Bleach 1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 01**

**Bloodbath **

**Now—**

The gentle sound of bracelets clanking softly against one another on his left wrist…

Toushirou walked slowly to the graveyard in the human world; standing tall with his once spiked hair now slightly longer to seem shaggier. It was a trait that he received from his most cherished friend—a friend that he had taken for granted long, long ago when he was still a stubborn little captain. The wind picked up gradually as they neared the tombstone that they wanted to reach, and his long silver-white colored hair tied in a ponytail began to fly wherever the wind carried it. Behind him stood his busty lieutenant who was there to support him and their late friend that had brought him back onto the right track. There were still a few others that were alongside him as placed the hilt of an old broken Zanpakutou in front of the grave on the ground, that had belonged to a man that they cared for.

"It's been one hundred years since I could muster seeing your grave." The adult captain spoke, fixing his haori so that he would not cry in front of the others. "Just to make sure I would come, I had brought your pack with me, along with your drinking partner who still doesn't do her work when told." He managed a cracked smile as his lieutenant huffed unhappily. "I really wish you were here with us, Kurosaki Ichigo."

The pack that was behind him, was a group of seven large wolves that were Soi Fon's height; causing them to appear intimidating to most. It consisted of a black male and female, a raven male and female, and two troublesome reddish brown wolves, all of them were missing their unique reddish orange-coated leader. The black female came to Toushirou's side to whimper at the grave that they did not want to see, but would to give their respects to the one that once leaded them. What better way to pay their respects than to be in the form of a wolf to show how strong their bond was together as a family.

Rangiku already turned away from the tombstone with a hand to her mouth and eyes shut tightly as she began to sob uncontrollably as she remembered the events. The wolves were also gave their cries by surprisingly starting with black male, followed by the raven female, the black female, and the rest of the males. Toushirou gave up as well when staring at the grave in front of him, allowing the tears to descend from his face freely to soak the grass that coated the bones of a man in his animal form.

"This is goodbye, Ichigo…"

The ones in their Shinigami forms cried, the wolves howled, and all honored their fallen comrade.

A large white beast stood behind them, watching.

* * *

_One hundred and ten years ago…_

"Why did I have to trouble myself with learning this transformation, huh?" Ichigo stared at the rocks of the training arena in the basement of Urahara Kisuke's shop. "There's no point for mean to learn, I'm _human_."  
"Oh come on, stop being such a _baby_." The woman snorted at him—especially as he finally looked at her while she was naked; scowling at her endlessly. "You're being paid to learn this technique, remember?"  
His chocolate brown hues rolled unhappily at the reminder of him being low on cash as he looked for his own place to stay before school ended. "Alright, but I'm not going to take a cat form! You got that?"  
With a catlike grin, she placed a hand on her bare hip, "you got it Ichigo. With whatever animal form you learn, you can be able to cross the worlds without the need of Shinigami powers. You just need to—"  
"I already said that I'm not going through that damn surgery that Urahara-san suggested! There's no way in Hell that I would let him operate on me!" Annoyed, he sat on his butt to gripe and grumble about this.

Yoruichi's grin had widened at his difficult behavior. "If you don't have the surgery, you can't use your five senses in Soul Society." Her naked form came over to snake her arms over his shoulders. "Don't you know that Yamamoto-soutaichou is requesting your appearance? It seems like Hitsugaya-taichou is really working himself to death to make sure that nothing repeats itself in any shape or form." She frowned as she began getting under his skin. "He won't see his friend, he snaps at his fukutaichou, but you might be the one person that he'll listen to." The woman kissed his cheek. "Soutaichou will convert money for you."

There was no way that that he could when against this woman who was trying her best to seduce him into agreeing with her. Already adjusted to being sexually harassed by the woman, he ignored her large sized breasts against his back as she kissed him every now and then. On some occasions he would begin to growl at her disapprovingly towards her actions when she was becoming too cuddly for him. Someone came down from the stairs, lightly applauding the two for training on something different for once—being the animal transformation rather than where the man's perverted mind might lead to.

"You might not have to endure surgery after all, Kurosaki-kun." Kisuke flapped his fan open happily. "I have gigai for those that come to this world, so I figured, why not make one for you to go there!" To praise himself, he fanned his face with a smile. "Of course, you can only _stay_ in the gigai while you're there, or else you will die instantly most likely." His fan slapped shut. "That doesn't solve your sensing problems…"

Ichigo's eyes rolled at this. "If I'm going to be in a gigai, why can't I stay in this form!"

"Because I want to see what my son looks like!" A man cheered, earning a swift punch in the face.  
"Stupid old man, go make yourself a grave!" Said son fumed angrily. "Let's get this over with already!"  
"That's the spirit!" Yoruichi cheered, then cupped her breasts. "Oh, Ichigo. Do you want some milk first?"

"NO!"

The two then worked countless hours on having him change into a different form that would have to be an animal or some sort. Yoruichi continued silently hoping that he turned into a cat for her to play with, but she knew instantly that he was going to be something bigger. Hours became into days as he meditated to concentrate on a specific animal, and often imagining himself as being that animal. After a month, he had finally succeeded on turning into a large sized wolf; something hardly known within Japan nowadays.

"Why a wolf, I wonder." Kisuke pondered aloud, watching the wolf learn to walk on all four.

_"I remember when studying American Indians, that, wolves meant guidance."_ Ichigo looked at the nosy man, but looked to the ground afterward. _"I figured it was suitable if I'm to guide Toushirou to sanity."_

"Very well, I have a gift for you!" He hurried over to the canine that now sat. "Shake boy!"  
_"How about I give you rabies instead?"_ With that, he snapped his fangs at the hand.  
Kisuke pulled his hand away in time. "Be nice! I have to put this on your arm!"  
Growling that he had to listen, he obeyed. _"Fine."_ His left paw met his hand.

Four silver bracelets were place on his leg; almost like ankle bracelets even. "Perfect! I'm glad I finished them just as you completed your transformation!" His arms crossed, nose high in the air. "Notice anything in the training arena, Kurosaki-kun? There's a surprise for you!" Kisuke then casually moved aside.

_"Renji!"_ Ichigo barked in surprise as his body jumped into a standing position. _"How long have you been here!"_ The once carrot top, now reddish-orange male wolf, would not put it past this guy to have stayed—  
"I just got here an hour ago as requested. Urahara-san asked me to come here and see if I wanted to participate in some sort of training." The redhead smirked. "But at least _now_ you can see me!"  
"Yes! I was getting to that!" Kisuke waved his fan at the lieutenant. "Instead of making a gigai, I decided to make something that can harness spiritual energy from their surrounds. They give you your senses!"  
The wolf looked at the bracelets, attempting to shake them off, only to make sure that they would _not_. _"I never thought I would be seeing my friends from Soul Society until I was as good as dead."_ He chuckled.

"Don't get too cocky." Renji sneered. "I'll be joining you, and I'll be getting some others to join too!"

_"W-What?"_

_That was how it started, and a pack formed of seven wolves…_

After having to take up five years of his life, six Shinigami officers would occasionally come down to the human world, and they would practice on being a pack. It was easy for the majority because they always allowed their instincts to guide them, but one male and the two females tried to fight it a little. There was no denying that their pecking order had been created within the first year to calm their wild and chaotic acts. For the rest of the positioning, the others mainly fought about it—two in particular, but the elder of the two won victory and claimed his place as second in charge. They had never truly picked someone to vent on as the lowest chain, but some would pick on a female, others would pick on the feminine male.

Ichigo was a little infuriated about having to waste five years of his life, training just to keep Toushirou from killing himself due to over exertion. Lucky for Soul Society that the Commanding-General was _paying_ him for staying with this training for so long, and having Kisuke converting it to legit money. With the time that had passed by, it was the moment where he would have to return to Soul Society while the rest of his pack waited patiently on the other side for him. He did not know how long that this would take, but he knew that he would help Toushirou no matter how bad the situation was going to be…

* * *

"Come on Shirou-chan, can't you step away from your work for a little while?" Momo frowned at the small white haired captain that was putting all his attention to the paperwork he had. "Won't you stop, please?"  
"I have to finish my work so I can train afterward, Hinamori. I have no time to play around, I'm sorry." Toushirou had not once looked up to see the fragile lieutenant. "…maybe another time Hinamori."  
"Is that your answer to everything?" Renji growled at him for his disrespect to a pack member, but the captain did not know anything about this. "I swear, I would challenge you if had bothered to get off y—"  
The female quickly placed her hands on the angry redhead's chest to have him back off from the cranky captain. "You'll get in trouble if you decide to mess things up, you know you'll be punished." She frowned.

Toushirou came to a slow stop as his eyes finally left his work to watch the two talking in whispers that seemed a little suspicious for the two. He was aware that the two had been in the Shinigami Academy at the same time, but they were acting a little friendlier than they usually would in the past. Of course, he had been so busy for the past six and a half years training to become strong enough to protect Momo. Renji grabbed her arm to take her away from the desk to talk to her in a low manner to tell her firmly that he did not mind getting punishment. He could put up with almost anything that their pack leader would put him through, but that did not make her any happier to hear. Not knowing how to keep the peace between her friend that she grew up with as family, and her pack member that was now her family. Momo told him that it would be her that would receive the most punishment because of her position, and that things can get ugly from there. She was begging him quietly to reconsider the thought of challenging the captain who did not understand their customs, but a loud howl pierce through Soul Society.

Her face lit up excitedly. "He's here!" She tugged the male who did not budge. "What are you doing Abarai-kun," she laughed at him. "We have to see him!" Momo could not budge the tattooed lieutenant.

"I want to say something really quick," Renji looked to her, "you go on ahead, you should greet him."

"…I can't cover for you," he nodded to her, and she left.

With the female gone, the redhead turned to look at the captain who was glaring at him for the rough attitude towards his childhood friend. His large hands slammed onto the table aggressively, giving his own glare. "You do what you think is right. Go ahead and train as much as you think you need to, you're only going to hurt Hinamori _more_." There was another howl in the air. "You may be training to protect her from others, but what's the point when you can't even protect her from yourself, do you even know that—" There was another howl, meaning that he was going to get in deep trouble soon if he did not respond to the call in the distance. Not able to continue his pursuit on this captain, he turned sharply on his heels in order to flee the administrative office so that he could be with the others while he still could keep his tail.

This entire scene had made Toushirou suspicious.

Unfortunately, he had no time to bother investigating the situation because of the pile of work that he still had to deal with. However, it appeared that the redhead had a valid point about him over doing this to become strong enough to protect Hinamori Momo. Having been so focused on becoming stronger with his youth, he had been neglecting the one person that he wanted to protect. Everything was getting heavier on his shoulders that he had been stressing out more often, lashing out at any who spoke aloud.

"Taichou!"

"WHAT!"

Rangiku shuttered at her captain snapping at her after she entered the office cheerfully; she did not like side of her captain, but put up with it. "…I just wanted to say that, there's a pack of dogs in Soul Society." Worried that her head would be chewed off, she added quickly. "I thought for sure that I saw Hinamori going towards the group, but before I knew it, she was gone, and two _more_ dogs were passing by me."

"Dogs, in Soul Society." He glared at her. "Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?"

Suddenly, the alarm was being sound as the announcement called out about intruders within the wall of Seireitei, in the shape of animals. Hearing this while now aware that Hinamori now went out there where all the danger was, he finally let his desk to chase after the lieutenant. Sure enough, there were large beasts running around outside of the buildings as if they were wild creatures out for a run! After managing to pinpoint her location, he used a flash step to reach her before the monsters could, but it led him to a black-coated canine. Worried that the large creature had swallowed her whole, Toushirou unsheathed his Zanpakutou to attack the beast—only to be attacked by another in which he tried to block.

_"Run!"_ Ichigo roared with the blade in his mouth after tackling the captain to the ground. _"I said run!"_

The other wolf flattened her ears before darting off quickly.

"Bastard!" Toushirou kicked the beast off himself before throwing and icy attack at him—but was deflected by Byakuya who stood in front of the four-legged animal. "Kuchiki, what's the meaning of this!"  
_"Back off, now!"_ The wolf snarled; needing to be attacked by the Zanpakutou in Toushirou's hand.  
This caused little captain to watch in surprise as the noble captain slowly stood aside. _'What is going on?'_  
_"I can handle myself against this scared little brat."_ Ichigo bared his fangs and hackles high, pacing while striking anger within the little captain that was surprisingly easy. _"What can you accomplish now?"_

The anger struck Toushirou instantly as he charged at the creature with his Zanpakutou in hand while there was a quick cry to stop him. It was too late though as his hands were swinging down the blade heavily to destroy the creature as Momo was jumping in the way. Ichigo also caught this at the last second and managed to spin around to have her jump on his back while he leaped out of striking distance. His front right leg was struck by the Zanpakutou, causing him to look at the attacker before howling into the sky before others joined him. Two wolves jumped alongside him as did Renji, Byakuya, and Rukia whom wasted no time in hopes of everything going according to plan.

Toushirou looked closely at the wound—he _knew_ he cut the beast, but there was nothing to show for it.

_"A blade with an owner filled with hatred cannot harm me, but yourself."_ Ichigo called from the rooftop. _"If I had not removed her, you probably would have almost killed her again for the third time."_ He began to turn away. _"Hinamori Momo is better off in my care, Hyourinmaru can no longer help you fight blindly."_

With that, he hopped away with Momo still on his back along with it the others that followed him.

* * *

Toushirou had hurried to the location where he sense Momo's reiatsu, but he was led to the first division for a brief moment, only to find out that he was too late. It was a good thing that he was able to sense her over in the fifth division. With the new destination set in his mind, he began to head over there—only to hear a staff hit the ground softly for attention. The small captain turned to look at the elder reluctantly; wanting to hurry up and find the childhood friend that was possibly in danger.

"Harm any canine creature you see here, and you will be confined with the same sentencing as Aizen Sousuke. Never to see Hinamori-fukutaichou ever again," Shigekuni glared. "Is that understood?"

With a faint nod, Toushirou left, and finally found her in one spot long enough.

Hinamori Momo and Kuchiki Rukia were both cuddling happily against the beast that Toushirou could have sworn that he had wounded. The latter female began blowing teasingly into the wolf's ear to have him shake his head quickly for relief, and both girls giggled. For this, he got up and lied down on top of them with a snort, but with his head in Momo's lap, she began to roughhouse with him. Toushirou had to watch closely as the giant creature accepted it by getting up on his paws in a ready stance, tail wagging.

"Come on Rukia-chan, you and me versus alpha!" Momo laughed; knowing she could not say his name in Soul Society as they were all told. Rukia nodded quickly in order for them to leap in unison. "Got you—!" Ichigo jumped over their heads easily before chasing after them playfully until they turned to tackle him.

The captain leaned back against the side of a building, watching Momo play contently with the large beast that, in fact, saved her today. He should have been able to stop his attack, but he had been focused on killing the beast that he had not considered her jumping in the way. A sudden loud yelp pierced his ears—Momo had accidentally stepped on the wolf's paw, and the strangest thing happened. Rukia turned to her with a hand raised in the air to slap her right across the face, but then the wolf barked at her instantly with fangs bared. She lowered her hand obediently, allowing Momo to hug the giant beast with countless apologies until a reddish wolf appeared, snarling at her.

"Hinamori—" the new wolf snapped at Rukia who started warning Momo, causing a black wolf to appear!

Toushirou watched while insanity began to go underway as the black wolf began to attack the reddish brown one, drawing blood. Momo and Rukia cried out at them to stop while the _other_ wolf only stood there to watch as the males were fighting it off once again. Ichigo was watching them carefully, and as soon as Renji was yelping and whining, he barked warningly once to have them stop. Renji, wounded and now frightened by the beta for protecting the sister, he coward beneath Ichigo to keep himself protected. Rukia and Momo both giggled lightly at the surprising act of the one that was not an omega, earning a snarl from the most wounded of the group.

_"Knock it off."_ Ichigo warned them all as he walked over Renji without stepping on him, going to the black male wolf. _"You have work to do, next time, I will correct him behavior, do you have a problem with this?"_

The black one began to raise his hackles to detest the order, causing Renji to grab the two females quickly to get out of their way. It was rare when their beta challenged the alpha—sometimes once every six months it would happen, but it has only been a month since the last one. Momo did not want them to fight for position so soon, but Rukia held her hand, and watched as her brother made the first move. Byakuya lunged at him from the front to snap at the others paws that only jumped over him enough to sink his fangs into his neck to shake him around heavily. Painful yelps filled the area as blood began to spill faster than the previous fight, until the beta rolled over so that he would be released by the other's fangs. Ichigo licked his fangs as they began their second standoff, both of them had their tails sticking straight up in the air before charging at one another once again.

"They're at it already?" Ikkaku asked with interest, arms crossed. "What happened?"  
"I-I stepped on his paw while we were playing, I didn't mean to!" Momo looked at him worriedly.  
Rukia also looked at him. "Then _Stupid_ here was going to attack her as a warning, but I dumbly told her to move, so he went after me. Beta and him then began to fight it out. You know who obviously won…"  
"Then of course _alpha_ told _beta_ to let him correct me when he's present." Renji turned and left.  
Yumichika sighed softly. "I don't know why they bother, it's the same as always."

"Hey, I would probably challenge them too if I thought I could win." Ikkaku then looked over at Momo, slightly scolding her. "You need to be more careful Momo-chan." Being a part of the pack, he did not feel the need to address her properly. "Both of you, actually." He turned to the fight. "I know that he won't go after either of you intentionally, but you have to realize that your fair game to the others." It was true, and it mainly meant for Momo who was not considered the first female wolf. "Unless titled, watch out more."

"We really should determine the pecking order…" Rukia huffed. "There needs to be more females."  
"Just don't ask Matsumoto, I might kill you if you do." The two wolves turned and snarled. "I-I'm j-joking!"  
Yumichika covered his mouth to giggle loudly. "Had you forgot that we were watching them, Ikkaku?"  
"N-N-No… just forgot that they were listening t-to us." Ikkaku gulped nervously before they began fighting.

"I know we shouldn't get involved but…" Rukia began to run over, Momo followed in pursuit.

Ikkaku and Yumichika jumped in front of them, glaring at the two for attempting to stop an inevitable fight, causing the two females to back up. Moments later, Byakuya yelped painful while fallen to the ground with Ichigo growling over his head before walking towards the group. Momo and Rukia hurried to the winner to pet him by scratching beneath the chin, hugs, and happy tones—as they should. They would have only been in more trouble if they had greeted the lesser wolf who was slowly getting up on his paws.

_"You two should get some rest."_ Ichigo stated quietly, nudging Momo slightly. _"Come along, get going."_

Tired of this, Toushirou pulled out his Zanpakutou before making himself noticed. "Don't touch her."  
_"Fool…"_ Byakuya muttered before jumping over in front of Ichigo, baring fangs as he bled heavily.  
"Hitsugaya-taichou," Ikkaku called. "It's going to get ugly if you don't put your Zanpakutou back."

The captain hesitated before looking over at the wolves unhappily, as Momo was forced on Ichigo's back.

* * *

**Author Note:** A friend of mine was confused as to why Byakuya and Ichigo started to fight in their wolf forms. Byakuya is beta but also a captain, teaching Renji his manners is what he does, but Ichigo (being alpha) tells him not to do this when in this form. Angered by it, Byakuya attacks him in hopes of being able to change the pecking order to become top wolf so he would not have to agree to this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 02**

**Bloodbath **

**Now—**

Something was different inside him—he could feel Hyourinmaru pushing away for the past month.

Ever since that beast had come into his life, things had been getting weird for a while as the visits he received had been lessened. As much as he had been irritated by Momo constantly trying to play with him every day, he had now begun to miss the annoyance. She had been recovering greatly for the past five years during all her mystery trips to the unknown during that time in which led to this. Her running off with oversized dogs whenever the opportunity made itself valid to her every day that drove him crazy.

"I don't see how Ichigo can live like that!" Rangiku gasped in the office, catching her captain's attention.  
With the window still needing to be repaired, he could hear Renji speak. "It's not all that bad, really."  
"I'm grateful for everything he's done, but he's pushing himself!" She slumped on the couch it sounded.  
"You're not one of us, you couldn't understand him." He sighed briefly. "But I missed having him around."  
"Now you are just someone to boss around. That was so funny the other day!" The woman laughed.

"Humph," there was a pause within the room to hear sipping. "I stepped out of my boundaries, but we're family, so it's okay to get into trouble every now and then." There was another pause. "Hinamori was the one that needed the most tending to, but I was in no position to help her. But now she has someone that goes above and beyond for her." He half-laughed for the moment. "She doesn't get as many nightmares now since she belongs to a family that will protect her. Although it _does_ pose a threat to me with Rukia."

"So you guys take that entire thing seriously?"

"Well… yeah, it's who we are now. Unless I can beat Kuchiki-taichou, there's no chance in the world that I can try anything with her. Ichigo would throw me right back into place." He grunted when he also began to lean against the couch some. "Rukia… Hinamori… they both want you to join, but the others are wary of another female. Ichigo hasn't given his consent yet—I think he's waiting for actual judgment if you do."

"But it took all of you five years to perfect it!" The busty woman whined unhappily. "I could never—"

"It can take up to three months to learn if you're distracted, but all of us managed it in a month, just like Ichigo." Renji knew that she was interested now. "All you have to do to get in, is to get Ichigo's attention."  
She frowned when hearing this. "I don't know, if it took you a month to get it right, then why take all this time to get to where you guys are now? That doesn't make any sense Renji!" Her voice shrilled.  
"Hinamori," he answered easily. "She was still traumatized by Hitsugaya-taichou nearly killing her on two occasions that I'm aware of. That's why she's _always_ by _alpha's_ side." He growled. "Stupid bitches…"

"No way, don't tell me you're jealous!"

"Give it time… you'll understand—"  
"Renji!" Rukia roared into the office.  
The man fell off the couch. "What!"  
"Nothing… you shouldn't speak."

"YOU GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK FOR NO REASON?"

With a loud crash, Toushirou knew that his office was being destroyed by the idiots inside it, but it was more important to have contact with Hyourinmaru now. He concentrated for a while to gather the attention of his Zanpakutou as he began to go into his inner world—a brief taste of a foreign reiatsu, and the world shattered before him. What in the world was going on with Hyourinmaru lately, there was no reason why it should be fighting against him like this so suddenly. Something large came into view, and he prepared himself to attack as he watched the reddish-orange wolf come over to sit in front of him.

_"It's alright to ask for help, there comes a time when a Zanpakutou will tell you without words, that your motives are wrong."_ Toushirou stared at the creature cautiously; Ichigo accepted this before getting up from the ground. _"Come along, I'll help you with Hyourinmaru. Be aware though, that I can't always be here to help you, Hitsugaya-taichou." _With that, Ichigo turned away to walk from the building. _"Come."_

After seeing this creature get into dozens of fights with other wolves—and occasionally Shinigami that he did not know turned into wolves, he began to follow him to answer his own curiosity. The wolf had never attacked him other than verbally the first time they met, but it was made up for when watching the beast play with the childhood friend that he held dearly to his soul. Their long walk led to a very large field of grass where many students would train to become a Shinigami—suddenly, the wolf snuck around and stole the Zanpakutou off his back before sitting down.

"You bastard—!"

_"Sit down,"_ Ichigo demanded, placing the Zanpakutou on the ground. _"If anything you're only a danger to yourself and those you protect."_ He lied down with his front paws on the sheath, and the other sat as if invited to a tea party. _"Get comfortable in a meditation stance, and relax. Or else you'll never learn the true potential of Hyourinmaru."_ His head went to the ground as the captain reluctantly obeyed, for power.

"How would you know anything about Zanpakutou?" Toushirou eyed him. "That, and of Hyourinmaru."  
_"I know plenty for my age."_ He looked at him softly. _"And I know you quite well, Hitsugaya-taichou."_  
As expected, this unnerved the child prodigy to no end as he snapped bitterly. "You know nothing."  
_"Yet at the rate you're going, you'll end up like Kusaka, is that what you want for Hinamori-fukutaichou?"_

Toushirou froze stiffly.

_"Do you know who I am?"_ Instead of receiving an answer, Toushirou went to a meditative state quietly. Ichigo eventually got up to circle around him slowly. _"You must focus on yourself, and the attributes that will not allow you succeed in becoming a better protector."_ Toushirou took in a deep breath, trying to ignore his jabbering. _"You have to let Aizen go—the hatred you have for him is wasted, it blinds you to what is more important."_ He lied down behind him while the captain scrunched his face. _"Hating a man as much as you do does not help the ones around you. It can cost them their lives, just like within that war."_

Fed up, Toushirou stood up from the ground and glared at the large creature. "Enough! Tell me how—!"

Ichigo lunged at him fast and hard, knocking the captain on his back against the grassy field, fangs bared in his face warningly. The captain was taken aback by the sudden aggression, but he deserved it nonetheless for giving up on his meditation. Out of nowhere, Momo hurried over to the scenery where it appeared that Ichigo was going to have lunch after mauling the other male's face.

"Wait, please!" She grabbed onto his fur as she leaned into his shoulder. "I'm sorry that he's not listening to you! You know he doesn't mean it!" Momo began to cry. "I know he's not family, but please leave him!"  
_"You better back off for your own good, Hinamori,"_ Renji began snarling with a flickering tail as he slowly approached the group. _"You have no right requesting any favors from our alpha, and you know this."_  
"I know, but Shirou-chan doesn't understand the rules! The rules don't even apply to—!" Momo was interrupted as Rukia trotted over with ears folded back and sharp hues on the other female. "W-Wait."  
_"Are you turning your back on us now?"_ A raven-coated male trotted next to another reddish-brown male that he came with. _"You haven't needed to make the decision until now. What's more important to you."  
"Easy there… you need to remember who you're talking to, both of you are at the bottom of the chain." _The one that came with the raven male warned, also agreeing with him. _"You have to choose, now."_

She thought on it, "…can't Shirou-chan join us? We've been considering Rangiku-san!"

_"We don't need any more males."_ Byakuya stated as he joined the pack. _"What will it be for you?"_

"B-But Shirou-can—"

Renji could not take it any longer as she kept coming to Toushirou's defense, and charged in with the others quickly joining. Worried about the possibility of them going after her childhood friend, so she had no choice but to transform in front of him to fight back. Toushirou was speechless when he saw the female turn into the very same creature that he had assumed eaten her on the day that started trouble. Rukia and Momo fought equally for a brief second others started to gang up on her to show that she had been knocked down completely as their omega. Toushirou tried to get himself out from underneath the large wolf, which he had learned from the beginning… that _this_ one was the alpha.

"Aren't you going to save her?" He yelled at the beast.

Ichigo looked at him, _"aren't you?"_ The other tried to struggle. _"She is protecting you, for being foolish."_  
"Fine, I'll do whatever you want! Now tell them to stop hurting her!" He heard her yelping in pain.  
_"Do I have your word as taichou, then?" _Ichigo had to take his time for status to be learned.  
Not having any time to think about it this, he agreed. "Yes! Now stop them please!"

With the agreement made, the pack leader gave a deep howl, causing the others to stop slowly so that they would not get in trouble. Ichigo removed himself from the fallen captain to grab her by the scruff of her neck to throw her on his back before reaching her clothes to pick up. Brown hues turned to the short-tempered male, telling him to take Hyourinmaru and to follow him to the tenth division office. Renji did as he was told while the others scattered off to do other activities that needed their attention now that they had put her in her place. With everyone going their own separate ways, Toushirou hurried to follow the two male wolves that had his childhood friend with them.

Renji growled at the close proximity that the captain was giving Ichigo, who calmed him. _"You've done your share."_ It was all that needed to be said, but he continued a bit more. _"You need to control yourself."  
"How can you remain so calm after being begged like that? After all the years I've known you, you never let anyone tell you what to do."_ He snorted unhappily, trying to watch his temper. _"She chose it too…"  
"You should be a little considerate, you have no one outside the pack that is precious to you."_ Ichigo stated calmly; as if he were a wise man. _"You were like an abandoned pup when you find out about me."  
"Hey… I wasn't the only one that missed you!"_ His fur bristled on his shoulders. _"Everyone in Soul Society respects you—"_ ears perked as the female began to stir quietly. _"She's beginning to wake up now."_

Ichigo came to a stop before slowly sliding her off his back while putting her clothes down for the moment to give her some attention. He nudged at her face softly as she began to come around very slowly due to the blood loss from the events of not choosing her pack. When she looked up at him and licked his face to greet him, he nudged her to her paws carefully to make sure she could walk on her own. The alpha knew that she had it under control, so he took the Zanpakutou from Renji by wrapping it with the sash around his neck. His attention finally went to Renji, telling him that he was free to go do his daily activities as he stayed with these two a little longer.

With Renji gone, Momo asked. _"You must be angry that I chose Shirou-chan over the pack… right…?"  
"The choice was yours to make. Have I needed to choose between my pack or family, it would be family."  
"Shirou-chan is family to me!"_ He growled at her for barking in his ear. _"I'm sorry—ah, where's Shirou—!"  
"Use your nose, Pup, he's right beside you." _Ichigo nudged her forth. _"We're going to his office to rest."_

_"But you haven't eaten anything yet, have you?"_ On cue to her question, his stomach growled. _"See?"_

_"Are you trying to get into more trouble than what you're already in? Come along, I said that we are going to go to his office, do you want to go against that order?"_ Once more, he nudged her, and she slowly obeyed him by walking forward so he would not force her. _"After we rest some at the office for your wounds to settle down, I'll see what I can do about finding a meal to eat, so stop worrying about it."_

Toushirou wanted to tell the creature to leave her alone and not order her around, but it was for the best that he stayed out of it. It was no secret that he wanted her to rest, though, he would have preferred if she went to the fourth division to be taken care of. There was an unlikely chance that he could tell the slightly larger—more dominant creature, that he wanted her to be checked on. The captain debated on it long enough to decide that he wanted to keep his head, and to learn how to be more powerful to protect her.

Suddenly, a similar reddish-orange female came towards the male look-a-like; this was obviously none other than Matsumoto Rangiku. She was trotting over as if she was claiming her victory of secretly training to become a wolf during the past month thanks to Rukia. However, there was a problem as she came closer to Ichigo without his consent—to protect her, Momo went in front of him, snarling at her.

_"I look so pretty!"_ Rangiku cheered happily. _"Of course, Haineko wanted me to be a cat, I don't—"  
"Rangiku-san, I must ask you to back off!" _ Fangs were visible as a sign that she would attack.  
Her head tilted confusedly at the demand. _"Why? What did I do, I'm one of you now! I can join—"_

It was too late for her as she already reached his limits of a strange beast near him and a pack member; he charged at her in a flash. Too new to the entire wolf thing, he was capable of ripping her to shreds and even killing her without as much as challenge. His fangs sank into the scruff of her neck before shaking her around on the ground as if she were a toy he needed to kill. There was a reason why they had waited so long before Ichigo come back to Soul Society; they had to master being a wolf, and a wolf pack. Now that she was stunned by the attack, he clamped his jaws on her snout, growling fiercely at the newbie…

_"Don't go flaunting in front of a pack leader."_ His jaws squeezed slightly more. _"You'll get killed that way."_ He released her to grab Momo's Shinigami outfit once more, and began leading the way to the office.  
Momo came to her side for a brief moment. _"When approaching alpha, you have to lick his face and be submissive, or else he'll force you into it."_ There was a dark growl up ahead, and she hurried after Ichigo.  
_"Renji didn't tell me that!"_ Rangiku whined unhappily while getting up to her paws. _"Had I known you were going to be such a jerk, I wouldn't have bothered trying to join your stupid pack!"_ Now she was in trouble.

Ichigo dangerously turned around while dropping the clothing and sliding the Zanpakutou off his neck in order to approach her as a predator would to prey. If she had really wanted to join their pack, she would have been better off making herself seem small and unwanted towards him. His body of fur was flared with his tail up as a warning of his intentions—even though one could see it all over his face expressions.

Toushirou hurried in front of the furious creature. "Wait, please, Matsumoto is just an idiot…" The anger then turned towards him instead. "…please…" he was giving a very apologetic face towards the wolf.

Seeing that look irritated Ichigo for having seen it before. _"Consider yourself lucky."_ He turned away to gather the things once more in order to continue towards the office. _"Let's go pup, I'm not waiting."_ Momo hurried to his side, and he looked to see Toushirou watching his wolfish lieutenant, so he jumped in front of the captain. _"You have paperwork to do."_ His head lowered for him. _"Get on so we stop wasting time."_

"I'm not going to—" he thought carefully about this quickly; having just asked a favor from the angry beast a second ago, he should return the favor before the other decided to go back on his. "…fine." He got on—

Suddenly there was a loud yelp in the distance.

_"RUKIA!" _Ichigo roared when hearing her trying to fight something off but losing badly. _"Toushirou, hold on tightly!"_ With that, he dropped the clothing to run with amazing speed with Momo trying to match it. _"Go back, you're wounded!"_ Nonetheless, Momo ignored him and kept up with his pace, so he ignored her.

They jumped over a large building to see a few scavenging Shinigami from the twelfth squad trying to poke and prod at her. He had _permission_ to go after anyone who attacked his pack, and these Shinigami were in big trouble as he attacked one with his fangs. Not long afterward did Momo slam one into the building they leaped over, and two more wolves joined into the massacre of outsiders. None of them was killed, unfortunately, but Unohana Retsu was still going to have a long night dealing with this group. Ichigo watched the others have their fun while he came over to check on the female to see her lying there with blood pooling on the ground…

_"Hyourinmaru,"_ Ichigo spoke quietly. _"You remember me, don't you."_ The Zanpakutou began to shake heavily over his shoulder blades as it was still wrapped around his neck. _"Then do me this favor and I grant yours in turn."_ His brown hues began to glow white as the clear sky began to cloud over. _"Sit upon the Frozen Heavens…"_ Thunder clashed above everyone's head and he howled. _"Hyourinmaru!"_

His fur turned pure white as he dangerously barked once towards the Shinigami as he mentally used the attack desired. Hyourinmaru could manipulate water without trouble, and living creatures possessed water within them. Meaning that every Shinigami in his sight was now being suffocated to death from inside of their own bodies as the pack backed off. Toushirou felt the usual cold reiatsu flowing from the Zanpakutou as it was starting to make this creature's fur an uncomfortable temperature to sit on.

"That is enough," Shigekuni called out. "I will deal with those from the twelfth squad."

_"If they attempt it again, it will be their taichou that I kill."_ Ichigo snarled, dropping the bodies to the ground as his fur returned to normal. _"You two, take her to Unohana-taichou. We need to recover."  
"You got it."_ Ikkaku answered, heaving the female on his back with Yumichika's help. _"She's heavy…"  
"…I heard that…"_ Rukia growled tiredly as they began to take her to be checked upon. _"Jerks…"  
"Behave yourselves, all of you. Otherwise I'll be forced to pair all of you for safety in numbers."_ With that, Ichigo left with Momo walking behind him. _"All of you be weary, there is another amongst us."_

With that said, they all left, and the three finally made it to the tenth division where the two wolves lied next to one another. The captain went to his afternoon work while often looking up to see the larger beast licking the wounds of the slightly smaller one. Having just learned that the two-now-three female wolves were of the Shinigami that he knew, was unfortunately very unsettling. His assistant—Matsumoto Rangiku, his childhood friend—Hinamori Momo, and a Shinigami that he had worked with before—Kuchiki Rukia, all three were wolves. Speak of the devil as the busty lieutenant came in, _clothed_, and supposedly ready to drink tea and do some—if any—of her paperwork. Ichigo immediately began his warning snarls as he watched her closely for whatever she might attempt to do, and it scared her a bit.

"Okay! I learned my lesson!" Rangiku became to walk over to give him a hug. "Hi _alpha_! I—"

Ice shot from the ground, surrounding the two wolves as the spiked forth towards the intruding female, forcing her to back off. When she was ten feet away, the ice evaporated while leaving a cold breeze within the office as he began licking Momo's wounds again. Toushirou looked over his shoulder to see that his Zanpakutou was against the wall; quite the distance away from the two four-legged creatures. Something was going on that he could not exactly explain, and the fact that he could not describe this, worried him.

"Oh come on, Rangiku-san," the tattooed fiend came in, scratching his nape in boredom. "Your instincts alone should tell you not to pester him at a time like this." He came over and patted the lead wolf on the head before checking Momo's wounds. "Guess the pack went a little hard on her." His attention went to Ichigo. "We need to go to the human world, with the pack getting so aggressive, it needs to hunt again."

_"I am aware of that," _Ichigo continued licking her wounds, _"we have two wounded, we have to wait until they recover or else we would have to deal with two energetic ones driving us crazy if we leave them."_  
_"But I'm fine—"_ Momo was interrupted with a growl.  
_"I will not come to your aide should you need to be rescued."_ It was not a lie, she needed to learn that he would not always be there for her, and saying this would help her understand. _"The pack can't either."_  
Renji watched him closely. "I heard about Hyourinmaru."

He chuckled. _"My job here is to help Hitsugaya-taichou, and so what better way to show him what kind of potential he could have with Hyourinmaru, if he goes under my training."_ Ichigo slowly got up with a low growl as he looked towards said Zanpakutou. _"But Hyourinmaru's trying to bait me with Toushirou's—"_

The captain slammed his fist against the desk before standing up. "Don't call me so casually, Dog!" He was angry that this creature was calling him in the familiar. "There's only one man that can call me that!"  
_"Why can Kurosaki Ichigo call you so casually, but I—a wolf, cannot?"_ Ichigo watched him carefully.  
"He—" His eyes widened, finding himself taken aback that he was actually going to answer. He started over. "Kurosaki did what the rest of us couldn't, and if he hadn't snapped at us, I wouldn't have known…"

He knew what he was going to say, so he saved him the efforts. _"Both of you watch over her no matter what."_ Ichigo came over to pick up the Zanpakutou carefully with his jaws leaving the office. _"Follow me, Hitsugaya-taichou, we will start over on your training. This time, you will not have a fit like some child."_ It did not surprise him that Toushirou silently obeyed him after listening to the conversation that he was having with the others. When they returned to the fields, they changed course and came along the stream where Kusaka had been killed the first time. _"You must not fight amongst yourself."_ He leaped into the middle of the stream, and a block of ice formed beneath him as he landed, so he sat down. _"Join me."_

Toushirou leaped over, but landed in the water, and he began to yell. "You told Hyourinmaru not to—"

_"No, I did not."_ As the captain was being drifted towards him, he set down the Zanpakutou around his neck before grabbing the hem of his haori. _"Hyourinmaru is trying to teach you a lesson that you must learn."_ He hopped back onto land to set him down. _"You may have been in bankai during that war, but when it came to Aizen that you assumed you were fighting, you and Hyourinmaru did not fight as one."_ Ichigo placed the Zanpakutou on the ground gently. _"Now then, tell me what you did wrong in the war."_

The captain knew that this beast knew what had happened, but humored him. "I let my anger get to me."  
_"Do you hate Aizen Sousuke?"_ He watched how the other flinched. _"What is most important to you now?"_  
"I need to get stronger to protect Hinamori!" His small form bowed on the ground. "Please, help me!"  
_"Is protecting her more important than hating Aizen? Is hating Aizen more important than protecting her?"_  
"Hinamori is the most important thing to me." Toushirou looked up at him pleadingly, desperate now.

_"If you can manage to let go of all your hatred, then I will guide you to use Hyourinmaru in a completely different level that can surpass all."_ Ichigo saw the light in the captain's eyes. _"Kurosaki Ichigo is the only one to have managed the final—most dangerous stage of becoming a Shinigami. And you are capable."_

To be as strong as that man… Toushirou nodded slowly. "Thank you."


End file.

Bleach, Angst, Suspense