"Ow, ow, ow!" Ichigo yelled as Shouta roughly pulled his arm out the door. "Why do I have to come too?" He complained, yanking his sore appendage away.

"Because this concerns you too. Don't you want to know about Aizen's latest plans?" Shouta replied as Hitsugaya's ring morphed into Hyorinmaru. Ichigo's scowl disappeared at the mention of Aizen, replaced by a serious look.

Hitsugaya led the way through the Precipice World, arriving quickly in the Seireitei. Without question, Ichigo followed the others through the buildings and towards the Main Hall of the 1st Division HQ.

By the time they arrived, all the other Captains were already there, waiting. "Captain Hitsugaya, Shouta-san, I see you have brought the substitute shinigami with you as well. I am eager to hear your report." The Head Captain spoke up, his face not betraying any emotions.

"Yes sir. No information about Aizen or Raynaulski has yet been found. This Voldemort character, however, seems to have split his soul into at least 3 different pieces." Hitsugaya started. Several gasps and an opened eye were gained from the last sentence. "Also, Harry Potter will be in Japan for the holidays, and is likely to find out a few things he should not."

"Unless, of course, Kurosaki learns to keep his mouth shut." Shouta butted in quietly, giving the carrot-top a meaningful glance. Ichigo winced in return.

"I've also heard that you have been hired to protect the school. Mind explaining?" Kyoraku Shunsui asked, raising an eyebrow. Shouta's eyes wandered as he felt an all-too-familiar icy glare.

"Well, Some… complicated, things happened, and the Headmaster got suspicious. And the only way we could get around without getting caught or something was to tell him." Shouta muttered as the air around him became colder. The Head Captain didn't look very happy either.

At that moment, Shouta's cell vibrated. Quickly taking it out, he thanked the gods (or Soul King, if you prefer) that Harry decided to call, and that he could get reception in the Soul Society.

"Hello? Harry?"

"Oh, Shouta. Um, I was wondering when you'd come back, because this girl came by looking for Ichigo, and Mr. Urahara went somewhere." Harry's anxious voice said frantically from over the phone. Shouta inwardly breathed a sigh of relief for having an excuse to leave.

"That's probably Rukia or Orihime. We're on our way back now." With that, he hung up, looking at the Head Captain with an apologetic grin.

"You heard him, we've got to get back. Don't want the famous Harry Potter getting suspicious." Shouta sounded happier than he should be as he backed towards the door, the substitute following suit.

"Before you go, I must make a request." The Head Captain stared meaningfully at the brunette, who looked anxious to leave.

"Yeah?"

"I would like to meet with Harry Potter soon."

"Sorry we took so long Harry!" The Izukai heir called as he and the two soul reapers stepped back into the shop.

"Shouta, Toshiro!"Harry rushed over, relief evident on his face. A short, black-haired girl followed quickly behind him.

"Ichigo! Where have you been?!" Kuchiki Rukia yelled as she landed a kick in Kurosaki's face.

"Ow! What the hell Rukia?!" Ichigo shouted back, the two looking like they wanted to kill each other.

"Oi, oi, calm down you two. I was taking him to see the head ca-headmaster." Shouta interrupted, glancing at Harry warily. Luckily, the child of the prophecy didn't catch his slip-up. Rukia followed his gaze, realization dawning on her face.

"Oh."

"Anyways, what'd you want Rukia?" Ichigo asked, changing the subject.

"Did you forget that today is Captain Hitsugaya's birthday?" She all but shouted. Both Ichigo and Hitsugaya blinked.

"Don't tell me you forgot your own birthday, Hitsugaya." Shouta muttered. "You work too much." The 'birthday boy' glared at the brunette, who stuck his tongue out childishly.

"You know what Matsumoto does on someone's birthday." Hitsugaya grumbled in reply, hoping to god that his lieutenant didn't know.

"Ah, who cares? Let's just get going!" Ichigo complained, pushing everyone towards the door (with Rukia's help).

"Captain~!" Squealed the Lieutenant of Squad 10 as she tackled Hitsugaya to the ground.

"Matsumoto!" Hitsugaya shouted, struggling to breathe and get out of her death hug. Eventually she let go, hugging Shouta in greeting as well.

"Anyways, why don't I introduce you to everyone." Shouta muttered, escaping from Rangiku. "That clingy woman was Matsumoto Rangiku, Hitsugaya's Lieutenant."

"Lieutenant?" Harry questioned, looking at the woman now making fun of Ichigo.

"Our school has a ranking system." Shouta explained quickly. "The short girl that kicked Kurosaki earlier was Kuchiki Rukia. The Kuchiki clan is a noble family, and her older brother Byakuya is the current head." Shouta pointed out, weaving through a bunch of tables.

"Over here are some of Kurosaki's friends." Shouta pointed to a group of 4, chatting amongst themselves. He pulled Harry along, who stumbled over a table leg.

"Ah! Izukai-kun!" Orihime called, waving as he briskly walked over. Shouta winced at the use of his real name, glancing back at Harry nervously.

"Hey, Inoue. Harry, this is Inoue Orihime, her friend Arisawa Tatsuki, Ishida Uryu, and Yasutora Sado. But everyone just calls him Chad." Harry nodded nervously, shaking everyone's hand. "Guys, this is Harry Potter from England."

"Nice to meet you, Harry-san!" Orihime grinned cheerily at Harry, who blushed and nodded in return. Shouta proceeded to drag him off, introducing him to several others such as Renji, Izuru, Hisagi, Hanataro, and Ganju.

They finally started making their way back to where Hitsugaya and Ichigo were, easily finding them amongst the small crowd. A petite girl with her brown hair in a bun stood with them now, accompanied with an older looking man with long white hair. Shouta practically ran over to them, Harry stumbling to keep up.

"Momo!" Shouta called out, finally letting go of Harry, who rubbed his sore arm.

"Ah, Shouta-kun!" Hinamori smiled as Shouta pulled her into a gentle hug.

"Shouldn't you still be in the barracks resting?" Shouta asked as he pulled back. Momo shook her head.

"Captain Unohana said it would be alright if I came." She replied, before noticing the raven-haired boy behind him.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Momo, this is Harry Potter. Harry, this is Hinamori Momo and Ukitake Juushiro." Harry once again shook their hands, immediately seeing that they were both very kind people.

"So, Captain, do you still have Maru-chan?" Rangiku piped up, grinning mischievously at her Captain.

"Maru-chan?"

"Yeah Maru-chan! The mini Hyorinmaru!" Hitsugaya suddenly looked as if he wanted to kill something, whilst Shouta was laughing his head off. Poor Harry looked on in confusion.

"Don't worry, Shiro-chan! I kept it safe so you wouldn't behead it!" Shouta said, mimicking Momo's voice. The Captain's murderous aura turned to Shouta, whose grin faltered a bit. Harry, who was standing next to the brunette, backed away.

"Get rid of it." He growled, venom dripping off every syllable. Shouta hid behind Ukitake, who stood his ground, albeit reluctantly. Everyone felt the change in temperature as Hitsugaya's scowl deepened even further, if that was possible.

"You do it!" Shouta replied nervously, chucking a flurry of white and silver. Hitsugaya caught it, and Harry could now easily see what the snowy-haired 'boy' hated so much. Harry snorted in an attempt to keep from laughing, earning a quick glare from the other. Luckily for Harry, Toshiro turned his attention back to the stuffed dragon, again looking like he was trying to freeze it.

"Captain, it's so cute! And I put so much work into it! You wouldn't want to get rid of it now, would you?" Rangiku whined, looking at her superior with puppy eyes. The Captain looked at her with his death glare, but the intensity lessened considerably when he saw Momo looking at him the same way.

"Fine. But I am not bringing it back to the school." He grumbled in defeat, chucking Maru-chan at his lieutenant, who caught it happily.

"Okay," Rangiku sighed, "But I'm going to put it on your desk in your of-er, the classroom." She replied, glancing at Harry nervously for a moment before skipping off. Shouta slowly came out from his hiding place behind the Captain of Squad 13 as the scary atmosphere dissipated with poor Hitsugaya's exhausted sigh.

"Shiro-chan, tonight there will be a small party going on again for you here, so you should probably get some rest before then." Momo suggested calmly, smiling a little nervously. Hitsugaya merely nodded silently in return, before trudging off towards Urahara's shop.

After he left, Shouta spoke up suddenly. "Crap, I almost forgot. Harry, our principal wants to meet with you sometime this week. That alright?"

"Y-yeah, that's fine." Harry replied, nodding.

Shouta grinned. "Great. I want to go see someone that I haven't talked to for awhile, so I'll be going on ahead. See ya!" He called out as he ran off, running faster than Harry thought an average person could run.