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I gasped as I saw what lay beneath Captain Komamura's helmet. There was not an ugly man with a butchered face, but in its place was a wolf's head with light, copper toned fur and a cream colored swath

starting from the bottom of his muzzle to the depths of his uniform hidden out of sight. He looked me in the eyes for a second before he turned his head away, and what I saw was the most beautiful set of golden eyes I had ever seen. Even though he looked like a beast, he had a gentle air about him, as if he were a person who would never hurt another living creature if he could help it.

"This is what changed you into what you are now," Komamura said, with a weariness that surprised me.

"Oh. . . ."

"Does this disgust you?" Komamura asked, with sorrow in his voice.

I waited a minute before answering, "No. No it doesn't."

He looked at me with a hard glare. "Have you no sense?" He probably assumed I was mocking him.

I was a little scared because now he pulled his lips back from his teeth in a snarl. "That is for you to decide; besides, I don't see anything wrong with you. You are a shinigami with a humanoid wolf body. Are there not any other people who are different?"

He seemed to think about it then let out a sigh and just shook his head. He then changed the subject.

"You do know that you cannot stay here right?"

"I know, but I don't really know where I am supposed to go," I said. "Do you know where I could go?"

"Well you should probably go to Rukongai, but. . . ." he broke off.

"But what?" I asked in confusion.

"You could go to Shinigami Academy and train to become a shinigami. That would probably be best," he said. I noticed he cringed when he mentioned Rukongai.

"Is there something wrong with Rukongai?" I asked, wondering what could make a man who was probably eight feet of solid muscle afraid.

"Not unless you are like me." He said.

"Don't I count as being like you?" I asked, indicating my teeth and eyes.

"If you can hide your eyes and keep your mouth closed I doubt they will notice you," Komamura said after thinking for a bit.

I sat there for a while thinking about my options. I could go to Rukongai and live a fairly normal existence with the only threat to my life being getting someone's way, or I could go to the Shinigami Academy and become strong and I might be able to help more people so that no one has to deal with the same hollow incident I did. I could become powerful and do things most people only imagine doing. Unohona said only certain people could become shinigami, and I have the opportunity to do it. I sat there for one more minute before deciding. "I want to go to the academy."

_ _

"Very well then, once you have finished healing I will take you there myself," Komamura said in response. I could not tell if he was upset or not. "One more thing, what is your name?"

I smiled. "Hiroshi, Hiroshi Osamu."

***time lapse***

I was walking down a cobblestone street beside Captain Komamura, who was back in his helmet, heading toward Shinigami Academy. It was a peaceful, pleasant day as we made our way. A few people would look over and give Captain Komamura a respectful bow and a pleasant dip of the head to me. We were walking through a small shopping area when we found a man beating a little kid with a length of wood. I stopped as did Komamura.

I started walking over and caught the man's arm as he was about to hit the kid again, "That's enough," I said, with anger easily heard in my voice. The man turned with an arrogant smirk on his face as he heard a teenager get onto him.

"Who the fuck do you. . ." He broke off as he saw my eyes, "What the hell?"

Realizing he was talking about my eyes, I remembered my teeth and went with it. I smiled savagely at him. "Like I said before, that's enough. Let the boy go." As the man faltered, the kid took the chance and got out of there.

"Listen here you little shit, I don't know who you think you are, but you are insane if you think I am going to let you get away with interfering in business that had nothing to do with you," The man said as he pulled a knife from his robes.

"Do you honestly think that this is going to end well for you?" I asked. The man let out a yell and lunged out at me. I ducked and shot my leg out into his gut. "You need to calm down and collect your thoughts. Until then, I will hold onto this," I said, picking up the knife he dropped.

We went back on our way after I dropped the knife into a well. "That is how you will make enemies here," Komamura said.

"I don't care, the bastard deserved it," I said, still fuming over the incident. "Oh, and that's another cool thing I like about the transformation; I can scare people without actually needing to hurt them." I ended with a light smile on my face as I basked in the glory of being able to help out someone without hurting anyone.

"Well, as long as you find a bright side, I guess it could be worse," Komamura said somberly.

We walked in silence for a while until the academy came into sight.

"Captain Komamura, how long does it take to graduate from the academy?" I asked.

"That depends on the person and how thorough they are with their studies," he said with a thoughtful look. "On average, it takes a person about ten years at the academy."

"Oh," I said starting to feel a little sick.

Komamura must have noticed it because he said, "with your abilities you might be able to get it done quicker; and with the way you handled the thug, this place should be no problem for you."

We had arrived at the academy where Komamura was supposed to leave. "Captain Komamura?" I asked

tentatively.

"Yes?" he asked, looking at me.

I pulled a string with a small mirror attached to it out of my pocket and placed it into his hand. "I want you to have this," I say, "for two reasons: first, so you remember me until I get out of here; and second, so that you can look at it and one day realize you are not a disgusting monster." I wanted to slap myself because I sounded like your typical love-struck teenager.

He seemed stunned but still closed his hand around the tiny mirror. I wanted to jump up and hug him tightly.

"Well, I believe this is where I have to go. See you when I get out in a couple of years," I say, trying to sound happy and carefree but, in truth, still scared shitless about doing this. Komamura nodded as he turned around and walked away without a word.

Don't be a baby you will see him again, I think as a tear runs down my cheek. Little does he know the only reason I am doing this is so I can still see him, even if it is just in passing by. Great, leave it to me to fall in love with a guy I met a week ago. I turn around and march up the steps toward the academy determined to get through this.