Chapter 2

A/N: I humbly apologize if all the fluff makes you throw up. Viewer discretion is advised.

"Ichimaru-san!"

Gin looked up, smiling. "Good morning, Ichigo-kun."

A dazzling smile greeted him in return, almost blinding him. Or was it the orange hair that made him want to cover his already-closed eyes? Maybe the combination of both.

"How was your day?" The child sat beside him, brown eyes glowing with anticipation.

"Well, it wasn't that interesting." Gin gazed thoughtfully at the clouds that hid the morning sun. Not that it mattered. Ichigo was his sun, now. "I suppose there was this one couple at the grocery store, though."

"What about them?"

He couldn't help but chuckle at Ichigo's eagerness. Gin could have told the most boring story in the world. Maybe even Shakespeare. But Ichigo still would have payed rapt attention, treating it like he had returned from war, and was describing the final battle between generals. No, his life wasn't glorious at all; far from it, actually.

"One of them looked really weird. He had a 69 tattoo on his face. Why his face, I have no idea." Ichigo giggled, and Gin guiltily thought of the time that he'd told the kid that 69 represented yin and yang, rather than the cruder meaning. It would save Ichigo his innocence now, but it would be all the harder on him in the future. "The other had blonde hair that covered his eye. He looked sad, for some reason."

Ichigo blinked in surprise. "They were both boys?"

Gin nodded. "It's not that weird, right? Gender doesn't matter when it comes to true love." He grinned cheekily, and Ichigo watched in awe, hopefully thinking that Gin was the wisest man in the world. "So they were arguing about some trivial things. It wasn't that dramatic," he added, seeing Ichigo's wide eyes. "Like what brand of milk was better. Things like that. But there was this small funny scene. In my eyes, anyway."

"But you don't have eyes," Ichigo pointed out innocently.

"Wh- I have eyes!" Gin indignantly opened his eyes, and Ichigo gasped at the sight. He knew he looked strange. His left eye was a deep crimson, while the other was a light teal. Heterochromia. It spooked all who saw, no matter how much they tried to hide it, and eventually Gin didn't want to deal with their shocked gazes and awkward looking away. So he learned to keep his eyes closed. He could still see just fine, but no one could see the pupils of his eyes. He wasn't quite sure how he could see. Maybe anime logic. He learned from the best, after all.

"They're pretty."

Gin froze, blinking in surprise at the nine year old. If he expected to hear anything from Ichigo, it would have been "They look cool! I wish I had them!" or "Ooh, scary. You could probably chase a robber away just by looking at them!". Innocent, a bit insensitive, and awestruck. Not "they're pretty".

Yet those were the words that had come out of the child's mouth. Words he'd never heard regarding his monstrous eyes. He continued to stare at Ichigo, who was still talking, like he hadn't said anything groundbreaking.

"It kind of matches you. Your blue eye is clear and bright. People immediately see you as one thing, and don't care about anything else. You're homeless." Gin winced. Ouch. Do I really look homeless? "You're a creep. You're weird, and sadistic, and dangerous. It's in the right, so it must be true!" He threw his hands up in the air for emphasis. "But it's not. Because on the left, it's red. You're troubled, just like them. You have a soul, just like them, but no one looks there, because they've already seen what they think is you."

The insight he has is incredible, Gin marveled. Although simplistic language was used, his words were enough to land him on the Board of Philosophical Speakers. He didn't even understand everything that the child has said.

"But when you combine them, they look pretty. It's true, you are a bit of a creep." Wait what. "And you're weird, and sadistic, and dangerous." Who told this kid I was sadistic? I mean, I'm not denying it, but… "But that's just part of who you are! It's part of what makes you, you! And when people see your true personality, it just makes those traits that they saw before shine even brighter!"

I'm going to freaking adopt this kid. Just try and stop me, Mrs. and Mr. Kurosaki. Just try. I dare you.

Gin laughed, patting Ichigo's head. "You really are amazing, kiddo."

The orange-haired boy's bottom lip stuck out in a cute pout. "I'm not a kiddo anymore! I'm nine, therefore I'm an adult just like you are, Ichimaru-san! Hey, how old are you, anyway?"

"Not sure." Ichigo opened his mouth in protest, but Gin ignored him. "Anyway, back to my story. I happened to be nearby when the two men passed by the coffee aisle. And the tattooed man had to be held back by the blonde man, because he'd had too much coffee already." Gin chuckled slightly at the memory. "After a full minute of trying to stuff Tattoo Boy into the shopping cart, Blondie eventually kissed Tattoo Boy. That shut him up

Ichigo blinked. "Will I ever get someone to kiss me when I'm addicted to coffee?"

"No!"

The kid looked at him, hurt. "Why not?"

"You won't get addicted to coffee in the first place," Gin sighed. "It's really not a good idea. But I'm sure someone will kiss you, if that's what you're looking for." He paused, a mischievous smirk spreading across his face. "Maybe today."

"By who?"

"Me." Gin deftly planted a kiss on the child's forehead, before pulling away quickly, grinning. "Not who you were imagining, ay?"

Ichigo gave him a deadpan look. "...creep."

"Gah! No, I'm not a pedo, get your head out of the gutter!"

A cough sounded behind them, and both turned around to see Isshin and Masaki staring down at them. Particularly at Gin, who gulped. How long had they been there…?

Ichigo still never directly told his parents about Gin, instead choosing to say that he was meeting up at friend's house- Ichigo's age, of course- in the mornings and afternoons. Vagueness was key, after all. Unfortunately, those excuses didn't work when his parents were seeing the actual friend.

Gin had closed his eyes the second he heard the cough, so that wasn't a big deal. No, he was worried about the fact that out of context, he really did seem like a creep. Oh, is that why all the children run away from me?

"Is this your 'friend' you were talking about, Ichigo?" Isshin started, frowning intensely. Gin had never seen a frown so intense. It scared him a bit.

Ichigo nodded. "Yes."

"You've been meeting with him for over a month," he clarified.

"Yes."

"You said he was your age."

"I mean, I'm not sure what his age is. He says he doesn't remember."

If possible, the frown got intenser. Oh boy. Why must I always be portrayed as a pedophile?

"Hey, hey," Gin interjected nervously. "Let's all start over with greetings!" He stuck out his hand for them to shake. "I'm Ichimaru Gin."

Masaki took his hand first, smiling kindly. "Kurosaki Masaki."

Isshin, on the other hand, stared intensely at his hand for what felt like a solid minute. Gin began to sweat slightly as he wracked his brain for a synonym for "intense", which described the man in a nutshell. Finally, Isshin shook his hand, a cold glare still on his face. "So you're an alleged friend of Ichigo."

"I suppose so. After all, what would you call someone you've been talking to ever day for a month? An acquaintance? A personal storyteller?"

"What have you been telling him stories of?"

Not very good things. Uh oh. Think of something kid-friendly that you told him.

Shoot.

He didn't have to, since Ichigo responded first. "He told me about the time when he went on a boat!"

Did I? Oh, yes, I did. That was child-friendly enough. Thank Aizen for this kid's memory.

Isshin's eyes widened slightly, and Gin recalled that the Kurosaki family had an odd fascination with the ocean. Ichigo has said that he really wanted to go on a boat, and he was absolutely enraptured in Gin's description of the water. The same seemed to go for Isshin and Masaki, as well. Could this be the key into defeating the final boss? Even mentioning the boat gets these guys weak in the knees. I seriously need to adopt this child for saving my life multiple times now.

"What was it like?"

Gin gazed curiously at the father, who was looking to the side in embarrassment. "You're interested, too? What is with your family's obsession with water?" He sighed, patting the ground next to him. "Storytime, I guess."

The three were absolutely silent- almost to a scary extent- as he recalled out loud the time that he'd gone sailing. They wanted to know everything. The sting of the ocean breeze, the taste of salt, the reflection of the sunset on the water. The more he thought about it, the more beautiful it seemed to be.

It had been about 9:00 AM when Ichigo had gone outside. Now it was 10:00 AM, and the sun had vanquished the clouds that blocked its light, now triumphantly spreading its glow across the land. Gin smiled, almost tempted to open his eyes, before remembering he had guests. "That wraps up today's storytime!" he announced cheerfully, clapping his hands together three times, which seemed to snap the Kurosaki family out of their trance. "Whatcha think?"

Isshin was the first to stand up, shaking his head in wonder. "You…are an incredible storyteller," he murmured. "It was like I was really there."

"Aw, I'm flattered." He'd gotten that a lot from Ichigo. Nothing special had happened today, so he was a bit off-topic with his story about Tattoo Boy and Blondie, but normally he was engrossed with his own story. It was fun telling stories to others, and even more fun to see their reactions. Maybe I should write a book. "So. Am I granted permission to continue talking with Ichigo-kun?"

The other man sighed, placing a hand over his forehead. "I really shouldn't give you, it considering that all you did was tell us a story..."

"But at the sane time, Ichigo has unbelievable insight," Masaki reasoned. "And if he trusts this man, and has talked with him consistently for over 30 days, then he's probably safe."

"But he's just a kid! How can he know that much?"

Gin chuckled inwardly. He asked himself the same question, with no answer. "It's just part of who Ichigo-kun is," he admitted.

The two parents exchanged glances for a brief moment, before Isshin held out his hand to Gin, who was still on the ground. "Alright, you've convinced us."

The silver-haired man gladly accepted, as Ichigo cheered in the background.

A/N: Yes, this chapter and the last one were short. Under 2000 words, actually. I just have a bunch of ideas that I need to get off my chest before they disappear, and I'm trying to regain my writing sense after working on my actual book for a solid 3 weeks writing nothing but that book. Ughhh.

I don't see any way to naturally make the chapters longer at the moment without drawing things out too much. It'll become a natural slice of life in the future, I hope.

Have you barfed rainbows yet? I might've.