As always... I do not own either HP or Bleach.

We're probably not quite at the half-way point, but close. To compare it to the first story: HBP total words: 109,226; chapters 20; Reviews: 520; Favorites: 335; Alerts: 409. OoTBP: Total words: 231,883; chapters 49; Reviews 538; favorites 487; alerts 250. This story has almost the same number of reviews as part one, completed. I love you guys!

=Hell butterfly message=

==Eavesdropping bug==

||Japanese speaking||

:Zanpakuto speaking:

Ichigo talking to Zangetsu/Hichigo;

:Inner hollow talking:

Chapter 20

"Nervous?" Ichigo asked Harry as they walked down to the Quidditch pitch.

"A bit; I've never been Captain before…" he admitted.

"Look – it's your team. You lead it the way you want to. Make a decision and stick to it. Don't show doubt, even if you feel it; the others will walk all over you if you do that. Even if you make a wrong decision, act like it's the right one," Ichigo advised with all of the wisdom of someone who has been a Captain for four whole months.

Harry gave him a slightly surprised look. Ichigo was talking as if he'd been some kind of Captain before.

"He's right, you know," Toshiro said from behind them. Harry and Ichigo turned around to see Toshiro right behind them. "Don't ever show doubt – be strong. It is your team so they'll be taking their lead from you: If you act like you know what you're doing, so will they. Remember that they will be looking to you for answers. And also remember – sometimes, it isn't always the best player, but the best team player that wins the game."

"I –" Harry blinked and looked from one to the other, his mind spinning as he tried to take in what they were telling him. And why was Toshiro advising him? Wasn't he a Ravenclaw?

"Right – Quidditch is a team sport, isn't it?" Ichigo was nodding at what Toshiro was saying. "The Beaters have to keep the Bludgers off of the Chasers and the Seeker, while trying to knock the other team off of their brooms at the same time… sometimes it's the players that work together the best that win, not the best players…"

"I see what you're saying," Harry nodded as he thought about what the other two were saying, "A cohesive team unit, not people who are always trying to grandstand…"

"Exactly," Toshiro smiled at him, "You don't mind if I watch, do you? Karin wants to try out."

Ah, so that was it... They both looked over at Ichigo, who just shrugged. "It's okay; I told her I didn't have a problem with it. If I can live through Rukia playing, I think can live through Karin's trying out for the team."

When they got to the pitch, Harry groaned; it appeared as if all of Gryffindor had turned out for the tryouts. They wished Harry luck, and then went and sat with Hermione.

"This is going to be horrible," Hermione said, sighing as she looked at the amount of people who wanted to try out for the team. It wasn't going to be easy for Ron with such a mass of people watching his tryout. Ichigo shook his head as he too let his gaze roam over the amount of players who were trying to get on the team.

"Look at all the first years…" he commented, staring down at the field, which was crowded. All of the students who were trying to be just like Harry, and make the team in their first year at Hogwarts…

"They're probably better on a broom than you are," Toshiro said dryly. Ichigo grimaced.

"Probably," he reluctantly agreed. And most of them, he noticed, were even taller than Rukia!

"Well, Harry made the team in his first year," Hermione said defensively.

"Hermione, Harry is the exception to the rule. Look at them – they don't have anything better than the school's old Cleansweeps to try out on," Toshiro pointed out. Ichigo snickered.

"And Karin has a brand new Nimbus… I got her one for her birthday. Belatedly."

Hermione gave a choking gasp as she tried not to laugh. "You didn't!" she exclaimed, looking over him; Karin was an athlete, and most of the would-be players down on the field, were not.

Ichigo shrugged as if it was no big deal. "That's what she wanted." He sighed, and then rolled his eyes. "So if she doesn't make it this year, you know she'll be practicing all year and all summer to make it next year."

"Is that McLaggen?" Toshiro asked suddenly, leaning forward. Ichigo scowled down at the field at the mention of the idiot who had made a pass at his fiancée. The Seventh Year was hounding Harry about something, and the Team Captain did not appear to be too happy about it.

"That stuck-up ass? Yeah, it is…" he replied with a growl, watching as Harry pointed and apparently told an annoyed McLaggen to wait near them. Harry then proceeded to eliminate nearly half of the people who wanted to try out by having them do a simple flying test… which had Hermione burying her face in her hands at the pileups, crashes and most absurdly poor flying she had ever seen. Even Ichigo looked away several times.

"I take that back," Toshiro said, shaking his head, "They aren't better than you are."

"Um… is that group from Hufflepuff?" Ichigo said, peering at one group that had shown up and deciding to ignore Toshiro's comment. He thought he recognized one of Yuzu's year mates in the huddle of girls he was staring at.

"What?" the other two exclaimed together, leaning forward to look at where he had pointed.

"If there's anyone else here who is not from Gryffindor, leave now!" Harry roared, getting seriously annoyed. There was a moment of silence, but when Ichigo stood up with his wand out – a group of young Ravenclaws sprinted off of the pitch after the Hufflepuffs, giggling madly. Hermione and Toshiro just shook their heads. Maybe they should make Ichigo a back up coach… with him threatening to turn everyone into rabbits, people were certain to behave!

They were forced to watch for two more agonizing hours while Harry tried out Chasers, using Tatsuki and Rukia – and he'd also enlisted Ichigo from the stands to throw balls at them – and finally ended up with Katie Bell, returning to the team; a new Chaser Demelza Robins, having a hard choice between her and Karin; and Ginny Weasley. He then had to threaten the complainers with Ichigo turning them into rabbits – to his friend's amusement – to get them off of the pitch in order to try out Beaters. He ended up with Tatsuki and Rukia – as they had been trained by Fred and George – and no one else had anywhere near the brilliance of that pair. Karin slumped dejectedly in between her brother and Toshiro.

"Chin up, Karin – you almost made the cut," Ichigo tried to cheer her up, "Demelza just out-flew you because she's older and has more flying experience."

"I suppose," Karin grumbled unhappily. Toshiro slung an arm around her shoulders to try to console her.

Ichigo stared at her, then slipped down to talk to Harry, who was getting ready to test Keepers… and he'd been purposely getting ready to do that last, hoping that the stands would have emptied by then, but instead they had gotten even more crowded.

"Hey, Harry –"

Harry looked over at Ichigo; he hoped his friend had some decent suggestion for him; Ron was turning a rather nice shade of green right now. He really didn't want McLaggen to out-fly his best friend, who could be a very good Keeper when he was on the game and his nerves weren't getting the better of him.

"I had an idea…"

"Yeah?" he asked hopefully.

"Have you thought about a second string team?"

"A what?" he asked, baffled.

"A second string – a back up team for you to practice against, and in case someone gets hurt…"

Harry stared at Ichigo for a moment, and then blinked. "That's brilliant!"

Ichigo smirked. "Yeah, I thought so. They do it in the mundane world all the time. That's why their teams are so large: Back up players."

"Round up Karin, Seamus, Dean, Jimmy Peakes, and Ritchie Coote for me, will you?" Harry said hurriedly as he flew back to start the Keeper trials.

"Sure!" Ichigo hurried back to his seat, and pulled Karin up.

"What?" she asked her brother as she followed him, while Hermione and Toshiro stared after them with some bemusement, wondering what he was up to.

"I'll tell you in a minute – we've got to get a couple of more people," he said, as he grabbed hold of his year-mates Dean and Seamus, and then found the third year Jimmy and Ritchie. Ichigo hurriedly explained to them what the idea was.

"Oh, I get it – this way we get to practice, and if anyone gets hurt, or has detention or something…" Jimmy nodded understanding.

"Right – one of you would play in their place," Ichigo confirmed, "We're just waiting on the back up Keeper."

"No back up Seeker?" Dean asked, looking over the assembled group.

"Ah – that's Ginny," Ichigo smiled over at Dean, who smacked himself in the side of the head at his forgetfulness.

"Oh – right. She'd move into Seeker position, and one of the three of us would play Chaser," Dean smiled sheepishly back.

"I hope he doesn't pick that McClaggen," Seamus muttered, "That guy is so full of himself."

Ichigo snorted, thinking of the luncheon he'd had on the train with him, as well as the incident over Rukia. "You have no idea…"

They watched from where they stood, as the applicants barely saved two goals apiece. McClaggen, however, managed to save four of five… Seamus groaned.

"No way…" he said, as the 'second string' all groaned with him, "Come on, Ron! We know you can do it…"

"That's right – he did it last year," Karin nodded, remembering the game. Ichigo winced – he had actually managed to miss that one – although the only person who knew he had missed it was Karin – and the mod soul Noba, who had pretended to be him. Everyone else thought he had still been present, when in actuality he had been trailing Harry, Hermione and Hagrid into the Forbidden Forest. He had never even confessed to Rukia that he had not seen the match, deciding that he would be safer not telling her. They heard a feminine "Good Luck!" from the crowd as Ron got ready to try out, but not from Hermione; Ichigo was surprised when he looked around to see Lavender Brown hiding her face in her hands with embarrassment while Parvati stared at her friend with surprised amusement. Oh, when did that start? He wondered, seeing Hermione frown darkly.

He was surprised that Harry was not hiding his face while Ron was trying out; but he somehow managed to watch Ron's entire trial. And Ichigo was surprised that Ron actually managed to save all five penalties, although he nearly missed the one that Ginny threw at him…. McLaggen appeared to try to force the issue, being something of a poor loser, but he eventually stormed off, muttering to himself.

"Do we have to have him as our backup?" Karin asked her brother plaintively.

He shrugged. "He may not want to do it." One could hope…

Harry rounded everyone up; when he told the 'first string' the point of the 'second string' they all thought it was a good idea, and liked the idea of having an actual team to practice against. They also liked the idea of having skilled backups in case one of them was to get hurt. He set the time for their first full practice, sent them on their way, and then along with Ron and Hermione – and dragging a protesting Ichigo along with them – they took off for Hagrid's. Ichigo finally gave in, thinking he might get to see the two winged horses on the way.

He turned out to be prophetic; they appeared to have sensed him coming, and eagerly crowded around him, to the trio's amazement.

"What…?" they stared at the pair as they greeted Ichigo happily, nuzzling him and searching for the treats he usually kept in his pockets for them.

"Oh, they belonged to my mother," he said in an offhand manner, as he rubbed their foreheads. "This is Rain," he indicated the chestnut, "And this is Storm," he pointed to the gray. He, at least, had checked with Hagrid several times to see how they were doing, and had had a number of discussions with him about the pair. The half-giant had not expected all of the Japanese to be taking his class, and therefore was not upset with him. Well, considering that Ichigo had handed him a gorgeous pair of winged horses to care for and use with his younger students, Hagrid was actually pretty happy with Ichigo, and was even teaching him and Rukia how to ride them and properly care for them. Ichigo was seriously thinking of bringing them to Soul Society after they'd finished school. The pair walked with them down to Hagrid's… but when they arrived it was to have the door slammed in their faces.

"Oh dear," Hermione said, stricken by the reaction.

"Were you expecting hugs and kisses?" Ichigo asked with some amazement. Rain and Storm had both jumped when the door had slammed, and were only now inching back, staying behind Ichigo. They had gotten to know the half-giant fairly well, and this display of temper startled them. He worked on soothing them while the others fretted over their treatment – or rather Hermione fretted, Ron shrugged, and Harry got irritated.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said darkly. He took his wand out and pounded on the door. "Hagrid, open up! We want to talk to you!"

There was no sound from inside.

"If you don't open up, I'll blast it open!"

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked, "You can't do that!"

"Watch him," Ichigo shook his head; he had known it would be like this. Hagrid had not mentioned Harry or the others at all, and Ichigo had not brought them up the few times he had spoken to him. In fact – he had skirted around the subject, knowing it would be a sore one. Hagrid appeared to appreciate his tact.

"Stand back…"

The door flew open and Hagrid loomed in the doorway, just as Harry – and Ichigo – had known he would. The half-giant glared down at them.

"I'm a teacher!" he roared down at Harry, "A teacher! How dare yeh threaten ter break down my door, Potter!"

"I'm sorry, sir!" Harry put his wand away and glared back at Hagrid. Ichigo face-palmed; this was going downhill fast.

Hagrid gaped at him. "Since when do yeh call me 'sir'?"

"Since when do you call me 'Potter'?"

"Think yer clever, do yeh?" Hagrid growled. "Come in, then. Ungrateful…" he stood by to let them pass. "Well?" he said, watching as Harry, Ron and Hermione sat around his enormous table, and Ichigo stood against the wall. "Feelin' sorry for me, do yeh? Yeh thinkin' I'm lonely?"

"No," Harry said, "We just wanted to see you."

"We missed you," Hermione said meekly.

"Missed me? Yeah. Right," Hagrid snorted. He greeted Ichigo politely however, offering him a seat, refreshments, and tea, at which point the other three stared at him.

"What? I've come down and talked to him," Ichigo shrugged, jerking a finger over a shoulder at the reason, still standing outside the cabin. Oh.

He stomped around, making tea and serving them some really horrible cakes; Ichigo passed on the food, but had tea, having experienced Hagrid's cooking before; he usually had Winky get something together for him to bring as an offering when he knew he was coming down to visit the half-giant. He sat there quietly, watching as the other three tried to make up with Hagrid – eventually managing to convince him that they had not had room in their schedules. At which point he actually broke down.

"It's…Aragog," he admitted, "I think he's dyin'… He got ill over the summer an' he's not gettin' better…"

Ichigo watched the huge man bawl like a baby, finally inching over to Harry while Hermione tried to comfort Hagrid, and asked, "Who's Aragog?"

"A giant talking spider."

Ichigo started with surprise; a – giant talking – spider? No – it couldn't be – could it?

It couldn't be the same spider he and the others had had a run-in with shortly after the school year had started the year before… the same spider Ichigo had threatened to split open like a ripe melon… even to the point of putting a slight split into its carapace… could it? The thing had appeared rather old – had Ichigo's actions in some way hastened its end? If he had known the creature had been a friend of Hagrid's, he might have been a bit more careful at the time, but he hadn't even met the half-giant at that point, and as they say – hindsight is 20/20.

"I know – it seems – improbable," Harry said softly, mistaking Ichigo's reaction for something else. "But the only time Ron and I saw him – we barely got away from him…"

"I don' think it'd be safe fer anyone but me ter go near the colony at the mo'," Hagrid was saying, blowing his nose, "But thanks fer offerin' Hermione… it means a lot…"

Hagrid became something close to his usual self, after that; and Ichigo never mentioned that he had actually met this Aragog; he didn't think his meeting – and the outcome – would go over very well with Hagrid. Of course, from their reaction, he thought that Ron and Harry might get a kick out of hearing just how many of the spiders he and his friends had taken out; but for now he was keeping quiet.

"I knew yeh'd find it hard ter squeeze me in," Hagrid admitted, pouring more tea, "A few of yer friends, Ichi, are in the class, though," he nodded at Ichigo. "An' doin' ver' well, too. An' the younger years all love those horses o' yers. Always bringin' sugar an' apples down fer 'em. Gotta keep 'em from feedin' 'em too much, or they'll be gettin' fat."

"Momo wants to specialize," he nodded, "She loves animals. So does Rukia, but she couldn't fit it in, either. She really tried, too. She was really disappointed when she couldn't…" Sorry Rukia… "Oh, and I do need to pick your brain about griffons – I think I've read everything in the library on them, but what I'm looking for isn't there."

"Sur' thing, no' a problem," Hagrid nodded; Griffons – deadly creatures – were right up his alley. None of the information Ichigo had checked said anything about them being telepathic in any way. Hagrid may not even realize it if they were… but if Ichigo described what had happened… he may have had a similar experience. That would be enough to confirm his hunch. If not with griffons, then with hippogriffs, a hybrid cross between griffons and winged horses… this little conversation baffled the other three; why did Ichigo need to speak to Hagrid about griffons?

When they finally left, Hagrid was positively cheerful – and they were positively starving, as it was now supper time and they had missed lunch.

Unfortunately, when they reached the castle, Ichigo was beset upon by Slughorn – who was lying in wait for him.

"Ichigo, my lad!" he proclaimed loudly, dropping an arm around his shoulder, and steering him off away from the others. Ichigo gave them a helpless look as he was led away. "You've been a naughty boy – avoiding me like you have been."

"Ah – sorry Professor," Ichigo said weakly as his stomach growled loudly.

"Now – I want to meet with your entire group after supper – and I won't take no for an answer this time!"

Ichigo sighed, knowing he had been well and truly caught this time. "Fine – your office?" he suggested, giving in to the inevitable.

"Wonderful! How about eight o'clock?"

"Eight then," Ichigo smiled weakly at him, and was finally able to get away from him and rejoin the others at the dinner table – but only because his stomach decided to come to his rescue and growl loudly again. He stopped by Tatsuki and Rukia, and leaned over to whisper to the pair of them,

||Slughorn's office, at eight.||

||He finally cornered you, did he?|| Rukia smirked at him, knowing that Ichigo had been trying to avoid him – and this moment.

"Yeah, he did," He replied as he moved off to the Ravenclaw table to tell Toshiro and Uryu, and then the Hufflepuff table to let Momo, Mizuiro, and Orihime know. He was still debating about his sisters. He had a bit of time… and he didn't think well when he was hungry – and he was, quite frankly starving. He hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. So after informing the others what was going on, he rushed back to the Gryffindor table before all of the roast beef was gone. When he arrived back, he found that Rukia had prepared a plate for him.

"Thanks," he said, gratefully, digging in hungrily.

"You're welcome," she smiled prettily at him. She knew he had missed lunch, and was taking care of him the way she always did. Even if it was just ensuring that he got a decent meal.

"What did Slughorn want?" Harry asked him.

"Oh, he wants to meet all of us – that came from Japan, I mean," Ichigo sighed, "I've been putting him off since we got here…"

Harry grinned at him. "Good luck," he said, not envying him one bit.

"Thanks," Ichigo said, scowling back at him.

The group gathered in the hallway just before eight; they included Yuzu, Karin, Winky and Yoruichi.

"You are part of the family," Ichigo said to the hesitant house elf, who then looked like she was going to burst into tears at his declaration. Her confidence had taken a bit of a hit with the knowledge that Taffy existed, and he and his sisters were doing their best to make sure that she knew that they still treasured her; Ichigo was worried she would start drinking butterbeer again. She was coming around, and was almost back to normal. It was the reason that she followed all of their orders with extra zeal. His sisters both nodded at her.

"All right; let's get this over with," Toshiro sighed, being as reluctant as Ichigo to head to what he also felt was their doom.

The door to Slughorn's office was open and he was waiting for them when they arrived.

"Come in! Come in!" he cried boisterously, ushering the group in and shutting the door behind him. "Oh, my, my… Now, you must tell me – who's who?"

"I suppose…" Ichigo sighed, and then looked over at everyone, noticing that they had actually grouped themselves separately, human and Soul Reaper. Tatsuki, being the first in line, decided to start.

"Tatsuki Arisawa," she said, stepping forward, "Second strongest high school girl in Japan – Karate." Slughorn looked sufficiently impressed at that declaration.

"Orihime Inoue," Orihime curtsied briefly.

"Mizuiro Kojima."

"Uryu Ishida."

"Ishida…I've been thinking ever since I heard your name - I believe I met your father when I was in Japan. He took one look at me and knew exactly what I was. I'm still trying to figure out how he did that."

Uryu just raised an eyebrow and shared a look with the others. Something else that Ryuuken had kept to himself and not shared with his son. That list just kept getting longer.

"Ah – and I already know your lovely sisters…"

"We're the humans of the group," Karin said dryly, not at all impressed.

"This is Winky," Yuzu said helpfully, putting her hand on Winky's shoulder.

"Ah, yes; I believe I saw you briefly on the train," Slughorn leaned over to look at her. "And how do you do?"

"Winky is very well, thank you," she bowed quickly. Her English was much better than most house elves, a side effect of going to live in a foreign country; when Kisuke had given her a translation device set up specifically for her – it had actually improved the way she spoke. She still had the little idiosyncrasies in her speech that were common to house elves; but she also spoke much more formally than most of her kind.

"So; then you all are…" he turned to the remaining four, a keen look in his eye. Behind his back, Uryu rolled his eyes.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya, Captain of the Tenth Squad of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads."

Slughorn blinked with surprise. Of course he had not been expecting that!

"Ichigo Kurosaki – Captain of the Fifth Squad of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads," Ichigo said dryly, liking the way Slughorn's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Momo Hinamori, Vice-Captain of the Fifth Squad."

"Rukia Kuchiki, Vice-Captain of the Thirteenth Squad – and Ichigo's fiancée." And then she held out her hand to show off her ring.

Behind Slughorn's back, there were various degrees of head shaking, eye rolling, silent laughing and smirking at the way Rukia just had to insert that in there. Ichigo managed – somehow – not to groan or make some sort of face himself, even though it was rather hard. Rukia wasn't going to be happy until she had personally told every person in Hogwarts – alive and dead – about their engagement. He knew that because he had even seen her showing her ring to Ravenclaw's Gray Lady, who had managed to look duly impressed with it – even though he had seen Lady Helena roll her eyes at him when Rukia had turned away. To his credit, Slughorn did manage to show the appropriate amount of awe/happiness/congratulatory expansiveness she was looking for.

"Captains, and Vice-Captains," he finally said, looking at the four of them. "Well, they did send some of the best, didn't they?"

"You have no idea," Uryu responded with a wry twist to his lips. Ichigo shot him a warning look, which he ignored. "Ichigo is considered to be among the most powerful of the Soul Reapers; the only thing that keeps him from being the most powerful is his lack of experience."

"Uryu!" Ichigo hissed at him. Uryu just smirked back at him. Toshiro sighed; this was not going to be pretty…

"Truly?" Slughorn looked at Ichigo, with some amazement. Ichigo shot his friend an angry look; he was definitely going to get him back for this… "I am a bit confused about something, however; I was under the impression that one had to be – well, dead – to be a Soul Reaper…"

For a moment, there was complete silence in the room. Orihime, Yuzu and Karin both appeared to be very upset; Uryu and Tatsuki angry; and Toshiro and Momo uncomfortable. Ichigo looked like he would rather be somewhere else; and Rukia irritated. Mizuiro just stared up at the ceiling.

"You are correct; Soul Reapers are – spiritual beings. We are here because we are in what we call gigais, or artificial bodies," Toshiro finally replied. Slughorn looked directly at Ichigo, and a rather distressed expression crossed his face.

"Yeah –" Ichigo nodded, "You figured it out."

"But…"

"That's because someone committed the equivalent of suicide!" Tatsuki finally burst out angrily. Ichigo sighed.

"Are we going to go through that again?" he looked over at her, "I told you – I didn't know Urahara and Tessai were going to cut my chain of fate! It was done before I knew what was happening! Besides, I would have done it anyway if it meant saving Rukia's life, and you know it."

"Still…"

"Enough, Tatsuki," another, male voice interjected, causing Slughorn to jump and look around wildly, finally focusing on the black cat sitting on the desk next to Ichigo. "What's done is done; there's no use crying over spilled milk, not at this late date. Besides – I already told you: he was born spirit. He only had that chain of fate because of Kisuke to begin with. That's why they had no hesitation in cutting it; because it simply returned Ichigo to the state in which he was born, nothing more."

"My… word…" Slughorn whispered, his astonishment causing him to miss what she had just said, "Did… you… speak?"

Yoruichi grinned at him with a feline smirk. "Why yes, as a matter of fact, I did. Yoruichi Shihoin, former Captain of the Second Squad, and former Commander of the Stealth Force, at your service."

"An animagus! And a talking one!" he exclaimed. Ichigo was grateful at that moment to Yoruichi, who had refrained from introducing herself earlier – in order to wait for the right moment. "My dear sir…"

"Sir? Sir?" Yoruichi drew herself up angrily. Knowing what was coming, several wands were hastily drawn out and before she could finish transforming herself, not one but four blankets had been conjured down on top of her. "ICHIGO!" came her muffled shriek as she struggled angrily under the blankets for the ruination of her best entrance. Only Mizuiro had not turned scarlet at the thought of seeing Yoruichi's admittedly magnificent – albeit nude – body.

She finally staggered to her feet, her golden eyes gleaming angrily, to find Toshiro in the midst of a massive nosebleed, and Ichigo and Uryu with their hands clapped over their eyes.

"DAMN IT YORUICHI! WILL YOU PUT SOME CLOTHES ON?!" Ichigo screamed at her, squeezing his eyes shut.

She stared at him, his beet red face, then at Toshiro and Uryu, who were in the same condition; Slughorn's jaw had dropped to the floor. She wrapped one of the blankets around her, then after patting the stunned Professor on the cheek, walked over to Ichigo and pried his hands away from his eyes.

"It's okay, you can look now," she said, unable to keep the laughter out of her voice. She glanced back at Slughorn, who was starting to recover. "I just love doing that to this kid," she said, smiling, "he's so easy."

"Aargh," Ichigo glared at her, "If you weren't my favorite teacher…"

"Am I? Really?" She reached out and ruffled his hair, "Really, Ichigo?"

"Yes, and you know it…which is the only reason why you're able to get away with half of the stuff you do," he sighed as he swatted her hand away from his hair, "and will you stop that!"

Yoruichi's laughter rang throughout the office, and before long they were explaining everything to Slughorn – seeing as he already knew half of it anyway…