Chapter 4

Shinigami

She hurried to the store while ignoring the stings she felt in her back as her scars acted up again. She purchased enough items, but not to many that she wouldn't be able to carry since she didn't own a vehicle to carry them in. Suddenly a thought struck her, 'Idiot, why didn't I just summon a map?' She would have smacked her forehead exasperated if it weren't for the bags she carried.

Thankfully, she remembered her way home after making a detour to buy a map the muggle way. On her way home she realized something; Mr. Orange-Haired guy was approximately ten paces behind her. She knew without looking behind her because his spiritual pressure was close. It was wild and uncontrolled. She closed her eyes letting the spirit reishi flow over her. She felt lucky for the skull studded earring in her left ear. It was made to hide her reiatsu until she turned to a shinigami. All she had to do was press the earring and she'd be out of her body easily. And judging by the amount of spirit power she felt in this city, she wouldn't be able to hide for too long. After all her job was to keep the souls that couldn't move on pass on. As long as there were other shinigami around she could let herself leave the souls for them to protect, but if a hollow came she wouldn't be able to ignore it as easily.

It was important that she not let the wizards know of this development. The shinigami who turned her warned her of this. He told her they couldn't be trusted with the unknown. Especially if the unknown was easily capable of destroying Voldemort with a few kidou spells. Seriously, comparing Voldemort with a Vasto Lorde would be like insulting the hollow with the difference of power. He would be on the level of a Adjucha. The only thing that had stood in her way was the horcruxes. She had to destroy them all or he would return six more times. Even though destroying a hollow was more difficult that didn't mean that Voldemort wasn't annoying to get rid of. Which was exactly why she couldn't tell anyone.

"I know a way ya can get rid of your pesky lil' problem."

Leigh looked up at the unusual looking man with silver hair and a mysterious face.

"How's that?" she replied.

"You must become a shinigami. I'll teach ya on one condition. It won't be easy, even more difficult than bein' a magic user" he said softly.

"What condition must I meet?"

The silver-haired man opened his eyes. The eyes revealed to Leigh spoke of mystery and death.

"You are only a human, but an unusual one, so ya must not tell anyone what I am going to teach you."

Heavy options were weighing on Leigh's mind, a matter of trust being her number one thought. This man was not someone she trusted however, the only source she could turn to, to defeat Voldemort. What Dumbledore told her before of having the capabilities to love unconditionally was not the key factor like he thought. While it helped her resolve to keep going, it didn't help her defeat her enemies.

"I promise."

The face of the silver-haired man looked more and more like a fox every time she looked at him. Her instincts told her to be wary, but she couldn't see any other option except to do as he says. Leigh knew, this would not be like anything she'd ever experience before.

Three months of training passed by. Leigh still didn't know the name of the mystery that was training her and what he was. Every time she tried to ask he would revert back to his creepy fox face and shoot fire spells at her for her to dodge. Honestly, she had no idea what his problem was, but she knew not to ask anymore.

"Hey! When did I become target practice?" she shouted indignantly.

"When you started slacking just because you want to know my name. Why not take a guess if you're so interested."

She looked at his face and saw a hint of a fox return to his red eyes.

"Okay," she conceded.

Another fireball appeared in his hands.

"I'll give a hint and your only hint," The fireball shot from his palm. "It has to do with my hair."

She dodged the fireball feeling an increase in her speed. It looked like she would be multitasking.

'His hair, huh? What good does that do me?' she thought. She gasped in pain falling to the ground after feeling a burning sensation on her feet.

"Not bad. Your speed has increased substantially.

She made observations of his hair one more time while she allowed him to heal her burned feet.

'Yeah, because it feels like you're going to kill me," she thought. She felt a familiar cool wave wash over her as he healed her wound.

"It's silver. I've already noted that, but perhaps not as much as I should have," she thought.

"Now, time to work on Kidou," he said to her.

'I swear that guy's trying to kill me.'

The senkai door opened to reveal the silver-haired man she'd gotten to know… somewhat. Right away, he told her that there wasn't much she was allowed to know, but only if she could figure it out for herself.

"Do not hesitate. His death was insured the second he decided to mutilate his soul. A soul is precious. It is something to be treasured no matter how bad life gets."

She was touched by his words, not knowing what else to say. She turned back to the spell she was learning to weave. The spells incantations were so long.

"Learning them now will simply make it easier when you join where I live one day."

She wanted to know more, but there was no use. He replied that he was already risking his life by helping her.

"Then why do you continue to help?"

He didn't reply, merely giving his trademark fox smile. What more could she expect?

She felt a shiver rush down her spine.

She still had a hard time figuring out his name. The next thing she decided to try was that maybe it was a different language. That sounded the next logical step. Maybe his name was in the same language she was speaking the spells.

"I have come to tell you goodbye. I can no longer return here without my absence noticed," he told her.

She swallowed nodding her head.

"Thank you for coming back to tell me," she replied.

"You're sufficiently ready to take on your enemy after you destroy the rest of his fragmented soul."

She nodded in agreement.

"You must not tell anyone how you will truly defeat Voldemort. Remember that."

"I will keep it secret to the very end."

Leigh snorted. 'Considering where I've chosen to live I don't think I'll be keeping that secret for too long, but I'll do the best I can.' She looked behind her to see that the orange-haired guy looked ready to say something to her.

'Yes, keeping the secret from the wizards should be easy enough, but I'm not so sure around other shinigami. I'll just have to hope my earring does its job for now,' she thought.