Red Letter Memories — A Bleach Fanfiction
by Akane-Rei
Part One: Rukongai
Chapter One: When We First Met
It began long ago.
Before she was sentenced to death by Soul Society, there was a time when Soul Society barely even acknowledged her existence. She was just another brat at Inuzuri. And brats were a dime a dozen in that shitty little town.
It began long ago.
Before she met Kurosaki, there was a time when Ichigo Kurosaki didn't even believe in her existence. He had never seen a Shinigami let alone comprehend her role in the world he lived in. She was nothing more than another anomaly to him in the days when seeing ghosts was the only thing that made him different.
It began long ago.
Before she joined the thirteenth division and served under Kaien Shiba and Jushiro Ukitake, there was a time when the thirteenth division had never heard of Byakuya Kuchiki's adopted sister. She was just another student at the Shinigami Academy. At that time, her quiet ways, which were so different from the Rukia he knew, allowed her to blend in with the sea of students. She was just another face among plenty of Shinigami-hopefuls.
It began long ago.
Before she was adopted into the Kuchiki clan, there was a time when Byakuya Kuchiki had a different name associated with her face. Byakuya Kuchiki searched for someone he never knew, someone whom he'd had no ounce of feeling for. She was nothing more than his dead wife's faceless sister. Nothing more than an unfulfilled promise to the woman he broke the rules for.
It began long ago.
Even before their acceptance to the Shinigami Academy, there was a time when the Shinigami Academy was something they never aspired to. In fact, the Shinigami Academy was so far above their everyday lives that they hardly spared it a thought. It was something for the upper caste; certainly not something a Rukongai brat from the 78th district even thought to enter.
It began long ago…
Yet all the memories were fresh. As he stared at the ceiling of his dark cell, his hands restrained by nothing more than a wooden block, he could see clearly in his mind the ugly face of the old man they stole the water from. He remembered the scorching heat that led him and his friends to plan the daring theft. He remembered the feeling of desperation as they attempted their escape while hampered by the weight of their prize. But most of all, he remembered—
"I can't go anymore!" cried out Yuuta from his left, and for the umpteenth time during this whole fiasco, he berated himself for letting him even participate. He should have put his foot down and told the scrawny little kid to just run for his life without taking any of the water. But the thought of having another jug to share had been tempting and Yuuta had looked at him with those pleading eyes asking for permission to do something useful. In the end, he gave in to the excited cries of his friends at the thought of four jugs of water. After all, that shitty old man couldn't possibly catch up with them, right?
Wrong!
As all of them ran as fast as they could, he would have to admit to a miscalculation. The damn water jugs were heavy. And while he could certainly carry it and run without breaking too much of a sweat, that curly-haired runt, Yuuta, was another matter.
His eyes glanced back.
Shit!
The old man was catching up to them and Yuuta was slowing down. No way was he going to let that little runt get caught. Who knew what that dirty old man would do to him? What he needed was a diversion. Something to take the attention off the fact that Yuuta was falling behind.
He looked back again. Maybe, maybe if he let himself get caught, the other three could escape. Yeah! He could slow down that old man with no problem, allowing Daichi, Hideki, and Yuuta to go off with three jugs of water. As for him, out of the four of them, he had the most chance of escaping the old man or the so-called authorities once he got caught. He was wilier and meaner than the other three.
Making up his mind, he was about to turn back and give the old man a swift kick when a movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention.
What the hell?
Before he knew it, he and his friends were dodging the purple-clad figure of a girl as she slid on the ground and aimed her foot right into that mean old bastard. Forgetting escape for the time being, he stood there in a stupor and watched in amazement as the small figure jumped and proceeded to stomp on their chaser's head. With the old man's face plastered to the ground, Renji watched as the girl ran towards them in full speed.
"Follow me!" she shouted with a gesture as she ran past them.
For an indiscernible moment, his brain registered a blank.
Follow her? Who the hell—
"Wait a minute—" he called out, finally finding his voice. Did she know what she was doing? Where did she come from anyway?
"Hurry up!" she called, turning back to them. Her eyes looked at them with impatience. "Do you want other people to come after that water?" she spat, reminding him of his cargo.
He looked at his friends and heard the old man groan behind him. They were running out of time! He met Hideki's eyes and quickly made a decision. "Let's go!" he told all of them determinedly. Where to, he didn't know, but it was better than standing there and waiting for the old man to get his bearings.
"Ren-chan!" Hideki's voice followed him as they all ran towards the girl.
Renji tried to give his friend a reassuring look, but he wasn't sure how successful he was. He didn't know where the girl was taking them. He didn't know why they were following her, and at this point, he didn't really care. His world revolved around the precious water he carried and keeping an eye on the rapidly disappearing back of the girl who tried to help them. He didn't know who she was or why she was even helping them, but at times like this, he wasn't about to question the sheer luck of encountering her.
Looking back at his friends to make sure they were keeping up, he grinned. Whether it was the short "rest" they had from running when they dodged the sliding girl back in the alley or whether it was a second wind, he and his friends found themselves running just a little bit faster and with just a little bit more of an effort than a few minutes ago. Even from his angle, he could see the renewed determination on everyone's face.
He looked forward. Or maybe it was her. After all, boys shouldn't appear weak in front of a girl, right? It would be freaking humiliating if he and his friends couldn't so much as drag the damn jugs of water when the girl in front of them could single-handedly bring down the old water peddler.
And so they ran, ducking at corners and slipping past the hordes of adults that ignored them. They ran, following the girl, blindly trusting the stranger that dropped into their lives.
Later, his suspicious mind would ask her who she was and why she helped them. Later, he would wonder how she happened to chance upon them at that moment. Later, he would get answers. Later.
She was an idiot.
Feeling the burning in her lungs, she called herself all kinds of fool as she ran and led those four boys to a place where she was sure it would be safe. For awhile at least.
Why she decided to get involved at all was a mystery. She didn't even know any of them. There was no reason, absolutely no reason, for her to risk her own neck. Didn't she have enough on her plate without adding to it the trouble that those four boys would undoubtedly bring?
She mentally slapped her forehead. She knew, she just knew that she was going to catch hell for this. If only she wasn't such a sucker for the damn kid.
She had been walking down the street that afternoon when she saw the four of them. She'd seen them around before and would have probably not even given them a second thought except for that loud and mouthy red-haired leader of the pack. Of the four of them, he stood out the most not only because of his appearance but also because he seemed to be in charge of their little group. And again, normally, she would have dismissed him—all of them for that matter—as just four more street rats like herself in a town full of street rats.
Except, there was that time. Maybe a month or two ago. Who knew? Time seemed meaningless in Soul Society, let alone the 78th District. But about a month ago as she sat on one of the rooftops she enjoyed so much, she saw them running from another mischief they no doubt perpetrated. She saw the smallest one of them (even smaller than her!) stumble and fall. And in the dog-eat-dog world they live in, she had expected the boy to be abandoned. Such was life after all. If you couldn't take care of yourself, you got left behind.
Only, that wasn't what happened. To her complete and utter surprise, she saw the loud and tall boy double back and practically carry his friend on piggyback to help him escape. She saw him call out to his other two friends to keep going and she heard him tell them that he would take care of…Yuuta. That was the only name she heard.
And in the end, he did. They got away from the vendors that were chasing them. And Yuuta, Yuuta was safe because of his friends.
From then on, she always noticed them. In particular, she noticed him. The tall one with the flashy red hair. She never did find out his name.
Until now.
She heard one of them call him "Ren-chan."
She glanced back and saw the determined look on all their faces. What's more, she saw that he had already made certain that all of them were going to make it. Meeting his eyes briefly, she quickly looked away and up ahead. They were almost there.
She led by on of the ricketiest bridge there was in town. No one hardly used it anymore for fear of falling. Behind her, she could hear someone mutter exclamations under his breath.
"Oi!" someone shouted behind her.
She looked back, already slowing down. They had already escaped their pursuer, so now the only thing to do was hide the water until they made use of it.
"What?" she asked, looking directly at his eyes.
"We can't cross that," Yuuta behind him said softly. "We'll fall."
She looked at that one. What was it about the little kid that made her want to protect him? Was it the same feeling Ren-chan got? Was that why the ringleader saved him many times over?
"Who said anything about crossing it?" she said knowingly, as she made her way to the side of the bridge and beyond the shrubbery that hid it. There, a little path led down and underneath the bridge. "This is just a place for you to hide for now," she called out, fully expecting them to follow her. The path was pretty wide, so they shouldn't have any trouble carrying the water jug through it.
Carefully, she led them under the bridge and headed towards a deserted shack that looked like it was about to collapse from its weight. Judging by the look of it, she could tell that at more than one point, the river had risen high enough to flood the dwelling. It was the fact that the shack still stood, albeit barely, that was a constant surprise to her.
"You can hide here until dark," she said, pushing open the flap of straws that served as a door. She wrinkled her nose at the familiar smell of mildew. "It's not much, but no one goes here. You can stay here until it's safe for you to move the water."
She finally turned back to look at them, and found four boys staring at her incredulously.
"Are you sure this thing'll hold up?" the red-haired boy asked. "It looks like a good gust of wind could blow it all the way to Seireitei."
"It stood this long," she said softly. "I'm sure it can stay still for another couple of hours. Or at least until you all can safely go."
He gave her a skeptical look before motioning for his friends to come forward. One by one, they set down their jugs of water on the dirt floor and heaved a sigh of relief.
"I thought my arms were gonna fall off," Yuuta sighed, rubbing his nonexistent biceps.
The other two nodded in agreement before they all turned to her. Again.
"Thanks for helping us," one of them said. He was one of the taller ones. Almost as tall as Ren-chan, only more lanky. "The way you slid and kicked that old man over was great!"
Yuuta and the other one nodded.
Only Ren-chan seemed to remain unmoved. He stared down at her from his lofty height before asking, "Why'd you help us?"
She shrugged. She didn't know why she helped them and what's more, she didn't particularly want to think about it. If she did, she'd have to ask herself questions like why she even felt obligated to help the littler boy or why did she noticed the red-haired boy so much.
"As I said, you can hide here for awhile," she repeated, before moving towards the makeshift door. She had things to do before night fell. She had done all that she could for them.
"Hey wait!" the boy demanded, following her and blocking the door. "Where are you going?"
She smiled. "I have to make a living too, you know," she said casually. "I've got at least two more pockets to pick before it gets too dark."
"Huh?" he commented. "Two? What are you talking about?"
She looked at him in askance. Didn't he know? Shrugging again, she refused to answer. If he didn't know, then it was better that way. "I've got to go," she stated. She had things to do before night. When night came, it was the others' turn to work.
"Wait!" he said again.
"Look," she declared. "I helped you already. I can't do much more."
"At least tell us your name," he said, although it looked like he wanted to say more.
She gazed at him and at the stubborn tilt of his chin. This might be the last time she would ever talk to this boy. She looked behind him, at Yuuta and his two other friends. She couldn't help but feel a pang of envy. Unlike her, they stole for themselves.
"My name is Rukia," she said.
"I'm Renji," the boy informed her. "And over there is Yuuta, the runt. Daichi, the fatso. And there is Hideki."
Renji, she thought. So that's his name.
The three who were introduced gave her awkward waves of greeting.
"Pleased to meet you," she said formally, the words feeling out of place.
"If you ever need anything," Renji continued, "we owe you one."
He looked at his serious face and for a moment, contemplated the offer. It was tempting. To have someone take care of her the way this Renji took care of Yuuta…and Daichi…and Hideki. To have someone to rely on besides that mean son of a—
"Forget about it," she said tersely. But this was reality. And in reality, the only one who could take care of herself was none other than her. The only way she could protect herself was to do the bidding of a madman. She looked outside and at the gently setting sun. "I've got to go," she told them. "Enjoy the water, ne?" she said, before darting off and away.
Renji followed the girl, Rukia, and watched her climb back up the bridge and disappear from sight. Something about the girl was familiar. Most likely, he'd seen her in the streets before.
"Ne, Ren-chan," he heard Hideki call out to him. "How long do you think we should stay here?"
He looked back at his friends. "We'll wait 'til dark," he told them. "Then we'll go back and share this with everyone back home." He almost grinned bitterly. Home. The place where a lot of the children ended up in Soul Society. It was a ramshackle of a house with more people than it could hold, but at this time, it was home for them. At least there, they were free to do as they wished.
He looked back up at the bridge. He had a feeling that Rukia belonged to a different kind of home.
"She's cute, ne, Ren-chan?" Yuuta piped out. "I'm glad she was there to help us."
"Yeah," he replied. Hell, he was glad she had been there. If not, he had a feeling that at this moment, he would have been trying to figure out how to escape from that old man.
"I think I've seen her before," Daichi added.
Renji looked at him quickly. "Do you know her?" he asked, curious.
"I don't know her," he explained. "I just know of her." He paused.
And Renji waited impatiently. "Well? Spit it out!"
"I think…I think…I think she works for the Uchiboris," he said quickly.
"Heh?" He approached his friend slowly. "The only people that work for the Uchiboris are thieves and those…those…women."
"Well," Daichi said slowly this time, "she did say that she was a pick pocket."
"And I think she's too young to be the other kind," inserted Hideki helpfully.
Renji cursed. No one was too young to be the other kind. Growing up in the streets, you see all sorts of things.
He looked back outside.
There was no reason for him to concern himself. The girl had obviously been able to survive this long even if it was under the Uchiboris' thumb. She was probably content where she was.
"Ne, Ren-chan," Yuuta's voice drifted to him. "Do you think Rukia-chan is okay?"
"Che," he muttered. "How should I know?" he said dismissively. But looking at the worried eyes of the boy, he softened his tone, "I'm sure she's fine. Most likely, she's worked for them all her life, so she probably knows all the ropes."
At least he hoped so.
"I wish she could have stayed longer," murmured Yuuta. "She seemed nice."
"Yes," he agreed. "She did."
And as he watched the sun set over the horizon, he wondered if they'll see her again.
To Be Continued.
Next Chapter: When We Became Friends