Title: Nakama no Tane

Fandom: Bleach

Rating: G

Theme: Smile

Character/Pairing: Urahara Yuusuke, Kurosaki Kaien

Disclaimer: Bleach isn't mine. Yuusuke and Kaien are. The title translates to "Seed of Friendship"

"Now sit here and behave, and when we leave I'll buy you a treat."

Letting go of his mother's hand, Kaien nodded silently to her, taking a few steps over to the side and squatting down on his haunches on the foyer steps. Wrapping small arms around his knees, the little boy chewed on his lower lip thoughtfully, big violet eyes wandering around the room. He'd been here before, he knew that somehow, though those memories were hazy. The Urahara Shouten was familiar in a way that other places he was supposed to know were. Smells he recognized, a sense of safeness... like home, though the sights were unfamiliar to his young eyes.

He could hear his mother's voice from behind the curtained doorway, she was talking to a man, another whose voice he recognized. His mind - or maybe it was Kaien-with-black-hair again - logged the voice away as his Uncle Kisuke, who had given him a stuffed Hollow at his last birthday. With the registering of identity came a vague impression of blond hair, a wide grin, and a green and white striped hat along with strong arms and a curved stick.

Satisfied that he had correctly identified the speaker, Kaien went back to his silent contemplation of the interior of the shop. It was fairly normal, as far as compared to the shops he'd been in - seeing as his mother tended to be more at-home in the smaller stores as opposed to the large supermarkets his father took him to - with displays of candy and other convenience goods here and there. That was the draw of coming here, though he could only remember a scant few times that he had; the candy. Not only did his mother nearly always purchase him one of the large, swirled lollipops that studded the display pole on the counter with multi-coloured pinwheels, but his Uncle Kisuke always slipped him a few wrapped hard candies - peppermints his father called them - on the way out the door.

So focused was he on studying the intricacies of the swirled colours that made up the confections, that he failed to notice the faint pulse in the back of his mind, that strange feeling he knew was 'reiatsu' and that meant someone else like him had approached. It was Kaien-with-black-hair's soft monotone echoing through his head that had him glancing up, surprised to find another child watching him with a curious expression.

The little boy was slightly older than Kaien, a bit taller and with a more wiry frame. His skin was the colour of the chocolate his father liked to hide from his mother, a shade that contrasted rather starkly with the flaxen mop of tousled ash-blond hair that sat on his head and half covered strangely-golden eyes with pupils that almost appeared slit-like. He was dressed simply, in a pair of rather worn denim shorts and a T-shirt that was a bit too big for his thin frame, it's front marked with a faded logo that Kaien vaguely recognized.

Seeing that he'd been noticed, the boy's face broke into a wide grin, teeth flashing white against the darkness of his complexion as he tugged the patchwork-patterned hat he was clutching onto his head.

"Hi."

Kaien was quiet for a moment; this was a stranger, and the orange-haired boy had been taught from the time he was young to be wary of strangers. Especially strangers who came along with that strange feeling of reiatsu. But this was a boy his own age. Furthermore, Kaien-with-black-hair always told him when people were dangerous to him, and his other-self had remained stoically silent. Making a rapid decision that this was indication enough for him not to worry, Kaien murmured a reply.

'lo..."

That seemed to satisfy the other boy, as he immediately launched into a flood of conversation, hardly seeming to care if his new friend - and audience - simply nodded or mumbled a reply. Kaien watched and listened, gradually beginning to relax and interact more as he did. He'd never really talked to anyone his own age, only his sisters and they, being sisters, didn't count. But in spite of that, he liked the newcomer. The new boy was noisy, and friendly, and had a funny sense of humor. As the dark-skinned boy prattled on about this and that, asking question after question, Kaien's quiet and withdrawn mood began to brighten, and before long he was asking his own questions.

The minutes slipped by until all of a sudden there was another sound, that of adult voices chuckling slightly. Startled, Kaien looked up to see the familiar figure of his mother, one slim hand reaching up to tuck a stray lock of black hair behind her ears. His Uncle Kisuke was behind her, blue-grey eyes on them both as he rummaged in his pocket for the expected peppermints.

"Kaien, did you make a new friend? Did you remember to introduce yourself properly?"

Cheeks reddening slightly - as much as any nearly-5 year old felt embarrassment - Kaien shook his head before turning back to the new boy, who had stepped back at a nod from Urahara, folding hands behind him.

"Kurosaki Kaien. Nice to meet you."

The other boy grinned again, wide toothy smile seeming to swallow his face.

"I'm Yuusuke. Urahara Yuusuke."