Chapter 2

Ichigo stood there in the shadows, silently watching the beautiful girl lying there on the ground. After she had fainted, he had genteelly laid her down on the ground for someone else, a human this time, to pick her up and take her back to be with the humans where she belonged. But somehow, even when he had reverted to his wolf form, where his thoughts were slightly less complex and more animal-like, he still found himself staring at her unconscious form. She had looked so innocent and beautiful just lying there on the hard asphalt, and he found himself unwilling to leave her side. So he watched, and soon, a guy with glasses had come rushing towards her and had taken a small, familiar looking object from his pocket (his wolf brain couldn't exactly wrap its mind around what it was actually called) and started pressing things. The glasses guy held it to his ear and started to speak. When he heard the sirens, Ichigo-wolf followed his instincts and fled the scene. Even as a wolf, he knew that humans did not like his kind and knew to avoid all contact with then at all times.

So why did he save the girl? He still didn't know.

…

When Orihime finally came to, she found herself in a white hospital bed with Uryu, Chad, Chizuru and a few other friends anxiously crowded around her bed. Even Tatsuki came back from her summer dojo camp for some reason. When she had opened her eyes, she saw all the faces around her suddenly relax.

"W-What happened? Why am I at the hospital?" she inquired.

Tatsuki looked at her fiercely, "You were attacked by a hollow and you ask us why you are here? I'm shocked you're not hurt! You were out for so long, that we all thought you had died!"

Orihime sat up, shocked. "How long have I been out?"

"Three days."

Orihime lay back down on her bed. 'I was out for three days? I just remember blacking out and I was caught by Ichigo… Ichigo! What happened to him?' "Where is Ichigo?"

"Ichigo? Who is that?" Tatsuki wondered if he was just another figment of Orihime's imagination. 'Seriously? Who would name their son strawberry?'

"He's an okami I met! A nice one who saved me from the hollow!" At these words everyone in the room tensed up. Tatsuki looked angry and immediately got up from her chair, shocked at what her friend was imagining. But before she could open her mouth to give her friend a lecture, they heard muted footsteps getting closer and closer to Orihime's door.

The footsteps stopped outside of her door, and a stuttering voice said, "T-This is the door, m-my l-lord."

"Good, now let me in," replied a deep male voice. The door immediately swung open to reveal two people. One was the young doctor, Hanatarou, but the other was a tall figure wearing white robes, who could be none other than…

"Good morning, Lord Aizen," said everyone in the room, lowering their heads in a bow. Aizen smiled.

"You may rise," he said to everyone in the room, but then turned his dark brown eyes to Orihime. Sensing his gaze, the large gray eyes met the brown pair. She felt a shiver go down her spine, and immediately looked down and found a sudden interest in her bed sheets. Aizen chuckled, then resumed speaking. "Well young Miss Orihime, would you mind giving me a short briefing about your short adventure?"

"H-how do you know my name?"

"Well, everyone does. You've just survived an attack from a hollow, so of course that would be posted all over the news."

Orihime was shocked, but it was expected. Carefully avoiding his eyes, she explained what had happened to her, starting from seeing the hollow. Aizen listened thoughtfully, and his eyes gleamed angrily at the mention of the okami. When she was finished, he said, "I see. And what was that young okami's name?"

"I-Ichigo Kurosaki, my lord."

He nodded, deep in thought about what he had just heard. "Well then, you seem to be thinking that this okami saved your life?"

"B-But he did Aizen-sama!" Orihime stuttered. Why didn't he believe her?

"Of course he didn't. That was just the memory reverser that he put into your mind to make it seem like a hollow attacked you, when really it was him. Be careful, Orihime-san, these okami are very dangerous and we wouldn't want you to be killed, would we?" he said, his eyes never leaving her face. "Well then, I'd better be going now. And stay away from those okami Orihime-san." And with that, he left the room, with a stuttering Hanatarou in pursuit.

Orihime just sat there on her bed, thinking. 'Aizen-sama's story didn't make any sense. If Ichigo was attacking me and slashed my arm, then why did he heal me?' She sat there in silence, thinking. When her friends realized that she was fine and completely unhurt, they eventually left, with the occasional visits, but mostly leaving her alone to think about Ichigo. Aizen-sama's words had confused her. Was Ichigo really good or bad?

…

Ichigo-wolf ran to the place he knew best, the forest in which his pack lived. It was a long, 3-day trip to get home, but he was glad to finally be getting back. He didn't like it much out there with the humans; they stunk, and he always had to hide himself. On the way he met two okami, one a smaller black one with violet eyes, and the other a reddish-brown one with brown eyes and strange black markings on its fur. Since wolves can't talk, instead they send each other images as a way to communicate, but they can also smell each other's emotions. Ichigo smelled the curiosity rolling off of the two wolves, and he sent them an image of the apartments, him fighting the hollow, and of the beautiful auburn haired girl. The black wolf growled, its disapproval evident. Ichigo-wolf bounded past them slightly, then changed forms. When he turned around again, the two wolves were gone, and in their place were two people. One was a short, raven haired girl with violet eyes, and the other was a man slightly taller than Ichigo, with red hair tied up in a ponytail so that it looked like a pineapple's top and tattoos on his forehead and chest.

The raven-haired girl immediately ran up to him and grabbed a fistful of his shirt as she yelled into his ear, "What the hell is wrong with you! You saved a human? They killed and banished us for something we didn't do! They even killed your mother! And you went out of your way to save one?" As she continued yelling angrily in his ear, he laughed. He could smell her jealously. He was one of the few okami who could still smell emotions even after he had reverted to his human form.

"What are you laughing at? This isn't funny! Y-"

"Jealous, Rukia?" When he saw her face immediately turn red, he laughed again. He knew that Rukia had a crush on him forever, but had never really returned the feelings. He looked up to see Renji, the red haired man, glaring at him. He smelled of jealously, too. Ichigo immediately stopped his laugh in its tracks. Renji had loved Rukia ever since they were kids, but she didn't feel the same way. Sighing he turned around and started on the way to his home, Rukia and Renji at his side. As he looked around he saw many of his fellow okami in wolf form and tried to place each one. The large dark brown one was Kyoraku-san, and the black one with white spots around her eyes that was trailing him, was Nanoe. A black, scarred, and rugged looking one was Kenpachi, and close by, there was a dark brown one that was Ikkaku. Looking at all of his friends, he immediately found his thoughts wandering to Orihime. 'What would she look like as a wolf?' He immediately imagined another honey-colored one like him, except a lighter shade and with gray eyes. He found himself smiling and wishing that she could- He immediately pushed the thought out of his mind. She was a human, and he was an okami. He would most likely never see her again.

…

"And up next on KNC, we will be featuring our latest update about the story of the girl who survived the hollow …" The TV screen went black as Orihime turned it off. She couldn't turn to any channels without seeing her picture or hearing her name as the news stations retold her story.

It had been a few days after her meeting King Aizen, and after many tests, and many assurances that she truly was fine, Orihime had been finally released from the hospital to go back to her small, lonely apartment. Even though her friends still had the habit of checking up on her, it was still very lonely. At first, she actually thought that this summer would be different. She had been attacked by a hollow, and saved by an okami, the known traitors. But now he was gone, and in her heart, she knew that he wasn't coming back. But that didn't stop her from hoping. As she looked out her window, she just saw the same thing that she always saw, the street, and the apartments on the other side. She sighed, and was about to turn away, but then something caught her eye, something a startling bright blue… She looked back out and found herself staring at two bright blue eyes peering out from the shadows in an alleyway between the other two apartments. A shiver ran down her spine as she leaned in to try and make out a figure from the darkness. Was it a human or an okami? But before she could make out anything else, it had disappeared again. She sighed and went back to the book that she was reading. Not too long ago, it had been her favorite book, but now it just seem boring to her and her attention kept on sliding to the handsome young okami, Ichigo. She wondered what other powers he might have. Could he fly? Turn invisible? She sighed again as the big question slide back into her mind; had he really had been trying to kill her? Or was he a good guy? Was Aizen-sama wrong about him? Or was he really telling the truth? She got up from her desk as she made her decision. She would go to the Abyss of Heroes, the forest where the okami lurked, and she would ask Ichigo for the truth. The whole truth. She grabbed her bags as she started to pack and got ready to set off on the long journey to see her hero.

A.N.- So Hime is going to see her young (and HOT!) hero… Please review! Reviews are what keep us going!