Chapter Text
"Inumaki!"
A voice calling out to him made the boy in the doorway of the airport turn around. He saw Yuuta speeding towards him, a nervous expression gracing the other boy's face. Once the ravenette caught up to his friend, the two boys locked eyes. Yuuta was panting slightly, having just ran across four lanes of airport traffic.
"Mustard leaf?" Inumaki questioned from behind his mask, asking if his friend was alright. Inumaki had already said goodbye to his friends, and he was sure that he hadn't forgotten anything. Maki had sternly told him thousands of times that if he left something back at Mahoutokoro that she would 'let him have it'. Inumaki had no idea what that meant specifically, but it was better not to test Maki.
"Don't worry--I'm alright!" Yuuta finally caught his breath and smiled. It was warm and gentle, just like Yuuta was. But today, that smile had a tiny bit of sadness behind it. After all, today was the day that Inumaki would be leaving Japan and transferring to Hogwarts, the school where he would spend the last five years of his magical education.
"Are you sure you have everything…?" Yuuta looked down at Inumaki's carry-on bag. The other trunks that the boy had packed were already stacked on a silver luggage cart, ready and waiting to be rolled over to the check-in counter.
"Salmon," Inumaki answered, putting a reassuring hand on Yuuta's shoulder. His eyes softened as he looked at his saddened friend. Yuuta paused, his eyes wideninf slightly as his flimsy smile finally fell. Yuuta then chuckled at himself.
"I know, I know. I'm worrying over nothing. You'll be fine." Yuuta took both of his friend's hands in his own. "You're Inumaki. Why wouldn't you be?"
Inumaki looked back up from their intertwined hands into Yuuta's eyes. His shimmering, violet gaze softened once more. Inumaki let go of one of Yuuta's hands to make a little hand motion, signing that he would write often. Yuuta's smile slowly came back and he nodded in understanding.
"I'm--we're going to miss you."
Inumaki squeezed Yuuta's hands after he said that. He was going to miss his friends too. But this was his dream. And besides, Inumaki would definitely visit during the Christmas and summer breaks. He could never leave his friends for too long. No matter where he was, the Seiran House common room, his dorm, and Mahoutokoro overall would always be Inumaki's true home.
"If you ever, ever feel overwhelmed or lonely o-or you just hate it for whatever reason--" Yuuta caught himself before he started ranting. "…there will always be a place for you at Mahoutokoro."
Inumaki nodded. Then, he checked the time. If he was going to make his flight, he had to start moving now, because boarding was in an hour. Inumaki turned back to Yuuta. Looking into his friend's eyes, it finally hit him that he was about to move halfway across the world for the next four years.
On impulse, Inumaki tugged Yuuta closer by the sleeve of his sweater and hugged his friend tight to his chest. It was bittersweet. On one hand, Inumaki was excited to finally see the world he had dreamed about exploring for years, and he knew that Yuuta, Maki, and Panda were happy for him. On the other hand, they would be separated by hundreds of miles of land and sea. Inumaki found that a part of himself was scared and didn't want to go. He pushed that feeling down. He had come so far. Inumaki had gotten accepted into Hogwarts, studied English for weeks straight, and had bought tickets and booked his own flight and train ride at only fourteen years old. He could do this.
After a short while, both Yuuta and Inumaki pulled away from the hug.
"…I'll see you at Christmas break, then." The two boys locked hands again.
"Salmon," Inumaki confirmed.
After a small pause, the two friends let go. Yuuta walked over to the road as Inumaki pushed his cart of luggage through the airport doors, ready to start this new chapter in his life.
...~.~...
The plain ride had seemed to end in a blink of an eye. Well, Inumaki had slept for most of it. Still, the days building up to his departure had felt as if they were digging their hees in, dragging on endlessly for as long as they could. So for an overnight plane ride to not even amount to a fraction of all that time was slightly surprising.
The London airport was way different from what he was expecting. The very first thing Inumaki noticed when he walked outside after picking up his luggage was that the street was absolutely crowded with taxis. The boy doubted he could've heard his own voice properly if he spoke. The honking of car horns filled the street in front of the airport, and drivers were screaming at each other to 'move up' or 'get their ass out of the way'. It was a stampede of families out of the sliding airport doors. People shoved past Inumaki and his cart of luggage like they were running from the apocalypse. It was absolute madness.
Once Inumaki finally got to the edge of the sidewalk with his bags, he started to try and get a taxi driver's attention. After a few minutes, out of the corner of his eye, Inumaki noticed that one driver was standing outside of his yellow car, waving and holding up a sign with his name on it. Inumaki immediately pushed his bag cart over. The boy wove through the crowd as people shoved him every which way. Finally, once Inumaki got to the taxi reserved for him, the car trunk opened, and he started to load all of his luggage.
After putting the cart back, Inumaki opened the yellow door, sliding into the back with his carry-on bag beside him. The driver turned around to face the boy in the backseat. The man at the wheel was ridiculously large. About as large, or perhaps even bigger, than Panda. It was a miracle he could fit into such a tiny car. This man had long, curly hair, brown locks spilling haphazardly over his shoulders as he locked eyes with Inumaki. The driver's gaze was a deep, chocolate brown. They were kind, and Inumaki could spot a glimmer of playfulness in them. The driver was also bundled up in a large scarf paired with a brown coat.
Before Inumaki could utter a word, the man spoke.
"Yer the new transfer from Japan, aren't ya?" The large man had a strange accent, but his voice was warm and inviting. "Name's Hagrid. Here to take ya to Diagon Alley."
Inumaki nodded in understanding and gave a little wave of greeting. Hagrid chuckled with a large smile before turning back to adjust the rearview mirror.
"Not a big talker, are ya?" Hagrid saw Inumaki shake his head at the statement. "Yeah, I figured that much. Yer a Speech Sorcery user, right?"
Again, Inumaki gave a nonverbal answer from the back seat, nodding his head.
"Don't worry. One day, once ya get better control over yer craft, yer gonna be able to talk without magical intent slippin' in there." Hagrid shot Inumaki a reassuring smile in the rearview mirror, and under his mask, Inumaki smiled back.
Then, the boy started to look out the window, taking in the sights of the city. It still felt pretty unreal that Inumaki was actually here right now. The boy squashed his nerves.
Inumaki started to converse with Hagrid as best he could. He couldn't help but smile to himself. As the car rolled along the English roads, Inumaki found himself looking forward to this change.
Some dreams really do come true it seems.