This one's AU! It is set durning our timeline, with no Shinigami or Hollows. :D I hope you like it! It came to me when my little brother prounounced "Seesaw" as "Seeseal" yesterday at the park.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Bleach characters!

Seesaws and Seeseals

"Mommy, I can do it myself!" four-year-old Ichigo whined, reaching up his small hand to grip the washrag his mother was holding. She was trying to wipe some ketchup off of his forehead; she didn't even know how it had gotten there. "Can I go in now?"

"Yes, Ichigo. Have fun, and be a good boy, OK?"

"Yes, mommy!" Ichigo yelled back, waving happily. Today was his first day of pre-school. He was going to have a ball!

He was early; not many people were there, so he dropped down by the gates to wait for the other kids to arrive. He must have sat there for ten minutes before any kids showed up. The first was a young boy with blond hair. Ichigo didn't pay much attention. Something else had caught his eye. Behind the little boy stood a small girl. She had black, shoulder-length hair and deep, blue eyes and pale skin. She was wearing a white spaghetti strap tank-top and khaki shorts. On her feet she wore simple, white sandals.

She was clinging to an older man, crying. Ichigo suddenly felt sad. He felt like he did when one of his baby sisters cried. Whenever they cried, which was a lot, he always felt sad.

What did he do when they were sad? Oh, yeah.

Ichigo stood to his feet, whacking some of the dust off his jeans before smiling and running over to the little girl. Smiling brightly, he gave her a quick hug and stood back, sticking his tongue out through his missing teeth.

"Hi! I'm Ichigo! Wanna pway? No one else is here," Ichigo said enthusiastically, pointing off to the playground.

"I-I . . . " The little girl looked up at the older man, wiping her tears away. He smiled slightly. Ichigo looked up, and up, and up. Boy, this guy was tall. He had black hair like the little girl, which was pulled into funny hair-holders. Like the ones his mom wore!

"Hi, Mister-Kun!" Ichigo said, now bouncing up and down on his feet. The man smiled a little more and bent down beside the little girl and whispered something in her ear, then gave the girl a gentle nudge toward Ichigo.

"Hi. I'm R-rukia," the girl said.

"That's a pretty name!" Ichigo said, still bouncing up and down on his feet. His orange hair was flying around on his head, making it more messy than ever. His eyes were shining. "Wet's go pway on the Seeseal!" (A/N: Wet's is because Ichigo can't pronounce l's right. My sis had that problem until she was six)

"Seesaw," the older man corrected.

"Huh?" Ichigo asked, turning to him.

"It's a seesaw, not a seeseal."

"Really?" Ichigo looked deep in thought for a minute. Rukia shuffled around on her feet. Finally, Ichigo shrugged. "Whatever! C'mon, wets go pway!" And, taking Rukia's hand, he pulled her off toward the playground. Rukia managed a small smile as she waved back to the older man.

"Bye bye, Nii-Sama!"

He waved and then walked off back to the car he had come in.

Suddenly, Ichigo stopped, looking off into the bushes. Rukia stopped beside him, putting her finger in her mouth as she tried to see what Ichigo was seeing.

"A bunny!" Ichigo said happily, running off to try and catch it. Rukia's eyes lit up as she raced after him. Ichigo pounced the bunny, but it ran away, leaving Ichigo on his stomach in the dirt. He just giggled, rolling over onto his back.

"Seaseal!"

Boy, was he random today.

"I wanna pway on the Seaseal!"

Rukia shrugged and followed Ichigo over to the seasaw. He climbed on one end and Rukia on the other. Ichigo's laughter was contagious. Rukia was soon giggling along as they went back and forth on the seasaw.

When her brother and his wife, her adoptive parents, had brought her here, she didn't think she was gong to have any fun. She thought it would be scary. But this bright haired kid had made her seem like she belonged in minutes. He was fun to be around. He seemed to always be happy and smiling. It made her happy, too.

"I wanna draw!" Rukia said suddenly, jumping off the sea-saw, making Ichigo fall tom the ground with a bang. He didn't seem to mind, however, and they went in search of paper and crayons. One of the teachers gave them some to keep them busy while the other kids arrived. It was only about ten minutes until pre-school started; everyone would be there soon.

Grabbing his paper and crayons, Ichigo scooted closer to Rukia to stare at what she was drawing. She was hard at work, her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth. Ichigo shrugged and set to work on his drawing.

First, he drew his mommy and daddy. Then he drew his two baby sisters. Karin was in his mom's arms because she couldn't walk yet. But he drew Yuzu on the ground, holding his hand, because she could walk. After drawing one more person, he filled in the background with grass and trees. Looking up at the clock, for he had just learned to tell time, upon his dad's insisting, he realized that it was eight-thirty, time for pre-school to start. He nudged Rukia.

"I wanna see what you drew!"

"You first," Rukia said, trying to peek at his drawing. Ichigo smiled and held it up for her to see.

"This is mommy and daddy. That's Karin and Yuzu," he said pointing out the stick figures on the paper. "And that's you because your my friend!"

Rukia smiled, looking at the little stick figure that was supposed to be her. It was holding Ichigo's hand; the hand his sister wasn't holding.

"I drew this!" Rukia said, happily holding up her picture.

"Bunnies?" Ichigo asked, frowning. He then turned over and stood on his head, as if looking at it upside down would reveal some hidden secret. He then fell back on to his feet. "Yup. It's bunnies," he said, his smile returning as he sighed.

"You don't like it?" Rukia asked. Ichigo just shrugged. Then, he got a reaction that he would have never guessed a girl would give. She punched him in the arm.

"Ochie!" Ichigo said, rubbing his arm. He stuck his bottom lip out. Then, his smile returned. It seemed impossible to keep the smile off his face for more than a minute. "When pre-school is over, can we play on the seeseal some more?"

"Seesaw," Rukia corrected.

"Huh?"

Please review! I hope you all liked it. It just came to me, and I HAD to write it! Giggles