"Karin-chan! You're home!" Karin heard as she quickly raised her leg so that her father's chin could have a close encounter with her foot.
"Enough of that Goat Chin, aren't you tired of that yet?"
"Oh Masaki! Our daughter is so cruel," Karin sweat dropped as Isshin, predictably, ran to the over sized poster of her mother, crying like a little baby as he did.
"Honestly dad, I would have thought you'd learn your lesson by now." She sighed and walked to the kitchen where Yuzu was just pulling a batch of buns out of the oven.
"Mmmmm, those smell delicious Yuzu."
Yuzu smiled sweetly at her, "Thank you Karin, they're meat buns for dinner."
Karin looked at how many buns there were, "That seems like more than we can eat though."
Yuzu placed her hand behind her head and laughed a little embarrassed, "Yeah, I think I got a little carried away today with the food."
"Hmmmm," Karin got a thoughtful look on her face.
"Huh? What are you thinking of Karin?"
"It's been a while since I last visited Granny Haru, why don't I take the extras to her?"
Yuzu clapped her hands in excitement, "That's a wonderful idea Karin. I wish I could go a long, but I've still got a lot more to do here."
"It's alright Yuzu, I can make it on my own."
"You be careful when you do go though Karin," Yuzu and Karin turned toward the doorway to find their brother Ichigo had come in during the conversation. "I've heard rumors of a wolf in the woods by Granny Haru's house. Maybe I should go with you just in case."
"Oh brother Ichi-nii, I can handle myself just fine. And plus, it's just one wolf right? What are the odds that that one wolf would cross my path in the woods?"
And that was the thought that went through her mind after dinner as she slipped on her favorite red hooded sweatshirt, grabbed the leftover meat buns in a basket, and left her family's house.
"Geez, Ichi-nii is so over protective sometimes," Karin mumbled to herself as she walked down the streets of Karakura Town, on her way to Granny Haru's house that was located in the forest beyond the town.
She wasn't really the Kurosaki's grandmother, she was just an old lady that Karin had found while out exploring the forest when she was younger. Granny Haru had been so kind and sweet that she instantly loved her and would come over to visit often, and she had insisted that Karin and Yuzu call her Granny Haru. Karin was happy to really, she kinda wished that the old woman really was her grandmother.
Oh well, it didn't matter that they're not related by blood. She still felt the same about her even though she wasn't her real grandmother.
While she was thinking she had passed the city limits and had entered the forest. She really liked the difference in the scenery here compared to the city. The city was always bustling, even at night, and really was too active a place. But here in the forest, it was always so calming in a vibrant way. She could easily lay down just about anytime and anywhere here and fall asleep to the serenade of the birds. The only place you could take a nap in the city was a park, and that was only at night.
She'd been walking along the trail to get to Granny Haru's place for about five minutes when she heard someone walking her way. At first she thought it might be Granny Haru on her way to the city, but quickly dismissed that idea. The footfalls were too heavy to be her. She couldn't think of anyone else it could have been so she stopped trying to guess and just waited until the person came into view.
As the man walked around the bend, her nerves were immediately put on edge. Though she couldn't think of why. He was a middle aged man with brown hair, glasses, and dressed as a hunter. Complete with the with the hunter camo that really matched the colors of the surrounding flora, and a rifle strapped to his back.
"Well hello there young lady, lovely day isn't it?" He raised his hand and smiled in greeting.
"Yes," she replied immediately, so that he wouldn't notice her nerves. "It is a nice day, especially for a walk in the woods."
"Where are you headed? It's not usual for a teenager to be walking in the woods with the city nearby."
Yeah, like she'd tell a stranger where she truly was headed. She wasn't that dumb.
"Just a quiet picnic. Some quiet time to myself."
"Would you like me to come along? It's not safe here, there's been wolf sightings lately."
Over her dead body! "No, I'll be fine, thank you." She walked past him without giving him time to object and she quickly past the bend that he had passed moments before, and then started jogging to get away from him.
She stopped after a while and looked back to see if he was following her, he wasn't. At least not that she could see. She turned back forward and walked as a shiver flowed up her spine. "Oooh, that guy was creepy, and I don't know why really. Oh well."
She continued on her way and when there were only a couple turns of the trail to go before she reached Granny Haru's house, she heard a rustle of leaves to the right of her. But when she turned to see what it was all she saw was a flash of white.
"Huh? What was that?" She stepped off the trail to see if she could see anything, but when she reached the area she saw the flash, there was nothing there.
"Well, that was weird," she looked down at the ground and saw a print in the soft forest floor. But when she leaned over to get a closer look she really couldn't tell what kind of print it was. It was too long to be the print of an animal, but it had claws at the toe tips, so it wasn't human either.
"Hmmm, I wonder what that was. Well, I'll ask Granny Haru has if she's seen anything weird lately. Maybe something happened recently."
With that comment she walked back to the path and continued on her way to Granny's house.
After rounding those last couple of bends in the trail, she finally came up to a traditional Japanese house.
Karin smiled when she saw it. She liked her family's home very much, but there was just something about the sight of a traditional home, with the lovely green forest framing it in the background.
She climbed up onto the wraparound porch from the stone that stood there and then slid the front door open, "Granny Haru? Are you here?"
She heard the elderly woman's voice from inside the building, "Yes, I'm here Karin, come on in."
Karin smiled and stepped into the walkway, slipped off her shoes, and walked in with the basket of meat buns. She found Granny Haru kneeling at the table with a cup of tea in her hands.
"Hi Granny, Yuzu got carried away at making dinner today and so I brought you some leftover meat buns." Karin smiled at the woman as she knelt opposite of her and set the basket on the low table.
"Why thank you Karin, that was very considerate of you."
Karin and the aged woman inquired about each other's family for a bit, then Karin was able to bring up the topic she wanted to talk about the most.
"Granny, has there been anything weird happening lately? I saw what appeared to be a hunter in the forest on my way here, and plus something rushed by me and all I saw was a flash of white and when I inspected that spot I found the weirdest print."
"Oh, who you glimpsed isn't anyone to be concerned about Karin. It was just Toshiro."
"Toshiro? Who's he?"
"He's a nice young man that I found wounded in the forest a while ago. I was able to patch him up and look after him until he healed. Ever since then he's stayed quite close. I'm not sure why really, though I think it might be because he's safe here and I won't treat him as an outcast."
"He's been treated as an outcast?"
"Oh yes, apparently that's why he was hurt. Some people found him and just because he looks different than other people they beat him and tried to kill him. He was able to escape them, but was so injured that he probably wouldn't have survived for long on his own."
Karin smiled, that was her Granny Haru. Taking care of people that others wouldn't accept, like her for example. She was very much a tomboy, in stark contrast to her sister Yuzu. Ever since it had grown long enough, she would tie her hair up into a pony tail to keep it under control, and she loved to play football, and would defend her sister with her life if necessary. So as a result, she really didn't have very many friends since a lot of people were afraid of her.
But Granny accepted her from the beginning, treating her with consideration and respect. So she wasn't surprised at all to hear that she had helped someone that most wouldn't at all because of how he looked.
"You have a big heart Granny."
"All the better to love everyone with."
Karin smiled, "I would like to meet him sometime."
"He's rather shy and probably won't show himself to you. Especially at first, but if you come often enough, he might be willing to meet you."
"Ok, I'll try to come over more often to visit you."
"I'd like that."
Karin looked at her watch, "Oh my, it's getting late. I should head back before Ichi-nii calls out the police to look for me."
Granny chuckled, "Knowing your brother, I wouldn't be surprised. So I'll see you soon then?"
"You bet, I wouldn't mind visiting you more often and plus I want to meet Toshiro too. So until next time." Karin smiled and waved to the old woman, then walked outside putting her shoes on in the process.
It was starting to get a little chilly, so Karin pulled her red hood up to cover her head and started walking for home.
She was about halfway out of the woods when a barely perceptible rustle sounded off to her right a few feet in front of her. She paused, wondering suspiciously what that noise was, "Who's there?"
She thought she heard a slight chuckle, then several things happened at once that she didn't register what had happened at first. There was a flash and an instantaneous crack of a firing gun. She didn't even have enough time to gasp when she felt a weight on her left side push against her and before she knew it, she was in the green foliage on the side of the trail with a heavy weight on her.
She groaned a little and opened her eyes to see a boy about her age over her looking in the direction where the sound came from. His hair was a silvery white that was very spiked on the top, and also hung down his back. When he turned back to her, his sparkling teal eyes pierced hers and she was lost in them for a second.
Then she saw something twitch in his hair, and gasped as she saw pointed ears moving around on their own. Obviously they weren't there for cosplay, they were real.
She wasn't given time to try and figure out what was going on when he picked her up bridal style and started running with her just as the ground that they had been exploded as a bullet hit the ground a second after them vacating it.
And he kept running too, "Hey, wait! Put me down!"
"No, I'm a lot faster than you and I'll be able to get you far enough away that it'll take him a while to track us and catch up."
And how was he faster than her? The arrogant jerk!
Then she noticed that he really was running fast. Faster than a normal human. And she thought she felt fur against her. She looked at his body and noticed that what she took to be clothes on him was actually silver white fur that went up his arms till the middle of his upper arms. It was also around his neck, then flowed down a wide stripe through the center of his chest, then widened around his waist to cover the rest of his body. Only his shoulders and the sides of his chest and shoulder blades on his back were free of fur.
She also realized the slight prickling on her arm and leg where his hands were meant that he had claws too.
What the hell was he? Was he the Toshiro that Granny Haru was talking about?
Even with that thought she couldn't stop herself from being a little afraid of him. He was part animal after all, a wolf if she wasn't mistaken. And wolves were dangerous creatures, just like any other predator out there.
He glanced down at her when he felt her tense up and must have read her expression correctly because he sighed a little tiredly.
He ran a little while longer till he reached the edge of the woods and stopped. He panted a little, then set her down.
She was a little unsteady and staggered a little. Then the boy reached out and grabbed her arm, steadying her until she could stand on her own.
Then her natural fear overcame her. She slapped away his hand and then stepped back several steps till her back was against a tree.
"What the hell are you?"
He didn't seem to be surprised by her reaction, but she could tell it made him a little angry and upset, "I'm a wolfman if you must know. I'm Wolfman Toshiro."
"What are you doing here and what do you plan to do to me?"
An angry red tick appeared above his head and he yelled at her, "I'm not going to do anything to you girl! If you hadn't noticed I had just saved your life didn't I? And you're lucky that you're a friend of that old woman in the woods or I wouldn't have bothered and you'd be dead now. I hate humans!"
The force of his anger startled her into momentary silence, "Why do you hate humans?"
He folded his arms and glared at her. Now that she looked at him she could see his body was very human like, the only things that she could see that was different was that he had claws on his hands and feet. And of course, his mobile ears and the bushy white tail that swished from side to side occasionally.
"Before I could even say anything to you and despite the fact that I just saved you, you respond with fear and suspicion, automatically thinking I'm going to do something to you."
She stared at him stunned. At first she wanted to deny that humans were like that, but then she thought of her reaction to him, and realized how right he was. She had been suspicious of him just because he was different, and she knew that if circumstances were different, she probably would have run away from him in fear, or even attacked him.
"Is that why you were so badly injured when Granny Haru found you?"
His eyes narrowed, "She shouldn't have told you that."
She sighed a little at herself and bowed slightly, "I'm sorry Toshiro, here I was wanting to meet you to show you that not everyone judges someone by their appearance and when I do meet you, I go and do just that."
There were several seconds of silence and without coming out of her bow she looked up and saw an astounded and incredulous look on his face. But she only caught a glimpse of it before he turned his face away, "That's Wolfman Toshiro to you."
She was a little hurt at first, then she noticed a slight blush on his face. She smiled a little, knowing that he was pleased and she straightened.
But before she could say anything else Toshiro's ears turned to face the way they came and his head followed. "That man is coming, he's a skilled enough tracker to find my trail since I wasn't trying to hide it at the time. You should go back to town where it's safe."
That got her riled up a little, "Hell no, I want to know why he was trying to shoot me."
He turned back to her, but his ears still pointed behind so he could listen better, and looked at her like she was crazy. She probably was, but that's beside the point.
"You want to make a target out of yourself?" he asked her incredulously.
"I refuse to let him scare me out of the forest. If I did my sister would also get scared, and my brother wouldn't let me come out here anymore, that would make Granny Haru get really lonely since we're the only ones to come and visit her.
He raised an eyebrow at her, "You would risk your life so that one old woman wouldn't get lonely?"
Well, when he puts it like that, it does sound rather stupid, but still. "I would also go completely crazy wanting to know the reason, so I would come out here and we would have to go through the same thing all over again. Would you rather that happen or just take care of the problem now?"
He sighed exasperatedly and scratched his head, "You're a stubborn one aren't you?"
"Get used to it."
He looked at her, a little surprised by that last remark of hers, then turns to face the way they had come with him in between her and the man that was coalescing from the foliage. He was a little difficult to see since he was still wearing the camo that blended perfectly with the bright green forest.
Then she realized what had put her on edge with the man before. It was still Summer time, it wasn't hunting season for another couple of months. And yet here he was, with Summer camo, and a gun, as if he was going hunting.
Then she realized that he had removed his glasses and pushed back his hair except a strand of hair that hung down his forehead and in between his brown eyes.
"Well now, this is interesting," he said as he come closer. "It's not every day you see a wolfman protecting a human. Especially one who had been almost killed by humans not so long ago."
Toshiro tensed a little, "How did you know about that?"
"Oh please, give me a little credit. It was all part of my plan. A family of wolfmen with one young cub, and one just barely coming into adulthood. Too much of an opportunity to pass up. I already have all the information I need about wolfmen adults, and cubs. But not much on one your age." He then leered at Toshiro, "It didn't take much effort to get the locals to go and attack the others, they almost went a little too far for you though. I was able to steer you this way because I knew that old fool of a woman would help you. Also, I have business in this area too. So I'm going to kill two birds with one stone here."
Karin was appalled. What kind of man would do that to someone just to experiment? She had been watching Toshiro while that guy monologued, and she didn't like what she saw. He was standing in a position of readiness, like he was going to go into a fight, but he was standing very stiffly. She could see his hands clenched in anger, and his arms shaking in anger.
This wasn't good, if he fought right now, he'd fight in blind anger. And he would lose. No one, no matter how good a fighter they were, could win like that. Plus, she didn't know how good either of them were.
She started to reach out to him, but she was too late.
With a howl of rage, Toshiro charged at the man, "How dare you!?" He swiped his right clawed hand at him, but only connected with air.
"Toshiro, wait!" she called to him, but he wasn't listening. He was looking back and forth trying to find the man again.
"How dare you try and fool around in other's lives. Even if they are Wolfmen! We are still people, we are still individuals! We have feelings just like you do!"
"Of course you do," Toshiro and her spun around. How did he get behind them? He was leaning casually against another tree across the clearing, still holding his rifle against his shoulder.
Without a moment's hesitation Toshiro rushed heedlessly at him again.
What followed afterwards Karin wouldn't exactly call it a battle, or even a fight. He didn't land one hit on the stranger. But the man must have produced a knife from somewhere because she would see a flash of steel, and then Toshiro would be bleeding somewhere.
She couldn't take it anymore, so the next time Toshiro ran by her, she kicked him in the stomach to knock the wind out of him.
"You idiot!" she yelled at him as he knelt in the grass trying to get his breath back. "That is no way to fight an obviously skilled man. I know how you feel, but you can't let your anger control your actions. If you do, you've already lost."
She then turned to the man to give Toshiro some time to gain control of himself, "There are still some things I'm confused about. For one thing, who are you?"
"Oh, didn't I introduce myself? How terribly rude of me. I am Aizen Souske, a pleasure to meet you." He rested his hand over his heart and bowed a little.
Oh brother, now he's Mister Gallant huh? "Ok Aizen, what did you mean you had business in this area?"
His brown eyes narrowed in menaceful glee, "Why your brother, of course."
She stared at the man, shocked. What did he want with her brother?
"You, and probably he doesn't realize what potential he has. Injuring, and possibly even killing his precious little sister, will bring it out and show me what his limits are."
Now Karin was getting scared. He planned to hurt or even kill her? To get to her brother? And then what would happen to him? Would Aizen kill him too? Or would he be forced to join Aizen in whatever sick scheme he had?
A clawed hand lightly grasping her shoulder shook her out of her paralysis, and she looked at Toshiro, who now had a determined look in his teal eyes.
"Don't worry, I won't let him hurt you or your brother."
She turned towards Toshiro in surprise. He still looked angry, but his jaw was set with determination now.
"Thanks for knocking some sense into me, even if it did have to be literal."
Even though he wasn't looking at her, she couldn't help but blush when she saw how close he was. He was a very good looking guy, even when he grinned wide and exposed some sharp canine teeth.
He stepped in between her and Aizen, "Now, let's see if the trouble you went through will be worth it."
Aizen smiled at him, "Oh, it will be. It always is."
Toshiro snarled at him and ran at him on all four legs.
The fight that ensued wasn't particularly bloody at first, just intense. Karin could hardly keep up with their movements. She really hated the predicament she was in right now, it felt too much like she was the damsel in distress who couldn't do anything for herself.
Yuzu always loved the fairy tale type of stories where the handsome prince came to the rescue, calling it so romantic and stuff. And in a way, she could see where her twin was coming from there, but she didn't like those stories. Couldn't those stupid girls do anything except get into trouble where they needed to be rescued?
So she kept watching them carefully for any opportunity to help, for she knew that if she just rushed headlong into the fight, she would be injured and probably cause Toshiro to lose.
The opportunity came when Aizen managed to hit Toshiro in the head with the butt of his rifle and Toshiro went down. He shook his head, a bit dazed it looked like, but not completely disoriented.
"Well, I guess I didn't hit you hard enough to send you into unconsciousness right away, but that can be rectified," he raised the gun again to hit him, but Karin was already prepared.
She ran at Aizen and jumped into the air. She pretended Aizen's head was a football and kicked the ball as hard as she could.
Since she wasn't as strong as he was, it didn't knock him off his feet, but it did daze him as much as he had dazed Toshiro. And by this time Toshiro had come out of his daze and just by using his clawed hand, stabbed Aizen in the gut.
For a few seconds, time seemed to halt. Then Toshiro pulled his hand away, and Aizen fell to one knee. He still had the presence of mind to press his hand over the wound to try and staunch the bleeding, and then looked at Toshiro grinning.
"Well, you win this round. But I'll be back, just you wait." He coughed up blood, then staggered to his feet with his rifle in the hand that wasn't pressed to his stomach and staggered off into the woods.
Toshiro and Karin stared after him for a few seconds, then Toshiro collapsed to the ground.
"Toshiro, you alright?" she hurried and knelt down beside him.
"What a stupid question, of course I'm alright." He started to get up, but really couldn't make it and fell to the ground again.
She looked him over and saw that during the battle Toshiro had been hit with the knife several times, mostly on his arms, there was also a gash on his midsection, but the worst injury was the open wound on his head.
She was surprised he had been aware enough to stab Aizen when he had the chance, but she supposed the adrenaline of the fight was coursing through his blood at the time, and when the fight ended he started feeling its effects.
She grasped his wrist and pulled his arm up over her shoulder so that she could carry him to Granny Haru's place.
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked?
"You helped me, so now it's my turn to help you. I'm taking you to Granny Haru's place so she can help you too."
"Don't bother, I can survive on my own."
She would have believed that if he wasn't hurt so bad, but the fact that he was leaning so heavily on her indicated that wasn't an option right now.
"Would you rather me take you to the vet?"
"Hey! I am not a dog!"
She smiled since she could feel him strengthen a little as he said that.
"Then the only option is Granny's place."
He sighed defeatedly, "Alright, fine."
She smiled and walked deeper into the forest with her new friend.
XxXxXxXxX
"Hold still Toshiro, I'm trying to take your head bandages off."
"Don't be such a mother hen, I can do it myself."
"If you don't stop moving, I'll give you another injury to match the ones you had!"
That shut him up and he glared angrily at her as she unwound the bandage that had been wrapped around his head for the last week.
She could still see a red scab where he had been hit with the butt of the rifle, but otherwise it looked fine.
"Alright Toshiro, it looks like except for some scabs, you're fully healed."
"That's Wolfman Toshiro to you," he grumbled as he looked away, with a slight red tinge to his face.
She smiled as he looked so cute she couldn't resist doing something she's wanted to do almost from the moment she met him, but concern for his head wound had prevented it.
She reached her hand up to his hair and started rubbing his head.
He smiled blissfully and leaned into the caress for a few seconds, then pulled back suddenly glaring at her.
"Hey! I told you I'm not a dog!"