Disclaimer: I don't own it, okay? Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite. "My Pace" (the song and lyrics) belongs to SunSet Swish and I demand that you listen to it (I've had it for like a week and I've already listened to it at least 43 times, according to iTunes XD)

Note #1: Ichigo is not entirely OOC. If you think about it, he was a bit of a sissy before his mother was killed. I'm pulling from that. I promise he becomes more canon later, though.
Note #2: Most of this chapter is dialogue. I'm hoping you guys can paint your own scenes for yourself with what I have.
Note #3: Yay for dialect! XD
Note #4: OMFG mean Isshin! XD Haha - leave it to me to twist a character. Canon!Isshin is rather abusive towards Ichigo, though, it's just that he's a goofball so we don't really think much of it. If he were an angry man and that abusive, we'd totally hate him, right? Right. So start hating AU!Isshin, coz he ain't gonna get a whole lot more likeable.
Note #5: I have a surprise pairing (with a plot twist!) waiting in the wings and I think it may actually be original (I'll get back to you on that). There also may be a few implied crack pairings, but that could very well not even happen.
Note #6: I er... may or may not have Urahara totally IC. He's a bit of an unpredictable yet highly loveable nut, so I'm attempting to keep him as in-character as possible.

Okay - enough of the notes. Thank you, my lovely reviewers! I love reviews - they make me happy :3


My Pace : It's Okay to Live
"Hitotsu kazoete sumeba ii"


Ichigo sat in the alleyway, his knees pulled up against his chest as he attempted to keep warm. The wind had picked up during the night and was now howling through the streets, blowing the autumn leaves everywhere.

This was such a bad idea…

It was the middle of the night in the middle of October, and little Ichigo had run away from home. He wore a beanie to hide his orange hair, but other than that, he hadn't given thought to protecting himself against the cold. The only other thing he had brought with him was a stuffed lion he had named Kon, which he was now hugging tightly to his chest.

Kon, I'm scared…

Strangers walked past the alleyway entrance, some of them stumbling around, others in groups, laughing with each other. Ichigo had tucked himself away deep enough into the darkness to keep from being spotted easily, but that didn't stop him from tensing up every time somebody so much as paused by the entrance. In all his fear, Ichigo had taken to gnawing on Kon's ear.

"What's a little boy doing around here this late?" somebody said, snapping Ichigo to attention. "Did you get lost, little boy?" the man asked. He was tall and smelled of alcohol. Ichigo froze even though every nerve in his body screamed at him to run. The man's voice was too sweet. It kept Ichigo rooted to the spot.

"Get lost, creep!" somebody snapped from deeper into the alley, scaring Ichigo even further.

The man seemed just as surprised, but quickly left as a pebble came hurtling towards him.

Ichigo finally saw his savior – he was a boy maybe a year older than him with vibrant red hair pulled back in a ponytail. "Damn freak," the boy growled. He turned to Ichigo. "C'mon, kid, he won't be the last pervert comin' by here," he said, holding out his hand.

Ichigo silently took the other boy's hand and helped himself up. "A-arigatou," Ichigo stammered before shivering.

"Yer a runaway, ain't ya? Got clothes too nice t'be an orphan, 'nless ya stole 'em," the boy talked, leading him down the alley. "I'm Abarai Renji, by the way. Jus' call me Renji, tho', coz Abarai's the ones who dumped me here. What's yer name?"

"Ku-Kurosaki Ichigo," Ichigo stuttered.

Renji smirked. "Ichigo, huh?"

"I-it's written diff'rent," Ichigo said, trying to explain that his name wasn't literally "strawberry."

"Yeah, yeah, I b'lieve ya," Renji replied as they entered an abandoned building. "Hey, this is prob'ly gonna sound like a funny question, but can ya see ghosts?"

Ichigo thought for a moment, deciding on how he wanted to reply to that. "I-Isshin says ghosts aren't real," he answered in a small voice.

"Who the fuck's Isshin? I don't care what he thinks – can ya or can't ya?"

"Renji-kun, don't be so rough," a girl said, stepping into the area where the boys were. "There's a simple way to figure this out." The girl walked up to Ichigo and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Kuchiki Rukia."

"Kurosaki Ichigo," Ichigo replied with a slight blush, shaking her hand.

Rukia smiled and turned to Renji. "That would be a yes, Ren-chan."

"Don't call me that!" Renji snapped. "Che, stupid girl…"

Rukia ignored him and turned her attention back to Ichigo. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to the side of Ichigo's head. There was a light bruise on the side of his face.

Ichigo looked down sheepishly. "Isshin hit me… He says I cry too much and real boys don't cry."

"Tch, this Isshin guy's soundin' like a real bastard," Renji said. "You got any other bruises or anythin'?"

Ichigo shook his head.

"Hey, Rukia, where's ev'ryone else?"

"I don't know," Rukia answered. "You better get to Urahara's soon, though. Yoruichi came by here when you were gone."

"Yeah, I was jus' gonna drop Ichigo off here before I left."

"Boke! He's not another ghost – he'll freeze here overnight!"

"Aiya, Rukia! Alright, alright! Sheesh…"

"I-it's okay," Ichigo said. "I can stay here…"

"Like hell you can!" Rukia snapped. "Don't worry about it – Urahara-san is really nice."

"Yeah, if you ignore the whole slave labor thing," Renji muttered.

"He's giving you a place to stay and food – the least you can do is help out."

Renji just snorted and led Ichigo out the door. Ichigo kept holding his hand because one, it was warm, and two, Ichigo didn't want to get separated. Renji didn't seem to mind. Ichigo just noticed that Renji was just in jeans, ratty shoes, and a t-shirt. "Aren't you cold?" Ichigo asked.

"Hm? Nah – cold doesn't bother me 'til it starts snowin'. I lived on the streets for a few years b'fore Urahara took me in. Hey, how old are ya?"

"Nine," Ichigo replied.

"Huh. I thought ya were like seven or somethin' – yer kinda scrawny."

"How old are you?"

"Ten. I think. Kinda hard t'keep track sometimes. Not that it really matters much. Oh – watch out for Jinta. He's only five, but he'll push ya 'round if ya let him. Ururu's eight and he bosses her 'round like there's no tomorrow. Kinda funny sometimes. The girl could kill 'im if she had a mean bone in her body, so don't think she's getting' victimized or anythin'."

"Victimized?"

"I dunno. It's the word Urahara used when he told me. If Jinta does start pickin' on ya, ya can get Tessai-san and he'll set the kid straight. But if ya kick his ass, he'll leave ya 'lone."

Ichigo let Renji babble on and felt strangely calm. Renji hadn't said anything about the stuffed animal, which Isshin had always said was babyish.

"Ne, Renji?"

"Huh?" Renji stopped talking and looked at him.

"How far away is it?"

"Not too much more – you getting' tired?"

Ichigo nodded a bit.

"Take yer hat off – the cold'll keep y'awake 'til we get there."

Ichigo nodded again and tugged the beanie off.

Renji blinked and smiled. "That any better?"

"Mmhm."

"Hey – what color's yer hair? Looks brown in the dark," Renji tugged Ichigo under a streetlamp. "Knew it! Yer a red-head like me!" he grinned. "Tessai-san said red-heads are always tough."

"I-I'm not that tough…"

"Yer tough enough to run away – some kids just ain't got the balls for it."

"Isshin—"

"Will ya shut up about that bastard? He ain't no man, either, if he thinks it's okay to beat up on a little kid."

"Well my momma didn't marry a woman, so what is he?" Ichigo retorted.

"He's a coward 's what he is. He ain't nothin' – he ain't got no balls or nothin'. My old man was the same way. Got drunk and kicked me an' Momma 'round. Then Momma got fed up and went and shot herself. So my old man kicked me outta tha house – told me ta get a job 'fore I came back there. He ain't nothin' either. Momma had more balls than he did…"

Silence fell. Renji had let go of Ichigo's hand. Ichigo felt guilty of bringing something up that obviously hurt Renji.

"Gomen…" Ichigo said softly, hugging Kon tightly to his chest.

Renji looked back at him. "Not your fault."

"For sayin' anything. I'm sorry."

Renji felt bad. It wasn't Ichigo's fault he vented. He wasn't ashamed of it – it wasn't the first time he had vented that. But he'd made Ichigo uncomfortable… "Don't be," he said, grabbing Ichigo's hand again. "C'mon, we're almost there."

They walked the rest of the way in silence.


"Oh, you're finally back," the two were greeted as they came through the door. The man who spoke came into view. He was tall and wore a funny green and white striped hat, under which his pale blond hair could be seen. He stopped when he noticed Ichigo. "Who've we got here?" he said, crouching down to his level.

Ichigo just clutched Kon to his chest and shifted behind Renji.

Renji glanced at Ichigo, then exchanged glances with the man. "He said his name's Kurosaki Ichigo," Renji supplied.

"Kurosaki, eh? Does your father happen to run a medical clinic?"

"Step-father!" Ichigo finally spoke.

The man smiled. "So you can speak! I'm Urahara Kisuke," he said, holding out his hand.

Ichigo thought about it for a second, then let got of Renji's hand to take Kon from his right hand so he could shake the man's hand.

"Now then," Urahara said, standing up. "Renji, show him where your room is – he can stay with you for the time being – then I need to talk to you."

Renji nodded and took Ichigo's hand again to lead him to his room.

"Urahara's a good guy, I promise," Renji said. "He seems a little creepy now, but he's been takin' care of me an' Jinta and Ururu like we was his own kids. He'll make ya work, but it ain't nothin' ya can't handle."

"He's got blond hair," Ichigo finally said.

"What's that gotta do with anythin'?"

Ichigo just shrugged.

Renji shook his head. "Whatever – make yerself com'f'ter'ble, just don't hog the sheets, 'kay?" he said before turning around and going back to Urahara.

"Where did you find him?" was the first thing Urahara asked.

"In the alley near where Rukia an' the others stay. I just watched him for a bit – thought he mighta just gotten lost or somethin', but some pervert tried ta pick 'im up so I got 'im outta there and Rukia told me ta take 'im here with me."

"Huh. That's a bit far from his home… Did he tell you anything else?"

"Kept goin' on about some Isshin dude – didn't sound too nice a guy."

"His step-father. Did he say how he got the bruise?"

"Said Isshin smacked him for somethin' – cryin', I think."

"Did he have any other injuries?"

"He didn't say he did – Rukia asked him."

"Alright then. Off to bed before we wake Jinta up."

Renji nodded and ran silently back to his room.


Erm, I kinda forget the vocabulary depth of nine-year-olds, so sorry if it's off. Chalk it up to Ichigo being a genius and Renji having a good memory. Rukia's a ghost, so who cares.

And I am now listening to My Pace for the 44th time now XD