It was a very fun weekend for everyone. On Saturday came a big surprise. They were all doing their own thing, Nan stinking up the kitchen with her latest science experiment.

Just then they heard a "hohoho". The kids all smiled and ran to the door, knowing who to expect. Sure enough, it was Shinji and Hiyori bringing late Christmas gifts like they always did. The two Vizards were not around the school as much but were, ironically, the biggest contributors.

"Yo," Hiyori waved happily as Shinji put the bag of presents down.

"Ichigo," she said loudly. "We should train again soon. You're probably slacking off in this place," she said while looking around pointedly.

"Anyways, here's your gifts. We would have been here sooner but...well, you know why," she ended quietly. The kids opened their designated gifts quickly, and after a period of thanking and excitement they finally went to bed.

They had been skipping pillow fights for a while because it just didn't feel right yet. When they went to bed, Shinji, Hiyori, Ikkaku, and Tessai sat in the living room drinking tea.

"So how are things around here?" Shinji asked casually.

"Okay I guess, a little lonely," Ikkaku said sadly.

"Lonely? Ikkaku, you have thirteen kids here!" Hiyori laughed.

"It's not the same without him," Tessai sighed as he patched up Nan's dress.

"I know, but you have others too. Don't forget that," Hiyori said quietly, touching Ikkaku's hand.

It was a Monday afternoon when Ikkaku suddenly noticed a chicken or two missing. At first, he ignored it, assuming he had miscounted. But then he noticed Nat and Dan gone for a few hours, then on Wednesday as well. On Thursday morning while walking to class, he saw many feathers around the slowly depleting chicken coop. He sighed; he couldn't let this go on, money was tight and egg money was helpful for school supplies.

"Good morning, class," he said smiling. Nearly everyone looked half asleep, as usual.

"So, math is first. I have a story problem," he announced. Ichigo and Uryu straightened up along with Yuzu and Bobby. The rest of the class hated story problems.

"Let's say I had 50 chickens on Monday and today I have 45. What happened to all the chickens?"

Nan raised her hand. "Four," she said happily.

"Wrong, I asked what happened to the chickens. Where did they go?"

The class sat quiet for a few seconds until Demi raised his hand.

"They went to the family in the woods," he said innocently, and immediately the class glared at him.

"What, a family in the woods?" Ikkaku said, shocked. "It's freezing! How long have they been there? How many are there? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" he berated.

"It was a secret," Karin said while glaring at Demi, who sheepishly grinned.

"All right then. Dan and Nat, bring me to them. Karin and Yuzu, go help Tessai warm up the house. Prepare food and the guest room. The rest of you, study for your history test. Ichigo and Uryu, you're both in charge," he said quickly and ran out.