Hi everyone! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, school is being a pain in the butt. Anyways, I just wanted to say that I'm not very satisfied with the title, so TITLE SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME! Thank you!
"Here we are! The Leaky Cauldron!" Urahara announced cheerfully, waving his fan in front of his face. "Yoruichi and I will be staying as well, until you get on the train anyways." He continued as he pushed the 2 reluctant boys inside the pub. Yoruichi, in her human form, helped him.
"Urahara-san, tell me again why we have to go again?!" Shouta muttered, pushing away Urahara's hand as he sat down at a table.
"Isn't it obvious? Aizen and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named have teamed up, and Raynaulski's somehow been revived. You need to stay until the threats have been taken care of." Yoruichi replied, giving the brunette a nudge.
"Hey, Shouta! Toshiro!" Hermione called when she saw the 2 sit down. She moved over to sit next to them, followed by Ron and the Weasley twins.
"It's Hitsugaya."
"Right. Anyways, what're you doing here? I thought you were only staying for a year." The bushy haired girl asked, combing a bit through her hair.
"We were, but... problems, arose so we're to stay here until they've been taken care of." Shouta explained, asking Urahara to order him a soda. The man obliged, although he did ask for a fee. Shouta smacked his hat off.
"What kind of problems?" Ron asked, waving as Harry headed towards them, sitting down.
"Did you tell them about… that incident?" Shouta asked as Harry sat down. The boy nodded.
"Well, then you already know about the guy with the sword right?" Ron and Hermione nodded. "Well… he was hired by Vol-er… You-Know-Who and an enemy of ours, Aizen. He's a mass murderer more famous than Green. His name's Raynaulski." Hermione gasped, Harry's eyes bugged out, and Ron stared at him in confusion.
"Who?"
"Raynaulski. He's an internationally famous serial killer that has been killing for decades. He disappeared 15 years ago in Japan, for awhile they say he died. He's killed a lot of people, mostly in Europe and Japan. He's most famous for killing Melissa Myres, the wife of Mr. Izukai." Hermione explained impatiently, slightly irritated that Ron didn't know anything.
"Oh, yeah."
The whistle blew loudly as the train started out of the train station, Hitsugaya and Shouta pushing irritably through the throng to find an open compartment. "C'mon, there probably won't be another quiet compartment anywhere else." Shouta muttered, jerking his head towards a compartment that was nearly empty. They quickly shuffled inside, throwing their trunks above them with ease. Hitsugaya once again sat by the window, Shouta collapsing near the door on the seat across from the shinigami. He glanced at the man sleeping by the window, face covered by a black blanket.
Their peace was short-lived, however, as the golden trio headed into the compartment, Ron and Hermione sitting next to Hitsugaya while Harry sat in between Shouta and the sleeping man. "Guess we're sitting with you guys again huh?" Harry spoke up, trying to seem cheerful. Shouta nodded absently, leaning his head against the window facing the small hallway.
"Who's that?" Ron suddenly asked, gesturing towards the stranger.
"Professor R.J. Lupin." Hermione replied immediately.
"You know everything!" Ron retorted incredulously.
"It's on his suitcase idiot." Shouta muttered, closing his eyes irritably.
It started to rain as Harry suddenly launched into a confession about Sirius Black coming after him and whatever else, Hitsugaya choosing to tune him out. As the three continued to converse, Shouta eventually began to doze off, the conversation starting to bore him. He was jerked awake as the train began to screech to a stop.
"What's going on? Why are we stopping?" Hermione questioned, looking around. "We shouldn't be there yet." The lights went out after a final jerk, the golden trio looking around in alarm. Shouta and Hitsugaya seemed relax, though both were tensed slightly in anticipation.
The room slowly began to get colder, Ron muttering, "There's something moving out there." The glass sitting next to the stranger froze over, and Shouta sent Hitsugaya a questioning glance. But the white-haired prodigy just shrugged, as confused as he was.
Not long after, a gnarly, bone-thin hand reached out, silently willing the door open. Both Hitsugaya and Shouta leaped from their seats, Shouta's hand twitching while Hitsugaya unconsciously reached behind him for his zanpaktou. The door slowly opened, revealing an almost ghost-like creature covered in a black cloak that covered its face. Hitsugaya's eyes widened as he realized that this being didn't have a soul.
The dementor seemed to look around the cabin, Hitsugaya falling to his knees as he grasped the small side table by the window. Shouta, who was much closer to the thing, fell to the ground, his breathing coming in small gasps. Harry stared as the thing seemed to look back. Upon closer look, Hitsugaya could see what looked to be Harry's soul being sucked towards the demon. It was at that moment that the man called Lupin stood up, casting some spell that repelled the dementor away. It was then that Harry fell to the ground, twitching.
A few seconds after the dementor left that Shouta suddenly started coughing violently, his breathing ragged. Hitsugaya himself seemed to be having trouble breathing as the professor rubbed the brunette's back in calming circles. Hermione and Ron rushed to Harry, calling his name repeatedly. The boy woke up, slowly sitting up on the seat his friends had lifted him onto as he looked around.
"Eat this, its chocolate." The professor said absently, handing it to Harry as he continued to calm Shouta. The coughing eventually died down, leading to small gasps.
"Are you alright?" Shouta nodded slowly, sitting up with the help of the professor. Hitsugaya, who had regained his strength a little more quickly, walked quickly over to Shouta, roughly pulling him up and practically dragging him towards the window away from the others.
"What happened to you?" The captain hissed, as Shouta weakly pulled away and sat down.
"I suddenly felt like all positive emotions were being sucked out of my body along with my soul itself. I think those are one of those 'soul-sucker' things Urahara-san mentioned." Shouta explained.
"What was that thing?" Harry muttered, munching on the chocolate he was given.
"It was a dementor, sent to find mass murderer Sirius Black. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go have a word with the driver." Lupin explained before he got up, waving as he left the compartment.
"What happened to me?" Harry asked after the man had left.
"You collapsed and fainted." Hitsugaya replied, discretely putting a thin layer of ice on the palm of his hand before pressing it to Shouta's forehead. The other swatted away the hand after a few minutes, complaining that now he had a brain freeze.
"Did any of you…" Harry started, looking at the others.
"Shouta did. But he was closer to the dementor, and we're both more sensitive. I think he had more of a violent reaction to it than you did." Hitsugaya answered, not having the patience to listen to Harry's questions.
"I heard someone screaming… a woman." Harry murmured quietly as he looked at his 2 best friends.
"No one was screaming Harry." Hermione replied, shaking her head.
"I think I know where you're coming from. I had a bit of a… vision." Shouta spoke up quietly. Hitsugaya looked at him questioningly from his seat across from the other.
"Vision?"
"A memory." Shouta clarified, giving a glare at the trio that he wouldn't discuss it any further.
The Great Hall filled with clapping that quickly died down as Dumbledore stood up to make a few announcements. For once, Shouta sat with the Slytherins at their table, smirking at Malfoy as he sat down. "So what was this memory you saw?" Hitsugaya asked skeptically after Shouta had moved to the Gryffindor table as usual. A few of the 1st years looked at him in bewilderment with a few glares. The brunette ignored them.
"I'll tell you later. There are too many people in the Great Hall, so meet me in the library afterwards."