***Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.***
The Stray, the Star and the Moon
South Rukongai, Area 78 "Inuzuri." In that town that's little better than a dumpster where the people are worse than trash, I found a star. Or rather, a star found us, crashing into our lives with little warning. From that day on, we were always together… We were family.
Our family began with five. But in that town little better than a dumpster where the people are worse than trash, our family slowly dwindled, one heartbreaking death after another, until there was only her and me.
One day, Rukia and I stood silently on the hill where we buried our friends, both our tears long since shed and dried over ten long years of watching them die one by one. Rukia gazed at the distant horizon, over the treetops of the forest at the edge of Inuzuri. She often looked into the distance, as if she could see things others could not. Rukia had always had that aura of gentle wisdom about her which set her apart from everyone in that dumpster of a town.
"Renji, let's become shinigami," she said in her soft, low voice. And I followed the star.
We were both gifted, she and I. We rose swiftly to the top of our class. But amongst the company of the children of nobility, we could never forget from where we came. But we had each other. No matter how hard things got, we were never alone.
Then one day, he came into our lives. I first saw him in the halls of our dorm, as unexpected a sight as if the moon itself deigned to descend from the sky to converse with us. He was speaking to Rukia, his face pale and serene. When his retainers noticed my approach, my unwanted presence, they broke off their conversation and drifted away. He never once glanced at me, I was so far beneath his notice.
"Renji, they want to adopt me into the Kuchiki family," Rukia said to me, her voice full of uncertainty. It took a few moments for the meaning to sinking in.
How incredible were those words. How impossible. And yet, how right. The star would at last take her place beside the moon in the sky. She had always had that aura which set her apart from everyone from that dumpster of a town, my Rukia. Everyone including me.
Rukia whispered hesitantly, "Renji… I…" There should not have been sadness on her face and hesitation in her words. She belonged in the sky with the moon, pale and serene. This was right. This was meant to be. Don't get in her way.
I plastered a wide fake smile on my face and congratulated her, drowning both our doubts with loud, meaningless words. I even laughed and slapped my hand down on her shoulder, same as always. But of course, by my own words, my very own damned, noble words, nothing would ever be the same again. Rukia reached up for my arm, her hand warm and small, and gently freed herself from my touch. She was a Kuchiki now, and I could no longer touch her.
It would be many years before we touched again. We, who had always been together. We, who had been family.
"Thank you," Rukia whispered. She didn't meet my eyes as she drifted away. In that moment, she already resembled him in her remoteness. I did not try to pursue her. For how could a stray dog pursue a star?