mischief boy! nishimura riki

10: library chase

riki lay in bed, staring at the ceiling for the past 2 hours.

his mind kept replaying the events from earlier.

everytime he thinks of umi, a lopsided smile forms on his face.

her smile.
her eyes.
everything that she does.
it makes him laugh.

but of course, he'll never admit it to her.

riki turns to the side, outstretching his arms towards the nightstand for a box of 'bertie bott's every flavour beans'. however, his fingers curl around a thin, long object. he tilts his head to look at the object, and his eyes lit up.

umi's wand. she must have left it here in her haste to leave.

he had to seize this opportunity.

🪄

riki turns his head when the nurse comes in and immediately sits up in his bed.

he sucks in a breath, and rambled, "heynursei'mfinenowallowmetotakemyleavethanks!" riki hurriedly throws his sheets to a corner, puts on his slippers and sprints towards the exit, not even caring to listen to the nurse's hollering.

there's more important things to settle.

🪄

umi quickened her footsteps. it was nearing library closing hours, and she needed to grab a copy of her potions book to complement her research.

it was 15 minutes to 6. there was enough time. or not. at hogwarts, it was not uncommon for students to get lost.

by the time umi navigated her way through the moving staircases and various corridors, she finally arrived at the entrance of the library.

5 minutes to closing time.

she strode inside, briskly zooming through the various sections as if she knew the place by heart.

but what you didn't know was that the book she was searching for, was in the forbidden section.

in umi's 6 years here at hogwarts, she has impressively managed to read every single book on every single shelf in the school's library. well, at least the approved ones.

she had yet to complete her forbidden books collection. and this particular potions book, was the last missing puzzle.

she surreptitiously scanned her surroundings. she knew the librarian always slacked off and was rarely ever in the library anyway. at this time, there was also roughly a 0.00000001% chance of a person walking through.

she tip-toed, outstretching her arms towards the green paperback book on the far corner of the top shelf.

well, she might have faced a little difficulty getting the book off the shelf. 

umi cursed quietly. this was the one time her height failed her.

she continued failing her arms up and about, but all resulted in failed attempts.

3 seconds to closing time.
2.
1.

the lights went out in unison. umi was shrouded in darkness.

she felt something move. something pressed against her.
she smelled something familiar. it smelled like cologne.

she looked up, and could make out a gap in the shelf.

the book was gone.

umi slowly turned around.

she could barely make out the silhouette of the figure in the dark, but the tall figure was basically trapping her against the shelf.

she could almost feel her heart beating out of her chest. a million questions running through her mind as her head started spinning.

she couldn't breathe.

"lumos."

umi knew that voice. deep and raspy.

the figure held a wand, as the faint glow that emitted from it lighted up the area a little.

umi slowly trailed her eyes to the face of the figure, even though she knew who it was.

and sure enough, it was nishimura riki. as expected.

in the dim glow of the chilly library, riki looked... different. his hair was tousled messily, and umi's heart slightly skipped a beat.

"are you going to keep staring at me like that?" riki whispered teasingly, nudging umi's shoulders.

umi quickly looked down, her cheeks dusted in a light pink shade

cute.

riki pushed the book into her chest, and commented, "what were you doing here in the forbidden section? ms goody two shoes is up to no good~" 

umi raised her voice a little. "it's none of your business."

"really? i think you forgot something."

it was time for the entrance of the wild card.

riki slowly pulled out the long object out of his pocket.

umi's eyes widened.

she stretched out her arm, as if expecting the wand to be returned to her, but riki teasingly pulled back his hand.

"give me back my wand!"

"hmmm...i don't see a reason why."

"riki. this isn't funny."

riki chucked a little, hoping to get a reaction out of umi.

and it worked. umi pouted and her eyebrows furrowed.  riki made sure to cherish this adorable side of her.

wait, adorable? umi isn't adorable! she's so annoying. 

needless to say, a silent game of tag ensued around the library as umi chased after riki for her prized wand.

but the game was cut short when both of them heard footsteps.

the librarian.
____________
hello everyone! so sorry for keeping everybody waiting, i was terribly busy with my examinations
hope u enjoy this chapter! i will be spliting it into two parts :)