Chapter Text
“It is a blessing not to see the entire journey, because otherwise, you may not choose to undertake it.“ by Jackie Trottmann
Fuck puberty, Youichi thought as he glared down to the hem of his pyjama pant leg, which was at least an inch higher than the previous day. And especially fuck growth-spurts. Now he had to organize a bunch of new pants, both for his uniform and for casual use….
At least it wasn't a school day.
After a few quick, threat-riddled phone calls and getting dressed (the rolled-up hems fortunately didn’t look too stupid), it was almost time for fucking green-eyes to arrive. Youichi was curious if the brunet would actually show up. Despite his contrary behaviour, Potter seemed to follow through with his promises, therefore Youichi figured he would.
Half an hour later someone knocked on his door, though it turned out to be the minion he'd instructed with bringing him new clothes.
"Kekeke, good job. Your wife won't be seeing the pictures - for now."
"You're so weird," a familiar voice stated. Harry Potter had rounded the corner and was watching them with judgingly raised eyebrows. The business man took advantage of the blond's apparent distraction and slinked away. Youichi let him.
"Fucking green-eyes, you're late."
Potter snorted.
"Not even five minutes. Calm your horses, Tink."
The brunet stepped closer and Youichi noticed the exact moment when he figured out that Youichi was now a head taller than him. Potter's gaze wandered to the bag in Youichi's hand and finally to the rolled-up pant legs. He snorted again and passed the blond without a word to get into the hotel room.
“So, what’s up with this?” Potter inquired, vaguely waving at the room in its entirety, after Youichi had closed the door. “Did you blackmail them or did you threaten someone else to get the money to pay for it?”
The blond was a bit surprised - not because of the other teen’s (close enough) assessment of Youichi’s character however. No, it was due to Potter asking in the first place. It was the second personal question within the week and Youichi wondered if he was making headway. It was likely, considering Potter still pretty much ignored his classmates and also, mostly, his team mates.
“I don’t threaten or blackmail people for money. I place bets or win it, but yeah, I got this room by blackmailing the manager.” Youichi settled down at the table in one corner of the room, where he’d already prepared the material he wanted to shove down fucking green-eye’s throat. During their first and so far only private lesson Youichi had figured out that he didn’t have to work with stupidity, he ‘just’ had to find a way to assure motivation without resorting to violence and threats.
“Ah, gambling. Your success rate is probably pretty high,” Potter mused, while idly leafing through one of the folders on the table.
Youichi cackled.
“High enough.”
Potter snorted again and nodded towards the books, summaries and exercises.
“Well, let’s get this over with.”
One hour into their study session, Youichi’s mobile phone rang and announced an unknown number on the display. He had an idea about who was calling and cursed softly, but accepted the call anyway
“Youi-“
and promptly hung up, when his hunch was proven correct.
Annoyed, the blond glared down at the now useless device in his hand and tossed it into the waste bin. Why couldn’t his fucking old man finally take the hint that Youichi didn’t want to have anything to do with him? Give up already? Hadn’t Youichi made it more than clear?
After seething for a good few minutes, he remembered his guest, who’d witnessed the whole scene, but when he looked up, Potter was surprisingly diligently working on his assignment. He didn’t look particularly uneasy, so Youichi figured the brunet was trying to give him a moment to calm back down. He couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit grateful.
Hours later they decided to take a break and Youichi called room service to bring them lunch.
While they waited, the blond busied himself with setting up his new mobile phone, but observed Potter from the corner of his eyes. The other teen was apparently trying to talk himself in or out of something, if the aborted arm movements were anything to go by.
“Ah, almost forgot,” Potter finally announced with forced nonchalance, as if he really had just remembered whatever he wanted to do. The brunet pulled his backpack closer and started to rummage around in it. He unearthed a leather-bound book and held it out to Youichi, who accepted it with a bemused frown.
“I’m not sure if-, I just- I- I thought you should know.” Potter offered him an awkward shrug and avoided any kind of accidental eye contact by looking down to the chicken-scratch he tried to pass off as handwritten notes.
Full of barely concealed curiosity, the blond flipped through the book – A compendium of Japanese mythical creatures and beings. Each entry included one or more detailed drawings. Finally, he reached a bookmarked page and gasped, when he recognized the familiar features. He’d seen them often enough in the mirror.
"Is this a fucking joke, fucking green-eyes?”
His grip on the book cover tightened.
Potter stared blankly back at him.
"Does it look like one, Tink?"
And really, this being a joke was more probable than what the book implied (not only about his mother and other ancestors, but also for a whole slew of other mythical beings). It sounded impossible, but hadn't he done impossible things in his life? ‘Not enough space’ wasn’t part of his vocabulary. But still…
"Alright, let's say it isn't. Where did you get this? Doesn't look like a run-of-the-mill publication." The leather binding alone was unusual, but could've been explained away if it had been an old book. The pages were as white as fresh snow and smelled new however. "Some kind of magical book shop? Are you secretly a dragon, fucking green-eyes?"
Which was apparently the worst thing he could've said. The blank expression cracked like a frozen lake, whose thin sheen of ice hadn’t been strong enough to support someone’s weight. Youichi shifted uncomfortably when he witnessed the raw distress washing over the brunet's face. For a moment he thought Potter might even start crying, but then the other teen blinked a few times and the suspiciously wet shine in his eyes disappeared.
"Nothing. I'm nothing!" Potter finally growled out.
And that, Youichi figured, was the major issue.