. : Closer : .
I want to get out of here. I want get closer to it.
Those were my earliest thoughts from my childhood. I watched the cold grey walls that towered over us not with distaste but with hope, a hope that one day I could get out of this hellhole that I call home to somewhere better. Here in Rukongai there was only eternity; souls that died and were buried in Earth get sent to here to live an eternal afterlife of peace. But peace is only a word and much like back in Earth, I learned that even afterlife was controlled by the few who had strength.
I'm not sure if I was sent here or was born in this deserted land, I have no recollection of any past memories, only those short years I lived in Rukongai still haunts my dreams. At a young age I discovered that I possess something called reiatsu, a power to harness spiritual energy within that only a select few can control. But with power also came a burden: Hunger. With no parents or siblings to name, I was nothing but a homeless orphan with a little gift and no food. Craving to the temptation within, I resorted to stealing and fighting for it, soon making a name for myself.
Abarai Renji
Those who were close to me, my friends, as well as the enemies I made, addressed me by the name that was given to me by someone I never met or spoke to. Renji: a delinquent, a thief, a loyal friend, a tough fighter, all of it was part of me, my identity. All I cared about was surviving, forgetting the goals I set for myself many years ago, I lived my life with my friends like there was no tomorrow because who knew except for god what hell would tomorrow bring.
"Hey my name is Rukia."
Indeed what fresh hell brought me that day was something I would have never expected in a million years. I met her during one of our many thefts when the owner caught up to us and started beating us. From out of nowhere a ball, no bigger than the size of a fist, flew out of nowhere and just missed him. It must have scared the crap out of him since he ran off faster than lightning but I couldn't laugh at him for doing that since I was afraid, too. My fear was broken when I heard a giggle from behind me. I slowly turned my stiff body only to find a girl sitting at the top branch of a dead tree. She had onyx black hair and boyish attitude but what attracted my eyes was the glowing ball of energy floating on her hand. To be honest to this day I was more jealous of her than fascinated, that while we had the same abilities, she was able to achieve a level of power that I couldn't achieve. She quickly became a member in our small family of friends, my partner in crime, my best friend, and a life long rival.
Decades. In that short of amount time she and I made new friends, said good-bye to the old ones, and buried countless number of them with our very hands. I do not know how many of our companions we lost to time but I can feel them living inside of me even now as I trace lines of the tattoo I had done on my forehead in commemorations to them. On that day, as Rukia and I buried the last of our dear family members, we made a vow. A vow to us and a vow to those departed that we will get stronger and achieve a status greater than life itself, that we would become death. Like that she and I swore to the setting sun that we shall, with our very souls on the line, to become shinigami.