“what happened to mr. big brain ichigo? got a bad case of the butterfingers?” it’s unfair of him to continue with the taunts, but malcolm is genuinely upset and—fine, he’s scared too. just a tiny bit. he doesn’t want to be lost here all night! who knows what could be lurking in the shadows, waiting for them to fall asleep so it can attack? malcolm might not be easy prey, but a soft target like ichigo is! and… well, he’s a little bit worried too. ichigo came here to find him, so that makes ichigo’s safety his responsibility. malcolm isn’t good with responsibility.
sighing, he drops his arms to his sides and inches closer to the river’s edge, gnawing on his bottom lip. “i hope you have a backup plan, o wise saviour of mine,” he says finally. “the sun’s going down real fast.”
ichigo's done a few pretty stupid things in his life. he tends to consider himself smart, poised, well put-together and all that but he has slip-ups, as he's human -- but it just so happens that these stupid slip-ups tend to happen more often when malcolm's involved.
ichigo only messed up this badly due to being distracted by malcolm’s stupid self so obviously, this is his fault. he only came out here to help him, therefore, it's not fair that malcolm is the one being angry. it's weird enough to see malcolm's usually-amused teasing take that kind of edge anyway, because it doesn't happen often; only when ichigo manages to strike a nerve. it feels a bit different today, though. when ichigo peers down at him, eyes narrowed, he wonders why he finds malcolm's more emotional reactions like this so intriguing.
then, malcolm's words actually soak in: just like that, ichigo's pissed again.
his face turns sour. "oh, shut up. none of this would've happened if you weren't out here playing in the dirt. you don't have to make it so obvious that you have nothing better to do. we know," he speaks quickly; his tongue burns. he to make worse jabs at him, he’s definitely poised to do so, but his own frustration -- and the anxiety building from the immediate danger of not having their wands, is distracting. he can't really come up with anything good. but he sniffs: "so direct your anger toward your own stupid impulsive tendencies, please."
"and i'm not going to dirty my hands by pushing you, but i do wish you'd fallen in instead," he adds, narrowing his eyes. "i'd have one less problem to worry about." oh. 'worry about' is not what he should have said -- that definitely gives off the wrong impression. he doesn't worry about malcolm. he's especially not worried right now. he is in fact, angry enough that if he had an ounce less of self-restraint he would have reached forward and shoved on malcolm's chest to at least scare him but no, ichigo is not a violent person. and he can't kill malcolm because he's smart enough to know that he doesn't want to be out here alone.
he exhales quickly through his nose and turns around, beginning his walk down the river's edge. he doesn't have a backup plan, and the idea of going anywhere sans his wand is stressful to say the least, but he doesn't want to say so. it's obvious, though-- what is there to do? they'll have to talk to the staff at camp and see if anyone can get them some sort of temporary wands until they return to hogwarts... ichigo scowls to himself at the thought of admitting what happened to anyone, but he has no choice. maybe he could lie and just say malcolm dropped them both... it'd be more easy to believe, right?
he frowns at the horizon. his plan, using the glint of his jewelry from before, will only work when there's still daylight. the sky is turning orange but there's still just enough hitting the trees that he's sure it'll be fine. worry sets in as ichigo's gaze travels down the trees on the left of the riverbank, trying to spot that little glitter. as a cold breeze blows by, he hugs his elbows closer to him and continues stepping carefully over the wet ground.
"i do have a way to out, so follow me," ichigo calls back over his shoulder and sniffs. "or don't, i don't care." he does wait for malcolm to acknowledge him though, and turns back to the left. he stops in his tracks as he sees rustling from a tree. he squints, just enough to make a little glint come into focus. he blinks, relief washing over him before he realizes the light is moving, and moving fast -- towards him.
there's a sudden burst from the leaves as one of those demon birds comes shooting out with the shiny object in its feet, colliding directly into ichigo as he only has time to block his face before the bird comes at him. it's not an attack -- the bird seems just as startled as ichigo as it drops the necklace and successfully flaps up into the air, while ichigo yells and loses his balance. he tips backwards just enough to fall into the water with a splash.
it all happens in only a few seconds --
the water is ice cold, sending an awful shock through ichigo's body as he's wholly submerged. he manages to gasp once before the river rapids send a freezing wave over his face and blurs his vision completely. ichigo, panic rising, tries to find purchase on the rocks near his feet so he can stand up, which should be easy because the water really isn’t that deep, but his shoes keep slipping off of the algae, and the strong current makes it impossible to right himself, his writhing does him no good.
with roaring in his ears and burning in his eyes and nose, ichigo, for the first time in a long time, feels nothing in his heart but un-slytherin-like fear. if he was able to think clearly, he’d hate the fact that he’s about to die in a horribly embarrassing way in front of malcolm more than the fact that he’s about to die at all.
but the cold must be making his brain shut down, because he’s not able to think clearly and suddenly the gryffindor is the only thing on his mind. malcolm! his mind calls out, desperate, as he squeezes his eyes shut, empty hand reaching up toward the surface.
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