Toshiro was in a foul mood. Right before the end of the second year, he learned from James that Dumbledore was suspicious of Toshiro.
Very suspicious. Word had gotten around that somehow Toshiro had discovered the Chamber of Secrets and had disposed of the monster.
Naturally the teachers were all very concerned about him going down there regularly. (Toshiro decided not to feel offended by that fact, since a good majority of those teachers showed honest concern for his safety.)
So in an effort to keep his growing migraine from returning fully, he allowed the to investigate the passageway that lead up to the castle.
(He knew there had to be one. There was no chance in hell that Salazar could keep going back to the girl's bathroom and still keep that Chamber a secret unless he had another way in and out.)
Once that was done (and the house elves were sent in during the summer for some heavy duty maintenance) Toshiro decided once and for all to end Dumbledore's control over him.
And to that end, he went straight to the headmaster with the darkest scowl on his face. He was going to resolve this issue now.
"Hello Toesheero my boy!"
And here, Toshiro mused, is where Dumbledore draws the line at languages. Clearly he had never bothered to properly learn Japanese.
"You know over a hundred languages and yet you still can't speak nihongo properly?" said Toshiro, not amused.
"What can I do for you my boy?"
"I'm not 'your' anything, especially since your negligence caused my death. I am here to tell you right now that if you even think of trying to control our group, I will personally hunt you down and drag your soul to hell. Though with the way you've been going you'll end up there anyway."
Dumbledore's eyes glinted coolly. Toshiro had been a mystery since he saw the initials on that letter to his pawn. A letter which could only have been opened by Harry Potter himself.
"What do you mean?"
"Have you ever heard the old saying 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions?' The same could apply to your so called doctrine of the greater good," Toshiro said bluntly.
Toshiro reacted faster than even Dumbledore could anticipate, when the old man used wordless/wandless magic to stun him.
Not that anything lower than a very high powered reducto could actually hurt Toshiro and his group. Let alone effect them.
(Color changing and personal charms cast by them yes, but nothing less than the strongest reducto or bludgeoning curse was going to actually bother them, aside from a slight twinge where it hit.)
Toshiro leveled Hyorinmaru (who had switched from 'wand' mode the second the old man cast that hex at them) on his throat.
"Let me make one thing abundantly clear, old man. Your time is coming very soon, and when it does, I am going to petition to Avalon and the Seireitei personally to send your sorry ass to hell. Chances are they will accept my request. So if you don't want to die prematurely, back off."
It was then that Dumbledore finally met his match...in a child that was supposed to become his pawn.
Toshiro left that office after turning it into a subzero arctic hell. (To be fair, since coming to that school he learned that he was the strongest ice mage in a millennium. And since dragons tended to boost ice magic, he used that instead of his soul reaper powers.)
That all happened a week ago.
Toshiro was almost done with his paperwork (and the backlog from going to that damn school for nine months) when James came in looking somewhat grim.
"Pettigrew and the Lestrange trio have escaped Azkaban."
"And that is where exactly?" asked Toshiro.
"An isolated island guarded by the foul beasts known as dementors. I would rather face a Menos again that deal with those things."
"How bad are they?"
"They dredge up your worst memories and make you relive them."
Toshiro winced. He had plenty of memories he wanted to stay buried, for good reason.
"Is there any chance we will have to deal with the dementors?"
"Knowing that old goat and the idiot in charge...yes. If there is even a slight chance that Pettigrew will come to Hogwarts, then Dumbledore will allow Fudge to send them. Those things could cause more problems."
And so, they spent a good portion of their summer preparing for the worst...namely dealing with dementors.
It didn't help that James had mentioned their supposed 'Kiss' which sucked out the soul of the victim.
(Upon hearing that, the captain of squad twelve became interested in them.)
"Alright, so we are in agreement over the dementors?" asked Toshiro.
His invasion force had been briefed and taught the patronus charm. Toshiro had made them practice relentlessly for hours until it could become almost solid to the touch.
When they went back to the world of the living two weeks early, they learned of some other surprising news.
Sirius had been given the Defense post at Hogwarts!
Upon learning that news, Toshiro warned the man ahead of time what he would be facing in terms of their previous years. Sirius winced.
"I have to deal with two years of crappy teaching?"
"Quirrel couldn't talk without stuttering and Lockhart was more interested in promoting himself. Look at the bright side."
"There's a bright side?" he asked in a whine.
"Yes, there is. You will be secure in the knowledge that none of the houses will be aiming for your head, and that I will personally charm your office to prevent any curses, hexes or nasty spells from hitting you if you run for you life."
Toshiro let out a squawk of surprise when Sirius tackled him. It didn't take long for an impromptu dog pile to occur.
(Rangiku and Hanataro were on the sidelines laughing.)
Toshiro and James got their books for the year. Renji had been the one to draw the short straw and went into the apothecary for the potions supplies. Hanataro was currently keeping Hermione from seeing Toshiro buying more than the required books.
It wasn't until they went into the pet store to check out their wares that something interesting happened.
James looked around. He was often bored in the soul society, and he wanted something to entertain him. Toshiro had Arcana and Hyorinmaru. Rangiku had bought a cat named Crookshanks the year before. Renji had gotten a strange rabbit-like creature (which he promptly gave to Rukia Kuchiki for Christmas). Even Hanataro had a pet.
Though where that kid found a windy phoenix he had no idea.
Finally, he went into the Owl Emporium. And found two owls he really liked.
One was a snowy owl with an imperial manner about her. The other was an Eagle owl with streaks of gold in it's feathers.
"How much for both of them?" he asked.
"That little lady refuses to be sold. Two galleons for her and ten for the other."
"Done."
James had an idea who she would take to. When he found Toshiro trying to calm Arcana down from a comment Marcus Flint had made in passing, he grinned.
"Oi, Toshiro!"
Toshiro glared at him. Didn't he see he was busy?
James handed him the cage with the snow owl. She gave an imperious hoot, and leveled a glare at him.
"What is this?"
"Your birthday present."
Toshiro stifled a groan. Despite the fact that he had already died, James insisted on getting him something every July thirty first. Fortunately it was mostly books.
"I already have Arcana."
"So? This little lady is a snow owl, and they are built for extremely cold temperatures."
Toshiro looked at the owl in the cage. She seemed more like an empress in her own castle than an owl.
"You want to be in that cage, or would you like to share a shoulder with Arcana?" he asked finally.
She hooted, and looked at his unoccupied left shoulder. Arcana preferred to ride like a scarf most days. Toshiro removed the owl gently, and she walked onto his shoulder.
"From now on your name is Tsukishiro (White Moon)."
Tsukishiro hooted calmly, and remained on his shoulder the entire day.
(Needless to say, Rangiku found it hilarious that her captain kept collecting animals. Toshiro retaliated by freezing every sake bottle in her reach.)
Toshiro was reading up on bird magic (he had bought it after James gave him Tsukishiro) when Draco arrived. Sirius was already waiting in the castle (and was currently preparing a major prank on every teacher in the welcoming feast.)
Draco raised an eye at Tsukishiro.
"Another pet? How many will this make Toshiro?"
"Three. If you include Hyorinmaru, who is more of a partner than a pet. Her name is Tsukishiro."
"White moon?"
Toshiro didn't bother to explain his reasoning. As Draco sat down to discuss the news about the break out, the other soul reapers (including James who was with the twins) spread out around the train.
None of them were in the same train car as another soul reaper. It was part of Toshiro's plan to protect the students. He didn't trust the Ministry to keep control of their so called guards.
Sirius promised to bring the children up to speed so they could learn the charm as well.
About two thirds of the way to the station, the train abruptly stopped.
Toshiro swore when he realized the glass was freezing over, and for once it wasn't his fault.
(Last year he had a nightmare about the Dursley clan, and his dorm had suffered through a rather unpleasant night in the cold. Ever since then, they had started to put warming charms around their beds just in case.)
It took a minute for the dementors to board the train. The presence of soul reapers had a repellent effect on the foul creatures. Particularly to Toshiro, who was at captain class.
A slimy hand slowly opened the door. Toshiro snarled, and reached for Hyorinmaru.
The creature drew a ragged breath, drawing in all the positive emotions from the compartments on that car. Toshiro leveled his sword at the creature, his rage at being forced to remember his past keeping the effects of the dementor's presence at bay.
"Expecto Patronum!"
Out of all the soul reapers assigned to finding the soul fragments of Voldemort, Toshiro picked up the patronus charm the fastest. A brilliant silver version of Hyorinmaru erupted from his wand. The dementor shrieked in pain as it ripped into the creature. The patronus shredded the dementors cloak, and the foul beast fled the train before the patronus could destroy it.
Toshiro breathed heavily. The charm took a lot out of him, particularly when he fueled it with his anger.
All across the train, dementors shrieked out of pain as the soul reapers chased them off. Every single one that had boarded the cars looking for an easy meal was wounded badly from the patronus charms.
By the time the train reached the station, everyone was both on edge and relieved that the dementors had been chased off so quickly.
Of course Toshiro was still suffering from the effects of being exposed to them.
James easily helped him on the carriage (which they had learned last year was pulled by spectral horses known as thestrals) and they went straight to the castle.
Toshiro winced as they passed by the so called 'guards' of the castle.
"You alright?"
"I hate those damn things. Think anyone will care if I vent my rage on them later?"
"Doubtful. At least you know there is one place in the castle they can't go to."
Toshiro looked at him in annoyance.
"If any of those things shows up in the Chamber, I will flash freeze them and punt their sorry asses to Kurotsuchi."
James grinned. That was the Toshiro he knew and loved.
Draco made sure Toshiro could get to the table before his legs gave out. Unfortunately several of his housemates noticed and he growled about the dementors.
That cleared up the mystery for them, enough so that they left him alone.
Toshiro wasn't surprised when the entire staff table (except Sirius of course) suddenly had their hair turned pink. Or when they all grew cat ears!
"Be forewarned. I will prank you at random times during class. If you don't keep your guard up, you will end up with a new hair color at the very least!" grinned Sirius, waving his hand at Snape.
Snape looked ready to hex him at the very least.
The twins took one look at the prank and cheered, loudly. Sirius bowed towards them, and the three grinned.
Snape and McGonagall shared a look of doom.
Toshiro actually looked forward to this year. It was simple really.
Third years were allowed to pick their own classes. Toshiro had gone with Ancient Runes, Arithimancy, Care of Magical Creatures and Advanced Transfiguration and Charms. (The last two were only available to students who turned in straight Outstanding worthy homework without fail. It was to prepare them early for their OWLs and NEWTs.)
Rangiku had opted to join James in the relatively easier classes like Divination and Muggle Studies. (As soul reapers, they were only slightly behind wizards when it came to understanding nonmagical items. While they were at least able to use cell phones and television properly, the rules and clothing of modern society still eluded them.)
Hanataro had the hardest schedule, as he had been given the rare opportunity to become an apprentice to the school's healer. It meant he had to take the harder classes early on, but it also meant he had been given unlimited access to the Restricted Section.
Renji would choose his new classes by next year. If nothing else he could join James and Rangiku.
Toshiro was about to enter the Ancient Runes classroom when he noticed something odd. Hermione had beaten him to the class.
Which was strange considering he had just seen her at breakfast talking to James not five minutes ago. And she certainly hadn't passed him in the halls.
Passing it off as a random occurrence, Toshiro sat through the class. Hermione didn't seem any different than usual.
Once the class was over, Toshiro went to meet up with James and Rangiku. Only to overhear a rather strange comment made by Hermione who was coming down with them.
What on Earth?
"Divination is a very wooly subject if you ask me. Now Ancient Runes...that is a fascinating subject."
"Hang on, Ancient Runes takes place during the same time slot as Divination. When did you have time to pop in that class?" asked James, surprised.
Hermione immediately shut up, not wanting to reveal more than she already had.
James walked up to Toshiro with confusion clear on his face.
"How can Hermione have been in Ancient Runes when she was sitting next to Rangiku the entire period?" he asked.
"She beat me to the class, and I was next to her the entire time," said Toshiro evenly, though even he was confused how that was possible.
"Doppelganger?" suggested James.
"Doubtful. I have yet to run across a spell like that, and we both know she doesn't have access to a gigai."
"Her reitsu was the same as it always was."
"I didn't notice any odd changes either," said Toshiro.
"What classes is she taking?"
"All that were available, apparently," said Toshiro, who had seen her bizarre schedule and hadn't thought to ask.
Draco had commented on it, which is the only reason he had taken an interest.
Hagrid had been promoted to 'safe adult' by Dumbledore, and given the new title of teacher. He had gotten one of the rare teaching spots that didn't actually involve wandwork in any way.
Hagrid was the new Care of Magical Creatures instructor. While Toshiro and the others were happy for them, it meant they all had a sense of foreboding.
Hagrid's sense of what was safe only applied to those of mixed blood, like Hagrid.
(Hagrid had been very surprised to learn that Toshiro had figured out he was half giant. And had been very, very happy to find out that none of their group actually cared about the fact his mother was a giantess.)
"I got a real treat for yer today. Follow me!"
Toshiro had an ominous sense when he followed Hagrid. Some of that was lessened when he found out the creature Hagrid was introducing to the group.
Hippogryffs were dangerous only if they felt insulted. Or if threatened.
Now if only Hagrid had had enough sense not to introduce them to the Slytherin group without Renji to keep them in check...
Most of the students backed off when Hagrid told them what they had to do. The creatures seemed very frightening to a bunch of thirteen year olds.
Toshiro calmly walked up to the gray one, and gave it a proper Japanese bow of equals. The hippogryff, whose named turned out to be Buckbeak, bowed back.
It seemed to rather enjoy the scratched Toshiro gave him.
"Well done Toshiro, well done! I think he may let yer ride him..."
Toshiro squawked with surprise when Hagrid suddenly put him on the hippogryff.
Buckbeak was feeling mischievous, as he took off without warning.
(Toshiro could hear Hyorinmaru laughing at him. Which is why later the boy chased his zanpakuto around in his inner world with a serrated sword.)
Toshiro landed easily, and grinned. That had actually been fun!
Draco, emboldened by Toshiro's success, went up to Buckbeak and bowed.
Toshiro gave the boy a look that clearly told him to behave or else.
(Draco did in fact behave, if only to keep the teal eyed boy from giving him frozen sheets for a week.)
In what would later be called a grave miscalculation on his part, Ron accidentally insulted the alpha hippogryff. It was only quick intervention on Toshiro's part that prevented the boy from being injured.
Toshiro's reitsu flared, and the hippogryff leveled a look at him. Toshiro's calm demeanor finally managed to soothe the irate beast, which gave Hagrid enough time to lead him away from the students.
It seemed that in all the excitement, Hagrid completely forgot to give them any homework.
"That was a close one," said James.
"Why did an idiot like him choose a subject that demands respect for magical creatures?" asked Toshiro, vexed.
"Care of Magical Creatures is one of the easiest subjects to take. I overheard Ron mentioning that he was only taking the easy subjects so his mother wouldn't get on his case."
"The way that boy is going, the only thing he will be good for is for something that actually requires brawn instead of brains. Unless the magical community has chess tournaments or something."
"They don't," said James.
"Then he needs to straighten himself out, or he will never get a decent salary to support himself later on."
Toshiro entered Sirius' classroom warily. He had learned from the twins that the man actually took his teaching job well...seriously. (Though if the man made another pun about his own name he was going to hex his hair Slytherin green and silver.)
It was because of his wariness that he narrowly avoided the prank Sirius had set up.
What the students didn't realize was that Sirius was actually testing their situational awareness in a relatively safe environment.
While they were mostly avoiding prank spells now, there was no telling when they would have to avoid deadly curses or hexes in the future.
At least that was what Sirius told his fellow professors. Truthfully he just loved pranking people without having to worry about an irate McGonagall after him.
Hermione sat three seats away from Toshiro.
He had noted with some concern that she seemed rather...frayed lately. And he suspected her ability to take two classes at once was the cause. Draco sat next to him, grimacing.
He had been hit with a color changing hex that wouldn't wear off for three hours. Instead of the usual platinum blond, it was now an eye screaming orange color.
"Isn't Sirius your uncle on your mother's side?" asked Toshiro, amused.
"All pure-bloods in Europe are interrelated in some way. Frankly when I graduate I'm moving to Japan and finding someone who isn't my distant cousin in some way to marry," said Draco bluntly.
"Good way to avoid having web-toed children," remarked Toshiro.
Once the room was more or less filled up, Sirius walked in with an evil grin.
"I trust some of you are enjoying my tests?"
Draco wasn't the only one glaring at the man. At least fifteen students had been hit with prank spells. Sirius wisely kept very, very close to his office.
(His office had been set so that he could hide behind the door and be completely safe from any retribution from the students. Alas, that didn't mean he was safe from Snape, since there was a fireplace in his office which the man could use to appear without warning to prank him back.)
"Today we are going to be reviewing what everyone has already learned for the past two years, so I can tell how much work we need to do."
Sirius passed out sheets with spell names and told them to fill out what they knew about them. If they could properly name the effect and wand movement, then they had learned the spell.
If not, then he had more work to do.
Sirius reviewed the papers, and was relieved to find that the Ravenclaws at least, had managed to more or less keep up to Ministry standards.
Hufflepuff had also managed to correctly identify over seventy-five percent of the spells he listed.
"Since you have more or less managed to learn spells that any third year should know, I shall give both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw twenty points each."
Surprise by this announcement, Sirius continued with a grimace.
"Unfortunately the Gryffindor and Slytherin group didn't do nearly as well."
Sirius proceeded to have them pair up in groups, and gave them a new spell to learn. He had one half cast the spell for fifteen minutes, the other would use the shield charm to block it. Then they would switch off. He continued in this way for the entire lesson, giving them three new spells to study.
For homework they had to write a two page essay on what the spells did, what the correct movement was, and what could be an acceptable replacement if they couldn't remember how it went.
Toshiro stayed behind class, and remarked, "You make a better teacher then I thought."
He then ducked out when Sirius went to hit him with another prank for the comment.
The days seemed to fly by at Hogwarts. Though Toshiro was starting to narrow down why Hermione seemed to be stretched too thin. James had mentioned offhand about a magical artifact which could reverse time in hour increments, and it was difficult finding information about it.
On the other hand, Hogsmeade wasn't far away, which meant Toshiro could finally leave the castle for a few hours.
All of them had gotten their permission slips signed by either their captain (Renji and Hanataro) or by the Soutaicho. It was highly unlikely that Dumbledore would be able to prevent them from going since none of them had living parents anymore.
Their first visit was set after the usual Gryffindor/Slytherin match.
Normally Toshiro would have avoided going, but he had given in to Draco and James tag teaming on him. (In other words, James bribed Draco to drag Toshiro there whether he liked it or not.)
It had been going well...until near two hours after it had begun, Toshiro felt a familiar chill. He swiped Draco's goggles, not that the boy could see anything in the rain anyway.
"Shimatta! Those damn creatures are on the pitch!" yelled Toshiro.
Draco paled, when he followed Toshiro's pointing finger.
"They aren't supposed to be here!"
Toshiro spotted the creatures flying up into the clouds to chase James. He swore, and grabbed Hyorinmaru from his leg holster.
Before Draco could stop him, Toshiro jumped from the stands.
No one actually noticed what he had done until the rain suddenly became a snowstorm!
The dementors honed in on him very quickly, as if sensing a true feast nearby.
Toshiro held Hyorinmaru like he usually did, not realizing the dragon was still in 'wand' mode.
"Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!"
Even without being in his proper shape, Hyorinmaru emerged from the wand tip. The icy dragon ripped through the dementors like they were make of paper.
Toshiro almost couldn't hear the cries of alarm from the students. Realizing that they wouldn't survive if they stayed, the remaining dementors fled.
Over thirty dementors were frozen to the pitch, unable to move. Fortunately, Toshiro's powers also prevented theirs from working...or the teacher's spells from removing the horrid creatures from their icy prisons.
James landed with a thump, the dementors effects slowly wearing off.
Toshiro ran to him, and checked his vitals.
Hanataro went down to the pitch, and waved his 'wand' saying "Levicorpus!"
They managed to get James into the Hospital wing before Dumbledore knew what was really happening.
Snape made sure to keep Toshiro behind after class. No one thought to ask why.
"While I appreciate you removing those...things...from the pitch, I would like to ask what the bloody hell you were thinking!"
"Dementors seem to think that we (Toshiro gestured to himself) are food. The damn things keep trying to swarm around us every time we leave the safety of the castle. And I wasn't going to lose one of my friends from falling at such a height," said Toshiro.
"Where did you send those damn things anyway? We thought they had melted or something, because all we could find were small piles of snow left over."
"Trust me, you won't be bothered by the ones I froze anymore. I sent them to a place worse than hell."
Snape seemed doubtful about that.
"You really don't want to know where I sent those things."
"Are you absolutely certain they won't return?"
"Not unless they can escape him, which is highly doubtful considering he likes to dissect his subjects while they are still alive."
"Twenty points to Ravenclaw then," said Snape.
Toshiro took that as the dismissal it was, and left.
(If you're wondering where he sent them, the answer is that he had the twelfth division pick them up sometime during the night.)
Toshiro patiently waited for James and Rangiku. He was a bit surprised to see them arrive late.
Apparently McGonagall wanted to know why they had their slips signed by the same person as Toshiro. Fortunately Snape had vouched for them.
"So where to first?"
"Honeydukes!" said James cheerfully.
"I want to see the Three Broomsticks, or even Hog's Head. According to Hagrid they serve really good booze there!" said Rangiku with a grin.
"Rangiku, need I remind you that you are currently pretending to be a thirteen year old, and are not legally allowed to drink?" said Toshiro evilly.
Rangiku's face fell at the reminder. Then she perked up.
"You said that they can see us anyway, because of the magic in the air, right?"
"Snape could at least," said Toshiro.
"Then I can ditch this gigai and go drinking later!" she chirped.
"No, you can't. Avalon would get on my ass about why my lieutenant is out in soul form when there isn't a hollow around. And in case you have forgotten, those damn dementors seem to think we are lunch!" growled Toshiro.
"Damn."
James grinned evilly.
"Don't worry Rangiku, we'll just ask Sirius to buy some fire whiskey for later."
Toshiro glared at James, until he asked what Fire Whiskey actually did in large amounts.
Upon learning that his lieutenant would lose all her clothing from spontaneous combustion in front of two men she barely knew, he felt a lot better.
"On your own head be it, but you will have to fill out at least half the paperwork when we get back."
"Deal!"
She hugged Toshiro with a grin. She had no idea what she was in for...
Toshiro, it turned out, had a serious love for chocolate. He very nearly wiped out the entire stock of it!
(James secretly wondered if his son got that from Remus, who also had a rather large love of the sugary treat.)
The next place was Zonko's, but James didn't hit that as hard as Toshiro expected. When asked, James shrugged and mentioned the twins having better products to use.
It wasn't until they hit the Three Broomsticks that Toshiro learned of a problem.
And it's name was Butterbeer.
Butterbeer was a rather pleasant drink that had a relatively low alcohol content and was sold to minors. The drink was best when served warm.
Toshiro had taken one sip of the stuff, and knew without a doubt he would have to keep his lieutenant from buying it. While the alcohol was at a lower count than she was used to, it was still more than enough to get her drunk.
He only hoped she didn't bring it back with her.
Toshiro got up to get another round (he could already feel a familiar Rangiku-induced headache coming on) when he spotted the two most likely people to help Rangiku obtain the drink.
"I will pay you both ten galleons every month not to help Rangiku obtain butterbeer," he said flatly.
"And why would we do that?" asked Fred.
"Not that we wouldn't mind the extra coin," added George.
"I can only sum it up in two words. Drinking contests."
The two imps grinned at him, but agreed to it anyway. After they managed to get him to raise it to fifteen galleons.
James gave him an odd look.
"What were you up to over there?"
"Preventing our cover from being blown," said Toshiro.
He raised an eyebrow. Toshiro nodded to Rangiku who wasn't paying attention (and was currently working on her tenth butterbeer.)
"Ah."
"I may not be able to control her drinking back home, but I am going to do my best to keep her under control here."
"And how did you manage to get the twins to agree?"
"Fifteen galleons a month not to help her buy any alcohol except on scheduled visits."
"And what about me?" grinned James.
"I will string you up and tell Snape he has free reign to prank you until Christmas. Don't forget, I out rank you."
James winced, and conceded the point.
Rangiku made it to the seventh corridor. She had ditched her gigai as soon as she was inside the room. Sirius, James and Renji were waiting.
It was the first time they had removed their souls from the gigai in the school.
It wasn't long before Renji and Rangiku were drunk. Sirius and James were somewhat better off, being used to the drink itself.
About halfway to dawn, Rangiku and Renji both spontaneously combusted, though only their clothes were harmed.
Sirius gaped at the now naked Rangiku, who was physically around his age in soul form. James wisely kept his eyes away from her, since he knew full well his wife would kill him when she finally freed herself from their son.
By the time morning came, all of them were suffering from major hangovers. Fortunately, it was a Sunday.
Toshiro cautiously opened the door, and immediately closed it. There were some sights no thirteen year old people should see...
Sirius had become the most unanimously loved/hated teacher in the school. His class was easily the most popular, and it seemed that he might actually be able to break the curse that was on the DADA position.
But he was also the most hated because of his constant pranks on the students and teacher alike.
The students didn't realized why he pranked them. Though they all enjoyed the pranks on the teachers.
(McGonagall often got hit with catnip, Snape kept ending up with his hair in girlish braids, Flitwick got a stepping stool, Sprout found a very frisky plant in her gardens and so on.)
Of course everyone was still wondering how the dementors that invaded the pitch ended up flash frozen...and where they were now.
Only Dumbledore seemed to suspect that Toshiro was the reason those foul beasts had been disposed of.
Toshiro noticed something odd about Rangiku and Sirius. It almost seemed like the two were starting to become interested in each other.
Which would make things very complicated, since his lieutenant was currently in the body of a thirteen year old girl and happened to be dead already.
It seemed he wasn't the only one who noticed that fact. So did James.
Who took Sirius aside and had a tense discussion with the man.
Sirius walked away much happier, but after that the signs seemed to abruptly stop.
Toshiro gave his father a look.
"What in the name of the King did you tell him?" he asked.
"That if he wanted to woo Rangiku, he would have to wait until summer vacation. Like I pointed out to him, he would have more time to prepare if he waited."
"Is patience his strong suit?" asked Toshiro.
"Not particularly, but I blackmailed him into it. Our only concern is if the other teachers start to pick up on the signs as fast as we did."
"That would have been a disaster," groaned Toshiro.
Months seemed to fly by, with only the occasional prank (and every so often a dementor would vanish for no reason, never to be seen again) until without warning, Christmas was around the corner!
"You staying again Toshiro?" asked Sirius, drinking tea.
"I had the idea of sneaking back into my barracks during the break and getting most of the paperwork filled out. The backlog I have to deal with each year is murder," whined Toshiro.
James, who had been there drinking butterbeer, said drunkenly "That's a no go. Old man Yamamoto said that if you tried to sneak away from the school he would double your paperwork."
"Even on the holidays?" yelped Toshiro.
James nodded.
(When the Soutaicho learned about the fact that James was Toshiro's actual father, he ended up treating the man like the captain of squad ten for a while.)
"Damn."
That was when Toshiro had a hit of inspiration.
If he couldn't go to the paperwork, then he would convince Kurotsuchi to find a way to send the paperwork to him! (And force Rangiku to do half of it!)
To that end, he sent a quick message to Kurotsuchi. And got a reply two hours later.
"Creating a hybrid of the Hell Butterflies that can carry actual objects? It's obsurd, it's beyond insane!
I'll get right on it. No doubt that blasted Kisuke Urahara has never thought of such a thing~!"
Christmas hit Hogwarts with a vengeance. Since Sirius was stuck in the castle (he was a teacher after all) Toshiro and the others opted to stay as well.
Of course things were rarely that simple.
Toshiro awoke to find a large swarm of hell butterflies at his bed post.
Toshiro had a baaad feeling about this...
Without warning they began to circle around his head. With a loud pop, they rained down all the paperwork he had missed while at the school!
"ARG!"
Draco, having woken up early for his presents, walked in and gaped.
Then the uncontrollable laughter started.
Toshiro growled, and suddenly Draco yelped as his underwear filled with snow!
"Get James in here now. And tell Rangiku that she had better uphold her end of the bargain or I will personally die her hair puke green!"
In less than ten minutes, both of them showed up. Rangiku looked really irate about his threat though.
At least until she saw his predicament.
James and Rangiku couldn't stop laughing. And Toshiro blinked when the camera went off.
Where did James get that camera anyway?
It took them an hour to sort the paperwork. Toshiro would force Rangiku to help him the next day, since it was a holiday.
Toshiro had planned a special treat for his lieutenant.
Kisuke had sent him a special gigai (it was Rangiku in her actual size!) which Toshiro was going to give her. He had also planned to give her a day off so she could go on the date Sirius had planned for the two of them.
(Sirius had bribed the boy with a rare book on dark ice magic.)
As usual, Toshiro came out like a bandit. He received several gifts from his fans (mostly books, since a majority of those fans were Ravenclaw students) and quite a few from his team.
James had found a book on owl breeding, Rangiku had given him a set of coupons redeemable at any time (most of them were related to her actually doing her job for a change and three liquor free weeks), Hanataro had found a book on water divination which had three chapters on ice mirrors, Renji gave him a stuffed dragon (which cracked Toshiro up) and of course there was the surprise that Sirius had for the boy.
Toshiro enjoyed flying, but he never bothered to buy a broom. Sirius had decided to go all out by buying Toshiro a Ice-bolt (The Japanese equivalent of the Fire Bolt, rumored to have more options available for modifying it and was fifty percent faster) as well as a book on wind magic.
Toshiro loved his gifts, and spent the entire day actually acting his age for once.
Of course that was nothing to what Remus had gotten the boy as a joke gift.
They had no idea where he found such a huge dragon shaped plushie (which could double as a chair) or how he managed to fit it through the Ravenclaw dorm.
All Toshiro knew was he had a new favorite spot to sit while reading.
(When Toshiro left for the year, he moved the dragon plushie into his office. It was a source of great amusement for his squad to see the tiny taicho sitting in it while doing paperwork. Quite a few of his fangirls in the soul society have pictures of that scene.)
Rangiku didn't know what to expect from her captain. All she knew was that he had gone to certain lengths to make this Christmas interesting.
So when she saw the spare gigai (which could be hidden in her trunk's secondary room where no one would find it) she grinned.
Toshiro was giving her an entire day off!
Rangiku met Sirius in the Shrieking shack, where the two walked down to the Three Broomsticks for their date. It was rather successful (particularly for Madam Rosemerta, who received a generous tip and payment in full for all the booze the two drank) and fun evening for the two.
Of course Sirius received many jealous looks over his date.
Rangiku had left the boring robes behind, and had come dressed in a rather revealing (I/E her bust was showing through the top) shirt and wearing pants.
And Sirius ended it all with a rather large kiss. Rangiku grinned at him, and didn't stop him in the least.
While Gin (Captain of squad three) was interesting enough, Sirius was both fun and her type.
Rangiku wanted to whine as she sat down and helped Toshiro fill out the paperwork. Her captain had been really nice to her the day before, and even she had to admit it was better to have the papers delivered to them at the school rather than deal with an entire office full of it when they returned.
That didn't mean she had to like it though.
It took an entire day of stamping, signing and filling out to get the back log taken care of.
And she was utterly exhausted at the end of it.
Which is when Toshiro held up something that made all her complaints disappear.
"This...is from Kyoraku-taicho. He made sure to send you favorite brand," said Toshiro dryly.
In his hands was a box full of her favorite sake brand. The six bottles looked innocent enough, and it was very unlikely McGonagall would recognize it for what it was unless she sniffed it.
Rangiku squealed in delight, and went back to Gryffindor tower.
(Toshiro would later learn that the gift was put to good use for the Gryffindor party. The Lions had won their first Quidditch Cup in ten years, which is why Rangiku really livened it up by spiking several cans of butterbeer with actual alcohol.)
It was less than two months before the final exams, and so far the dementors had yet to become a real problem. Though it wasn't due to the actions of the teachers.
The disguised soul reapers had long since decided to send all the dementors stationed at the school to squad twelve. Kurotsuchi was more than delighted to have so many test subjects that no one would complain about if he destroyed them utterly.
Dumbledore was quite surprised to learn that of the hundred dementors the Ministry had sent, only twenty five remained. Even the Ministry officials were baffled as to the cause. (Not that anyone was actually complaining about the missing dementors!)
Things seemed to be settling down for the year. Toshiro was just relieved that there wasn't some crazy situation that required his personal interference.
At least, that was what he assumed.
Hermione was at her limit. The Time Turner drained her magical reserves greatly, and she wasn't used to the strain of being in a time paradox.
As she was walking along the outside of the castle, she failed to notice the remaining dementors closing in. For reasons she had yet to figure out, the fell creatures had it in for Hanataro Yamada, Renji Abarai, Rangiku Matsumoto, Jamie Potter, and Toshiro Hitsugaya.
Every time one of them stepped outside the castle gates, the dementors would practically swarm around them.
Hermione was almost faint by the time she realized what was happening.
It was almost too late when she screamed.
Toshiro had been keeping a close eye on Hermione since he realized she was living in a paradox. Especially when he noticed she was very close to fainting or worse, breaking her magical core.
So when his closest female friend screamed, he was there in an instant.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he yelled, and the dragon erupted violently from his sword.
He hadn't realized that Hyorinmaru had switched from wand mode.
The dementors let loose the most awful shriek he had ever heard, and that was saying something considering he faced hollows every summer.
The creatures shifted their attention from the unconscious Hermione, and converged on Toshiro instead.
Toshiro could feel the effects of their dreadful powers, as memories of his past hit him like a brick. It was only by sheer stubborn will that he was still standing at all.
Before they could finally devour his soul, Toshiro heard on the edges of his mind "Stampede through the forest, Prongs!"
The spectral stag erupted from James wand, slicing dementors upon contact.
"Roar, Haineko!" yelled Rangiku. The ashes ripped the cloaks to shreds.
Renji was leading the teachers to the scene, where Hermione was slowly coming to.
No one noticed when Hanataro accidentally picked up her time turner. Or that it had gone missing.
"Really now, what the bloody devil were those fools thinking, letting those things in a school!" growled McGonagall.
Sirius was giving Hermione chocolate, which got rid of the dementor's effects. Toshiro was barely remaining conscious, when he heard James' voice telling him it was alright to pass out.
Toshiro awoke to find his 'wand' by his side...and a large amount of ice on the table. Arcana and Tsukishiro appeared worried about their master, as the glared at almost everyone who came too close to him.
Only Madam Pomphrey or his team could get anywhere near him without being bit or scratched.
"What happened?" he asked wearily.
"The dementors tried to Kiss you. It was lucky that we happened to be around the corner when we felt the temperature drop so suddenly, or they would have succeeded," said James.
"What about Hermione? Is she alright?"
"She'll survive, thanks to your intervention," said McGonagall.
"Please tell me they're getting rid of those damn things..." said Toshiro tiredly.
"The Ministry has decided to remove them, since they nearly killed two students. Not like they had a choice, since most of the wretched things are apparently on the loose somewhere. Right now they have issued a reward for the locations of the missing dementors," said Sirius, amused.
Toshiro noted the laughter in the man's voice. He knew exactly what happened to the horrid things, and he wasn't telling.
"That reminds me. Since you were unconscious during all your exams, the teachers have all agreed to give you straight O's for defending a fellow student, and a hundred points," said Sirius.
Toshiro looked shocked. He had forgotten all about the exams!
James grinned.
"Oh please, it's not like you wouldn't have passed with a perfect score anyway. You've read almost the entire library!" snickered James.
Toshiro was in the hospital wing for one more night, before he got too antsy.
He was the hero of the school because he saved Hermione. Even the Slytherins looked at him with respect.
For the second year in a row, Ravenclaw won the house cup.
Toshiro was more than eager to leave the school, so he could enjoy some peace a quiet.
He didn't duck fast enough to avoid a stunner spell that came from nowhere.