A Simple Twist
Chapter 1
"C'mon keep running!"
Two little figures skidded as they turned the bend. They were sprinting for their life from a larger figure that seemed quite angry with the two.
"Get back here with that water you brats!" roared the angry man.
The man in question was carrying a wooden plank over his head in an attempt to smack at the two little ones. They were two boys and in their hands they held a couple of water containers that they had… "borrowed". Unfortunately they were seen by one of the patrons who shouted and thus the chase began. The two thieves were actually just a couple of little boys in dirty rags. One had bright orange hair with brown eyes with his face more in a scowl while the other had red hair with yellow eyes. They sprinted down the streets of the enormous community they were in called Rukongai. They panted as their tiny bodies started to fatigue.
"Get back here!" roared the man.
His heavy footsteps were getting awfully close to them causing both boys to sweat a bit due to fear.
"Keep running, Renji!" cried the boy with orange hair.
"I'm trying!" growled Renji as he panted along.
They raced down the street with the man slowly starting to gain on them. Suddenly a third boy with messy blonde hair and grey eyes waved to them from the entrance of an alleyway.
"Ichigo! Renji! Over here!" he shouted waving his hands.
The two boys on the run didn't waste any time and booked it into the alley with the third boy closely following. The man came soon after still shouting at the boys as he came along. Suddenly third boy dropped something from his hands causing smoke to bellow up stopping the pursuer from giving chase in favor of coughing. The three didn't stop until they were well away from the place. Only when they were miles away from that spot did they finally plop down and rest.
"Whew, great save, Kisuke!" said Renji.
Kisuke smiled brightly.
"Hey, I told you that those smoke balls would come in handy!" he stated.
"Ah shut up," said Renji with a smirk.
Ichigo chuckled himself before looking up at the sky to see that the sun had started its descent.
"C'mon guys, we'd better get this water back to the others," stated Ichigo with an air of authority in his voice.
The other two nodded in agreement and followed the orange head down the streets once again, but in more of a slower speed.
The three boys walked into one of the many rundown wooden huts that lined Rukongai. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon by then. When Ichigo pushed the flap aside his scowl immediately softened. Inside were a couple of other kids about the same age as him, Renji, and Kisuke. They were both girls, one was lying on her back with a withered look on her face while the other was tending to her.
"How is she doing, Momo?" asked Ichigo softly as he placed his water container down.
The girl tending to the other looked up at the sound of Ichigo's voice. She had black hair that was pulled back into a messy bun with brown eyes.
"She holding out for now, but if we don't find a way to help her soon…"
Momo trailed off with tears brimming the corners of her eyes. Ichigo immediately put a hand on her shoulder in comfort. Renji in the meantime stared down at the girl in question who also had black hair that was allowed to freely run down to her shoulders before curling out. There were a few stubborn strands that persisted in between her closed eyes. He closed his eyes in sadness. Kisuke settled down beside him holding a wet towel in which he draped over the girl's forehead causing the girl to stir. A couple of violet orbs were soon revealed from under heavy eyelids. They wandered until they rested on the red haired boy.
"Renji…" she whispered reaching weakly for him.
Renji met her half way with a small smile gracing his features.
"I'm here, Rukia," whispered Renji, trying his hardest to keep his voice from shaking.
As soon as Rukia spoke, Ichigo and Momo crawled to the other side of her with looks of relief on their faces. Thus ended another normal day for this struggling group of kids in the slums of Soul Society.
Like all the residents here, they had died in the living world and woke up here. Ichigo Kurosaki met Rukia Hashi and Renji Abarai three years after waking and became quick partners in crime, doing anything necessary to keep each other alive. Ichigo immediately took up the mantle of leader with his strong will and charisma that seemed to keep his two friends going. Rukia was essential with her great acting skills and Renji… well let's say he was a rather unique escape artist. With this set of skills, the three could easily talk themselves out of sticky situations before anything got too messy. They were eight at the time. Two years later the trio came across Momo Hinamori who had an amazing memory making her the navigator of the group incase they got lost in any of their escapades. Four months later they came across Kisuke Urahara, a little genius that loved making fancy getaway devices. The five of them were an unstoppable team… that is until Rukia fell ill a year later due to some mysterious illness. Ever since then, the group took turns watching over the sickly girl while keeping an eye out for some kind of medicine that was open for the taking. That was eight months ago, now they were all around twelve and still they hadn't found a cure for their sick friend.
Ichigo clenched his eyes shut in frustration. He couldn't let Rukia die; he's known her for so long now. A soft hand on his chin caused him to look up to the weak smirk on Rukia's face.
"Baka, don't make that pathetic face, I'll be fine," she said.
Ichigo gave her a sad smile and leaned his head on her shoulder with his eyes closed.
"We'll find that medicine, Ichigo," reassured Kisuke patting his friend on the back, "You'll see."
Ichigo simply nodded. They waited for a while before Ichigo slowly sat up.
"I've got first watch," stated Ichigo reluctantly releasing Rukia's hand and walking to the window next to the entrance.
"Alright, wake me up when it's my turn," stated Kisuke.
Ichigo nodded behind him.
"Good night, Ichigo-chan," whispered Momo.
Ichigo smiled at her.
"Good night, Momo," he answered.
With that the rest of the group curled around Rukia and fell asleep while Ichigo stood resolute, scanning the streets for any potential threats to his family.