'Who is mightier than Death? Those who can smile when death threatens.' --Ruckett

Now, Shoukyaku Tenma wasn't one for lectures and wisdom, but there was some truth in those 2 short sentences that she absolutely believed in. Who knows? Maybe it was her obstinate, brassy personality--the way she just said and acted whatever way she felt was necessary, regardless of the consequences. Maybe it was her tendency to act first and think later. Or maybe it was just her lifestyle.

Growing up in the backstreets of Karakura Town isn't what one would call pleasant. They called it the Rosuto, meaning Lost, District. It wasn't by any means an official name, just one the residents began to call it, for if you ended up there, you were indeed lost, or just had no itenerary in life. It was full of thugs and gang bangers, prostitutes and junkies, and those down on their luck; yeah, if you came from Rosuto, you were scum, at best.

It wasn't really a place one would find a normal high school girl, contemplating on the roof of her broken down apartment building like there was nothing wrong with the world. But then again, Tenma never thought of considering herself a normal high school girl anyway. True, she wan't really in a gang, she'd never been a prostitute, and her father had an okay paying job in construction. But a normal girl wouldn't be lying down on the roof of her shabby home, with a zippo in her hands, wondering how long after dark she could stay out without being at risk of a bullet wound.

She toyed with the lighter cap, deliberating what she would occupy her time with tomorrow. She never went to school, only if there was really nothing else to do. She just didn't see the point in lectures that would have no use in the future--or at least her future. Call her pessimistic, but there was just nothing in store for her in the years ahead. She wasn't very smart; she had no manners, and was rude, tactless, and rash to a fault. She didn't know how to cook, or housekeep, and she was terrible with kids. She cursed, fought, smoked, gambled, all together unladylike. Yep, Tenma was absolutely hopeless.

Off in the distance, she heard a woman's scream and an odd roar. It was extremely loud, as if it were near. She didn't move, someone in the neighborhood must've stolen them a new surround sound system. Must be nice.

The ground began to tremor and the warehouse nextdoor burst into a half pile of rubble. Tenma shot up alarmed, wiping her eyes, debris stuck in her short hair. "Time to head in, I guess," she mumbled, hoisting herself up hastily, and running for the door to the stairs. "Fuckin' pipebombs..."

She grabbed the handle to the door and turned it, yet the door burst open all on it's own. "Out of the way!" yelled a peculiar bald man, shoving her roughly out of the way. It all seemed like slow motion, the man appeared seemingly out of nowhere--she felt him before she saw him--as if she had just opened her eyes. He wore a strange black kimono, and brandished a katana in his hand. On contact, she flew backwards into the door, as if a large electric shock just ran through her system. For a moment all she saw was white, her head was spinning and all she could hear was a terrible wailing roar...

All she could think about was Death.