Chapter
Ichigo watched Toshiro sit down to dinner. He had been distracted all day and now he kept looking up and fixing the empty headmaster's chair with an icy glare. Ichigo had given up asking what was up with the short captain and just left him to his thoughts.
After the meal was halfway through, Toshiro turned to Hermione. "Where's Harry? He hasn't come down to dinner."
Hermione looked up from her food, but didn't look concerned. "Oh, I'm sure his meeting with Dumbledore just ran long…or he just decided to skip dinner, he does that sometimes."
Toshiro nodded and stood. Grabbing the back of Ichigo's robes he hauled the teen to his feet. "Come on, we have somewhere to be."
"But…I haven't…" Ichigo stammered, as he was being drug from the Great Hall. He shut his mouth when he saw the look on Toshiro's face. He had been around the young captain long enough to know when he was angry and to know when he was over the edge, about to chop someone's head off, pissed. The difference was that when he was merely annoyed he tended to yell a bit, but it was always a bad sign when he got quiet.
Ichigo walked beside the fuming captain and rubbed his arms to keep the chill at bay. He was not surprised when they stopped in front of the Headmaster's office. Toshiro stiffly gave the password and walked up the moving staircase.
He rapped sharply on the door. When he heard 'Enter' he pulled the door open. Ichigo followed the shorter teen into the office and was not surprised to see Harry sitting in one of the chairs in front of the large desk. He was surprised to see him looking at Toshiro and him as if they aliens or something. As his eyes scanned the room, he noticed Snape standing against the far wall.
It slowly clicked into place. Why Toshiro was so pissed, why Harry had been in the office for so long and why Dumbledore was now looking just the teeniest sheepish. He had been explaining who and more importantly what Toshiro and Ichigo were.
Dumbledore smiled. "Mr. Kurosaki, Mr. Hitsugaya, I am so glad we could continue our conversation." Ichigo noticed he shivered slightly as Toshiro stepped further into the room.
"Our conversations might come to an end." Toshiro's voice was calm and steady, but his eyes were flashing dangerously. "I thought I made it clear that what we revealed was confidential."
Dumbledore sighed and rested his chin on his steepled fingers. "I am sorry, my boy, but I thought it was necessary as Harry is very involved in this. Do you know of the prophecy?"
Toshiro's eyebrow twitched, but it was starting to warm up in the office. Ichigo was thankful for that; he was starting to get frostbite standing so close to Toshiro.
"Yes I know of the prophecy." He admitted. "It just would have been nice to have…notice." He sighed and pulled his phone from his pocket.
Harry finally spoke, probably out of habit than anything. "That won't work here."
Toshiro raised an eyebrow and lifted the phone to his ear. A few silent seconds went by before Toshiro started barking orders into the phone. Ichigo turned back to Harry, who looked shocked.
He shrugged. "So…" He scratched the back of his neck. "Confused yet?"
"Just a little…" he said dryly. His eyes darted back to Toshiro, who, if Ichigo had to guess, was now on the phone with Matsumoto. Ichigo cringed in sympathy.
"YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE OFFICE IN THREE DAYS?????"
Oh yeah, it was definitely Matsumoto. He cleared his throat. "So…" He caught Dumbledore's eye. "Any idea where any of the other pieces are?"
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The meeting had been long, and to Ichigo, rather tedious. Apparently they only had vague ideas of what the pieces of soul were housed in, but not a clue as to where they were. At least they thought there were only seven of them. Neither Ichigo nor Toshiro mentioned the shredded spirit ribbon wrapped around Harry.
They were just about winding down when Ichigo asked. "Is there someplace we could train? It would have to be rather large and probably warded." He was desperate enough for some stress relief to ask.
Dumbledore's brow knotted in thought, but it was Harry that answered. "I know somewhere." Everyone turned to look at him. "The room of requirements, where we used to hold the DA meetings."
Toshiro looked at him warily. "It would need to be rather large."
Harry shrugged. "I have to show you for you to understand, but it should work."
Ichigo looked at his watch. "It's still two hours before curfew…" he could almost feel his hollow's anticipation.
Harry shrugged and stood. Dumbledore stood as well. "I think I would also like to see you train. Professor Snape will you be joining us?"
Ichigo didn't look his way but he knew the professor was dealing with an internal struggle between curiosity and wanting to be away from Ichigo. Finally he nodded once and followed the others out of the office.
Toshiro looked skeptical when they stopped in front of a blank stretch of wall. Harry turned to the two and said. "Since you know what you need, you should probably ask the room."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Ask the room?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, pace back and forth along this stretch of wall three times and ask for what you need."
Ichigo stared at him for a minute to see if he was joking, but when it was apparent he wasn't he asked sarcastically as he took a step forward. "Shouldn't I be wearing ruby slippers?"
He didn't get an answer as he tried to think of what they needed. After his third circuit he was surprised to see a door appear on the wall. He looked at it curiously before he pulled it open.
Harry's jaw hit the ground, Snape and Dumbledore looked around in wonder, Toshiro didn't change expressions, and Ichigo had a smug look plastered across his face. The five of them were now standing in what appeared to be an exact replica of Urahara's basement.
"Uh, this is big." Harry finally said when he managed to pick his jaw off the floor.
"Professor, is there some sort of barrier or shield that you could erect around yourselves?" Toshiro asked as he separated from his gigai.
Dumbledore nodded. "Of course. "
Snape looked disdainful. "You can not control your attacks?"
Toshiro shrugged. "Control is not Ichigo's strong suit."
:"Hey!" Ichigo cried indignantly as he popped Kon into his mouth. "That's not fair, I've gotten a lot better."
Toshiro shrugged. "Better than what you were is still a long shot from good." He flexed his shoulders.
Ichigo scowled at the young captain and pulled Zangetsu from his back. "So straight to Bankai? We don't have a lot of time."
Toshiro nodded. "No ceros." He looked meaningfully at Ichigo, conveying that he knew Ichigo was planning on letting the hollow out.
Ichigo nodded. 'You heard that, Hitchi?'
'Yeah, yeah, King. Just get going already!'
He chuckled to himself, and glanced over his shoulder. Dumbledore, Snape, Harry, Kon and Toshiro's gigai were encased in a bubble like dome. He rotated his shoulders as he felt Toshiro's reitsu spike as he released and then further rise as he switched to bankai.
His eyes swiveled to the now airborne captain and held Zangetsu in the familiar stance. "BanKai." The reitsu swelled around him and he felt the tattered coat swell behind him. He took a deep breath and brought his hand up to grasp the air above his forehead. Raking his hand down, the mask materialized over his face.
'Your on a short leash, Hitchi.' Ichigo warned as he released most of the control over to his hollow. He could still sense everything that was around him.
Ichigo rose in the air to face Toshiro. "Hey, iceman…You think ya gonna keep up with me?" Hitchi's voice was slightly higher than Ichigo's but he figured those watching would not notice the difference.
Toshiro didn't even twitch as he launched his first attack. Ichigo chuckled in his head as he listened to Hitchi's taunting. There were very few people willing to spar with the hollow, and he treated each sparring partner differently. Surprisingly Hitchi actually liked Rukia. Ichigo supposed it was because Hitchi thought it was funny Rukia beat his ass on a daily basis. His favorite was Renji, Ichigo wasn't exactly sure why. But Hitchi always said that 'Iceman' was his personal challenge because he liked to see the stoic captain lose his temper.
Ichigo winced as Toshiro's body went flying into a cliff. His wings had protected him from the Getsuga Tensho (sp? Order?) but he still looked pretty ticked as the dust cleared away.
Hitchi had been too smug about the hit and Toshiro managed to freeze his right hand up to the elbow. Ichigo heard him laugh. "Thanks, Shiro…I don't have to worry about dropping my sword." He mocked.
Hitchi realized soon though that he had no wrist movement and that caused a lot of his finesse to go out the window.
Ichigo felt his hollow's mood shift from playful to annoyed. Hitchi used his speed to his advantage and awkwardly fired off three Getsuga Tenshos that surrounded Toshiro, causing him to close his wings and withstand the hit.
His wings unfurled and shot towards Ichigo/Hitchi. You could hear the clash of steel as Toshiro attacked ruthlessly. Distracting him long enough, he managed to freeze Ichigo's other leg solid. As Ichigo's movements became even clumsier, Toshiro slammed him several feet away and into a cliff of his own.
Ichigo wasn't exactly thrilled his body was getting pounded but was content at the fact that his hollow would be satisfied for a while. He felt blood trickle down his face and Hitchi raised his unfrozen hand wipe the blood from his eyes. He flexed his right arm and the ice broke away.
"Damn, flyin' fairy." Grumbled Hitchi, to Toshiro's obvious amusement. The amused look flew off his face when Hitchi came at him with more force than before, holding nothing back as he sliced the air around Toshiro.
Hitchi managed to send the boy captain flying; his now dripping wings folded around himself to protect his body from the impact. Ichigo decided enough was enough; he wasn't looking forward to waking up tomorrow with all his new bruises, and reclaimed possession of his body from the reluctant hollow.
Toshiro stood up from where he had fallen and watched the mask crumble off of Ichigo's face. He nodded once and reverted out of Bankai. Ichigo wasn't far behind, trying to get the feeling back into his cold arm and leg. He slung Zangetsu back on his back and felt the hollow's contentment settle over him.
He wiped the blood out of his eye again and held the cut closed with one hand. Toshiro seemed to be a bit bruised as well and he held his ribs when he breathed.
They walked together to the watching group. Toshiro grunted as he tried to take another deep breath. "I think I have a broken rib." He said just as the bubble was disappearing from around their crowd.
Dumbledore looked concerned. "Maybe you should go to the hospital wing." He suggested.
Ichigo shook his head. "Nah, I can fix it."
If possible, Toshiro became even paler. "NO way. There is no way I am going to let you anywhere near me attempting kidou, healing or not."
Ichigo scowled and crossed his arms. "I have so gotten better at that."
Toshiro looked at him dubiously. "Right. I can still remember the time you attempted a red cannon…" he closed his eyes as if in pain.
Ichigo scoffed and turned away. "Fine, if you don't want my help then just suffer."
Dumbledore tried to diffuse the situation. "That was very interesting technique."
Toshiro nodded but Ichigo was already ignoring all of them and reclaiming his body from Kon. As soon as he was in his Gigai, the cut appeared above his eye, along with all the aches, and he wound a strip of cloth around his forehead. Toshiro reclaimed his gigai as well and grunted as he felt the injuries register.
Snape didn't say a word but watched Ichigo with unreadable eyes. Harry seemed eager to talk about the different moves and such, but both Toshiro and Ichigo were tired. It was only five minutes until curfew so the three Gryffindors made there way to the Tower. Neither Toshiro nor Ichigo were willing to go to the nurse. Neither one of them ever visited Division four unless they were dragged, and they didn't think it should be different here.
AN: rubs eyes….man for some reason this chapter was harder to write…its kinda filler, but we bring Harry into the secret…I'm not the greatest at the fighting scenes, bear with me, I will get better…that's all for now…REVIEW!