Chapter 01

Boy who Couldn't cry Wolf

Now—

Fifteen years-old, mute, and somewhat of a loner in this new city called Karakura Town.

Hitsugaya Toushirou had moved here with his stepsister of a different father, Hinamori Momo, and their grandmother from their mother's side. Neither of them had parents of any sort, due to death or jail, but they still had the elder acting as their guardian while she still could. Recently, she had been very ill for the past month of two, and the two teenagers worried about her health above anything else. It was an early Monday morning where they had to go to school a little early in order to gather their papers and schedules. The only way they could avoid being harassed for walking to school together was to leave home five minutes apart and meet up there instead. Momo was too busy stuffing her face to be the first to leave their two-bedroom apartment, so he decided that he would be the first to leave today.

'The computer at the public library said that the crimes in this city aren't very high, but that doesn't mean I should lower my guard towards anyone.' He thought to himself briefly before hearing a couple of men chuckling as they made themselves present in front of him. 'Just my luck, and I don't have anything to defend myself with but an empty school bag. Who would have thought that this would happen already?'

"Hey kiddo, what you doing?" One asked, and waited for a response. "Hey, I'm trying to be friendly."
'Hardly…' Toushirou placed the bag down and went into a fighting stance. 'I may not know much, but…'
They all began laughing at first, until they looked behind him with distaste. "Tch, figures he show up."
'He—?' Before he could even ponder upon what they had meant, he saw a large snarling canine there.
The one that had first spoken, snorted angrily. "You got lucky today kid, we'll see you later for sure!"

With one loud snarling bark, the others ran away from the scene—much to Toushirou's relief, but now he was terrified of this beast. It was at least 152.5 centimeters at the shoulders, and quite possibly 198 centimeters at the top of its head… either way, this creature was huge. His heart was pounding in his throat as the creature looked at him with solid brown hues before watching it do the unimaginable. The creature lowered its head, picked up the school bag for the student, and waited for him to take the bag from him so he could be on their way. A minute or two may have passed by before Toushirou was able to take the bag cautiously from the creature as he slowly realized that the beast would not hurt him.

"You saved me." He motioned with his hand in Japanese Sign Language. "Thank you." To his surprise, the beast gave a short nod, as if it understood him. "Do you understand—" Toushirou shook his head at the stupid thought of an animal knowing what he was saying, but again, the creature nodded. "You… do…?"

"Hey! What's going on here!" A redhead suddenly appeared from behind the new student, wrapping an arm around his neck. "So, who's the new kid, I saw you chase off that pack of mutts a moment ago—" The beasts growled lowly, baring fangs at the male. Instantly he removed himself. "Whoa, sorry man."
Toushirou looked at him with slight fear as he wanted to run away from this guy who suddenly touched him, but. 'Why do I have a feeling that this creature would protect me from him?' It was weird to think in that manner; maybe he should hurry up and go to school to avoid anything else before classes started.
"Sorry about scaring you, I'm Abarai Renji—oh, and sorry if this lug of a wolf scared you." The redhead wrapped an arm around the creature's neck. "He has a soft spot for those that are different, ya know?" The wolf growled at him in annoyance before pinning him onto the ground. "H-Hey, get off me, Idiot!"

"You two! Stop playing around, we have to go to school early today!" A young female called up ahead.

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming Rukia!" Renji let the wolf go. "Hurry up, or we'll be late meeting the others!"

Toushirou watched as the redhead and wolf began to run off, but the strangest thing happened that had managed to astound him. The large wolf turned towards him, looking at him before flicking its ear in the other's direction, and then looking at the group that was harassing him a moment a go. He watched how it bared its fangs at the group before starting to charge towards them in order to chase them off so there would be a little more distant. They backed off a little more due to knowing the rules of territory, allowing the massive beast to turn towards the redhead, barking at him twice. Renji and Rukia looked at one another unhappily before they looked over to the white-haired male that they had just met.

"Hey newbie!" Renji called out to him. "You can come with us so those guys don't bother you."
Toushirou took a step back as a sign that he would decline; he did not want to get any closer to them.
The wolf came over, gently nudging him towards the two. "It's alright, we don't bite." Rukia announced.
He turned to see the wolf, watching it nod. 'It's really smart…' It nudged him once more. "Okay, okay."

With this, the wolf turned away to leave after making sure the new student would be protected, and Toushirou somehow understood this. He followed two yards behind the two in silence without much choice as they walked through the park in order to get to school a little faster. The group of five males from earlier was starting to close in on them again, and it was starting to get a little bit old by now. As the redhead turn to chase after them, there was a loud screech at the street about three yards away.

Toushirou looked to see a bright carrot top male getting out of this brand-new Gray Metallic 2011 Sports Dodge Ram 1500, standing in slight baggy faded light blue jeans and a hooded camouflage sweater. "Get out of my territory," he told the five who instantly turned and left the park. "I'll deal with those idiots later." His attention went to the short male. "You must be Hitsugaya Toushirou, right?" Said male looked nervous, and the carrot top smirked casually. "Go ahead and hop in, we're on our way to school. It's only a block away, but we're a tad late unfortunately."

Renji punched the male in the shoulder. "Since when have you known this guy, huh? Could've gave us a little warning beforehand!" Angrily, he placed his hands on his hips. "Whatever, I call the very back!"
"Actually, I just learned about him from a girl that I picked up as I was leaving the clinic… Hinamori… Momo, I think her name was?" He pointed over his shoulder. "The girl forgot how to get to school."
Rukia hit him over the head, "you don't pick up strays you idiot!" Although, she had no one to back her up since Renji hopped up in the back of the truck, so she followed. "You're lucky the camper isn't up!"

The mute student looked slightly concerned. "I heard you two are new here, so if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Toushirou looked up at the carrot top who spoke to him. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, but we need to get to school. Your…" Ichigo forgot what they were. "Your friend is in the truck waiting, would you like to sit in the backseat with her?" This earned him a slow nod. "Okay then, let's get this show on the road." As they headed to the truck, they heard a whiny bark.

They looked to see a small raven-colored wolf that was about Toushirou's height, "hey, what are you doing here—" the wolf had something in its mouth. "Ah… I forgot my wallet, didn't I? Thanks." It tackled him to the ground, licking him to death. "H-Hey, cut it out Runt! We have to get to school, go get Dad!" With a chipper bark, it turned to run off, and Ichigo got up. "No more stops! We're running late!" He ran up to the truck and opened the back door on the drive side, revealing the stepsister that waved happily.

"It's okay Shirou-chan, Kurosaki-senpai is really nice!" Momo cheered, coaxing Toushirou to climb in, but slipped halfway up. Luckily, Ichigo caught him by the belt of his pants, and hoisted him in. "Buckle up!"

Ichigo hopped into the driver's seat, started the truck up, and drove off to school and into the parking lot, aware that the two were silently speaking with their hands. Most likely, the boy was scolding the girl for jumping into a truck with someone she did not know as she tried to defend her savior, go figure. They arrived to school where there was a medium sized group in the parking lot as Ichigo parked the truck in the students section, and the two in the very back had hopped down with ease. Toushirou had a bad feeling about the group, but Momo cheerfully unbuckled herself to join Kurosaki Ichigo as if they were best friends now.

As soon as the males in the group gave her a wolfish whistle, he quickly got out of the truck to be at her side in case they tried to do something inappropriate with her. All it took was a simple introduction by Ichigo, and the others instantly backed off… as if there were hidden messages in his words. Although, they did not seem to be bad—in fact, it was only Renji and someone else that whistled at her like that.

"Kurosaki-senpai," Momo tugged his sleeve, earning everyone's attention. "Can you show us where the office is? That way we can deal with our enrollment to this school." Everyone became silent at this.

Ichigo mentally growled. "I suppose I can help you with that." He looked to the others. "Everyone."
"Have fun with the bitch and runt." Renji laughed, and few chuckled. "See you when you're done!"
"Renji," the carrot top looked at him. "You will be cleaning the classroom, alone, today. Understood?"
He growled in annoyance. "What's the big deal, damn brats are already getting in our way of things."
"Who are you to decide that?" Everyone became silent. "I will see you all at lunch if not earlier."

That said, he looked to the two and told them to follow him while he led the way to the office as the three were eventually followed by others. Rukia and a dark hair-colored carrot top scurried over to be at Ichigo's sides as if they were his girlfriends or something, but two at once was not likely. They arrived to the office where they encountered an orange-haired woman with large breasts, who immediately came over to seduce Ichigo somehow. Toushirou wanted to gag at the scene of an adult whoring over anyone that was considered to be under aged; it was too disgusting.

"Hey, Rangiku-san, do me a favor. This here is Hinamori Momo and Hitsugaya Toushirou, I believe that they are here to enroll for our school." Ichigo stated without emotion. "Be a good bitch and see to it that they are not stuck with troublesome mutts, I had a run in with some stray pack of idiots earlier." After she heard this, she pulled away slowly. "If I catch them again without permission, I will kill them all."

"Why do you have to be so mean! I—" She paused as she absorbed all of his words. "Wait, did you say Hitsugaya?" Her answer was a curt nod. "Oh—he really is a cutie!" She turned to Toushirou. "Aren't you lucky! I'm your counselor! If there's anything that you ever need, let me know! You'll be just fine with—"

"By the way you're talking to him like that makes him sound like a victim." Ichigo interrupted sharply, obviously annoyed. "Whether that's the case or not, you're crippling him by being so considerate."
"You're one to talk," she huffed as her attention went to the male carrot top. "Why are you so angry, I haven't even told you about what happened this morning! You're wolves were in another fight already!"
"If I was here to break up the fight, then I would have done more damage." Ichigo stated as a male student placed something on the counter for him. "Besides, something's been lurking around recently."
"Kurosaki… can you just sign the paper and be on your way?" The student shifted his glasses. "Honestly, the pack wouldn't get into so many fights if you weren't so casual with them, and you already know it."
"What are you complaining about at six in the morning, Ishida? Should I be aggressive and spill blood for a little scuffle?" He growled in annoyance. "I'll let the pack run Saturday night, is that good enough?"

"…just sign the papers to acknowledge that the wolves got into a fight." Ishida Uryuu sighed with stress.

"The pack can really go on a run this Saturday?" The female carrot top student looked at Ichigo. "Can I tell them? Please?" Obviously, the thought of it had caught her interest. "Can I please tell the others?"
"No… if they found out so early, they would get too excited and get into more fights than I would bother to deal with." Ichigo looked around. "Damn, it's getting late." He signed the paper. "See everyone later."
"H-Hey, you're just going to leave these two?" Rukia asked in confusion as he headed towards the door. He paused to look at her before glancing at the two new students. "And here I thought you liked—"
"Outsiders are outsiders," Ichigo opened the door. "I was asked to escort them, and I have fulfilled the request. Now I have pressing matters to attend to. I have a mess to clean up, as I always do, Rukia."

With that, he walked off, and the two females that walked in with him had walked out with him, too.

Uryuu sighed once more as he placed the folder away. "Wonder who angered him so early today?"

"Who knows, he has too much to deal with recently with his father," Matsumoto Rangiku became upset at the thought. "After all, it's this month that has the anniversary of his mother's death. It's only natural that he would put a façade in front of his friends, and nothing for outsiders." There was a long silence before she looked to the two that wanted to become students at the high school. "O-Oh, sorry, I'll help you in my office. The others are running a little late, and I know the school nurse can't help you—"

"Matsumoto-sensei," Uryuu spoke quietly. "I know Kurosaki will be angry if I suggest this," he started to walk away. "If Hitsugaya-kun's academic levels are on par with Kurosaki's… put them the same classes, if not many, putting him in the last periods should be good enough." He paused at the hallway. "At least this way he could have some protection. You already know that he'll be teased for his appearance."

Toushirou did not like how this sounded.

Rangiku smiled though. "Trust me, I'm way ahead of you." She revealed a small note card. "I checked earlier when I heard of our newest student, and he's at the same level as Ichigo. And even better, the teachers are granting him permission to let him be in his classes, which means being in yours too."
"I only have a few with him. Luckily, our school is more like those of America, rather than the normal Japan cultured one." His attention went to Toushirou. "Can you play any type of musical piece?" He received a nod. "Then I guess he's set to be in all of Kurosaki's classes. But what about the clubs?"
"Oh, I'm sure Hitsugaya-kun can learn some martial arts under Al—Ichigo." She waved a hand. "Also, he could participate in the other clubs that he's in." Her attention went to Toushirou. "Monday and Friday is Karate Club, Tuesday and Thursday is Soccer Club, Wednesday is Music Club. But then, there's…"

"Then his Saturdays are really scattered with all the sports that he has to participate in. Mostly soccer and swimming, well, usually at least." Uryuu waved it off. "Either way, I'm not going to be responsible."

Rangiku rolled her eyes at him before turning towards the two, motioning them to her private office so that she could work on enrolling them into the school. It was her job to make sure that the students were comfortable in school with the littlest amount of problems, so she had to be serious now. Typing away on her computer, she explained that the students at their school are severely bullied on some occasions without proper protection as she placed it. Momo knew she meant about Toushirou's silver-white colored hair and his abnormal turquoise hues… they were used to this already.

"Shirou-chan, maybe you should enroll in the next level and take Kurosaki-senpai's classes. He was really nice to us this morning!" She looked to the counselor. "Kurosaki-senpai's a really nice guy, right Sensei?"

"Sometimes…" The counselor mumbled to herself before smiling cheerfully. "Yes! Of course! So long as you don't cause him grief." She smiled lightly. "Ichigo's like a stray dog, he'll strike at you with the slightest reason. However, if you're a little patient with him, you'll have a best friend for life." Her attention went to the boy, using sign language. "He knows how it feels to be bullied by being different."

Knowing this now, Toushirou felt a little relieved. "But I do not want anyone to know that I am mute."
"I understand," She could not tell him that Ichigo knew sign language. "Will you take his classes?"
The boy thought on it for a little bit before slowly nodded. "Only until I am settled in school."
"Good, let's get things started!" Her typing was with speed, and made Toushirou's schedule first.
Momo glanced at it, giggling. "Kurosaki-senpai has Home Economics? The boy's or the girl's one?"

"Both. Ichigo thrives on being the best student, and he's the top student in all of his classes." Rangiku was trying her best to finish off everything that she could. "He may be cold and uncaring, but…" the two looked at her, watching the emotions flow through her face and eyes. "Ichigo is very understanding… and very forgiving…" her voice died down as if she were thinking of something, but shook it off. "Oh! Hitsugaya-kun, you should go greet Ichigo upfront!" She wrote on a little note card to give to him. "Do these when you see him and he'll hopefully be a little more accepting! He's over at the gym! Don't worry about your materials and stuff, just come back after you see him and head over to class!"

Toushirou nodded dumbly due to trying to process everything.

Grateful that he had his schedule and map, he managed to find the gym where there were many weight lifting objects with, and the music was low. He heard soft grunts in a direction where he then found the student that he was looking for until having to look away as quickly as he possible could. Kurosaki Ichigo was shirtless as he was on the bench press, even so, he luckily wore his shorts and shoe wear since he was half-naked. His attention went to the card again, reading the few steps that he had to do in order to be on his good side, but he was nervous to enter the room. Contemplating how to begin the greeting, he never noticed that someone wanted to go inside the gym until they threw him inside.

"Get out of my way, Freak!"

Toushirou cringed after falling to the floor, dropping his papers and the small note card across the ground as well. The muscular male that shoved him in, began to kick him while telling him to get out of his way while calling him names once more. He was used to the insults after hearing them all his life, but he did not expect the carrot top to come to his aide since he could not greet him. There was a clanking noise at the bench press that caused the two to glance in the direction—the male instantly earned a punch in the face. Ichigo grabbed him by the collar to bring him up close to his face in order to have a nice little chat with him to change his attitude.

"I don't like that attitude of yours, Grimmjow." He threw him out of the gym. "Come back with a better tune!" The other already got up and ran off. Ichigo looked at Toushirou, "and you! Defend yourself! You're going to let that punk push you around? Is that it?" His form kneeled to pick up the papers and note card until he saw what it said. "…Rangiku-san…" He growled in annoyance before turning towards the fallen male student, only to see his hands and knees, begging. 'What does this kid want from me?' His brown hues looked at the schedule that was identical to his own. "She wants me to babysit you?"

Toushirou weakly nodded.

As if he did not have enough on his plate, however, he understood where Rangiku was coming from for this time around. After all, the guy did just get picked on by another for being different and weak, and at the bottom of the schedule was a statement that it was only temporary. If this was true, then he would not mind it too much to watch over the boy for a couple of weeks until Toushirou was not interesting. It was obvious that new students were the hot subjects in school, and Toushirou was already a walking target because he looked different from others.

Ichigo gave a sigh of defeat. "Have you got your books yet?" The other shook his head. 'Best not to let him know that I know he's most likely a mute.' He helped him up. "What, you're too good enough to talk to me?" Seeing the slight caution in those turquoise hues made him interested. "Whatever, you can go to Rangiku-san for your belongings, or wait for me in the lockers. It's your call." He grabbed his shirt and towel before walking towards the boys' locker room. 'Three… two… one…' Toushirou quickly followed.

Grimmjow was obviously keeping an eye on them.

When they entered the lockers, Ichigo stripped to take a quick shower whereas Toushirou made sure not to watch him. No one knew that he thought of himself as a homosexual—he was not sure, but based his belief upon what bullies tell him. Soon, Renji entered the locker and headed towards the showers, watching Ichigo bathe as he talked to him about a problem between the pack of wolves. Ichigo told him that they would go on a run Saturday after school and his swimming competition that instantly fired up the redhead before running off with the secret in mind. Minutes later, the carrot top dried himself off, got dressed for the day, and head towards the office with Toushirou not far behind.

They gathered his things and went to first period with the final bell ringing. "Nice of you to join us," the teacher scowled as Ichigo walked in. Then saw the student behind him. "And who are you little guy?"

Toushirou heard the classmates began whispering and laughing at him already— "This is Hitsugaya Toushirou. He is new to this school, as is his relative, Hinamori Momo." Ichigo stated sternly. "All of you, show your manners towards the both of them." He then glanced at the distance, "Ishida, move it." Uryuu snorted before collecting his things and sitting at another desk. "You, take the seat that he left." With that, Ichigo went to sit next to said seat. 'Having him sit next to the window should make things easier for him anyway.' Now that it was settled with, he slept for a little while; not caring about English.

After English, Physics, Social Studies, Math, lunch, Art, and Physical Education… they had their class meeting where they mentioned some sort of upcoming festival. The students all cleaned up the room without complaint as Ichigo and some big strong guy managed to help with the heavier things. It was then that Toushirou realized that the classmates had not picked on him; as soon as Ichigo introduced him, the class stopped their gossip dead on the spot. As Ichigo waved the class off, he grabbed his bag to deal with his after school activities, and shortly noticed Toushirou following him.

"Hey, unless you plan on attending Karate Club, you have to go home, okay Runt?" With that, he continued to walk to the locker room while hearing Toushirou walking behind him still. 'Well, as least he'll be able to learn how to build some confidence for himself then.' However, it meant that he had to teach him personally since it would cause trouble for others. "You can sit and watch today, got it?"

Toushirou nodded once with an unfazed expression; he had it on, all day.

It did not take long since it was only an hour and a half, and the white-haired student liked what he saw the class do during training. What was better, there were some beginners too, and so it was most likely going to be something that he could join. Ichigo left to go get changed as the others did, so Toushirou decided to search for Momo in order to go home… but he could not find her anywhere. When he went back to the locker room to check on the carrot top, he was not there either, so he decided that he was going to be walking home alone whether he liked it or not.

Crossing the street was easy since school traffic would have died by now after searching for Momo for twenty minutes. Then crossed the park that made him a little wary since no one was visible to his eyes, but then he saw someone in a white tank top and blue shorts. Who would have guessed that the crazy carrot top that was in all of his classes would be jogging around the park after school! This guy worked out in the gym, ran three miles during Physical Education, and exercised his body during club time!

"Hey—Runt," Ichigo saw him and jogged over before having to jog in place. "That girl was at my truck waiting for me, she wanted the two of you to get a ride home, but couldn't find you." He watched Toushirou look to the ground in disappointment. "Anyway, go head home and do your homework—"

The two heard vicious snarling, causing Ichigo to slow his jogging in place to a complete stop as five massive sized wolves began coming towards them. Toushirou could tell instinctively that these were not going to be as friendly as the one he had met during the morning earlier today. Ichigo stood in front of him, growling in turn to their threatening actions; to think that others learned after being warned once.

"Kid," Ichigo cracked his knuckles. "Go home, I got your back." The other stood frozen. "Hey!" Ichigo looked at him to snap him out of his daze. "I said go home! I can handle them! So hurry and run away!" Toushirou did as told by running for his dear life, allowing Ichigo to look at the wolves. "This is going to be fun." He ran towards them and began fighting all five of them at the same time. "I need a good fight!"

The new student feared turning to look over his shoulder, but if he had… he would not have witnessed the six large wolves in front of him that went charging towards the scene. All but one, at least. It looked similar to the one that had helped him earlier, except this one had deep bluish steel grey hues instead of brown. This beast lightly nudged him away from the park as wolves began to fight; these were Ichigo's wolves that came to his aide, he realized. Therefore, he allowed this wolf to escort him from the park, and was brought to his apartment with what family that he had left. As soon as his hand touched the doorknob to the entrance, he looked to take one last glance at the wolf, but it was no longer there.

'How does Kurosaki control such massive creatures?' He mentally thought to himself before going inside.

It was late… perhaps after ten at night where most would already be in bed by now, but someone was crazy enough to be ringing their doorbell and knocking on the door. Toushirou was eating a super late dinner due to being conflicted by having to abandon his classmate with five menacing wolves, so Momo answered it. After a split second, she came rushing into the kitchen where Toushirou was eating at the counter due to little furniture, and was dragged towards the entrance. Ichigo stood there, covered in blood with his hand faced down in a fist, motioning towards Toushirou who nervously came over to open his hands. A silver-chained necklace was placed in his hands, and his turquoise hues saw the silver dagger pendant that was attached.

"Never, remove that from your neck, got it?"