A/N: Thanks for reading/reviewing. It's much appreciated. Hope I receive more. Okay, so for Luna's prank I'll probably only have her do one skirt, because technically Leigh won't be much of a skirt wearer except for school uniforms. Asano Keigo won't be making an appearance for a while, so I put him in this chapter one last time.

"Dialogue"

"Thoughts"

"Hearing people talk from another room"

Chapter dedicated to: Okami Princess.

Chapter 10. Shinji Hirako Returns. :3

Ideas for chapter.

The time school should have ended while Leigh was absent and Ichigo ditched came, and ten minutes later Luna came through the door. Luna had been kind of hoping to see her favorite person with the new boyfriend nestled together on the couch, but they weren't. She also expected that they wouldn't be since this was still a new for them, so of course they would want their privacy.

"Ah, thank goodness. Time to call Minerva to come back home," Luna said dialing the number on her cell phone.

***

Ichigo left Leigh's house and returned to his own. He entered his house staring off into space.

"MY FOOLISH SON! YOU'VE LEFT AN OPENING!" Isshin crowed triumphantly.

"Uh huh," was all Ichigo let out as he walked passed the kick aimed for his head and went to the kitchen.

Isshin watched his son enter the kitchen. This was not his usual reaction. He stopped to think a moment. Normally, his son would engage in his invitation to fight and try to defeat him ten-fold, but this time... nothing?

"Something happened, but what?" Isshin wondered. "Wait a minute," He realized. "He was carrying something."

He followed the boy into the kitchen graciously allowing his daughters to enter the room ahead of him. Karin and Yuzu were his precious daughters after all. Once in the room, there was also another thing Isshin noticed, Ichigo was sitting at his place at the dinner table with the items he was carrying spread out on the table. He was leaning with his elbow against the table-top and his knuckles under his jaw bone.

"Oh, Ichi-nii where did you get all this food?" Yuzu asked as she going to prepare dinner.

"They all seem to be your favorite foods too," Karin noticed.

Isshin looked around and also noticed the particular combinations of food. There were different sorts of blends with rice, fish, and even some English recipes. He heard Ichigo sigh.

"Where did you get this food? Whoever made this is a wonderful cook," Yuzu praised happily.

"That's what I'd like to know," Karin commented while digging in.

Isshin gathered some into his own plate and gave it a try. It was... It was... Something burst in his stomach. He felt like he was tasting Misaki's cooking all over again. The taste and distribution of flavor was exquisite. Isshin finally voiced his the repeated question to his son? This was not his son's cooking that's for sure.

"Where did you get this?"

Ichigo looked up as though he finally acknowledged the other three's existence.

"Oh, um... Leigh made it for me," Ichigo answered.

Ichigo's wording sparked another interest in Isshin, as always.

"Leigh? You mean the Potter girl?"

"Yes,"

"She let's you call her by her first name?"

"Yes,' was all he said again.

Isshin's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Ichigo sighed and stood from his chair and left his room. Issin turned and saw a side-view of his son. He noticed Ichigo's hand touching his mouth.

Isshin's eyes widened considerably at the implications of this small gesture. He looked at the answering machine for any messages, and there was one stating that Ichigo had missed the school day. Ichigo gave away so many clues that pointed to the obvious. Ditching class to spend time with Potter-san, walking around in a daze once he returned, and returning with food that Leigh made for him.

Isshin launched himself out of his chair startling Karin and Yuzu.

"Misaki-chan, our son finally got himself a girlfriend!" Isshin shouted at the blown up portrait.

Karin spit her drink out all over her father's plate in shock, while Yuzu blushed at her father's words.

"Just when I thought we were actually having a normal family dinner," Karin grumbled irritatedly. However Yuzu giggled. "Isn't it exciting? Ichi-nii has a girlfriend!"

Karin sighed, "I suppose so. Maybe now, he won't be such a lump. Wait, no." She said remembering his dazed state. "He went from a lump to a baka."

"Be more supportive Karin-chan," Yuzu scolded.

"I never said I was against Ichi-nii and Potter together." Karin replied.

"Maybe we should call her Leigh-chan now."

"I suppose so, but it's not like there married you know."

"MARRIED!!!!" Isshin interjected. "I-I must eavesdrop and make sure my stupid son's not doing anything naughty or suspicious," He thought sneaking away blushing. He snickered as he thought of his son in such a position.

"Oyaji!" Karin interfered grabbing the back of her father's shirt.

"Daddy be nice," Yuzu said serving spoon pointed at her father.

"Wha- What did I do?" He whined. Yuzu-chan scolding him?

"You were going to eavesdrop on Ichi-nii, weren't you?" Karin said knowingly.

"But don't you want to know what he's up to?"

"Geez, no wonder you two fight all the time," Karin rolled her eyes.

"I-I just have to know!" Isshin escaped Karin's iron hold and ran up the stairs.

Karin rolled her eyes again. Yuzu looked down at her feet, finding them interesting.

"You want to know to, don't you," Karin said expectantly.

"YES!" She cried dashing away.

Karin groaned. "Fine, if Ichi-nii yells at you don't say I didn't warn you." She shouted up the stares. Seriously, was she the only one who respected her brothers privacy? But, then again... What kind of sister would she be if she didn't get into her brother's business?

Three ears pressed against Ichigo's door as Isshin, Karin, and Yuzu listened in on the conversation Ichigo and Potter, or rather Leigh were having.

***

"Did they like the food?"Leigh asked. She sounded close. Was she in the same room as him, the three in the hall wondered.

"They sang you praises," Ichigo replied amused.

"I'm glad they liked it," She said half laughing.

Ichigo noticed the tired glaze inside Leigh's eyes. "Time for bed?"

"Nearly. I still have a few things I need to do beforehand. I'll show you tomorrow after school."

He nodded, leaning forward the same time Leigh was. There lips pressed together in a slow kiss.

***

"Dad, they've stopped talking," Yuzu said.

"They probably went to sleep." Karin said walking away.

"NOT TOGETHER!?" Isshin yelled.

"NO, YOU DUMBASS!" Karin yelled blushing. She ran away not being able to stand her father's weirdness anymore tonight.

***

"NO YOU DUMBASS!" Ichigo heard outside his door. It was Karin. A vein popped in annoyance. They wouldn't; not while he was trying be alone. He pulled away from the kiss he and Leigh were sharing, and looked towards his door that lead into the hallway.

"But Leigh-chan's voice sounded close, then they stopped, so it's perfectly logical that they would be sleeping together." Another vein popped on Ichigo's face, with an addition of a red tinge against his face. Leigh froze, turning bright red hearing the words.

Ichigo sighed and turned towards Leigh. He wished her goodnight after pecking her on the mouth. She replied the same way after closing her window.

"Now I've got a bone to pick with that oyaji-baka! I swear, I'm gonna beat his ass. If only I could use Zangetsu to do it," He growled mentally.

***

Leigh shut her window and pulled her curtains closed to change into her black, silk pajama bottoms and red tank top, so she could be comfortable. It was just as she said before. She had a few things to do, like tuck Teddy into bed. She had let him back out when he was well rested and Ichigo had gotten used to Teddy's new appearance.

"Teddy must really like Ichigo. His hair is still orange," She muttered tucking the blankets around Teddy. She left the room with the door open as per usual and headed down to the basement where she could finish her former headmaster's portrait.

With just a few more brush strokes the painting was finished and ready for Albus' appearance. Normally, she'd wait for it to dry the muggle way, but this time there was a pressing matter she needed to speak to him about.

She looked down at the charms book and found a spell that would bring Albus Dumbledore's image into the painting. When the spell was said, a shadow of sorts appeared on the canvas. It looked as though it were looking around confused. The shadow became a clearer silhouette of an old man with a long beard. She sighed in relief. Good, she did the spell right. The silhouette became clearer as the image came into focus.

"Hello," Leigh greeted her former Headmaster.

Professor Dumbledore looked around the background of his current surroundings. All around was the interior of a candy shop. Decorating the walls and shelves were all of his favorite sweets that he'd ever tasted.

"Why, Miss Potter, you've certainly honed your artistic skills, and your spell work for that matter," Dumbledore said eyes twinkling appreciatively.

"Thank you sir."

"There's no need for you to address me so formally. I think you've earned the right to call me Albus. Besides I'm not your headmaster anymore," He reminded.

"Right, Head- um- Albus. This will take some getting used to," She muttered embarrassed.

"How have you been my dear girl? You look cheerful."

Leigh looked down, hoping that a certain red color wasn't appearing on her cheeks.

"Yes, things have gotten pretty interesting here, but I'll tell you about them later," Leigh said regaining her composure.

"I look forward to it," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Any word from Mr. Weasley?"

Leigh's heart sank. She swallowed a lump in her throat. "No... no word from Ron." She whispered slowly. "How about on your end at headmaster's office?"

"Nothing since you left England."

"No one on your end can hear us speaking, right?"

"Do you mean the portraits? No of course not, nor any of the living. Why do you ask?"

Leigh's expression became solum, and Dumbledore noticed right away.

"Bellatrix Lestrange found me. I thought Mrs. Weasley killed her for trying to hurt Ginny, but I guess she escaped." Leigh said.

"Have you encountered her in a duel?"

"Yes, that's how I knew she was here. A snake even followed her here to warn me. Surprisingly enough, Luna told me the snake had been Lucius Malfoy."

"Perhaps not all of this generations' Malfoy's are bad."

"Perhaps, or he's just trying to get his job back by getting into my good graces," Leigh muttered irritated.

"I'm sorry?" Albus asked not hearing her.

"Un? Nothing, nothing." She shook her head. "Anyway, the reason I called you here tonight is because I'm confused about something."

Dumbledore smiled. "Should I ask you to elaborate, or will you continue on your own?"

Leigh smirked before continuing. Her expression became serious.

"Well, there's two things I'm confused about. One, no matter where I go, I can't seem to leave the room without a certain wand following me," She emphasized her meaning by opening her hand because the Elder wand appeared in it. No, this was not wandless magic summoning the wand. "No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get rid of it. Second, even when Bellatrix beat me, the wand returned to me. I thought if the person who possess the wand is defeated then it would no longer return to them."

Leigh winced at the displeased expression on his face. She had a feeling she knew what he was thinking.

"How did she defeat you? Did you even use your full power?"

Leigh bit her lip, but told the truth. Even while dead, the man seemed to know her well. "Well, I was, but I think some part of me just wanted to end it, until Ichigo arrived. No, do you mean that the reason it's still with me was because I wasn't trying my hardest?"

"Unfortunately, my knowledge of the wand is limited. I have never heard about this kind of behavior from the Elder Wand. I believe the wand should have abandoned you, yet it didn't. This is something to look into Leigh. Keep me informed on anything you find out for I am quite curious myself," Albus responded.

"I will," She promised. She took a deep breath.

"Now, before I reprimand you on intentionally trying to end your life by way of Bellatrix Lestrange, would you care to tell me who exactly is this 'Ichigo'?" His eyes twinkled.

Leigh blushed and couldn't hide it for anything.

"Crap. Of course he would notice my slip, and mention it too," She thought finding her feet interesting.

"Well, Miss Potter?" Dumbledore prompted eyes becoming twinkling like the stars.

"... W-well... he's..." Leigh stammered and turned a deeper red.

***

Leigh returned to her room feeling refreshed after taking a bath and returning to her pajamas again. She took a deep breath after climbing into her bed. Fate did not like to make things easy for her, did she?

"Well, hollows, a boyfriend, and a mysterious wand that doesn't leave me alone for my phoenix wand. I think I smell the beginning of my newest headache. Now what do I do?" She thought. A new feeling entered her chest. It was frightening and exhilarating at the same time. A spark returned to Leigh's eyes, one that had not been there for the past few years.

"Nah, don't worry about it. For now, just keep taking care of Teddy."

She didn't even care about the fact that Luna had clearly done something to her clothing when she felt the blonde's magic signature at her closet (Luna's prank). She covered herself with blankets and allowed sleep to claim her.

***

The next morning...

"Oh come on Ichigo, let me go to school with you. I am so bored doing nothing every single day," Kon whined. "Besides you need a chaperone." He smirked. "Who knows what you'll get up to with the new onee-chan.

"You are not coming with me because one: you're a pervert, two: what she and I do is none of your business, and three: she thinks you're a doll. That is going to stay that way, unless..." He squeezed the Lion's neck and growled. "... unless you'd like to get the stuffing beaten out of you by yet, another female because you nuzzled into her chest."

Ichigo threw Kon on the floor and left his room. He slammed his door with his book bag in hand and exited the house to walk with Leigh and Luna to school.

Kon rushed to the window and shouted. "YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS BECAUSE I GOT TO DO IT BEFORE YOU DID!"

***

Leigh turned her head from there walking when she heard something yelling. It sounded like someone being jealous or something for one reason or another.

"Did you hear something?"

Ichigo mentally promised the damn doll death when he returned from school.

"No, don't worry about it." Ichigo shook his head. He squeezed her hand that were interlaced with his fingers. Leigh nodded and all three headed to school.

They separated and said goodbye to Luna as she had to leave for the freshman section of the school. They received multiple stares from others as they saw the new Ichigo and Leigh arrived to school. They noticed that the two had been gradually getting closer as some time passed by, but to see the cute girl walking hand in hand with "a scary punk" was a little shocking.

As they were just outside the classroom Ichigo's usual annoyance-slash-friend Asano Keigo made his daily appearance.

"Great, with him seeing this, I wonder what he'll do today?" Ichigo thought refering his and Leigh's hands.

"ICHI-" Keigo stopped short. "Eh? Eh? EH? W-What is this!?" Keigo shouted wide-eyed.

Mizuiro popped up, perfectly timed as per usual. "Isn't it obvious Asano-san?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo, are you and Potter together?" Keigo asked dumbfounded.

Ichigo sighed. Leigh smiled at Keigo's antics. "Yes Keigo. We are," He replied.

"You mean like a real boyfriend and girlfriend? As in to say your hands are not just conveniently glued together, giving off the appearance that one of my best friends and the 'new girl' are actually going out?" Keigo asked just to make sure.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and dropped Leigh's hand. "Yes, you see, our hands are not glued together."

As Ichigo proved his point, Leigh felt the loss of his comfortable warmth. With a happy feeling inside her heart, she left the three boys to their own devices. It was nearly time for class anyway. She sat at her usual desk, taking out a notebook and pen, then a shadow hovered over her. She tensed on the verge of panic. She took a deep breath and tried relaxing with a mantra she repeated in her mind over and over.

"No, no, no. There's no Death Eaters here. Just take a deep breath, turn around, and greet them normally."

She turned around and back up with a near invisible flinch when blond-bobbed hair appeared right in her face.

"Geez, make a noise. You startled me," Leigh said.

"Ah gomen, gomen," He said waving.

"Wait a minute. You are Hirako Shinji right? The other new student that was supposed to come in with me, but didn't?"

Mr. Bobbed-Hair nodded with a wide grin. "Hai! I'm so happy."

Leigh sweat dropped. "N-No problem." "Is he seriously that happy I remembered his name?"

This guy was kind of strange, but then again she was no stranger to the word. However, he seemed nice. Hirako backed off, turning around to the front as students gathered into the classroom. Sensei was the final person to arrive. Leigh let out a subconscious breath of relief that she didn't realize she was holding as she saw the irritated expression on Ichigo's face. It wasn't necessarily the exprsesion that calmed her, more like his presence. She relaxed as he sat behind her.

"Good morning class. I'm going to take attendence. I see everyone is present today," She greeted with a smile. "I hope everyone's finished there class assignments due this week." Some shifted nervously at the sensei's threatening smile and others didn't so much as flinch. "Well, anyway I'll get back to that topic later, but for now I'd like to reintroduce a student who was supposed to come in the same day as Potter-san over here," She said gesturing to the blond.

Hirako laughed scratching the back of his head. "Ah, I'm sorry I couldn't make it. You see my mother was not feeling well that day and she gave me a call to return home and help take care of her."

Sensei dabbed her eyes with a hanky. She was clearly a sucker for sob stories and apparently some of the other girls in this room were too. Now that Leigh thought about it, the day of her own introduction she thought she'd seen piteous looks of sorrow and a few look at her with anxiety. Leigh shook her head in disbelief.

"Don't worry though. She's doing much better. Ha ha, I suppose you want my name. You may call me Hirako Shinji," He said with a big smile. "Oh, sensei can I sit next to a cute girl. Huh? Can I?" He asked turning to sensei.

"Fake smile! A playboy, just as I suspected." Leigh's internal alarm pointed out. (refer to chapter 2)

"Hm, let's see about that," Sensei looked at her seating arrangements. "You can sit..."

Leigh looked behind her and smiled with amusement when she noticed that Ichigo was in his own little world, clearly not paying attention to the new student. She wondered what he was thinking about.

"You can sit next to Kurosaki," Sensei said.

Ichigo looked up when he heard his name, and he only just noticed a new student had arrived in the school.

"Hello neighbor," Hirako said.

Ichigo gave a short nod before turning back to the front.

"Let's be good friends," Hirako said also glancing at the Leigh.

Leigh tensed feeling his gaze. "Yep, a playboy with a hidden agenda. We'll see where this goes."

Ichigo turned his head to the side with an awkward feeling flowing inside him, but he did not pay close attention to it. Instead, he went back into his own little world where he could think about Leigh and hope no hollows decide to show themselves.

A/N: Shinji is back. He'll have a more active roll for a while like in the anime/manga. On a fun note, he'll flirt with Leigh and Orihime and piss Ichigo off. Maybe Uryu too since he likes Orihime.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Any mistakes in the chapter will be fixed later

Next Chapter: Arrancar