Chapter 8:

Shinji scratched the back of his hand as he tried to get through a new document on his desk. When he left, everything had been filed and signed. He couldn't complain since it was only the one document and he had nothing better to do. He signed the form and scratched his hand again. There were no marks but it itched occasionally.

He sat back in his chair, glancing at his hand before looking around the room. It was so boring without music to slice through the quiet. Even Momo had left the office to run errands and hadn't returned. He didn't expect her to for some time. The only evidence of her having been to the office that day was the box of cookies she left on the coffee table.

As their smell hit his nose, Shinji found his stomach growling. He shouldn't have been hungry. He ate a decent breakfast. He wondered how he could smell them from here. He couldn't before and they had been there all morning.

Curious, Shinji rose and walked over to the box, lifting the top. The smell was even stronger now and it made his mouth water. Surely one bite wouldn't hurt. She had so many and wouldn't miss the one.

He took a cookie from the box and ate it slowly. Crunchy outside and soft, chewy inside. Just his kind of cookie. He wanted to indulge that feeling again and put another cookie on his tongue to savor. That one was gone faster than the first and already missed the taste and texture. He took another one. He grabbed two more and stuffed them in his mouth. Soon, he was hunched over the box, sticking his face straight into it to eat.

He lifted his head, crumbs sticking to his face and looked around. He thought he heard someone coming but there was no one there. The people in the hall must have been really loud for him to hear them so clearly. He looked down and realized with embarrassment that he had eaten all of Momo's cookies. He wiped his face off and slinked away guiltily.

Even after eating a whole box of cookies, he was still hungry. He left to find something else to eat.

Hitsugaya was in his office when Hisagi shoved a book under his nose.

"Twenty pounds!" he cried in horror.

Hitsugaya looked up. "What are you talking about?"

Hisagi pointed at the book. "According to this, wolves can eat up to twenty pounds of food in a single sitting."

"Yes, I knew that," said Hitsugaya. "I did research on this when it was just me, so I'm aware."

"How are you not freaking out about this?" Hisagi was clearly upset. "Twenty pounds in a single meal. I didn't eat that much when I hit my growth spurt. Or while I was training my endurance and that does work up an appetite, let me tell you."

"I'm sure you will."

"Remind me again why you're not freaking out about this?" Hisagi asked him. "I mean, this explains why I'm so hungry but…"

"It's nothing to worry about," Hitsugaya told him. "Wolves manage just fine without resorting to hurting each other over meat. And if that bothers you, then consider eating a lot so you'll be full enough not to look at one of your friends as food."

"Well, there's that, but I'm talking about my figure. You know what I had to go through to get these abs, right? Plumping up now would be a major hit to my dating life."

Hitsugaya raised his brow. "That's what you're worried about?"

"I have to look good, don't I? Rangiku doesn't like big guys. Ah, and other women, for that matter, not just her."

Hitsugaya sighed, having an inkling that would be his reason. "Don't worry about it. Wolves have high metabolism. That coupled with all the energy we burn off during training, we're good. The life of a Soul Reaper and the power of a wolf allows us to eat a lot and use that energy and not gain weight."

Hisagi looked back at the book in his hands. "Yeah… But twenty pounds?"

"It says we can. Not that we will. Or have to, for that matter." Hitsugaya frowned, thinking about someone. "I just hope Shinji doesn't go wild like before."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because I bit him today."

Hisagi planted both hands on Hitsugaya's desk and shouted, "You what?!"

"I know. I-"

"You said we couldn't bite anyone! You said it would be a mistake!"

"It was the only thing I could do to save him from Byakuya," Hitsugaya cut in. "He didn't listen to my warnings and he was in danger. Byakuya was about to bite him so I bit him first."

Hisagi whined, sounding just like a dog. "Don't you think you should keep an eye on him?"

"The change shouldn't happen that quickly… But you're right. I should go check on him. But how do I find him?"

Loud clattering from outside drew their attention to the window where the clattering was soon followed by yelling and a loud bark.

Hisagi pointed out the window. "I think starting there's a pretty safe bet."

Hitsugaya moaned, slumping in his seat.

It must have been the cookies he ate. He must have been on a sugar rush. That was the only explanation Shinji could think of for why he was acting this way.

He had to run and run fast. He had all this pent-up energy he just had to unleash.

He started running laps around the Division's training area but running in a circle wasn't satisfactory and soon ended up running on the street. Not having to slow down to turn, Shinji discovered just how fast he could go in a straight line. Faster and faster. His legs felt so strong but his arms needed something to do as well. Climb. He wanted to climb. He turned the street into an obstacle course. Climbing over crates and barrels, Shinji eventually made it over the wall and started to race himself around the area, running and jumping from wall to wall and eventually buildings.

Why couldn't he stop? Why did his limbs have so much energy? Why did he want to run on all fours?

Shinji bent in the middle of a run to gamble about on four limbs and found it to be surprisingly comfortable. He liked running like this. He was a bit forward-heavy, seeing as how is legs were longer than his arms but that didn't stop him from running. He just climbed more.

Until…

"Wah!" He slipped on a loose shingle and tumbled off the roof, landing in a garden.

The dirt. It was so soft and smelled amazing. He rolled into a hunched position and started digging with both hands. He could dig so quickly! In no time at all, he had made a deep hole in the garden he could easily fit inside of.

He lifted his head, sensing something.

There was food nearby and he was starving.

He tore out of the garden and down the street, following the scent. It was so close.

"Thank you so much," Rangiku said to the person inside the shop as she exited, a brown paper bag in her left arm. She walked back towards the office with her spoils. Knowing her Captain didn't care for sweets, she looked forward to having these tasty treats all to herself. "They'll be safe in the office."

She was almost to the building when something slammed into her from the side. The bag flew out of her hand and the contents spilled everywhere. She pulled herself into a sitting position to look at her scrapped elbow. She turned to yell at whoever had plowed into her when she discovered the Captain of Squad 5 eating the spilled Daifuku off the ground.

"Uh, Shinji..?"

On his hands and knees, Shinji ate all the spilled food he could find as quickly as he could and sniffed the empty bag to see if there was anything he missed. He had red bean all over his nose and cheeks.

"Shinji?"

He looked her way. "Rangiku, how's it going?" he asked casually.

"What are you doing?"

Shinji crouched where he was, looking like a sitting dog and said, "I'm starving and can't seem to get enough, no matter how much I eat. Maybe I'm having a growth spurt. I doubt it but you never know. Either that or I haven't been eating enough and my body's telling me to chow down." He cocked his head. "What are you doing on the ground?"

"You slammed into me," she complained, angrily.

"I did? Oh, sorry. I couldn't really judge how fast I was going." He moved closer to her on all fours then stood and helped her up. "You ok?"

"Other than this scrape on my arm, I'm fine." She rubbed her elbow, feeling it sting.

"Can I see it?" When Rangiku held up her arm, Shinji licked the scrape on her elbow. She punched him in the face.

"What is your problem?!"

Shinji recoiled then growled in anger. "What'd you hit me for? I'm trying to help."

"Captain, Rangiku, everything ok?" Momo stood nearby with a tin in her hands.

"Yeah, Shinji's just acting all weird, is all."

Momo gave her a sympathetic look and uncovered the tin in her hands. "I have cookies. When I got back to the office all mine were eaten so I got more."

"Great," said Rangiku. "Those should replace the ones Shinji-"

Shinji dove upon the tin in Momo's hands. It clattered to the ground and Shinji gobbled up as many as he could while the two women yelled in surprise. Rangiku complained about how rude Shinji was being and how mean of him it was to hog all those cookies for himself. When he paid her no mind, she kicked him in the ribs.

"Captain or no, listen to me."

He barked sharply at her and she took a step back.

Then his head jerked up as he noticed something. He shoved Rangiku aside to pursue it.

"What is his problem?"

At the exact moment, Hitsugaya and Hisagi ran out of the building looking frazzled. "Did Shinji just go by here?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Yeah, he went…" Rangiku started to point in the direction he left but her Captain and Hisagi were already running that way.

"Shinji! Calm down, you idiot!"

Hisagi ran backwards to talk to the two women. "Sorry about him. We'll take care of it. Don't worry. Nothing to worry about. Just, uh, guy stuff. Everything's fine."

"Stop running your mouth and move your legs," Hitsugaya snapped over his shoulder.

"Sorry!" Hisagi waved to the women as he turned around and followed Hitsugaya.

Momo looked at Rangiku. "What was that about?"

Rangiku just shrugged. She didn't want to get involved.

By the time they caught up to Shinji, the Captain seemed to be having a breakdown. It was a strange sight that made both men uncomfortable.

He was in a courtyard hunched over some discarded bento boxes having chased off the owners just moments ago. He was eating face-first from the containers and muttering to himself between chews. He knew something wasn't right. A tail slapped the ground from underneath his jacket.

"Shinji," Hitsugaya called gently.

He flinched and turned to face them, still hunched over the bento boxes, and showed his teeth without growling.

"Shinji, it's ok. Calm down."

His eyes were wide with fear and confusion. "Something's wrong with me. I don't know what's goin' on. It's like I've lost control of myself. I can't… I don't…"

"It's ok," Hitsugaya crept forward with his hand out as if to tame a wild beast.

Shinji lowered himself to the ground, keeping his eyes fixed on Hitsugaya. He still looked scared.

"I know what's wrong with you and I can help you. But I need you to calm down. Can you do that?"

Shinji's eyes darted to the side and back and then in a different direction. "My senses are stronger than ever. I'm hearing birds but I can't see them. I can smell food in different Divisions. And no matter how much I eat, I'm still hungry. My body won't rest, either. I feel like running and I don't know why. Where is this energy coming from? Why am I sensing these things? What's happening to me?"

"It'll settle. It's just new and setting in. You'll adapt. Your body will handle it."

"This- This is a transformation of some sort? What's happening now?" Shinji gave Hitsugaya a fearful look. "I'm already a Vizard. What else is there for me to..?"

"You're turning into a werewolf. Just like us."

He looked from Hitsugaya to Hisagi, shaking his head. "No. No way. Those don't exist."

"It's ok. We-"

"No. No, I need to get to the sickbay. This has got to be an infection or something. Unohana can treat me there. That's what I should do." Shinji was panicking and was about to race off toward the sickbay when Hitsugaya gave him a sharp order to stop and he froze on the spot.

"Unohana can't help you but we can. Just calm down," Hitsugaya told him. "I know you're freaking out. I was almost hysterical but I remained calm. You can do the same."

"The things I'm doing are messed up and I don't understand… What if I hurt someone? I can't…"

Hitsugaya put his hand on Shinji's shoulder. "I'll explain everything. Come with me to my office and I'll tell you what's going on."

Shinji took a deep breath in and exhaled loudly, calming down. "Ok," he said, finally regaining control of himself. "Ok, let's do it."

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