Chapter 04
The Great Divide
Now—
"Kurosaki Ichigo-sama, I have heard of your infatuation with Hitsugaya Toushirou-sama. Is there anything that you would like to say in your defense?" The eldest of elders of District 46 questioned. "Having him aware of your position instead of misleading him by acting as a human, will only cause trouble for the society that we have done well to keep under control for the past five thousand years."
"You're doing a marvelous job, too." Ichigo stated in a plain manner. "Stay out of our business, Jii-san."
Dark chocolate brown hues stared at the cloudy sky that blocked out the sun's warming rays of light that the bright orange-haired male wanted to sunbathe with. Having been accused of plotting something against the enemy party, which he was not plotting to do anything in particular right now, made him a little bit annoyed. A thought occurred to him as he heard giggling girls on the ground level—causing him to sit up and look at two orange-haired females smiling and laughing with one another. One was a wolf, the other was a vampire, but they both were smiling and laughing while aware of each other's species.
"A bone for your thoughts?" Renji spoke quietly.
The question went ignored as he looked towards another area to see three male vampires huddle close together as if conspiring something. His attention turn towards a female that was a wolf who was also watching them in return for their glares that they were sending her way. A male wolf and female vampire were cautiously becoming friends with some distance—Rukia and Kaien were doing so, too. Why were some of these species talking to one another when the wolves knew that he would soon go after the childlike vampire? Something gathered his attention, an argument that was happening out of his sight between the two kinds, forcing him and Renji to jump off the building.
"Ishida's picking a fight with that Oumaeda guy?" The redhead growled unhappily as they turned the corner—skidding to a stop to see the over-weighed male flying passed them; crashing into a wall.
"I told you all to stop harassing them." Toushirou demanded firmly. "We're not to draw attention here."
"That stupid fool started it by trying to act so high and smug about himself. It was making us sick to our stomachs!" The short female vampire hissed as she pointed accusingly at the wolf with glasses. "That—"
"I don't care about your excuses, Soi Fon. You and Oumaeda need to stop causing me trouble."
The scuffle had brought all the vampires and wolves to the scene—causing most of the vampires to give an argument as Ichigo held his head. There had been so much going through his mind for the last month since he had seen the elder of the District 46 that it was killing him. As the vampires continued to blame the others for their wrong doings, the wolves were paying more attention to their pack leader now. A split moment later, Ichigo began to fall forward in slow motion until Renji caught him as quickly as he could. The two female wolves took both of his arms to drag him to a table bench that was about three yards away from the crowded arguments and fighting. There was something definitely wrong with him that they were now beginning to notice, but a vampire had acted the fastest of them all.
Rukia lengthened her nails to cut her wrist for him to share her blood. "Take it, it's okay."
"I just have a headache." He ignored the blood. "I have a lot on my mind right now."
"I said, take it." Being declined was not something that she was going to put up with.
Ichigo looked at her. "You're a bossy one for sure." He began to lick the blood for a while.
Kaien looked to the female wolves. "He ate this morning, didn't he?" They nodded, and he looked to the aggressive one that was prone to violence. "What about coming to school then, Arisawa? How was he?"
"Sluggish, but he hasn't received that much sleep since Alpha's been really hard on him." Tatsuki pointed to the other female wolf. "I might be the next Alpha, but I placed Orihime in charge of watching him."
Inoue Orihime panicked at this. "I know, but I fell asleep and he ran out for a bit during the night!"
"Well duh, hanging around with vampires during school would get him in trouble." Renji rolled his eyes. "With Alpha finding out about the lot of them joining school, Ichigo had to pay the price of everything…"
"Shut up, I handled him didn't I?" Ichigo glared, licking his lips before pulling off his shirt. "Hanatarou."
"Y-Yes sir!" The sheepish one scurried over to check his vitals. "You seem fatigue, Kurosaki-sama."
"I'm not surprised really…" to prove he was exhausted, he yawned—showing his extra set of fangs.
Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "You know you wouldn't have got into any trouble if you had just told him—"
"Wait," Renji called out, carefully brushing past her to look him in the eye. "Who's in your head?"
Ichigo looked away to stare at something else. "Masaki." With that, he moved Hanatarou aside to get up as he placed his shirt on, then quietly sighed. "Wolves… Vampires… Vampires… Wolves… I'm tired of it."
Uryuu looked at him suspiciously. "You're not going to…"
"Orihime gets along with them, and Hanatarou, too." He scratched his head. "You guys go to class… I'm… going to go home early." With a quick wave, he started to leave the campus. "Take care of them, Renji."
Everyone watched the carrot top leave the high school campus as the bell began to ring to signal the beginning of the classes. The wolves began to head for the homerooms that they had to participate in while the vampires turned to Toushirou with curiosity. After they were told to go to their classes, they all obeyed easily because they knew how he was going to follow the supposed human. It did not take long for him to chase the man that was walking slowly to get away from school, and he grabbed his arm.
Ichigo looked at him lightly without much care before attempting to leave—
"Why didn't you tell me the wolves would attack you if we participated here?"
"Would it have mattered?" He asked in return. "The more protection for the girl is more important than the Alpha of the Pack being angry." Ichigo continued to walk away. "You probably already know this, but the reason why your kind doesn't like the others is because they're wolves, so they naturally hate me."
"I knew they were wolves, they smell like it. But you, you smell of herbs and forest trees with a hint of wolves on it." Toushirou looked to the ground; almost a little uncomfortable speaking about this now. "I thought you were a wolf at first, but you spend a lot of your time with them, so it was an easy mistake."
'…mistake, huh?' He thought to himself as they neared the forest. "You probably shouldn't come any closer. If Alpha sees you, I don't know what he'll do to you." That said, he tried to get away from him, but was tugged by the arm. "You really should go back to school while you can, Little Prince."
"Let me explain to the Alpha that you were not the one at fault about the situation, perhaps he'll let you stay with the wolves." Toushirou watched the carrot top sigh heavily at his words. "Are you still fatigue? If you want, I'll offer you some of my blood—it's superior to that of Kuchiki Rukia's blood, I assure you."
'That's right,' Ichigo turned to look at him. 'You think I'm a human.' He brought a hand up to touch the white bangs. "I believe I'll substitute my deal." His lips curved into a smile. "Either you give me your blood, or you give me your virginity." The carrot top looked at him devilishly. "What will it be, good sir?"
"W-WHAT!"
"It's simple, you either give me your life supply of blood that you so desperately need to keep, or you can strip down to nothing and give me your ass to play with." Ichigo's smirk continued to grow widely. 'I'm curious to know why humans tend to court the same gender.' His hand came down to his chin to lift it up ever so slightly. "You're actually kind of cute when you're not baring your fangs, Little Prince…"
"I'll give you both of your desires, if you tell me something." Toushirou stated firmly, not needing to bother keeping either of the things that this man was requesting from him. "Tell me, who is Masaki."
A dark and dangerous growl began to appear from the forest, causing Ichigo to place Toushirou behind him as they began to back away to stay on Karakura Town territory. Toushirou could only see a pair of eyes that reflected the dim clouded sky, and the pearl white teeth just below them. His attention went up towards Ichigo who did not seem to take his eyes of the beast that was hiding within the forest where it could be easily out of sight.
"Alpha, it is not my friend's fault that I am participating at the same school as your pack! Kurosaki has nothing to do with our enrolling there!" He called from the safe distance behind Ichigo. "A human girl that is in your territory is a friend of mine, we wish to protect her during the day and you at night!"
"Toushirou," Ichigo snapped at him quietly.
"If you want to punish someone, then it should be—!"
"Me," he stated firmly, turning to him angrily. "Get out of here."
The vampire glared at him. "Not until you give me my answers!"
"Not everything is about you!" Ichigo ran to the forest.
"Wait a minute—! Damn it, Kurosaki—!"
Two wolves jumped in front of him to block the border once Ichigo ran by them; they would not let him chase after the carrot top. He knew that he would have to back off on his pursuit about chasing after Ichigo or else there would be more trouble for the other. With a quick glance, he could barely make out Ichigo's bright colored hair next to the pair of eyes that he had seen earlier, and the wolves all left.
Toushirou thought about stepping on their land, but knew that would be unwise.
"Abarai," the small pale one called out.
The redhead growled mentally for being called out as he was trying to go to school without having to get into any trouble. He came to a slow stop before looking over his shoulder to see the small future Lord of the enemy he had always hated. It was obvious that this blood driven creature wanted to know where Kurosaki Ichigo was for the past week during school. With the near collision of the pack leader and the soon-to-be leader of vampires almost colliding over the wolf that was next in line, Ichigo had been banned. To clear his head, he was not allowed to participate in school until he learned where his true priorities are right now.
"Where is Kurosaki? I know he's still alive."
"Yeah, well, Alpha wants to know who he's trying to be friends with, us or you." Renji stated firmly as he looked around to make sure they were in a secluded area. "He's not allowed to come to school for now."
"Why does Kurosaki have to be so involved with the wolves?" A thought occurred to him. "Who is—"
"It's forbidden to talk about her to outsiders." He snapped angrily at him. "Who the Hell do you think you are by trying to get into our affairs? You have more pressing matters to attend to with that girl."
As he turned to leave, Toushirou flung him around to look at him. "I'm not finished talking with you!"
Renji could not handle it anymore as he ripped through his clothing as he transformed into a gigantic beast that caught Toushirou off guard. It turned out that this man was the wolf that had helped him and Ichigo escape when that short battle appeared in the forest… this was the beta! Toushirou fell on his bottom when the monster twice his size had began towering over him, and cringed the wolf lunged—
A wolf charged onto the scene, taking down Renji with a head to the shoulder in order to tower over the little vampire who was startled. It was the soon-to-be Alpha that just shoved his beta away; neither of them seemed pleased and started to rip each other apart. Why were they trying to kill each other if they were supposed to be some sort of big family—that was what Ichigo had told him! Within seconds, the two finished the fight with the alpha being the victor, which caused Renji to lie on the ground tiredly.
"W-What are you doing here!" Toushirou yelled at the victorious wolf. "Bring Kurosaki back!" The wolf, which just so happened to be Ichigo, turned to look at the enemy. "Stop hurting Kurosaki you bastard!"
Renji began snarling viscously again—earning a bite on his muzzle.
"Hey, what's going on!" Tatsuki ran over, clinging to the standing wolf. "You should be home watching the families at home." She watched him release the other wolf. "You're still recovering from your fight."
"Renji has forgotten to keep his paws off Toushirou. He needed to be taught a lesson." Ichigo snorted in annoyance, lifting his face to lick hers. "If anyone is going to be killing him, it is going to be me after I—"
"I know, and the pack knows that. " She padded his shoulder. "Go on… you might stir some trouble if you stay here any longer in this form." Ichigo looked to Renji angrily. "I'll watch over everyone."
Ichigo growled for a brief moment when thinking things over while Renji returned to his human form that was fairly bloody. The redhead groaned at the sore spots he gained by being tackled by his leader; it was taking a while to fully heal from all of this together. Tatsuki scolded him for going after Toushirou in his wolf form—in any form for that matter, or else suffer the consequences like a moment ago. As the two were talking and exchanging words, Toushirou watched the giant beast come towards the redhead.
He first thought that this beast was going to finish the job that it started, but he was taken aback by surprise as it licked the redhead's wounds. Turquoise hues witnessed the bloody fight, and now the winner was cleaning up the loser's scar of the lost he had to accept. Toushirou watched confusedly for the entire session; how the redhead sat up to make things easier for the one he had to obey. His eyes saw the redhead being practically bathed by the wolf; his arms, his legs, back, chest, almost everything.
Renji began to grasp the fur on Ichigo's head as he was cleaning up the blood on his lower abs. "H-Hey, not so low… please." He had to stay submissive, but he could not let Ichigo do that in public right now.
"What are you whining about Abarai? If you had stayed on the ground, the blood wouldn't have fallen on your dick." Tatsuki snorted as she placed her backpack down to fish out some clothes. "You take it."
"T-Thanks—" He cringed; his body was now spotless from any signs of blood. "Do you have to do that?" He glared helplessly at Ichigo who began showing fangs. "Never mind… thank you for helping me…"
"Of course," Tatsuki crossed her arms as he began to get dressed. "That's what the pack is for." She then scratched Ichigo behind the ear, "maybe when we get home from school, I'll scratch your belly, okay?"
"I don't understand…" Toushirou spoke aloud, gathering attention. "They were trying to kill each other."
"Ichigo said not to harm you… and I almost did, so I was being put back in my place." Renji stood up to pet the large beast. "We all fight sometimes, but we're a family. Wolves have the strongest bond… but I guess you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" They watched Toushirou look away guiltily.
"It's true that my kind looks out for their selves. With my status being threatened by others who want my position, I have been doing my best to show my capabilities to lead the others." The pale one tried to think about it. "But your group—some of my followers have been getting along with them. That's w—"
"You're thinking about having your followers be partnered up with our pack members?" Tatsuki asked with slight confusion on her face, but the other nodded quietly. "If we tried to do this, then Ichigo would have to come to school in order to keep things maintained on our side." She looked to Renji worriedly.
"Even if that is true, there could be serious consequences afterwards." The redhead had looked back at her, growling as he told her mentally. "We could have a bloodbath on our end after Ichigo kills this guy, remember?" He began to speak aloud to loosen suspicion. "We'll have to tell the others about this."
"We'll do it," Ichigo stated, slowly leaving. "For Masaki…"
Tatsuki sighed softly before looking at Toushirou. "We'll do it."
"I appreciate this opportunity." Toushirou attempted to smile…
"Hold on." Renji shook his head. "Why do you want to be friends?"
"Kurosaki Ichigo is friends with wolves and vampires, some of the others are becoming friendly with each other as well." Toushirou looked towards Ichigo; not knowing who he was. "Imagine a world where wolves and vampires could possibly become friends—hey!" Ichigo bolted off to leave the group there.
Tatsuki looked at Renji with disappointment. "We don't have a choice now."
"Not after hearing the brat use Masaki's wishes like that." The redhead thought in return.
She nodded softly. "Do you think it's possible that Ichigo told Hitsugaya about Masaki-san?"
"There's no way that he would trample on his mother's dying wishes, you know that better than me!"
"I know that!" Tatsuki mentally growled at him. "But would Ichigo go against her dying wishes?"
That came down to the hardest question.
Renji gave a heavy sigh before looking at Toushirou. "After school, I'll take you to Ichigo on my back since you already know how to ride a wolf." He looked to Tatsuki was obviously disapproved. "Don't worry, if things get ugly, I'll bring him to safety. I can't let him get hurt after hearing his offer of peace."
"Tell that to Alpha…"
With that, the three headed to school together under the watchful eyes of Kurosaki Ichigo.
"I'm not allowed on these grounds, am I?" The pale one asked softly, receiving a slightly nod from the wolf that he was riding on. "I wonder why our kinds have become such enemies over the centuries." No sign of response came from the wolf, causing him to sigh softly. "You wolves are a lucky group, really."
Renji stopped in place suddenly as if he had heard something in the distance—as if there was something within the forest that should not be there. He waited for a good five minutes before continuing on their journey to see the bright orange-haired male that was not expecting a visit. Toushirou heard laughter in the air that sounded like the male he was coming to see, and surely enough that it was him. He saw the man playing and roughhousing with three young wolf cubs that were trying to take him down as he ran.
"…Kurosaki," his face had confusion written all over it as he hopped off the creature.
This allowed the wolf to bark at the group of cubs before heading over to play around with them, after he greeted Ichigo. He came over to the man to lick his face with a wagging tail before standing on his hind legs to tackle him into the ground. Ichigo laughed heartily at the affection that he had to receive because he was Renji's leader—being given the welcoming greeting was necessary. The three cubs had playfully joined the mauling of the male in human form; suffocating him with happy licking of joy.
"Oh come on mutts! Get off!" Ichigo pushed the lot of them off so that he could breathe. "You cubs go play by the village where you can be watched by the others." The three young ones then ran off to do as told, and he tackled Renji who rolled over obediently for a good belly rub. "Get into any trouble?"
"Does bringing me here count?" Toushirou asked a little quietly.
Dark chocolate brown hues looked up at him for a brief moment before continuing to scratch the stomach of the wolf. "No… I had a feeling this guy would bring you here eventually, how are you?"
His head titled. "What do you mean, how am I?" He was never asked before. "Is it a trick question?"
Ichigo frowned softly for hearing this as a response. "No, of course not." He stood up slowly. "Alpha agreed to your idea that you were talking about. You watch the vampires, and I watch the wolves."
Renji knew that this was going to take some adjusting.
Well, I know a lot of you are getting a little lost and confused. Who is a wolf, who is a vampire... who the hell is human!
We'll start with the Vampires for everyone's sake. (It's the longest list.)
Toushirou Hitsugaya
Aizen Sousuke
Hisagi Shuuhei
Ichimaru Gin
Ise Nanao
Kira Izuru
Kotetsu Isane
Kotetsu Kiyone
Kotsubaki Sentarou
Kuchiki Byakuya
Kuchiki Rukia
Kurotsuchi Mayuri
Kurotsuchi Nemu
Kusaka Soujirou
Kyouraku Shunsui
Matsumoto Rangiku
Oumaeda Marechiyo
Shihouin Yoruichi
Soi Fon
Tousen Kaname
Tsukabishi Tessai
Ukitake Juushirou
Unohana Retsu
Urahara Kisuke
Does this make everyone happy now?
