The sparrow & the fox

Second year. 

With 12, right at the beginning of his second year, Shinichi had become a Beater for his quidditch team. He was good at flying his broom, a Nagumo Thruster, which he had gotten at his last birthday and was very proud of. 

He was even better at hitting bludgers though. So much even, he became almost feared for his hard and precise hits. Ran also joined her quidditch team not long after him and became a Beater for the dragons too, so he was excited to play against her. 

It was the first match in March between their two cardinal houses, when he noticed something was clearly wrong after the first half of the game. One of the bludgers kept coming after him, it almost seemed, like it was cursed to hurt him especially. 

It was becoming extremely hard to dodge out of the way and hold his concentration on the rest of the game, as it kept coming especially after him more and more. And then it happened... he couldn't fly out of the way fast enough and was hit by the rogue bludger with a brutal force. 

He fell right off his broom down onto the ground, from at least 3 feet high. He tried to do a roll as he hit the sandy ground, but wasn't oriented enough and as the intense pain rushed through his left arm, he knew, he was seriously hurt. He cried out in pain and for a moment blackened out. 

The crowd was in shock and he could hear many people in the stands in upheaval. The game came to a stop and players, a few teachers and his friends ran onto the field. Satô-sensei, the flying instructor and coach at their school, saw the rogue bludger flying towards Shinichi again and threw a spell at it, to stop it, just as he opened his eyes again.

"Shinichi are you alright?" Ran rushed to his side. He rolled over, blinked sand out of his eyes and groaned in pain.

"No, I think I broke my arm..."

"Something was wrong with that bludger, I saw it. It came straight only after you", Ai said concerned, crouching beside him and helped him sit up.

"That was clearly a curse", Heiji grumbled and looked around suspiciously, as if he could find out who cursed it, by just looking at the people around them.

"Let me through, let me take a look at him...", Mōri-sensei declared loudly, parting the crowd like always with his confident stride and aura of self-importance and kneeled down beside him, looking at his arm. Shinichi's mouth twitched. Oh no, not him...

"Um... That's okay, really-", he tried to get his arm back, but Ran's father already used this as something to draw attention to him and his 'many talents' as he liked to call it. A crowd gathered around them. That was also something he always liked to do. 

Shinichi groaned inwardly and tried not to roll his eyes. Oi oi oi... where are my parents when I need them for once? Probably quarrelling somewhere in the school over some stupid jealousy fit again... This can't end well.

"Ah, I see. It's nothing too serious. Nothing I, famous Kogorō Mōri can't fix... Give me your arm, boy. I'll heal it fast, right here and then the game can go on."

"Uh... really? I mean-", he gulped and kept throwing nervous looks around at his friends. "Why you- I mean- Shouldn't I go to the healer for that?" He forced out a weak, nervous laugh. He tried to communicate with his eyes to Hattori and Ai, that they should help him out of this. Discreetly of course, so Ran wouldn't notice. She didn't have to know that Shinichi didn't think her father as the great hero, he made himself out to be all the time.

"Mōri-sensei, I can bring him to the healer, there's no need-", Ai tried, but he cut her off.

"Ah, nonsense. Do not worry, boy. It's a really simple charm I've used countless times in my many travels and adventures in my past. Let's see- Brackium Emendo!" 

He held his wand over Shinichi's arm and for a moment, as Shinichi felt a sensation as if a hundred ants were crawling up his arm, he believed for a second, the man had actually healed him. Even the pain was gone. Then, as he tried to lift up his arm, something weird happened... His arm bent forward, like it was made out of rubber and Shinichi could feel his stomach drop at the sight.

"Ugh...", he made and Kogorō-sensei's eyes bulged almost panicky, before he laughed way too loud in his ear and tried to act over the fact, that this wasn't exactly what he had intended to do. Shinichi could feel himself pale, as Kogoro-sensei wiggled his now boneless arm carelessly around like a toy.

"Hahahaha, see? Now you are completely pain free. It's healed..."

"Healed!? I have no bones left in my arm...", Shinichi squeaked and tried his best not to sound too panicked in front of Ran, who looked doubtful at her father.

"Otō-san, I don't think-", she began, but he hastily talked over her.

"Ah well, you see, that can be a side effect sometimes, if the bone was too broken to mend back correctly- hahaha! I should have mentioned that before. No need to worry..." 

Shinichi's eye twitched. He ground his teeth. If I could, I would slap that conceited idiot, teacher or not... He tried to move his fingers, but nothing happened. He winced.

"Well, he can't play like that, so I think it's better we'll take him to the healer now, Sensei", Ai said frosty with a flat glare and helped him stand up. Hattori was on his other side in an instant and the three of them went off the field.

"I'll come and visit you after the game, yeah?", Ran yelled after them and Shinichi looked back, nodded and smiled lopsided at her.

"Yeah, okay", he yelled back. Kogorō-sensei cleared his throat.

"Yeah, you do that. So... We need a substitute player, but then the game can resume-"

Shinichi noticed that he never once before was in the building, where the healer lived. He didn't even know her name. Up until that moment when Ai and Hattori brought him to the building, he hadn't even realized there was a whole building on the school grounds where she lived and cared for students. 

The minka was farther in the back, a little up a grass hill behind the main temple building and maple trees, bonsais and cherry trees were growing rampant over its large, dark tiled roof with the broad, deep eaves. It was almost completely colored in black, instead of the characteristic red painted wood, like the rest of the school buildings, except for the sliding silk-paper doors, wooden engawa veranda and white tatami flooring. 

Around it, there was a beautiful pond with white water lilies blooming in it and in the garden behind it, there were living at least fifteen peacocks. One of them was also completely white, Shinichi observed, before they entered the minka over the stone steps and took off their shoes in the genkan area. 

It smelled excessively like rice straw, burned earthy incense sticks and herbal scents from oils and ointments, Shinichi noticed, and it immediately calmed him down. As they took off their shoes, they could hear voices, arguing with each other, but in a friendly way. Well, mostly...

"But I'm boo~red... Help me out here, Aoko! You could have at least brought some sweets for me. Look, I'm in a pitiful state, aren't I? It really hurts, you know...", a well known voice whined petulantly.

"Baka, why would I do that? I don't have sympathy for you at all... You wouldn't need to be here in the first place, if you wouldn't constantly do something stupid, that could very well harm you in a serious way! You're lucky that the potion only burned part of your foot. It could have been much worse... What the hell did you even brew, if it burned down your whole cauldron!? Again, may I add. Your mother won't send you a new one, if you burn them down weekly now." 

Shinichi knew that loud female voice... And the first one, he would recognize everywhere... So Kuroba and his friends were here too? What was that annoying guy doing here? Was there nowhere left where he would have peace from him these days?

"Ah, I'll just ask Jii-chan then. And it may have involved a potion using dragon's blood in it...", Kuroba mumbled. Shinichi frowned about that new information and stored it away for later.

Aoko sighed.

"Whatever for, Kaito? This is clearly way above what we learned so far."

"I'd like to know that too... And she is right. Also, you should have used a solid gold cauldron if you used such flammable, acidic ingredients, instead of a simple pewter one...", a slightly snobbish other male voice added nonchalantly and Shinichi could hear Kuroba snort unfriendly.

"I know that, geez. It's basic chemistry... That wasn't the problem, but why am I even telling you that? Who asked you to be here, anyway?"

"I did. And it's very nice of him to come here. Don't be so rude! He was actually worried about you, idiot."

"Haku-chan was worried? About me!? Arw, come here, you big- ouch! Ahoko~! Don't hit the injured..."

"I already regret it. You seem to be completely fine and your usual... self."

"I could always read something for you, Kaito. I even brought chocolates too... I made them only for you", another silky female voice added sweetly.

"Uh, thanks Akako... Didn't you put a love potion in the last ones? I think I decline, thanks."

"I already told you countless times! I did no such thing! I can't help it, if-"

"Uh- hi. Is the healer here somewhere?", Heiji asked into the room and four pair of eyes stared at them.

"You're hurt?", Kuroba asked a bit alarmed and sat up in his futon bed, looking straight at Shinichi who grimaced. He held up his boneless arm and it wiggled around.

"You could call it like that, yeah...", he snorted. All four of them made grossed out noises.

"Urgh... How did you even manage to do that? I thought you were good at flying a broom and stupidly hitting balls in the air...", Kuroba drawled a bit sarcastic and winced at the sight.

Shinichi narrowed his eyes at the biting comment and already wanted to throw a snarky comment back, but Ai snorted.

"Not him. Mōri-sensei...", she grumbled darkly and everybody made a collective understanding sound, knowing the sensei and his antics well already.

"Ah, that makes sense...", Kuroba said and nodded.

"Not that it's any of your business", Shinichi mumbled sourly and let himself fall onto one of the futon beds behind him, sighing exhausted. 

Kuroba glared at him with narrowed eyes, but kept silent. The atmosphere grew significant cooler in the room as both of them stared at each other in silent hostility and Heiji coughed uneasy.

"So... The healer?", he asked again and to his surprise Saguru turned around and called out, like he was at home in the minka.

"Baaaya? There is someone here who needs help."

A stern looking woman came out of the hallway, into the room. 

'Baaya', as Saguru had called her, was an older woman with curled, light grey hair and a hump nose. She was wearing a dark green coat over a casual outfit in grey tones and glasses on a thin golden chain sat on her nose.

"I told you not to call me that in front of patients, Saguru... Hello. My name is Reiko Dori. I'm the healer. You can call me Dori-san. Who is the patient?" She looked from one to another, then her eyes halted at Shinichi who looked miserable on the bed, still in his quidditch outfit, as he held his gummy-like arm in his right hand.

"Oh no... What do we have here now", she mumbled and came closer to inspect it. Shinichi held it out and grimaced.

"How did this happen?", she asked, seemingly in thought.

"A cursed bludger hit me off my broom and I fell on it. I think it broke, since it really hurt before. But Mori-sensei tried to heal it for me and then, well... this happened. He used a spell that sounded like- Brack-"

"Brackium Emendo? Oh that fool...", she sighed and shook her head. 

"That spell is completely wrong for healing broken bones. It vanishes them completely instead, as you can see. You should have come to me right away. But well, now that the damage is already done... wait here. I'll get you something." He nodded and sighed. She turned to all the visitors.

"And while we're at it... I'm sorry, but visiting time is over now. This house isn't big enough for so many people standing in my way when I need to work. You can come back tomorrow morning." That meant Ran couldn't visit him later. Shinichi sighed.

"We'll see you tomorrow then, get well soon!", Hattori patted him on his shoulder. Shinichi smiled and nodded at them. The others left as well. 

And then it was just Kuroba and him, sitting on opposite futon beds in the room, while the silence stretched between them. Shinichi sighed and tried to look everywhere else but him, while Kuroba fixated him with a rather annoying intense look. But before he could say anything, Dori-san came back and handed him a potion to drink. It tasted awful.

"Urgh... What is that?", he asked and shuddered after he gulped it down.

"It will let you grow back that bone you lost today... But be aware, this won't be an easy night. Growing back bones is painful. Prepare yourself. After dinner, I'll give you a sleeping potion so you won't have to suffer through the whole night." 

Shinichi nodded thankful and sighed, as he sank back onto the futon.

It began sometime in the middle of the night. 

After dinner, he had washed and changed into the same plain white pyjamas Kuroba was wearing, then laid down and drank the sleeping potion, which tasted thankfully, mostly like lavender. 

It took him a while, but when sleep finally came, it was a blessing. Sometime in the night though, the bones began to grow back and Shinichi hissed in pain as a white hot, searing pain crawled down his arm and woke him up. The potion must have worn off too early, he thought miserable.

He thought about waking the healer up, but he also knew, she probably wouldn't give him another one anyway. Sleeping potions could slow down the heart, so minors didn't get much of it to drink as a safety measure, he had learned that from his father once. He sighed shuddering and cursed inwardly. 

He tried to keep the noise down, biting down on his lips, breathing hard... but it was painful, Dori-san hadn't lied. He tried to count. Then he tried to take several long, deep breaths. Then he tried to move as little as possible, since he thought, moving his arm would trigger the pain even more. 

Nothing worked. It came in waves and after the seventh one, Shinichi really couldn't help it, he whimpered silently.

"Okay, that's it", he heard Kuroba mumble frustrated on the other side of the room. Apparently he was awake... Had he woken him up? Then naked footsteps came nearer in the dark.

"Lumos!"

Kuroba sat down with determination beside his futon and held his wand in his face. Shinichi winced, from pain and the sudden blinding light in his eyes, then let out a frustrated breath.

"What are you-gnnn... doing?", he breathed out  shaking.

Kuroba beside him snorted.

"What am I doing? I'm listening to you suffer like an idiot. Why aren't you calling for her!? If you won't do it, I will-"

"No use. She won't... give me more...", he said. Talking was strenuous while the waves of pain hit him. Kuroba frowned. The light went out again and the boy beside him cursed under his breath. 

Then Shinichi heard him mumble something and a candle wick nearby caught fire. 

It illuminated the room somewhat warmer and Shinichi blinked relieved. How did he do that though? Was that nexus magic? They weren't supposed to learn that for another year...

"Why not? This is stupid. You need it."

Shinichi made a frustrated sound and tried to control another wave of pain.

"Minors don't get... two flasks of sleeping potion... too dangerous. Heart- could stop."

Kuroba frowned even more.

"Because of overdosing? It could stop the heart?"

Shinichi nodded and hissed again, he breathed hard through his nose as another wave rolled through his arm. Kuroba ruffled through his hair, the sight of him in pain, clearly made him uncomfortable. 

Shinichi didn't understand why he didn't just go back to bed then. He couldn't do anything, anyway... Kuroba let out some breath as if he made a decision.

"If I do something, do you promise to keep your mouth shut about it?", Kuroba asked flatly, a serious look in his eyes, searching his own for confirmation.

Shinichi frowned.

"Is it something... forbidden?"

Kuroba smirked grimly, a wicked glint in his eyes.

"It is. But if I do it, it could lessen your pain immensely. If you tell on me, I could get in seriously trouble for it. If you give me your permission, I'll do it though... just this once. But you have to swear to never talk about it ever again, after this night. Do you swear?"

They shared an intense look. 

They weren't friends, they were rivals. But this night... right now, something had shifted. He could see it in Kuroba's eyes. And whatever he was offering him tonight, it was something offered out of kindness. Shinichi took a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay. I swear."

Kuroba smirked.

"Good, give me your hand. The right one."

"Why?", Shinichi asked warily.

Kuroba snorted.

"Do you trust me?"

Shinichi narrowed his eyes.

"...no."

Kuroba rolled his eyes in impatience and held out his hand to him, the other one was touching the floor, he was sitting on.

"Fair enough. I don't trust you either. But I swear it's nothing bad. Just... do it anyway. You'll see..." He still held up his hand in front of him. 

Shinichi sighed, feeling another wave coming, so he closed his eyes and held his hand up.

"Explain- ngh... it to me, before you- do it."

Kuroba took his hand in his. It felt warm.

"Okay, fine. I won't tell you how I learned this, but I already know a bit of nexus magic. This spell is... kind of forbidden now though", he replied hesitantly.

"Why?"

Kuroba sighed.

"It's a form of blood magic."

Shinichi stared at him with wide eyes.

"What!?"

Kuroba rolled his eyes at his shocked tone.

"See, that's the problem. Everyone thinks, blood magic has to be dark. But there is a light side to it too, everybody seems to have forgotten that for some reason. It's actually part of old healing magic. Very old. But- someone taught it to me recently. In case, I would need it in emergencies. I'd say, this looks like one. It let's me share your pain." Shinichi stared at him. 

He would really do that for me..? Why? Then another wave of pain crawled down his arm and tears were shooting up in his eyes. It burned like fire. He whimpered again. Kuroba looked stressed.

"Okay. Do I have your permission now?"

"... yes."

Kuroba held his hand tightly, mumbled something again, which Shinichi didn't understand, he concentrated too much on the pain. 

But suddenly he felt like a small electric shock in his right hand and a warm feeling, like his hand was held under warm water. After that, the wave of pain in his left arm lessened significantly and Shinichi could breath a sigh of relief. 

The pain was almost gone... He looked at Kuroba who pressed his lips together so hard, they looked like a thin line.

"You weren't exaggerating... Wow, this is really..." Kuroba breathed out in a shaking breath. Shinichi winced and tried to wiggle his hand free. But Kuroba held onto it even stronger and didn't let go.

"Don't... if you break the skin contact, the spell... brakes off too."

Guilt overcame Shinichi.

"But..."

Kuroba shook his head stubbornly.

"It's okay."

Shinichi sighed and felt himself blush, despite the serious situation. He was holding hands with Kuroba of all people. He felt stupid, but at the same time... This was the nicest thing, anyone had ever done for him. The wave of pain lessened again and both of them blew out a long sigh of relief.

"So... want to play a game?", Kuroba asked and wiggled his eyebrows, despite the heavy atmosphere just now. It almost seemed like he wanted to make him laugh.

Shinichi snorted amused.

"Are you serious? Right now?"

Kuroba shrugged and grinned.

"Yeah, of course. Why not? It passes the time. What about some riddles? I know you like those", he coaxed.

Shinichi tried not to smile.

"Okay. How about... What gets sharper the more you use it?"

Kuroba grinned.

"Oh please, that's a riddle for you? The mind, of course. What has thirteen hearts, but no organs?"

Shinichi almost laughed.

"A deck of cards. Too easy."

"Fine. How about this... I am not alive, but I grow. I don't have lungs, but I need air. I don't have a mouth, but water kills me. What am I?"

"The last line always gives it away too fast. Fire. I have a better one. What has one eye but cannot see?"

That took Kuroba a while and Shinichi grinned.

"Let me think about that...", Kuroba mumbled.

"It's no problem if you can't-"

"Hah! A needle!"

This time, Shinichi laughed.

"Yeah, okay. It's your turn."

"Hmm... What can run, but can't walk?"

Shinichi had to suppress a smile, as Kuroba made a ticking sound after a while, when he couldn't think of the answer fast enough.

"Let me think, damnit... Ah, I know. A river."

Kuroba nodded and smiled.

"I have lakes with no water, mountains with no stone and cities with no buildings. What am I?"

"A map? Too easy again."

"Yep. You measure my life in hours and I serve you by expiring. I’m quick when I’m thin and slow when I’m fat. The wind is my enemy."

"Hm... I have to say... I don't know." 

Kuroba grinned.

"A candle." 

Shinichi groaned.

"Ugh. Of course..."

It went on like this for seemingly hours. Both of them didn't notice how long they actually sat there, holding hands and laughing together, telling each other riddles. 

Sometime in the early morning hours, Shinichi's eyes finally fluttered shut and he fell asleep. Kaito beside him let his hand slowly go and laid it softly beside him on the futon. 

They both were so absorbed in their game, they hadn't even noticed, that the pain was already long gone. Kaito smiled a sad smile, as he watched Shinichi sleep.

"There is another riddle for you Shinichi... Why can't we be friends?", he whispered. After a while, he got up and went to his own futon, to finally go to sleep himself. 

Kaito didn't know that Shinichi was a light sleeper though and had heard his words. Shinichi pondered over that question himself for awhile and felt confused and tired as hell... 

When he woke up sometime later, shortly before midday, Kuroba's futon was empty and when he asked Dori-san about him, she answered, he had already left early in the morning. He almost felt like the last night was some kind of fever dream...