Chapter 8

The rest of the week passed by relatively calmly. Saturday morning came along and Ichigo relished the feeling of sleeping in. He had the blankets pulled up to his chin and the bed curtains pulled tightly, leaving him in a cocoon of red. That was until someone ripped the curtains back and pulled the blankets out of his hands.

"Get up, lazy." Toshiro looked down on the scowling teen.

"What the hell for?" Ichigo yanked the covers back.

Toshiro pulled them once again. "Because, we have work to do you idiot."

Ichigo grumbled but crawled out of bed. He pushed past the already dressed Toshiro and started pulling on his own clothes. He was forgoing the robes and slid his wand in his jean pocket.

Together they headed down the stairs and Toshiro lead them towards the library. There was a steady throng of students milling around, although most were outside in the last of the summer warmth.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head as he sleepily tried to keep up with Toshiro's surprisingly long stride. "Couldn't I at least get breakfast?" He dodged a couple of young girls who stopped to listen to him speak. They giggled and kept walking when he scowled at them.

Toshiro didn't even break stride. "You slept through breakfast. It's only a few hours until lunch starts."

"Whatever." Ichigo gave up and sat down at the table in the library Toshiro indicated and started to sift through the mountain of books that were already piled there. They were looking for anything that had to deal with souls or the splitting of one; also anything that had to deal with Voldemort's rise to power and his fall.

After three hours of sifting through thick and dusty books, Ichigo was tired, hungry and not exactly in the best mood. He stalked through the hallways and slammed into his seat at the lunch table. Others looked at him strangely as he slammed food on his plate and started to eat without a word.

Toshiro was much more sedate as he sat down and started filling up his plate. He said hello to a few of the people sitting near him and ignored Ichigo completely. When the meal was finished Ichigo stood and shot a glare at the white haired captain.

"I'm going outside for a while. We aren't going to find anything in that dust infested place." He didn't even wait for an answer before stalking out of the great hall, scattering younger students as he went.

He slumped to the ground beside a large tree that bordered the lake and started to breath deeply. He rotated his neck and each shoulder, slowly easing the tension from his back. He was not the type to sit for hours in a dark library sifting through information.

The sun was glinting off the lake's surface and Ichigo watched more students file out of the castle to enjoy its warmth. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, basking in the warmth. That was until a shadow fell across his face. He cracked one eye open to see Harry staring down at him.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked. Ichigo nodded before closing his eye again.

Ichigo half expected him to start talking about trivial things, or anything really. But Harry was silent. Ichigo peaked out of the corner of his eye and was surprised to see Harry staring out across the lake, a thoughtful look on his face. Ichigo shrugged and closed his eye again, happy to find someone who didn't think silences needed to be filled.

Unfortunately for Ichigo, the silence didn't last long.

"Look who we've got here, Potty and Carrotop." Ichigo stared dully up at the sneering blonde, his two large companions, and the dark haired girl hanging off his arm. The girl sniggered at the blonde's words.

Harry glared. "Bugger off, Malfoy."

"Oh, such strong words from the 'golden boy' himself."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "What the hell do you want?"

Malfoy turned in mock shock. "Oh, so the chink does speak English…"

Ichigo felt his reigned in temper start to fray as he stood up. "I'm Japanese, not Chinese, you idiot."

The two thugs stepped in front of Malfoy, cracking their knuckles. Ichigo smirked cockily. "What? You gonna hit me?"

The thicker of the two smirked. "Let's see you smirk when your face is on the other side of your head."

Ichigo sighed. "How lame." But his eye caught a white blur stalk from the castle. He turned away from the thugs and watched Toshiro walk quickly in his direction, sliding his cell phone in his pocket, a serious look on his face.

"We have a problem." He looked at the four Slytherins in confusion, before dismissing them from his thoughts and returning his attention back to the scowling teen in front of him.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "What else is new?"

"Your boyfriend here to keep you out of trouble?" Malfoy sneered when he was ignored.

Ichigo turned back to the blonde, curled his hand into a fist, reared back, and hit him square in the jaw. Malfoy dropped like a rock while the two thugs tried to catch him and the girl screamed shrilly.

Amid the screams of rage coming from the Slytherins, Toshiro asked dryly. "Feel better?"

Ichigo cracked the knuckles on his right hand. "Yup. Coming Harry?" He asked the gobsmacked teen as he walked towards the castle. Harry had to jog a few steps to catch up with the two.

Toshiro led them to the headmaster's office and knocked on the door. They entered to find the headmaster going over paperwork. "How may I help you?" He asked as he set his quill down.

Toshiro got right to the point. "There has been a development on our end. It seems the Hollow appearances in the living world are on the decline."

"Hollows?" Dumbledore asked.

"Big, scary monster things that eat human souls…why exactly is this a problem?" Ichigo asked Toshiro with a raised eyebrow. "You would think that would be a good thing."

"Why would they not be appearing in the living world?"

Ichigo thought for a moment before throwing his hands up. "I give up…why?"

Toshiro smacked himself on the forehead. "THAT'S why it's a problem, no one knows. I swear, one of these days…"

Ichigo held his hands on in pacification. "Sorry, sorry. So no one knows why they're all suddenly hiding out in Heuco Mundo?"

Toshiro sighed. "No." he turned back to Dumbledore. "My superior has decided that this is more serious that we originally thought. He wishes to send two more to work directly with you, as well as setting up a meeting in which we will relay through video."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "Will these two also be masquerading as students?"

Toshiro shook his head. "No, we don't believe they would fit in."

Ichigo looked at the shorter captain sideways. "Who are they sending?"

"Fukutachio Abarai and Fukutachio Hisagi."

AN: sorry this chapter took so long…it was supposed to go up last week, but I was a bad authoress and instead read the entire Death Note manga…I got rather addicted…so you know you want to review….

Cya

chica