Thank you to knight771, Gemini24, killroy225, Not-Your-Busines, yuukiininah and Emmagination for reviewing and to the people who read, faved and/or followed this story! Really appreciate it since its a first for me :D
Review reply(s) at the end of chapter because I hate when I have to scroll past all the replies to get to the actual story xD
YAY! Chapter 1 is up! Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1
After Ichigo noticed Urahara in his room, the man, without any warning, lunged forward and grabbed the teen by his forearm. A second later found Ichigo being dragged (literally) around the streets of Karakura, heading to some unknown destination. The scenery blurred by and Ichigo felt the nostalgia of wind rushing past him while using shunpo. No amusement park ride could ever compare to it. Ichigo was so immersed he didn't care that the shopkeeper was taking him somewhere without asking. All too soon, the feeling abruptly stopped and Urahara waited for Ichigo to regain his breath - his shinigami form was used to shunpo speeds way faster than the one Urahara used but his human body wasn't. Ichigo felt a twinge of resentment in his chest. Finally catching his breath, the teen looked up and was confused.
"Uh...Urahara-san? What are we doing here?"
"To pick someone up, of course!"
They were standing in front of a house. Looking for a landmark on where they were, Ichigo noticed the Yumisawa Children's Park to the left quite a bit away from them. He had played there as a kid and also taken Karin and Yuzu when they were little. As for who lived in the house in front of them? Ichigo had no clue whatsoever.
"We're picking someone up?" repeated Ichigo. "Why? Who is it?"
"You'll see, Ichigo-kun. You'll see."
Urahara disappeared using shunpo and after hearing an exclamation of surprise, a whack, and some muffled sounds, Ichigo found himself being shunpo-d to some other place. The only difference this time was that when he looked forward he could see the shopkeeper holding something - or was it a someone? - wrapped in bandages with the hand he wasn't pulling Ichigo with. Relishing the wind hitting his body and clothes, Ichigo wasn't concerned about the 'thing' for the moment. Even if it was squirming around and trying to break free of Urahara's hold. This scene didn't last long as they arrived at what Ichigo hoped was the final destination. He really did not want to feel powerless a third time.
Adjusting his hold on the 'thing' bandaged from head to toe, Urahara walked into his Shoten and left the door open for Ichigo to come through - they had arrived at the Urahara Shoten. The orange haired teen walked through and followed Urahara inside. Passing goods from Soul Society and the tatami mat that was the entrance to the huge underground training room, Ichigo felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him. His heart became heavy as past memories hit him like a tidal wave and flooded his whole being.
He remembered the first time he came to Urahara Shoten which was with Rukia. She had needed a gigai to stay in the human world and Urahara had given her a reiatsu draining gigai. She would have become a human being to effectively hide the Hogyoku in her soul, even if she didn't know it at the time. He remembered the life-or-death training he had gone through to become a shinigami so he could save Rukia. Later finding out that he had gained Hollow powers at the very same instant he awakened his shinigami powers. He remembered going to Soul Society with Uryu, Inoue, Chad and Yoruichi through a Senkaimon Urahara created. Being chased by the Kototsu, the cleaner Urahara conveniently didn't mention. Also of how they were physically and mentally prepared to rescue Rukia from execution, even though they were going up against a supernatural military force. He remembered tiring his body out, training by himself or with Urahara or Yoruichi. He remembered the second rescue mission him and his friends did - this time to rescue Inoue from Las Noches. Urahara had opened a Garganta and they had met Rukia and Renji in the vast desert of Hueco Mundo. The next time he was in the Shoten was the last time he would be here before today. He had been unconscious for a whole month after the fight with Aizen and had woken up to see Rukia fade away in front of him.
"Ichigo-kun? Are you coming?"
Shaking his head to come out of his reminiscence, Ichigo replied, "Oh, right. Yeah, I'm coming."
Ichigo went into the room Urahara was in and noted that the 'thing' had not been unwrapped yet.
Pointing at the 'thing', Ichigo asked, "What is that?"
"I'll show you." With that the shopkeeper grabbed a loose end of the bandaging and pulled, causing the 'thing' to start spinning uncontrollably while unravelling the fabric.
When the 'thing' was revealed, Ichigo blinked. And blinked again. And again.
"Ishida?"
"Yes, yes, Ichigo-kun. It is Uryu-kun here in the flesh!"
"Urahara-san, you didn't have to bind me with bandages." Uryu complained, holding his head to rid of the dizziness the spinning caused.
"Why is he here? And why am I here?"
"Ichigo-kun, Uryu-kun, have any of you heard of magic?" asked Urahara, waving off Uryu's comment while also completely ignoring Ichigo's question.
"You mean like pull-a-rabbit-out-of-a-hat?" Thrown off by the sudden question on magic, Ichigo wasn't annoyed that Urahara didn't answer his question.
"I think he means magic that involve disappearing and appearing."
"You are partially on track, Uryu-kun, however both of you are thinking of magic tricks not real magic."
Ichigo and Ishida had 'what-the-hell' expressions, Ichigo more so and he asked, "There's a difference?"
"Of course there's a difference, Ichigo-kun! Magic tricks make it seem like the magician is doing magic, whereas real magic is actually performing magic." Seeing that the two teens were still confused, he continued, "Think of it this way. A magician would make it seem like a card 'disappears' by using fast hand movements or a distraction to hide the card in his sleeve. However, a wizard would make a card vanish right in front of your eyes without the intention of fooling people."
"I see." answered Ichigo even though he didn't believe that the 'magic' Urahara spoke of was real. Then he asked, "So what's this got to do with us?"
Ignoring Ichigo's question yet again, Urahara proceeded to suddenly explain things of the wizarding world. Although Ishida was the smartest in their year, he could only just keep up with the information overload and the Spartan pace Urahara was explaining things, missing a few details. Adding to that, it was a completely new topic for him and Ichigo so they couldn't make complete sense of it all. The shopkeeper was talking so fast and with no pauses while ignoring any and all queries the teens had about absolutely anything so if the two were confused about something they wouldn't get the chance to fully understand. In the end, the two boys gave up trying to get an answer out of Urahara and instead questioned each other or voiced the question anyway.
"-unicorns, centaurs, dragons, mermaids,-"
"They're real?"
"No, they can't be."
"-boggarts, hippogriffs, grindylows, manticores-"
"Did I just hear hippo?"
"-chimeras and phoenixes to name a few magical creatures all exist in the wizarding world! The only reason you don't see them is because they are kept secret from Muggles-"
"What are Muggles?"
"How should I know?"
"-charms and hexes are some types of spells! They are very effective and at times give laughable results or-"
"Laughable results?"
"-potions like Felix Felicis can make the drinker lucky until the effects wear off! You would undoubtedly have a perfect day with nothing going wrong-"
"A perfect day? Yeah, right."
"-wizarding communities all over the world in every country! There are also magical schools where-"
"Magical schools? They have magical schools?"
"-even one in Japan! It's called Mahoutokoro and it's very well hidden by extremely powerful charms and-"
"Literally 'Magic Place'. I'd have thought they would have better names for places."
"Who cares what you think, Ishida?"
"-students with cherry wood wands are held in high esteem in Japan's wizarding community-"
"What? Why?"
"Kurosaki, do you not know that sakura is the unofficial national flower of Japan? It is unofficial because our government hasn't formally named a national flower."
"Shut up, Ishida."
"-such a crisis in Britain's wizarding community at the moment-"
"Why are we suddenly talking about Britain?"
"-on the 17th of June, just last month there was a battle in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic-"
"A 'battle' last month?"
"There's a Ministry of Magic?"
"-forced to accept that a powerful Dark wizard called Lord Voldemort had come back-"
"Voldy-what?"
"-and to stop Britain and the rest of the world from re-entering dark and chaotic times, the Chosen One, named Harry Potter who currently goes to Hogwarts-"
"How do they know he was 'Chosen'?"
"-he's faced numerous dangers every year since he learnt of and rejoined the wizarding world-"
"And now he's talking about some 'Chosen One'."
"-is in a bad situation, a very bad situation indeed. If Lord Voldemort takes over Britain then he'll be able to take over the whole world! It would be an extremely bad-"
"So he's basically a human British Aizen?"
"Not a normal human but a wizard, Kurosaki."
"-are trying to get rid of Lord Voldemort before he makes another move."
"...finished?" asked Ichigo.
Urahara nodded.
"So what does magic and Britain's wizard situation have to do with us?" asked Uryu.
"You and Ichigo-kun will go to Hogwarts to learn magic!"
"…"
"…"
"WHAT!?"
"Urahara-san, didn't you say to be able to go to a magical school, you had to have magical powers?"
"Yes, Uryu-kun. I did say that."
"Then how would we go to Hogwarts? We don't have any magical powers so there's no way we can-"
"Who said you don't have magical powers?" said Urahara, cutting Uryu off.
Uryu, as well as Ichigo, stared at Urahara weirdly. Urahara was serious - it wasn't one of his jokes. But surely they themselves would know if they had magical powers?
"So you reckon we have magical powers?"
"No, I don't 'reckon', Ichigo-kun. You of all people should know that. I merely discovered this fact while doing some research."
"Research on what?"
Going back to his cheery and teasing mode, Urahara answered, "Some research on this, some research on that. I did quite a lot of research these past few months so I forgot what I was researching when I found the two of you had magical powers."
Ichigo narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the man. "Sure you did."
"Yes, very sure!"
"Urahara-san, do you have any proof that Kurosaki and I have magical powers?"
"Of course I have proof, Uryu-kun! What kind of scientist would I be to come to a conclusion without evidence?"
"What's your evidence then?"
A moment of silence.
"ICHIGO~!" was heard and sounded like a war cry. The paper door was blasted to smithereens and a man in a doctor's coat came flying in and kicked the orange haired teen square in the face.
The ending of this chapter might not seem like an ending but I somehow thought that this fit in. Also, was the dialogue part confusing? The part where Urahara is explaining while Ichigo and Ishida talked in between.
Minor editing done to this chapter as of 21/01/13 (DD/MM/YY)
Review Replies:
Gemini24: I agree that Ishida wouldn't look at Ichigo with pity either. I suppose I should've stated which of Ichigo's friends would give him pity stares - since people around him try to reassure him, I thought that he wouldn't notice that there were people who were indifferent to him like Ishida and probably Chad as well.