A/N: And here's another Yamachi fic! I like this pairing. It's so cute! All from Matt's POV. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story.

Inner Wolf

Chapter 1

Padding through the quiet forest, away from the city, I made my way through the brush to my favorite place, the cliffs. Once a week I would go there to gaze at the moon for an hour, and then head home. When I got there, I sat at the grassy edge, the moonlight turning my blonde fur silver and making my deep blue eyes shine. Sighing heavily, I thought about my current situation.

I was starting my first day of high school tomorrow, and I wasn't too happy about it. My adoptive parents had decided that they couldn't keep home schooling me, so I now have to start going to public school. They had informed me a month ago, and tomorrow was the first day of classes. I wasn't happy about it, especially considering I'd been an antisocial person most of my life. My younger brother was more social than me, and had been going to public school most of his life. I had attended third grade as a kid, but my adoptive parents pulled me out when I started to become violent with other kids that picked on me. We moved after that to another city.

But now I had to go back into public school, this one being a high school, and it was gonna be tough, especially because I was so antisocial. Fortunately, even though my brother is younger, T.K. should be able to keep me company when we're at lunch. I won't be completely alone.

"Matt?" I looked over my shoulder to see a smaller blonde wolf with sky blue eyes padding over to join me. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just peachy," I snorted, looking back up at the moon.

"Look, I know Mom and Dad are putting you in public school, but it won't be too bad as long as you do well with grades and try to make some friends," he assured me. "Besides, you've got me to support you, and Kari, too."

"Right…" I mumbled, sighing. Kari was T.K.'s girlfriend that he had imprinted on a year ago. She was nice and even knew about T.K. and my being human/wolf hybrids. She wasn't afraid of us, and she still loved T.K., no matter what. In fact, the fact that he could turn into a big blonde wolf endeared her to him that much more.

"Come on, let's go home. We need to get some sleep before tomorrow morning," T.K. urged, and I nodded once before he turned and ran back to our home near the edge of the forest with me following close behind. When we got close, we shifted back, and my brother and I went inside to our bedrooms, bidding each other goodnight before disappearing into our rooms. My ears, alert as always, popped back up from being camouflaged in my messy hair once I was in the safety of my room with the door shut. Even my tail wagged slightly as I thought about not being alone. What? I'm a wolf hybrid. We're pack animals, which means we don't always like to be alone. That lone wolf thing? It's pretty much bullshit. Ugh, too much thinking, and not enough sleep. Time for bed.

X*X*X*X*X*X*X

"Ugh, why does school have to be so early?" I grumbled as I walked alongside T.K.

"Maybe you shouldn't have gone out to the cliff last night," my brother chuckled. He was lucky. He didn't have to hide his ears amongst his hair like I have to because he wears a hat all the time. Smirking, I ruffled his hair and ears beneath his hat, making him squeak in surprise. T.K. swatted my hands away, glaring at me playfully. "Don't do that!"

"Just messing with ya, little brother," I grinned, and then we met up with Kari in front of her apartment complex as planned.

"Hey guys," she greeted with a smile. "Tai already went on ahead for soccer practice this morning."

"Who's Tai?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, he's my big brother. He's actually in all of your classes, so he'll probably be the one to show you around the school this week," Kari explained. "After all, you can't sniff your way around there." She giggled at her remark.

"Yeah, trust me, I tried," T.K. grinned.

"And I found you on your first day of classes, lost like a puppy," the brunette girl laughed.

"Ha! Seriously?" I barked a laugh, and she nodded. I looked at T.K. with a teasing glint in my eyes. "No wonder you like her so much. She teases you as much as I do!"

"Shut up…" T.K. grumbled, blushing.

"Be nice, you two," Kari chided. "Besides, we're at the school. Come on, we'll take you to the front office, Matt." And with that, she and T.K. led me to the office, where I told them my name, and they called someone to have my guide come to the office.

"Sounds like Tai's gonna be your guide, Matt," T.K. told me once the lady who had made the call turned away. "Well, Kari and I gotta go to class. Behave, and try not to be too antisocial!" he called over his shoulder as he and Kari left, arm in arm.

"See ya, T.K.!" I waved, and waited patiently for this Tai kid to show up. When a pair of footsteps approached, my ears twitched ever-so-slightly at the sound. Not enough to be noticeable, which was good.

"Hey, your name's Matt Ishida, right?" the owner of the voice asked, and I cracked one eye open to look at him, not really making eye contact. A boy my age with wild brown hair and eyes was standing in front of me, watching me with a grin.

"Yeah. I'm guessing you're Tai, right?" I assumed. He looked at me, puzzled.

"How'd ya know?"

"Kari told me you'd probably end up being my guide for school," I explained in a soft voice.

"Oh, so you're Matt, T.K.'s older brother, huh? Nice to finally meet you!" Tai smiled, and held his hand out to shake it, but I just stared at his hand. Eventually, he pulled his hand back, his expression a little awkward. "Well, anyway, let's get going to our first class, shall we? It's just over this way. You're good with gym, right?"

"Let's just say I run a lot," I stated dismissively. Hell, it's partially true! The wolf part in me allows me to have greater speed, strength, stamina, and endurance than normal humans.

"Well, I hope for your sake that the coach never makes you run laps in class. He'll push you until your legs give out," Tai joked. I smirked internally; I highly doubt it.

"What would make him make me run laps?" I questioned, deciding to test my theory.

"Mainly if you're late for gym or if you refuse to participate," he told me. "Don't do it, trust me. Hey, you can swim, right?"

"Yeah, why?" I said warily, narrowing my eyes.

"Because we're going to be swimming today in gym," the brunette informed me. Immediately, my pupils dilated with fear, and I scowled. I can't be discovered as a wolf hybrid, not at all! If I were to swim, even in trunks, the others would see my tail and ears in the water.

"Uhh…" I uttered intelligently. "I can't. I'm not exactly comfortable around others in the water…"

"Why?"

"I'm just not!" I spat. "I'll run laps instead."

"Okay, okay. Relax, man. It's your funeral," he muttered, folding his hands behind his head as he walked. "Anyway, good luck running laps. Also, just a side note, everyone's gonna have to watch you as you run."

I said nothing, just glared at the floor as we walked. When we arrived at the gym, the coach approached me when I just stood there outside the locker rooms, refusing to change into swim trunks and swim.

"Why aren't you going into the locker room and changing?" he demanded of me.

"I don't want to swim," I replied coolly.

"Either swim or run laps until I say so, punk," the coach ordered. By this time, everyone who had already changed was watching us.

"I'll take the laps," I decided, and I swear, a vein popped out on the coach's forehead.

"Get running!" he barked, and I obeyed, easily running 60 laps in about 30 minutes. Everyone that was watching stared at me, shocked, when the coach finally called me over. I walked over, barely fazed by all the running. "Are you willing to be on our track team, Mr. Ishida?" Thinking about it for a moment, I decided to go for it. Maybe it'll be good for me and I'll make some friends…

"Sure," I agreed. "And just call me Matt."

"Sounds good to me, Matt," the coach laughed, and turned to everyone else. "Get in the pool, everyone, and start your exercises!" The class quickly scrambled to the pool, and he turned back to look at me. "You don't have to swim. You've earned it."

"Thanks, Coach," I nodded.

"Go on off for your next class. That is, unless you need to wait for someone?" he said.

"Yeah, I'm waiting for Tai Kamiya. It's my first day," I answered. The older man stared at me, surprised.

"This is your first day in school and you're already this good at running?" he asked.

"Um, yeah. I go out and run through the woods behind my family's house sometimes," I replied, rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment. Hey, I wasn't lying at least.

"Well, keep up the good work, Matt," he advised, and I nodded.

"Will do." When I finished speaking, the coach left to the pool, barking orders at students in the pool. I noticed Tai as he swam about, doing his exercises, and thought to myself, Hopefully they'll be finished soon, and then I can get to class and possibly sit by myself…

My little hope was granted, and the coach ended class early. Tai climbed out of the pool, shaking out his mane of hair, and then toweled off as he went into the boys' locker room. I stood patiently by the doors to the locker rooms, waiting for the brunette to come out. When he did, he grinned widely at me.

"Dude, that was amazing!" he cried out, thumping me on the back. I jerked forward, but glared back at him when I recovered from the thumping.

"Don't do that," I growled, but he seemed unfazed.

"All right, I won't, but man, you really have a talent for running!" he praised. "No one's ever stood up to the coach like that and walked away, so what you did was pretty impressive."

"I just have a lot of endurance," I muttered as Tai led me to our next class. "So, what's our next class?"

"Oh, it's art. As long as you can draw, you'll be fine," the brunette assured me as we walked.

"I can draw," I confirmed when he looked back at me for an answer. In my mind, I cackled evilly. I can definitely draw, and I'm damn good at it, too. I even play guitar, so that's gonna be fun when we get to music class. Speaking of which, I hope they have a guitar in the room that I can play…

By the time we were all settled in the art room, the bell was about to ring and everyone in the class was piling in. I pulled out my sketchbook, beginning to draw myself in wolf form, but with angel wings. The picture featured my inner wolf soaring along a night sky past the moon. I became aware of someone looking over my shoulder, and I turned to glare at the offender, who was none other than Tai. He quickly looked away, blushing, when I did.

"Do you mind?" I growled.

"Sorry, it's just…you're a really good artist," the brunette mumbled. Rolling my eyes, I turned back to my drawing.

"Hey, would you like to join me and my friends at lunch today?" Tai suddenly offered.

"Why would I want to do that?" I replied without looking at him.

"Well, Kari and T.K. will be there, and I thought you'd like to meet my other friends, that's all," he said.

"…Fine. I'll go, but only because my brother is gonna be there," I muttered.

"You know, it's not exactly good for you to remain so antisocial," he told me, and I whipped my head up to death-glare at him. When I looked into his eyes, however, the crude remark I had on the tip of my tongue vanished, and a jolt of an emotion I couldn't quite identify rushed through me. Nothing felt the same, and I didn't know why. And then, I passed out.

A/N: And there's the end of chapter 1! Also, I'll continue this later. R&R, peeps!