Author's Note
Hi Minna(everyone)! Got finished before the month was out, I was starting to think I might not make it with how busy things have been lately with school, work, and visiting grandparents. I'm super excited for the second Avengers movie which I'll hopefully get to see next week. Oh, and who else cant wait for the next chapter of Bleach? It's gonna be interesting with SPOILERGrimmjow's reappearance.
Anywho, Chapter's kind of short, but I think the content is good. We've got the first detention here so cheers!
The morning was as gray and dreary as the last, leaving students with a desire to just stay curled up in their beds, but they got up just the same and shuffled off for breakfast and classes. The trio was saddened to see that Hagrid still hadn't shown up for breakfast. However, Hermione's good mood was ruined more so by Ron's insult to the hats she left out last night, saying that they may have been taken because they couldn't be considered clothes.
The morning classes of Charms and Transfiguration saw the fifth year students working hard. Both Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall were stressing the importance of the O.W.L. year of schooling and reinforcing that importance by assigning plenty of homework.
Having finally gotten to class work where they were actually expected to cast spells, the Japanese teens were slightly nervous, remembering Urahara's warning about using too much magic. They did their best to pace themselves and do well on each attempt they made. The Summoning Charms weren't too bad, Ichigo surprised the others by getting it right on his first attempt, but the Vanishing Spells were difficult, though they took solace in the fact that only Hermione had achieved success during the entire class period.
During lunch Ron and Harry went to the library because the growing mountain of homework was causing them a slight panic. Hermione didn't join them, still upset with Ron's slur at her hats during breakfast. Ichigo also slipped off during lunch, but for a rather different reason.
With some difficulty, due to the winding nature of the school corridors, Ichigo tracked down Urahara, finding his one-time mentor in what was presumably his office on the second floor.
"Geta-boushi."
"Ah, Kurosaki-san, what can I help you with today?" Urahara asks, a knowing glint in his eye.
"Two questions. One: what's with the ghosts here? I mean I can't touch'em or anything and they don't' have any reiatsu. Two: can you help me with the toad? I told McGonagall-sensei I'd try not to hit her." Ichigo asks, looking away as he asks the second question. It hurts his pride to ask for help on that one, but he knows himself and he did promise McGonagall that he would try not to cause bodily harm. It was a point of pride that his promises were never broken due to a lack of effort on his part. Last night's spar with Zangetsu had been aggressive to say the least, but it had only dulled his desire to painfully open the toad's eyes and he was sure that she'd bring it flaring back in tonight's detention.
"I see." Urahara says with a pleased smirk. "And here I thought you'd be asking about how to get away with murder."
"Toad's not to that point yet. 'Sides, you know I try not to kill people." Ichigo says, trying to act like the thought of killing doesn't bother him. He's a protector, not a killer. Even when it is to protect someone he cares about, he will always struggle with the kill, will always second guess the choice once out of the corner that drove him to it. No, Ichigo will always choose the path without any death if he can. Ironic when considering his hollow side's unhesitating and bloodthirsty nature.
Urahara chuckles, seeing right through Ichigo's façade. "That you do. As for your first question, I explained that yesterday before we got our 'private' class underway, though I suppose you missed it since you decided to jump right into a match with Hirako-san. I suppose I'll have to explain it for you again. The 'ghosts' here are not the ghosts you know, Kurosaki-san. Rather, they are projections of the deceased, not the actual soul as a plus is." Urahara explains. "Some wizards are able to leave a copy of their consciousness behind to linger on in the world upon death, creating these ghosts. The ghosts themselves are made of specialized particles that absorb trace amounts of residual magic out of the air to sustain themselves, much like how the average plus requires no food because all energy needs are met by the small amounts of reishi absorbed from the air. And as a copy of the original consciousness they do an exceptional job of replicating the mentality of a lost soul, but they simply are not. That is why they fit with the more traditional assumption of ghosts, passing through solid objects, lasting for incredibly long amounts of time, as well as their lack of color. This is also why you can't touch them, Kurosaki-san. They are truly untouchable, though I do believe that a strong enough wind can force them to move, somewhat like a gas cloud that happens to maintain a certain shape. And because they aren't truly alive in any spiritual sense, they have no traceable reiatsu, just like most other objects you see in the world. Does that answer your question?"
"Yeah, I guess. So the other one?" Ichigo asks.
"Maa, you do tend to find trouble easily. There's not much I can do for you besides telling you to keep your temper around her." Urahara says. "Well, besides forced removal of her person, but I'm afraid that would only result in a replacement for her being sent in, which really doesn't get us much of anywhere in the end. I doubt they would send anyone with better conduct than her, if they have such a person in their repertoire of brainwashing teachers."
"If you're so worried about it, I suppose I could go with you." Yoruichi says, hoping down from the windowsill where she'd been sitting, tail flicking. "After all, these have cooled your hot head before." Yoruichi says with a smirk, holding up a paw and flexing her claws. She knows that as much as the toad is an insult to any respectable shinigami, keeping Ichigo out of more trouble will be an interesting challenge. And if she fails, well, she'll have a front row seat to the beating of the toad.
"Right…" Ichigo says, remembering the morning after he first met Ganju and absently rubbing at where she had scratched him. He may be used to taking beatings and no stranger to getting cut, but sudden cat scratches, especially to the face, stung like hell and weren't something he was really interested in receiving again. "I, uh, don't think they'd allow 'pets' in detention." He tries, hoping to avoid claw inflicted pain.
"Not a problem." Yoruichi easily replied. "I've been into that woman's office and while quite hideous, it shows that she is quite fond of cats. I doubt she would mind my presence. And even if she did it wouldn't be very hard to slip in under your robes. They hide plenty of space around your feet and my fur would blend with their color just fine."
At this point Ichigo realizes that convincing Yoruichi not to keep an eye on him is a lost battle. The cat woman was once the master of super ninjas, so there really is no way to get away or keep her out. He sighs. "Fine. Guess I'll see you later." Having achieved a somewhat effective contingency plan for when the toad pissed him off, Ichigo left to catch up with the others and get to class.
Afternoon classes went by in that long yet quick way that classes do. First was a study of bowtruckles in Care of Magical Creatures, made unpleasant to Harry by its lack of Hagrid and Malfoy's clear delight in that simple fact. Between the classes, Harry was pleased to receive belief in his story of Voldemort's resurrection. Luna may not be the best for gaining more support with her head-in-the-clouds personality, but it's the thought that counts, and Ernie's open admission of support was certainly a pick-me-up. This was followed by a Herbology lesson in which the fifth year students were once more reminded of their O.W.L. tests at the end of the year and their importance along with ending in yet another essay for homework. The constant reminders of the O.W.L.s was starting to wear away at the fifth year students while the Ichigo and Uryu were starting to feel slightly annoyed with the constant reminders. It was just as bad as the final year of middle school with all this talk about how these tests would affect their futures.
Tired and ready to call it a day, but knowing that he still had detention alongside Ichigo with Umbridge, Harry hurried to the Great Hall to get some food before facing whatever abuse she had prepared for them. Unfortunately, his plan fell apart the moment Angelina Johnson caught him, yelling at him for getting a detention that would force him to miss the Keeper tryouts that she adamantly wanted the whole team present for. After being commanded to do whatever it took to get out of the detention, Harry sat down to eat, bemoaning his non-existent chances of getting let off by Umbridge as well as the mountain of homework obtained in the past two days.
At five to five, Harry and Ichigo depart for the "lair of the toad" as Ichigo calls it, getting a small smile out of Harry. No one noticed the black cat that slipped under Ichigo's trailing robe as the two boys departed. They made their way to the third floor and knocked on the door, cautiously entering after Umbridge's sugary "Come in."
Having seen the office under its three previous owners, Harry barely recognized the room. Everything was covered in lacy covers or some other cloth that screamed femininity. Vases of dried flowers sat upon doilies and there was a wall covered in ornamental collector's plates of kittens with different colored bows around their necks. Ichigo easily found himself agreeing with Yoruichi's assessment that the lair was hideous. There was simply too many frills and lacy things stuffed into the room to belong to any respectable person. Both boys stared at the ugliness of the room and plates, unable to tear their eyes away out of morbid curiosity of just how horrendous the room could be.
"Good evening Mr. Potter, Mr. Kurosaki."
Ichigo and Harry started, having not noticed Umbridge as her robes blended in with the contents of the room.
"Evening." Harry stiffly replies out of basic etiquette. Ichigo just gives a grunt of acknowledgement.
"Well, sit down." Umbridge instructs, pointing to a pair of small tables draped with even more lace with a straight-backed chair drawn up beside each table. A blank piece of parchment awaited them on each table, to be filled with lines Harry was sure.
Ichigo simply flopped into the chair at the desk on the right, somehow making it look lazy yet graceful, a purposely disinterested look on his face. Harry however remained standing.
"Er, Professor Umbridge? Er – before we start, I-I wanted to ask a… a favor." Harry hesitantly asks. He's sure that this won't go anywhere good for him, but he feels obligated to at least try. For the team.
Umbridge's eyes narrow at the hesitant words, wondering what the unruly boy could possible ask of her and how best she could use it in her own favor. "Oh, yes?"
"Well, I'm… I'm on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new Keeper at five o'clock on Friday and I was… was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it… do it another night… instead…" Harry trailed off, knowing almost as soon as he mentioned Quidditch that the answer was a resounding no.
"Oh no." Umbridge replies, a sadistic grin stretching her lips. "Oh no, no, no. this is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, Mr. Potter, and punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. No, you will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, and the next day, and on Friday too, and you will do your detention as planned. I think it rather a good thing you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I'm trying to teach you."
Harry's fists clench at his sides. I tell nasty, attention-seeking stories, do I? Harry had to restrain himself from shouting again. The only reason he didn't was because he could see that Umbridge was waiting for him to do it just so that she could inflict him with further punishment and he refused to give her such a chance. So he threw himself into his seat and let his bag hit the floor with a thump.
Ichigo's eyes narrowed at the toad, seeing her attempts at baiting Harry into more trouble. It was going to be a test of his strength of will to not lift a finger against her, even with Yoruichi there to provide incentive for him to behave.
"There," Umbridge says false sweetness, "we're getting better at controlling our temper already, aren't we? Now, you are going to be doing some lines for me, Mr. Potter, Mr. Kurosaki. No, not with your quill." She says, seeing them both reach for their bags. "You're going to be using some rather special ones of mine. Here you are." Umbridge says, handing over two long, thin black quills with unusually sharp points.
"Mr. Potter will write 'I must not tell lies' and Mr. Kurosaki will write 'I must respect my superiors'."
"How many times?" Harry asked in a tone that could just barely pass as polite. If he was lucky there was a chance the number of repetitions could be completed before the Quidditch tryouts were finished on Friday and maybe Angelina wouldn't bite his head off about the detention.
"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in." Umbridge replies sweetly. The room's other occupants get an ominous feeling from the way she says 'sink in'. "Off you go." Umbridge encourages with a little flick of her hand.
As Harry prepares to start his lines, he notices a crucial missing piece. "You haven't given us any ink." Harry says.
"Oh, you won't need ink." Umbridge says, a small cruel smile on her lips, eyes alight with a certain anticipation.
Shrugging it off the two boys write their first line.
Harry gasps in pain as the words he wrote in what looked like shining red ink were carved into the back of his right hand. The letters on his hand were an exact replica of those on his parchment, though he couldn't be entirely sure as the wound quickly healed over, only leaving a slightly redder tinge to his skin. He heard a growl and…
Then the air collapsed.
Harry couldn't think of a better explanation than that. One moment everything was normal, at least as normal as using obviously cursed quills to write lines could be, the next it feels like air itself is trying to crush him. It was like diving all the way to the bottom of the diving area of a swimming pool, multiplied by at least five. It was hard to breathe and rather than drowning in water, Harry was drowning in fear. Along with the collapse of the air came the sense of a very large, very angry, and very dangerous animal being stuffed into the room, filling any unoccupied space. Harry somehow knew that whatever it was had nothing against him, in fact he almost had a sense of it crouching over him almost protectively, but it didn't really make the experience any less terrifying.
Umbridge had it worse. Along with the extreme pressure and sense of a wild beast, she also received the sense of a blade, claws, something sharp laid against her throat, a single twitch away from simply slitting it open, and she could tell that whatever it was wanted to twitch. Never before had she ever experienced such a sense of death looming over her.
Ichigo was the source of it. To him, the lines were stupid and having to write them until the toad called it off was annoying, but bearable. Being forced to maim themselves to write those lines was not. His hand tightened around the quill to a degree that would have snapped it had it not been enchanted for durability and he bared his teeth as a growl slipped up his throat. It wasn't detention that the toad was giving them, but self-inflicted torture and it made Ichigo's blood boil. Maybe if it was just him his reaction wouldn't be so bad, but the knowledge that Harry was experiencing the same torture, that probably anyone who got detention from the toad would experience the same torture, rubbed him in all the wrong ways. No one should have to hurt themselves like this. Especially not just to appease some damn toad. The instinct to attack was overwhelming and pounded through his system, tensing muscles in preparation to strike and raising his reiatsu in preparation for battle.
He was less than a second from charging from his seat and reducing the toad to a moaning mess of black and blue when he felt the scratch of claws down the back of his neck with the slight push against his oppressive reiatsu, a subtle reminder that there were others in the room besides the toad that couldn't withstand such pressure. A quick glance to the side showed Harry struggling to breathe and remain sitting upright. He had to control himself. For Harry, screw the toad. With some difficulty he reined himself in, bringing his reiatsu and bloodlust down to a simmer, a sense of unease in the air instead of an invisible guillotine ready to fall.
Harry and Umbridge both gasped in air as soon as the pressure lifted, faces pale as the sense of danger dropped to a buzz on the edge of their senses. It was only for a few seconds that the malevolence had filled the room, yet it had seemed so much longer in their terrified state.
"You will continue writing your lines." Umbridge instructs, voice shaking and panting slightly from the recent struggle to breathe, head swiveling around as she looks for anything out of place that could have caused the earlier occurrence. She is unsure of what just happened, but she will find out and she certainly won't let it interfere with the lesson she is giving these unruly boys.
She receives a death glare from Ichigo before he turns his attention to the paper and a quiet, almost inaudible sigh of acknowledgement from Harry. And so the boys wrote in their own blood, line after line, over and over again.
Harry's mind was racing as he wrote his lines, trying to piece together what had happened. A quick glance up showed Harry that Umbridge was looking around the office, trying to find something. It was obvious that she had no clue what had caused the pressure either. It obviously had to do with the use of the quills since the feeling came after he and Ichigo had written their first line. Now that he thought about it, he didn't remember Ichigo panting after the pressure was lifted like he and Umbridge did. Did it have to do with Ichigo being connected to Zangetsu and whatever Kreacher and Peeves could tell was different about him? Or was it something else? The questions just kept chasing each other around and around, no answer coming forth.
Ichigo meanwhile was focusing on just writing and not doing anything beside that. He was not going to touch the toad, make her bleed for every drop of blood she makes us spill, nor yell all the choice swear words he knew, whisper in her ear all the pain she will endure, or even say anything at all to her, just make her scream. No sir, he was just going to suffer through writing the lines, if he could get his noisy instincts to shut up. It wasn't going well. Zangetsu had kept his word from the day before and was now voicing the various painful things that they could do to the toad that he'd come up with and it seemed to be quite the list. Ichigo tries to focus on writing again, but the words are mocking him. I must respect my superiors. He did, she just wasn't one of them as the line was obviously meant to imply. As he continued to write lines, Ichigo noticed that his hand was healing slower than it was before. He scowled at the quill and his hand. She wants to give us stylized scars fine, but I'm not letting mine be just some crappy sentence.
Time passed and the sky outside Umbridge's window went dark. Neither boy spoke a word. Harry didn't even look at his watch as he knew that Umbridge was looking for any sign of weakness on his or Ichigo's part and Harry certainly wasn't going to show any, even if they had to keep writing and cutting themselves all night.
"Come here." Umbridge finally commanded after what felt like hours.
Harry got up and looked down at his stinging hand, seeing that while the cut was healed his hand was red raw. Ichigo also got up and Harry could see that the deadly grace from yesterday in the classroom was back in full effect.
"Hand." Umbridge says.
They extend their hands and Harry has to suppress a shudder as Umbridge grabs it in her own stubby hands. Ichigo's fingers twitch slightly, wanting to grab her wrist, pull her hand away, break it, but the prick of claws through his pantleg remind him that he shouldn't. Having finished inspecting Harry's hand, Umbridge grabs Ichigo's and it takes all his will power to not just reverse the grip and swing her around, hold her still and punch, Punch, PUNCH.
"Tut, tut, I don't seem to have made much of an impression yet." Umbridge says with a smile. "Well, we'll just have to try again tomorrow evening, won't we? You may go."
By unspoken consent, Ichigo and Harry both grabbed their bags and left as quickly as possible without it looking like they were running away. They walked through the corridors and as soon as they were a respectable distance away, Ichigo whirled with a roar and punched the wall, leaving thin cracks in the stone while his fist remained unharmed due to Blut. Harry flinched back and Ichigo ignored him, growling every curse he could think of at the toad.
""Are… are you o-okay?" Harry stammered, not quite sure how to react to the sudden burst of violence.
"Yes… no. I don't know." Ichigo says, rubbing his face and taking deep breaths. Finally acting on his pent-up frustration and anger made him feel a bit better, but he wasn't really sure if it was enough. "I just… that toad…"
"Yeah." Harry agrees. "She's horrible."
They continue back to the dorms in silence, but it is a comforting silence of companionship from shared misery. They arrive back at the common room to find Orihime waiting for them.
"Kurosaki-kun! Harry-kun! Daijoubu desuka? (Are you okay?)" she says upon seeing them enter. Orihime had felt Ichigo's reiatsu spike earlier and his anger continuing to taint it even after it had settled down to lower levels.
"Aa. (yeah)" Ichigo replies, letting her fuss over him. Her care and attention was soothing, calming him down. He doesn't notice her frown at his response, knowing that it is not as alright as he'd like her to believe.
"Harry-kun?" she asks, turning worried eyes to him.
"Huh?" Harry asks a bit surprised. "I'm fine." He says, waving her off as she takes a step toward him since he doesn't really want her fussing over him.
"Your hand!" Orihime gasps, noticing how the back of Harry's hand is red and raw. She grabs it before Harry can react and inspects it before letting go and reaching for Ichigo's hand.
"It's fine." Ichigo says almost sternly, moving his hand out of her reach.
"No it's not." Orihime replies, tears shining in her eyes. "You both got hurt in that detention. That's not okay. Now let me see your hand."
Ichigo hesitates for a moment, not wanting to cause her to worry more, but the concern and worry is already there, so he offers his hand. Her fingers lightly ghost over the redness as she considers calling forth her Shun Shun Rikka to take care of both their hands.
"See, it's fine. Just a little red." Ichigo says softly.
"Why are they all red?" Orihime asks, giving them both a pleading look.
"She's got us writing lines… with quills that use our blood for ink." Harry mumbles, caving under her concerned stare. Orihime lets out a little gasp. "It's not that bad, just stings when you write." Harry says in an attempt to downplay the torture. "Anyway, I'm really tired, so I'm going to bed. Night."
"Kurosaki-kun." Orihime pleads as soon as Harry reaches the staircase.
Ichigo sighs. "[It's not that bad. Honest. I just hate having to do it for the toad, okay? Now go to bed, we'll be fine.]"
Orihime watches him, looking for any sign of deception, and finding none, gives him a small smile and a hug.
"Oyasumi, Kurosaki-kun. (Goodnight, Kurosaki-kun)"
"Oyasumi, Inoue."
Harry is still changing into his pajamas when Ichigo enters the dormitory. "Is she going to tell everyone about what Umbridge has us doing?" Harry asks, the idea just occurring to him.
"She might let it slip, but Inoue is good about taking people's feelings into consideration when she learns things they'd like to keep quiet." Ichigo replies, thinking back to when Uryu lost his powers and she encouraged his and Chad's discretion on the subject.
Harry nods in understanding. As Ichigo switches into his pajamas, Harry notices thin scars crossing his shoulders, sides, and chest. It's not like he hasn't seen them before when Ichigo has changed clothes, it just suddenly seemed relevant after some hours spent carving up his own hand. A question comes to his mind and he blurts it out without really thinking. "What do you think about scars?"
Ichigo stares at him in confusion. "What do I think about scars? Where's this coming from?"
"Er… well, it's just that… Umbridge has got us cutting ourselves up… and you've got those scars… I… um…" Harry trails off, not really sure how to word it and feeling embarrassed over asking in the first place. "Look, just forget about it, okay?"
Silence reigns for a little while, but as Harry pulls back the covers to climb into his bed, Ichigo replies.
"Scars are lessons. They show you how badly you messed up. I've got more than I'd like," though not as many as I should thanks to Inoue, "but more than showing me my mistakes, they prove I'm alive. No matter how much the wound hurts, when it becomes a scar it just shows that I was strong enough to survive. I guess scars are badges of stupidity and honor. Stupid for getting hurt, honor for toughing it out." Ichigo looks Harry in the eye. "Does that answer your question?"
"Yeah, it does. Thanks, Ichigo." Harry says softly. It settles his mind to know how the scar that Umbridge's detention is sure to leave will not be a sign of shame for letting Umbridge do as she wants with him out ofsenseless pride, but rather a symbol of strength for going through it and not backing in down from her tyranny.
"Goodnight, Ichigo."
"Oyasumi, Harry."
Author's Note
So I hope I didn't disappoint too much with the detention. Second one's gonna get funny 'cause I can't write endless angst and aggression, I need happy(ish) times. I feel a bit proud about my scars dialogue and it was just something that occurred to me 'cause I don't want Harry to have Orihime remove the detention scar that reminds him of the Ministry's corruptness when he finds out she can do things like that.
And a quick-ish explanation of the final year of middle school comment. In Japan only up to middle school is mandatory. To get into high school you have to take entrance exams, kinda like American college, probably colleges in general, I don't know too much about foreign schooling. Anyways, my lack of knowledge aside, Japan puts stock in image and prestige, my sensei says that students will study hard so that they can go to a big name college that'll look good on a resume and then party and stuff, being not as studious students. A generalization for sure, but I guess it's something that happens. I'd assume that a getting a good high school is just as important as a good college, just because it could lead to the good college.
Please review/comment to tell me how I did.