I do not own Bleach

*Author's Note: "Sunshine" is our main character, and we'd like to make note that she is growing physically and mentally at an unnaturally exponential rate. Hueco Mundo time is 2 ½ times faster than human time.

...

Chapter 2 The Orange Haired Boy

She watched Ulquiorra leave. She stood there wishing he hadn't made her stay. The feeling of loneliness she was feeling from the man was almost stifling her. She wanted to go to him and feel that loneliness, just as she had helped Ulquiorra feel the emptiness she had felt from him from the beginning.

As she waited, she began to feel a tug on her spiritual energy. Confused, she looked around but couldn't see anything. The more she focused on the feeling, she felt as if the connection was crying out in pain and darkness. She looked one more time towards where Ulquiorra had gone. He would help the lonely man, so she would go and help the person that was lost. With no conscious thought, acting on instinct, she threw her arm out in a horizontal line. A rip opened in the air that she quickly stepped through and began running along a glowing path the appeared before her feet.

She didn't notice the hole behind her or the feeling of panic she felt from another thread attached to her spiritual energy. It didn't take long before she popped out another hole at the end of the tunnel. What met her eyes surprised her. There were so many things she had never seen before. This place wasn't anything like Hueco Mundo. There where colors she had never seen before all around her. At least, that's what she thought they were called.

She found herself giggling as she turned around to see it all. As she did, a flash of bright orange caught her attention. She quickly hid behind one of the green objects. A boy was standing a ways away, kicking a small object on the ground. With a start, she realized it was the tug she had felt on her spiritual energy was coming from him. As she watched him from the shadows a piece of her hair fell in her face. She was startled as she compared her hair to the boy's; they were the same color.

Her smile grew even bigger. She followed the boy for several minutes, not entirely sure what she should do. She had only ever talked to Ulquiorra and didn't know how to talk to others. She was startled when she felt a shift in the spiritual energy in the air.

She watched as a hollow came out and looked around. She watched it with curiosity as it seemed to look around; she watched it look towards the orange haired boy, give a cruel smile, and started running towards him. She saw Ulquiorra in her mind when he told her that other hollows were evil creatures, that if they had the chance, they would eat her. In that moment she knew that the hollow before her was going to eat the orange haired boy!

Her body was in motion before she even knew it. She felt her sword materialize in her hand. It was longer than she was at over three feet long. The bright yellow grip seemed out of place with the pure white sword. She found herself yelling as she swung downward at the hollow's mask; it was inches away from attacking the boy. She felt herself smile as it dissolved before her. Her smile quickly turned into a gasp of surprise as she realized she was on a hill and was falling off the edge. Her sword vanished as she pulled herself into a ball.

…

Today was the year mark of his mother's death. It had been entirely his fault. His dad had brought him, Yuzu, and Karin to the grave site. He couldn't do it though. He was the one responsible for all the sadness and the fact that the house once filled with laughter was quiet.

Ichigo stood as far back as he could. Eventually his father had come over and told him that if he wanted, he could go wander as long as he came back in two hours. So that's what he had done; he had run away. He wasn't strong enough to stay. He had found a nearby park and had been walking for ten minutes. He had taken to kicking a rock to pass the time. He really didn't want to talk to anyone, so when he saw people, he quickly changed directions to avoid them.

He was still kicking that same rock when he heard an angry yell that caused him to turn around. What he saw surprised him. It was a little girl in a purple dress flying through the air towards him with her hands held in front of her like she was holding something, but there was nothing there. What caught his attention the most though was her hair. It streamed behind her like a fire – a very bright orange fire. He watched her smile before her eyes went wide.

He watched in shock as she fell rolling down the hill. Eyes wide, he ran down the hill after her, yelling.

When he got there, he rolled her on to her back. He was startled that she was smiling up at him. "Are . . . are you okay?"

She sat up, still with a smile on her face, "Yep!"

He found himself giving a sigh of relief. "What were you doing?"

"I was killing a monster!" She beamed up at him with pride.

A monster? Upon closer look, she looked to be around three years of age. "Where is your family?" He stood up, pulling her along with him, and looking around to see if there was anyone else around.

"What's a family?" She looked at him quizzically.

He noticed that she hadn't let go of his hand; he looked down at it before looking back at her face, "You know, a family. Your parents and siblings?"

"What are parents and siblings?"

"Ah… Mom and Dad, brothers and sisters?"

"Mom, dad, brother, sisters?"

Seeing that this conversation wasn't going anywhere, he decided to try another way. "Where are the people that you came with?"

He watched her smile and answer proudly, "I came by myself!"

He face palmed himself. "Okay, let's try something else," he mumbled under his breath. "What's your name?"

She looked quizzically at him again. "What's a name?"

His eyes went wide; how could she not even know what a name was! "It's what people call you; my name is Ichigo."

He watched her sound out his name before smiling, "Ichigo. I like your name!"

"What's your name?"

She sat there and seemed to think for a while. "Ulquiorra calls me his sunshine. Is that a name?"

"No, sunshine isn't a name."

He watched the smile fall off her face, and it looked like she was about to cry. "Do I not have a name?" She looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Ummmm . . ." He was at a loss. "Let's find Ulquiorra, and we can ask what your name is?"

She seemed to smile at this. "I can ask Ulqui! But he's not here, so you can't ask him." Once again, she looked up at him like he was silly.

Clutching her hand a little tighter, he looked her in the eyes, "Let's go look around for your family." He regretted running from people now because there was no one is sight. He headed off in the direction he had come from. She was skipping and humming alongside him, throwing looks his way every so often.

At one point, she tugged his arm, causing him to look down at her. She was holding her hair in her hand, holding it up for him to see. "It's the same color as yours!"

He found himself smiling. "Yes, it is." At that point, he spotted a man rounding the corner, so he ran up to him. "Excuse me sir, but have you ever seen this girl before?"

The man looked down at Ichigo. "What girl?"

Ichigo looked at him in surprise. "This little girl right here." He looked down at her; she was smiling up at him.

The man looked at him like was crazy. "Are you okay son? There is no one there? Do you need help finding your parents?" The man reached down to grab him.

Ichigo jumped back. "What do you mean? She's right here, holding my hand!"

"It's okay son; we will find your parents and they will be able to help you." The man made a lunge to grab Ichigo again.

Ichigo was freaked out, and dodged again. He looked down to confirm that she was clearly there. Turning, he ran away from the man who was yelling for him to stop. They ran for a long time with the girl giggling all the way. Once Ichigo was sure they had lost the man, he stopped.

"That was fun! Can we play again?"

Ichigo looked at the girl who was still holding his hand. "Why couldn't he see you?"

She tilted her head as she thought about it. "I don't know."

What was going on!? He had never heard of anything like this before. He dropped her hand and sat down on the grass. He had to think about this. She sat beside him and leaned against him.

There had to be a reason for this. The only thing he could think of was that she was a part of his imagination. It would explain how she was fine falling down the hill, why the man couldn't see her, why she didn't have a name, and why their hair was the same color. But if she was in his imagination, shouldn't she know everything he did?

He had overheard Yuzu talking to herself once – she had said she was talking to her friend – but there had been no one there. When he had asked his mom about it, she had said that Yuzu had an imaginary friend. Maybe the girl beside him was his imaginary friend? He looked at her again. He had never had an imaginary friend and didn't even know where to start. Maybe he should ask Yuzu later? First things first though, if she was a part of his imagination, he should give her a name, right?

"Can . . . can I give you a name?" He asked her.

She looked up at him with a smile and sparkling eyes. "You would give me a name!?"

"Yeah."

"Yes, I would love a name!"

He sat there thinking. She was so bright and happy that it made him forget all that had happened over the last year. In many ways, she was like the rising sun the cleared away the dark of night that he was living in. He remembered her saying something about being called "sunshine" when they had first met."Hinata!" He looked down at her. "What about Hinata? It means 'sunny place', or 'faces the sun,' like a sunflower. I learned about it in school the other day."

She seemed to be sounding it out, tasting it out on her lips. "Hinata. I like that. I'm Hinata."

He found himself smiling. They then spent the next two hours playing. He found himself grateful for Hinata's friendship. She lived up to her name and truly brought him happiness.

She had just talked him into rolling down the hill with her when he heard his name being called. He looked over at her with grass in her hair. "It's time for us to go." She looked at him quizzically again. "My dad is calling and we need to go home with him."

"Okay," she said as she bounced to her feet. He rose to his feet and grabbed her hand to take her towards where he could hear his father yelling. They had only taken a few steps when he felt a tug on his arm and found her a step behind, looking off into the distance. "I can't go, Ichigo."

He felt panic rise in his stomach. "What do you mean? They won't mind; it will be fine!"

She slowly shook her head, looking off in the distance. "Ulqui needs me now." She let go of his hand and started walking towards the trees.

"Wait," he called after her, grabbing her small hand in his. "Will I ever see you again?"

She smiled back up at him. "I will come back when you need me. I had a lot of fun." She gave one more smile before she vanished before his eyes.