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Kija Hakuryuu had never played Quidditch before. He thought that it was enjoyable to watch, but he never thought about playing before. Until one lazy Sunday when Tetora the Gryffindor captain approached him and asked him to play beater.
Kija told the captain he had never played the sport before and he had no interest in being on the team.
The captain told Kija that it was just a game for fun and that there was nothing binding about it. She explained that it was really just a way to let people who did not make the team a chance to play.
"The game is Gryffindor and Hufflepuff versus Slytherin and Ravenclaw. There isn't anyone to play the other beater for our team. You are strong and should be able to play beater easily, plus you have a good dynamic with our other beater, and that is important in a team," She said.
Kija ended up agreeing to play. He walked out to the field and wondered what he was getting himself into.
"Hey White Snake come here," Someone called.
Kija turned sharply and spotted Hak standing with a group of other students.
Kija marched over and said, "I'm not a white snake."
"Whatever," Hak replied.
The Gryffindor captain looked at the two boys. "Even though the match is for fun, we should try to win. So play nice," She said to them.
Hak and Kija looked at the captain and nodded.
"Good," She said to the two of them. She turned to the group at large and said, "Okay so here is the plan for the match. We want to win, but more importantly, we want to have fun."
Tetora explained the basic rules of Quidditch so that people who did not know much about the sport could learn what to do. Kija listened, he already knew this from watching the game, but it never hurt to learn more. As the captain talked, she used the names of the gathered students to explain what to do. Kija looked at the gathered students, most of them were younger than he was. He noticed that Shin-ah was standing near the back of the gathered students. Other than Hak, Tetora, and Shin-ah, Kija did not know any of the other students.
She finished her explanation of what the seeker does and then turned to Shin-ah. "Shin-ah your job is the most important. You need to find the snitch; that ends the match and gives us a large number of points. If you could catch it later in the game, that would be ideal. We are only allowed to play one match, and we want it to last."
Shin-ah did not say anything, but he nodded. Tetora accepted this as an answer. She and the rest of the team put on protective gear. Kija thought it was weird that the gear was orange but he was not going to complain, there was probably a reason for that. He and Hak were given bats and then everyone grabbed a broom. Some of the students had brooms of their own, but most of them had to borrow one.
Once everyone was ready the captain led the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff team.
The Slytherin and Ravenclaw team was waiting.
"It's about time you get here," The opposing captain said. Kija did not know his name, but he knew that the opposing team's captain was a Slytherin.
Tetora rolled her eyes and then said, "Well unlike you, I had to let my team know what was going on."
Tetora and the Slytherin team captain were dating. It was supposed to be a secret, but everyone knew about it. So while the two captains bickered, Kija looked at the other team. They were all wearing purple gear. He looked at the opposing team's players. He did not know most of them. He recognized someone from the Ravenclaw team, but almost everyone else was not on a house team.
Then Kija saw Jae-ha. He was standing with his team looking bored. Jae-ha was the Slytherin seeker, of course he would be at this match. Kija felt his heart skip a beat. Jae-ha seemed to have that effect on him recently Ever since their talk in the dungeons something about Jae-ha seemed more appealing than before. Kija did not understand. Nothing about Jae-ha had changed. He was still that flirtatious Slytherin with the long flowing green hair and beautiful purple eyes.
Kija was snapped out of his thoughts when Hak said, "I'm surprised you have time to be here Droopy Eyes."
Jae-ha shrugged and said, "I could say the same to you. Yona mentioned that you were busy today. I thought you were on a date. She seemed so flustered when she spoke to me. I wonder why."
Hak narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak when he was cut off by Tetora. She was either unaware of the argument or did not care.
"Okay. We are the Orange team, they are the Purple team. Now let's go out there and win this," she said.
Everyone on both teams gathered around a box. The flying instructor was there as the referee. She opened the box, released the snitch and the bludgers and then took the quaffle and threw it up. They took off and the game began.
Kija and Hak were flying around trying to protect their teammates from bludgers.
The purple team was showing no mercy. The first three points went to the purple team. Then the orange team started scoring. Pretty soon both teams were neck and neck. Kija flew around the field trying to help out his team. Occasionally he would beat a bludger away from a teammate in the general direction of the purple team. He looked to see what Hak was doing and saw that his fellow Gryffindor was doing the same thing he was.
As the game wore on, it was getting easier for Kija to aim bludgers in the right direction. He still had yet to hit anyone, but as long as they scattered Kija thought that he was doing something right.
At one point late in the game, Kija flew over to Shin-ah and blocked a bludger from hitting him.
"Are you doing okay Shin-ah?" Kija asked.
The blue-haired boy nodded at Kija and then turned in a different direction.
Kija started to fly in a different direction when he heard someone say, "Shin-ah found the snitch!"
Kija turned to look and saw that Shin-ah was flying at full speed towards the purple team hoops. Jae-ha was hot on Shin-ah's heels. The pair of them were getting closer and closer to the ground as they chased the snitch downwards.
Kija saw a bludger zooming nearby and took his chance. He hit the bludger with all of his strength into Jae-ha's direction.
Jae-ha did not see the bludger until it knocked him off of his broom and into the ground. Fortunately, Jae-ha was close enough to the ground that the fall was not too bad. Shin-ah caught the snitch and the game ended.
Kija was staring in horror at Jae-ha. He had knocked Jae-ha off of his broom. What if Jae-ha had been further in the air? What if Jae-ha died because of him?
Hak whistled from right next to him. "Nice hit White Snake," the Gryffindor beater said.
"I'm not a white snake," Kija replied.
"Wow. I had a feeling you had a crush on Droopy Eyes, but I didn't think it was this bad," Hak said.
Kija glared at Hak and then flew down to the ground.
Jae-ha was standing up. He was covered in dirt but he had a big smile on his face. A smile that Kija had never actually seen before, but he wanted to see more of.
Kija landed and walked over to Jae-ha.
Jae-ha was laughing.
The Slytherin captain was shaking his head. Tetora was steering students away from the laughing Seeker.
"You need help," The Slytherin captain said to Jae-ha exasperatedly.
Hak landed next to Kija and walked over to Jae-ha saying, "Did you seriously enjoy that? You pervert."
Jae-ha looked at Hak and said, "One must appreciate the finer things in life, Hak."
"Right because pain is totally one of the 'finer things in life,'" Hak replied.
Kija watched the two banter. Had he seriously been worried about that Slytherin pervert? Jae-ha could take care of himself.
Kija started to walk past the two of them when someone grabbed his sleeve.
He turned his head and saw Jae-ha grinning at him.
"You should do that again sometime," Jae-ha said with a wink.
Kija felt his face get hot.
Hak called to Jae-ha again and Kija yanked his sleeve out of Jae-ha's grip. Kija hastily started walking to the locker rooms.
As Kija entered the locker rooms he vowed to never play quidditch again.
But he also vowed to find more ways to make Jae-ha smile like that.