The next few days were calm, according to Hitsugaya. Students were rushing around, getting ready for Christmas and trying to finish their homework all at the same time. Harry, though seemed relaxed.

"Oi, Harry." Shouta called, walking over to the boy.

"Yeah?" Harry asked, picking his head up from the lunch table.

"Aren't you going anywhere for Winter Break?" The brunette asked, Hitsugaya walking over as well.

"No. Why?"

"Well, if you want, you can come back to Japan with us." The Slytherin shrugged nonchalantly, his eyes wandering away from the incredulous look on Hitsugaya's face.

"Really?! I'd love to!" Harry replied, literally jumping out of his seat. "Let me go pack!" He ran off, and the white-haired Captain hit his companion upside the head.

"Ow!"

"Are you an idiot? We can't bring him to the Soul Society!" Toshiro hissed angrily.

"Don't worry! We can always stay at my old Mansion. Or, if you're that worried, we'll stay at Urahara's place. After all, he is supposed to be our 'Guardian'." Shouta pointed out, grinning at Hitsugaya's deep frown. It was so much fun to piss him off. He could see part of the reason why Matsumoto did it so often.

"Fine, we'll stay at Urahara's. But I am not babysitting him." Hitsugaya growled in reluctance.

"Don't worry, we'll get Kurosaki or one of his friends to do that. I'm sure Harry would like that." The Squad 10 Captain's angry response was cut off by the sound of Harry and his large trunk rushing towards them. The 3rd year looked absolutely delighted.

"So how are we getting there? I doubt we're using muggle transportation." Harry asked, practically jumping up and down.

"We'll be using the floo since it's fastest. But first, take these." Shouta handed Harry a small, silver dog tag necklace. At Shouta's gesture, Harry put it on. "We're going to Japan, so this will help you speak and understand Japanese. You'll also be able to write romaji and kanji, though probably not hiragana." At first, Harry didn't get what 'romaji', 'kanji', and 'hiragana' meant, but the answer came to him a second later.

"Right." Harry replied confidently.

Harry stumbled out of the fireplace, Shouta and Hitsugaya following soon after. The house they arrived in was dusty, as if it hadn't been used in years. It was large and grand, and Harry guessed that it must have been a very nice house at one point.

Shouta whistled in astonishment. "Geez, it's as dusty as the 5th floor was when I still lived here." He muttered, walking towards one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace. Covering his mouth and nose, he plopped down onto the chair, dust exploding all around him.

"Sh-Shouta, d-did you live here?" Harry stuttered, coughing from the dust he had inhaled. Shouta nodded in reply.

"Yeah, but I moved a few years ago. This is the closest fireplace we can use, so Urahara should be waiting to pick us up on the porch. Oh, and just so you know, this was the lounge." Shouta replied, waving dust away with his hand as he headed out of the room, the others following suit. Shouta led them through the dark mansion and out onto a dusty porch covered in cobwebs.

Urahara sat on a chair that seemed to have been cleared of dust, and he stood up when the three stumbled out of the front door. "Hey, there you are. Ready to go?" He asked, grinning mischievously. Hitsugaya looked at him suspiciously, but nodded anyways. "Great! Follow me, Kurosaki-kun stopped by to visit earlier. He may still be there."

10 minutes passed by quickly for Harry as he slowly followed the blonde man, looking at everything curiously. It was so different compared to England!

"Well, here we are!" Urahara announced, leading them into the little shop. Slightly disappointed at the rundown looking place, Harry followed inside. Hitsugaya, having noticed the substitute's unmistakable spiritual pressure, groaned inwardly. Shouta just snickered. As the shopkeeper led his guests toward the back room, Tessai appeared and grabbed all 3 trunks with ease, disappearing into another room.

"Who was that?" Harry asked, looking at the door in which Tessai had gone through.

"That was Tessai, he works here along with Jinta and Ururu. You'll probably see those 2 in a moment." Shouta replied quietly as a door was opened by Kisuke.

A young, dark-skinned woman sat laughing at a scowling boy with bright orange hair, 2 kids-one with red hair and a scowl, the other with large worried eyes and black hair-watching from in between them. Hitsugaya coughed, getting the orange-haired guy's attention.

"Toshiro! Shouta! You're back!"

"That's Captain Hitsugaya to you, Kurosaki."

"Anyways, Kurosaki, this is Harry Potter from Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He'll be staying here over the break as well." Shouta interrupted, not eager to hear another argument. "And Harry, this is Kurosaki Ichigo. Or how you would say it in English, Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo stood up, shaking Harry's hand.

"But, man, Toshiro. Rangiku was right about you growing a couple inches. Did you really let Kurotsuchi do that?" Ichigo asked, comparing Hitsugaya's current size with his. Hitsugaya kicked him, and dragged him out of the room.

"What did he mean? Toshiro grew because of that Kurotsuchi guy?" Harry asked, confusion evident on his face.

"Ah, well… Captain Kurosuchi is the… Potions teacher of our school. He experiments a lot with some creepy science stuff, and he's pretty crazy. Hitsugaya was actually pretty short, but Kurotsuchi made a few… adjustments." Shouta explained, his eyes wandering and his mouth quirked in an awkward smile. Harry just nodded slightly.

Both Ichigo and Toshiro came back in a moment later, Ichigo seeming 'enlightened' on some subject, and Hitsugaya sighing in exasperation.

"Well, now that most everyone is here, let's get the introductions over with." Urahara piped up cheerily. "Harry-kun, this young woman over here is Shihoin Yoruichi, a metamorphagus. She was the cat that came with me last Christmas. The redhead there is Jinta, and the girl is Ururu. They both work here as well. And as I don't think we've ever formally met, I'm Urahara Kisuke, the humble shopkeeper." Urahara grinned and gestured a hand, which Harry hesitantly took. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes at the last part.

"Later, we'll probably take you to see a few… acquaintances of ours, but you should just take a break for a few hours. Hitsugaya and I have some business to attend to." Shouta butt in, dragging both substitute and Captain out of the room.

Finally! After like a month of procrastinating, the plot bunnies have returned! The next chapter should be up much sooner than this one was, so be prepared!

And Ichigo and the gang shall be introduced! I just couldn't resist. They might appear later (after this Christmas break part) as well, so be on the lookout!