Hi people, I'm back with the first reedited chapter of 'Reunited' ! As I've said previously, I hope that the story this time around would be better and less rushed. Do give me some feedback and I sincerely apologise to my readers out there. Do enjoy ! - ANF-Byaruki


Rukia stepped back to find herself backing up against the cold concrete wall.

"Shit..", she muttered under her breath.

Rukia was surrounded by kids older than her. The silent and tense atmosphere was broken by a snap of fingers. The gang hurriedly made way for its leader to step forward before forming a defensive barrier again. There was simply no loopholes for escape for her.

"Hand over your sweets obediently and we will let you off unharmed, Rukia.", Ryu laughed sinisterly.

Rukia shook her head adamantly. She absolutely refused to give in to him. Although Rukia was new here, she has heard terrifying rumours of Ryu and his gang. Ryu always picked on the other younger orphans and nobody dared to stand up against him. In Rukia's eyes, Ryu is nobody. He is just a bully who thinks that he is strong by pitting himself against small kids.

She will not cower before someone like him. Never. But in this situation what can she do?

"Then don't blame me for how you will turn out later.", Ryu grinned.

"Get her.", Ryu ordered as he folded his arms.

Three boys rushed forward and held her down and pulled her hair without any mercy.

"Unless you want to suffer more than this, you had better give up your sweets now, Rukia.", Ryu threatened.

"No way.. in.. hell!" Rukia retaliated defiantly, struggling to fight off the guys above her.

Ryu stepped forward and raised his fist to hit her. Rukia shut her eyes tightly and await the pain to connect. Seconds passed but the stinging pain did not come. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw the back view of a boy standing before her.

"It's my first time seeing someone stand up against Ryu. Consider this a reward from me."

With swift movements, the anonymous boy kicked Ryu in his abdomen area. The power of his kick alone sent him a few meters back.

Ryu landed with a thump and clutched his stomach in pain. He knelt down on one knee, breathing with much difficulty. He hung his head low as tears clouded his eyes. He must not let them see his tears. After all, he is the notorious leader of a gang.

"You still have some fight in you, not bad. Normally, those who receive my kicks wind up unconscious. But.. how long can you last, I wonder.." His lips lifted up into a small smile.

"B-Bastard.. How did you get past my underlings.."

"Simple." The boy walked forth.

"You are..!" Fear was imminent in Ryu's eyes as he lifted up his head.

Ryu tried to scramble away but the boy appeared in front of Ryu in a flash.

"What happened to that will to fight?" He smirked.

No reply.

He lifted Ryu up by his collar with his left hand.

"I.. beat" He continued from where he left off.

"..them up like.." He clenched and lifted up his fist to the side of his face.

"this!" He smirked and swung his fist forward.

A strong wind blew past Ryu's face and he shut his eyes tight, waiting for the pain to come.

Ryu opened his eyes to see Rukia tugging her saviour's shirt with tears brimming her eyes. She shook her head, almost as if telling him to stop. In that moment, the boy dropped Ryu to the ground and told him to scram.

"Why did you stop me?" The boy turned about with an annoyed look on his face.

"If I didn't, you would be doing the same thing he did to me.." She wailed.

The boy sigh. "Don't cry! Where was that brave girl just now?"

Rukia then rubbed away her tears and looked up at him.

"That's better. Does it hurt?"

Rukia shook her head.

"Rukia right?" He smiled.

This time, she nodded her head.

"What is your name? Onii-san."

He place a hand on her head and smiled.

"Byakuya."


Ever since then, she always followed Byakuya around and was treated well by him. The caretakers couldn't care less about them. They have to settle their breakfast, lunch and dinner on their own. Sometimes, they only eat a meal every day.

They were educated of course. A teacher would come in and teach them, giving them tests and works to do and after which she will leave and come back the next day. Unlike the caretakers, the teacher was always very kind towards them.

Byakuya was smarter than the average people and Rukia was less intelligent compared to him. She always looked up to him as a role model because he was always there to protect her. They slept together in the attic, which no one knows about since it was Byakuya's secret hideout. Caretakers don't bother to check the strength of the orphans thus they don't even realise.

It was as though they never existed.

Once in a while, visitors would come and take a look at the orphans to which the caretakers were more than glad to give away. Things never changed for Byakuya and Rukia despite that. They embraced each other to sleep, giving each other warmth. They would kiss each other goodnight just like any innocent and pure kids.

Rukia was the sister and Byakuya was the brother. That's who they were, until that certain day.


"Byakuya nii-san. Where are you?" Rukia searched frantically, poking her head through every room she ran by. Eventually, she reached the office and saw Byakuya with two other adults.

His face held a solemn look and when they stepped out of the office. Byakuya turned to her and pat her on her head. His hand stayed longer than usual. It was goodbye. He smiled a sad smile, turned and left.

"Live well with your new parents, Bya-chan!" One of the caretakers shouted.

Rukia was horrified. New parents? Her nii-san was adopted by a family. But they can't do this. He is her family. They can't just take him away without getting her approval!

"Byakuya nii-san! Where are you going?" Rukia cried out.

Byakuya turned about and shot her a despondent and forlorn look.

"Goodbye Rukia.", he muttered.


Rukia woke up, startled. What was it that she just dreamt about?

GAH! I can't remember. Perhaps it is of not much importance.

She looked at the clock by her bedside and sigh.

For god's sake. It's only 3am. I have work later, I need more sleep..

She tossed and turned but wasn't able to get her shuteye. Frustrated, she switched on the lights and started to clean the room to get herself worked out. It's all the dream's fault that she lost so much sleep.

Rukia managed to fall asleep around 6am. However in an hour's time, she will have to wake up again.


"Ouch!" Rukia exclaimed sleepily.

In a bid to turn off the annoying alarm, she rolled down the bed. She muttered a curse under her breath.

After making her bed and washing up, Rukia made sure she had all her important items with her before leaving her apartment.


Breakfast in the cafeteria first ! Rukia thought excitedly as she got on the crowded bus.

"A plate of toast and a cup of tea please !" Rukia requested cheerfully.

"The usual huh, Rukia-chan." The old man smiled.

"Hai Oji-san!" Rukia responded with equal exuberance.

Rukia carefully lifted up her tray of breakfast and turned to head towards a vacant seat. Suddenly, she remembered that she forgot to thank the old man.

She turned back and the next thing she knew was a burning sensation.

"Hot! Hot! Hotttt!" She exclaimed aloud.

Her cup of tea toppled and scalded her right hand. But thankfully, her attire wasn't stained. She then glared at the man who caused her painful injury.

"Hey!" She put the tray on the table right next to her.

"Are you just going to walk away like this without apologizing?" She grabbed the wrist of the man who turned to walk off.

The man turned around and look at her silently with a deadly glare.

Grey eyes.

The dream came flowing back to her upon the encounter with the similar grey eyes. She stared at those eyes longer than she should have. The anger in her left momentarily as she was caught by them.

Byakuya..nii-san.

The man cleared his throat.

Rukia snapped back to reality. Hah! She actually thought this man was Byakuya nii-san? What a joke. Byakuya nii-san never behaves like this.

I don't know anyone so ill-mannered and arrogant!

"I DEMAND an apology." Rukia stared on, not willing to back down.

She can forgive him for toppling her drink and injuring her. But she can't forgive those who think they've done nothing wrong and walk off nonchalantly without an apology.

She must be one of those kind of people.

"Is money what you want?" Without waiting for an answer, the man took out a wad of cash and slammed it into her hand before walking off.

Rukia frowned at the humongous amount of money.

No one treats me like this.

Enraged, she ran forward and threw the money back into his face. He did not bat an eyelid. But was inwardly stupefied.

"People like you utterly disgust me. Using money to solve problems. How degraded can you get." Rukia spat and stormed off in a huff.

People in the cafeteria watched as the drama unfolded before their eyes. Some seemed to be whispering away and others ignored and continued to have their breakfast.

"That bastard..thinking he's so rich huh?" Rukia walked towards her office in annoyance.


"Have you heard about it?"

"About what?"

"A new boss is taking over the company !"

"For real? Who is it?" The other hissed.

"I'm not sure either but it seemed like he will be making a speech later at the lobby !"

Everyone whispered excitedly, making wild guesses of how the new boss would look like.

Rukia sat in front of her desk, propping her head up with her left hand. She was uninterested in meeting the new boss. Besides, she is a pint-sized lady. She would end up getting suffocated by the crowd before she even sees the boss.

Why the trouble?

She sighed.


"Wasn't he one hell of a bastard?" Rukia confided into Inoue Orihime, one of her best friends.

"Sure he is.", Kurosaki Ichigo joined the conversation.

"I second that.", Ishida pushed up his glasses.

"So did any of you attend the speech made by the new boss?" Rukia queried.

"Nah. It will be so boring.", Ichigo answered.

"Yeah.", everyone agreed.

"I heard that the new boss got money slapped into his face. Who is that incredulous kid trying to be infamous?" Renji arrived shortly after their talk.

Everyone's eyes immediately turned to Rukia. Rukia forced a smile, "I-It's not so coincidental, r-right?"

"But it definitely sounds like you, Rukia.", Ichigo commented.

"It's you?" Renji shrieked with laughter, earning a punch from Rukia.

Shortly after, they returned to their department.

"Hey. There was an announcement saying that the new boss will interview everyone. Those who don't meet expectations will either get transferred to another department or be retrenched. And it appears that our department would be interviewed three days later."

"Uwaa.. that's scary !" A female colleague commented.

"That sounds like a disaster, Rukia.", Inoue whispered.

"I don't like the sound of this...three days to my death sentence.", Rukia dropped her head in defeat.

"We will pray for you Rukia.", they said in unison.

Rukia gave them an 'it's over' look and sigh.


That is all for this chapter :) Pretty short, I know. Still, I hope you've enjoyed it. I've edited a lot, in my opinion. Hopefully it will add some ecstasy to my future chapters with this as the beginning. Those who've been following my story knows that I don't usually add title to it. Please don't take it to heart if the title of the chapter doesn't suit it :) Thank you for reading, please do feedback. Warm regards - ANF-Byaruki