Title: Baby Steps

Author: Claes Winterspell

Rating: T

Status: Incomplete

Disclaimer: I don't own or profit from any of the characters; they are the sole ownership of Tite Kubo. And this is the last time I'm ever typing this for this story.

Chapter 1:

According to statistics, the park is the most frequently visited and most populated place in the whole city. So, it is no wonder if two people- or children- would cross each other's paths several times and know each other.

This is not the case for Inoue Orihime, and that pretty eyed boy with a sad face. She's been going to the same- and only- park for so long that she has long since been acquainted with the people who go there. Except for the pretty eyed, sad faced boy.

It was the day that her brother left her in the park playground in a hurry- a first since he always stays a while to make sure that she is safe with her friends- that she noticed something peculiar about her surrounding. She had twirled round and round several times just to pinpoint the anomaly, but could not find it; it was when she tripped on her feet and fell down on the grass with a loud "oof!" that she finally noticed the pretty eyed, sad faced boy; he was peering at her like she had grown two antennae and sprouted four more legs…Had she? Orihime felt the top of her head and looked at her body. Nope, so why was he looking at her like that? The brown-orange-haired girl turned to him again. And they stared.

It was when Tatsuki called her and hauled her up that the funny looking boy turned his gaze away. He jumped off the bench he was sitting on then walked off.

Thoughts about the boy were pushed into a far, far corner of her mind as she played with her friends, and only returned when she and her brother were walking back to the house.

"Ah!" she had exclaimed out of the blue.

"What's the matter, Orihime?" her brother had asked, worry tinting his tone. "Did you forget something?"

"Mm-mm," she nodded her head. "I just forgot to ask the pretty-eyed, sad-faced boy his name." Then, she resumed skipping to their house, big brother in tow and wondering about what his little sister has just said. Probably a new addition to her story games.

x.X.x

The next time she came to the park, she had found out that Tatsuki had enrolled in Karate classes. Inoue beamed at her friend's mother in response then abruptly ran off. Too busy trying to keep her tears from falling, she had accidentally bumped into a person-a kid, like herself.

He had very funny orange hair and a weird (but cool-looking) scowl.

"Whoops," she mumbled, rubbing the spot where she hit her head as she sat sprawled on the grass. "Sorry. I wasn't looking when I was trying to do my dramatic exit."

"...Ha?" the orange boy asked, wondering what exactly was this girl talking about. "Anyway, you better get up from there. A girl shouldn't be sitting like that." He offered a tiny hand and she took it. He heaved her up with a quick inhale from his part and a tiny "upsie daisy" from her. And then he noticed her wet cheeks, the glossy texture shining in the daylight. "Whoa! Why are you crying? Did the fall hurt that much?"

"Eh?" Was her tiny reply, her head tilted slightly to the side. Hot, wet splashes dropped to her hand and she realized the sad truth; that she won't be able to play with Tatsuki anymore. Then the dam burst. To say things bluntly, Ichigo was very shocked- very, very shocked. He turned from side to side to look for any passersby, but to his dismay, they were in a pretty much secluded part of the park where trees surrounded them and nothing but the circle that is the wide clearing was there. She wailed louder and her tiny fists were rubbing her eyes viciously as she tried to say words through the sobs and hiccups.

"H-hey now," the now-not-so-scowling boy said, his arms flailing up and down in panic. "Don't cry! I bet things would turn out just fine."

He had said that just randomly out of desperation, but, amazingly, it worked. The tiny girl nodded her head and the wails subsided slightly- to Ichigo's great relief. Orangey was right, maybe tomorrow Tatsuki will come and say that a giant lizard accidentally stepped on the dojo and that she could not attend anymore. Maybe she'll bring caramel pudding with asparagus with her for them to eat. Maybe the giant lizard would eat with them, too. That comforted Orihime and she finally calmed down; she was only hiccupping mildly now.

Minutes later, Orihime and Ichigo were found sitting on a bench, and this time Ichigo made sure that they were in a place where a lot of people passed by just in case. Orihime had freshened up, and there were no more signs of the tear fall that happened earlier. But her eyes were still puffy, though.

"So," Ichigo started. Orihime looked up from her swinging legs that dangled from the bench. "What's with all the…crying? Earlier…"

"Oh, that." Orihime smiled. "I was just making a dramatic exit when I bumped into you. I found out my friend couldn't play with me anymore, you see, so I ran so that Auntie won't see me cry."

Ichigo's mouth formed an O shape and silence came back. Orihime went back to swinging her legs back and forth, back and forth; the orange-head stared in front of him. Was it just him or did he feel uncomfortable- like he needed to speak? But what should he say? Something about the latest Darbie doll? What was the latest Darbie doll anyway- the soldier one or the nurse one? Ugh, he was never good with talking with girls; give him any guy to talk to he can do that- heck, he even became friends with that tomboy in Karate class!... What was her name again? Tarou? Sumisuki?

"Tatsuki-chan," Yes, yes! Tatsuki so that was the name. Huh? Ichigo turned to the girl beside him and noticed that she was beaming at some thing in front. He turned there…only to met by said tomboy. Then a flurry of movement and, suddenly, Inoue-san was there, clinging on the black-haired yellow-belt. What was happening now? Was she a tomboy now too?

"Kurosaki-kun! This is my friend, Tatsuki." Inoue introduced her, right after effectively dragging said friend in front of him. "Tatsuki-chan, this is Kurosaki-kun!"

"I already know him Hime-chan" Tatsuki said, pointing a finger to him, "He's the kid that couldn't even beat a girl in Karate."- she turns to him and says, "You skipped class today."

"H-hey, Mom says it's bad to point at people, and I so could beat up a girl!" Ichigo replied hotly, looking like a puffed-up cat with a wild blush from neck to hairline. "Oh, yeah! And I didn't skip class, I had a dentist appointment!"

"Sure you can, Kurosaki." Tatsuki crossed her arms, her smirk smug.

"W-well, anyway," Orihime piped in, trying to be the peace-maker. "I didn't know Tatsuki-chan knows Kurosaki-kun. Orihime is surprised!"

"Yeah, well, anyone would know about the boy who couldn't even ascend to yellow belt after three years in the dojo."

And so the chase began, Ichigo, furiously chasing, and Tasuki, laughing away.

x.X.x

The little raven-haired boy watched as the weird haired child desperately tried to catch the obviously faster girl who was laughing her head off. The orange-head was flushed red from another comment the girl said and his speed quickened once again- and the one could surmise that he'll slow down again after a few minutes into the chase. But it wasn't the two of them that he was watching; it was the girl from the other day with the inquisitive eyes. She had stared at him unabashedly and smiled at him as if they were immediate friends. But who would want to be friends with him? No one. Emerald eyes darkened at the memories that flashed, and at the words his "father" had uttered to him.

He could hear his voice now, saying to his ear with that same dark look, "Why would they want to be friends with you? You who committed a crime, who killed-" No! He would not let his father take over his thoughts. He looked back to the two children chasing each other and noticed belatedly that one orange-brown-haired one was missing.

"Hey, what's your name?"

His widened eyes turned to the girl to his right and he took a sharp intake of breathe from his ever so slightly parted mouth. Teleportation? Her head was tilted to the side and her bright eyes were just as wide as his. She was the image of relaxed curiosity, while he was the sight of suppressed shock.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, her brows furrowing slightly, "You don't look that good. Want me to get a grown-up?"

He shook his head and calmly replied, "I am fine. What is your name?" Never mind that she just asked the same question just a few moments ago.

She perked up, her smile flashing. "My name's Orihime! I'm a princess!" She looked so proud of her name, that he stopped himself from rolling his eyes at her latter statement.

"What's yours?"

He regarded her for a while, as if his name was such a secret never to be divulged. She continued to smile expectantly at him, despite the stare she was getting.

"Ulquiorra Schiffer."

"Oh, so Yuckysoya-kun, why do you look so sad?"

x.X.x

A.N.: Yes, I am starting a new UlquiHime story after only two chapters of my other one...which I haven't update in two months...hmm... Well, I've got more of an idea as to what happens in this story so, yeah, here we go.

Oh yeah, the Bleach cast's average age here is about 7.somethingblahblah so dont' think that they're acting so immature. Oh! and when I man "Bleach Cast" I mean the the one's in this chapter. Good luck guessing their ages. x) More importantly, People might ask why Children love? Well, one reason is I find children puppy love to be very cute and endearing so sue me xP. joke! Im too young to be sued! Dx and the other reason is that I've been having these weird (but fun) images of how they would look so cute playing in a park while they were about in ages 10 below. :D Don't worry they'll grow up in future chapters; I'm not having any children kissing lips on lips...ew...mental image... But I wouldn't mind seeing Orihime kissing Ulquiorra on the cheeks! That is cute!

Well, enough about pointless ramblings, like your everyday stereotype writer in , Review please! Constructive Critisicm a.k.a. Flames are very welcome- just be specific about what you're complaining about. Thanks for bothering to click the link to this story. Stick with me 'til the end, will you?

-Claes Winterspell - one who has chocolate cake for her readers who review x3