A/N: Being that this is me first fanfic, I'm going to say that I feel like I'm at the begining of a new adventure, I love new things and want to see how far I can go with writing. Anyway enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach, if I did I would probably screw it up. All rights are Tite Kubo, who is awesome.

After going inside and grabbing a couple of bags to pack Akiyoshi's belongings in she left her apartment. Once back on the street she followed the directions that Asako gave her. It only took her fifteen minutes to get to the edge of town and another ten to find the path. After following the path she found the small house. She quietly opened the door and whispered "Ojamashimasu."

Removing her shoes she walked to where she thought the bedroom would be. The first door she opened was the bathroom, and at the end of the hall she found the bedroom.

She opened the door and whispered, "Akiyoshi-kun, are you in here? Akiyoshi-kun?" Then she saw a small lump on a futon in the corner. She quietly stepped over and observed the child while he was sleeping. From what she could tell he looked like a sweet innocent boy no more than four or five years old with jet black hair. Orihime began to dread the task of telling him about his grandmother; however she had promised to take care of him and was determined to do so.

Kneeling down beside him she began to gently shake him awake. "Akiyoshi-kun, Akiyoshi-kun I need you to wake up."

The little boy slowly opened his eyes and began to sit up. While rubbing his eyes he drew his feet underneath himself and looked at Orihime. He was beginning to wonder if he was still dreaming because there seemed to be a beautiful princess sitting in from of him. He then decided to check if she was indeed real. He reached out and touched her hair. Orihime blushed at the contact but didn't move. Once Akiyoshi realized she was in fact real he began to worry. He knew that granny didn't like for other people to see him. But he also couldn't figure out how the princess knew his name or why she was looking at him with such sad eyes.

Orihime didn't know how to tell him about Asako no longer being in this world so instead she just reached into her pocket and pulled out the beaded bracelet. When Akiyoshi saw it his gray eyes became huge saucers but he said nothing.

Orihime quietly whispered "I'm sorry" as she reached for his hand.

He didn't resist just watched as she slid the beads onto his wrist. Once this was done his eyes began to fill with unshed tears. Orihime's eyes began to do the same and she did the only thing she could think of, opening her arms wide. Without any other invitation Akiyoshi leaped into her arms and began sobbing. Barely keeping her balance, Orihime began rubbing soothing circles on his back while rocking him back and forth. "It'll be okay, Akiyoshi-kun, I promised your Obaa-san that I'd take care of you and I will."

After a half hour the sobs began to turn to sniffles and Akiyoshi started to stir in Orihime's arms.

Akiyoshi leaned back and looked up to Orihime and in a little voice asked, "What am I gonna do now? I know that Baa-chan said that if someone came with her beads and put them on my wrist that it meant she was in heaven and I should trust them but what do I do now?"

Orihime realized then that even though he knew to trust her he had no clue what that really meant.

So very slowly she began, "Akiyoshi-kun, my name is Orihime, Baa-chan asked me to look after you, so how would you like to come live with me? It'll be just the two of us and we'll have lots of fun together. I know Baa-chan would be really happy if you did." Akiyoshi wasn't quite sure what else he could do and Orihime was so nice and he liked the idea of living with a princess. "O-Okay, but what about all my stuff? Do you want to live here instead, princess?"

With a slightly pink tint to her cheeks Orihime realized that this child was more innocent then most children his age, being that he'd only known his grandmother.

"How about we take your stuff with us to my home? I brought some bags with me so we can make sure and take all your toys and stuffed animals. You'll have plenty of room to play. I'm not a princess but thank you for the compliment."

Akiyoshi nodded, skeptical about believing that she wasn't a princess and stated plainly "Well you look like a princess to me. I'll start getting my stuff."

He then jumped up from her lap to begin gathering his things.

Initially surprised at how quickly the child recovered, Orihime then remembered that with his being so young the reality of loss had only partially set in. Getting up she grabbed her bags and began to place the items in the bag that he brought her. Looking up she noticed two pictures sitting on the dresser. One was of Asako and Akiyoshi sitting under a tree and the other was of Asako alone with a sweet smile on her face. She walked over and packed them both knowing that Akiyoshi would want them.

Turning towards the child Orihime asked "Akiyoshi-kun, do you have everything?" Akiyoshi answered with a nod of his head.

"Okay well I'm going to double check to make sure, okay? I don't want you to forget anything that you might miss later" she said with a small smile.

In reality Orihime knew that she had to make sure there was nothing left since they were not returning and Asako didn't want anyone to know of Akiyoshi. After gathering a few more items they left the house. When they left there was indeed no trace of a child ever living there.

The walk back to her apartment was a lot quicker than the walk to the house, taking only fifteen minutes, which was good since Orihime was carrying most of the bags. Akiyoshi was tired but still curious of his surroundings. He was surprised that her apartment was so large compared to the small house that he had shared with his grandmother. After walking through each room he returned to Orihime, who was standing in the living room with his bags.

She smiled at him as he finished his inspection. "Well, how do you like it?"

Akiyoshi smiled at her, "It's larger than Baa-chan's house. It's nice, princess."

Orihime then picked up his bags and walked to the spare bedroom. Akiyoshi followed her curiously.

With a sigh of relief Orihime set his belongings down, "This will be your room. I know there's some stuff in here right now but we can move things around tomorrow and make it the perfect room for a little boy."

Akiyoshi looked at the room and then back at Orihime with a bit of surprise, "My own room? You mean I get my very own room?"

Orihime smiled and said, "Yes, and you can decorate it however you want to."

But instead of his eyes showing happiness as Orihime expected, they showed something more like concern.

With hesitation in his voice he asked "Does this mean that you'll be sleeping in a different room and I'll be in here by myself?"

Orihime saw the uncertainty and fear in the child's eyes. Thinking back she remembered when she had felt the same way. Her brother, Sora, had died when she was just nine and just like Akiyoshi she lost the only real family she had. She could still remember the feelings of loneliness and panic she felt during the night when there was no one there. Shortly after she met Tatsuki and things began to change. But those feelings were ones she would never wish on any child, especially not a child that she was going to be looking after from now on.

So instead of saying yes she said "Well actually I'm really happy that you asked that Akiyoshi-kun because to be honest I was hoping you could use this room as your bedroom to play in and we could have slumber parties at night! So if you like that idea we can set up your futon in my room."

Akiyoshi wasn't quite sure what a slumber party was but like the idea of sleeping in the same room as the princess. "Okay if you want to princess then we can do that."

With that said Orihime bent down and carefully rummaged through the bags, finding the portrait of Asako. After pulling it out of the bag she took Akiyoshi's hand and led him back to the living room, over to a kamidana against the wall.

Quietly she began, "Akiyoshi-kun the man in the picture is my brother Sora, he died when I was nine," she gestured to a portrait atop the shrine, "He was a good man and took very good care of me. I loved him dearly. I'm sure he wouldn't mind some company so if you like we can place Baa-chan's picture beside his?"

Orihime watched as Akiyoshi took the picture in his hands and with sad eyes and a brave smile placed it next to Sora's. Then to Orihime's surprise he knelt down and clapped twice and began to pray silently. Orihime followed suit with a quick prayer of her own, Please Nii-chan watch over Akiyoshi-kun and I. Help me to raise him as well as you did me... Once she finished her prayer she looked over to Akiyoshi and waited for him to finish then they stood and headed to the Orihime's room.

After setting up the futons, Orihime tucked Akiyoshi in and began to walk back out of the room. "Wait, princess where are you going?"

Orihime smiled down at him "There are a few things I wanted to do before going to sleep. Would you like a glass of water before bed?"

"No thank you, but if it's not too much trouble do you think you could sing me a lullaby?" Akiyoshi's cheeks were bright red, although it didn't stop him from asking.

Orihime turned slightly pink herself but then sat down making herself comfortable and then began:

Kirakira hikaru, osora no hoshi yo
Mabataki shite wa Minna o miteru
Kirakira no hoshi yo.

After repeating it a few times Akiyoshi was fast asleep; Orihime left the room and quietly closed the door. Walking back into Akiyoshi's room she began placing his toys in the small chest that she had kept her sewing material in. Once she finished she realized that the events of the night were catching up to her and morning would be coming shortly. Dragging her feet she headed to the bathroom to scrub her face and brush her teeth. She then returned to the bedroom and crawled into her futon. Closing her eyes and beginning to drift off to sleep she realized how much her life had changed within the blink of an eye. She had yet to figure out how to do it, but she had given her promise, and she never breaks a promise.

Orihime needed to raise a child.

Japanese - English:

Ojamashimasu – Literally means "I will disturb you" it's used as a polite greeting when entering someone's home.

Obaa-san – grandmother

Baa-chan – similar to English's "Grannie"

Kamidana – miniature Shinto shrine

Nii-chan – older brother

The lullaby is "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"

A/N:

Okay that's it! Please review, I want to know what everyone thinks! Thanks again for all the favorites, and alerts it made me very happy!