Bleach AU Fic. Ichigo came down to the harbor every night, ever since he was a child. And he would find a certain silver-haired man there every time. No shippings.

Tags: Ichigo K., Gin I.

Note: If you read my bio, you would know that this was based off of a dream I had. I have the best dreams. Like, this one time, I had a dream that I was vivisecting a snake with Baba Yaga's head. :3

"Ichigo, do you know what an ocean is?"

The orange-haired child turned and looked at his mother in confusion. "Huh?"

Masaki smiled. "Why don't I show you?"

Abandoning the coloring book of Bleach Shinigami, Ichigo followed Masaki to the bedroom window. It was wide open. Streetlights shone several feet below their apartment, and Ichigo noted in awe that the people walking around looked so small.

Masaki pointed to where several boats were docked. "Look. You see the water those boats are on?"

Ichigo nodded, giggling as the warm wind ruffled his hair.

"That's the ocean. It goes on for miles and miles."

"Wow," Ichigo breathed. He looked further, and found that he couldn't see where the ocean ended. "Does it ever end?"

"Well, you would find land, eventually. But it would take a very long time."

"Bajillion years," Ichigo stated matter-of-factly. "It would take bajillion years."

His mother laughed. "You may be right. Hey, do you want to go see it up close?"

Ichigo grinned. "Yeah!"

He skipped to the door giddily, clasping his mom's hand. "We go see ocean! We go see ocean!" he chanted, dancing circles around Masaki.

Isshin walked out of his office, rubbing fatigued eyes. "Eh? What's this I hear about the ocean?" He managed a small smile at the sight of his cheerful son, and Masaki beamed at him.

Ichigo pulled on his father's pant leg. "We go see ocean! You coming, Dad?"

"Of course, Ichigo."

The family walked out of the apartment building and into the harbor. Ichigo scampered to a pier. "Here, here! Ocean!"

Masaki nodded. "Yes, ocean."

"It so pretty." He reached out and put his hand in the water. "Ooh. Cold." He quickly retracted his hand and shook it around. "Cold! Cold!"

Isshin walked up to the side of the pier, gazing out at the ocean. "Hey, Ichigo. Do you see those boats over there? I'd like to ride one of those someday."

Ichigo gazed, wide-eyed, at his father.

"It seems like it would be nice to ride one of those beauties. Don't have to worry 'bout getting wet or anything. Just enjoying the view."

His mother sighed. "I want to go on one, too. Watch the sunset from there, surrounded by a peaceful ocean on all sides. It costs too much, though…"

Ichigo blinked. "Could we really go, one day?"

"I'm certain we will," Masaki assured him. "And you'll be with us."

Ichigo brightened. "Yeah! It will be fun! Maybe we see whale!"

"Sure, why not?" Isshin laughed. "Dolphins, whales, starfish. I'd be glad to see a barnacle."

There was a flash of white to Ichigo's right, and he looked in surprise to see another person sitting on a cliff overlooking the sea. He had silver hair, and his eyes were closed. He wore a white jacket and pants with black outlines. A gray cloak covered his clothing. He noticed Ichigo and smiled, waving. Ichigo waved back. He must like the ocean, too.

A warm hand took his, and Ichigo looked up at his mother. "Alright, that's enough," she reprimanded him lightly. "It's getting late. We should head back to the apartment now."

Ichigo nodded, following his parents away from the doc. He spared one last glance backwards, however the man was gone.

Ichigo was too young to hate people. He hardly disliked anyone. But that one shinigami in his coloring book just bugged him. Ichigo wasn't even sure what about the Soul Reaper with glasses set him off, but he avoided the page as much as possible. Maybe it was anticipation for the next page, where the same Soul Reaper appeared without glasses and a new hairstyle.

It was definitely the hair lock. That one hair lock, right in the middle of his face. Why wasn't it back with the rest of his hair? Why was there that one hair lock?! It frustrated Ichigo to no end.

Annoyed, he flipped around for a while before giving up hope of forgetting the hair lock and went to the window. The cool air blew inside, and Ichigo breathed in the fresh, crisp air. I like the fall. The leaves are so pretty.

"Ichigo! It's time!"

The mop of orange hair perked up, and a wide grin spread across his face as he rushed out to the door, where Masaki and Isshin were waiting. Ever since the day they had gone out to the pier, it had become a everyday tradition. It was always Ichigo's favorite part of the day. The ocean calmed him down whenever he was feeling down about the shinigami with the hair lock or he got bullied by the kids at school.

Every day he would see the same silver-haired man. He never appeared for more than a few seconds. Masaki and Isshin seemed nervous around him, for some reason, which only confused Ichigo.

As he looked at the ledge again, he saw the man again. Ichigo blinked as an overwhelming sadness overcame him. He must be really lonely, up there without anyone to talk to. Maybe I should go and see if he's alright?

But Mom and Dad don't want me to see him.

Hm…should I trick them into leaving for a while?

No, I could never lie to Mom and Dad! It wouldn't be fair. I'll just have to tell them and hope they trust me enough to let me go.

"Mom?"

Masaki looked down at her son. "Is something the matter, Ichigo?" she asked, noting in concern the look of seriousness in his gaze.

"What's so wrong about that silver-haired man? Why can't I talk to him?"

"...you shouldn't talk to strangers, Ichigo…"

"He's lonely, though!" Ichigo interrupted. Masaki's eyes widened as Ichigo continued talking. "I can feel it! I can feel his despair just by looking at him! I don't want anyone to be unhappy. And he's not dangerous. So please let me talk to him!"

Isshin walked over. "What's up?"

Masaki sighed. "Ichigo has some very good reasons for wanting to talk to complete strangers. "

"He's not a complete stranger! We see him here every single day!" Ichigo insisted.

Isshin pressed a hand onto his forehead, sighing. "To put it bluntly; he could be dangerous, Ichigo. We don't know his name, his relationships, his likes and dislikes. He's still a stranger to us. And your mom and I tend to assume the worst of strangers, especially when you're poor. People kidnap children and threaten a sum we can't pay."

"But…"

"No."

"Hello!"

The silver-haired man looked up in surprise at the tiny child hovering next to him. "Why, hello there."

Ichigo giggled nervously. "I'm not supposed to be here. Don't tell Mom and Dad."

The man felt a smile creeping up at the sight of the bright orange hair. "Oh. You should get back to them, right?" he asked, amusement threaded into his tone.

"They're inside, getting my coat. I don't want to make them angry. But you looked really lonely, and I wanted to talk to you!" Ichigo smiled with a childish innocence that the man had long since abandoned. "What's your name?"

The man blinked, shocked at the perceptiveness of this child. He could sense emotions from that far away? That was quite a skill. He let himself smile at the boy, genuinely, for what felt like the first time in years. "Gin. Gin Ichimaru."

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki! Nice to meet you!"

One could not help but "D'awww" at the adorable look on Ichigo's face.

Kids are so cute.

"Alright, I should go back before they see me. You're a nice guy, Gin!" The child ran back down the hill happily, leaving Gin to watch him leave.

"...d'awwwww."

Somehow, his heart felt a bit lighter.

A/N: Frick I'm not used to writing fluff. Also I wrote this a long time ago but I didn't feel like publishing it 'cuz I was stuck on Chapter 2 but then I wrote the entirety of Chapter 2 on the plane yesterday so why not publish it lol. This was short BUT IT GETS BETTER I SWEAR

I'm sorry if this is the first of my stories that you're reading I don't usually write this stuff