Almost done with Book 3! I didn't realize that this book/arc had gone on for so long! Anyways, Happy Mother's Day, and (finally) here's the next chapter! (And sorry for the long wait!)

"Izukai, Hitsugaya, would you mind paying attention?" Remus Lupin raised an eyebrow at the duo, who simultaneously glared at a rather distracting Matsumoto. The woman giggled, retreating stealthily back to her 'corner'. They turned back to Lupin, who continued with his lesson. Keeping his head up, Shouta pulled out his cell, and began texting. Raising an eyebrow at the other, he glanced down at the text, smirked, and turned back to the professor.

Shouta pocketed his cell as another went off rather loudly in the back of the classroom, with a noisy voice shouting 'SAKE~!' The whole class-besides the two foreign students-turned around, and Matsumoto's face burned a bright red as she fumbled with her phone, trying to shut it up. Ron snickered at the sound, Shouta doing the same as the ringtone got louder.

"Okay, everyone! Let's focus now!" Lupin called out, trying to get his students to turn back around. Eventually they did, and he resumed his lesson.

"Nice ringtone." A Slytherin boy muttered, snickering as he passed Matsumoto on his way out. The strawberry-blonde glared at Shouta and Hitsugaya, pouting as she left the room with them.

"That was mean Shouta!" She whined, shaking him as he tried to walk. The boy laughed anyways.

"It's not my fault you didn't put it on silent." He replied sarcastically. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes at their antics.

"Matsumoto."

"Yes?"

"Stop interrupting the professors. Exams are next week." He gave her a slight glare, and she nodded reluctantly.

"…Yes sir…"

"Toshiro! Shouta!" Hermione, Ron, and Harry rushed up to them, practically jumping up and down in excitement.

"Yes?" Hitsugaya asked curtly, raising an eyebrow.

"Did you hear about the monster yet?" Ron asked, speaking quickly. When the three shook their heads, Hermione thrust a newspaper at them.

"It's awful, isn't it? Three muggles died because of it!" She complained, crossing her arms. On the front cover was a moving picture of a large, gray/black creature, a white, bone-like mask with red markings adorning its face. It had a large hole in its chest, and in its claw-like hands were the mangled bodies of a young boy, a woman, and a middle-aged man.

"Hitsugaya… Is that…?" The shinigami Captain nodded.

"This isn't too far from here. Matsumoto, take Kurosaki and Kuchiki with you and head to this location." He handed her the newspaper, and she nodded in affirmation, before flash-stepping away.

"Toshiro?" Harry questioned, raising an eyebrow. Without response, the white-haired shinigami sprinted off.

"It's… personal, Potter. Anyways, I'm heading to the library. See ya." Shouta patted the boy on the shoulder as he trudged off, stretching his arms and yawning as he did so.

"Is that it?" A certain carrot-top asked, sheathing his sword as he came to a stop in front of Rukia and Rangiku.

"According to my calculations, yes, that's it. Hold on." The shortest of the three flipped open her soul phone as it buzzed, scanning through the text. "It seems that Shouta's found something or another in the library. Let's head back." Kurosaki nodded.

"I'm going to sweep the area one more time. You go on ahead." Rangiku replied, before disappearing. Shrugging, Ichigo started back towards Hogwarts, Rukia not far behind.

By the time they reached the library, it was sundown, Hitsugaya already there. "So?" Kurosaki asked, taking a seat across from the brunette, who glared intensely as he read a book. He didn't respond, or even seem to notice the other. "Shouta?"

"Leave it, Kurosaki. He's trying to decode something." Hitsugaya snapped, before turning back to watch the other work. Kurosaki then noticed the left hand scribbling something intensely, the piece of paper already covered in writing.

'He's ambidextrous?' The ginger furrowed his brows, when the pen was suddenly slammed down.

"Done!" Shouta slumped back in his chair, sighing. "Finally…"

"So, what did you find?" Rukia asked, leaning forward to read the book.

"This book was written by an old man I once knew. The old hoot always claimed to have seen 'ghostly figures' running around in black cloaks, though I didn't believe him then. Honestly, I completely forgot about it until I saw his name on the cover. Just before he died, he told me to go to school and write his book backwards. I thought this was strangely written, but if you write the sentence in an opposite order, and cross out every other word, it comes out as a type of message." Shouta explained, showing them the page full of writing. "Most of it is explaining about the existence of the Soul Society and such, as well as a few other key points that aren't important right now. But this paragraph here…" He pointed to the mentioned section, down at the bottom of the page, which was circled.

"Isn't this explaining the process of dying, and being led to the Soul Society? How is it different?" Rukia raised an eyebrow skeptically at him.

"If you take this sentence, and cross out the words, 'Society', 'lead', and 'reaper', you get this." He crossed out the mentioned words, and showed them again. All three teen's eyes widened in shock.

"With this, not only do we know how Raynaulski was raised, but we can figure out how to send him back."

"That's incredible, Shouta! This changes everything!" Rangiku-who had joined them halfway through-exclaimed, squeezing him in a hug.

"R-Right. Anyways, I'm going to be studying this book for awhile. And, if possible, I'm going to ask Dumbledore if he can put this in the restricted section. If they're smart enough, pretty much anyone could figure out how to decode it. Hermione would, for sure." The others nod in agreement, and Shouta tucks the paper in the book, and the book in his bag. "It's getting late. I'm heading back to the common room."

"The brats. I'll show them not to snoop around."

"You're not laying a hand on them."

"How about a bullet?"

"Just… stay away from them. Besides, even if they find out, it's not that bad. Potter's proven he's trustworthy."

"No one is trustworthy. The only one either you or me can ever trust is each other."

"That's not true!"

"Stop trying to deny it. Sooner or later, you're going to see the light. Or should I say, the dark?"