Thank you so much to everyone that reviewed, favorite, and story alerted this fic ^_^ and another special thanks to Dream7 for betaing this fic!


The clerk kept a close eye on the three people browsing the goods of his small shop. A forced smile was plastered on his face, and he was having a hard time keeping even that in place. Two of the customers were adults, a man and a woman, who he had known for some time. They came to his store fairly often, and he knew they would pay. The third, however, was a child with bright orange hair who was looking at a loaf of bread. He doubted the kid belonged to the two adults, and he had a creeping suspicion that the boy was going to try to run off with the bread. There were many orphans in Rukongai, and it was common for them to resort to thievery to survive. However, the clerk was not going to allow the brat to get away with it if he tried to sneak off with some of his wares. Anything that was stolen came out of his wallet!

The clerk made his way over to the kid, who didn't seem to notice him until his shadow covered the child. Innocent brown eyes finally looked up at him, and the kid tilted his head questioningly. "Are you going to buy the bread or stare at it all day? If you can't pay, then I suggest you leave," he said firmly, not caring if the kid took offense. He had to protect his store.

Right on cue, Ichigo's stomach growled. He held his stomach and gave his best pout before turning back to the bread. "I'm sorry sir, I don't have any money. I lost my family yesterday when we were traveling." He hiccuped, sounding as if he were about to burst into tears. The clerk kept up a stern face, though he couldn't help but feel kind of bad for the kid. "I don't know where they are … they could be dead, for all I know. I haven't eaten since then," he explained, hiccuping again. Ichigo looked up through his lashes as the other two customers started to walk by, and that was when he started to perform, just as he'd been taught to.

"I'm sorry kid, but if you want the bread you have to pay for it," the clerk said firmly.

"I'm so hungry," Ichigo repeated with a sniffle, "and my family is probably dead. I don't know what to do." He sniffled again and bowed his head.

"Oh you poor thing," exclaimed the female customer, who had come over after overhearing the conversation. She crouched down next to Ichigo and glared up at the clerk. How could he be so cruel as to let a child starve? "Here, I'll buy you something to eat," she said, grabbing three loaves of bread and handing them to the orange-haired child who was wiping his face.

"Thank you," Ichigo said quietly, giving her a small smile. The woman ruffled his hair and paid for the bread.

"Do you need a place to stay?" she asked as she finished paying. She turned and frowned when she discovered that the child was gone. The clerk gave her a knowing look. She had been played.

Ichigo ran down the street as fast as he could with a small grin on his face. He turned left into an alley and found a silver-haired boy waiting for him with a grin on his face. "See I, toldcha it would work," Gin said cheerfully as he hopped off the boxes he'd been sitting on and walked over to his friend to take a loaf of bread.

"I feel kind of bad for taking advantage of that lady like that," Ichigo murmured as he took a bite out of the bread and began chewing. It was good quality bread and most likely had been baked only that morning.

"This is whatcha got to do to survive on the streets. Ya think anyone else is gonna take care of ya? Besides me of course," Gin asked as he broke the bread in half and began chomping down on it.

"No, not really. You're the only one that has ever helped me," Ichigo replied, and stared down at his bread with a troubled expression.

"Don't feel guilty. It was my idea, after all. I wouldn't have been able ta get away with it, but you look so cute and innocent anyone would cave," Gin told him, and his grin widened when he saw a blush spread across Ichigo's face. It made him look even cuter than before.

"I am not," Ichigo huffed, and bit into his bread. The blush slowly faded and his face went into its normal scowl. The two ate in silence, Ichigo refusing to make eye contact with Gin. He knew the other boy was just teasing him; it was one of his favorite pastimes. In the beginning Ichigo had often taken offense to those kinds of comments, but after a while he'd learned that was just Gin. He was rarely serious and even when he was, it could be hard to tell. After their fateful meeting a year ago, Ichigo had found himself not wanting to leave Gin's side. They helped each other out, and even though Gin didn't say it, Ichigo knew he liked having company.

"That reminds me, Ichi-chan," started Gin as he finished his bread. He looked over at Ichigo, whose scowl had deepened. The silver-haired boy refused to let go of that cursed nickname no matter how many times Ichigo told him not to use it. "While I was waitin' for ya, I saw a couple of your friends from last week. Guess next time we should knock them out harder," he suggested playfully.

Ichigo's eyes widened and had to swallow before the food in his mouth fell out. The week before, while waiting for Gin to return with food, Ichigo had had a run-in with a group of thugs that was after him. It was something he was used to, but it still gave him the creeps because he couldn't figure out why those people were after him. Even before he had met Gin, he had constantly been defending himself against gangs and other individuals that came after him.

Gin often teased him about it, saying that they were after Ichigo's cute butt, but that was just silly. Although a few had threatened to rape him or kill him, none of them had ever revealed why they targeted him. He wondered if there was a wanted poster with his name on it. There was no other reason for these people to be coming after him.

"I guess," Ichigo whispered, putting down the bread as he rapidly lost his appetite. Gin's eyes opened and he stared at his only friend. He hated seeing the other boy depressed (although it did made him look adorable). He turned towards the box he had been sitting on and pulled open the little cloth bundle sitting on top. His frown deepened when he realized that there was only half of a persimmon left. This would not do.

"How about we go for a walk to the forest? That usually clears ya head, and besides, we need to get more persimmons," Gin said cheerfully as he picked up the white cloth that held their food supplies and walked over to Ichigo. He took the extra loaf of bread and placed it inside.

"I don't-" Ichigo started unhappily, but was interrupted when Gin wrapped an arm around his neck and brought him closer, causing the orange-haired boy to blush once again.

"I'm not takin' no for an answer, Ichi-chan. If ya are gonna get all emo on me I'm leavin' ya here," Gin told him as he dragged his friend out of the alley, only releasing him when he started struggling.

"Fine," Ichigo huffed with a glare.

"That's the spirit. Last one there has to steal our next meal!" Gin called and ran off, leaving Ichigo in the dust. The redhead's eyes widened and he took off after the other boy. He was not going to be beat by him again!

Gin's grin returned as he ran, holding their food in his right hand and holding the cloth carefully so none of it spilled out. It looked like he had snapped Ichigo out of his stupor; he could hear his friend yelling at him from behind. No matter how out of sorts his friend got, a challenge or a good sparring match always returned him to the Ichi-chan he'd loved from their first meeting. It was Ichigo's tough exterior that had impressed him; even though he was so small and had no weapons, he didn't run and hide like so many others he had seen while on the streets. He wanted to fight. Even during their sparring sessions, he could see that Ichigo was trying to hold back because otherwise he could easily beat him almost every time. It would be more fun if Ichigo would just let go and fight him for real. However, that was the best part of being chased by various strangers – against creeps like that, there was no reason to practice restraint.

Just last month he and Ichigo were walking home, minding their own business, when three people approached them, two guys and a girl. At first they seemed like they were just being rude and trying to intimidate them, but then one of the men said he was going to take the orange-haired kid. When the man went to grab him, Ichigo twisted out of the way and kicked him in the back, stomping on it to make sure he was down before the other man made a grab for him. Gin had missed what happened next, being distracted by the lovely woman who looked at him as if he had seven eyes, green skin, and hands growing out of his head. When he turned around, both men were lying on the ground and Ichigo barely had a scratch on him.

Despite the regularity with which they ran into trouble, they had never met anyone who was a match for the two of them. Still, Gin knew that there might come a time when they'd be outnumbered and unable to help one another. That was why they kept traveling and never stayed in one place for long, but even so, two kids traveling with easily identifiable hair weren't exactly inconspicuous.

"Hmm." Gin slowed his pace when he saw a body lying in the road, and opened his eyes slightly to get a better look. As he came closer, he was able to identify a girl who looked like she had fainted in the road. She wore colorless rags that were in even poorer condition than the ones he and Ichigo wore. Her long reddish hair reminded him of Ichigo's, though it was less vibrant.

Gin stopped before her and observed that she was quite thin and her face was smeared with dirt. His grin returned and he bent down as the girl opened her brown eyes to see what was blocking the sunlight.

"Hiya! Whatcha doin' down there?" Gin asked, cocking his head to the side. The girl's eyes opened wider in curiosity. Many had traveled by on this road, but all had stepped around her as if she didn't exist. This boy was the first to stop. "Ya look awfully thin." He opened up the white cloth he had been carrying and pulled out half a persimmon before handing it to her.

"Thank you," the girl whispered, giving him a small smile before taking a bite. The persimmon felt refreshing in her dry mouth, and she slowly placed one hand on the ground to push herself into a sitting position. She dusted off some of the dirt on her rags and then folded her hands together in her lap. "I don't have any money to pay for it," she mumbled, looking down.

"Ah, it's alright. How 'bout as payment, ya tell me yer name? I'm Gin." He held his hand out to her.

"Rangiku," she replied gratefully, though she still felt slightly lightheaded from the heat and from going without food for so long, and it was becoming difficult to concentrate. She gently leaned against him as her eyes slipped shut and she once again fell into unconsciousness. Gin held onto her for a moment before standing up and lifting her in his arms.

"Gin?" he turned around to see Ichigo standing a short distance away from him looking confused. He didn't know how long his friend had been there, but he would explain things to him later once they got to the forest and into the shade.

"Looks like we got a new companion, Ichi-chan. She is a pretty one, isn't she?" Gin stated cheerfully as he began carrying Rangiku down the road.

Ichigo scowled at the comment and lowered his head so his hair concealed his eyes. He felt a twinge of pain in his chest and didn't know what it was. It wasn't the same as the guilt he felt when stealing from people; it was more like his heart was aching. Seeing the girl in Gin's arms caused it to suddenly erupt, and he realized that he was starting to feel envious of her. It was stupid. Gin had only just met her two seconds ago, and he was already feeling this way.

He stopped before the abandoned cloth that held their food and picked it up. He bit his lip as he looked up and started following after his friend. He knew it was selfish, but he wanted to be the only one that Gin relied on. Now he had to share his friend with some girl? It wasn't fair!


A/N: sorry, this is the boring stuff, next chapter is a bit better and then finally in chapter 4 we finally start getting somewhere! Also, I changed the part with Rangiku (she will be joining them) from the manga. Gin never sees Aizen or his men around there.

Thank you for reading, hope ya enjoyed, and please review!