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“Sakusa-san~! We’re going to be late~.” Kiyoomi looked at his Ravenclaw friend, Komori Motoya, as they made their way down to the Quidditch pitch. Now, that might have seemed a bit odd, since Kiyoomi was a Slytherin, but this was a planned activity. Not only with just the two of them, but with a couple other Quidditch team seekers that wanted to get together and share their craft.
At this point, he had a feeling the seventh years just wanted to make sure that their different ways of finding the snitch are passed down, regardless of what house they or the recipient was. He had no real way of knowing for sure though, because he wasn’t about to ask his upperclassmen himself. He surmised that it might also be because some of the seekers were friends and they just wanted an excuse to hang out more and make even more friends. Kiyoomi himself didn’t really care to make friends with his fellow Quidditch players, but he didn’t hate the idea either. It was like a game, he would inevitably win or lose depending on what was gained or lost in the exchange. How Kiyoomi made making friends turn into a life or death contest was a real mystery, but it seemed to work for the Slytherin.
By then both he and Komori had arrived at the pitch, and Kiyoomi could catch the blurs of yellow that told him the Hufflepuff seekers were already present. There was Yaku Morisuke of course, but Kiyoomi had heard that they had received a fifth year that was egging for the spot on the first-string team, Shibayama Yuki. Kiyoomi didn’t waste any time in leaving the ground to go towards the pitch. He also caught a glimpse of red and wondered how he and Komori had been beaten by the Gryffindors here as well. Of course, there was Nishinoya Yuu, but apparently there was also their old seeker that had stopped playing in his fifth year to focus on studying for his OWL’s, Komi Haruki.
The group of seekers all ended up meeting, hovering just above the center of the pitch, speaking with one another and getting a feel for the others. Yaku, who had organized the get together, explained that they were there to learn from one another, and that he wanted to teach Shibayama more of the basics of being on the first-string team. Kiyoomi didn’t mind, he loved to practice, and it helped that they were all seekers so then the challenge would be real. Practicing with his own team was fine and all, but there was only so much he could do when only he really chased around the snitch. Sure, he could ask Hanamaki and Matsukawa to whack the bludger at him while he was trying to catch the snitch, but there was something very unique in the act of facing off against another seeker in trying to catch their prize.
They ended up splitting off into teams, Kiyoomi with Nishinoya. Yaku was teaching Shibayama different flight maneuvers while another team consisting of Komi and Komori were practicing drills. They were all supposed to practice in those groups for about thirty minutes, then switch. Kiyoomi would work with Komi while Nishinoya worked with Komori, then after that switch, then they would all gather to run some drills together.
Kiyoomi didn’t expect to have much fun when it was just one on one, but he found himself grinning in excitement trying to capture the snitch before Nishinoya did, and they kept a banter back and forth the entire time. Kiyoomi was having a lot of fun, it totally had nothing to do with the fact that he narrowly caught the snitch before the Gryffindor did. He and Nishinoya had always been around the same level throughout their Quidditch career at Hogwarts. He could admit that he wasn’t the best seeker of the school, let alone in their year.
After a round of each group getting some practice, as well as the drills altogether, the seekers all sat down on the grass and had lunch.
“I’m being serious! First game of my Quidditch career, I took a bludger straight to the face!” Yaku had been trying to gradually pull Shibayama out of his shell, since the fifth year was a bit shy around so many people. Nishinoya and Komi laughed good naturedly, adding their own tidbits, “I remember that! It was against Gryffindor and that was my debut game as well. I remember thinking, ‘If this could happen to him, then what stopped it from happening to me?’, but I ended up catching the snitch!” Komi’s contribution made it even more amusing while Yaku just squawked about how it was a lucky break.
Gradually, Shibayama opened up and began to talk more, which made Komori smile and lean over to whisper in Kiyoomi’s ear, “He’s got a lot of raw talent, and now he is most definitely growing a spine around his upperclassmen. We’re all doomed.” Kiyoomi wasn’t expecting his Ravenclaw friend to say something like that, it made him snort and hide his grin behind his hand.
“Oi, Sakusa~. I notice you do that a lot.” Kiyoomi looked over at Yaku in confusion, “That thing where you try to hide your smiles behind your hands to try to mask it. Why?”
Kiyoomi blinked, surprised by the question. It was known that Slytherins didn’t often show their emotions in front of the other houses, but he tried to remember why that was. There weren’t really house rivalries, and what they did have were more playful than anything, “I suppose it is because I do not often show my emotions outside of the Slytherin common room, but it might just be a habit at this point.”
His fellow seekers nodded at this, like that was a reasonable answer, which of course, it was, “Either way, Sakusa. It’s nice to see you expressing yourself.”
Komi’s words made Kiyoomi think back on the interactions he had had with these classmates of his. He didn’t speak with them very often, but they always complimented each other on their Quidditch during their games. It was nice not to have to have verbal spars with other people, because regardless of whether they caught the snitch or not, they still had fun playing the game.
And that just made Kiyoomi begin to think of why they hadn’t done this sooner. They had had six years, seven in his older classmates’ cases, to do this, but it had taken one or two wanting to bestow their knowledge upon their fellow seekers that had finally made them meet up and practice together. He hoped these meetings happened more often, he still had loads of knowledge to give and to take in. Kiyoomi felt his blood to burn with the anticipation.