Of quidditch, quaffle, and broken shoulders

[Ryuuji Tsukino]

Ryuuji felt a very familiar stifling pressure coming from the back of his head. Even though his eyes were closed he still felt as if the room was spinning beneath where he lay, as if he could feel the earth spinning while he clung to it desperately, hoping beyond hope that gravity would hang in there and not just choose to chuck him off at the first sign of weakness. As he slowly regained consciousness he became aware of where he was and what had happened to him. The quidditch match against Slytherin had just ended, and believe it or not, Ravenclaw had just won. It was his first match, and he must admit, he was really nervous at first. He wasn't able to block the first try of the Slytherins, thus resulting to Ravenclaw being behind by ten points. He had managed a few rounds later, but then, for the second time, he failed to stop the snakes from scoring. He could still hear his captain's voice yelling at him, telling him to pay attention. And to add up, he was hit by the bludger too. He managed to finish the game though, and the pain caused by his injury was temporarily forgotten as he cheered with his team. They'd go against the Gryffindors for the finals, and he can tell that everyone is excited. Winning the match would gain their house more points, which would be really helpful considering how behind they are already. He groaned and attempted to wiggle up into a more comfortable position without getting light headed. They have no alternates in their team, and the match with the gryffindors is sure to come. So he must recover fast.

He had discovered sometime that he had only been able to move his left arm about one foot out in any direction. Great, how could he play and catch the quaffle if his arm is like this? He moved his arm to test his pain tolerance. He was only able to discover how hurt he was when they had already left the pitch. Maybe he shouldn't have left? The quidditch pitch must have some healing powers preventing his shoulder from hurting - alright, that was pretty impossible. He remembered running towards the hospital wing as soon as he left the pitch and as soon as he realized that his shoulder is about to get worse if he won't have it healed faster. He probably fell asleep after drinking the pain numbing potion given to him earlier. Just then, Hogwart's nurse hurried into the room carrying several potions bottles filled with brightly colored, clear liquids. Ryuuji took the offered potion and tipped it to his mouth, taking a small test sip. He immediately spit it all out, spraying it over the bed. He grimaced and gulped the rest of the vile potion down. It tasted like horrible lemonade that he would make at home. Or maybe even worse. He gagged and stuck his tongue out to try and wipe the taste off. It didn't work. But he must admit, despite the taste, the potion seemed to be doing what it was supposed to be doing. Unfortunately though, it had still tasted nasty. He then began to untangle himself from the sheets and tentatively swung his legs down from the bed and onto the floor. It was very cold, but given that the floor was stone, it was pretty much inevitable. He pushed himself up and stood for a few seconds before slumping back down onto the bed because of the effort it had taken. Apparently the potion only took care of pain, and didn't help him get back his strength. He was dead tired after the match.​

<i></i>

 

[Justin Kuya]

Justin slowly opened his eyes and glared sharply at the little buzzing noise he could hear ringing around his head, it was starting ot give him the greatest headache known to mankind. For awhile now there was a fly, one singular fly that continue to buzz around Justin's head. He didn't know why the fly decided to buzz loudly around his head, but it was, and it was very very annoying to the Slytherin, who was currently lying down in the hospital wing after loosing feeling in his right arm and shoulder from the bludger he was hit by in the Quidditch match Slytherin lost. It wasn't that he played badly, it was that Slytherin went through three Keepers, hit was hit by a bludger, Ravenclaw's keeper had skills, and the Slytherin Seeker seemed to take a holiday, leaving it up to the Chaser to try and stop the Ravenclaw Seeker catching thr Snitch, and it didn't work because Alyss and Justin was Chasers, not Seekers, they were not allowed to touch the Snitch, they were not allow to crash-tackle the Seeker (though Justin had considered leaping off his broom at her and draging her to the ground), that was illegal and would have gotten him sent off, though now that he thought about it, he should have tried because the game was nearing the end anyway, but he couldn't leave Alyss doing all that by herself, it wouldn't be fair on her. He groaned and slowly found the inspiration to sit up and swat at the fly, which flew off into the distance. Thank the spirits for that one.

Justin put his hand to his throbbing head, sometimes this happened when he slept in warm places, such as this Hospital Wing, under a window that beamed sunlight onto his head. He groaned slightly and looked at his shoulder, which seemed to have its very own heartbeat, and it looked slightly bigger too, obviously swollen. How wonderful. He looked around, squinting his eyes slightly from the change of light, suddenly it was all brgith now, because he had opened his eyes. He tried to move his right arm again, nothing. Atleast this didn't happen on the Pitch, or he would have been screwed, and atleast it was his right arm, not his dominate left arm, otherwise he would have been one hundred percent useless in the game and probably would have been personally thrown off his broom by the Captain and thrown onto the benches, like the other two keepers. Which was part of the reason why he was so annoyed about losing, the Slytherin Captain. Went. Crazy. Justin couldn't remember everything because of his current headache, but he was suprised that he was alive, because he thought for sure that he would never see the light of day again when the Ravenclaw Seeker caught the snitch. His attention was drawn by coughing and gagging, and soon he found that he was sharing the hospital wing, with the Ravenclaw Keeper. When the nurse came to him with suspicious looking liquids, he simply stared at her until she explained herself. Aparently they were going to help his shoulder, which wasn't helping him because he didn't have a game to go to, he was usless for now, but he still drank the potion, well, he held it in his mouth and pretended to swallow. It wasn't good at all, but he did not have the same reaction as the Ravenclaw Keeper at the taste, he stood up, feeling the sudden cold attack his warm, bare feet. He stumbled carefully over to the window near his bed and leant his head out the window. The nurse though she could give him a random potion? She was wrong. He spat the potion out and brushed his arm against his mouth. His shoulder would heal its own way, or no way.
​

 

[Ryuuji Tsukino]

The sound of someone moving stole Ryuuji's attention away from the pain in his left shoulder. He was pretty sure that the nurse had already left a few minutes ago, so that could only mean one thing, he wasn't the only occupant of the room. Maybe it was his Captain, from what he could remember, he had suffered the same way that he is. In fact, he was the first one to be hit by the bludger. He wasn't sure if he was ready to talk to his captain alone yet, he doesn't even clearly remember what had happened after everyone from his team had celebrated their victory. Nevertheless, he didn't want to talk to his captain yet, cause well, who knows what he'll hear. That he's out of the team? Or that he could not play because of his injury? Yes, his team may have no alternates at the moment, but the captain may do something to fill his place. Not that he could do something if that was the case, but of course, he wished to all the spirits out there, to the shrine guardians that he knows, that he wouldn't be kicked out of the team. He may not have done so much as he had let the quaffle in two times, but he tried. He promised to do better next time, he really does, and the injury on his shoulder, forget it. He'll still play. Thankfully though, it wasn't his captain who was sharing the room with. It was a slytherin. He sighed out of relief and made himself comfortable on the bed again. If he wanted to recover fast, he shouldn't move. His eyes though, followed the occupant's movements. The boy seemed to really familiar. He's a slytherin, and seemed like, just like he does, his shoulder in injured too. Poor him, must have had gotten it from the quidditch match too. With a shrug, Ryuuji closed his eyes only for him to open them again at a sudden realization. Wait, what? The other occupant's a slytherin, his shoulder is injured, and he just look like he had just finished a quidditch match - there's something wrong there, slytherin, quidditch, injured shoulder, it's him! It's that chaser who had been glaring at him after the game; it's that chaser who looked like ready to kill him. Great, just great. Here he was, alone in the room with the person who seemed to be really annoyed that Slytherin had lost and seemed to be hating him from doing his job as a keeper. How could he not recognize him immediately? Well, from the looks of it though, the boy seemed to not recognize him either, or more so, probably didn't acknowledge him at all. He's leaning towards the latter. He was sure that he had been purposely ignored. His brain, numbed by pain, struggled to think of a way to get out of this awkward situation. He came up with two choices, try to start a conversation, or follow what the boy did and just go on the 'I don't care about you' path. The second option seemed to be more attractive, but that would just be rude. Who knows? Maybe the boy had already cooled down? Maybe he won't shoot him daggers anymore. So with a mental count of three and a deep breath, Ryuuji tried to talk to the boy.

"Etto...it was a game well played." Great, what a smart way to start a conversation, he had talked before he had fully organized what he was supposed to say. His statement was just the most ridiculous statement ever. He just had to remind the boy about the game, job well done for him. Hopefully though, the boy wouldn't take any offense or misunderstood what he had said. It was okay, he wouldn't die yet, would he? A heavy silence fell over the room as Ryuuji waited for the Slytherin chaser to talk. The boys spent the next few minutes in total silence that Ryuuji stared sulkily at his toes, wiggling them every now and then to check that he hadn't died of this awkwardness yet. He had to be civil, he had to be polite. He doesn't need to be intimidated or anything. He looked at the boy. He remembered him trying to score a lot on the match. He must applaud him for that determination. But since it was his job as a keeper to block these goals, that's what he did. Which is probably why the guy was ignoring him, or was shooting those glares at him after the match. He wondered though what had happened with the Slytherin team. Did the captain really tried to kill her team? That's pretty impossible considering that they were at school and that the chaser was still here, yet, Ryuuji still couldn't shake the feeling that the Slytherins' had had it worse - worse than the pain in his shoulder right now. Ryuuji's usually not one to judge a person before fully knowing him or her, but really, he was can't help but to find Slytherin's captain to be scary, that he cannot help but get scared for the Slytherin team's life as well as his team's own. "You should have drunk the potion. It helps." He saw the slytherin spat out the potion given by the nurse, that is not a very good move. It would only prolong and intensify the pain on the slytherin's shoulder in his opinion. He didn't know whether the slytherin would take his words lightly or tell to shut the h3ll off. Either way, whatever happens, he'll try to be civil and calm first.​

 

[Justin Kuya]

Justin watched the strange solution fall to the ground and smirked slightly. He oh so hated medication, he much preferred to suffer all pain, some called him sick, he liked to think he was 'natural', it wasn't his fault he found his own suffering better than taking healing potions, it was his right to decide just how much he suffer, a broken shoulder and fractured collar bone seemed to be what the doctor ordered. He looked at the cloth that was wrapped around his arm, keeping it at a right angle to his chest, he was sure the nurse was going to wonder why he would take so long to heal, he'd probably play dumb and innocent, with his looks he could pull off dumb very well, he wasn't sure if this was a compliment, but he didn't very much care for what people thought of him. Justin blinked curiously when he heard actual words come from the very person he was ignoring. The Ravenclaw Keeper. It was strange. Justin liked him, he thought he was skilled on the Pitch and deserved respect, a lot of it, he continued playing even though he had been hit by a bludger and was getting menacing glares from yours truely the entire time. That didn't mean Justin was actually going to act like he liked him, or thought that he deserved respect, because Justin work like that. Not at all. He was not going to change his natural personality in order to befriend the boy, if he wanted to talk to the Slytheirn Chaser, he'd have to do it on Justin's terms. He sighed deeply and flicked some of his ash blonde hair out of his ice-blue eyes, then cast them upon the Ravenclaw. Usually Justin had quite appealing eyes, but right now he was purposefully making them unwelcoming, because acting in such a manner entertained him to no end. Because Justin loved seeing others scream in angry and annoyance by his actions, but only if they were going to do it correctly, someone like Isabella Romanes, his Slytherin Captain, was not the right sort of person to 'play' (as he dubbed it) with, but someone like the Slytherin Seventh year he had been resently stalking was, so it would be trial and era with this boy. Justin had never 'played' with a boy before, this should be interesting.

"Yes." He stated quietly, speaking loudly obviously not a strong point. "By your team." He added as an after-thought. In Justin's honest opinion, Slytherin could have played much, much better, but the Keepers were weak, and the Seeker was weaker, while the beaters that shoulder have been protecting him were too slow, and if he had to critque himself, which he had many times, he thought that he should have been more in the face of the Ravenclaw Seeker as she hunted, even if it was not his job, he should have atleast tried, like Alyss had, to stop her, well, he should have tried harder. But otherwise the Beaters were very good, as were the Chasers, and Isabella did pretty well as the Keeper, the Seeker? Well... Justin had yet to hear from her, in all honesty, he didn't really care, she had gone AWOL the whole end of the match, and if she wound up dead, he would look no further than Isabella. But what made his insides laugh, but him outwardly rolled his eyes, was the Ravenclaws suggestion. Drink that solution? Wasn't going to happen. Unlike the Ravenclaw, Justin had nothing to look foward to now, only going to France to visit his b!tch of a mother, and his beloved twin, Drake, whom he missed more with each passing day. He couldn't help but think that if Drake were in that crowd when he played in the Quidditch game, he would have tried harder than he had, even though he was sure he playing the best he could, but in Justin's eyes, there was always room for improvement. "Prehaps to those that need it." He replied, hopping onto a bed in front of the boy, careful no to damge his collar bone and shoulder as he did so. "But unlike you, I have nothing to look forward to but the pain my shoulder will provide me." He explained, taking a deep breath and then letting it go out of boredom. It was the Ravenclaw that needed the potion, because he would be playing Quidditch, while Justin would be sitting in the Stands.
​

 

[Ryuuji Tsukino]

Ryuuji could say a lot of things about how the young slytherin was acting. And none of it includes him being really friendly and warm, because honestly, the look in the Slytherin's eyes was anything but welcoming. Seriously, if he was annoyed at him, or more so, if he was trying to make it seem like he had no time to spare talking to him, he was not trying to hide it. It was quite obvious really. But being who he was, Ryuuji tried to give it one more chance. After all, it doesn't look like the chaser would jump at him and strangle him just like what he had imagined at first. Yes, the chaser seemed to really distant and all, but it doesn't look like he would kill him at the moment. So with a sigh, Ryuuji decided to not let his temper get the best of him. Yes, he hated being ignored and being treated the way the chaser is treating him, but Ryuuji is known as someone who can stay relatively calm in most situation. So even if there is tiny little voice urging him to be sarcastic and not let this chaser act like he was way superior than him, Ryuuji decided to keep it all in. He's not going to explode and yell at the boy for such small little things. Just give him a chance. Cause just maybe, he still wasn't over with what had happened with the game.

The way that the slytherin responded to his statement had made no room for further conversation, and that had made it even more awkward for Ryuuji. He was really trying, emphasis on trying, to talk with the boy. After all, they were the only occupants of the room, and it seemed like they were to stay there for quite sometime. So what else could they do to prevent themselves from dying of boredom other than to talk to each other? If there was another option, Ryuuji would have gladly left the chaser in his own box, considering how obvious it is that he was not even attempting to let him in. But there's none. It's not like he could just start and talk with the nurse, because first, he figured that the nurse had lots of better things to do other than to keep him entertained, and second, it's not like they would have any common things to talk to. So yes, his only choice would be to befriend this guy. But from the way things is going. It is perfectly one-sided. "There are still a lot of things to look forward to... It's better to recover fast, I mean, it's not the end of the world." He commented absentmindedly as he played with the sheets, trying the ends into knots as he had to keep his hands occupied or else, he'll really die of boredom. Ai and Conan hadn't visited him yet. Not that he can blame them though, with the exams coming up, they might be busy studying. Shaking his head, he reached out to mess his already messy hair. He really had nothing else to do. Without a word to his roommate, he decided to lie down again. Maybe try to get another sleep as it seemed like it would be hopeless trying to talk to the boy. He tried to count imaginary sheep, but alas, even that didn't work. And in just a matter of minutes, he is us again. He turned to look at the Slytherin once more, and somehow, he cannot help but frown. How could he stand this heavy silence when Ryuuji himself is already suffocating in it? With a really loud sigh, he decided to try to start a conversation again. "You know, you've done a really great job as a chaser..." He had no ill intention in his statements whatsoever. But really, he just wanted to talk and not be surrounded by that heavy silence all over again. He didn't have any other subject to talk about though except for the quidditch match, after all, that's where he had met the Slytherin. "By the way, I'm Ryuuji Tsukino. What's your name?" It was a very basic question when one is trying to be friends with another person. He didn't know whether it will work. But at least, somehow, he tried, right?​

 

[Justin Kuya]

Justin watched with curiosity as the Ravenclaw continued to speak, or attempt, to speak with him. The boy must really want to speak with him, for whatever reason. But it was slightly annoying, because he seemed like one of those haooy and nice, pleasent people, which meant that he probably wouldn't yell, or attack Justin without some serious annoying being done on Justin's end. But Justin wasn't sure he wanted to work that hard, just so the boy wwould attack him, it didn't seem worth his while, unless the boy was particularly funny when angry, but how was Justin to know that? He stared at the boy, no, studied him, like he wwould study something he was intrigued by, or found particularly confusing. Not that he was confused by the boy, what was tthere to be confused about? Hope much really. The only thing that brought Justin comfort, was the fact that the biy did seem a little confused, maybe even annoyed, which meant that Justin already had a foot in the door, he just had to push it open and discover this boys limits, after that? Maybe then they could talk, but only if he passed. Justin cracked his neck, and re focused on the biy, who seemed to be trying desperately to get out of the awkward conversation Justin was purposefully creating, just by simply showing no interest in his eyes and features. The added fact that he was giving off an arogant and superior vibe probably pissed the Ravenclaw off, it usually did.Justin nodded slightly, the boy was ccorrect, losing the game definately wwas not the end of thw world, in fact, just playing the game would make his fathers and brother proud, because everyone else in the family wwas unsuited to actually play Quidditch, except maybe Drake, but he nnever tried because he was bad under stress, but everyone else were bad flyers, or too sscared tto even ttouch aa broom, let alone actually play a game of Quidditch.

"You are correct, Ravenclaw.'' He spoke quietly once again, but his voice was stable and very clear, because he wanted tthe bbiy tto take note of every word that left his lips. ''It isn't the end of the world. But nor is it the begining of Utopia.'' He stated. ''Until such time Utopia comes into existence, I will continue on my current path, not changing just because you are bored senseless in this hospital wing, okay?" Justin turned his back on the biy and smiled to himself, that should stur the biy up a bit, considering that hhe wwas sso condesending and rude in his last sentence, it would be very, very hard to ignore. Justin turned, and say the boy lying down. Had he ggiven up on the game? Such a shame, he showed so much promise... and with that llast tthought, as if the Spirits had heard and took pity on Justin, the Ravenclaw was up again, and ready to speak, once again. Such a determined boy, and with that, he even tried to compliment Justin, obviously trying to get Justin to talk to him. Poor boy, he didn't realize that Justin was playing with him, he really didn't have that much against the biy, except the obvious that hhe won and Justin lost, but that wouldn't make Justin sour totowards him. Justin was only stirring him up until he could stur no more, then hhe wwould watch the biy yell and scream once he'd finished. He could hardly wait. "Your Keeping skills were acceptable.'' He replied robotically, purposefully not fully ccomplimenting the bboy to see his rreaction. The Ravenclaw's skills were above 'acceptable' ' but Justin wasn't going to compliment hhim, not until he'd gotten what he wanted ffrom the Keeper. "You may call me Justin.'' He replied, finally discovering the biys name, iit wasn't his style to know that names if the peoppeople he upset, but the boy left him no choice but to learn it. Stupid boy.
​