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They walk out of the changing rooms to cheers on all sides. The air is brisk and nips at Keiji’s cheeks, sending a thrill up his spine.
For everyone else, it’s an important game, deciding who wins the Quidditch Cup and all that, but he has a little more riding on this one today.
“You seem nervous, captain,” Akinori says offhandedly, but he knows about the bet, so Keiji doesn’t get what he’s being so casual for.
“Not nervous,” Keiji amends. “Just… excited.” His words belie the erratic twitching of his fingers, though,
The grass crunches under his feet. “Here they are!” someone yells from the stands, voice magnified. If Keiji guesses correctly, it’s that really tall, gangly guy with the two-tone hair. “Ravenclaw’s top-notch Quidditch team, today’s fan favorites! Walking out onto the field is Keeper Yaku, Chasers Shimizu, Misaki, and Terushima, Beaters Konoha and Yahaba, and last but not least, your Seeker and Captain, Akaashi! They’re sure to please!”
They’re known as the prettiest Quidditch team Hogwarts has ever seen, minus Oikawa. Keiji still isn’t sure if it’s meant to be derogatory or not.
Slytherin is already waiting for them on the mound. Tetsurou sends him a smirk as Keiji brings his team over, hair as messy as always. Keiji wants to yank it down over his eyes. He doesn’t know how Tetsurou deals with it all over the place while he’s flying. It looks ridiculous. Tetsurou is ridiculous.
Ridiculously endearing, part of his traitorous mind whispers. Shut up, he tells it.
“Captains shake hands,” Professor Ukai drawls, like he’s not as excited as everyone else. Keiji grips Tetsurou’s hand tightly, feeling the callouses built up over time.
“May the best team win,” Tetsurou says, stupid smirk still on his face.
The corners of Keiji’s lips turn up just the slightest bit. “Of course.”
Ukai unlatches the chest holding the balls, unflinching calm in the face of the wildly thumping Bludgers. He takes the Quaffle out and lets the others go, watching as the two Bludgers and the Snitch fly off immediately.
“Three, two, one!”
Ukai tosses the Quaffle into the air. Keiji propels himself off the ground, the wind tousling his hair as he flies to the far end of the stadium to keep an eye out for the Snitch. Kiyoko grabs the Quaffle, passing it to Hana who throws it in one of the goal hoops before Slytherin’s Keeper can make a move.
“Ten points to Ravenclaw!”
Oikawa nabs it after that, zipping around the other players and making his way over to where Morisuke is guarding. Iwaizumi redirects a Bludger heading in Oikawa’s direction, forcing Keiji to duck before it can take his head off.
“Sorry,” Iwaizumi yells, before he’s gone, chasing after his team. Keiji recalibrates, staying out of his Chasers’ way before dropping low to try and find the Snitch.
Iwaizumi is one of the nicest people Keiji knows, he thinks. Probably the only reason he was Sorted into Slytherin is because he would murder the entire population of a small country without any qualms for Oikawa’s sake. That kind of loyalty is dangerous.
Yuuji makes a risky shot, narrowly sending the Quaffle through the hoop and earning them another ten points. Keiji watches him receive a quick scolding from Hana. Yuuji is talented, that’s for sure, but he takes unnecessary risks, which is why reliable Chasers like Hana and Kiyoko are good at balancing him out.
Keiji looks up and spots Tetsurou watching him, looking for an indication that he’s found the Snitch. He decides it’s time to stop analyzing the players and get serious.
The score is 60-50, Slytherin in the lead. Keiji skims alongside the bleachers, eyes flicking across the field. “Come on, Keiji,” someone hollers. He thinks it’s Koutarou. “Wipe those smirks off their faces!”
Slytherin scores another ten points, but Keiji still hasn’t spotted the Snitch once this game. And from the look on Tetsurou’s face, neither has he. It takes him less than a second to make a decision.
He starts into a steep dive, accelerating as he grows closer to the ground. He can hear Tetsurou following behind him. The ground hurtles closer and closer, gasps ringing around the stadium, as Keiji presses further down. Tetsurou starts to gain on him, almost breathing down his neck. They really think he’s seen the Snitch. Good.
At the very last second, Keiji pulls upward sharply, narrowly escaping slamming full-force into the ground. Tetsurou tries to follow him but isn't so lucky, broom snagging on a clump of dirt and sending him sprawling onto the ground. The blood rushes in Keiji’s ears as Slytherin House starts booing loudly, heart still thumping around in his chest.
“A nasty trick just pulled there by Akaashi of Ravenclaw,” the announcer booms. “The oldest trick in the book, but still effective. Slytherin is momentarily put out of commission as Ravenclaw scores another thirty points!”
Keiji tries to suppress a guilty wince as Ukai rushes toward Tetsurou on the field. It takes a while, but finally he gets back on his broom, ready to keep going, albeit a little worse for wear.
“And he's back on his feet, right as Shimizu scores another goal! The score is 90-60, Ravenclaw in the lead, ladies and gentlemen. Can Slytherin recover from this, or will Kuroo have to give up his bet?”
Keiji flinches. The details of their bet had become somewhat well-known in the weeks leading up to today’s match, but he'd rather it not be broadcasted for everyone to hear. He needs to maintain his focus.
And the time he bought ultimately didn’t serve its purpose, because he has not seen the Snitch a single time.
“Ah, the bet!” the announcer continues. Akaashi wills him to just shut up, but he keeps going. “For those of you who don’t know, if Ravenclaw loses today’s match, Akaashi will have to go on a date with Kuroo. If Slytherin loses, Kuroo has to buy every team member a Pygmy Puff and take over helping Bokuto study for his N.E.W.T.S.., a gargantuan task. For Kuroo’s sake, let’s hope Slytherin wins!”
“Hey!” yells Koutarou, a wizard with an incredible knack for the practical side of magic and not so much the theory of it.
Keiji doesn’t know how long it’s been, but they’ve racked up the points to 120-150, favoring Slytherin, and the Chasers have had a few close calls with stray Bludgers. Keiji is generally known to keep his cool in difficult situations, but he’s starting to worry.
Then he sees it. A glimmer of gold, circling one of Ravenclaw’s goal posts, gone before his eyes can focus on it, but that’s all he needs. He rockets toward where he saw it, maneuvering around the other players to reach out for it. He’s almost there, hand reaching, broom accelerating, they’ve almost won-
His hand grabs empty air. Wherever the Snitch was earlier, it’s definitely not here now. He follows after Tetsurou, zigzagging across the field, but the Snitch is leading them on a wild goose chase.
“170 to 160, Ravenclaw, but the Seekers still haven’t had any close brushes with the Snitch!” The announcer is starting to piss Keiji off. “At this rate, it seems like neither captain will get what they want!”
And those seem to be the magic words, for the Snitch comes into sight just as the announcer finishes talking. Keiji and Tetsurou lunge for it at once, following it around the stadium. They’re neck and neck, never letting each other gain the lead.
Keiji shoulders Tetsurou to the side, trying to get ahead, but Tetsurou shoves right back. They push at each other as they gain on the Snitch, and at this point the bet is irrelevant, all that matters is winning the Quidditch Cup. It’s a battle of wills.
They’re close enough to the ground that Keiji can shakily stand up on his broom and make a last-ditch jump for the Snitch.
He hisses when his shoulder hits the ground. It’ll bruise, for sure, but when the dust rises Keiji is the one with his fingers curled around the Snitch, shining in the sunlight.
“And Ravenclaw’s got the Snitch! 340 to 170, Ravenclaw wins!”
He stands there numbly as his teammates come rushing off their brooms to tackle him, with varying levels of dignity (Kiyoko bites her bottom lip and trembles with excitement, while Yuuji nearly barrels him over and screams in his ear). The announcer is shouting something (Keiji finally remembered his name, Koganegawa or something), and Koutarou’s homemade Ravenclaw banner is dancing in the wind, Slytherin one tucked away somewhere. Keiji can hardly focus on what’s going on around him, the words we won repeating like a broken record in his head. We won. We won. We won. He, as captain, lead his team to victory, the first time Ravenclaw’s won the Quidditch Cup in the time he’s been at Hogwarts. It’s a perfect victory.
Except, he thinks as he looks over at the Slytherin team’s somber faces, for one thing.
“Calm down!” Ukai yells, gesturing them towards the mound in the middle. “Congratulations, Ravenclaw. Captains shake hands again.”
Tetsurou smiles sadly at him, grip a lot limper than it was last time. “Congrats, Keiji. Guess my wallet’s gonna be a lot lighter after this,” he jokes, but it falls flat.
Keiji makes up his mind in a split second.
He pulls Tetsurou in by the hand and plants a quick kiss on his cheek. “I’ll still see you this weekend in Hogsmeade,” he says quickly, nearly stumbling over his words. “That is, if you still want to…”
Tetsurou’s shoulders slacken, his body losing its tension. “Of course.” He smiles, a little more genuinely. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Ravenclaw may have won the Cup but Kuroo has won Akaashi’s heart!” Koganegawa shrieks. “It’s a happy ending for everyone--ow, Yasushi, you don’t have to hit me just because your House lost--ouch, okay, I get it. Anyways, you’ll be seeing Hogwarts’s newest power couple around!”
“It’s just one date; don’t get ahead of yourself,” Keiji mutters. “And could you focus a little more on Ravenclaw’s victory, please?”
Tetsurou laughs. “Sorry, I stole the spotlight from you again,” he says, not looking apologetic in the least. Keiji glares at him.
They leave the field to thunderous applause, hands still clasped together.