Chapter 3: So Wait… Heaven is JAPANESE?


"I hope Harry's okay." Hermione said as Ron sighed glumly.

Their friend, Harry Potter, had been missing for the past thirty minutes, and the Welcoming Feast had yet to start. Dumbledore and McGonagall went looking for Harry, but they had come back without him, instead having two Seventh Year Slytherins behind them as the boy look disgruntle and the girl embarrassed. Now McGonagall was going to usher in the nervous First Years, and things were finally about to begin.

"I'm sure he's fine, Hermione. He's a big kid, he can look after himself." Ron said, though even he wasn't convinced otherwise by his own words.

He knew Harry could do it, but why that Sirius Black out and about…


"Where is Potter?" Snape asked McGonagall next to him. The Irish-witch turned her sharp cat-like gaze on him.

"We couldn't find him anywhere in the castle, but the wards say he hasn't left it since he entered. It was like he… vanished." McGonagall said as Snape muttered something about a room and destroying it.

"I have a clue where he might be, but if he's there he'll be safe. I'm sure Albus thinks the same." Snape said as McGonagall nodded before getting up and doing the sorting.


"Hey, Draco, where's Potter?" Blaise asked as he noticed the empty space between Granger and Weasley.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? What do I look like? His wife?" Draco snapped as Pansy and Theo rolled their eyes while Blaise raised a brow coolly.

"You wish you were though. Anyways, why so wound-up? I thought you were on the potion?" Blaise said as Draco looked a cross between agitated and embarrassed.

"I am! But I'm worried about him, and I can't sense him anymore. I could a few minutes ago, but then it was like he vanished without a trace. I'm… I'm… scared…" Draco said as Pansy and Theo exchanged looks and then looked around the Slytherin table to see everyone looking at Draco in concern. Though one of the Seventh Year boys was scowling at the table with his arms crossed while the girl next to him looked deeply concerned for both Harry and Draco. Weren't those the two that had been brought in by the teachers? Oh well, didn't matter…

"Listen, Draco, if it makes you feel any better, we'll keep an eye out for Potter. With most of Slytherin's eyes scanning for the idiot, I'm one of us will see him." Pansy said as she patted Draco's arm.

"Thanks, Pansy." Draco said.

"Yeah, unless that crazy Black guy got him. Ya know, then he's probably dead by now." Theo said with a shrug as Draco's head hit the table with a burst of sobs while the Slytherins shot Theo a murderous look.


"What's up with the snakes? Look." Seamus said as he pointed at the Slytherin table where Draco's head hit the table and the entire table looked at Theo like they were gonna kill him.

"Don't know. Maybe someone finally killed Malfoy?" Dean said just too brightly as Ginny swatted his arm with a chuckle.

"Yeah, then maybe he'll stay away from stalking Harry." Seamus said as Ron and Hermione looked shocked.

"Wait, he stalks Harry?" Hermione asked as most of the Gryffindor table gave her and Ron a look.

"Yeah he does. What, you guys didn't know? He practically follows Harry around like a lost puppy." Neville said, surprising Hermione and Ron with both his statement and his calmly amused tone.

"But, we've never seen him following us." Ron said as Dean rolled his eyes.

"Of course not, you guys are to busy solving mysteries and saving the school/world. What the hell are you anyway, the Scooby Doo gang?" Dan said as Hermione gave him an annoyed look while Ron looked confused.

"What's a Scooby Doo?" Ron asked as Seamus raised a brow.

"It's nothing, Ron. Now let's get back to the point; Malfoy stalks Harry? Why? I know he can't stand Harry-" Hermione said before those around her burst into laughter, even Ron.

"Oh, silly, young, naïve Hermione…" Seamus said as he wiped away a tears from his laughter. Dean was being supported by Ginny while Ron and Neville were heaped together, their shoulders shaking with suppressed chuckles.

"What?" Hermione asked indignantly as Ron turned back to her, still chuckling some.

"Hermione, even I could see the love for Harry in Malfoy's eyes after last year during the… you-know-what we did. I just always thought Harry either didn't want him, or that he didn't notice. But I thought you would-"

"I didn't know. Malfoy likes Harry? Ron, Harry obviously doesn't know! If he did, don't you think he would have said something to Malfoy?" Hermione said fast as Ron shook his head.

"It's probably because of the lure. Harry isn't effected by it, and none of us are because Draco only has eyes for Harry." Neville said as Ron and the twins nodded.

"Lure? What lure? Is this more wizarding stuff I don't know about?" Hermione said as she crossed her arms and pouted. She'd be using her time-turner to spend some major time in the library this year.

"You don't know about Veela-lure? You don't know about Veela? Merlin, 'Mione, what have you been doing in the library these past two years?" Dean asked as Seamus and Ginny exchanged amused looks.

"Just tell me about the Veela!" Hermione snapped as the others backed away some.

An angry Hermione was never a good thing for anyone.

"Well anyways, Veela are magical creatures of beauty and stuff like that. They-"

"Ron, let me tell it." Neville said, placing a calm hand on Ron's shoulder. Ron nodded with a shrug as everyone turned to Neville. Neville began explaining Veela to Hermione, the others piping in every now and then as Hermione nodded.


"So Malfoy's a Veela? That means he could be trying to seduce Harry to the Dark-side!" Hermione said as she covered her mouth while Seamus and Dean exchanged amused looks.

"Ahh, Star Wars references. You can never hear enough of them." Seamus said as Dean nodded. Hermione shot both of them a look that shut them up as Ron and the other purebloods around them looked confused.

"What's a Star Wars?" Ron asked as Hermione turned to him with the same look.

"Later, Ron. Now as I was saying-"

"Malfoy can't seduce Harry to any side, Hermione." Fred said as George nodded.

"Yeah, because he's the one being seduced… unknowingly and unintentionally. He's the one in love with Harry anyway. Besides, I don't think Harry is all that effected by Veela-lure to begin with." George said as Fred nodded.

"Also, Malfoy's not a full-Veela. He's at the most a half-Veela." Neville said as the others turned to him.

"How do you know that?" Ginny asked as Neville's cheeks colored a bit.

"I studied ancient pureblood family history the year before I came to Hogwarts. My Gram wanted me to do something just in case I couldn't do magic, so she wanted me to be the Head of House Longbottom early." Neville said, his old habit of being timid rising up.

"House Longbottom?" Dean asked as raised his brow. He should have known the magical world would have royals and such…

"Later. Any who, the Malfoys are all Veela or Half-Veela, and the Blacks are normal witches and wizards, so that would make Draco either a half or a quarter-Veela." Neville said, tapping his chin in thought.

"We'll finish this discussion, later. They're about to start the Sorting." Hermione said in a humph, wanting to know more about the wizarding world, but also wanting to be respectful to her fellow students.


Harry's eyes drifted open slowly… only to awaken to the feel of someone's soft lips upon his own. He really hoped he hadn't been drugged by Malfoy or anyone, because that crazy dream about people from Heaven was just too much to believe.

"I think you can stop now, my lovely Lisa. He's regained consciousness." Kyoraku said as Harry could feel the person kissing him, obviously Lisa, not stopping at all.

In fact, the young-looking woman was trying to slip him the tongue. When Harry realized exactly what was going on he gasped in shock that the dream had been real and he was in a sense kissing an angel. Gasping had apparently been the wrong thing to do as her tongue finally found entrance to his mouth and Harry's mind forgot his own name in the pleasant sensation of his and her tongues doing battle inside their mouths.

"Lisa, stop! This is highly unprofessional of you!" Kyoraku said loudly, though the amused grin on his face wouldn't go away.

Lisa finally slipped her tongue back into her own mouth and gave Harry one last kiss before she pulled away from him completely, straighten her uniform as she wondered when the young boy's hands had been roaming under it. The others didn't seem to notice her as Harry was blinking a mile a minute with a silly grin on his face. Ukitake chuckled at the blank look of joy on Harry's face while Sasakibe looked away with his own amused smile. Kyoraku tipped his hat as he closed his eyes, trying to remember his first kiss.

"Now then, I hope you won't be fainting on us again, Mr. Potter." Sasakibe said as he sat back in his seat with the others doing the same.

"H-Huh? Oh, wait… What?" Harry said, his mind still clouded with the sensations he felt from his first kiss. He hoped every kiss was like that, because if his first experience was bad he might have ended up not wanting to kiss another for a while. Lisa sent a wink at him while Kyoraku gave his Lieutenant a look.

"You fainted, Mr. Potter, and when you did you weren't exactly breathing. So we had Lieutenant Yadomaru here give you CPR…" Sasakibe said before he decided to make the situation a bit more light hearted once he saw Harry's panicked look, "Though I don't think that's quite what brought you back around to the world of the conscious."

Harry cheeks colored as he fought down his silly grin, "I'm sorry, but what you said was a lot to take in."

"We understand that, Mr. Potter. We were all once in your shoes, though we were all dead while you're still amongst the living. Never the less, we hope to help you take in this information with as little fuss and pain as possible." Sasakibe said as Harry nodded.

"Why are you all tell me this? I thought you were trying to stay secret?" Harry asked as Ukitake and Kyoraku exchanged looks. There mission of recruiting him to their side was secret, but the mission of protecting the students from harm didn't really need to be.

"Our mission is a bit of a secret, Harry." Ukitake started as Harry turned to him, "However, since you happened to stumble upon us, we'd like to put things in prospective and help you as well."

"Help me? Why?" Harry asked as Kyoraku looked at him.

"It's mostly for your safety that we're here, Harry. As you may know, there is a dangerous character by the name of Sirius Black after you. The dementors are here to protect the students, and we're here to protect the students from the dementors. Though all of us; dementors and we, are mainly here to keep this Sirius Black from killing you." Kyoraku said as Harry lowered his head. Great, people and creatures putting themselves in the way to protect him…

"Now then, we'd like for you to understand our organization as you're one of the few that can actually see us." Sasakibe said importantly as Harry nodded, "You see, Mr. potter, we are from what you would call Heaven, but we refer to it as the Soul Society."

"Soul Society?" Harry asked as Sasakibe and the others nodded.

"That is correct, Mr. Potter. Soul Society isn't that much different from the Wizarding World here. We're both secret, both have their own military forces, and both are ruled by a royal party and elected officials." Sasakibe said, counting off the similarities on his fingers.

"Military forces? So you're not Aurors?" Harry said, feeling a little stupid once the question slipped out. Of course they weren't Aurors! They had just said they weren't a part of Wizarding Britain.

"No, we're not, Mr. Potter, but we're greatly similar. You see, our police forces are called, in your English, the 13 Court Guard Squads, however, where we're based, it would be referred to the 13 Court Guard Companies or Gotei 13."

"Wait, where are you based? I thought it'd be somewhere around here. Are you French?" Harry asked as Ukitake shook his head.

"We're mainly in Japan. Some of our founding members were from the area of the East, so that's where the Soul Society came to be based at." Ukitake said as Harry looked confused.

"So wait… You're telling me… that Heaven is Japanese?" Harry asked, sounding more incredulous than he wanted to. The three Soul Reapers in the room looked mildly put-out by the question, always hating to answer that when they brought Europeans and others to the Soul Society.

"Yes… mostly. It's very complicated…" Ukitake said as Harry was still waiting for an explanation, "We're not Japanese per say, but we were founded on Japanese ideals, ways, and traditions."

"So Heaven is Japanese." Harry stated as Kyoraku grinned at how the kid was playing them.

"Listen, Harry, the Japanese have a lot of issues that we were repeated called for to deal with. Do you know what the Japanese have to go through each and every year?" Lisa said as Harry shook his head.

"Giant monster attacks, evil villains, massive robots, weird powers, alien invasion, ninjas with demons sealed inside of them, and psychos with way too much time on their hands. All the other nations had normal problems, but the Japanese… their messed up. So when our founding members came to the barren land that was Heaven, they setup a base connected to Japan. Trust me, Harry, hundreds of Japanese people come through the Rukongai a day." Kyoraku said as Harry raised a brow.

"The Rukongai?" Harry asked as Sasakibe sighed.

"In English it is referred to as the Rukon District. It's where nearly every soul ends up once they are sent to the Soul Society. There are 320 districts and they are separated by number and coordinal direction. North, East, South, and West. The common spirits are there, but if you have any spiritual power you're able to become a Shinigami or Soul Reaper by joining the Shino Academy. Then you'll be able to work and live in the capital of the Soul Society; the Seireitei." Sasakibe explained as Harry looked confused as ever.

"Basically, Har, if you can do magic you'll be able to go to the Hogwarts of the Soul Society and become a Spirit Police Officer or as you'd call it a Soul Reaper and fight crime." Kyoraku said as he adjusted his hat while Harry nodded in understanding. Why couldn't the guy just say that…?

"Okay, that I understand." Harry said as Sasakibe sighed.

"Harry, the military of the Soul Society are broken down into three groups. The Soul Reaper of the 13 Court Guard Squads are the first and foremost common branch that people recognize. We combat Hollows, which are most of the time evil creatures who wish to only consume souls to sleet their own hungry. We send souls to the Soul Society through a ritual of Konsō or Soul Burial. By placing the butt of our swords to the forehead we're able to send them directly either to the Rukon or to their noble families in the Soul Society." Ukitake said as Sasakibe nodded.

"The 13 Squads are directly run by the Captains of each Division or Squad as you would refer to it. The Captain-Commander, or more commonly the Head-Captain is both the leader of the 13 Court Guard Squads, and the Captain of Squad 1 as well. The only people with more authority than the Head-Captain are the Central 46 and the Spirit King." Sasakibe said, though Harry noted his tone was more like those that he mentioned couldn't even think to challenge the Head-Captain's authority. Sort of like Hagrid was when he talked about Dumbledore and the Ministry.

"The Spirit King is the royal in charge of all of Soul Society and the entirety of the Spirit World. He lives in his own dimension and almost never issues or even interacts with those outside of his dimension." Sasakibe said as he laced his hands together in front of him and leaned forward, almost as if his next words were to be listened to very carefully because they were important, "The Central 46 is a lot like your Ministry of Magic. It is both the legislative and judiciary branch of the Soul Society. It is comprised of forty wise men and six judges. They pass down laws to all of Soul Society and judge those that break the laws, at least those that warrant their almighty attention." Sasakibe said as Harry noticed the sarcasm in his voice, again like Hagrid when he spoke of the Ministry. Harry concluded that this guy must have been the Hagrid to this Head-Captain's Dumbledore.


"Anyways, Har, back to the three branches of military. You see, the second branch is the Stealth Force. Their basically the ninja of the Soul Society. They do uncover missions, assassinations, and do any information gathers that the 13 Squads don't want noticed." Kyoraku said as Harry nodded. This guy was the simplest to understand.

"The last branch is like the witches and wizards of this world. They are the Kido Corps, and they specialize in magic, or as we refer to it as Kido." Ukitake said as Harry nodded, "They work to understand the Kido that we use and create new ones, and some times their called in to perform high-level magics that we of the other two branches can't do. In fact, most witches and wizards that have come to the Soul Society generally go into the Kido Corps."

"I see… So, the 13 Squads are the normal police, the Stealth Force are the ninja cops, and the Kido Corps are the Auror police." Harry said as the others nodded.

"Each branch have to go through the Soul Reaper Academy though. The Soul Reaper Academy, which is called the Shino Academy, is where a soul would learn all their subjects. History, hand-to-hand combat, Sword wielding, Kido, and the functions of the Soul Society." Sasakibe said as he gestured to the swords they were each carrying.

"The first discipline of Hand-to-Hand combat is know as Hakuda." Lisa said as Harry nodded.

"We don't have any of that here; not even in normal schools, but at least they have Physical Education." Harry said with a shrug as the others exchanged looks, but didn't comment.

"The second art of combat is swordsmanship or Zanjutsu as we call it. It's basically a class that teaches how to use our Zanpakuto to fight against enemies of all kinds. It also teaches how to mediate and connect with our Zanpakuto so we can achieve it's released forms." Ukitake said as he pulled out his own Zanpakuto. Harry gazed at the beautifully crafted sword, remembering his using Gryffindor's sword to kill the Basilisk last year.

"Zanpakuto are generally swords which are our main weapon against our foes; namely the Hollows we spoke of earlier. They're basically our trademark as we Soul Reapers are the only well-known group that wield them." Ukitake said as he laid his sword on the table for Harry to see. Harry gently picked it up, feeling the magic inside of it like he had with the sword of Gryffindor.

"Zanpakuto are capable of cutting spiritual bodies; they are amongst the few weapons which can be used to combat Hollows. Each Soul Reaper carries a Zanpakuto, and each Zanpakuto is unique: as the sword is both a reflection of a Soul Reaper's soul and power, and sentient beings unto themselves. The Zanpakuto's name is also the name of the living spirit that empowers the sword and lends its strength to the Soul Reaper who wields it. These beings can vary greatly in appearance and have their own distinct personalities which match their owner's. Normally, the Zanpakuto spirit can only be seen by its wielder. Otherwise, they dwell in their own "inner world", created within the minds of the Soul Reaper who wield them. As such, each Soul Reaper's inner world is drastically different from another Soul Reaper's and is unique to them. A Zanpakuto's spirit can bring its wielder into its inner world, though Soul Reapers can voluntarily achieve this through simple meditation." Sasakibe said as Harry listened, though he never took his eye off of Ukitake's sword in his hands.

"What's the name of your sword, Mr. Ukitake?" Harry asked as Ukitake chuckled.

"Please, call me Jushiro." Ukitake said as Kyoraku smirked beside him, "My Zanpakuto's name is Sōgyo no Kotowari, but in English it means Law of the Twin Fish."

"As we said before, each sword is different and each has two very distinct levels of power. The first is Shikai, and is the initial of the Zanpakuto's power. The second is Bankai, the final and most powerful release of the Zanpakuto's power. The difference between the two levels of power are as small as five times and as large as ten times the level of power that Shikai produced. To obtain the rank of Captain, you normally must obtain the mastery of Bankai, which can take as little as a few days or as long as ten years." Sasakibe said, his face a stern seriousness as Harry practically gaped. That kind of power sounded unreal, and two of the people in front of him wielded it.

"Whoa…" Harry breathed out as Kyoraku smirked.


"Moving on before you faint again. The third method of combat is known as Shunpo or flash-step in English-"

"I have a question. If you're all Japanese, how is it that you guys speak English so well? You barely have accents at all, as if you've spoke the language all your lives." Harry asked as Ukitake and Kyoraku exchanged looks.

"Like we've said before, Harry, we of the Soul Society are not Japan, we are just centered there over it's spiritual core. The reason for our English being so good is because once you become a soul in Soul Society language is a barrier broken to all. We of the Spirit World can speak any language to anyone and everyone will simply here us in whatever language they're most comfortable with." Ukitake said as Kyoraku chuckled.

"Come one, Har. You honestly didn't think that Heaven would have a language barrier problem, now did you?" Kyoraku teased as Harry's cheeks heated up while he gingerly handed Ukitake back his sword. Ukitake chuckled as he sheathed Sōgyo no Kotowari.

"Moving on…" Harry mumbled as the four Soul Reapers looked at him in amusement.

"Right then, like I was saying. Shunpo or Flash-Step in English is a speed technique which is taught in a class called Hoho or the Step Method. Flash-step is the power to increase our speeds to levels faster than the eye can follow. The entire thing is focused on speed." Kyoraku said as he disappeared from his chair. Harry's eyes widened at the sudden disappearance, but he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder the next second. Kyoraku was back in his seat before Harry could even turn around to look at the man. Kyoraku tipped his hat so his eyes couldn't be seen, though that didn't stop Harry from seeing the amused smile that spread across the man's face.

"The final discipline is Kido or Magic, as you know it. Our Kido isn't nearly as versatile as your magic, but that may be because we only use Kido for mainly combat purposes." Ukitake said as Harry nodded.

"Kido also incorporates Barrier or Wards as the wizards call them, and Seals or Runes as you once again call them in the Wizarding World." Sasakibe said as he held up a hand and a red energy gathered in it before becoming a giant red ball that lit up the room with a red glow, "This Kido is known as Hado Number 31: Shakkaho."

"There are three branches of Kido. The Way of Binding is known as Bakudo, and it is used for barriers, seals, and other techniques general used for… well, binding. The Way of Destruction or Hado is used for just as the name implies, it is used to attack and destroy those we use it against. The last Kido is Healing Kido and it is used to heal those it is used upon." Ukitake said, the most serious Harry had seen or heard the man in the entire time they had met as Sasakibe nodded solemnly. Harry guessed that Kido had some rather powerful effects, and like all magic he guessed it was to be used sparingly.

"Each spell is graded for it's capabilities, power, and difficulty. The spells are graded from 1 to 99, and one number can be used for multiple spells. Just like the magic here, incantations are required to do a spell, at least until you reach the level in which you don't need them." Lisa said as Harry nodded, remembering Professor Flitwick say the same thing about Charms last year. Harry did a quick time-checking charm and realized that it had been almost two hours since he had hidden in the room. He was just thankful for the curfew not being for another few hours. He liked learning about Heaven and Heaven's military.

Did that sound as… weird as it did to him? What was the word Hermione used… contradictive?

"Anyways, let's move on. The ranks within the Divisions." Sasakibe said as he saw Harry check the time, "There are 20 seated ranks within each squad, and below them are the unseated members. The top most three seats have titles and ranks to them. The first is the Number One seat, which is the Captain; like Captain Ukitake or Captain Kyoraku here. Captains are generally allowed to do pretty much anything within the laws of the Soul Society. And have supreme authority within the respective squads. They can even create or change the division's specialty."

"I see, so you two are the top commanders of your Squads." Harry said as he glanced between Ukitake and Kyoraku. He figured they were Captains, and his mind was still in awe and curiosity as to just how much power they wielded.

"Then there's the rank of Lieutenant, like my lovely Lisa here or Lieutenant Sasakibe. They are Second-in-Command at the sides of their Captains and are normally the second strongest member within their squads. They are like the executive officers, and oversee the daily operations and such of the division. If anything happens to the Captain of a Squad, then the Lieutenant of that Squad would step-in to fill the Captain's place until another could be assigned or promoted." Kyoraku said as he leaned back in his chair.

"The other rank is the Third Seat. It's title is that of Assistant Adjutant, but it really doesn't mean much. It's basically the same as Lieutenant, but not as glamorous." Ukitake said with a chuckle as Harry cracked a smile.


"That's basically all you need to know about the Soul Society. So, any questions?" Sasakibe asked as he leaned forward once again.

"One has been plaguing my mind since you all started. What's the real reason for telling me all this? I know it isn't just to put things in prospective. You guys want something from me. It's the only reason people ever bother to explain… anything!" Harry said as the other exchanged looks before Ukitake sighed.

"You're right Harry. We do need something of you." Ukitake said sadly as he looked down at the floor.

"What is it?" Harry asked as Kyoraku took off his hat, revealing his long and wavy brown hair even more while he laid the hat on the table.

"We need you, Harry James Potter, to be our liaison for the Wizarding World and Soul Society. In essence, we need you to become the first Wizarding Soul Reaper."

For the third time that day, Harry Potter fainted, though at least this time he was caught by Kyoraku.

"He really doesn't take big steps that well, does he?" Ukitake said as Sasakibe shrugged and Lisa did the same.

"Maybe, but can any of us say that we'd be any different in his shoes?" Kyoraku asked as the others merely looked at each.

That boy, Harry James Potter, would certainly change things.