Chapter Two: Crazy Train
In the crowded streets a cacophony of car horns rattled the air, along with the hum of conversations. It was nearly late afternoon, and many people were busy finishing their daily errands. However, the same could not be said for the three shinigamis pacing the train station as they struggled to find their appropriate destination.
Ichigo jabbed a finger at the paper, "(It says platform nine and three quarters, but it obviously does not exist!)"
Toshiro snatched the paper out of Ichigo s hands and murmured, "(That's what it says, but maybe it s in some sort of secret code...)"
The three continued to muse over the subject as precious time trickled down the drain.
"(Don't you think these people could be a little more specific when they write down the directions,)" Rukia sighed.
"(We're not going to make it. The train leaves in fifteen minutes anyway,)" Toshiro frowned.
Rukia asked, "(Ichigo, why don't you call Urahara san?)"
The orange haired teen scowled, "(I did, but hat'n clogs wouldn't pick up the damn phone.)"
"(That man is so infuriating,)" Rukia growled.
"(Why do these people make things so difficult? How do they expect us to find a station that doesn't exist!)" Ichigo glared daggers between the signs nine and ten.
He angrily paced towards the thick pillar separating the two stations and proceeded to glare at the inanimate object. Ichigo carefully inspected every brick as he tried to search for a clue, however to no avail.
He continued his rant, "(It's not like we could just walk through the damn wall.)"
"Out of the way, we've got a train to catch mate," A tall boy with gaudy red hair pushed past the three shinigamis.
He was towing along a rather irritated brunette with a busy mane as they ran...straight through the wall.
"(Leave it to Kami to prove me wrong,)" Ichigo muttered under his breath.
Toshiro walked up to the pillar and began to examine it, "(That's it? Wow...they really mean what they say.)"
The white haired boy touched the hard layer of bricks with curiosity and muttered, "(Interesting. It's like they created a pocket in space with kido...)"
"(So we just...run through it,)" Rukia asked uncertainly.
"Sorry, excuse me," A boy with a shaggy mop of hair came through, along with a large black dog that bounded next to him.
Toshiro backed away just in time as the boy and his companion disappeared through the pillar, similar to the couple before him.
"(Might as well give it a try,)" Ichigo said as he took a few steps back in order to get a running start.
Rukia said, "(I'll laugh if it doesn't work.)"
Ichigo simply glared at her before charging head first into the solid brick. To his pleasant surprise there was no pain as he felt his body pass through smoothly.
On the other side, he stopped in his tracks to view the magnificent train before him. The design was unfamiliar and foreign from what he was normally use to. It s mechanisms were different to Japan s trains; which were sleek and carried a modernized frame, but not much to look at. However, this ebony machine was a grand, monstrous object that could run straight through mountains. A plume of thick charcoal smoke blew out of it as the roar of the engine traveled into the soles of his shoes. Around him, people were waving goodbye to their families as they boarded the train.
Rukia appeared behind him and scolded, "(Ichigo! Why are you just standing there? The train's about to leave!)"
His two companions wasted no time to lug their baggage towards the train, leaving Ichigo to run after them.
"(Chotto matte,)" He called as he ran after them.
The group boarded the train and looked for a suitable compartment to sit in. Most of them were already occupied by excited students, and so the three shinigamis continued to walk down the narrow corridor.
"(Hey look, this one's empty,)" Ichigo pointed out a compartment amongst the line of doors.
Rukia slipped in first before saying, "(Lucky for us. All the other seats are taken.)"
The lithe girl sprawled herself on the seat, taking up a whole side while throwing her luggage at Ichigo.
"(Be a gentlemen and put my bags up there,)" She smirked.
Ichigo opened his mouth to object, however his instincts told him to not to. He would end up having the disadvantage in such a small compartment, not to mention the lack of escape routes from her wrath. So, muttering in annoyance he grudgingly complied.
Toshiro added, "(Don't forget my stuff.)"
After Ichigo irritatedly handled everyone s luggage, albeit violently, he plopped down beside Toshiro and sighed, "(Damn I'm tired.)"
"(Then go to sleep,)" Rukia suggested.
Ichigo gave her a disbelieving look before saying, "(What? Like I'd leave myself vulnerable to you. I still remember the last time I did that, I had Chappy doodles on my face for a week!)"
"(It's not my fault I was bored. Besides, you snore,)" Rukia grumbled.
He scowled, "(The guys wouldn't leave me alone for a week, and what does snoring have to do with anything?)"
"(It has to do with everything! You know I have to sleep with earplugs? On top of that, you drool,)" Rukia pointed out.
Ichigo crossed his arms and shouted, "(What do you do, stare at me all night?)"
Surprisingly Rukia blushed, "(N-no I don't.)"
He blinked and then shook his head, "(And another thing, stop mixing your underwear in my drawers! I can't get my damn boxers underneath all your stupid panties and chappy bras.)"
Rukia blushed even harder while screeching, "(Ichigo!)"
The orange headed teen continued on his rant, "(You know what pisses me off even more? Every morning when you change in that closet, I-)"
A small shoe propelled across the compartment, officially interrupting his sentence as the flat end met painfully to his face.
Ichigo peeled the shoe from his face and yelled, "(What the fuck, Rukia?)"
"(You wouldn't shut up,)" She growled.
"(You started it,)" He wiped away the scuff mark on his cheek before irritatingly tossing her shoe back.
There was a comfortable silence that settled over the group as Rukia pulled out a crayon and a notepad and while Ichigo started texting on his soul phone.
Toshiro had ignored them somewhere in the beginning of their mindless banter, preferring to slip on his headphones and listen to some music he borrowed from Karin. He thought about reviewing more of the school's textbook and pulled it out from somewhere in his bags. Although he had already received a summary of all the material he was suppose to know, he didn t mind skimming through a few pages anyways. It was always good to be prepared, someone in this group had to be. Glancing between the bickering couple, it was obvious that he had to act as the responsible one...as always.
The three shinigamis were interrupted by the sound of the compartment door sliding open. A small group of pompous teens appeared, speaking to each other in a leering tone and apparently not noticing the presence of the already seated strangers.
"Pansy and I have to attend a meeting with the rest of the prefects, so Crab, I want you to make sure my things have been put away properly," A boy with straw blond hair ordered one of his subordinates.
It was when Crab made no move that the leader noticed the lack of space in the compartment, pausing in dismay as he glared at the current occupants.
"Excuse me, but it appears that the three of you are in my compartment," He sneered.
Ichigo looked up at the blond headed boy in amusement as he translated the unfriendly words. Rukia peered over her notepad, and seeming disinterested she continued drawing. Upon hearing the faintly hearing the commotion over the music, Toshiro momentarily quirked an eyebrow, but the intruders did not deter him and he returned to his book.
Ichigo was the only one who responded as he rose from his seat and commented, "Oh really? I don t happen to see your name written anywhere on it, Aho-san."
The blond boy frowned at being labeled something he couldn t translate and said, "What did you call me?"
Ichigo stepped forward, and his tall stature and lean muscles caused the boy to hesitate, however his ego overrided the threat and he only narrowed his eyes. The snobbish boy took a step forward to match his, followed by his two large and stupid looking lackeys in hopes of achieving greater intimidation. The tension in the room grabbed Rukia s attention, and with sudden intriuge she placed down her notepad.
He smirked, "If I were you, I would watch your unsightly mouth. Now the lot of you are obviously new, so let me say this once. This is my compartment, and no one ever gets in my way. If they do, there will be very unhappy consequences."
The blond boy took a step closer to Ichigo before jabbing him in the chest, "Got it?"
"Yare yare, don't make me laugh. I'm sorry, but I think your ego is way too inflated. Why don't you and your friends play somewhere else, because we were here first," Ichigo growled.
The boy looked slightly taken aback, "Do you know who I am? I am Draco Malfoy, and who are you? No one."
"I don't care who the hell you are, but if you want to keep your face then I suggest you leave," Ichigo said dangerously.
"I doubt you have it in you," Draco scoffed.
"Ichigo, do you think it's worth causing trouble so soon? I'm sure we can find seats elsewhere," Rukia stated calmly.
Ichigo spun around to meet her eye and then glanced back at the group before sighing. He kept his mouth shut and his hands fisted while taking a step back towards his seat. Rukia was right. Why file injuries so early in the mission, especially on something so trivial. He didn t want to waste his time on brats like him anyway. The blond headed boy crossed his arms and smiled in victory as he watched Ichigo's form retreat.
"That's a good boy, listen to your bitch," Malfoy smirked.
"That's it," Ichigo spun around to deliver a much deserved punch, however someone beat him to it.
Rukia flew out of her seat with feral intensity, hissing like a demon as she swung at a very un expecting boy. With one blow, Draco backed out of the doors, whimpering. She quickly sprung back from the large hands that attempted to grab her. The girl named Pansy fell to her knees and tried to comfort her companion in alarm, while the two duller boys advanced upon Rukia. Ichigo intercepted them and naturally deflected their sloth like attacks. Then, almost lazily, he smashed their heads together with enough force to cause them to slump on the floor. He used his foot to push the two bodies out of the compartment, not even bothering to hide the look of disgust on his face.
Ichigo leaned coolly against the door frame and said, "It was nice meeting you Aho-san. By the way, my name isn't no one, it's Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Oh, and by the way, I'm Kuchiki Rukia, we should do this again sometime," She revealed a friendly smile before waving goodbye.
The door was instantly slammed shut.
"(What an asshole,)" Ichigo muttered.
Toshiro paused his music and sighed, "(Did you have to knock out those two idiots though? You know we could get in a lot of trouble.)"
"(He was asking for it though. What about Rukia? She's the one that punched that asshole first,)" Ichigo pointed out.
Rukia snapped at him, "(Don't blame this all on me, I barely bruised him.)"
"(Just drop it! I don't care who started it, so stop acting like three year olds,)" Toshiro snapped.
The train inched forward to a gradual speed, causing the scenery to flash by in a mosaic blur while the constant friction of the wheels created a monotone hum in all of the compartments. Everyone reverted back to their previous activities, although Ichigo fell asleep slumped against the window, snoring. After a short while, Rukia grew bored. Narrowing her eyes at the snoring orange head, she deviously crumpled a few papers from her notebook and aimed for his gaping mouth. Rukia narrowly missed Hitsugaya, who promptly shot her an un appreciative glare before returning to his textbook.
Toshiro's annoyance was quickly inflating between Ichigo's undesirable snores and Rukia's impossible paper balls to the point where he felt a small capillary bed in his head burst. He didn't believe it was even possible to surpass the irritation that Matsumoto offered. His thoughts turned a grave path as he imagined the impossible mess he would be subjected to once he returned from the mission.
Thankfully his thoughts were interrupted by the sliding of the door, and he was facing a pleasant lady pushing a trolly full of sweets.
"Would any of you children like to buy candy?"
A 'no thank you' was forming on his lips before his eye caught on something appealing. It was a box of chocolate...frogs. He was sure he read the label correctly and the thought of frogs covered in chocolate disturbed him. However, he was hungry...and the last time he had chocolate was a month ago when he visited Ukitake Taichou. Toshiro would never admit it, but he had an incredible weakness for sweets, and the taste of chocolate melting sweetly on his tongue was too much.
"I'll take one chocolate frog, and a bag of red vines," Toshiro mumbled.
He exchanged the wizard money for the sweets, thanking the lady before she pushed her cart away. Toshiro placed the red vines into his bag, intending to savor them for later and opened the seal of the other package. True to the label there was indeed a chocolate frog, and he tentatively nibbled on the corner of it s leg. The candy was delicious, and he carefully ate the confection while savoring the thick coco in his mouth.
"(Taicho, you have some chocolate on the corner of your mouth,)" Rukia giggled.
He growled before wiping away the chocolate with the pad of his thumb. Toshiro stared forlornly at the empty package, wishing for more. While staring wistfully at the wrappers, something caught his eye, and he reached into the container to pull out a trading card.
It was a picture of a teenage boy with a shaggy mop of black hair. He had emerald green eyes shining behind round wire rimmed glasses, and when he squinted harder at the picture, a strangely shaped scar was ebbed into his forehead. Toshiro had to blink twice when the picture waved at him. The phenomena did not surprise him as much as it bothered him. He had already read about the moving pictures, however seeing it was slightly weird. Toshiro s eyes moved over to the written caption, and he read quietly to himself.
Harry Potter the Boy Who Lived
'In 1981 at the age of two, Harry Potter defeated You Know Who. This was followed by years of celebration, breaking the reign of terror and creating peace within the Wizarding society.'
Toshiro stared back at the boy and threw the card into his bags as well. He had definitely heard that name before...
"(We should probably change into our uniform,)" Rukia muttered as she glanced out the window.
Checking to make sure Ichigo was still asleep, she gestured for a blushing Toshiro to look away as she changed out of her sundress. Once Rukia and Toshiro finished changing, both of them were clad in thick black cloaks over oxford shirts while Rukia sported a pleated grey skirt and Toshrio wore similar gray pants.
"(These stockings are uncomfortable,)" Rukia mumbled.
Toshiro adjusted the collar of his shirt before saying, "(Why don't you wake up Kurosaki so he can change?)"
Rukia approached Ichigo and her hand snapped out to pinch his nose together while shouting obnoxiously into his ear, "(Wake up!)"
Ichigo half choked on his snore as he sat up straight in alarm.
Pointing out the cause of his disruption, he swatted away her hand and growled, "(What now?)"
"(It's time to change,)" She said.
Ichigo glanced up and down at Rukia's attire and said, "(Nani?)"
A blush crept into his cheeks as he looked away and began to notice the bits and pieces of crumpled paper covering him.
Ichigo brushed aside the paper with annoyance and asked, "(Toshiro, is there anything on my face?)"
Toshiro fought the urge to roll his eyes and he responded with a no.
"(Hurry up and change already. Besides, it's not like I haven't already seen you naked,)" Rukia scoffed.
Ichigo gawked in embarrassment, "(W-what are you talking about?)"
"(Your father already showed me those baby pictures of you in the bath,)" Rukia grinned micheviously.
He flushed a bright red and scowled, "(Damn Ossan! I swear I'll kill him...)"
As the sun retreated past the horizon, darkness settled over the sky, along with the large bed of stars and the brilliant moon. There was a plethora of teasing and bickering before Ichigo was finally in his school robes and the train jerked to a complete stop.
"(Finally we're here,)" Rukia sighed in relief as she stood up to stretch her limbs.
Everyone did the same before Ichigo pulled out the sheet of paper that held all of the directions and dragged his finger down the list.
"(It says that we leave our bags here and then follow the first years...)" He mumbled.
The three shinigamis joined the student body as everyone filed off the train and began splitting into different groups. In the darkness, Ichigo could see a group of older students follow a long line of carriages pulled by strange looking creatures while a group of younger students huddled around a woman holding a large lantern.
"First years! First years follow me," The woman shouted over the commotion.
"(I guess we follow her,)" Ichigo muttered as he approached her.
The women noticed his presence and said sharply, "I'm calling first years only. Shouldn't you be boarding the carriages?"
"I'm a transfer," He explained.
"Oh, sorry my mistake. I'm professor Grubbly-Plank, this way please," She headed towards a familiar direction.
The three shinigamis followed the flock of nervous children as they approached a large lake. The view was impressive, and he stared at the still obsidian lake that mirrored the sky. The calm waters kissed the grounds of a grand castle that showered windows of yellow light, decorated with turrets and fine towers. The quietness was disturbed by the excited whispers escaping the lips of nervous first years as they assessed the beauty before them. Everyone stood before the mass of small wooden boats rimmed the edges of the lake, waiting to be boarded as Professor Grubbly-Plank gave instructions.
Ichigo, Rukia, and Toshiro seated themselves in the small rickety boat while dismissing the curious gazes from the children around them. All at once the boats moved forward by themselves as they drifted silently across the lake and past the curtain of green vines that led to a small alcove. Professor Grubbly-Plank led the first years to the front of the castle, checking periodically to ensure none of them had gotten lost. Pleased to know that everything was running smoothly, she turned to the front doors and knocked on it three times. The double doors opened slowly to reveal a austere lady with her hair collected in a tight bun, while her frame was garbed in a green cloak.
"Thank you. I'll take them from here, Wilhelmina," The austere woman spoke.
Professor Grubbly-Plank nodded before abruptly leaving the children in the woman s hands. They were gestured to follow her into the entrance hall, and everyone was taken in awe as they stared at the massive space. The torches caused the flickering light to dance upon the walls while the clicking of feet was met on the expensive tile floors. The austere woman continued to lead the group until they reached another pair of grand doors.
Finally stopping in her tracks, the woman turned on her heels to face the group, "Welcome to Hogwarts. I would like to introduce myself as Professor McGonagall, the transfiguration teacher."
She cleared her throat before continuing, "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. Please create a single filed line and follow me."
The first years pushed themselves into formation and followed Professor McGonagall into the great hall.
A/N: Arigato gozaimasu! I loved reading all your reviews, it really inspired me to write more. You guys are awesome. Sorry if there are any mistakes in the Harry Potter cannon, it s been a while since I ve read them and I currently don t have the books for reference. I hope you like this chapter because it was a pain in the ass to write, but fun none the less. Special thanks to Molly Doe for supporting me!
QUESTION: Should there be pairings? And if yes, who?
Sorry, people have been giving me mixed signals about adding pairings, and others do not wish so. Please tell me how you feel about it, because I can swing either way.
Review kudasai.