Chapter 1
An orange haired teen glanced around casually, his backpack slung over his shoulder. This new school looks expensive, he pondered. Wonder how my old man got me in?
His family had uprooted from his hometown of Karakura and moved to Tokyo to follow his adopted father's new job, and he'd had to leave his friends behind. He snorted quietly. Why should I even bother? I was raised by jaguars for crying out loud! It's not like I'm gonna get a desk job. He shuddered at the thought. I might just go back to the jungle...
Shaking off the idea, he walked through the gate, hips swaying languidly.
"Geez, man! Look at the newby!" snickered Ikkaku.
"I know, right?" replied Renji. "Look at his hair! It's so long I mistook him for a girl at first!"
Hanataro let out a nervous laugh. "I think he looks nice, though."
Ganju shook his head in disbelief. "Hana, you think everyone looks nice. There's something off about that guy."
Renji nodded. "Yeah, see the way he's walkin'? He's a fighter for sure. No normal person has that kind of grace."
Hanataro hummed thoughtfully. "Why don't we go meet him?"
The other three burst out laughing. Renji was first to recover. "Sorry Hana, gonna have to take a pass on that one. Guy looks like a chick, he's probably a wuss. Can't be seen with commoners, now can we?" He looked around, perplexed. "Huh? Hanataro?"
Looking up, the group saw him standing with the orange-haired new student.
"Hi, I'm Hanataro! Are you new here?" he offered cheerfully.
"Yeah, I am, and... I don't actually have a name, so I guess I can't really introduce myself, huh?" He chuckled sheepishly.
Hanataro appeared puzzled. "You don't have a name?"
He shook his head, his low ponytail swishing across his back. "Wouldn't let the adoption people give me one. It wouldn't mean anything coming from someone who doesn't even know me."
"Adoption people?" asked Hanataro curiously. "Why would they need to give you a name? Didn't they give you one when you were little?"
He laughed, shaking his head. "I was raised by jaguars, they don't exactly talk in a way that translates to human."
"Really?" gasped Hanataro, awed. His eyes sparkled in wonder.
"Yeah. Don't have a clue as to who my biological parents were," he waved off. "Can't say I really care, either."
"Why don't you want to know?" asked Hanataro curiously.
"They aren't really my parents, you know? They'd just be strangers, and humans have this weird idea that children belong to their parents." He shook his head ruefully. "Just look at all the trouble it causes. With humans, it's all about who you're related to."
"I guess I see what you mean," Hanataro agreed thoughtfully. "Do you think of the jaguars that raised you as your parents?"
"Yeah, I do." Ichigo smiled softly. "The pride is my family. When the humans came and found me, they hauled me off and said it was for my own good. They don't seem to realize how weak they are and how useless a formal education is." He snorted.
"What do you mean?"
"Knowing how to read, or write, or the position of the planets, or the quadratic formula only works out in this illusion called 'society'," he elaborated. "It doesn't teach you what plants are edible or poisonous, or how to stake a claim on your territory, or how to hunt or defend yourself, or how to navigate by the stars. A human in the jungle is a dead human."
"You're right," sighed Hanataro. "School isn't really useful, is it?"
"There are some things that I approve of as useful, like learning to fix or hotwire cars, hacking computers, gymnastics, you know what I mean? Stuff that you can actually put to use outside of the little box society calls the legal system. An odd hobby can save your life, you know."
Hanatarou laughed. "Yeah, but I think you'll do really well here. You seem nice, and being raised by animals probably upped your chances of winning any fights you get into."
He smirked. "Oh yes, I am a fantastic fighter."
Renji, only hearing the past couple sentences as he came up to them, interrupted. "You were raised by animals? No way!" he scoffed.
Chocolate brown eyes waxed amber, tension rising with the new students next sentence. "Would you like me to prove it to you?"
Renji was startled. "Eh? How?"
"Pick something," he offered.
Renji hummed thoughtfully. "Oh, got it! Jump up into that tree as high as you can!"
"No problem," answered Ichigo, eyes glittering at the challenge. Dropping his backpack, he crouched low to the ground before leaping ten feet straight up into the tree.
He laughed. "Piece of cake!"
Renji and the others gawked as he climbed down head first, digging his fingernails into the cracks in the bark as he ran down the trunk.
"Wow," chuckled Renji. "That's pretty impressive. Tell you what, I'll take you to the office."
"Oh, thanks," he answered, surprised.
"Um..." started Hanataro. "Do you have something we can call you?"
He hummed to himself distantly. "Yeah, actually, I do. Pantera."
"Pantera?" asked Renji. "What kind of name is that?"
He grinned. "It was my title in Karakura, as a streetfighter."
"So you can fight," mused Renji. "Alright, after the office I'll show you the ropes."
'Pantera' raised an eyebrow. What was so complicated about school?
He sighed, and followed after Renji. He had a bad feeling about this new school.
