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Yachi was going to be trampled to death and no one was going to notice!
She was pushed and shoved as students rushed off the Hogwarts Express. She was too short and most people didn’t even see her before they were shoving their elbows into her face with painful precision. She shook nervously, thinking that she should be used to this after five years, but she wasn’t. She would never be used to being swallowed in a crowd of much taller students.
What if someone elbowed her so hard she suffered permanent brain damage and could no longer hold her wand? Would she have to go back to the muggle world? She hadn’t been keeping up with math or history! She would never find a job and would probably have to resort to selling her organs…
Someone bumped into her hard and she stumbled forward, falling down to her knees. Her skin burned and ripped, and she hissed in pain.
“Watch where you’re going!”
“How dare you hurt Yachi!”
Yachi looked up and saw Tanaka and Nishinoya cornering whoever had bumped into her. She jumped to her feet and rushed over, waving her hands. She was more worried about the boy kid Tanaka and Nishinoya were ganging up on than herself. The two Gryffindors meant well, but they could be rather intense.
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” she assured them with a smile, though her knees ached. “I’m fine, see?”
The stranger that bumped into her muttered an apology and walked off. Tanaka held up his middle finger and Nishinoya pulled the skin under an eye and stuck out his tongue.
“Yeah, that’s right!” Tanaka shouted. “Walk away!”
“Walk away!” Nishinoya repeated, making his voice deeper than it was.
When the stranger was out of sight, the two stopped their shouting and crude gestures and began to fuss over her.
“I think I hurt my knees,” she whimpered, tugging up her skirt just a few inches to look at her scraped up knees.
Tanaka and Nishinoya turned bright red and their eyes went wide.
“Ryuu, we have to help her to the carriages!” Nishinoya said.
Tanaka’s eyes lit up and he nodded. With the expression of a chivalrous knight, he knelt down, his back to Yachi, and stuck his hands out behind him.
“I will carry you,” Tanaka said, very serious, like carrying her piggyback style was a noble duty.
Yachi shook her head wildly. “You don’t have to!”
Tanaka remained on the ground and people were beginning to stare. Nishinoya patted her on the back, smiling at her.
“Just get on,” Nishinoya said, like that was the end of the matter. “We’ll patch up your knees on the carriage. We know a great spell."
Yachi frowned as she climbed onto Tanaka’s back. “Um, did you two pass your Charms OWL?”
“We got A’s!” Tanaka said. So they barely passed.
Yachi wrapped her legs around Tanaka’s waist and he grabbed her at the knees—he was very careful not to touch her any higher. She put her hands on his shoulders as he stood up, and she had never been so tall. Was this what other people saw all the time? She was so jealous.
“Um, thank you very much,” Yachi said as Tanaka began to walk through the crowd to the carriages.
“Anything for you!” Nishinoya said.
“That was my line!” Tanaka said.
“Then you should have said it first.”
“But I’m the one carrying her.”
When they reached the carriages that would take them to the castle, Yachi climbed off Tanaka’s back. Instead of getting into the dark wood carriage with Tanaka and Nishinoya, she stared at the strange creature in front of the carriage.
Starting second year, all students were taken up to the castle in horseless carriages. Yachi was now in her fifth year and had never seen the creature before.
“Why are there animals pulling the carriages?” Yachi asked. “I thought they were charmed to move by themselves…”
Tanaka and Nishinoya looked at each other, confused, and then back at Yachi.
“Uh, there’s nothing in front of the carriage,” Tanaka said. His eyebrows were pushed together and his voice was questioning.
“I don’t see anything either,” Nishinoya said, mimicking Tanaka's clear confusion.
“Wait, Noya, didn’t we learn about this in Care of Magical Creatures last year?”
“Maybe?”
Yachi walked around to the front of the carriage where there was certainly a creature. Upon closer inspection, it was spooky.
The creature was taller than a horse, but appeared famished, like it was nothing but black skin and sharp bones. Their face was hard and expressionless like the portraits of dragons she saw in books, and their eyes were white like the fog that rolled over the Great Lake. They had thin wings like bats only a hundred times larger tucked carefully along their sides.
Yachi inhaled, suddenly afraid, and took several steps back—straight into someone. Yachi whirled around, ready to apologize, but was stunned into silence.
Wow, she thought, that girl was gorgeous.
“Kiyoko!” Nishinoya shouted, waving his arms wildly. “You’re as beautiful as ever!”
“Did you have a good summer?” Tanaka asked.
Yachi stared at the girl. She had beautiful black hair that shinned even in the dark, and a sexy little mole on her chin that Yachi could not stop staring at. Her eyes looked kind and her lips looked soft, plump and probably covered in a sweet-tasting gloss. Her stripped yellow tie and the badger crest on her robes told Yachi she was in Hufflepuff.
The Hufflepuff—Kiyoko, Nishinoya had called her—smiled at Yachi.
“It’s okay,” Kiyoko said, her voice gentle, “I can see them too. I’m Shimizu, but most people call me Kiyoko.”
Yachi stuck out her hand, her face burning. “I’m Yachi Hitoka, a fifth year. My house is Gryffindor, my best class is Ancient Runes, and my favorite dessert is chocolate cake with raspberry filling!”
Yachi wanted to bang her head into the nearest tree. Why was she giving this girl her life story? She was just so pretty that Yachi couldn’t think!
Kiyoko shook her hand. She laughed softly and Yachi thought it sounded like a siren’s song.
“Nice to meet you, Yachi. Do you mind if I sit with you?”
“I don’t mind!” Nishinoya said, thrusting his hand into the air.
Tanaka stuck up his hand next to Nishinoya’s. “Me neither!”
Kiyoko didn’t even look at them. She looked at Yachi, waiting for the younger girl's answer. Yachi’s heart skipped a beat.
"Y-You can with with us," Yachi said.
How was she going to sit next to such a pretty girl for such a long time? Oh, she was doomed, wasn’t she?
Every one of Yachi’s professors lectured them on the first day of class that fifth year was very important and that they should start studying for their OWLs now, not a month before exams. Yachi, who got good marks and studied by a strict schedule, was thoroughly terrified, but at least she was not alone. Gryffindor may be the house of the brave, but nearly everyone in her year was intimidated like she was. She took comfort in venting to her housemate Yamaguchi while they worked on their Astronomy homework in the common room.
And as terrified as she was, she was sure that Hinata and Kageyama were worse.
“Ghosts!” Yachi shouted when she saw them at Care of Magical Creatures.
Kageyama and Hinata had their heads hung low and a hopeless look on their faces. They looked up when they saw her. Usually Hinata smiled and bounced over to her excitedly, but today he just stood there and sighed heavily.
“Are you two okay?” Yachi asked, rushing over.
“If we purposely ignore four of our classes and bomb their OWLs, we have a chance at passing all the others,” Kageyama said.
Yachi’s eyes widened. “That’s not a good way to study!”
“It’s the only way,” Hinata said, determined yet defeated at the same time.
“Listen, Yamaguchi and I will help you study, okay? We won’t let you fail. What classes are you struggling with?"
“Don’t drag Yamaguchi into their mess,” Tsukishima said, approaching. “It’s their fault they can’t manage their time or study properly.”
Kageyama gripped his wand tightly and Hinata shouted, “No one asked you, Tsukishima!”
Yachi hesitantly stepped between the Hufflepuffs and the Slytherin. “L-Let’s calm down. We’re all stressed about OWLs, and how difficult they are, and how if we fail we can’t take NEWTs, and we’ll have to drop out of school, and start living on the streets because our parents have disowned us…”
Tsukishima’s eyes widened as Yachi trailed off.
“Yamaguchi will help you study,” Tsukishima said. He looked horribly awkward and very uncomfortable now that Yachi was beginning to spiral with anxiety. “He’s annoying like that.”
“Now who’s dragging Yamaguchi into this?” Kageyama asked, glaring at Tsukishima.
“And what about the subjects Yamaguchi is bad at?” Yachi asked, panicking now. “I’ll have to live on the streets…”
“I’ll help,” Tsukishima said quickly, obviously not thinking it through. He probably said it just to shut up Yachi, but Hinata and Kageyama perked up.
“Really?” Hinata said. “I won’t forget this. I’ll give you whatever chocolate frog cards you want! Except the super rare ones because those are worth a lot.”
“What? I never said I would help you two,” Tsukishima said coldly.
“You just did!” Kageyama shouted, angry.
Tsukishima scowled. “Like hell I would help you. I have my own classes to study for and I don’t have time to carry you two idiots.”
“But you’ll help her?” Kageyama pointed to Yachi.
“She’s smart. She’ll realize that when she calms down. She doesn’t actually need help. I’m just trying to calm her down.”
Tsukishima was actually a nice person, Yachi thought, but the way Kageyama and Hinata were glaring at Tsukishima made it seem like Tsukishima was a horrible individual.
Kageyama, Hinata, and Tsukishima looked ready to fight when the professor clapped their hands and shouted, “Alright now, listen up! We’re going into the forest today to meet one of my NEWT students that is helping out with today’s lesson. Follow me and don’t wander off.”
Hinata looked at Yachi excitedly. “Forest? What do you think we’re looking at?”
“Let’s go find out!” Yachi said, happy that they were moving away from the fighting and Hinata had some of usual, bubbly energy back.
Tiny twigs and old dry foliage on the forest ground crunched beneath their feet as they entered the forest. There were many low hanging tree branches along the path that did not affect the shorter students like Yachi and Hinata, but tall students like Tsukishima and Kageyama were thoroughly annoyed. Tsukishima would hold a tree branch up then let it down to smack Kageyama in the face. Hinata would laugh and Yachi would fuss over his face to make sure he wasn’t hurt and wasn't going to hex Tsukishima.
It took them just over ten minutes to reach their destination. Kiyoko from Hufflepuff was standing at the edge of a clearing with a large burlap sack that was stained blood red at the bottom. In the clearing was a herd of those monstrous black creatures that pulled the carriages.
Kiyoko smiled and waved at Yachi’s group.
“Who’s she waving at?”
“They’re lucky. She’s cute.”
Yachi raised her hand to wave back but then Hinata began to wave wildly.
Yachi turned bright red and nearly banged her head into a tree. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Of course she was waving at someone else. Why would she wave at Yachi?
“Everyone,” their professor said, “this is Miss Shimizu. She’s a seventh year in my NEWT class. She’s helping out because today we are working with a very interesting creature. Miss Shimizu?”
Kiyoko set down the large bag and stepped forward. Her cheeks turned rosy red and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. There was another wave of whispers about how beautiful she was.
“If you can see the creatures in the clearing, please raise your hand,” Kiyoko said, her voice quiet.
Yachi and Tsukishima raised their hands, but Hinata and Kageyama did not. Yachi looked around and saw that only one other student had raised their hand.
“It’s okay if you can’t,” their professor said. “I can’t either! That’s why Miss Shimizu is helping.”
Kiyoko looked horribly embarrassed; Yachi felt bad for her. Kiyoko asked, “Can anyone figure out what the creature is?”
When no one said anything, Tsukishima sighed, annoyed, and raised his hand. “Thestrals?”
Kiyoko nodded.
“Five points to Slytherin,” the professor said.
“I have drawings that I made,” Kiyoko said, handing a stack of paper to a nearby student. “Please pass them around so everyone has one. You’ll need them to label the anatomy.”
Someone raised their hand. “How can we label the anatomy if we can’t see them?”
“I’m copying off you, Tsukishima!” Hinata said quickly.
Tsukishima glared at him. “I’m not letting you see my work.”
“Now that is why Miss Shimizu is here!” their professor said. “Some of you Hufflepuffs may know this but—well, why don’t I let her explain?”
“I’m a medium,” Kiyoko said.
This caused a wave of whispers. They were no longer talking about her beauty, but about her proclamation. Yachi frowned, looking around at her fellow classmates, wondering why that was a big deal.
“What does that mean?” Yachi asked. She was looking at Kageyama, Hinata, and Tsukishima, hoping one of them knew.
“She has dominion over the dead and otherworldly,” Hinata said excitedly, like he thought that was very cool. “She can talk to ghosts—and not just ghosts that stick around in our world. She can also learn really cool spells that most witches and wizards can’t.”
“It’s dark magic,” Kageyama said, looking unhappy.
Dark magic? Yachi thought. She couldn’t imagine someone as pure looking as Kiyoko doing dark magic.
Kageyama had to be exaggerating… right?
The crowd quieted when Kiyoko began to speak again. “I can cast a spell to allow you to temporarily see the thestrals if you can’t already.”
“Once you can see the thestrals, I want you to go around in groups and add notes to the sketches you’ve been given,” their professor said. “Makes notes on behavior and any abnormal physical structures. Miss Shimizu and I will be walking around to answer questions. If you’d like to feed one, Miss Shimizu brought some meat from the kitchen that you can use. Everyone got all that?”
There was a wave of students saying and grumbling “yes.”
Kiyoko pulled out her wand to cast the spell and Yachi held her breath. She found herself staring at the older girl, wondering what her powers entailed, how she came to discover them, how she got her hair so shiny…
Kiyoko must have cast a silent spell because suddenly Yachi’s classmates began to shout and point at the thestrals.
“They’re so creepy!” Hinata said.
“They look like you, Tsukishima,” Kageyama said with the intent to agitate the Slytherin.
Tsukishima scowled. “At least I didn’t need a spell to see them.”
“How come a lot of us couldn’t see them?” someone asked.
Their professor answered, “Only those who have seen death and accepted the concept of it are capable of seeing thestrals.”
“So the people that could see them have seen someone die?” Hinata said. He frowned and looked at Yachi and Tsukishima. Very sincerely and rather loudly, he said, “I’m sorry for your loss!”
Yachi jumped and Tsukishima rolled his eyes.
“Um…” Yachi waved her hands. “It was just my cat. He passed this summer.”
Hinata gasped. “Sir Marshmallow died?”
Yachi nodded. She tried not to think about it or else she would get sad. She had accepted the matter, but she still missed her familiar.
Yachi looked at Tsukishima, who did not share who he had lost. Yachi didn’t ask. Tsukishima didn’t like to talk about personal things and she respected that.
Yachi set to work with Kageyama, Hinata, and Tsukishima, slowly approaching the thestral so they did not spook it. Hinata began to literally tip-toe and Kageyama followed his lead. Tsukishima scoffed.
Yachi was descending the stairs to go to dinner when a tiny white kitten ran in front of her feet, nearly tripping her down the stairs. There was no one around, and the kitten had been awfully tiny, and Yachi began to wonder if it had escaped from its master’s dorm. What if it was lost?
She got off the stairs before they turned and followed the path the kitten had taken around the corner on the second floor corridor. But when she turned the corner, the kitten was not there.
“M-Maybe I stayed up too late working on my Charms notes,” she said, which was better than thinking she was going insane.
The next time Yachi saw the mysterious white kitten also happened to be the next time she saw Kiyoko.
Yachi was descending the stairs when she saw the kitten run by. Once again, Yachi followed, knowing for sure she was not crazy and the kitten existed (she had some doubts last time). When she turned the corner, she saw Kiyoko kneeling on the cobblestone floor, reaching out to stroke under the kitten’s chin.
The kitten was white, but not solid white. The kitten was pearly white like the ghosts, completely translucent, yet somehow Kiyoko was able to scratch under its chin and made it purr. Was that one of her abilities as a medium? Being able to pet ghost kittens?
Kiyoko looked up and spotted Yachi. Kiyoko looked down and smiled, talking to the ghost kitten, “Did you bring a friend?”
Yachi suddenly remembered what Kageyama said about Kiyoko using dark magic. Was that how she was touching a ghost? That wasn’t normal, was it? It had to be dark, right? Kageyama wouldn’t just make that up!
Yachi took a step back, nervous and afraid. “I’m, um, s-sorry for intruding!”
Kiyoko tilted her head, confused. “You’re not intruding, Yachi.”
Yachi’s heart sped up. Kiyoko remembered her name!
What if Kiyoko needed her name to hex her?
“I need to go!” Yachi said quickly as she turned and ran.
Yachi was sitting in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room working on her essay on thestrals for Care of Magical Creatures when Tanaka and Nishinoya ran in through the portrait door.
“Yachi!” Nishinoya shouted in joy. “We made the team again.”
Yachi clapped her hands together. “That’s great! I knew you guys would make it. I don’t know much about Quidditch, but I know you’re both really good players.”
Nishinoya’s eyes went wide and bright, and he smiled like he had just won the Quidditch House Cup. Tanaka blushed and rubbed the back of his head, flustered.
Yachi wondered if Kageyama and Hinata made the Hufflepuff team again. Then she thought about Tsukishima, who was trying out for the Slytherin team for the first time this year. She hoped they all made it. But if they all made the team, who would she cheer for when their teams faced each other? Maybe she could make multiple banners and cheer for everyone…
“Yachi,” Nishinoya said, waving a hand in front of her face.
She jumped and blushed. “Sorry. I was spacing again, wasn’t I?”
Tanaka laughed. “It’s okay. Space all you want!”
The two sat down next to her.
“Whatcha working on?” Nishinoya asked.
“Care of Magical Creatures essay,” Yachi said. She set down her quill and parchment and turned to look at them. “You two know Kiyoko in Hufflepuff, don’t you?”
“We really admire her!” Nishinoya said. "And not just because she's pretty."
“She’s a prefect and catches us sneaking around a lot,” Tanaka admitted. “She’s always fair with her punishments and even helps us get out of trouble when she’s in a good mood.”
“But she’s a medium, right?” Yachi said, hesitant to broach the topic.
“What about it?” Nishinoya asked.
“She came to our Care of Magical Creatures class when we learned about thestrals and Kageyama said she does dark magic. Is that true? I can’t picture someone like her using dark magic, but maybe because she’s a medium she does?”
“The King of the Pitch, huh?” Tanaka said, irritated. “Didn’t know you guys were friends.”
“He doesn’t like that name,” Yachi said.
“I thought it was a compliment.”
Yachi sighed. “It’s… complicated.”
“But what he said about Kiyoko is wrong,” Nishinoya said. “Mediums are really rare—Kiyoko’s the only one in the entire school—so people don’t know much about them. They’re closely linked to the dead so people think their magic is dark when it’s really not. Her spells don’t harm anyone.”
“Yeah,” Tanaka agreed. “She’s just a kid like us but she helps people cope with death since she’s so comfortable with it. She’s really wise.”
“She’s a really good person!”
“The best!”
Yachi sighed, relieved. She would have to apologize to Kiyoko the next time she saw her and explain why she had acted so strangely the other day. She didn’t want Kiyoko to think she hated her.
Kageyama, Hinata, and Tsukishima made their respective teams and Yachi could not have been happier for them. She gave each of them their favorite candies—liquorice wands for Kageyama, chocolate frogs for Hinata, and hard strawberry candy for Tsukishima.
“Do you just keep our favorite sweets in your room to give to us?” Kageyama asked.
“They’re in case you have a bad day.”
Kageyama’s face softened as he thanked her.
Yachi smiled and hurried off, feeling victorious. That was one thing on her to-do list. The next thing was to find Kiyoko and apologize.
Yachi looked everywhere for the older Hufflepuff. After checking the Great Hall and courtyards, she decided to wander the grounds. She eventually saw her sitting on a grassy hill by the Great Lake with her knees drawn up against her chest, a sketchpad against her thighs. Kiyoko looked meaningfully at the scene in front of her.
Yachi hid behind a nearby tree, watching as Kiyoko drew the lake and trees and mountains in the horizon. Kiyoko looked beautiful in the afternoon sun, her black hair shining like a gem. She was so passionate, too, which just made Yachi’s legs weak and her heart flutter. Yachi wondered what her drawing looked like.
“Yachi!”
When someone called out her name loudly, she jumped and screamed. She turned and saw Hinata jogging down the hill towards her, waving wildly and smiling.
“What are you doing?” Hinata asked.
Yachi turned red and said the first lie that came to her mind, “I was going for a walk.”
She was definitely not hiding behind a tree and watching Kiyoko draw.
Hinata tilted his head. “It looks like you were looking at Kiyoko?”
Yachi squeaked. “I wasn’t, I swear! I was just—just—just—“ Yachi buried her face in her hands. “She’s hard to talk to.”
Hinata tapped on Yachi’s shoulder.
Yachi lifted her head and saw Kiyoko standing right there. She probably heard Yachi shout, or maybe she had heard Hinata. Did she hear Yachi say all that? Oh Merlin, Yachi was going to die.
Hinata patted Yachi on the back a little too hard so Yachi stumbled forward a step towards Kiyoko, who grabbed onto Yachi’s arms and steadied her.
“See ya later, Yachi!” Hinata said before skipping off.
Yachi took a step back and Kiyoko dropped her arms. “Um, thanks for catching me.”
“No problem. Were you looking for me?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Do you need help with your thestral essay?”
Yachi shook her head from side to side so quickly her hair moved with her. Kiyoko was watching her intently.
Yachi took in a deep breath said, “I was rude to you the other day. I was afraid of you and I’m sorry!”
Kiyoko did not seem offended. Her voice was as gentle and soft as ever. “It’s okay. A lot of people are afraid of me because my abilities. They just don’t understand.”
“I want to understand!” Yachi turned red. That came off really desperate and over eager, didn’t it? “I mean, if you want to tell me about it, I’d listen. That way I can correct people when they’re wrong. I can explain it to Kageyama!”
“I would love to talk to you about it. But can we do it later? I’d like to finish this drawing before the time of day changes.”
Yachi nodded. “Of course! I don’t want to impose or anything. I’ll—I’ll see you later?”
Kiyoko smiled. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Yachi smiled wider than ever and took her leave, practically skipping back to the castle in glee.
Yachi and Kiyoko met in the afternoons after the Great Hall had emptied. They drank tea and ate cookies, and Yachi asked all sorts of questions about Kiyoko’s ability. She learned about how Kiyoko found her ability, that her favorite color was pale blue, how Kiyoko learned to control her ability, that her favorite class was Care of Magical Creatures, that she could cast spells to talk to people that had died…
They talked nearly every night for an entire week before Yachi ran out of questions. Yachi did not want to mention that to Kiyoko, who might stop meeting with Yachi if she did not have questions to ask. Why else would Kiyoko want to met her? Kiyoko was a seventh year with NEWTs and prefect duties; Yachi was probably wasting her time.
On the last night Yachi planned to spend with her, Kiyoko said there was something she wanted to show Yachi, who eagerly agreed despite having no idea what Kiyoko could possibly want to show her. If it meant spending more time with Kiyoko, Yachi would do nearly anything.
Kiyoko led her out of the Great Hall and began to ascend the stairs.
“Hinata told me you lost your cat this past summer,” Kiyoko said. Gently, with honest sincerity, she said, “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you. Um… do you know why Hinata told you about my cat? That’s not like him to share personal stories.”
“He was worried you were upset and asked if I would talk to you. People seem to think I’m an expert on death. I’m not—it just seems to follow me.” Kiyoko laughed softly. Something about that was funny to her. “I told him I don’t seek people out and that since you could see the thestrals, you had already accepted your friend’s passing.”
Kiyoko was so calm and mature about this, and was being so respectful without having to force it. Tanaka and Nishinoya were completely right about her. If anything, they undersold the Hufflepuff.
“I thought you might want a new cat,” Kiyoko said. “If you’re ready.”
It was something Yachi had thought about, but she hadn’t gone out and actually bought a new cat yet. It seemed to be in bad taste.
Kiyoko stepped off the stairs at the second floor and led Yachi down the corridor where the ghost kitten lived. The pearly white kitten scampered over, rubbing against Kiyoko’s legs and meowing. Kiyoko knelt down to pet the ghost kitten. Yachi was hyperaware of how pale and transparent the dead animal was.
Yachi knelt down next to Kiyoko and stuck her hand out. The kitten went to rub against her hand but phased right through her. Yachi shivered at the coldness. Did Kiyoko feel that chill, or was she immune to it? Yachi was still amazed that the ghost was solid, like a real kitten, to Kiyoko. Her abilities were mesmerizing.
“Would you like to take care of him?” Kiyoko asked. “He doesn’t belong to anyone and could use a good home.”
“S-Sure,” Yachi said, not really understanding what she was agreeing to. She felt like she could never say no to Kiyoko.
Kiyoko smiled and Yachi’s heart went from zero to sixty so quickly she felt like she was dying. Her smile was beautiful and bright and Yachi wanted to see that smile every day for the rest of her life.
Then Kiyoko grasped one of Yachi’s hands and squeezed it with both of hers. Yachi inhaled sharply and did not exhale. Was this a dream?
“Thank you so much!” Kiyoko released her hand and stood up. “I’ll meet you here tomorrow at three with some supplies.”
“Um, yeah, okay…”
Yachi melted into the floor, the ghost kitten walk in circles around her, and watched as Kiyoko disappeared around the corner. There was a strange ache in her chest and that’s when Yachi realized it.
Yachi ran up the stairs to the boys’ dorms until she found a plaque with Yamaguchi’s name on it. She opened the door without knocking, shouted, “Pardon the intrusion but this is an emergency!” and hoped everyone was decent.
“Hey, Yachi,” one of Yamaguchi’s roommates said, like her barging into their room was normal (it was a fairly common occurrence). “He’s in his bed.”
She opened the curtains on the first bed to the right of the door and jumped onto the mattress. Yamaguchi must have had a silencing charm up because he startled, dropping the book he was reading onto his lap.
Yamaguchi’s eyes were wide like a scared animal’s. Yachi hoped his eyes didn’t fall out. She didn’t know a spell that could fix that.
Yachi sat near Yamaguchi’s feet, closed the curtains to his bed, and cast a silencing charm. Yamaguchi had crawled back and put his back against the headboard, and was looking startled and confused but also concerned. Yachi came to his room a lot—usually when she was upset—so Yamaguchi always got worried when she showed up.
“Are you having a panic attack?” His concern was obvious. He reached for a pillow but she shook her head.
“No, I just really needed to talk.”
Yamaguchi’s shoulders dropped in relief. “Oh, okay.”
“Yamaguchi,” Yachi said very seriously, “I think I’m in love.”
“With who?”
“Shimizu Kiyoko.”
Yachi flopped forward onto her stomach, crossing her arms and burying her face in them. Her head was near Yamaguchi’s thigh so she was close enough for him to put a gentle hand on her head.
“She’s a seventh year in Hufflepuff. She’s really pretty, and really nice, and really smart, and I think I love her.”
Yamaguchi began to stroke her hair. It was something he did when she was panicking and the action calmed her, allowing her to talk about her feelings without fear of being judged.
“At first I just thought she was pretty and wanted to be her friend, but then I learned she was taking care of this stray ghost kitten living on the second floor and I just… She’s so nice.”
“Stray ghost kitten?”
“I may have agreed to adopt it.”
“You adopted a ghost kitten?”
“I think so.” Yachi groaned. “I’m just going to lay here and contemplate what my life will be like as a lesbian with a ghost kitten.”
Yachi stood just around the corner of the second floor corridor where the ghost kitten hung out and waited for Kiyoko to arrive. The kitten was nowhere to be seen but Yachi felt like she was being watched. Was the kitten in a nearby wall, or hiding somewhere, watching her? It was probably judging her, seeing if she was fit to be his owner.
Kiyoko appeared right on time, holding a small bag. When Kiyoko appeared, the ghost kitten appeared as well, coming out from being a suit of armor and running over to the medium.
Kiyoko smiled and knelt down, scratching the ghost. “He’s a new ghost. I found him last year and I’ve been trying to find him an owner since then, but you’re the first person who’s been willing.”
“Why didn’t you take care of him?”
“It’s not good for ghosts to be around me too long. I attract spirits and creatures that can hurt ghosts.” Kiyoko stood up, handing Yachi the bag. “I’ve charmed some cat toys for you to use. You’ll both be able to touch them so you can play with him. He won’t need to eat or use the bathroom, so you just need to play with him.”
Yachi opened the tiny bag and saw a few soft toys that looked like mice, a long feather tied to a stick, and balls of various sizes.
Kiyoko leaned over, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and pet the kitten. She then stood back up and looked at her pocket watch.
“I’m sorry to run like this, but I have study group in ten minutes. Thank you again!”
Yachi watched as Kiyoko disappeared like a beautiful mirage.
Yachi then proceeded to spend the next two hours luring the ghost kitten to he Gryffindor Tower. The things she did for love!
Yachi and Yamaguchi sat on a sofa in the Gryffindor common room, dangling an enchanted feather in the air for the ghost kitten to catch.
“I didn’t think the ghost kitten was real,” Yamaguchi admitted. “Does he have a name?”
Yachi gasped. “No! How could I forget to name him?”
“What about Spec? Like specter?”
The kitten caught the feather, biting at it, and Yachi smiled. “I like it. Spec the ghost kitten.”
Yamaguchi sunk a little deeper into the sofa and sighed. Yachi frowned and looked at him.
“Are you okay?”
“Tsuki keeps complaining about his Quidditch captain.”
“Why doesn’t he just quit the team?”
“Tsuki doesn’t hate Quidditch. I think he’s just irritated by his captain. He hates people who work hard and it sounds like his captain is really passionate about the team and winning.”
“Tsukishima’s opposite,” Yachi said.
Yamaguchi nodded then turned his head to look at her. “Anything new with you and Shimizu?”
“We only hung out because I was asking her questions about being a medium. Now that I’ve asked everything I can think of, I don’t know if I’ll see her much anymore…”
“You could ask her out.”
Yachi burned with embarrassment and buried her face in her hands; the feather toy dropped onto Spec’s head and he meowed loudly as he tried to get it off.
Yachi and Yamaguchi sat at the Gryffindor table during breakfast, eating fruit and French toast before class.
As Yachi drowned her plate in blueberry syrup, Kiyoko approached their table and stood just next to Yachi. Her eyes flicked almost nervously to Yamaguchi before she said, “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
“No!” Yachi said, her syrup pouring over the edge of the plate. Yamaguchi reached across the table and removed the syrup pitcher from her before she flooded the Great Hall.
Kiyoko smiled. “How is the cat doing?”
“Spec is doing great!”
“You named him?”
“After ‘specter.’”
Kiyoko’s cheeks turned red. “That’s adorable. I’m sure he likes it.”
Yachi nodded. “I think so!”
Kiyoko looked at Yamaguchi again then back at Yachi. “Did you want to meet again tonight?”
“Um, actually, I can’t think of anything else to ask you.”
“I was actually just going to tell you that I have a Potions exam on Friday so I won’t be able to meet this week. But there’s a Hogsmeade trip this weekend. Would you like to go together?”
“Like a date?” Yachi asked it before she could filter her stupid mouth.
Kiyoko had this cute little blush against his cheeks that went up to her ears, where she tucked a strand of hair. She nodded.
A date! Yachi wanted to scream, but she couldn’t seem to talk. Her mouth dropped open and then froze there, still as a statue.
“She’d love to!” Yamaguchi said. Kiyoko turned and stared at him, surprised. “Isn’t that right, Yachi?”
Yachi nodded so quickly it hurt her neck.
Kiyoko smiled. “I’ll meet you on Friday and we can make plans?”
Yachi nodded again.
Kiyoko’s smile grew as she waved good-bye and walked away.
Yamaguchi gently kicked Yachi under the table. “You just got asked out by the cutest girl in school!”
Yachi crossed her arms on the table, her elbow in a tiny puddle of blueberry syrup, and rested her head there. Her heart was beating so fast that it ached, but in a pleasant way.
“I’m dying,” Yachi said overdramatically.
“On the bright side,” Yamaguchi said calmly, cutting his French toast, “if you die, at least you’re dating a medium.”