Chapter Text
Whispering to herself, Hitoka drags her fingers over the covers of several piles of books. She skims over the titles as she squirms her way through the crowd. Shopping in Flourish and Blotts is a fool’s errand this time of summer, the shop is simply packed. Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms, Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms, Magical Hiero - there it is.
Wrestling two copies for Kei and herself, Hitoka sighs and checks over the supplies list again. Their new Defence Against the Dark Arts books are with Tadashi and Tobio has their Potions and Care of Magical Creatures books. That leaves just their Herbology and Arithmancy textbooks.
Hitoka startles as the sharp sting of someone’s elbow digs into her back.
“Sorry,” she hears Tobio’s voice struggle from above her, “I found those Standard Book of Spells books you wanted, the Grade 4 ones.”
Turning around, Hitoka smiles and reaches for Tobio’s hand so she can drag him to one of the less crowded corners.
“Did you get copies for Kei and Shouyou as well?” she asks.
Tobio’s face sours, eyebrows furrowing together and lips curling as his expression darkens. Hitoka places her hands on her hips.
“I did, I did,” he says quickly. “Although I still don’t see why when they get to gawk at the new Nimbus and I’m stuck here at Fl-”
Tadashi chooses that exact moment to reappear from his own obstacle course adventure through the shop, thudding one of his books to the back of Tobio’s head. Tobio reaches for it, rubbing his hand over where it hurts.
“It can’t be helped that we ran into their team captains,” Tadashi says, dropping his books one by one in Tobio’s basket. “Besides, I’m sure they’ll stock up on broomcare supplies for us too.”
Turning to Hitoka, he adds, “I found those Herbology books we needed too.”
Hitoka gives him a quick nod, then turns back to Tobio. Her fingers are locked around his as she rocks back and forth on the ball of her feet.
“You should’ve gone with them, Tobio,” she says.
Tadashi crowds closer to dig his fingers into Tobio’s hair, scritching through the strands and mussing them up. A fond, goofy smile itches at the corners of his lips.
“Although we like having you with us.”
Hitoka likes the way Tobio’s cheeks flame dark red, burning all the way down to his neck. The same warmth burns in Hitoka’s chest too; it swells and swells and brightens her smile until it turns goofy too. She squeezes the hand in Tobio’s hold and finds he squeezes back.
Once they’ve found all the books on their supply list, paid for them and tucked them away in Tadashi’s bottomless backpack, Hitoka stands in the middle of diagon alley’s crowd, crossing off the items from her list.
She still needs a new moon chart and all five of them could do with a stocky refill of their potions-making kit - but nothing on the list is so dire that they couldn’t make a tiny detour first.
Grabbing her boyfriends’ hands in hers - Tadashi’s in her left and Tobio’s in her right - Hitoka tugs them forwards and off to Quality Quidditch Supplies.
“Well then, let’s go give that new Nimbus a look.”