I wasn't going to post this till after I finished My Paramour... But I had my phone on shuffle and this song came up that completely pushed my resolve to post it early. There are only two chapters left of it so... I thought why not?

I'll be doing something a little bit differently with this story. In each chapter, there will be lyrics to a song that in some way corresponds to the chapter. I'll put the song at the end of the story so if you want to check them out you can! Remember that it's only the lyrics that relate and rarely the actual mood of the song so I don't really recommend listening to them while reading this. But think of them as actual part of the story because they will be there to give a premise for the emotion or to tell an extra something about the chapter that isn't explicitly stated in the actual story.

Also, this is an AU. But it's not like our world AU but one that I made up. Maybe if you've read my story 'Beneath the Penumbra' you would understand this kind of real world/ not real world AU is more of places based on our world but sort of different. Think of this world as like the 20s. There is electricity, cars, boats, trains (but no planes). But they lack certain enhancements such as computers and electronic toys.

Chapter 1

Just a day, just an

Ordinary day

Just trying to get by

The day was sunny and I was sweating through my shirt and shorts. I didn't like the city. Seireitei was the capital of Seishin and where my dad was from, so we would come here every summer break since I was born. Alright, so I had just turned four the week before. But still, I had made up my mind that the city was no place to spend your summer.

Unlike our little island of Karakura, Seireitei was large and noisy. The houses were cramped together, the streets were crowded, and there wasn't even a place to go swimming in. My mom would say that there were many things to do in Seireitei; I just had to look for them. It was definitely not my lack of ability to find something to do, I kept telling her.

At the moment, I was sitting on my porch. I had asked my parents why I couldn't have any siblings to play with. If I had some, maybe I would have a little more fun playing things like hopscotch, backgammon, and cops and robbers. Picking myself off my seat, I walked out of the gates of our small backyard. I should not have done that since I really didn't know my way around, but I reasoned with my conscience that I wasn't leaving the neighborhood, just walking around.

I weaved in and out of houses, keeping close track of what I passed so I could find my way home. That was the easy part. Despite what most people thought, I wasn't as dumb as I looked. And yes, I admit that I probably look like the typical lazy little kid.

As I walked farther down the street, I found a small clearing no bigger than a small room within one of surrounding small houses. In the center was a large, healthy looking tree. The leaves were all different shades of green as they sat above strong and deep pear wood.

I walked a bit closer to the tree and cautiously placed my palm at the base of its trunk. We had many of these trees in Karakura, but I was surprised to see one sitting in the middle of such an urban area. I never would have thought that people here knew the unlimited amount possibilities you could have with a tree: tree houses, climbing, swings, adventures, and much more.

I looked around to find that there was no one around as far as I could see. Letting out a heavy sigh I took a seat on one of the submerging roots. Then, I felt something small and hard hit the base of my neck.

"Itai!" I yelped.

I turned my head frantically and saw a small red pebble lying on the ground. I picked it up carefully and felt the sharpness of its edges. Then I heard a small snicker from above me. I looked up to, at first, see only the leaves, but as I looked closer I began to see the outline of four feet, two small and two big.

"Hey!" I called out to the people up in the tree. "Hey! Did you throw this?"

"Oi," the one with larger feet said, "do you think he's talking to us?"

I could feel my eye twitch. "Of course I'm talking to you! I'm not talking to the tree!"

There was a chuckle from the smaller footed person. The heels swung about almost as if they were a paper in the wind. I found it a little strange that they were bare footed.

"So you arn as bum as you wook," the smaller footed one screamed out. This one had a bad case of the lazy tongue. I knew since I had just grown out of that bad habit.

"I'm not as what as I what?" I shot back.

"I ake back wah I saiv," she snidely shot back.

I felt my eye twitch again. I couldn't really see their faces well as they were obscured by the shadows of the tree but I knew that the bigger footed one was a boy and the smaller footed one was a girl who really needs some speech classes. As we argued, I could still feel the sweat coming from my brow. The sun was relentless. Not that Karakura was less heated, but at least we had a lake and much more trees to keep shade under.

"You threw that rock at me didn't you," I pouted, "Don't be cowards and show me your faces. Or are you all scaredy cats."

I then noticed that the smaller pair had disappeared for a second before a head then came swinging down. It was the girl's. Her eyes were wide and held the most curious shade of dark blue that when the sun fell on her perfectly made them look almost purple. Her black hair was wispily blowing in the small breeze that passed by us making her already tiny and thin body seem even smaller. She wore denim shorts and a white baby-doll dress that she tried to hold down with her hands. Her face was slowly turning pink as the blood began to rush to her head.

"I am non a scary cah," she pouted her rose bud lips and then began to giggle a little bit, "Was your mame?"

I just looked at her for a little bit, processing what she had just asked me. When I did, I took in a deep breath ready to answer. But then I was interrupted.

"Rukia!" The big footed one called out, "You're going to pass out again." His worried tone was that of how I wanted to sound when I finally got my own little siblings.

"Renji," She whined out then shushed him, "I wan oo listen oo his answer!" She then relaxed her neck and her head began to swing once more, this time even redder than before. "So was your mame?"

I blinked a bit. "Uh," I uttered, "I'm Ichigo."

I expected a chuckle or another laugh, the usual reaction to my name. But she never did it. She only smiled at me, "So who are you pro-ecking?"

Something in my heart began to come alive. I was feeling a little bubbly inside, as if there was a little song that had just arisen in the metronome of my heart. I wasn't sure if it was her comment, pure innocence, or smile that had just lightened my day a bit more, but something did.

I smiled back at her, which made her grin wider, "No one yet! But my mommy says that it should be the one that holds my heart!"

That was when she began to laugh. Her body swung back and forth and shook with her giggles. Renji was screaming at her now to sit back upright while she just continued to mock and whine at him. They were a weird pair. He seemed older than me, and definitely older than her. When I decided to ask her, she just stopped laughing but still with that girlish smile spread across her lips. Holding out one hand she gave me an 'M' with her fingers.

"Three!" she proudly stated. Just then she fell from where she was with a loud thud. My eyes were wide with worry; she lay on the floor clutching her head in pain. I crouched down by her and asked if she was alright. I was scared she was going to wail out and attract unwanted attention from the houses nearby, but to my surprise, she began to make some strange hand signals the boy in the tree with a pained expression on her face.

I gave her a questioning look as she turned back to me.

"It's a secret sign language we made up," the boy who was in the tree jumped down, "She just told me that I will regret that when I sleep."

"Renji!" the girl shouted at him, "Is nah a secwet if you say oo udder people!"

"Ah," Renji whined, "Rukia, we can tell him." He gave me a smile, "this little guy has some spunk and I like it. He was able to talk back to you."

Rukia gave out a little pout of her already bubbled lips and stuck her tongue out at the both of us. She pulled herself up to her feet and patted down her white dress that now had dirt spots on its edges but she seemed to take no care in it. After wiping off some of the dust on her feet she placed a finger between her two eyes.

"Now she just called me a meanie," Renji explained. He lifted a fist and swung it in front of his face as Rukia stuck her tongue out at him once more. "And I just said 'back at you'."

I looked back at Rukia who just had her arms crossed in front of her chest, still a pout present on her features. She took a deep breath and a smile returned to her face as she walked up to both of us. With a raise of her fist, she gave a firm punch to both of our arms.

"Ow!" Renji and I wailed out, both of us rubbing our abused muscles.

"Okay, ay wet him join ow gwoop," Rukia pointed a finger at me, her eyes glistening with mischief, "if hees cam cwimb da chwee!"

I paused to think of what exactly she said. I then realized that they were staring at me, waiting for me to start climbing the tree. I smirked at them confidently and reached up to grab a stubble of a branch. Using that I was able to pull myself up and put my foot into a small dent in the bark. Climbing was easy; Karakura had so many trees that all you could really do with them was climb. I heard some scratching from under me and looked down to see that Rukia was following close behind.

"Whah aw you ooing! Keep goin'!" She yelled at me.

I shook off the shocked feeling I had in my stomach and continued up the tree. I reached up and grabbed the last branch that brought me to the top. I scooted over to allow room for Rukia and Renji to climb up as well. I scratched my head and ducked lower so that my head wouldn't break the roof of the canopy. I had always known pear trees to be very small and fragile, but this one held our weight so nicely. It felt safe and sturdy.

"I made it you see," I said cockily.

Rukia completely ignored my boast as she balanced herself on the branch. Renji gave her a helping hand as he too made it to the top with us. She looked at me with her large, baby eyes and shot up so that her head disappeared above the leaves. Renji motioned for me to follow as he did the same.

I nodded and did my best to push my way up through the tightly knit leaves. Picking out some twigs from my hair, I grumbled something under my breath about how easy the 'test' was.

"Istigo!" Rukia yelled. I was going to tell her not to shout so loud, that I was right next to her. "Was you see?"

She pointed her finger to the view we now had beyond the closely built houses.

"I see Seireitei," I stated.

Rukia rolled her eyes and hit me on the head, causing me to almost lose my footing on the branch we were standing on.

"I know iss Seiwei-ei!" She turned her attention back to the city, "buh wah else?"

I looked back and saw what I saw before, Seireitei, a city with tall buildings, noisy cars, and unbelievable amounts of smoke filling the sky.

I told her this and she only shook her head in disapproval.

"Rukia," Renji poked the back of her head, "The sun's going to set soon."

Rukia looked back over her shoulder along with me. The sun was just touching the roof of the houses, its gold rays shining back at us. Rukia shaded her eyes with her hand, the purple hue disappearing back in deep midnight blue. She huffed out a sigh of defeat and started to climb back down.

"Wait," I called out to her and Renji. I quickly followed them down, calling to them again, "Wait!"

Renji stopped first, Rukia soon did after. They looked at me, waiting for a reason for their delay. I hadn't actually known why I asked them to stop. I hadn't really even known them for a day. And yet, at the moment I felt like I wanted to know them, I wanted to see them again. I wanted to see her.

"Wah?" She asked with a hand on her hip, feigning impatience.

I stood there nervously as my feet were fidgeting against the root of the trees. "Do..." I began but stopped. "What did you see up there?"

She straightened and looked at me as if never expecting to be asked. But as a smirk came up to her face, I knew that she had really been waiting for me to ask all along.

"Come ear ah noon oomah-woah," She yelled with a smile, "aisle 'ell you den!"

Renji tugged on the hem of her dress, pleading for her to hurry away with him. She swatted his hand away with a playful smile and his presence seemed to dim into the background, though he stood in the same place.

"How do I know that you're going to be here tomorrow?" I asked.

She looked up, as if the answer were just there for her to take out of the air. She looked back at me and smiled before walking over. She pulled out something from her denim pocket and motioned for me to open up my palm. I did and she placed something round and hard into my hand.

"I nee dis in o'der oo buy a dwop of cannee for Renji's bir'day," She whispered, "So I'll come back oo get dis."

When I looked down, I saw that it was a copper coin with the words '2 Piin' engraved at the bottom. It wasn't worth much. It couldn't buy you even one drop of candy from a corner store. But the copper seemed darker, older than the ones that would sometimes fall out of my mother's purse.

"Rukia!" Renji called out to her from where he stood, "Buta-sama is going to be mad!"

"Uhming!" Rukia cheered and ran back to Renji's side. They both waved and she yelled out a goodbye, "See you oomah-woah Istygo!"

I blushed as she said my name, "My surname is Kurosaki."

"Why would I 'all you Oorosaki?" She stopped and tilted her head to the side.

I looked at her stunned. In my shock I was able to mutter out, "J-just to b-be polite."

Renji chuckled out loud. "You're part of the group now Ichigo! We aren't formal anymore," he laughed, "not like we ever were really."

As they walked off, I smiled. When they disappeared behind the houses, I turned and ran as fast as I could back home. My small fist were clenching as hard as they could onto that small copper coin. My feet were flying as I rushed back down the gaps between the houses and back into our small yard. The patio door was left unlocked to my relief and I stepped inside.

There my mom stood with a large bowl that she was mixing. The room smelled like vanilla and almonds. She gave me a sweet smile and placed the bowl down. Her hands came to rest on her bulging stomach and she soothingly rubbed it in a circle.

"You have an awfully large smile Ichigo," She said to me. "Did something really good happen while you went off playing?"

She slowly took a seat across from where I sat on the table. My hands still held tightly onto the copper coin.

"N-not really," I said with a small blush, "Where's dad?"

She gave me a skeptical look, but brushed off my eagerness to change the subject. "He's upstairs sleeping early. Choosing baby names is hard work for your father." I nodded absent mindedly. She smirked and looked away, starting to talk as if talking about the weather, "You know, it would be nice if you could help us choose one…"

My ears immediately popped up as I stared back at her. I was quickly by her side, jumping up and down with excitement at the offer.

"I get to choose a name? I get to choose a name?" I repeated over and over again.

My mom threw her head back in laughter, her white teeth having no decency at all. "Of course you can!"

"A-alright," I stuttered a bit. I bit my tongue and twisted my face in a way that I always did when "thinking" utterly hard. Being offered to choose a name of my younger sibling was a big deal for me. It had to be perfect. My mind turned and flipped, running so many different traits I wanted from a younger sibling. But my mind kept wandering back to that forgotten tree that sat between the houses, and my encounter with Rukia and Renji…

"Ichigo," My mother cut through my thoughts, "do have a name?"

I didn't answer right away, only looked at her warm eyes. "Yah…"

"Really? What is it?"

"Karin," I said with a smile.

"Karin," my mom repeated, feeling as the syllables rolled off her tongue. "And is that for a boy or girl?"

"I-I don't know," I pouted. I hadn't really thought of that part yet. The name just came to me. "Both I guess."

"You guess," she smiled and lovingly down flicked my nose. I laughed like I did every time. "Wow, it really is hot. You're sweating like a dog too!" She ruffled my hair that was sticking with my perspiration. "I just made some tea, I'll pull out a few cubes of ice from the chest to make it colder. How does that sound?"

I smiled and nodded my head in agreement. She got up with a small groan and went to prepare some iced tea for me. I walked over and tried to peer into the bowl she had been mixing when I came in earlier. When she finished, she handed me a cup, the one with blue birds on a telephone pole.

"I'm making cookies, so that tomorrow you can have some to eat." She told me. She bent down and gave me a small kiss on the cheek, which I gave her a huge grin for. "When you're done with that, go up stairs and clean off all that dirt on your face."

I nodded and quickly finished my iced tea. I gave her a small hug and rushed over to the stairs. I went half way up before going back down. An idea had crossed my mind.

"What is it Ichigo?" my mom asked.

"Mom, can you pack my cookies instead tomorrow? I'm going back to play again." I said in a hurry.

"Sure Ichigo," She smiled warmly at me.

"A-and can you pack a lot! I-I might be out long," I continued.

"Sure Ichigo."

With my excitement building, I turned and ran back up the stairs, still holding tightly onto that copper, 2 piin coin.

I ran down stairs the moment I had opened my eyes. My body was still a little flaccid from sleep but I did my best not to run into any walls or fall down the steps. With a small slide, I made it into the kitchen where I found my mother with a plate of food. She gave me a sweet smile and set it down on the table.

"Good morning Ichigo," she said.

I smiled back at her and took a seat, "G'monring mom!" I took a bite, shoving the contents on my plate.

"Slow down there Ichigo." My mom and I both looked up at the sound of my dad's voice as he came down the stairs. His eyes were half lidded as he was still trying to get used to the bright morning sun. He walked over and ruffled my hair, "remember your food is dead so it won't be moving anywhere anytime soon."

"Isshin!" My mom pointed her fork at my father with an expression that I used to like to call 'the tiger stare'.

"What?" My dad grinned widely and gave her a big smooch on her left cheek. I turned away, always feeling uncomfortable when my parents would show unnecessary forms of affection. My mom had noticed my eyes trying their hardest to avoid them and she laughed.

"Aw, Ichigo," she cooed, "Mommy will always love you too! Now let me give you a big smooch." And thus she leaned across the table, grabbing my two cheeks tenderly and tried to force her lips onto my face. I struggled with a smile on my face and laughter caught in my throat.

My dad chuckled and gently pulled my mom back. "Alright, so Ichigo, what has you all in a hurry that you feel the need to inhale your food?"

I was half way done with my breakfast, and two-thirds done with chewing a bit in my mouth. Swallowing hard I managed to cough out, "I just really want to finish so I can go outside and play." I dove in for another mouthful of rice. Wiping my mouth with my sleeves I held my plate out to my mom, "All done!" and pushing my chair out, I rushed to put on my shoes that were laying by the back door.

"Hold on racer," my mom chuckled. She lifted herself up and grabbed a bag from the table. "These are the cookies I made yesterday. I put a few extra ones in there like you asked." She squatted down to my level on the floor and placed the bag in my tiny hands. "Be sure to have fun and stay safe alright?"

Giving her a peck on the cheek I gave her a thumb up. "I will!"

And with that I bolted out the door. This morning was a little chillier than the day before but I could tell it would still be hot and humid. I followed the trail of houses like I had done before and made my way to the pear tree. When the green leaves came into view, I had had expected the two of them to be up on one of the branches, legs swinging in impatience. But I was there alone.

For a moment I panicked, I searched all around the base of the tree, climbed it, and looked out around the small area. They weren't there. So I waited. I stood there up above the canopy looking out over the rooftops. My head tilted to the side, trying my hardest to see whatever Rukia could and I could not see. I hadn't known how long I stood up there just looking at the landscape, but I knew that it was long enough that I almost lost all feeling in my legs and my stomach cried out for more food. I was tempted to eat a cookie from the bag but restrained myself. I wanted us three to eat them all together.

"Itsygo!"

I looked down to see who had called my name, not that I didn't already know who it was. Only one person had ever called me such an odd way. Rukia and Renji were walking from around the corner of one of the houses, their hands frantically waving around them. Carefully, I made my way down from the top branch and met them half way.

"You guys are late!" I exclaimed much angrier than I had planned on being. Both of them looked at me surprised at the coarse greeting.

Rukia pointed up at the sky, a look of pure innocence upon her face. "I say noon."

I looked up and had to shield my eyes. The Sun was directly overhead, it was noon. I blushed in embarrassment but quickly composed myself.

"I-I brought your piin back," I stuttered. She smiled at me and held out her hand. I placed the 2 piin in her outstretched palm which she quickly shoved into one of her pockets. I took note that they were barefoot again.

"Piin?" Renji stared at the both of us confused.

"No'ing Renji," she smiled politely at him. "Oh, you ed you wanna know wah I saw up der?" She asked but didn't really seem to want an answer to because immediately after asking she made a run for the tree and started climbing. Renji followed after, not fazed at all by her restlessness.

When I made it to the top branch with them, I looked back out over the houses, to the crowded streets and small brick buildings, things Karakura didn't have. Rukia spread open her arms, welcoming a small breeze that passed us by.

"You wanna know wah I see Itsygo?" She asked, not expecting an answer, "Der is no'ing, so I see erieding!"

"That doesn't make sense," I stated.

"She means that she can make all this into anything," Renji clarified for me with a smile on his face. He looked out in wonder at the scene before us, as though that was what he too saw. "I didn't used to believe it, but when Rukia showed it to me a few weeks ago, I really see it! What your heart is into it, you can make this place into anything you want!" I still didn't get it, I still saw the smog, the buildings, the loud bells and horns, and I just couldn't imagine it.

"Jus forre' abou' eh," Rukia shouted at me, he eyes filled with determination to make me see what she saw, "Jus forre' abou' de noises," she put her hands over my ears, "Jus forre' abou' de ings you see and 'ink abou' der bein' rees! Los of rees!"

I looked into her eyes and though all the sounds around me were muffled, her will seemed to speak louder to me. Her irises had turned a deep purple as they concentrated on me. She slowly let her hands slip from my ears and the sounds began to poor back into me. But they seemed different in a way, I wasn't sure how though until I turned back to the landscape of the city. Only this time, it seemed cleaner. I could still see the smog and crowed streets, but at the same time I couldn't. It was strange to me, to see it in this way, this new way.

In my revelation, I had been too occupied to notice that Rukia and Renji had climbed back down.

"Oi," Renji yelped, "What's this?"

I looked down to see that he was rubbing his head with one hand and holding a bag with the other. Realizing that I had seemed to have dropped the cookies I fumbled down the tree, muttering apologies. When I got down, Rukia was already doing her best to try and sooth Renji.

"S-sorry," I took the bag from him and tried to open it fast. Inside, the cookies were already crushed and broken. I tilted my head back in frustration, "they were cookies my mom made." I pulled out a piece and looked at it sadly. "It should still taste good though," I said, "Try them, my mom makes good cookies!"

Renji didn't take it. He only looked at it a little warily; his brow scrunched a bit in debate. Rukia only rolled her eyes and did not hesitate to grab the piece from my hand and forcefully shove it into Renji's mouth. She then reached into the bag herself and forcefully shoved another piece into my mouth.

"Dere!" She screeched in delight and took a piece for herself, "now dah we are all ea'ing happiwee – wow is good! – you nee oo do one moe 'ing…"

"This is really good," Renji marveled.

"Sih down," Rukia urged. Though for her it really wasn't an urge rather than a command. So I did and so did Renji. She looked over to Renji, as if asking for permission for something. He nodded and smiled at me. "O'ay," she started, "we are goin oo 'each you ow oo do ow'er seecweh lan-lan..lan…" She struggled to say the last word.

"Language," Renji helped. "Now that you're part of the group, you need to know the secret language. So that whenever there are other people we can talk. It's not hard. You should know it so that tomorrow we can do lots of stuff!"

Tomorrow… There was something about that that seemed important. "Uh," my face twisted, trying to remember, "I think I'm leaving tomorrow…to go back home."

The two had been reaching to grab another broken cookie from the bag but stopped. Renji had just pulled one out while Rukia was about to put her hand into the bag. They looked at me as though I had grown a second head.

"You leavin' oomorrow?" Rukia repeated.

"Yah," I answered apologetically, "I think I am…but I'm sure I'll come back next year though!"

"Buh das nes year!" Rukia shouted as though that were the most obvious thing in the world. "Nes year you migh for'eh dis!"

"I won't!" I shouted back. And she was silent, just looking at me with a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I-I won't forget any of this, so teach me, and I'll come back next year and we can do a lot of things like Renji said."

The two of them looked at me, not saying a word. Renji was the first to return to normal, taking a bite out of his piece of cookie. "You promise right? Then I believe you Ichigo."

Rukia turned back to glance at Renji just calmly eating his cookie. She made a small grunting sound and reluctantly accepted my promise too. And so we spent the day with them teaching me words in their secret language. Sometimes Renji would do a sign and Rukia would argue that he was doing it wrong then do the exact same thing. When I pointed this out to her she would pout and insist the she did it better than, followed with the phrase, "I may dis uf ayeeways."

When I would do it wrong, she would stop me with a shake of her head, reach over, grab my hands, and move them in the correct motions. While she did it, she looked so concentrated that I thought her eyes crossed at some points. And that was how I learned. At first with just one word at a time, but towards the end they started stringing together into phrases, then sentences till soon we were almost ready to have an entire conversation. I was signing slower than the two of them, and sometimes I couldn't keep up with their fast moving hands, but I was getting better as the sun began to set.

"Rukia," Renji said out loud, "The sun's setting, we should go."

Her lower lip protruded and she crossed her arms in annoyance, "Aw Renji!"

"I don't want Buta-sama to yell at us! And I know you don't want her to yell at you again."

Rukia shuttered at the thought of this Buta-sama yelling at her sometime before and reluctantly took Renji's outstretched hand of help. "You romiss you'll be 'ere nes year as de same 'ime?" She asked me, eyes gleaming up at me.

I looked up, thinking for a moment for the words. Then remembering the movements, I pointed a finger to myself, and then proceeded to draw an 'X' over my heart. Rukia only gave me a toothy grin but still remained skeptical.

"Ow do I know you are 'elling de rooth?" She pointed an incriminating finger at me.

"Come here tomorrow," I said, "I'll be here tomorrow morning and I'll show you I'm telling the truth."

She nodded her head in agreement and allowed Renji to pull her away.

The same seen from the morning before played out. I woke up, my legs a little wobbly from sleep, and headed to eat my breakfast. My dad came down, asking me why I was in a hurry to finish, that our boat wasn't going to leave for another few hours and that we still had time to enjoy our food before devouring it. I just said I wanted to play outside one last time before we left.

I ran as fast as I could to the pear tree that stood between the houses. There waiting against the bark was Rukia. She pushed herself off of the sturdy wood and made her way over to me, not asking any questions, just waiting for me to prove my point. I motioned for her to hold out a hand, she did. I reached into the back pocket of my pants, and pulled out a crinkled piece of paper.

"My mommy says that next year I'm going to have a new baby sibling," I told her, "and I want to give it this picture I drew last night. So I have to come back and get it okay?" I placed the paper into her hands. She nodded at me and gingerly opened it.

I had drawn a little red oval with eyes and a shaky looking blob with orange spikes at the top. She turned it sideways and tilted her head another way. "Was dis say?" She pointed to a black arrow I had draw with words scribbled on top.

"Karin," I said confidently, "Can't you tell? Ka-rin…"

She didn't look at me. "I don know how oo read." Shed folded the paper back up and shoved it into her own pocket. "So wah if is a girl?"

I was taken aback by her question. What if it was a girl? "Karin can be a girl's name!" I said defensively.

She shook her head, "Is can be. Buh you nee som'ing dah is nah so sewious…" She placed a finger on her chin in thought, "ligh Yuzu!"

"The name is literally not so serious," I clarified.

She nodded. "Mhm, I have oo go now. You romiss oo come back?"

I made the 'X' over my heart, "Promise." Then suddenly remembering, I reached back into my pocket and pulled out some copper coins. "Here, to help with Renji's birthday present." I had found them under the couch the night before and immediately thought of the small 2 piin coin she had shown me.

She took them and thanked me. Then, without a moment's hesitation, she punched me on arm. I yelped in pain, demanding what it was for.

"You be'er com back you ear?" she told me, "or else I'm goin' oo punch you arder nes 'ime!"

"I will, I will," I muttered, my hand rubbing the sore spot on my arm.

She turned on her heel to leave, a hand high in the air waving back to me. "See yah Itsygo!" she shouted before disappearing around the corner of a house.

The boat had long since left the harbor of Seireitei, and we were off to go back home to Karakura. The boat didn't directly go there though; it only took passengers to the island of Hokutan (which took a day and a half if the waters were generous). From there you had to catch a ride from one of the small trade boats back to Karakura that was about another three days of rocking and swaying. My head was leaning on the edge of the boat, an arm dangling over the edge.

"Feeling alright Ichigo?" My ad asked, smacking me hard on the back. I turned and raised a fist up to him and his roughness.

"I'm fine!" I insisted.

"Of course he's fine," my mom rubbed my back soothingly. "I'm pretty sure he's glad that we're out of the city and heading home. We'll be on Karakura shore in a few days Ichigo."

I smiled up to her and rubbed the back of my neck, "A-actually mom, I was hoping we could go back to Seireitei next summer break. I-I kind of l-like it there."

Both of my parents looked at me as if I had grown another head. Then my dad exploded with laughing, hitting me once again on the back. "I thought you hated the city? Well, a change of heart is never unhealthy!"

"Oh, don't tease the boy so much Isshin, look he's blushing!"

I hadn't noticed how red my face was until she pointed that out. I quickly turned back to the open sea and leaned against the railing again. They must have thought that I had long since stopped listening to their conversation but still went on.

"Honestly your son," my dad was shaking his head in amusement, "He complains the whole boat ride there and wants to return the whole boat ride back? I sometimes wonder how I could have ever made such a confusing little boy."

"Don't say that Isshin," I could imagine my mom bumping him in the hip, "you know you did the same thing when you were first stationed in Karakura. You came mumbling all day about how small and boring our little island was, your patients sometimes thought you were grumbling to a ghost!" She laughed. "But when you were told to go back the following year you pleaded with the main hospital to allow you stay, talk about mixed messages. He gets it from you, you know."

My dad chuckled, and I shuddered as I heard their lips touch.

"Well yes," my dad responded sheepishly, "But that was only because I found that Karakura had the one thing Seireitei didn't: the most amazing woman I will ever meet."

"You flatter me."

She didn't say more. I allowed my lips to curve into a smile. I guess it wasn't until much later did I realize that I related to my father in more ways than just sharing the same blood.

Just a boy, just an

Ordinary boy but

He was looking to the sky

End Chapter 1

Well, there's the first chapter. It's slow I know but... I hope you like it and think there is some potential :)

So a piin (pronounced as pin) is the value of their coins, coppers being worth the least. There are 10 piin (larger copper coin), 20 piin (small silver coin), and 50 piin (larger silver coin). It's the typical 100 piin will equal to one sen (pronounced the way it's spelled) or paper money. Don't worry, you don't have to remember this, I won't put too much money stuff in this story :P

No, they do not have the technology to determine whether a baby is a boy or a girl. And Karin's name in Kanji means 'Summer Pear Tree' if you didn't know so… yes :D

And in this world, like in Asia, the names determine your closeness to a person. Saying the last name means you're the least familiar with a person, saying the first name out right means you are really familiar with a person. And if you add honorifics it also determines how familiar you are. 'Chan' and 'kun' are terms of endearment so it means you are closer than just saying the names out right. 'San' means you are not as close and 'sama' is a term of respect. But what trumps all is if you have a nick name given to you. This means that you are so close, you can do that.

If you have any questions about this story or the world please let me know :) This story will take a lot out of me and a lot of effort so... Please review and tell me what you think!

The song lyrics are from Ordinary Day by Vanessa Carlton