I do not own Bleach and I give full credit to its creator.

Chapter two.

"You can't be serious."

Ichigo groaned as Karin said this. He just told Karin and Yuzu that he wanted to bring a little girl who lost her parents home.

"Why not Karin-chan," Yuzu said, shocked. "I think it would be wonderful."

"It's not that I would mind. It's just that it would be difficult to explain to the child that we see spirits that no one else sees." Karin said, stretching that last part out.

"She sees spirits just like we do," Ichigo said, sighing.

Karin was quiet for a moment and said, "Okay, I'm in! But will Dad say yes?"

"Don't worry. I'll convince Dad!" Yuzu said, cheerfully. They heard the front door open and shut.

"DADDYY!!! I have something to ask you!!!" Yuzu said in a sing song voice, leaving Ichigo's bedroom. Karin and Ichigo sweat dropped, staring out the door Yuzu just left.

"Well, we should-." Karin said sighing.

"YAHOO!!! MASAKI!!! THE HEAVENS HAVE GRACED US WITH ANOTHER DAUGHTER!!!!" Isshin shouted joyfully. Karin and Ichigo sweat dropped once again and Karin closed her eyes.

"That idiot. He needs to grow up," Karin said, annoyed. Then she looked thoughtfully at

Ichigo, "Hey when is she supposed to come here?"

"Tomorrow after school I'm going to pick her up," Ichigo said, lying back on his bed shutting his eyes. Karin took this as a sign to leave and stood up.

"Well I better go tell those two. Dinner should be ready soon, I guess." Karin shut the door behind her and walked down the stairs.

Ichigo's closet opened to reveal Rukia, sitting.

"Ichigo."

"Hm?"

"… Never mind."

Ichigo looked in the direction of the closet only to find it to have closed. He frowned but then shrugged it off.

It had been four days since they found the kid. Two days since the menos grandes came.

Rukia sighed.

Soul society would find out about this soon.

"Ichi-ni-san!!!"

Ichigo jolted up, his eyes wide. He knew that voice.

He wasn't sure how he ended up down stairs. But there he stood, looking down at Kumiko in her little yellow dress and a bag on her back.

"Ichigo, I thought you said she was coming tomorrow," Karin said, giving him one of her famous glares.

"Oh sorry. But the people who were bringing me here were leaving tomorrow and they needed to bring me tonight," Kumiko said, explanatory.

"That's okay. You'll sleep in the guest room," Ichigo said, quickly picking up the girl. Kumiko was no longer sick. She was happy, cheerful, and loved to hang around Rukia and Ichigo. She only let Ichigo or Rukia just swoop her up like Ichigo just did and still liked to be warned somewhat before they did it. She gave Ichigo a small glare as Ichigo raced up the stairs.

"What's wrong Ichi-ni-san?" asked Kumiko as he put her on the guest bed.

"Why are you here now? You were not supposed to finish you testing until tomorrow," Ichigo asked still not believing that she was here now.

"Why does it matter?" asked Kumiko frowning.

"Because it was going to be a mad house with them knowing you were just coming tomorrow. Think what it will be like with them with you here now!"

"Ichi-ni!! One of your friends is here to see you!!!" Karin called. A vein in Ichigo's head flickered and he rushed down the stairs colliding with Yuzu and Isshin who had their arms full of stuff. The stuff flew into the air and all of them went tumbling down the stairs.

"What the heck is all of this?" Ichigo said, pulling a toy bunny off of his head.

"Things to brighten up our new family addition room, Kurosaki Kumiko!" Isshin said, jumping up and doing a bad ballerina spin. "And looked who has come to help. Your friend Rukia-chan!"

"Hello Kurosaki-kun!" Rukia said, curtsying. Ichigo's vein flickered again and he helped Karin and Yuzu put the things back in the boxes. As Karin, Yuzu, and Isshin went up stairs, Ichigo asked Rukia, "What are you doing?!"

"Helping, and you need to calm down," Rukia said, calmly.

"This is going to turn into a mad house," groaned Ichigo. "Every time we have a guest coming, everyone goes crazy!!"

"Ichi-ni-san!!"

Ichigo looked at the stairs and saw Kumiko running down the stairs.

"Ichi-ni-san!! Rukia-nee-chan!! Come help!!" Kumiko said, excited. Ichigo and Rukia exchange looks and followed Kumiko up the stairs. Ichigo frowned slightly. Why was she so excited?

Ichigo went in to the old guest bed room and stopped short.

The room was littered with stuffed animals, new sheets, pillows, curtains, my gosh you name it. Karin was giving her father a swift punch for saying something stupid no doubt. Yuzu was trying to find something in the pile of stuff, throwing things behind her as she did so.

"Everyone STOP!!" Ichigo shouted. Everyone froze and looked at Ichigo.

"Look, Kumiko is not going to be able to sleep in here," Rukia said, trying to calm Ichigo down some. "Let's just fix the room with a little bit more organization, please."

"Alright, Rukia-chan!" Isshin said shooting up into the air. His head hit the ceiling and he fell unconscious.

"Well, that was easy," Karin said, looking at her father.

"Alright Karin, you fix the curtains and the bed. Yuzu, you put away the stuffed animals and the clothes. Kumiko, Ichigo, wait you don't need me telling you what to do. Lets just do it," Rukia said, gently.

The rest of the night seemed to go smoothly. The room was actually finished on time and everyone went down stairs to have left overs.

Isshin woke up half way through dinner and came down. He ate acting like his goofy self, making Karin hit him when he got out of line. Kumiko would giggle at this and Yuzu would ask Karin to please stop. Ichigo smiled. This was a heck of a lot easier when Great Aunt Fuki came to visit. That was disastrous.

Soon everyone bid Rukia farewell (even thought she was sleeping in Ichigo's closet) and everyone tucked Kumiko in.

"Goodnight, Kumiko," Yuzu said, pulling the sheets up to Kumiko's lap.

"Goodnight my eternal beautiful child!!" Isshin said, hugging her briefly. (Hahaha that's what her name means)

"Oh shush it old man," Karin said teasingly, "Night Kumiko."

"Night Karin-chan, Yuzu-chan, Isshin-san," Kumiko said leaning back into the pillow.

"Ichi-ni-san, are you going to say good night?" Yuzu asked, looking back at Ichigo.

"Yeah, you guy's go on to bed." Ichigo said, distracted. His family left the room, went to their rooms, and Ichigo sat down on the bed.

"What's wrong, Ichi-ni-san?" Kumiko said, looking at Ichigo smiling.

"Hey Kumiko, how did you have to live the past 50 years?" Ichigo asked looking down at her.

"What do you mean?" Kumiko asked, confused about what he was asking.

"I mean, you've been around for 50 years but you still look and act like a child," Ichigo said, scratching his head, "How did you deal with that?"

Kumiko sighed. She knew he would ask this eventually. "Well to be honest, I still feel like a child, just one who's life as a child never ends. Before the man left, I wasn't really around people. I was either with him or by myself. After he left, it was very difficult. I first tried making friends with some kids at the play grounds. After a year though, I began to notice something I hadn't thought about. The kids were getting older and were changing in appearance. I hadn't changed at all. Luckily the parents thought I was just undernourished, but I knew it wouldn't be safe for anyone to get to know me so well. Eventually it became very hard to get food from shelters due to what I was. Luckily the soup kitchen opened up and the workers there were never the same over longer period of time. So I was able to get food from there every now and then," she said, fiddling with the sheets. She suddenly spoke with a little more enthusiasm, "But Rukia-nee-chan and you are different."

"How so?"

"Because you are both shinigami. I'm not sure about how long you will live because of it but you would understand my situation so it wouldn't be so hard. And Rukia-nee-chan is like me. She's in a gigai too. Rukia-nee-chan is… is…"

"Is what?" Ichigo said as she stared up at the ceiling embarrassed.

"She like the mom I never had," Kumiko said kind of sad like, "I never had a mom. Or a dad. A teacher or a supplier maybe, but nothing like a parent or a family." Kumiko looked at the bunny on the bed. "What this?"

"Huh, oh it's a stuffed animal. Sort of like Kon except it doesn't really do anything," Ichigo said, relieved of the change of subject. Rukia, who had been listening outside the window, thought about what Kumiko said. A mother, she didn't deserve to be thought of like that or loved like such. She slipped back into Ichigo's room and shut the door of the closet.

----

"ICHIGO!!!"

Ichigo felt something on his legs. He sat up, yawned, and looked down. Kumiko sat there in a black skirt, yellow polo shirt and black knee socks with black shoes. In her hands was Kon, dressed in a frilly pink dress and a flower earring.

"Ichigo, look what your sister did to me! All she had to do was wash me but no she put this stupid frilly thing called a-," Kon said furiously.

"I tried to tell Yuzu-chan he was a boy, but she seemed so convinced he was a girl," Kumiko said as Kon ranted and raved. Ichigo whacked Kon off the bed.

"Oh shut up Kon, she probably felt sorry for your dirty but. It looks fine anyway." Ichigo said, not really caring.

"SHE GLUED THE UGLY THING TO MY EAR!!" Kon shouted again, pointing at the earring. Ichigo pulled making Kon repeatedly say ow. He dropped Kon and said, "I thought if I pulled long enough it would come off. Oh is that late already! Come on Kumiko, breakfast." Kumiko climbed on Ichigo's back, accidentally knocking Kon to the floor. Ichigo rushed down stairs to find breakfast on the table for both of them.

Kumiko sat downing eating her cereal as Ichigo rushed around eating and getting ready for school. She finished and followed Ichigo into his room.

"Hey Rukia, time for school," he said, knocking on his closet door. No answer. "Hey Rukia-!"

"I heard you the first time," Rukia said grumpy like.

"What's wrong, Rukia-nee-chan?" Kumiko asked, looking up at Rukia.

"Just tired from yesterday. I'll meet you two at school." Rukia said, jumping out the window.

Ichigo groaned and bent down.

"I'll have to make up some excuse to bring you with me to school today," Ichigo said, rubbing his head. Kumiko went back up onto his back and they left.

----

The teacher looked at him and Kumiko, who was still on his back, with surprise.

"So, since my Dad is really busy, I had to bring her with me," Ichigo said, not really enthusiastically. He wasn't really sure this would work.

"I promise I will be good, miss!" Kumiko said, giving the teacher the innocent puppy look.

"AWWW! How can I say no to her!" the teacher said, her cheeks blushing, "I'll just write you a note!" The teacher turned back to her desk and started scribbling on a piece of paper. She handed it to Ichigo and he said, "Arigato."

"Arigato miss!! Bye-bye!" Kumiko said waving as Ichigo left.

"Bye Kumiko! I'll see you latter," the teacher said in a girly voice. When they were far enough away, Ichigo said, "You over did it."

"Hey it worked didn't it?" Kumiko said, looking around as they went down to where the locker rooms were.

"Crap," Ichigo said suddenly stopping.

"What's wrong?" Kumiko asked, trying to look at Ichigo's face.

"I can't bring you into the locker room!"

"Why not?" Remember she's never been in a school before. Ichigo sweat dropped.

"Because that's where the boys change!"

"OHHH! Then what do we do?" Kumiko asked, putting a finger to her mouth.

"Hey Ichigo! Who's the kid?"

Ichigo turned and saw Tatsuki standing behind him.

"Hey this Kumiko. Our family is taking care of her. Dad has been busy with meetings and he won't let her stay with anyone else. So she's with me for the day," Ichigo said. Suddenly, he got an idea.

"Hey Tatsuki-chan, could you take her into the locker room with you? I can't take her in with me unless she wants to be scorned for life."

"Sure. Come on Kumiko," Tatsuki said taking the child off of Ichigo's back. Kumiko obliged but still did not like to be carried by others. Tatsuki carried her into the locker room and put her on the bench.

"Good we're the first ones here. Oh no, look there's Orihime. We are normally the first ones. Hey Orihime, look who's here!"

Orihime fixed her shirt and said, "Oh who's that Tatsuki-chan?"

"This is Kumiko. Ichigo's family is looking after her," Tatsuki said, going over to her locker, "Watch her while I change."

"Hello Kumiko, I'm Orihime! How old are you?" Orihime said, getting up in Kumiko's face. Kumiko leaned back a little and said, "Five."

"Oh, you're kind of big for a five year old, but that's okay! So your living at Kurosaki-kun's right? How is it there?"

"His family's funny."

"Really? Funny haha or funny weird?"

"Both!" Kumiko said happily. She's really nice. A little on the strange side though, she thought.

"Alright, lets bring you out to Ichigo," Tatsuki said, shutting her locker.

"Ichi-ni-san!" Kumiko said, somehow getting out of Tatsuki's arms and running over to Ichigo. She jumped up onto his back somehow, making his knees bend slightly.

"Kumiko, don't just do that," Ichigo said, wearily.

"Gomen Ichi-ni-san," Kumiko said, smiling.

The rest of the day seemed to fly by fast for Kumiko. She had lunch with Ichigo and his friends. She sat reading in Ichigo's classes. She got to see Ishida's heavenly super power stitching on Kon, much to her delight. Then she went home, Rukia and Ichigo swinging were swinging her and laughing. Aww cute moment.

Rukia went and snuck into Ichigo's room while Kumiko and Ichigo went in through the front.

"Yuzu-chan, Karin-chan are you home?" Kumiko said, taking off her shoes and running up the stairs.

"No, both of them had something to do after school. We're having left overs," Ichigo said, looking at the note Yuzu left.

"Okay!!"

Ichigo made three plates with the help of Kumiko. Kumiko sat eating while Ichigo went to bring Rukia her. As Ichigo disappeared up the stairs, she narrowed her eyes.

Rukia's reiatsu was gone. She was not in this house anyway. Kumiko finished and slid out of her seat. She ran up the stairs to her room and shut the door. She went to the draw of her dresser and opened it.

End of Chapter 2. Please review.