Shinigami in a Strange Land Chapter 1

Harry Kyoraku was experiencing something that was rare, even in the Soul Society. He had been summoned to the Captain General's Office.

While this may not have been odd for a Captain or even a Lieutenant, for an unseated officer of the Fourth Division, only six months out of the Academy, to have the Lieutenant of the First Division come to get him for a personal audience with the greatest Shinigami of all time, it was somewhat unnerving.

Harry was quite sure that he had done nothing wrong, at least not as far as he could tell. This could have something to do with the all too frequent Shunpo accident that involved Lieutenant Matsumoto. Finding himself in that particular position every time he had ever managed to achieve a long distance Flash Step was not only embarrassing, but was probably against at least three regulations. He just couldn't figure out what kept going wrong and had decided to ere on the side of caution, avoiding using the technique for the time being.

Arriving at the imposing doors of the office made Harry gulp, though he steeled himself for what was most likely going to be a thorough grilling about the dangers of using a technique that he had apparently not mastered yet.

His escort announced him and the doors parted to reveal not only the Captain General, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, but also his own Captain, Retsu Unohana, and the head of his family, Captain Shunsui Kyoraku.

Stepping over the threshold, and not having trouble breathing from being so close to this many powerful individuals, Harry made his way forward and bowed before his superiors.

"Fourth Division, Unseated Officer, Harry Kyoraku, reporting as ordered, sir." Harry's voice was a little strained, but he held his ground, refusing to let his nervousness show in any other way.

He didn't even look up until he heard the leader of the Shinigami address him directly, "You may stand easy, Kyoraku. You have been called here to discuss your assignment."

The youngest member of the Kyoraku Clan found himself more than a little surprised. The Captain General would normally just pass such things down the ranks to the Captains and let them deliver the news to their subordinates. For him to call for an Unseated Officer just to hand out an assignment was unheard of.

"I see that you realize the seriousness of the situation, Mr. Kyoraku, but you may not be quite so surprised when you learn all the details." The Captain General responded to the look on Harry's face.

"You see Harry," The head of the Kyoraku clan addressed his youngest sibling with a bit of a smirk on his face, "When we adopted you, thirty-seven years ago, we performed a ritual that would tell us your name. This was necessary, as you were a child of barely more than a year old at the time. We registered that name with the proper offices and also registered the change of name that came with the adoption."

"Your name at the time of your death was Harry Potter." The Captain of Harry's Division broke into the conversation, almost as if on cue. "A few days ago, a letter arrived from the world of the living, via an agent that we have there, addressed to you, under your birth name."

"Um, sir, I'm not sure how this happened, but I promise I didn't have anything to do with this." Harry blurted out, nervous that he would be blamed for revealing the existence of the afterlife to those of the living world.

"You need not be afraid, Mr. Kyoraku. We know from this letter," The Captain General waved a sheaf of heavy parchment, "that they do not know anything sensitive. It appears that they wish for you to attend a magic school."

"Uh, sir, I'm not sure I understand what you want me to do."

"You will be attending this school, as even our understanding of this place is, at best, limited. You will go to the Urahara Shoten, in Karakura Town, to meet with the proprietor and receive the things you will require for school." The Captain General stated.

Captain Unohana then continued the briefing, "You will be expected to carry out the regular duties of a Shinigami assigned to living world, as well as doing your best in the classes."

"And you will be expected to stay out of trouble while you are at it." Captain Kyoraku said.

This last statement surprised Harry a little, mainly because of the source. It was no secret that the head of the Kyoraku Clan was infamous for his all night binges and women chasing. For him to be warning Harry to stay out of trouble was kind of ironic. It took all of Harry's discipline to keep from snorting, though a smile crept over his features, as he bowed to the three elder Shinigami, "I will depart at once for the world of the living and make contact with Mr. Urahara."

"Very well." The Captain General said, "You are dismissed."

Harry turned and walked from the office with a bit of a spring in his step. This assignment was unique, and he was uniquely qualified to carry it out. This could help him to get a seated position, something he had wanted since he first saw one of the seated officers during his training.

It wasn't long before he noticed that he was not alone, even though the company had made no noise on their approach. Turning his head, he quickly stopped and bowed, "I'm sorry, Captain Unohana, I didn't notice you there. Is there something more ma'am?"

Retsu Unohana was Captain of the Fourth Division of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. She was the embodiment of elegance, grace, and composure. As Harry rose from his bow he took a moment to appreciate the warm smile that graced her features. Shortly after he had joined Fourth Division she had taken notice of his skills and had apparently decided to take him under her wing and teach Harry the finer points of using Kido for healing. She was the closest thing to a mother he had known since he had come to the Soul Society.

His clan was not cruel by any measure, but the head was an atypical example of the family. They were loving, but only to a certain extent, even with each other. Harry had come to accept that this detachment was the norm among the noble houses, and that it was a defense mechanism against the inevitable loss of a family member when their time came.

But the smile that Harry now faced was warm and infectious, penetrating into his core and causing his insides to melt. "Harry, I know that you will be returning to the country where you were born, lived your short life, and died, but I think you should refrain from trying to find any information about those events."

Harry bowed his head, "Captain, I understand your concerns about my intentions, but I honestly wasn't planning to go digging into things when I would have no idea where to begin. I don't remember anything about my parents, so that path is blocked, at least for now. Aside from that, I was too young to have any friends I can remember, so I wouldn't be able to run with anything there."

Harry sighed, gathering his thoughts before continuing, "To top it all off, I've been in the Soul Society for almost four decades. There's a good chance that most of the people that knew my parents are dead."

Retsu reached out and took the trembling young man into a hug, wishing that she could alleviate this pain as easily as she did all those of the body. Harry just laid his head against her body and took several long, calming breaths.

After a few moments spent like this he gently extricated himself and hung his head. "I'm sorry for my behavior Captain."

"Harry," Captain Unohana interrupted him, "You are a passionate young man, and will make a strong Shinigami in time, but you must also realize that many of us wonder about our origins, before we came to live in the Soul Society. I wanted you to refrain from any active searches for just this reason. Once you start something, I have no doubt that you will see it through."

"I have another reason for not wanting to go looking for any information. What kind of parents could let their own child die? I've looked for them, but there are no records of a couple coming over around the same time I did. Would I have liked them, or were they monsters?" Harry said as he got his emotions back in check.

A sad smile formed on Retsu's face and Harry was about to kick himself for making his Captain frown, as members of the Fourth had been dealt with harshly for lesser offenses. Such punishments were an in house affair that never reached the attention of the other squads.

Just as the young man was about to apologize for his transgression, Captain Unohana spoke up, "I may not be able to answer all of your questions Harry, but I can guess that you would have liked your parents."

She held up her hand to forestall and interruption, causing Kyoraku's mouth to snap closed with a click. Then Unohana continued, "When the Captain General first told me about this assignment, I took the liberty to ask Urahara to look into your death. It appears that you were killed in an explosion that leveled the small house you lived in, along with your parents. He told me that there were several anomalies in the report that lead him to believe that there was both foul play and a cover-up involved. One thing he was quiet sure of, and I agree with him, is that your parents died protecting you, almost ten years ago."

Harry blinked at the information he had been handed, "Ten years? How could that be?" His voice was little more than a whisper as he spoke.

"It does not happen often these days, but there have occasionally been those that arrived significantly out of sync with the time of their death. It can only happen to those that cross over naturally, without the help of a Shinigami preforming Konso on them." She explained. "What is important is that they did love you Harry, you may be sure of that."

The young Shinigami set his jaw and nodded resolutely, "Thank you, Captain. That does help a great deal, and I hope that I might one day meet them again, now that I know the truth."

"I hope you do as well. But for now," She waved him off, "You have a mission to perform. Off you go."

Harry bowed to his Captain and moved away, down the hallway toward the exit. Retsu Unohana knew that Harry would do whatever it took to accomplish his assigned task, she was just happy that it wasn't anything too dangerous.

ooo000OOO000ooo

Harry began running a short distance from the headquarters building of First Division. He was eager to get to his assignment, especially with the confidence that Captain Unohana had expressed in his abilities.

While he was running, it came to mind that it was still quite some distance to his own barracks, what with the size of the Seireitei. That was when he decided to use his Flash Step. Harry knew that the technique was quite difficult, usually requiring a great many years to master, but something about it had just felt natural to him, even the first time when he managed to go only a few meters. That was, up until a certain day a couple of months ago, when the repeating accident had occurred.

This time, he did everything he could think of to avoid another mishap, and then focused on using the technique.

Once again he found himself rotating his head to look up into the eyes of one Rangiku Matsumoto, the lieutenant of the Tenth Division. The embarrassing part, which was now causing his cheeks to color and heat up, was the angle at which he was looking into those humor filled eyes. Once again, he found his face firmly planted into the ample exposed cleavage of one of the most buxom women in the Soul Society.

"Morning Lieutenant Matsumoto." Harry quickly said as he pulled himself free.

"Tried Shunpo again Harry?" The superior officer asked with a friendly smile gracing her face.

"Yeah." Harry answered as nonchalantly as he could manage, especially with the hilt of one of the most feared Zanpakuto not that far away. "I could have sworn that I figured out what was wrong this time, Lieutenant."

"Harry, you do realize that you can call me Rangiku when we're away from official business." She said with a playful lilt in her voice. "After all the times we've met like this, I feel we know each other well enough."

"I'm really sorry about this, Lieu... Rangiku. I still can't find the problem in my technique. Do you think it could be some form of external influence that's causing it?"

Matsumoto smiled all the same, but inside alarm bells were ringing. "I don't know of anything that could cause this kind of mishap, though I'm no expert on all the secrets of Shunpo. Maybe you should go talk to Captain Kurotsuchi and let him run an analysis."

Harry shuddered at the thought of going anywhere near the territory of Twelfth Division, and especially their psychotic captain. He would never disparage a superior officer, but his thoughts on the subject were absolute. "You're probably right, Rangiku, I just need to get some more practice."

She was happy that her redirect had worked so seamlessly. "So, what brings you to the Tenth Division barracks today?"

"I was on my way to my own barracks to gather my things for an assignment I just received. Unfortunately, now I'm even farther away than I was." He rubbed the back of his head as he explained.

"Tell you what, I'll take you to your barracks, so that you won't be late to start your mission."

"I'd really appreciate that, Rangiku. And I'm sorry for ending up like this again." Harry repeated the apology for what felt like the millionth time.

"Don't worry about it. At least you found a soft landing place, unlike all the walls you could have ended up with."

They both laughed briefly, though the young man's blush seemed to darken a bit more.

Holding out her hand, Rangiku waited for Harry to take it and then took several steps to bring them to the entrance of the Fourth Division Barracks. Once there she leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Harry's cheek, "You be careful out there, okay."

"I will, and thanks."

ooo000OOO000ooo

An hour later, Harry was led by a Hell Butterfly into the Senkaimon, on his way to the world of the living and his first mission. He had his Zanpakuto strapped at his side, the green looking material of the hilt shining in the light. His official orders, delivered to him at the barracks, were tucked into his robes.

ooo000OOO000ooo