Trying Times PV Hana Finished

Despite his burning hate for those four-legged tiny devils, cats Hanako tended to act like one quite frequently.

When he's not spending his afternoons sleeping on questionable sleeping spots or following Lei as he insults everyone he sees, his feet would just magically bring him to random places without a single thought.

Wandering alone was a hobby of his, especially when he left without a word. Lei would freak and curse if he found out Hanako's absence. To Hanako's delight, of course.

Truly a cat at heart, even if he refused to say it.

There were places he rather not visit. One of them being the abandoned toilets. The last time he went there, he left a bunch of flowers for an errand he was deeply against. He was sure, if he entered, he would see the same flowers wilting in this smelly room. The sight was something he rather not see.

Yet, a small visit wouldn't be so bad, right? He thought to himself, as he pushed the door open and stepped inside, he was attacked with a familiar smell of loneliness and pain. Nothing changed, huh?

He gleefully entered the dimly lit room and stopped in his tracks, as his eyes noticed the new addition to this abandoned toilet from his last visit.

What he should've been seeing, was a human seeking refuge from the cruel world but instead, all he saw was a sad puppy, abandoned by his owner.

He had never seen this puppy before, and he couldn't tell which house he was from with his jumper that looked too big for him anyway. Hanako slowly tilted his head, eyes didn't move from the pup. As if he thought seeing the pup from a different angle would make Hanako understand it more.

Because he certainly wasn't getting why this pup decided a disgusting bathroom that reeked of abandonment and tears was a nice place for a good read.

He wondered since he was already staring at the pup without a single word, he might as well ignore him and just leave this place. Alas, it wasn't like Hanako not to disturb someone's day.


" Little pup, a disgusting bathroom that reeks of abandonment and tears isn't exactly a good place for a nice read. As if this place needed to be sadder. Poor abandoned toilet~" he turned on the tap, only to see it wasn't flowing the water he wanted.

"- Already sad and yet, sad students just pile themselves in here as if the toilet doesn't have it worst ". He slyly remarked, already moving onto the broken doors. Attention was more placed onto the broken doors, his back showing the sad pup, but his ears were on alert. The way Hanako talked, it was like he was more concerned about the toilets than the sad pup himself.

What he said might've stung the pup. Hanako just hoped it was enough to send him running out without a word. He hated to deal with sad folks almost as much as cats. His eyes still focused on the doors, waiting for the sound of a pup running out the doors.

@Ruka Tân

@Hanako Tone

Ruka had managed to get a few pages into his book without getting disturbed, escaping into a world of dragons, good witches and evil witches, and an inevitable Happy Ending. 

He really hoped his story was gearing for a Happy Ending as well, and this point in his life was just the dramatic climax, the point of conflict that was going to get resolved in time for him to live happily ever after.

Completely enthralled by the story he was reading, Ruka didn’t immediately notice the intruder, didn’t hear the footsteps of impending doom, didn’t see the face of the person about to ruin his day.

Until he did.

Ruka looked up from his book as the boy’s eyes mustered him in a strange mix of curiosity and confusion. He stared as if staring long enough was going to give him all the answers to why Ruka was sitting here, book spread across his legs, fedora loosely placed atop his messy copper hair, socked feet tapping the cold tiles to the rhythm of a silent song.

However, Ruka wasn’t in the mood to answer silent questions, so instead he just looked back down at his book, hoping the boy would recognise his need to be alone and just leave.

Sadly, that didn’t seem to be the plan.

No, this boy decided to stay and taunt him, as if Ruka didn’t have enough on his plate already, like he hadn’t spent his last few days going through random bouts of panic and desperate outbursts of tears whenever people weren’t looking.

As if Ruka hadn’t spent the majority of his nights crying rather than sleeping and flunking most of his homework assignments due to his horrible lack of focus.

As if Ruka really needed this kind of treatment from a complete stranger who had no idea what he was going through.

“Gosh no, the bathroom was fine up until it heard your annoying voice,” he snarled without looking up from his book.

He didn’t want to watch this kid walking around the bathroom like he owned the place, touching and prodding where he had no business to touch and prod.

“We were having a perfectly pleasant afternoon, the bathroom and I, and then you decided to ruin our day with your presence.” 

He felt feisty today, some of that fire that used to burn inside him slowly rekindling as he cleared his mind enough to be able to stand up for himself. After everything that had happened lately, all the physical and emotional pain, all the loss and confusion, Ruka was finally fed up with being a victim.

Fight me, he thought bitterly as he finally looked up at the other boy, sad glassy eyes burning with discontent over this stranger intruding on his quiet retreat. Fight this little pup.

This kid was clearly trying to push Ruka’s buttons, provoke him somehow, maybe taunt him to tears.
However, what this boy didn’t yet seem to realise, was that desperate dogs tended to bite.

For a while, Hanako stared back blankly at the pup. He let out a low whistle as his smile morphed into that of an amused one. " This one can bite~ " he praised, referring to how much the pup looked at him with such fire that he might as well shoot Hanako with it.

Now usually, Hanako would at least be a bit worried. He was never good with fistfights and having only this dingy bathroom was just wrong. Even he had standards in fistfights. But it was different this time.

In fact, he was overjoyed at the amount of hate directed towards him. Something about the pup just annoyed Hanako to the core, it was amazing how a few simple taunts could already annoy the pup this much. He wanted to try his luck more, see how long it'll take to see the pup break.

A moral side of him was immediately disgusted at his own thoughts, but he couldn't help it. The inexpiable irritation at the sight of the pup was scaring him yet, it felt exhilarating. The harsh words directed back towards him made him smile naturally.

" At least, I entered this place with a better mood than you~. Between the two of us, I think a much brighter mood is needed~ " he chimed in too gleefully, possibly irritating the pup more, but that's what he wanted. " Perfectly pleasant afternoon, you say? " he chuckled.

He went over to the windows now, looking out the window where the rain displayed its full glory. Despite the uncleaned window, the rain was clear to see as it was the only light source in this place.

" Now that is just hilarious. You know already, that was a goal of mine the moment I saw you. And something odd...so little yet so important you see...something made me think,' hey.'-" He took a good look at the angry pup, only proving his point. " ' this pup surely did not come here only to have a pleasant time with this lovely bathroom ' ". He leaned up against the wall, next to the window he previously investigated as he pretended to think long and hard.

" Hm...maybe it's how you came in without shoes? Maybe, it's the children's book you choose to read? Oh, so many things that just scream ' it hasn't been a great week, for me ' it hard to pick just one. But, one does stand out~ " with a smile, Hanako lightly tapped his own head with one finger, referring to that hat the pup wore.

" That hat holds a special meaning to you~? " he grinned, knowing full well he might've stepped on a landmine. He was just spouting out nonsense, he didn't know anything about the pup, nor his reason for being in a dingy place like this.

He just knew he wanted the pup, out. Maybe it was Hanako overreacting, but people mopping around weren't his favorite.

Thinking the pup perhaps, might not humor him, he gave an almost chillingly kind smile. " It's alright to share, little pup~"

" This is amusing, but I don't care enough to share whatever your feeling to tell a soul. Think of me a sort of..." he paused for a second, before showing another grin. "- diary~ "

" A diary you randomly found in this stinky bathroom. Even if I make you want to burn me later, no harm in at least using the opportunity to share. Especially if whatever you say, will be long forgotten the moment I leave~".

Hanako wasn't one to regret anything he did, but thinking back at this conversation, he only wished he never decided to enter the bathroom.

@Ruka Tân

@Hanako Tone

Ruka wasn‘t sure exactly what this boy‘s goal was, but if it was to be the most annoying brat of the day he was definitely on his way to succeed. His voice was piercing the young Gryffindor’s ears like nails against a chalkboard, and his over exaggeratedly cheerful facial expressions were making Ruka feel sick to the stomach.

He decided to, for now, let the boy voice his thoughts to nobody in particular, clearly poking at nothing to see what would set Ruka off.

None of his words, however, really hit Ruka where it hurt; It was obvious, he thought, that he wasn‘t going through the best of times, it really didn‘t take a genius to see that. 
The fact that he wasn‘t wearing shoes was really not indicative of anything other than the fact that he didn‘t have fitting shoes, and that he was reading a kids‘ book was probably due to the fact that he was basically still a kid.

Only when the other boy indicated the hat on Ruka‘s head did he get a rise out of him.
The words were like a punch in the stomach to Ruka, and he had to take a deep, rattling breath before reacting to make sure he wouldn‘t just throw himself at the stranger.

Slowly he closed the book and set it down on the floor next to him. „What is it to you?“ he asked heatedly, finally standing up and revealing himself to being half a head shorter than his opponent, therefore most likely seeming even less threatening than before.

Reaching a hand up, Ruka took the fedora off his head and held it against his chest as if to protect it from whatever evil this kid could possibly do to it. With both arms crossed over the hat and his chest, the young Gryffindor kept listening to the other boy talking like taunting him was the highlight of his day.

The fact that he even suggested Ruka confided his worries in him seemed ridiculous, and for a second Ruka wondered if this boy thought he was stupid. He wasn‘t about to give some random kid the opportunity to use his own troubles against him.

„A diary?“ he asked, eyebrows raised as he took a step towards the other boy. Then, eyes growing wide and innocent, his voice became high pitched with childlike enthusiasm as he continued talking. „Gee-whiz, I‘ve always wanted one of those!“ He snorted ungracefully, lazily reaching for his wand in the back pocket of his trousers, left hand still holding onto the fedora tightly.

„But let‘s see if there‘s anything I‘d like to share.“ He hummed thoughtfully for a moment, moving his wand to point it straight at the other boy‘s chest. Strange, how something that was still completely foreign to him two years ago had become like second nature at this point. „Maybe I‘m not as frighteningly happy as you because I haven‘t slept in a while,“ he started, eyes burning like fire as he actually touched the boy‘s chest with the tip of his wand. „Or maybe it‘s because I haven‘t been doing so well at classes lately.“ He hummed and shrugged like it didn‘t really matter anyway. „Maybe it‘s because I had my head smashed into a table less than two weeks ago.“ He lifted the hand clutching Jack‘s fedora for a moment to indicate the scar on his forehead. „Or maybe it‘s because I‘m pretty sure I‘ve lost my best friend.“ 

He stopped himself at that, a shocked expression crossing his face for just a second as he realised what he‘d just said.
For just a second he was actually glad that Jack wasn‘t lurking around somewhere to keep an eye on him, because if he‘d just heard him say so it would have probably made him run for his life in an instant.

Regaining his senses, Ruka took a step back again, wand still up and directed at the boy‘s chest, face still a little surprised at his own words, but he quickly found the burning heat inside him again to be directed at the boy in front of him. „So what now, diary? Should I burn you straight away to make sure my secrets stay safe with you?“

A little fact, about Wanda. A good 30,7 cm of marvelously crafted cherry wood. Sparked with a single horn from a horned serpent. Hanako trusted Wanda a lot because of her magic core. The horn of a horned serpent warns him of any danger that might befall on him. Even when someone tried to push him while he walked, he managed to avoid because of the faint musical tone Wanda emits, warning him, " Hey idiot, beware! ".

With a wand dangerously pointed at him too close for his comfort, and Wanda's barely audible singing in his pocket, he was reminded there were worst things than a fistfight in a bathroom that's not up to his standards.

He was a half-blood that never grew up close to the wizarding community, therefore it never occurred to his slow brain that unreasonable spell casting was something emotionally disturbed children would do. Although it would be really cool to have his first, it wasn't really wise to do so now when he knew fewer spells than he liked.

Despite his spike of fear, the only thing showing that was his racing heartbeat. His facial expressions remained frighteningly glad at his sticky situation. Once again, he was pleased to be so gifted at hiding fear when it comes to body language.

He listened to the little pup's ramblings as if he was telling a nice story. He was being a great diary, so far that's for sure. Promising to treat himself with a nice cup of tea after this, he continued to listen with a smile.

That is until the little pup mentioned his real reason for being here. After all the things the little pup kindly said to him, even after having a wand pointed at him for the first time, it was not enough to peel off that dangerously carefree mask Hanako always wears.

But just because of those few sentences, Hanako's face did a 180-degree flip.

He understood why the pup was annoying him even though he was just minding his own business. The fact that the pup just confirmed it made it worse. There were very few things that could make Hanako furious. He was simply too lazy or carefree to waste his emotions on tiny things.

But one of the things that could make his blood boil in a second, was standing right in front of him.


" So what now, diary? Should I burn you straight away to make sure my secrets stay safe with you?“

For a few seconds, he merely sent back the same gaze he was receiving. His short-lasted fear was gone, only to be replaced with childish hatred. All he could think about was pushing the wand out of his chest and walking out to a world without sad pups getting lonely without their owners.

But he really didn't have much of a choice here. He didn't know how good this pup was at magic, but if he didn't then he bluffed like a professional. Hanako wasn't about to be a punching bag for something dumb like a broken friendship.

" I hope you'll at least give me some time to tell a nice story~" His voice still held their previous playfulness, but it was now laced with something undeniably rotten. " Never mind, I don't need your permission anyway. But I promise, you'll like it, little pup~. It's much more entertaining than whatever rubbish fairy tail you were reading." he confidently said, eyes never leaving the pups. He continued his next words in a pleasant tone, pretending a wand isn't on his chest just waiting to engulf him in flames.

" Ever heard of Hachiko? It's quite a famous story in Japan but, not so much here from what I heard. Once upon a time in Shibuya, there was a college professor who was interested in getting a dog for his daughter. He decided to adopt this Akita Inu and named him, Hachiko. Now, even if Hachiko was meant for the daughter, the one who he bonded closely with in the end was the professor himself. The two were inseparable, truly two peas in the pod and the best of-"

" friends ". He said as if the word left a sour taste in his mouth. " Hachiko would always follow the Professor to the train station and sent him off for work, then come by a few hours later and fetch the professor from the train station, accompanying him back home. Very heartwarming so far, yes?"

His tone changed, indicating his story was at its turning point. " But then, one day Hachiko had to wait a little longer for his professor to come back from work ~". Hanako humorlessly chuckled, before he showed the pup a grin " Guess how long he had to wait at the train station, little pup. Come on, guess ~ "

His grin faded, but he sang in a taunting tone " D- a - y - s~ ". It was delicately chilling, his voice. Pleasing to the ears but not the heart.

" Professor never came back from work, he died there. The dog waited patiently. His family tried to take him back, but Hachiko would always be found just sitting idly by the train station's exit, waiting for something that will never come back. He won't eat, he won't play, he'll just....be there".

Despite the obvious drop of atmosphere, Hanako smiled innocently at the pup. " Now, there are two questions I hope you'll ask me. One is the ending. But if you know how it ends, then brilliant! We're saving time " He kept his eyes away from the wand aimed at him, knowing his intentions will definitely shine through once he did. " Two is why I'm telling you this sob of a story. Come on, we both know you want to hear it. You're missing out loads if you don't ask. Or have you figured it out yourself? If so, why don't you share? I'll pretend I forgot the ending for your sake. Oh! Maybe an extra question? Like why I have a deep hate for this story~?.Or all three, I don't mind at all. They're all so fun to answer~ " He smiled.

@Ruka Tân

@Hanako Tone

With his wand pointed at this boy who was a good bit taller than he was, Ruka felt a surge of power flowing through him.
He was no good at fistfights, was short and too skinny and probably easy to dispose of, but he had gathered a good arsenal of spells during his first year and even during the past few months, no matter that his grades had been slipping some.

Practicing his spell casting with Jack for a while there had definitely helped his confidence as well, despite the fact that he had never actually been in a proper duel.

It didn‘t matter, however. A duel wasn‘t what he had in mind. One small spell would be enough to get this kid out of his face. The only question was: Which one?

For a while, Ruka watched the other boy‘s facial expressions closely, feeling his insides burning more and more with every second of that cheerful facade staying in tact.

It took far too long for this boy to show anything but languid amusement, and Ruka was tempted to just get it over with, cast a non too damaging spell and get this kid out of here, but before he could, this annoying sing-songy voice chimed up again, making Ruka groan in frustration.

Still, he decided to let the boy talk for a while, knowing full well that he should probably count it as a victory for himself.

Despite how small and useless Ruka was in a fight, the wand pointed at his chest had ignited a tiny spark of fear inside the other boy at least.
This was what some people liked to do when they got scared: They talked.
It was such a simple concept of „As long as we are talking you won‘t do the thing I‘m scared you‘ll do“ that Ruka almost felt offended that the boy seemed to think he wouldn‘t see straight through that.

In anticipation, Ruka tightened his grip on his wand, making sure not to give this kid any opportunity to knock it out of his hand as he told his story about this dog who was - Ruka assumed - loyal till his dying breath.

In normal circumstances, Ruka might have been interested, even touched by the story, but in this moment it only served to fuel his need to curse this kid into next week. 

„I assume the dog died?“ he said with as little interest in his voice as possible. „Tragic. And I guess you‘re telling me this story because... I‘m the dog?“ He snorted ungracefully, shaking his head and pressing his wand a little closer towards the kid‘s chest in a blatant warning. „And I‘d say you hate this story because you detest loyalty and friendship? How very Slytherin of you, you‘re a walking cliche.“ He let out a fake yawn for emphasis, then took a step towards the boy, backing him completely against the wall behind him and moving the tip of his want from his chest to underneath his chin.

Being this close really put an emphasis on how much shorter and skinnier Ruka was, but the fire burning in his eyes was strong and his sense of consequence had gone out the window a couple of weeks ago already.

„Let me tell you a story of my own,“ he demanded, voice dropped to a threatening whisper. „There once was a snake who thought it was fun to bully a sad dog.“ He smiled cooly as he poked his wand against the underside of the boy‘s chin to try and force him to lift his head a little. „The snake approached the dog and taunted him for its own sick amusement. Now, dogs are patient creatures who don‘t attack out of nowhere. They give warning signs.“ He dropped his gaze to his wand meaningfully for a moment before locking eyes with the other boy again. „But the snake ignored the warning signs and... So you want to guess what happens next?“ He went up on his toes to move his lips next to the other boy‘s ear, voice cold and raspier than he ever thought it could sound. „He bites the snake in half.“ 

Ruka grinned menacingly as he took a couple of steps  back before the other boy could think of physically preventing him from any spell casting, wand outstretched and pointing directly at the other boy‘s face. „You see, I am feeling generous today, though, so I will give you three seconds to choose whether you would rather I burn you to the ground or make you spit up slugs for the rest of the day.

One...

Two...

Three...

Go.“

" Ooooorrrrrr~ " he quickly interjected, "- should you reconsider who that pretty wand of yours should really be pointing at~"

It was a difficult task to ignore the wand at this point. Hanako was tired of getting poked at with that thing, not to mention he was tired of standing. He didn't think he would need to add fire to an already burning forest, but it seemed like he had no choice.

Sometimes, you had to step on others to get yourself out of situations like this. He silently said sorry to whoever hurt this little pup. Sorry, his next words might potentially make their already failing relationship worst.

" Yes little pup, the dog died. You got that correct, but your second assumption could never be more wrong~. " He laughed out as if he heard a nice joke. " Comparing you to Hachiko would be low, even for my standards. Allow me to correct you. I actually think you're far from being Hachiko ". He didn't need lying skills when he was being as genuine as this.

" I'm not going to lie, I really wish I could just throw you out this window next to me here-" he admitted, carefully pointing to said window, but never left his eyes off the pups. " And seeing you makes me really annoyed. And I haven't been this annoyed in literal years. Congrats, by the way, " without raising his arms, he clapped his hands softly a few times.

" And yes, I'm quite a cliche Slytherin but that's why I'm here in this position instead of yours. Let me ask you this, little pup." He placed a finger on his chin as if he's very intrigued to hear the pup's answer to his question. " Right now, right here, in our respective positions. Which one do you think is hurting more? My position, where I might either get burned or be puking out slugs soon or-" he stared at the pup and said his first serious tone since he entered the bathroom. " Yours? I don't know about you, but I heard a broken heart can put any pain of burning fires or puking slugs to shame. "

He gave the pup a short time of silence, to think about what Hanako just said. He hated the pup, there was no denying it. But at the same time, he felt sorry for him. He may look carefree as the wind and emotionless to the pup, but he was once in the pup's position too.

Hanako taunted him because he was utterly sick of seeing himself in the pup's shoes. He remembered hiding in the bathroom himself, with socks and a sad aura just reading fairy tails where everyone had big loving families and lived happily ever after.

He understood more than anyone, how rejection and loneliness could really change someone. There was no way he was going to share this with the pup, but his change from his child-like speech would have been enough to indicate somethings.

" Hachiko made his choice and died. History is written to warn the future of its mistakes. To avoid making the same mistakes and strive towards a better future. Hex me all you want. Make me puke our fire breathing slugs or send me flying out this window. Hell, do you're very worst. Get detention, fail your grades, wear socks in a disgusting bathroom! But that won't fix that hole in your chest now would it? ".

He darkly hissed out the last sentence before he could stop them, immediately regretting it the moment it came out. He was getting way too emotional at this, fearing that if he stayed longer, he would reveal more than he would like. The exit door has never been more appealing than now.

He took a deep conscious breath, not caring if he was out of character, and stared back at the pup with eyes that no longer held any hate.

" Forgive me" he mumbled out though it was barely audible. " You should really think who truly deserved to be hexed. The one who tried to make you see things clearly through questionable methods, or the one who distorted it in the first place. "

He folded his arms and closed his eyes closed, leaning back on the wall again as if his draining energy was more important than getting hexed. " It was his doing that made you like this but it was your choice to let it consume you. I think of friendship like a high quality chocolate mouse. Addicting, but choosing to eat only it everyday, you'll only get diabetes. ".

Eyes still closed, he turned his head to the side and spoke. " Go on. Hex. Prove me right. How casting every hex in the book at me won't help you one bit. A lovely story about the dog and the snake though. I'll tell that one to my grandkids in the future. "

And just like that, his carefree tone came back more tired than ever. Like he had given up on any opportunity to leave unscratched. He leaned against the wall with ease, as if he was about to be put asleep.

@Ruka Tân

@Hanako Tone

Ruka had never been the kind of person to seek out confrontation, and he had certainly never been the kind to wish harm on anybody else, but this boy with his cheerful facade and his annoying voice was doing a great job at making him want to use every spell he had learned so far.

Still, he let the kid ramble on, every word fuelling the anger inside him, the need to let out all his pent up frustration on someone. He barely registered what he was actually saying, just focused on the sound of the penetrating voice jabbering on and on about things he couldn’t possibly understand.

Only when the other boy asked him a question did Ruka decide to pay a little more attention to what he was actually saying, and for just a second his determination wavered, the fire in his eyes flickering weakly as he thought about the words thrown at him.

Who was it that had really put him into this position? Jack? 
No, he had told Opeila that it wasn’t Jack’s job to keep him sane and healthy and he stood by those words. The fact that Jack still had his picture was unfortunate and really didn’t help his mental state, but Jack hadn’t taken the picture with malicious intent so how could Ruka possibly blame him for the effects not having the picture anymore had on him?
So did Jack really deserve any of Ruka’s anger? Probably not.

His dad? Certainly his dad had done some stupid things - not seeking help when he had needed it most for one - but his dad was dead now, and while his death had devastated Ruka, there really wasn’t much he could do anything about that now.

No, the other boy’s words made him think, but they did nothing to steer his anger anywhere else. 

Instead, Ruka concentrated more on the fact that the boy seemed to want to go down the route of Hurting me won’t make you hurt less and it almost made him laugh. What a predictable method.

“Oh, I don’t know. A broken heart can be fixed, but you can’t restore ashes to a person,” he said lazily, eyes fixed on the Slytherin’s far too unbothered face, hand ready to give his wand a flick.

Nonetheless, Ruka waited.

In a weird, twisted way he was almost enjoying this conversation. So long he had just been wallowing in self pity that he had almost forgotten what it felt like to stand up for oneself. He almost felt obliged to thank this boy for rekindling this fire inside him.

Humming quietly, Ruka tilted his head to the side as the boy spoke of that hole in his heart and how no amount of reckless behaviour could possibly fill it, and he had to admit that he saw the truth in those words.

Cursing this kid would most likely bring him a sense of satisfaction and detention, and what good would that do anybody?
It wouldn’t make Jack talk to him again, wouldn’t get him his picture back, wouldn’t bring his dad back to life, and yet...

Before he could finish his thought, a small, quiet apology broke the air, and Ruka raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn’t expected the boy to actually apologise, but it seemed even he had realised that he’d let his own emotions - whatever they truly were - get the better of him.

It was almost sad to see the other boy like this, but Ruka didn’t have it in him to feel pity for a bully.

At his words about friendship, Ruka just let out a hollow laugh, tilting his head from one side to the other as he tried to really see the kid in front of him.

“It’s funny,” he said eventually, lowering his wand for only a second before pointing it back at the other boy’s chest. “All those big speeches and fake smiles, and behind it all you are nothing but a bitter little boy, aren’t you?”
He shrugged lazily, taking one more step back to maybe at least give the Slytherin the illusion of escape. It almost didn’t feel satisfying anymore to try and cast a spell on this kid, he had almost managed to ruin it for Ruka, but the mere challenge posed to him was an invitation he could barely refuse.

No, hexing this boy wouldn’t change anything, wouldn’t help even one bit, but all Ruka had really wanted was to get some quiet time reading a book to get his mind of things and this kid just had to go and poke him with a stick.

At this point it was almost like he was begging to be cursed.

“Well, it was nice exchanging stories,” he said, a bored drawl in his voice as he spoke, facial expression remaining unimpressed. “But all your talk is just starting to sound the same to me, so...” He sighed before finally settling on the spell he wanted to use on this boy with his annoying face and his annoying voice and his meaningless commentary on a situation he knew nothing about.

“Slugulus Eructo,” he said, and a part of him was almost frightened of the way he just stayed and stared at his spell hitting the boy’s chest.

Okay, well crap.

Being too careless and confident about his chance of turning this around was his own wrongdoing. He should've thought about his past actions and how it might have ignited more fire towards him at this moment than the one that truly needed to get attacked instead.

Thinking about how tired he was at this sort of situation, he wasn't sure if this deserved a cup of tea or a jump in the great lake.

If it was the former, it's not like he could enjoy a nice one with these slugs suddenly coming out of his mouth.

The experience wasn't like anything and it shook him enough to wake him up. Instinctively, he bent down, his expression shielded from the pup, trying to gawk out the slugs only for more to come out.

Chills ran down his spine as he felt them travel from the back of his mouth to the front. The second slug made it's way out and seeing it dropped on the floor, Hanako's face showed such a rare fearful expression.

He got his fearlessness from not caring enough to know the 'what will happens' or 'what is happenings'. Being apathetic about the present and future made it easier for him to say ' oh well ~" to anything that was happening. He had gone through tons of fights back in Borehamwood but at least he knew how fistfights worked.

Magic? Curses? Hexes? He was never exposed to them and he had never bothered to learn them up until now. As he puked out the 3rd slug, already tasting the slime they left in his mouth, there were two things that went through his mind.

The first was his noticeably newfound motivation to learn as many spells as he could to blast this stupidly ungrateful pup out to another dimension. It was his fault that he doesn't understand how Hanako's trying to make him look less dumb than he already is.

The second was his utmost disappointment in the pup. Hanako could be annoying and petty, yes. But he really did try to help the pup in his own harsh way. This was exactly why he hated the pup. With his current break-up phase, it made him unconsciously want to help him.

Make him see that there were much better ways to get through this without hurting anyone and himself. Having your weird act of kindness get blasted in your face was not good for anyone's heart.

And with the 4th slug out, he felt a sudden desire to laugh. And so he did. The room's silence was soon replaced melodious chortles in between short coughs.

His face had gotten paler, his body felt chilled and weak and the slime on his tongue was threatening to make him puke it out himself. He wanted nothing more than to tackle the pup and tear up his hair mercilessly.

Remind the pup he tried to be nice and he didn't need to know any cool spells to show him who's in charge as he puked slugs on him since that's his new power now.

Because that's what strong emotions do to someone. They start filling their heads with temporary almost uncontrollable urges but the damage from it became permanent.

He had learned it first hand that breaking plates and starting petty fights won't make his parents spend more time for him. In fact, he probably made it worse.


Not only was he physically incapable, but it felt utterly wrong too. Now that's rich coming from Hanako, considering his previous actions weren't exactly entirely saint-like.

It was his stupid pity for the pup. The fact that Hanako was in his place just a few years ago wasn't helping.

He hated the pup. He hated himself. He hated all of this.

His grandmother said, " Show them how angry you are, then they have already won "

So he laughed, as he sat down on the cold floor. It seemed like the slugs took a break from appearing in his mouth so he had time to pull out a nice napkin out of his pocket.

Just as he placed it on his mouth, another slug made its way out of his mouth and landed on his shirt. He stopped laughing and used his other hand to shove it away, ignoring the slime it left. He got comfortable and finally looked up at the one who made him in this position.

With his napkin covering everything below his eyes, it was hard to show the pup he was smiling but he was sure the pup got it. " What a silly little pup~" he enthusiastically replied before coughing out another slug. " やれやれ やれやれ, Li'l Pup~ " He muttered, napkin still covering half of his face. やれ/yare= oh boy

Even in this situation, Hanako tried to save the tiniest bit of pride he had. Openly throwing up slugs in front of someone he hated wasn't the way to do it. Even if he couldn't stop the ugly sounds he made, at least he could hide the view.

" Like what you see, hm?~ " He rhetorically asked as he puked out another slug, this one bigger than the others and Hanako feared the slugs were getting bigger. To avoid showing any worry, he closed his eyes as if he was sleeping again and leaned against the wall.

His hand still pressed the napkin over his nose. " All this just because someone broke your little heart? -" his shoulders tensed and his voice came out hoarse as he felt another slug coming out "- Heavens, what a weak one you are ".

He had no interest in talking to the pup further than this. He has tons of things he wanted to sprout out, but with a slug puking mouth, it was near impossible. He didn't want to tire himself out more than he already did.

He simply continued resting with his eyes closed and hand tightly pressed on his nose with his napkin. Coughing and spitting out slugs from time to time. Just basking in the silence he hoped the pup would give him.

He made it clearly obvious the one that had to leave was the pup. Hanako rather not go out there in this state and he was willing to skip classes for it. He could've gone out and reported this incident.

At least, get pup into detention. But, he wanted to be the one putting the pup in future pain than make someone else do it.

He took a second to examine the pup's face one last time so he could memorize his face the best he could in this dimly lighted place. Once he did, he sends a subtle pitiful look at him before closing his eyes once more, continuing to cough out slugs.