"Welcome to England, Hitsugaya. Man, I haven't been here since I was alive." Shouta muttered, looking around. "So where are we supposed to go?" He asked, looking at the boy beside him.
"We need to get a room at the Leaky Cauldron. After that, we need to go to a place called Diagon Alley to get school supplies. September 1st is in a week, so we best be getting our things today." Hitsugaya replied, pulling a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. The 2 of them trudged out of the alley they had arrived in, people almost immediately pointing at the 2 of them.
"You should really dye that hair of yours. It makes us stand out." Shouta muttered, glaring at a group of schoolgirls whispering and glancing at them. Immediately, the group squealed and ran off.
"You stand out as much as I do. You garner attention wherever you go with those looks. Do you know how much trouble the women in my squad make when it comes to you?" Hitsugaya snapped back angrily, stopping a cab as it drove by. "Now come on. We don't have any time to waste."
"Yes, your highness." Shouta grumbled sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Speak for yourself." Hitsugaya grumbled back. The brunette ignored it.
The two of them were silent as the cab sped through London traffic, stopping on Charing Cross Road. "Thanks," the Captain murmured, handing the cab driver his money as he and Shouta stepped out. The cab drove off, and both boys trudged along, dragging their trunks behind them. It wasn't hard to find the Leaky Cauldron. It stood out from the rest of the buildings, looking old and shabby.
"You sure this is it?" Shouta muttered, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. Hitsugaya nodded, and opened the door. Both boys stepped inside, and the room fell silent as the other customers watched the boys warily. "Is someone named Tom here?" Shouta called, sighing inwardly at the attention the 2 garnered.
"Do you need something?" Asked an old man from behind a bar. He seemed unfazed by his strange customers, though Shouta and Hitsugaya could see his reiatsu fluctuating nervously.
Hitsugaya nodded. "We're transfer students. We need a room for 2." The man nodded, leading them up the stairs. He stopped at room 12 and handed Hitsugaya a key.
"This is your room. I'm assuming you'll also be going to Diagon Alley?" The snowy-haired boy nodded. He opened the door using the key, and quickly dropped his trunk onto a bed, Shouta following suit. They silently followed Tom back down the stairs and out to the back. They stopped in front of a brick wall, where Tom tapped several (seemingly random) bricks with his wand. It startled Hitsugaya and Shouta as the bricks parted to reveal Diagon Alley. The place was bustling with wizards and witches in cloaks of all colors, strange shops crowding the streets.
"Wow." Muttered the brunette, as he and the Captain stepped slowly into the street. They earned quite a few stares, but both boys ignored it. "So where to first?"
"We need to go to Gringotts Wizarding Bank to get some money. The Head Captain never gave me a vault number or key, so I'm going to assume your family has relations here too?" Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow at the brunette, who just shrugged.
"I was never told about it. Though that might be what my dad used to talk about sometimes. Mentioned a vault 121." Hitsugaya rolled his eyes, and they both headed towards the white marble building nearby.
They eyed the goblins warily as they walked up to the front desk. "I wish to make a withdrawal." Shouta said firmly, once the goblin at the desk looked at them.
"And do you have your key?" Shouta glanced at Hitsugaya nervously before taking the black ring off his right index finger.
"Will this work?" he asked, setting the ring on the desk. The goblin nodded.
The two of them sat in the contraption as it moved up, down, left and right before stopping in front of a vault. "Vault 121." The goblin said before climbing out. "Lamp please." Shouta handed him the lamp, and he walked towards the entrance to the vault. The two hesitantly followed. "Key please." The goblin said once again as he handed Shouta the lamp. The brunette took the lamp and handed the goblin his ring. The goblin walked over to the vault and stuck the ring into the key hole before removing it. There was a sound of metal and gears turning before the door swung open.
Hitsugaya Toshiro raised an eyebrow at the piles upon piles of gold that filled the vault. "Let's just grab a bag full. Considering how it's gold, we won't need that much. Besides, we can always come back." Shouta suggested, taking a bag and filling it with coins.
As the two of them walked out of the bank, money bag in hand, Hitsugaya took a few papers out of his pocket, glancing over it. "We should probably get some wands first, though I don't know how those will help. It should be at a place called Ollivander's." He pointed farther down the street. They hurried through the bustling street, ignoring the stares and whispers they earned. "There it is." Hitsugaya pointed to the shop, where a dusty old wand was displayed in the windows.
"Makers of fine wands since 382 B.C. huh?" Shouta scoffed, smirking. A little bell jingled as they stepped inside, closing the door behind them. "Excuse me? We're in need of some wands." Shouta called, peering past the empty desk and into the rows upon rows of shelves of boxes. An old man stepped out, raising an eyebrow as he saw the two before him.
"Visitors from the dead, eh? Haven't had one of you in awhile." Both boys looked at each other nervously before glancing back at the old man. "Don't worry. Whatever happens in Ollivander's stays in Ollivander's." The man winked, and the 2 relaxed slightly, though they were still slightly tense.
The old man's eyes twinkled as he walked back into one of the aisles and pulled out a box covered in dust. "Rosewood with unicorn hair, 8 inches." He said, opening the box and handing it to Hitsugaya. He took it, looking at the wand in confusion. "Go on, give it a wave." Mr. Ollivander gestured to the wand. Hitsugaya complied, waving the wand. The windows shattered, and Hitsugaya winced.
"Sorry." He muttered, quickly setting the wand onto the desk. Mr. Ollivander waved his apology off, hurrying back into the aisle to search for another wand. He grabbed another box, taking out the wand and handing it to Hitsugaya again.
"Ash with Thestral tail hair, 11 inches." Hitsugaya waved it, and the man dove out of the way as an icicle flew his way, impaling the wood behind him. "Definitely not." The man muttered, snatching the wand out of his hand. Hitsugaya had to try out at least another dozen wands, only to have each and every one snatched back before he could do anymore damage.
The shop was in shambles when the man strode to the back, pausing as he looked at another box, this one a pure white, making it stand out from the rest. He glanced back at Hitsugaya before grabbing the box and striding back to the front. "This wand has been here since this store opened, and not one person has been able to wield it. It's the only one of its kind. Ivory wood with ice dragon heartstring, 14 inches." Hitsugaya took the white wand, almost immediately feeling a surge of energy flow through him. He waved the wand, and suddenly the whole shop was covered in a blanket of snow. "Perfect." The man grinned, nodding to himself.
"I'm assuming you're the same as your friend?" Mr. Ollivander asked, looking at Shouta with an eyebrow raised. Shouta nodded hesitantly.
"Pretty much." The old man nodded to himself, again walking to the back. He strode back to the desk, this time holding a black box. When he opened it, there was a wand of pure black.
"Ebony wood with both phoenix feather and thestral tail hair, 15 inches. This is the companion to the wand your friend has there, been here since the store opened." Shouta took it and gave it a wave, the store darkening. The man nodded, seemingly pleased with himself. "Glad to see those two wands finally found their rightful owners. You two have done me a great deal. For that, I'll cut the price down to only 4 galleons." Shouta handed the man the money, before sticking his wand in his pocket and walking out of the store along with Hitsugaya.
"That turned out well, don't you think? We got these sticks for cheap." Shouta said, heading almost immediately to a store down the street called Flourish & Blott's. The rest of the day went by uneventfully as the 2 bought their school supplies. They headed back to the Leaky Cauldron not long after, setting their stuff in their rooms before coming back down into the pub to have a bite.
"So what did you think of that Ollivander guy? Eccentric, isn't he?" Shouta asked, still amused from their meeting with the wandmaker.
Hitsugaya rolled his eyes at his friend sarcastically. "I hope not every wizard is like him." He muttered in reply.
Shouta glanced to his right, where several young witches were looking at them and giggling, blush spread lightly on their delicate features. He snorted into his drink when one of them batted her eyelashes at him in a flirtatious manner. "What's wrong with you?" Hitsugaya asked, raising an eyebrow as Shouta wiped his mouth.
"Looks like we have some fans." The brunette muttered in reply, his eyes flicking to the group of girls that were now heading their way. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes, sighing.
"Hey there, boys." The lead girl said, leaning towards them flirtatiously. She flicked her blonde hair, making several men nearby sigh in happiness. "I'm Amber. I'm sure you know me, everybody does."
"Sorry, never heard of you. We're transfers from Japan." Shouta replied in English, obviously completely used to this procedure. He leaned back in his seat comfortably, smirking.
"Ooh, foreigners. Would you give me the pleasure of knowing your names?" She asked, not showing a hint of surprise at Shouta's calm demeanor.
"Shouta Watanabe. My friend over there is Toshiro Hitsugaya." Shouta replied.
"Well Shouta sweetie, do you think you and Toshiro could show me and my friends a good time?" She asked, tilting Shouta's chin up with her finger as she leaned in. You could feel the jealousy and scorn in the room.
Shouta swatted her hand away, his face suddenly taking that of anger and disgust. "Don't touch me with your filthy hands, whore. Know your place." He snapped, venom dripping from his voice. Toshiro raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Amber gasped in shock, before stalking angrily out of the building, followed by her posse. Several of the women in the pub clapped in astonishment.
"Where did the nobleman act come from?" Hitsugaya asked, smirking.
Shouta shrugged, his normal, calm demeanor returning. "Comes with the nobleman background. There's a lot of politicians and such who treat me like a kid and try to garner money out of me, or to fool me into signing a deal. They think because I'm not an adult, that I won't understand and I'll sign some unfair deal with them. When you're in my place, you have to learn how to deal with those people." He explained.
"Is that why you gave her a fake surname?"
"Well, yes, but Shouta Izukai is also supposed to be dead, if you forgot. And since I'm pretty famous, I'm pretty sure that would cause a riot." Shouta smirked as well.
"You mean infamous, mister 'Green the most sought after killer in all of Europe and Asia'." Shouta rolled his eyes in reply.
"Anyways, what happened to Hyorinmaru? Didn't Clown Face say he found a way to hide him so that you can carry him around?" Shouta asked, changing the subject. Hitsugaya held up his hand, where there was an ice blue ring on his right index finger.
"It's the same concept as your ring. It'll morph into Hyorinmaru's unreleased form whenever I will it too. But to everyone else it's just a normal ring. Only difference is it won't turn back into a ring if I drop it." Hitsugaya explained, standing up. "Anyways, we should retire for the night. We'll need to get used to waking up early." Shouta nodded in reply, following the Captain up the stairs and into their room.