C'sA/N: Sorry guys! Not much to say except that real life comes first. But I haven't forgotten this by any means. It'll just take a while longer than usual to post. But post I shall.

Chapter Nineteen: A Series of Events

The next morning, the Gryffindor boys descended the stairs down to the Great Hall for breakfast, nearly all of them bleary-eyed except for Toshiro. He glanced around the room several times as he made his way to the Gryffindor table and sat down for the morning meal. Though it was still too early for the Great Hall to be filled, those who were present began to stare in his direction as he poured his morning tea, outwardly seeming unfazed but inwardly taking in every pair of eyes on his person and becoming increasingly annoyed. Even the other Gryffindors continued to stare, as if they hadn't had enough of it last night.

"Sort of wracks your nerves, doesn't it?" Renji whispered in his ear as he took a seat beside the small captain. He looked pointedly at a few Ravenclaw boys, who were whispering and pointing in their direction behind their hands as they headed to their own table. "All this staring. It's extremely rude, you know?"

"Kind of sad that the English raise their children to be so shameless." Ichigo muttered from the other side of Renji as he shoveled eggs onto his plate. "Talk about bad parenting."

"My mum and dad are not bad parents." Ron snapped angrily. His twin brothers nodded in agreement, identical frowns of offense on their faces, along with most of those who had heard Ichigo. "My mum is one of the most polite people you'll ever meet."

"Did your parents teach you to be polite, too?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes, she did." Ron answered hotly, oblivious to Ichigo's point. "She taught us all of that stuff."

"Well, then you're not doing her teachings any justice, now are you?" Ichigo retorted frostily. He glared around at the rest of the table. "Your parents taught you lot to be considerate of others and all that, right? So then what the hell are you doing? Did they teach you that staring was polite? Did they say that it was okay to treat your peers like animals to observe in cages? Huh? Because that is exactly what you are doing!" Ichigo slammed his fist on the table top, surging to his feet, his voice rising to carry across the room as he continued to scold his housemates. "It's bad enough we have to leave our home country for years at a time with no idea when we'll next set foot on it, being bounced around from country to country, learning to make friends over and over again, just to leave them behind at the end of the year with no knowledge of when we'll next see them again, being forced into new cultures, new traditions, and new ways of life! But now we've got to put up with you people staring shamelessly at us like we're a bunch of freaks just because of our own personal fears! Yes, they're a bit graphic and quite extreme, but they are still fears, fears that we will continue to harbor in our hearts for who knows how long and your staring is not helping!"

He turned his glare to the rest of the school, most of whom were staring at Ichigo with mixed feelings of horror, awe and surprise. "And what's worse is that we can't even have the comfort of getting away from all the ridicule because we're stuck in this damn hell-hole of a school with a bunch of immature brats! Grow up, dammit!" Breathing heavily, Ichigo sent a last look around the room and then took his seat with a hrrumph!

The hall was quiet for a few moments, none of the students, ghosts or teachers making any noise as the majority of the room lapsed into guilty and sheepish silence. Finally, Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat and rose to his feet. "Normally, Mr. Kurosaki, I would take points for your use of improper language. However, I think your words are well justified at present, what with the wild rumors floating around, along with Professor Lupin's personal explanation for what really happened yesterday. Therefore, I would merely ask that you refrain from using any more except maybe in solitude."

He passed his blue eyes over nearly every student in the room with one sweep, lingering a couple seconds longer on Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Students, I'm afraid I must admit, I am deeply disappointed that you would treat our guests so offensively. We all have fears in our hearts and none of us wish to have them displayed to the public. However, I had hoped that you would all have at least some decency and not hold the fears against our transfers, as you would not wish for your fears to be held against you. I can't imagine what it must be like to leave your home in such a way as Mr. Kurosaki has described and I did wish that they could find comfort here in Hogwarts. But alas, that is obviously not to be. If your offensive behavior persists, I'm afraid that not only would we never have visitors here again, but our schools reputation for hospitality would be tarnished. And so, students, I ask that you please refrain from making any further comments about the transfers' boggarts or shamelessly staring for that reason, for the duration of their stay."

And with that said, Dumbledore retook his seat and continued his breakfast, ignoring the silence that still rang loudly around the room. After a while, many students slowly began eating their own breakfasts, shifting guiltily in their seats as they refrained themselves from staring at the transfers. Before long, the rest of the school had dug into their meal, obediently avoiding the topic of the transfers' boggarts.

Toshiro slipped off his ring, turned his attention to Ichigo and muttered dryly. "That was laying it on rather thick, don't you think?"

Ichigo shrugged and slipped off his own ring. "Hey, that sympathy card always works for my sisters. Besides, at least they aren't staring so much anymore. Which is what we were aiming for, right?"

"Still." Renji added in thoughtfully. "That was a pretty sappy sob story. Could you have made us sound any more pathetic?"

Ichigo smirked and slipped his ring back on, the other two following suit. "Trust me, you don't need my help for that."

Renji scowled while Toshiro rolled his eyes but relaxed slightly. At least none of them would have to put up with staring anymore. Now he just hoped the students didn't decide to become overly friendly, like people had a habit of doing when they were feeling guilty about their previous actions. As if to prove his point, Hermione cleared her throat, catching his attention.

"So, how do you like your new classes so far?" she asked casually. "If there's anything you guys need help with, homework wise or anything, just let me know. I'd be happy to help. And I've read almost every book in the library, so if you need any specific books for essays and stuff, just ask."

Toshiro sighed and Neville jumped in. "Um, Hermione? You're trying too hard, I think."

Hermione faltered, flushing slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to – "

"I know what you wanted to do." Toshiro said. "And I appreciate it but the best thing you could do would be to drop it. That would help us all."

Hermione nodded. "Ok. So, um, this new class. It starts today, doesn't it? After Charms?"

Harry nodded, forcing a bit of enthusiasm to the surface. "Yeah, I'm kind of excited to see what it's about. And this new teacher. I hope he's not like the last new teachers we've had."

"He's probably worse." Ichigo muttered. "He'll probably shoot some deadly curse at you and tell you to survive it in order to pass the class."

Hermione looked alarmed. Ron gulped. "He wouldn't really, would he? I mean, we're students. That's not legal, is it?"

"No, it's not and no, he won't." Toshiro answered. "He knows better." That didn't exactly assure them all as they finished their breakfasts, the owl post delivering its usual parcels from home, paper subscriptions and parental reminders to stay in line, and headed out to their first class of the day. Toshiro followed Neville into the History of Magic classroom and took the seat near the back window, pushing the window open before sitting. Having been prepared by Neville earlier, he wasn't surprised when Professor Binns, the History of Magic teacher and only ghost of the faculty, floated into the class through the chalkboard at the front of the room, though he was pleased to see Ichigo and Renji mask their surprise so well. Binns took his rightful place behind his desk and, without further ado, launched into his ever monotonous lecture on vampire rebellions, sending his students into a stupor within moments.

The entire class passed with little to no events whatsoever. Toshiro absentmindedly took notes on the lecture while his gaze roamed the room. The rest of the class, minus Hermione, sat in their seats, heads on their desks on top of their folded arms, eyes closed in blissful slumber. Some of them were even dreaming, their faces scrunching and morphing as events took place in their subconscious. What he wouldn't give to be as oblivious to danger and as carefree as his classmates. Sometimes being a captain was hard but he didn't get where he was by taking the easy route.

The next class passed just as eventless, except this time Toshiro hardly noticed anything going on around him, much less what the professor was saying. His mind strayed back to Rangiku and Rukia. He had passed Rangiku's class in the hall as they made their way up to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Toshiro hadn't been able to speak to her as they passed but if he remembered hers and Rukia's times-tables correctly, and he had, then Rukia would have just finished with the boggart and Rangiku's class would be there now. What would happen? What had happened to Rukia? Was she alright? Surely Professor Lupin would have the sense to keep the boggart away from the two remaining transfers. If it's really mandatory, then perhaps the professor could give them a private lesson, one without curious onlookers. Wouldn't that be better?

"Toshiro." Toshiro snapped his gaze back to Neville, who had tapped him on the shoulder insistently. "Come on, it's time to go."

Toshiro blinked and glanced around the room. Students were rising out of their seats and heading out into the hall, the room emptying quickly as everyone made their way down to lunch. Apparently time had passed much quicker than he had first realized as his thoughts carried him away. He silently rose from his seat, noticing that he hadn't even bothered to pull anything out of his bag, and followed Neville and the straggling students out into the hall.

"You okay?" Neville asked as they headed down the stone staircase to the Great Hall. "You've seemed distracted ever since we left Binns' class. What's wrong?"

Toshiro shook his head. "Nothing really. Just thinking of how Rangiku and Rukia's Defense classes went."

"Oh, that's right." Neville said thoughtfully. They headed towards the Ravenclaw table and Luna. "I forgot it was their turn today. Well, you can ask Rukia when she comes down for lunch. Hi, Luna."

Luna looked up from her latest upside down copy of the magazine Toshiro had found her reading in the bookstore, The Quibbler. She gazed at them with a startled expression but smiled pleasantly all the same. "Hello, Neville. Hello, Toshiro. Lovely weather so far, isn't it? And today's classes were quite intriguing."

"What did you have today?" Toshiro asked as he and Neville took a seat opposite her, the little captain quickly scanning the front cover. Something about a monkey being born inside out, a bat with a turtle shell, and singing Bimpykins, whatever those were.

"Charms and Herbology." She responded lightly. "I was rather disappointed that there weren't any Shuckles hiding amongst the mandrakes. But I supposed they would be hard to catch and dangerous around children."

"Riiight." Neville said uncertainly. "Anyways, I can't wait for our turn at Herbology. I'm excited to learn what we'll be working with first. You know, Professor Sprout told me there would be interesting plants for our first class and she said there were some new ones coming in soon. I wonder what they are."

"There he goes." Toshiro muttered, not unkindly. "Now he'll never stop talking."

Neville's round cheeks flushed and his bottom lip stuck out in a pout. "Hey!" he said in affront. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

"When we received our times-tables and you realized when our Herbology class would take place, you went on and on all the way to Potions about the plants you did last year and the year before. And I didn't even ask. You didn't quiet down until we got within eye sight of the dungeon door."

Neville's blush deepened. "Sorry. I just really like Herbology."

"So I gathered." Toshiro responded. He shrugged. "But at least you have a passion for something. And from what I've read in the textbook, the subject sounds rather useful. Now all you have to do is direct some of that passion into your potion making and you'd be all set."

Neville groaned. "Please don't mention Potions. I can't believe you talked Snape into giving me a potions test. I'm going to fail."

Toshiro sighed exasperatedly. "Neville, you'll be fine. Quit acting like such a baby. If you don't start standing up for yourself, you'll be destined to have people like Snape walk all over you for the rest of your life. Is that what you want? Do you want to be a doormat your whole life?"

Neville shrugged, his gaze now focused on the goblet in his hand. "No." he muttered.

"Then stop scaring yourself into a moody, teenaged, bump on a log." Toshiro snapped. "You're going to give me an ulcer."

Neville blinked and glanced up at him curiously. "Can you get ulcers?" Toshiro gave him an I'm dead. What do you think? Besides, you're missing the point. look. "Oh, right."

Toshiro rolled his eyes and glanced up as Rukia entered the hall and took a seat beside him. "Classes went well." She said without hesitation. She poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice and took a drink before continuing. "I didn't have to participate and neither did Rangiku when I asked. He said he'd find a substitute assignment for us if we didn't want to do the boggart session in private."

"I've been meaning to discuss that issue with everyone. I want to wait for a time when all of us will be available at the same time." Toshiro responded.

Rukia removed her ring. What about tonight, before Urahara's class? We could speak with him too; get his input on events. He may be an idiot sometimes, but he still knows his stuff.

Toshiro nodded, removing his ring as well. Sounds like a plan. I'll let Ichigo and Renji know. Inform Rangiku.

"Hey, Toshiro?" Neville asked as the two replaced their rings. "Do you think you could teach me how to speak Japanese? It might be interesting and even fun to learn a new language."

Toshiro thought about this a moment. "Maybe. We'll see. We speak in our native tongue in order to have a sense of privacy. But under the circumstances, it might not matter, since children are so nosy that I wouldn't doubt some of them are currently brushing up on their translating spells in order to eavesdrop."

"Eavesdropping is very rude." Luna commented.

Toshiro nodded, pouring himself a cup of tea and taking a sip. "That it is."

After lunch, the third year Gryffindors made their way to Charms, run by Professor Flitwick, head of Ravenclaw and just as tiny as Toshiro, as Neville thoughtlessly pointed out upon entering the room. Toshiro glared him into silence before he could say anything that would endanger his health as the two headed towards a window halfway to the back of the room.

"You know, I don't think I should even bother asking you where you want to sit anymore." Neville commented as they took their seats and began pulling out their Charms textbooks and their wands. "You always go straight towards the window. I bet if I ever had to find you in a class I don't have, all I had to do would be to look towards the window. Although your hair kind of stands out on its own anyways."

"Gee, thanks." Toshiro said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Professor Flitwick explained to the class that they were going to work on reviewing the past spells for the transfer students before moving on to the next spell they were to learn. By the end of the lesson, it was quite clear that Toshiro was one of the top students in Charms, having mastered every spell they were to learn so far faster than even Hermione, much to her dismay and the amusement of the rest of the class. Ichigo and Renji seemed to be pretty neutral with the spells, though it was hard to figure, since they kept trying to out show the other.

"It's just kind of funny." Neville was saying as they made their way down a flight of stairs, heading towards the classroom that would be housing their new class. "I heard a rumor that Rukia was really good in Charms too but Rangiku was terrible. I heard she made every desk in the room disappear. Professor Flitwick had to summon them and it turned out that she had sent them to the bottom of the lake. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting from you guys but I don't think I expected Renji to send Ron out the window. It's a good thing you were right next to it and was able to levitate him back into the classroom before he hit the ground. That would have been horrible. And you got us twenty points for quick thinking and the correct use of a levitation spell, as Professor Flitwick said."

"Points are irrelevant. And Renji just needed to remember not to put too much emphasis in his spells." Toshiro answered lightly. It had been a close call. When Toshiro had spoken to him after the incident, he had explained that he got carried away and used the spell the same way he would use Zabimaru. That wasn't good. If they kept that up, who knows what their wands would end up doing? Their wands weren't alive like their Zanpakuto. "Like we've been saying for a while now, we're still getting used to doing things your way." They arrived outside the designated classroom and Toshiro glanced left and right before moving closer to Neville and saying in a low voice, "And between you and me, we've never used wands. You know why."

"Oh, that's right." Neville said in a hushed voice. "But then what did you use?"

Toshiro shook his head as he spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione approaching out of the corner of his eye. "It doesn't matter right now."

"Well, that was an interesting class." Harry said with a grin as they waited among the rest of the class for the door to open.

"Interesting for you, maybe." Ron said with wide eyes. He was obviously still shaken. "I almost died." He turned to Toshiro. "Thanks again for saving me back there." Toshiro shrugged.

"I told you I was sorry." Renji said from behind them. They turned to find him and Ichigo approaching, Ichigo still laughing at a scowling Renji. "It's not my fault I used too much energy. I'm not used to doing things this way."

"What way?" Hermione asked curiously.

Thankfully Renji was saved from having to say anything more as the classroom door opened and the students entered. The room was a calming cream color, much like the coloring of their parchment, with caramel colored stripes about an inch in width running vertical around the room every three inches. The only wall that wasn't colored was the one they were entering from. This wall was all glass, like a long rectangular mirror found in a dance studio, reflecting the rest of the room and all of its wide-eyed occupants.

"The floor is really squishy." Neville whispered while bouncing on the balls of his feet. Toshiro glanced down at the dark red, almost black, carpet beneath their feet and pressed down with his heels. The floor was indeed squishy. He frowned as Neville continued. "It almost feels like walking on marshmallows. You know?"

"Hm." Toshiro muttered with a nod as he and the rest of the class made their way around the room. Toshiro claimed one of the windows and turned to observe the students that decided to attend this class. Most of the class consisted of Gryffindors, including the Weasley twins, their friend whom Neville called Lee Jordan, the Weasley girl Ginny, and the group Harry named as the Quidditch team. A large amount of Ravenclaws were also present, including Luna, and a smaller group of curious Hufflepuffs. Toshiro was both surprised and annoyed to see Draco Malfoy and his little squad of Slytherin followers standing in the farthest corner from the rest of the mass of students. Something was bound to go wrong with that group amongst the class.

"Taicho?" Rangiku asked as she approached. She looked towards Urahara, who was seated quite contently on a cushion on the ground, sipping tea as his eyes roamed the class. Toshiro nodded and turned to Neville and a now present Luna.

"I'll be right back. We need to speak with Urahara for a few moments." He said.

Neville nodded. "Got it." Toshiro nodded as Neville and Luna sat down on the squishy carpet, the other students slowly following suit, and then led the way towards Urahara. Neville watched them go and turned to Luna. "I wonder what this class will be about. And what we'll be doing for today and tomorrow."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be quite fascinating." Luna said. "After all, they are a completely different culture."

"Do you think we'll learn spells in Japanese?" Neville asked, turning his attention back to the transfers. "Look at the way their mouths move; they talk so fast."

"Have you been able to pick anything up since they've been here?" Luna asked.

Neville nodded. "Actually, I have. I learned that gaijin means foreigner, Ichigo used the word baka, which Toshiro said roughly means idiot, and Rangiku used the word ningen and Toshiro said that means human. Oh, and of course taicho means captain. Rangiku said that was Toshiro's nickname."

Luna nodded. "It suits him."

Neville nodded as the transfers turned and headed back towards them. Urahara stood and walked up to stand in front of the class. "My, this is quite the turnout. I'm glad so many of you have decided to try out this class. It will be quite a bit different from what you're normally used to, but I assure you that I will try to make it as understandable and as safe as possible. But before we begin, I'm afraid something must first be done."

Urahara headed back to the little table he had been sitting next to, a thick blanket wrapping around it like a skirt. He picked up an odd-looking brush, dipped it onto an ink pad, and made a few quick strokes on a sheet of rather thin looking white paper. Then he picked up the sheet, along with a large stack of the same white paper, and began passing them around the room, giving Neville the one he just finished and ending with Draco.

"These, boys and girls," Urahara said pleasantly as he stood once more before the class. "Are health forms that I must insist your parent and or guardian sign giving you permission to attend my class. You see, I don't want to be held liable if you get injured because you didn't listen to me when I told you not to do what would get you hurt. I know you're not really stupid enough to do something so, well, stupid, but just to be safe. Think of it as a health contract denying me from all accountability. 'Kay?"

Toshiro glanced around the room, noting most of the occupants wearing similar expressions of confusion, shock, apprehension and interest. He looked back to the front as Urahara cleared his throat. "Also, if your parent and or guardian would like to sit in on one of our class sessions before signing the waiver, they are more than welcomed, as I've already cleared it with the headmaster. You and they will have until the twenty-fifth of this month, two Saturdays from tomorrow, to decide. Our first official class will begin October first. No signed permission slip, no class. And I will check for forgery. The only exception would be if I got a face to face acknowledgement from your legal guardian. Once your slip has been signed, turn it in to your head of house, and they in turn will deliver it to me."

A sudden movement flickered in the corner of Toshiro's vision and he turned to find Hermione with her hand in the air. Urahara nodded to her. "If this is a safety concern, why didn't you give one to each of the transfers?"

Urahara's lips stretched into a smirk and his eyes glinted mischievously from the shadow the brim of his hat cast over the top half of his face. "Because unlike you, my dear, they don't have a choice. They're in this class whether they like it or not."

"Oh." Hermione said in a small voice and Toshiro resisted the urge to roll his eyes when she sent a worried look in their direction.

"Now then." Urahara said with an innocent smile. He clapped his hands together and looked around the class, looking, in Toshiro's opinion, like a tiger trying to decide which victim to pounce on first. "The first thing we will be working on, to give you all a taste of what is to come, is exercising of the body. And don't worry about missing dinner. Until class officially starts, we're more than likely going to be ending relatively early for a while. Now, can anyone think of an effective way to exercise physically?"

Hermione shot her hand in the air, followed a few seconds later by several muggle-borns. Urahara nodded to her again. "Do you mean like push-ups? And sit-ups?"

"Exactly. And those are some good exercises to begin with. Can anyone else think of any others? Don't worry about raising your hands; just shout out anything that comes to your mind. Don't be shy now." Urahara smiled cheerfully, pulling the little wooden fan out of a sleeve and twirling it around his fingers.

"Jumping jacks."

"Jogging?"

"Suicides." The rest of the room paused and stared at Ichigo like he was insane. "What? Haven't any of you ever heard of suicides?"

"You mean, like in soccer?" Dean asked thoughtfully.

Ichigo nodded. "Exactly."

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.

"Suicides are when you run from one end of the room to the other, touch the line or the wall or whatever, and run back to the other side of the room again and repeat." Dean explained. "They do it in soccer practices and basketball and I think a few others as well. It really puts a strain on your calf muscles."

"These are all great suggestions." Urahara said. "Now that we've decided on what we're going to do, let's begin."

"Wait a minute." Draco called out. He sneered scornfully at Urahara. "Exactly what is physical exercising going to accomplish that magic can't?"

"You really think so?" Urahara asked in amusement. He surveyed the class before settling his gaze to Crabbe. "Could you come to the front of the class, please? That's it."

Crabbe hesitantly stepped forward until he was standing before Urahara. Urahara maneuvered him until he was standing where he wanted him, in front of the entire class. Then he turned to the transfers. "Rukia. You seem like you could handle this. Why don't you step up?"

Rukia nodded and stepped up to them with a cold stare directed at Crabbe. Urahara positioned her to stand directly in front of Crabbe, their size difference extremely pronounced. Once they were positioned the way he wanted, Urahara backed away, indicating the class to do the same. "Now then, I'd like you both to take out your wands, please. Think of this as a duel. Do what you can to make your opponent fall first. You can use magic and or your body; your choice. When I say go… Go!"

Before Crabbe could react, Rukia twisted to the side, shouted "Expelliarmus!" and pointed her wand at her opponent. Crabbe's wand flew into the air, Crabbe's gaze soaring up with it. Without skipping a beat, Rukia whirled around, bent low, and kicked Crabbe's feet out from under him. She knelt down on one knee beside the boy, who lay sprawled on his back, and pointed her wand directly above his heart. Crabbe's wand landed on the ground beside the pair, the clatter seeming to echo around the silent room.

"Excellent." Urahara cheered, clapping his hands and breaking the stunned silence. "That was wonderful."

Rukia straightened up and pulled the taller boy to his feet. Crabbe shrugged her off and stomped back to where the other Slytherins were standing, a deep scowl on his face, mirrored by his house mates. Rukia rolled her eyes at the immaturity and walked back to the others, glaring at Urahara as she passed. Urahara winked at her before addressing the class once more.

"That, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the advantages of being physically prepared as well as magically." He turned to Draco but continued to speak to the class as a whole. "Without your wand, you're useless if you can't fight physically. Sure you can learn wandless magic and all. But in an attack, your body reacts before your mind does. For example."

Urahara stepped up to Neville, who fought the urge to take an instinctive step back. Quickly, Urahara brought his hand up and snapped his fingers directly in front of Neville's face. Instinctively, Neville flinched and backed up against the wall as far as he could go. Urahara grinned. "See? I wouldn't have actually hit you but you didn't think about that, did you? When someone steps up to stand directly in front of your face, invading all personal space, your first impulse is to back up, right? Even though you know they're doing it to get a reaction out of you, you can't help wanting to back away. It's a natural reaction; a reaction of self-preservation. The instinct to survive. If someone aims a punch at your face, your immediate reaction would be to either hit them first or duck, correct? But if you're not fast enough, it would be pointless to even try."

Urahara returned to the center of the class. "But enough of that for a while. Let's see. How about we start with agility and work our way from there, shall we?" And with that, the class began. Urahara split the class into four large groups, Toshiro and Rangiku with Neville, Luna, Ginny, Harry, Hermione and Ron; Ichigo, Renji and Rukia with the Weasley twins, Lee Jordan, Angelina, Katie, Alicia and Oliver; the small amount of Hufflepuffs merged with the little group of Ravenclaw, and Draco grouped with Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Blaise, and Millicent.

Urahara had the first group, Toshiro's group, work in one corner of the room, their tasks being to work on fighting human-shaped punching bags without wands while they fought back. The second group, Ichigo's group, worked a rock-climbing wall in another corner while a little rock-like creature hurled an endless supply of boulders down at them, attempting to knock them back to the ground. The third group, the joined group of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, carried 30 pound sacks of tea on their backs while weaving through a forest of stone pillars that fell towards them as they passed. Group four, Draco's group, worked the main event. They had to run from one side of the room to the other while trying to dodge the tickling spell cast towards them by their reflections in the mirrored wall. Urahara had jinxed the mirror so that their reflection shot the spell at its counterpart in random order while running along with them.

"Why tickling?" Blaise had asked irritably, wrinkling his nose in distaste as Pansy was hit with the spell by her reflection and sank to the ground in a fit of laughter.

"Because I had to think of something harmless." Urahara explained. "Besides, I know a lot of people hate being tickled. But don't worry, it won't be that simplistic once this class starts for real."

The class continued this way, everyone switching obstacles every twenty minutes or so until each group had participated in each course at least twice. With nearly half an hour left of class, Urahara called it quits, gathering the panting students to the center, where goblets of water had been prepared for them. As the students drank gratefully, Urahara explained, "Just to let everyone know, Fridays aren't going to be as easy as it was today."

He waved his wooden fan and a small box the size of a shoe box landed on the floor with a very heavy thump for its size. He walked over and lifted out a small black strap, showing it to the class. "There are several of these. Each one goes on each of your wrists and ankles. There are little pockets going around the strap." He reached into the box again and pulled out a small grey stick an inch long and as thick as a quill. "This is a stick of lead, weighing at a single pound. You will be wearing these straps with a single stick of lead in each. That's one extra pound on each wrist and ankle. You will wear them all day, every day. A spell will be placed on them so that they will not come off and will not be damaged by any of the elements.

After a while, the courses will change, becoming more difficult and more complex. At the same time, another stick will be added to each strap. At the end of the year, you should be able to function just fine with five pounds on each wrist and ankle. That's twenty extra pounds. Your final will be a sort of obstacle course completed without the straps at all. You'll be surprised with how light and agile you'll feel after those extra twenty pounds come right off." Urahara placed his fan against his temple. "It almost feels as if you could fly. It's quite exhilarating. Well, that's all for now. Tomorrow will be a completely different lesson, so be surprised. And don't forget to have your guardian sign those slips."

"Wow." Neville panted as he and his group headed to dinner. He wiped a layer of sweat from his brow with the back of his sleeve. "That was hard. And crazy."

"I actually worked up a sweat." Ron chimed in enthusiastically. "And I'm not sore at all."

"You will be." Toshiro assured him. He and Rangiku and the other transfers were the only ones who weren't panting and sweating as if they had just returned from a marathon inside a sweat shop. "Tomorrow morning, your muscles will be screaming at you in rage, mark my words."

"Is this what you normally do every day?" Hermione asked curiously as they entered the Great Hall. "For your original class, I mean?"

"Hardly." Toshiro scoffed as he and Neville paused from following Luna to her table. "This is nothing compared to what we're used to. Consider this a warm up."

"You're kidding, right?" Neville asked as they made their way to the Ravenclaw table. Toshiro raised an eyebrow at him. Neville winced. "No, you're not. Ouch, that's got to be rough."

Toshiro shrugged as they sat down. "We're used to it. We started out the way the class is going now, but we've advanced a lot further. Just be glad you're not in Kenpachi's group. Now that's a workout straight from hell."

"Kenpachi?" Neville asked curiously. "Is that the person you were talking about yesterday? With a little girl with pink hair or something like that?"

"Yes. He's one of our teachers and specializes in battle tactics." Toshiro took a bite of his rice and chewed thoughtfully before swallowing and continuing. "He's actually not too bad except that he might be a little dangerous around children."

"Why?" Luna asked curiously.

"He has a hard time knowing when to quit and knowing when too much is too much." Toshiro smirked. "He'd most likely try to get everyone in the school in on his type of training and that requires things like fighting trolls single-handed or breaking this whole table with your fist."

"I can't do that!" Neville exclaimed in alarm. "I don't think anyone can. No one human, at least."

"Perhaps he's not human." Luna said thoughtfully. Toshiro and Neville paused and glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes before looking back to her. "Maybe he was bitten by a magical creature and now he has the strength of that creature but he's afraid of the ridicule he'd get if he were found out and so hides it from everyone, even your school."

Toshiro raised an eyebrow incredulously. "Yeeaah, let's go with that." Neville snorted into his soup bowl and quickly covered it with a fit of coughing. Luna remained oblivious, eating her teriyaki steak thoughtfully.

"Must be lonely." She murmured mournfully. Toshiro and Neville stared at each other and then looked away, resisting the urge to laugh.

The next morning, Saturday, Neville woke from a strange dream. He had dreamed that his friends had died and had come back as demons and Toshiro and the other transfers had transformed into giant warriors, shining in gold, each carrying a sword with a very sharp blade. Toshiro had been the captain and the brightest and he had swooped down from the clouds and sliced each of Neville's friends into thousands of little pieces right before his eyes. Neville had begged Toshiro and the others not to hurt his friends but Toshiro had told him that his friends were gone. The little pieces that were Harry gathered themselves back together and Harry told Neville that he had to choose between them and Toshiro. Neville couldn't choose at first, until he saw that pieces of Harry's skin were starting to fall from his face and arms. Before he could make a decision, the sky had shone a bright white and then the old man from Toshiro's boggart came down and grabbed Toshiro. The black haired man from Renji's boggart, the grey version of Ichigo and the man that had looked like Sirius Black also descended and grabbed Rangiku, Rukia, Renji, and Ichigo. Then they dragged them all up to the sky, ignoring Neville's plea to let them go. Neville tried to run after them but tripped and fell down a dark hole. That was when he had awakened and quickly swiped back the curtains of his four-poster and swished back Toshiro's without thinking, eager to prove to himself that the smaller boy was safely in his bed.

Toshiro squinted into the bright light that fell over his eyes as the curtains were drawn back forcefully. He just barely made out the shape that was Neville. "What are you doing?" he mumbled sleepily, whipping at the tears that had been forced to the surface because of the light.

"Oh, u-um, s-sorry." Neville whispered, hastily shutting the curtains and blocking the light of day once more.

Having caught the sound of relief in Neville's voice and now being wide awake, Toshiro sighed and sat up. He disentangled the blankets from his legs, pushed his curtains aside, and lurched out of his bed and over to Neville's. He pushed back the curtains to see Neville sitting on his pillow with the blankets wrapped tightly around his legs, his knees held tightly against his chest with his arms. "O-kay, Neville; I'm up. What's wrong." He whispered exasperatedly.

"Sorry." Neville mumbled quietly, eyes downcast. "It's nothing."

Toshiro sighed and headed back to his bed. Neville looked up and watched him reach under his pillow and pull out his wand. Then he came back to Neville's bed and climbed up, closing the curtains behind him, shutting out the rest of the room. Then he cast a silencing spell over the entire bed before settling back against one of the bed posts at the foot of Neville's bed. "Alright." He said in a normal tone, eyeing Neville expectantly. "Let's have it."

Startled, Neville just sat there and blinked. Rolling his eyes, Toshiro lurched forward and smacked the back of his friend's head. "Ow!" Neville cried, bringing his hand up to the spot that had been struck. "What was that for?"

"For being a nuisance." Toshiro snapped. He settled back down against the bed post and crossed his arms over his chest. "You wake me up, nearly blind me with the light of the stupid sun, and then leave without telling me what you obviously want to say. So just say it."

Neville blinked a couple times before breaking into a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

"And will you stop apologizing already?" Toshiro said exasperatedly.

"Sorry." Neville blinked and covered his mouth with his hands. "Sorry."

Toshiro pointed his wand at him. "Say sorry one more time and I'll hex you." Neville bit his lip but refrained from saying it again. Toshiro nodded and placed his wand back in his lap. "That's better. Now, what was the reason you so unjustly woke me up and in such an undignified manner?"

Neville cast his gaze back to his still upturned knees. "Um, well. It's stupid."

"I'll decide that." Toshiro said. "What's got you so bothered this time?"

Neville sighed in defeat and quickly told Toshiro about his dream. He kept his eyes downcast throughout his telling and didn't look up until he was finished and Toshiro had yet to speak. "To be honest, what bothered me the most was seeing you guys being dragged away and the thought of never seeing any of you again. I mean, yeah it was disturbing seeing my friends dying and stuff but you guys are my friends too. Or at least you and Rangiku; I'm not really sure much about the others. I didn't like having to choose between you. I know it was just a dream, but when I woke up, my first thought was to make sure you were still here. It was obviously too crazy to be true but it just felt so real. And what if you guys do get sent back to your world? I know it's bound to happen; you guys don't really belong with the living. I know that." Neville sighed and folded his arms over his knees, resting his chin on top. "I'm not looking forward to the end of the year. One step closer to the end of the year just means one step closer to the day you guys leave. I doubt we'll ever see each other again."

Toshiro stared at him thoughtfully. "Does it really bother you that much?"

Neville looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah, it does. I know it probably doesn't mean much to you, but you were the first real friend I'd ever had. The first real friend. I like being around you guys; you're the most awesome friends I could have. I mean, who else could say that their best friend is the captain of a squad of warrior souls? Who else could say that said captain trusted them enough to reveal such an important secret? I've never been trusted with anything that important in my life. Gran always said she wasn't sure I'd make anything of myself. For the longest time, I believed her. I believed Snape whenever he said those hurtful things to me about not being good enough. But you've already shown me that I can be better than what everyone thinks of me. Before, I didn't really want to try because I felt like every time I did, something was always there to knock me down, so why bother? But now I want to try. I want to do better. I want to prove to everyone that I can make something of myself. But mostly, I want to prove to myself that I can do it. I don't know what it is, but you guys are bringing out the best in me. And I like it. I like how it feels to be able to stand up for myself with the confidence I'd never had before. I guess your attitude on life is a bit inspiring."

"It's good you feel so confident but it's not all us. It's you too." Toshiro shrugged. "You decide what to do with your life, not the people around you. They just inspire you and motivate you. But in the end, the final decision is always up to you. We've been around long enough to realize that and that's why we act and think the way we do. We've seen too much death, too many wasted lives, to worry about inconsequential things this world throws out."

Neville sighed again. "You want to know something? In my dream, when I had to choose between going with you and going with the undead Harry, I couldn't decide. I mean, I like Harry and the others. But, I don't know, now that I think about it, if I was given the option again, I would choose to go with you guys. I just felt really bad when I saw you guys going away in my dream."

"Well, like you said, we're bound to leave eventually." Toshiro said. "We don't belong in the living world. We did once upon a time, but that time has passed. Now, we only enter the human world to collect the souls that have departed from their bodies and need to be taken to Soul Society before they turn into hollows. Otherwise, we stay in Soul Society and keep an eye on everything from up there."

"When I die, will you be the one to get me? And will I know it's you?" Neville asked curiously.

"Probably not." Toshiro amended. Why lie to the kid? "Not everyone remembers everything from when they were alive. You do for a while but eventually enough time passes that you start to forget."

"Do you remember when you were alive?" Neville asked.

Toshiro paused before shaking his head. "Not much. I remember snow. And cold. Not much else. I sometimes think I see flashes of what might be memories of my living past, but I can never be sure and I don't always remember the flashes enough to piece them together. After a while, I just dismiss it, since dwelling too much on that stuff could drive a person insane."

"That sounds so sad." Neville said. "Don't you ever get lonely?"

"Not really. I have Rangiku and Ukitake and Momo. And the rest of my squad." Toshiro shrugged.

"Who's Momo?" Neville asked curiously.

"None of your business." Toshiro snapped.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Neville asked with a teasing grin.

Toshiro glared at him. "No, she's not. She's a childhood friend."

"Then why didn't you just say that when I first asked?" Neville asked innocently. "Instead of saying none of your business, which sounds like you're hiding something."

Toshiro scowled. "I'm going down to breakfast." He huffed and turned to take off the silencing spell.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry." Neville said, reaching out to stop Toshiro from leaving angry. Unfortunately, Neville's legs were still bound tightly with the blanket, causing him to lose his balance and topple over into Toshiro and making them both fall over the side of the bed and down to the floor. Neville had grabbed onto the curtain in an attempt to keep them from falling and only succeeded in pulling it, and the entire banister, down with them, the wooden posts snapping with several loud cracks.

"Neville, I will give you to the count of three to get off of me and then I'm going to send you flying out the window." Toshiro ground out. "One."

Neville scrambled to get off his smaller friend and backed up against his nightstand. "Sorry. I slipped."

Toshiro pushed himself up onto his elbows and scowled at him. "I figured." Then he pushed himself up to his feet and turned to find the rest of the room's occupants staring at them in surprised silence. His scowl deepened. "Can I help you?"

"Um, what were you two doing?" Ron asked hesitantly.

"Tutoring." Toshiro lied easily. "Neville's got a Potions test to prepare for and he needs as much study time as possible, since Snape is the one giving it."

Ron's eyes widened in alarm, along with the rest of their dorm mates. "Test? What test? We have a test in Potions? But we just got here."

"Not you; Neville." Toshiro snapped irritably. "Neville has a private test he needs to prepare for."

Seamus looked to Neville's now ruined bed and then back to Toshiro suspiciously. "So then where's his cauldron? And his textbook, if he's studying?"

Toshiro sighed and cast Neville an Are they really this stupid? look. Neville cleared his throat. "Um, Toshiro said that it made better sense to study well enough to be able to do the potion without using the book too much. And since he knows how to make a lot of the potions as well as Hermione, he's the one teaching me. Without the book."

"Makes sense to me." Harry chimed in from the foot of his bed. He pulled on his cloak and turned to Ron. "If we're going down to breakfast with Hermione, we better hurry or she'll leave without us."

Harry's comment snapped the other boys out of their momentary confusion and suspicion and began finishing their tasks of getting ready for the day. Toshiro turned back to the broken bed and sighed before waving his wand and repairing the posts and curtains. Then he turned to Ichigo and Renji's beds and scowled. "Get up, you two. You can sleep after breakfast, but right now, it's time to get up. The day has started."

Ichigo and Renji groaned as they pushed themselves out of bed and began getting dressed. Toshiro rolled his eyes and started getting himself ready for the day. Once he was finished, he and Neville headed down to breakfast and the start of the new day. As he descended the stairs, half listening to Neville yammer on about his upcoming Potions test, Toshiro's mind continued to deter back to the discussion he and the others had had with Urahara before class had begun. According to Urahara, Yamamoto wanted all of the shinigami to participate in the boggart lesson in order to experience its effects first hand and learn to defend themselves against it. Yet he agreed that they should not do this in public and was currently writing to Dumbledore with the request that they partake in private lessons.

Not spotting Luna at the Ravenclaw table when they entered the Great Hall, Toshiro and Neville decided to spend breakfast with their own house this morning. Half way through their meal, by then the majority of the school were now present, the morning post arrived and the usual parade of owls descended in front of Toshiro, landing in the spots of the table Toshiro had habitually prepared for them. By now, the rest of the school was starting to accept the horde of owls for the transfers to be a routine thing and therefore were not as shocked as the first morning.

Toshiro distributed the usual packages and letters from home to their appropriate owners and picked up one of the letters addressed to him, habitually shoving the usual box of sweets toward Neville. Toshiro quickly scanned the contents of his letter, which was from Ukitake, and then drained the rest of his tea before gathering the rest of his mail and rising from his seat, beckoning Ichigo and Renji to do the same. Neville looked up and started to stand. Toshiro stopped him. "Hang on, I haven't told them yet." He whispered. He took a few seconds to think before continuing. "We're heading outside to talk real quick. I'll tell them about it then. Meet me in the common room in about an hour." Before Neville could respond, Toshiro had gone, stopping to tap Rangiku from the Hufflepuff table and Rukia from the Ravenclaw table on the way out.

Once outside, Toshiro headed towards the lake and climbed up onto a medium-sized boulder. Ichigo and Renji sat on the large, moss-covered log beside the boulder, the three of them starring out at the lake in silence. A few seconds later, Rukia and Rangiku silently approached. Rangiku climbed up to sit beside Toshiro on the boulder while Rukia squeezed herself between Ichigo and Renji on the log. The group sat in a comfortable silence, each finding peace in the others' presence.

Finally Toshiro broke the silence, slipping off his ring before speaking. "I got a response from Captain Ukitake regarding our wands and zanpakuto." He said in Japanese without turning from the lake. "According to him, Sou-taicho Yamamoto and Captain Kurotsuchi have finally figured out how to use the spell to merge the two without damaging either. He has sent the spell and instructions for it in a letter, which I received just now at breakfast. We will start by practicing the casting of the spell without wands, like we did for every other spell. Once we have perfected the casting and wand motions, we will meet in Urahara's classroom at midnight to cast the spell for real."

"Good." Renji commented quietly. "I wasn't feeling very comfortable at all without Zabimaru. It felt like a part of me was stuck in another dimension or something and I had no idea what I was going to do without him. It'll feel good having him by my side again."

"I agree." Rukia said with a nod. "It just hasn't been the same with just this flimsy stick for backup." She held up her wand, a slight look of disdain on her face. "I still can't believe all the magic in the air is making normal people see our Zanpakuto. I don't really understand it, though. I don't understand how normal humans could see our zanpakuto when no one else has ever been able to see it before. We used to be able to wear our swords with no problem."

"It's something about the magic in the air." Toshiro said. "I haven't figured it out yet. But something about the magic around this school and all of the other magical dwellings we've been to so far have something in the air that can reveal our zanpakuto to the public. That was one of the things I had checked when I first went to Diagon Alley to purchase the rooms. So far, Ukitake hasn't been able to tell me anything about why it is the way it is but he did say that Captain Kurotsuchi was working on it."

"Well, either way, I'll feel much better once I have Sode no Shirayuki again." Rukia said solemnly. The others nodded in silence.

After a few more minutes of silence, Rangiku spoke. "But that's not all you want to talk to us about, is it Taicho?"

Toshiro remained silent for another few seconds before responding, turning his head towards the log and those sitting on it. "Yes, there is. Rangiku already knows, but I need to inform you three. Neville now knows about us."

"What?" Rukia exclaimed in astonishment, Ichigo and Renji echoing her a millisecond later. Renji leapt to his feet. "He knows? How? What do we do?"

"Relax." Toshiro said calmly, gesturing for Renji to sit back down. Once Renji had retaken his seat, Toshiro continued. "It's alright. I've taken care of it. I've sent a letter to Ukitake and he has agreed with the idea that Rangiku has come up with. Basically, he will be allowed to keep his memories of who and what we really are, and in return, he will help us keep an eye on Harry and learn as much as possible about the on goings of this school and so forth. He could be a good asset on this mission."

"You sure you're not just being soft?" Ichigo asked boldly. Toshiro turned a sharp glare to him. "What I mean is, you seem to be getting pretty close to this kid, like a friend or something. Are you sure you aren't forming an emotional attachment with this kid and aren't just trying to protect him? Not trying to insult or anything; just trying to be sure."

Toshiro glared harder at Ichigo, the temperature in the air dropping and frost forming on the edge of the lake closest to the boulder. "No, I am not forming an emotional attachment with him. I'm helping him out by building up his confidence and in exchange, he is providing me with information on this school that can be used for later. That's it. Nothing more. Got it?"

Ichigo held up his hands, as if in surrender. "Alright, alright. I didn't mean anything by it; I was just asking. Geez, relax and get your temperature mood swings under control before you kill everything in the lake."

Toshiro narrowed his eyes at him for a moment before slowly bringing the surrounding temperature back to normal and allowing the frost to melt from the edge of the lake. Once he was finished, he huffed and turned to address the rest of the group. "As I was saying, Neville is now in on most of it. He asked me earlier if I would teach him Japanese. At the time, I hadn't really planned on it, but after thinking it through a bit, I've realized that by teaching him Japanese, we would be able to speak to him without worrying too much about eavesdroppers. So that's what I'm going to do. Any objections?"

The others shook their heads. "Good." Toshiro continued. "Then I'll go get started with him and you guys can do whatever it is you need to do, like go back to bed." Toshiro stood up and stretched before turning back to the others, pulling his ring out of his pocket at the same time. "I'll let you guys know the spell for our wands after I've read it through a few times and have gotten a feel for it. Probably by sometime tonight. Do not practice the spell in public. I don't think I have to tell you that, but just to be on the safe side. Watch yourselves." Then Toshiro slipped on his ring, the others following suit, and jumped off the boulder, making his way back up to the school.

Neville looked up for the third time from the book in his lap Herbs Too Powerful for Potions, and sighed once again when it was not Toshiro who entered through the portrait hole but another random fellow Gryffindor. He was eager to hear what the others had to say about him being in on their secret and it was hard not to become impatient. Toshiro was in charge, meaning that despite his size, the others had to listen to him. But what if they rebelled? Every leader ends up with a few bad eggs, just read a few history books. What if they objected to the idea of an outsider, a human, nosing about in their business? What if they refused to allow him to be involved? What if they tried to rise up against Toshiro?

Neville mentally shook his head. No, he couldn't think that way. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts. They wouldn't do that. Rangiku was the one who suggested it. If she was on Toshiro's side, maybe they might listen to him better than if he were expressing the idea on his own. And if they didn't…no he wouldn't think like that. Toshiro could take care of himself. He was captain ranked, after all. And Rangiku seemed to really support and care about Toshiro. Neville was sure she would back the small captain up if it came down to a fight. He hoped there wouldn't be one, though. At least not on his account. He didn't want to cause any problems for his new friend.

Neville looked up when the portrait door swung open once more and admitted the person he had been waiting anxiously to see since breakfast. Neville closed his book as Toshiro approached and took his usual seat on the windowsill. Before Neville could ask for the verdict, Toshiro spoke. "Konnichiwa."

Neville blinked. "Huh?"

"Repeat it." Toshiro said tersely. "Konnichiwa."

"C-cona-con…" Neville stuttered, trying to form his mouth around the foreign word.

"Kon-nee-chee-wah." Toshiro said slowly. "Say it. Konnichiwa."

"K-koneecheewah." Neville tried again.

"Close but try not to put so much emphasis on the word as a whole." Toshiro instructed. "Put more emphasis on the e sounds, where the i's would be. It's kon-nee-chee-wah."

"K-konnichiwa." Neville said hesitantly.

Toshiro nodded in approval. "Good. Konnichiwa. It means hello. It can also mean good afternoon." Toshiro lowered his voice, forcing Neville to lean forward in order to hear what was being said. "I'll start teaching you simple words, only about two or three at a time. For today, it will be just this one. Practice on your own or to one of us when you pass us in the hall or something. Try not to use it too often in public. I don't need random students coming up to me and asking me to teach them Japanese as well. Understood?"

Neville nodded. "Yeah. But, so does this mean the others have accepted me? Or at least accepted that I know?" he whispered.

Toshiro shrugged. "Whether they accept you or not is irrelevant. But yes, they more or less have accepted that you know more than the rest of the school, besides the teachers." Of course the teachers; how could Neville have forgotten that the teachers might know the truth about the Soul Reapers, too? "We will also practice before bed and during or before or after breakfast, whichever works best. Just remember that you will not be learning everything, as there are still things we can't tell you about."

Neville nodded hastily. "Oh, I know. There are some things that are beyond private."

"Exactly." Toshiro said with an approving nod.

The rest of the day passed relatively peacefully, in Toshiro's opinion. No pestering students, no nagging teachers, and nothing to give him a migraine. He could really get used to not getting migraines once a day, as was becoming custom within Division Ten's perimeters in Soul Society. This was turning out to be a damn good day so far.

Ten minutes to five-thirty that evening, Toshiro and Neville headed to Urahara's classroom with Harry and his two friends in tow. Up ahead, Toshiro was able to make out Draco Malfoy, walking with his group of Slytherin followers. Toshiro turned his head slightly in the direction of Harry as said boy mumbled something about Malfoy bound to cause trouble in this class. Toshiro made a mental note to keep an eye on the group during this class as they made their way through the door of the classroom and towards the area of the room they had gone to the day before.

The classroom still had the padded floor but the walls were now completely white, with the glass wall still in place at the front of the room. It seemed oddly white and a bit foreboding, what with the floor looking remarkably like blood. Toshiro glanced around to where Urahara was seated at his low table, contently sipping tea. He couldn't help wondering what the man had in store for the class today. How on earth was he going to pull off a Kido class without blowing their cover or giving too much away? Something was bound to go wrong.

Urahara stood and approached the class at exactly five-thirty, standing cheerfully before them. "Good evening, class. Today, we're going to do things a bit differently. I was planning on teaching you a form of magic we use in the east. Unfortunately, your ministry thinks it's a tad too dangerous for you all and so has requested that I teach something a bit safer. This lesson will still include much of the Japanese magic, but Kido is out, unfortunately. So, without further ado, let's get started." As an afterthought, Urahara added. "Oh, and my students, the ones I had brought with me, are a little busy at the moment and so won't be joining us this evening. Actually, they may not be joining us for the entire month of September, as they have more pressing matters to attend to first. Just a thought, incase any of you were wondering."

Urahara smiled pleasantly before clearing his throat. "Now, what we will be working on is a form of Japanese magic where we channel our spiritual energy into a form of… weapon, so to speak. However, it doesn't have to be a physical weapon. For example," he pointed to Toshiro and Rangiku standing with Neville and then pointed to Renji, Ichigo and Rukia standing with the Weasley twins. "These five are not only in this specific group because they all tapped into their powers in the same year, but because their teacher specializes in the type of weapon they produce, which, believe it or not, takes the shape of a sword."

Toshiro jolted as if he had been shocked with a bolt of lightening. The others reacted just as badly. What the hell is he thinking? Toshiro thought furiously, casting glances around to the other transfers. They all cast nervous glances to Toshiro, as if awaiting instructions.

"Now, now." Urahara said pleasantly to Toshiro and the others, as if sensing their discomfort. "It's not like you could keep it a secret forever. They were bound to figure it out sooner or later, once the class started. So, let's see. Toshiro, would you like to demonstrate?"

Toshiro glared at him. "No." he said coldly.

The room gasped in shock. No one ever spoke back to a teacher, especially not like that. But Urahara seemed unfazed, smiling pleasantly. "No, I suppose not. Well, no matter. We'll work on it later. For now, let's just work on mental exercises until we've established a set class."

And so, the class settled down on the individual pillows to begin their lesson. A wooden block appeared before each student and a metal pin the size of a sewing needle stuck from the top, the point obviously sharp. Their task for the night would be to focus on creating a glow at the tip of the point, using only their minds. A spell had been cast, Urahara had explained, on the pin so that wands would be of no effect. By the end of the lesson, only the transfers and Hermione were able to create a steady glow, though several others, Neville included, were able to create a slight spark every once in a while.

"That was great." Urahara said at the end of the class. "I didn't expect so many of you to be able to create even a spark so soon. Perhaps there's hope for this class after all. Well, that's all for now. Class dismissed and enjoy your dinner. Until next time."

The next few weeks passed with little to no trouble. Classes took place as normal and several students had already turned in their permission slips for Urahara's class, signed by their parent or guardian. A couple parents were intrigued enough by the offer itself to actually attend the class, much to the dismay of their child. Neville had turned his permission slip in the Monday after their first and second class, claiming that his Gran was glad he was finally putting some enthusiasm into something other than plants. Harry, at first, was dismayed about needing his permission slip signed in order to attend the class, but Toshiro fixed that quite easily. He had taken Harry's slip, pretended to send it to Ukitake, and then secretly forged the signature before giving it back a few days later. When Harry had asked, Toshiro had explained that Ukitake was the guardian of the transfers and since Harry had stayed with them for a portion of the summer, Ukitake's signature was acceptable to Urahara.

There weren't any major events until the nineteenth of September. Apparently, Rangiku had found out about Hermione's birthday and had bullied poor Neville into letting her into Gryffindor Tower in the middle of the night, using her leverage of saving him from a memory erasing. Once inside, while the rest of the school was sleeping, Rangiku had decorated the entire common room in different shades of pink, blue, red and gold. The unpoppable bubbles she had learned to make from Mrs. Weasley in the Leaky Cauldron floated along the high ceiling and great big bubbly letters that read HAPPY BIRTHDAY HERMIONE floated around like a train through the air. Balloons, also in pink, blue, red and gold, were floating along the stairs and all the way to the portrait hole, each one jinxed to cheer and applaud every time Hermione walked passed. She had even bullied Neville, before he had gone up to bed the night before, into casting a spell on a few regular balloons that read "Happy Birthday!" so that they followed Hermione wherever she went for the whole day. By the time she had gotten down to the Great Hall that morning, Hermione's face was flaming with embarrassment but she was still good-natured all the same. Fortunately, it was a Sunday and that meant Hermione only had to endure the balloons and people singing "Happy Birthday" off-key through the halls and at meal times, instead of throughout each class. The monstrosity of a cake Rangiku and the house elves had created for dessert after dinner was almost enough to give Toshiro a stomach ache, though the rest of the school enjoyed it greatly.

The event repeated itself, though much louder and much more distractingly on October first. Rangiku had decided to throw herself a massive party for her "sixteenth birthday", which had been on the twenty-ninth of September. However, because it coincided with a regular class day, Rangiku had forced herself, as was highly suggested by Toshiro and Professor McGonagall, to wait until the first, which would be a Friday, and therefore less likely for her to disturb classes.

By the end of the day, the entire school had recognized Rangiku as the partier and party planner. The majority of the school population, teachers included, tried desperately to hide their birthdays, as everyone had learned that no one was safe from the powers of Rangiku and her love for partying. Only the Gryffindors, mostly the transfers, and mainly Toshiro, knew that behind closed doors and in the privacy of her friends, did Rangiku really party, drinking sake until late into the night, enjoying the feel normalcy. If only her drinking buddies were around. Then the party would really get started. And that was a party that the school could definitely do without.

A/N: Okay, so this chapter is nice and long, extra long in fact. So hopefully you guys would forgive me for taking so dang long posting this. A lot has happened lately. Classes have been hectic, one of our dogs, our beloved Basset hound named Humphery (hum-free), died after nearly 12 long and eventful years, and one of my guinea pigs was pregnant and needed constant supervision until the babies were born and old enough to be away from their mother. Also, my younger sister is pregnant and had her baby shower and is due any day now. Not to mention SSI wanted to check up on me after moving out of my parents' house and just one thing after the other. I hardly had any time for anything at all, much less writing. But I'm working on it and I know I sound like a broken record by now, but I have not forgotten this story, nor will I ever abandon this. I will keep writing until it is done, even if I have to super glue my fingers to the keys like in an episode of NCIS. Love that show.

So anyways, tell me how I did. You know the drill. Any and all criticism is appreciated. Oh, and the tickling charm thing during Urahara's class, as well as any other tickling bits I've put in here were requested by one of my readers, who's stuck by me through almost every single story I've written so far and seems to have an addiction to tickling. Lol So, thanks. Also, all updates about this and any of my other stories will be posted at the beginning of my profile from now on. That way I can let you guys know what's going on while I'm writing and I won't get in trouble for posting author's notes as chapters. So start looking there for any updated news regarding this story or any others I'm working on. Thanks again.

A silent prayer goes out to all who lost their lives in the Japanese earthquake and the Tsunami that followed. May God have mercy on their souls and bless those who lived to suffer the after affects. Our hearts are with the lovely country of Japan.

Ningen ~ human

Gaijin ~ foreigner