A/N: Hello! This is my first fic and I hope that you will enjoy what I've written. All events are AU, and though in similar settings, they are not quite like the manga/anime itself. I'm going to put the disclaimers once, I don't own anything. I don't think my name is Tite Kubo. All I own is the plot. Now that's done, read on!

A little stroll amidst a gentle drizzle, accompanied by the warmth of a beautiful mother.

Ichigo was content.

It was after Karate class and he was skipping home with his mother, using the route by the river. It was still light out, a sign that the rain would not last.

Curious and enthusiastic as he was, it was not a surprise that he spotted a girl by the river and decided on the spur of the moment that it was his duty to go up to her. He was in one of his better moods. He was not always the most sociable, but at times he would have a sudden urge to make new friends.

Ichigo dashed up to his would-be friend excitedly, towards the figure in a white, flowing dress. The girl was staring out into the river, from what he could tell, and his guess was that she was feeling lonely. She would be a good companion, certainly.

Ichigo's mother smiled as her son took off quickly- she had found it amusing. Most of the time, he was the socially awkward one who hid behind her as she spoke to the teachers. And now it was one of those rare moments that Ichigo had no apprehensions at all, probably a result of a win during a match earlier on. She half-ran, half-walked as she followed her son quietly.

Ichigo stared at the back of the girl for a moment and paused for a moment, suddenly left with fear of rejection. Would she find him weird?

Before he actually had time to ponder, the girl turned around in surprise.

Ichigo could do nothing more but stammer a nervous greeting as a bundle of nerves overtook him. Seeing her face showed him how pretty she was. Untied, long black hair fluttering in the occasional wind and the beautiful brown eyes caught his attention. Though with a beautiful appearance, it appeared that she was troubled as she gave him a sorrowful look.

"Hello there."

He remembered her voice. Tinkling, bright and deceivingly cheerful. At least, that was what he thought. Tongue-tied, he waited till his mother caught up to them. He watched quietly as the girl turned her gaze to his mother. "It's nice to meet you."

In answer, Ichigo's mother grinned. "It's my pleasure to meet such a pretty young lady. Pray tell, what are you doing out here, drenching yourself in the rain?"

Ichigo locked eyes with her, smiling at the girl uncertainly. Let his mother take over. She would give him time to calm himself down. But honestly, in the presence of such a nice girl, he was helpless. Nothing he did came out right.

"Well," the girl answered after a brief silence, "I'm here to fish."

Ichigo couldn't help but question her answer. "Fish?"

She stared at him for a long second.

"Like this."

An intense, searing pain down the front of his torso.

Black.

Darkness.

It was quick.

xxxXXXxxx

Ichigo cracked upon an eyelid as he stretched, yawning as he awoke from a comfortable slumber. He could see the sunlight streaming through the window, lighting up the dusty floor and the man sitting by his bed- wait, what? Dusty floor? Man? Unfamiliar objects?

Abruptly he sat up. Where was he? This place was most definitely not home. All sleepiness had disappeared, in its wake pure panic. Where was he?

Ichigo eyed the crude work on the futon and plain, gray floor. As far as his memory went, he was rather certain that his room had a colourful wallpaper and the floor was parquet.

His sudden movement seemed to have startled the man he had first seen once he had awoken. He glanced nervously at the stranger. He wore clothes that seemed to be battered- rags, actually, and his long, black hair was rather unkempt. The dark brown eyes stared up at him sleepily for a second, before the man began to stretch, feeling satisfied as he heard the crack of bones shifting back into place. Ichigo stared at him albeit warily, yet with a certain amount of curiosity. He watched quietly as those slitted eyes opened to stare at him again.

"Hey, little guy." It surprised Ichigo when he heard a deep, yet kind voice. He hadn't actually expected any kind of interaction. But seeing how this man had laid him on a futon, he couldn't be that bad. Or could he?

"W-Who are you?" As always, he was tongue-tied in front of complete strangers. Not fearful though, seeing how he wasn't hurting anywhere and was completely fine.

The man grinned, reaching forward to stroke his hair roughly, causing Ichigo to wince at the touch. "A stranger." Right. Ichigo inwardly laughed at the obvious answer.

"May I know how I should address you?" His nerves calmed a little at the easy-going attitude of this man, he gathered enough courage to speak coherently.

"Just call me Aki. Don't need any formalities, it makes me feel old."

"Then… Aki? Where am I?" Ichigo glanced at the man, hoping to find some sort of answer from the smiley man. He doubted he was kidnapped… or was he? The unfamiliar environment was enough answer to tell him that he had no clue of where he was. He allowed his eyes to sweep through the room once more, this time focusing on more detail. On the left of his futon was an opened door allowing the sunlight to stream in, lighting up the whole room. A little in front of that was the translucent windows and dusty windowpanes. The wooden table held three lonely, wilted roses that were surely a beautiful shade of red a few days ago, when they were freshly plucked. A single wooden chair accompanied it, extremely bare as well. The floor, on the other hand, was just the floor. Nothing special. Just the ground which was extremely dusty, from what he could see. That left the ceiling and the futon he was resting on. He glanced up discreetly. A single oil lamp stared down at him blankly. And lastly, his futon. It was not the comfiest thing in the whole world as he was used to his bed back home, but it wasn't that bad. At least he wasn't sleeping on the floor.

"-district. Hey, boy, you listening to me? Or am I that boring?" As Ichigo finished his inspection of the room, he suddenly remembered that he had asked a question. And Aki had been so kind as to answer and jokingly reprimand him… Ichigo couldn't help but colour slightly at his fumble. "I'm s-sorry. C-could you please repeat that?"

Aki sighed exaggeratedly and repeated everything again. "You're currently in South Rukongai, District 65. It's known as Fugai. It's part of Soul Society, which is a place for souls like us to reside in. Here, there are 320 districts, and there are 80 districts in the North, South, East and West respectively. Right in the middle is for the Shinigami, what we call the first-class snotty bastards." At this, his eyes took on a steely glare at the wall beside Ichigo.

If he didn't know better, Ichigo would have been too afraid to encourage him to go on. Well, maybe he didn't know better, but either he prompted the man to go on with a little sound forced from his throat. "Aki, what do you mean by 'souls like us?" Ichigo hadn't found it appropriate to cut in into the little speech, and now that there was a highly uncomfortable pause, he decided that it was the appropriate time to enquire.

"Right. You're a new one, aren't you?" To that, Ichigo could only stare dumbly at him.

"It must have been too quick. You seem a little too clueless." Aki smiled warmly at him, padding over to lie beside him. Ichigo tensed for a moment, before lieing down again, turning his head so that he could see Aki. "Sorry to break it to you this way, kid, but you're dead."

Ichigo waited for the words to sink in. It didn't quite seem to fit in right. But you're dead. Dead. Dead. Dead? His eyes widened in shock and he couldn't help but panic yet again. He was dead. Kicked the bucket. Died. Somehow. This wasn't the Heaven he had often dreamed about, not all white and flowery and full of angels and the like, it was just… another place. Not a perfect place, simply a run-down environment.

"Dead?" Ichigo couldn't help but echo faintly, a little frightened. Then where was he? Why wasn't he in Heaven? How did he get here? "Then why am I here?"

"What do you mean? Why? Well, you're just here. It's as good as asking why the sky is blue. You're here, because you're here." Aki answered, a little exasperatedly. "I'm sorry but I'm not the best at explaining stuff. But well, it happens. When you die, you just come here? I don't really know the details though."

Ichigo stayed silent for a while. He tried to think back, right to the last thing he remembered. The sharp, searing pain. And before that, there was that nice, pretty girl. He had been getting his mother to talk to her for him and then, he'd died. Probably.

"Does it mean I won't ever see my mother again?" he inquired quietly, though he was quite certain of the answer. No, no, no…

"I'm afraid not. Even if she were to pass away, there's a very small chance that she'd appear in the same district as you are." Aki patted Ichigo on the back comfortingly. "I'm sorry for this. It happened to me a long time ago, too."

An awkward silence passed between them yet again.

Aki was probably not that used to these types of conversations and coughed. "From now on, I guess I'll be your new family. Don't be so sad, alright? You might have lost a family in the living world, but you have me now. I'll try to fit the role of an older brother." He was startled, of course, when he heard Ichigo sniffing a little as tears started to stream down his young face. Aki knew Ichigo was young, judging from his appearance, and he could tell this wasn't simple to accept. He knew. He'd experienced the same thing a long time ago, the only difference being he hadn't had anyone to stick around for him. "Hey, there are other kids out there who have to experience the same thing, getting a new family and all. They fit in just fine. Don't cry, alright?"

Ichigo desperately tried to wipe the shameful tears he didn't want there, sniffling as he struggled with the fact that he would never see his mother again. Not his mother, his father, his two little baby sisters… He didn't like it. It was unfair. Why couldn't he ever see them again? What had he done to deserve this? Aki was nice enough, but it wasn't the same. Every word coming out from his mouth made Ichigo want to cry even more, and he couldn't actually be a man and stop crying. He could only sob helplessly as his emotions exploded, his mind exploded, his world crashed down. Aki glanced at him uncertainly, arms going over to cradle the boy in his arms, gently holding him close, his eyes closed as he held the trembling boy in his arms. It was always hard when the new ones got here.

He'd never liked the cruelty of the truth.

xxxXXXxxx

It seemed as though he had tired himself out. Ichigo seemed to have cried for everything he had not, for the past, the present and the future. Everything weighing down on him had been washed out completely, leaving him dry and vulnerable. It must have been a long time, for he could remember those long arms around him, comforting him silently as he sobbed away. He turned, fingers rubbing his eyes as he felt the sticky tracks left by the salty tears earlier on. How embarrassing…. Ichigo couldn't help but smile, though. Aki had only met talked to him for a while, but he had broken down so thoroughly in front of a stranger.

No. Not a stranger. Family. An older brother! At that thought, Ichigo smiled a little, his dampened spirits lightened up. He'd always been the oldest in his previous family, and it was strangely comforting to be the younger one, in charge of nothing and being taken care of. He kind of liked the idea. He smiled shyly, feeling the space right beside him. It was still warm, meaning that Aki hadn't left for long.

Clumsily, he climbed up and walked out through the door, intent on finding Aki. He didn't know much about his surroundings, only knowing the overall structure of the districts and the like. What greeted him was a setting sun, leaving the place with a beautiful, red-orange hue that he'd always liked. He remembered sitting by the sea with his family, watching the sun go down. It had always been his favourite scene.

Smiling, he wandered around, watching in awe as he saw what he had left wasn't a room. Rather, it was a little hut. He didn't know how he could describe it, but it was just a small house. Ichigo knew that he was used to seeing nice, big colourful houses and he wouldn't get to see them here anymore, but it was instinctive to compare everything he saw to his old home. The ground and the roads, the houses and the 'huts', the clothes and the rags- so much was different. He couldn't imagine all of this in the living world, as Aki called it, just like how he could not imagine this place in the living world. It was just ancient. The only thing that was similar was the azure blue sky, now pinkish as the sun descended.

Ichigo surveyed the area as he heard the sound of children's laughter tinkling in his ear, seeing many adults going about their life as they walked through the streets. Aki should be somewhere around here… He wasn't sure that he'd be abandoned so soon. He stuck around for a bit, walking around the area before spotting a group of children probably around his age squatting around on a patch of grass. They seemed to be discussing something earnestly. Some company? Still uncomfortable and shy with the idea of speaking with others, he turned back hurriedly, walking back the way he had come from. He couldn't bring himself to talk to them, and desperately hoped that he had not been noticed.

Lady Luck, however, was nowhere by his side. He stiffened as he heard the rustling of the grass as someone ran towards him, and Ichigo stopped moving.

"Hey!" Ichigo turned to face the person who had called him, hesitant to meet the boy's eyes.

He could literally hear himself squeak a meek greeting. "H-hello." Ichigo bit his lip nervously as he squeezed his fingers, incapable of anything but feel his quickly beating heart. He'd never been good with people he had just met. People tended to ignore him for his bright orange colour that he concluded was something nobody liked. He could never find himself comfortable in the presence of others. Only on random, hyper days would he feel courageous enough to speak to a stranger. This was not one of those days though.

"So, who are you? Never seen you here before." the boy brightly asked, watching the little orange-haired child. He was a head taller than the child, and he was probably older by a few years.

"Eh? I-I'm Ichigo. I'm-"

"He's new. Hey, Grimmjow. How are you doing?"

Ichigo's eyes widened at the familiar voice and he whipped his head back, grateful for the intervention. He desperately needed someone at this time and he was so nervous, he was going to screw up any chance of friendship. "Aki! Where were you!" Ichigo quickly hid behind his new brother as he whispered shyly. Aki could only smile as he messed up Ichigo's bright orange locks with affection. It had been less than a day, but he could see that Ichigo was warming up to him nicely. That was definitely a good thing.

When he had first seen the boy lying on the street while asleep, a sign that he was a new kid, Aki had taken it upon himself to care for the boy. He had this instinct that kept telling him to go forward and help this new stray, and he had done so. Aki had let him use his futon, stayed by his side to make sure nothing happened and talked to him kindly. He'd done everything his instincts told him to and decided that he wanted to be a family member to him. Most of the time, the new ones were either alone or, if young, 'adopted' into families already around. Aki had been around for a long time without any relatives, and he felt it overwhelmingly lonely. It was probably what had probably driven him to take care of the boy. Ah, not boy anymore, he'd found out the name- Ichigo. Protector. Lovely.

"So your name is Ichigo, eh? You never told me! I'm hurt!' Feigning a stab to the heart of mock hurt, smiled as Ichigo grinned. "You never asked."

"Yo, Aki. He your charge?" the boy named Grimmjow gestured to Ichigo. "Seems pretty lost. New?"

Aki nodded. "Saw him this morning. Well then, we'll be on our way. I need to get him back and get him familiar with everything. I'll see you guys around, kay?" He added, nodding to the rest of children as they waved excitedly.

So Aki is famous… Wow.

It was somehow a foreign concept to be popular. He had always been discriminated for such an uncommon hair colour, something he had inherited from his mother. Having friends who didn't want to be with "the freak" were so many there were countless, and a select few who actually tried to befriend him ended up shunning him. Ichigo didn't think he had done anything wrong, but the truth was that he wasn't popular. He couldn't do anything but watch as prank after prank was played on him. It had become a daily routine. And Aki was actually nice and friendly with others? Now that was simply amazing. Phenomenal.

Aki slid his hand into Ichigo's own hand, considerably small in comparison, and he led them back to the hut. Ichigo glanced at his new brother, blushing as Aki looked down at him and smiled. He'd been caught staring. He'd noticed that Aki made a good older-brother-figure, with him being tall, easy-going and nice.

It's not bad to have an older brother…

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope this interests you!