was at once unfortunately, very much awake, and terrified, followed very swiftly by disgust and he wrinkled up his nose and covered his head with his pillow.

Guess he found the Dungbomb, then.

It had been almost a week since the Sorting, and the Gryffindor first years were still settling into their dorms. Tadashi was told by a (very kind) fifth year that the seemingly excruciatingly long time it took for him to be Sorted wasn’t all just in his head after all (well, technically, it was). According to her, he was what people called a Hatstall, which is when a student takes an irregularly long amount of time (over five minutes) to be Sorted into one of the four houses. When he had gone pale, she had reassured him that it wasn’t a bad thing, and was actually kind of cool. That made him feel at least a little better.

There were five to each dorm room, and the one he slept in, he shared with Kageyama, Hinata, a tall, imposing guy called Onaga, and a quiet kid called Shibayama. The latter pair kept to themselves most of the time, but there was never any peace with the two nutcases who, funnily enough, had beds either side of Tadashi’s. There was always some sort of argument or disagreement between them, and if they were off each other’s backs for even a second, all one needed to do was say something the other didn’t like, or put something back in the wrong place, and suddenly it had started all over again.

And this day’s mishap was the Dungbomb that Hinata had accidentally left in Kageyama’s trunk. From what Tadashi could gather, it had gone off just as Kageyama was opening it to check something? Whatever the reasons, the entire dorm room now smelled of something that had died and was left to ferment in fish oil. Even under the protection of his pillow, Tadashi screwed his face up.

The screaming continued until it faded out, presumably as the two troublemakers had left the dormitory (and, hopefully, the common room entirely, but that was unlikely, as they probably hadn’t changed into their robes yet.) Tadashi begrudgingly raised himself from the dead and went about getting dressed. He wasn’t feeling too hungry either, but whether that was due to the Dungbomb’s invasive stench, he wasn’t sure.

“Yamaguchi, pay attention!” barked Professor Nekomata from the front of the Potions classroom. “We don’t want you mixing up your Ashwinder eggs with your beetle eyes, do we? Wake up, son!”

Tadashi jumped. “Y-yes sir!”

The Potions Professor, also the head of Hufflepuff House, looked pleasant, but had the ability to become the polar opposite whenever a student misbehaved. When he turned his eyes to inspecting their draughts and brews, Tadashi never failed to get the shivers. The good thing, however, was that this class was shared with Slytherin. Which meant he could see Tsukki.

Contrary to his prior fears, Gryffindor and Slytherin had a fair amount of classes together, including Herbology and Astronomy, as well as Potions. Tadashi’s first Astronomy class would take place that night (they were night classes, which made sense, but still), and having it at the same time as Tsukki made his whole week brighter, which was saying something.

He also shared Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Hufflepuffs, meaning he could see Hitoka, too. They had definitely bonded over the past days, sticking together when no ally could be found elsewhere. Hitoka seemed to get along with Hinata and Kageyama well enough, too, but Tadashi could tell she was more than a little intimidated by them, which was a shame, since they meant well. History of Magic and Transfiguration were shared with the Ravenclaws, the latter in which he had a rather bored looking boy by surname Kunimi as a partner. They didn’t talk much in lessons, and barely saw each other without, but he was bright, and helped Tadashi when he needed it, although he didn’t seem to like putting much effort into things.

In Potions, however lucky they may have been to be paired together, Tadashi and Tsukishima’s desk was directly beside Kageyama and Hinata’s, who were also, however unfortunately, paired together. The lessons were filled with a constant bickering that one would learn to tune out within minutes of being within a ten metre radius of them. The ginger was clumsy, fumbling with ingredients and splashing elixirs and the like all over their desk. The other, although not much better in his brewing methods, never once failed to scald him on his cutting technique, or how stupid he was because can’t you see, that’s daisies, you idiot, we need mistletoe.

It being a Friday, no one was quite their brightest, even Tsukki, who had traces of sleep all over his face. He would push his glasses up sloppily, smacking his face in his attempts. Tadashi had to consciously stop himself from laughing each time. Even the troublemakers were dulled in their troublemaking - everyone was falling asleep.

Nekomata was rambling on about some potion or other, and no matter how interested Tadashi was, his brain failed to process the information, instead thinking longingly of his four-poster bed with crimson hangings. He was just drifting off when someone crashed into the classroom, sending the door banging against the stone wall. She wiped her long hair out of her face, panting. Nekomata raised an eyebrow at the intrusion. “And what exactly do you think you’re doing, Miss Nametsu?”

Nametsu rushed to explain. “Th-there’s been a f-fight, Professor!”

“In class?”

She nodded. “Down at the Herbology greenhouses.”

“And why should I be so concerned?”

“The- the Professor’s keeping one under control, sir, and they’re Hufflepuffs, so-”

“You mean, that boy?” he asked pointedly.

“Um.. I, I don’t know, the Professor just told me to go get you…”

Nekomata looked indecisive for a second, looking between the door, and the class. Finally he grumbled. “Alright, all you, take your potions off heat, and come with me. I can’t exactly leave a first year class unattended, can I?”

There was a small cheer from some of the students, and soon the class was trailing behind Nekomata and the girl, up from the dungeons and out to the greenhouses.

Tsukki sighed. “Why can’t people just not fight so they can actually learn? Some of us want to pass our exams.”

Tadashi agreed, “Mmhmm, you’re right.”

“Hey… there’s burn holes in my sleeve! Did you do that!?”

“No way, dumbass, that was totally your fault!”

“I bet it was payback for this morning, wasn’t it?!”

Both Tadashi and Tsukki groaned in unison. “What happened this morning?” asked Tsukki.

“Something about Dungbombs.” replied Tadashi, smiling weakly.

Before they could continue their conversation, there was a shout from outside, and suddenly the class’s pace picked up. They were out on the grass with Nekomata and he trudged towards the greenhouses.

The first thing Tadashi noticed was a student. A student, levitating above the ground, looking panicked and calling for aid. The second, a smashed pot on the grass, the soil spilt over the dew. The third, a boy, with close shaved brown hair and harsh eyes, glaring up at the student that was rapidly turning green.

“KYOUTANI!” roared Nekomata, and Tadashi, along with the rest of the class, flinched at his harsh tone.

The culprit started, and the boy dropped to the ground with a thud. A few students hurried over to him, keeping a good distance away as to not become a victim.

The boy looked up at the cold-eyed troublemaker and spat some words that Tadashi couldn’t make out. The few that heard gasped, and uncertain glances were shared.

The brunette narrowed his eyes at the approach of Nekomata. “Professor.” he replied snarkily.

“Come with me.” barked Nekomata, although he didn’t give Kyoutani much choice, as he grabbed him by the back of his robes and dragged him away from the other students.

“Tsukki…”

“Yamaguchi, did you hear what he said?”

Tadashi looked to where the Professor was conversing with Kyoutani, and shook his head. “No, I didn’t. Did you?”

When he didn’t reply, Tadashi looked up at him. “Tsukki?”
“No.” he said at last. He seemed to be looking at the increasingly heated conversation-turned-argument, but his eyes were unfocused, and he seemed to be looking past them, or through them, rather than at them. “No, I didn’t.”

“Hey!” called a voice, and then there was the familiar sense of being overwhelmed. A Hufflepuff boy was bounding towards them, and Tadashi recognised him as the one from the platform that told them stories of the vast lake.

Yuu bounced in front of them. “Hey, it’s you two!” He addressed Tsukki; “Mr Lamppost!”

Tsukki raised an eyebrow. “Hello.” he drawled.

Tadashi tried for a more friendly approach. “Hi, there. Was it, um, Noya?”

“Yeah!” He spread his arms out wide. “Yuu Nishinoya, Second year! Hufflepuff! You can call me Yuu, though.”

Tadashi nodded, and then Yuu was dragging someone else into their conversation. “You two, this is Chikara! He’s my Ravenclaw pal! Chikara, this is--”

He stopped, frowning. “What were your names again?”

“Tsukishima. He’s Yamaguchi.”

“Tadashi’s, fine, though.” he added.

Yuu nodded. “Yeah, okay-- Chikara, this is Tsukishima and Tadashi!”

Chikara had dark brown eyes and hair, and looked uncomfortable to say the least. “H-hey.” he stuttered.

“He’s me and Ryuu’s friend!” chirped Yuu. “But I think he likes Ryuu better. I don’t know why though.”

“Why would I like Ryuu better?” asked Chikara, and he looked genuinely confused by this notion.

Quite suddenly, Hinata popped up between Tadashi and Tsukki. “Woah~” he cooed, eyes sparkling. “Your hair is so cool!”

Yuu beamed. “Thank you! Who are you?”

“Shouyou Hinata!” he grinned.

“Shouyou!” cried Yuu, and then they were off, chatting and bouncing about the field.

Tsukki tsked. “I wish we were in class.”

“I wish I could agree with you.” Tadashi replied. In the near distance, Kageyama found Hinata again and threw some grass at his head. Tadashi sighed. “I’m so tired.”