A small, black-haired boy wandered across Rukongai, his chocolate eyes taking in every tiny aspect of this new place. He wore a white t-shirt and baggy, brown trousers with a russet-coloured belt on the tightest hole. His trousers look like they would have fitted nicely if not for his slight, slender frame. Hanging off his belt was a wooden sword, obviously hand-made (and not by a professional hand). His smile spread across his face and his eyes glowed with youthful excitement, as he started running. He stopped at the first alleyway he came to and peered in curiously. A second later, he jumped backwards, eyes wide, at the sight that had befell him: a young, skeletal girl was crawling towards him, repeating hopefully "Have you got food? Have you?"
The boy shook his head, frightened, and made to turn away, but the girl grabbed the bottoms of his trousers, looked up at him and continued bleating "Have you got food? Have you?"
"No, I can't give you food. My mummy said not to give or take things from strangers" the boy replied timidly, although his heart was slowly melting for the small, even smaller than him, child below him, desperately gripping his slacks.
"Please can I have the food?" said the girl. She reached into her ragged pocket and produced a bronze 2p coin, before offering it to the boy. "You can have this. It's all the money I have"
Finally, his heart cracked, and he found himself reaching over and gently closing the girls hand with his own. He smiled reassuringly, as the other child blinked up at him, and said warmly "I'm Jushiro Ukitake. Now you know my name, we're not strangers! Right?"
The girl looked stunned for a moment, but a small smile crept up on her lips. She nodded. "Right. Hello, Ukitake-kun. Please can I have the food?"
Jushiro laughed at her persistence and dug deep into his trouser pocket. He pulled a bag of sweets out and, with a huge grin, presented it to the girl, who took it eagerly and ripped the packet open with her teeth.
"I was saving this for my brothers and sisters and I to share, but you can have it" said Jushiro kindly, although he was just repeating what had become a reality already, as the girl shovelled the candies into her mouth. He gave her one last smile, before darting away again, eager to explore more.