Chapter 4 - Violet Girl
The world has already ended, and society as it was once known, is now scattered, divided and hopeless. It's every man for themselves. They have taken to calling it Rukongai; no one remembers its original name. Some say that there were once many names for each part of the world, and that people once lived their lives in unity and companionship. The notion of community is so foreign now.
Ruins of once great structures – she's heard the myths of the great captains that had once guarded this place, and their legendary Sereitei city – reduced to rubble now, are the homes and scavenging places for many.
Street rats, sickness, no mercy or compassion in sight; this is how Rukia Kuchiki has always known the world to be. Even as a defenseless child of seven years her own sister had abandoned her, leaving her on the gutter to fend for herself. She'd managed though, however young she was, through her strong will and stubbornness. Sometimes, she can imagine the world as it was in the myths her sister used to tell her; kind, safe and full of people who go out of their way to help. If only it were true and not one of her false imaginings of a life other than the one she holds. Here, in this desolate place, there are wary glances, and suspicion marring the faces of all. It's cold, lonely, and hopeless.
Head down, Rukia toes yet another blackened shard of stone to see what lay underneath, only to be met with what she usually found; a layer of scorched rubble similar to the first, not a trace of anything useable in the charcoaled heap. She can't help but feel the panic knotting in her gut heighten each time at her lack of discovery. The nights are getting colder after all, and with nothing to burn, both her and Renji can't keep warm, or cook any of their scavenged food for that matter.
She thinks of Renji, and worries that he is back at their camp without her, worries that someone has raided their camp and that he'll die like the others had… No, she scolds herself. He'll be fine. Just like he always is. Out of the five of the group they had started with, her and Renji are the only two left, and she is determined not to reduce that number any more. And so she pushes on, forever hopeful that there is a silver lining in the storm cloud that overhangs the world.
She does not find much today: a few scraps of rope, a can of something (hopefully) edible, and some shards of broken glass that had etched thin lines of red on her skin. She also finds a dejected looking toy with long ears, the once white fur now a dusty brown from its exposure to the elements. It is cute, she thinks, for something so old, and she decides to show Renji her find.
She begins her journey back to camp, meticulously careful that she's not followed. The sun hangs low in the sky – a glowing red mass that seems to swallow up the horizon and the mountains it ducks behind – and she is determined to return by nightfall.
Renji is not sure when she leaves or when she comes back. He is only aware of the time she is gone; like an empty space has dug itself inside of him in her absence. He is always relieved when her raven hair reappears through the cloth curtain that is their door, messy and unkempt, that one stray strand dangling rebelliously between two shining violet eyes.
They had always worked like this, as a pair; one the scout, the other the brute force. In a way they fit together: two misshaped pieces slotting in place. They met when they were kids. He can still remember the day that she saved his ass. Him, running in a desperate sprint, losing precious energy fast, and her, slight and light-footed, tackling the shabby but swift store owner's legs from under him.
As he dared to cast a glance over his boney shoulder, he tripped over an unseen obstacle and toppled to the ground in a cloud of dust. For a moment, he lay there stunned, blinking up at the girl standing above him, furious glare contorting her petite features. Violet? Strange, he thought, for a human, but he quickly cast it aside. He wasn't one to talk with his flaming red hair.
"What are you doing, you idiot? Run!" she gruffly yelled at him, deep yet feminine voice resonating in his ears. It takes him a moment to register her words.
"What are you, deaf?" she questioned irritably, grabbing his dirty sleeve and heaving him to his feet. She was strong for her small size. "Get up!"
"Alright already, I'm up, I'm up." Without further adjure they were stumbling together – the raven-haired girl dragging him forcibly most of the way, might he add – and out of sight from the storekeeper. They rested their backs against the cool stone of the building, gasping in the soot-filled air like their lives depended on it. Renji leaned his head back and allowed his eyes to lid themselves, allowing himself this one moment to relax. He stiffened when the girl began to shake, violent sobs ripping themselves from her throat, wet pools of tears welling in her eyes. He panicked. He didn't know how to deal with girls, especially crazy ones that were about to burst into tears. Then she turned her gaze – violet, so unearthly violet – to him and he saw it was not sadness that caused her tears, it was happiness. Strange girl, he thought. What's there to be happy about? And the noise she was making was not sobs, but laughter, a sound he had not heard for a very, very long time. It was light, and joyous, and happy, something so foreign and rare in this wasteland of Rukongai, and the sound both relieved him and lifted a weight that had been sitting in his heart for so long. With a gentle sigh, it filled his soul with hope and he began to wonder how this one dark-haired girl could do so much – he'd only just met her after all – with such a simple gesture. He smiled at the girl – he hadn't smiled in years – and allowed a touch of warmth to seep into his features. For the first time in his life he felt hopeful, and that maybe, just maybe, things weren't so bad after all.
A/N
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