Chapter 2

Five months later. It was five months later that these moments would reoccur in my mind yet again. I was thirteen and Rukia was about seven months old. Ever since we left the house that day, we have been living by ourselves. I became accustomed to stealing money from strangers and swiping food off the market. I would steal the clothes that were left out to dry. The only things I didn't steal were toys for Rukia to play with. Children need happiness the most. I usually found them on the street and in the garbage cans. It was a spring morning and on that day, we needed a good breakfast. We hadn't eaten anything for days because truly, I avoided stealing whenever I could.

"Rukia?"

Rukia couldn't walk by herself, but I didn't mind holding her. I felt secure and responsible when I held her little body. Sometimes I would steal while holding her and sometimes I would put her off to the side if I had a lot to carry. It was a sunny morning and the weather was beautiful. Across the street, a vendor was selling fruit. I spotted a few apples that should be enough to feed us for the day. I thought that Rukia should stay out of this, but for some reason, I didn't want to leave her alone today. It was a small amount of food so I decided that I could take Rukia with me. I walked up to the display and stared at them for a while. The vendor was looking at me for some time so I couldn't make my move just yet. I had to wait for someone else to buy something. An old lady approached the man and that's when I reached for an apple. I quickly shoved it into my pocket and looked at the man. He didn't notice. One apple isn't enough. I reached for another one. He didn't notice that time either. I tested my luck after that. I grabbed my third apple and started to walk steadily to the opposite direction. My mind told me not to look back, but I did anyways. The man, the man saw me and I saw something that made me run.

He held a bat, a large wooden one. I picked up pace and began to run with Rukia in my arm and the apples bustling in my pocket. I don't know why I panicked. It wasn't like I was never chased before. It wasn't like I never stole before, but at that time, I was scared. I remembered thinking that I didn't want to live like this anymore. I was setting a bad example for Rukia. I kept running, trying to lose the vendor, but he was persistent. I don't recall how many turns I made or how many roads I crossed. Tears were coming out of my eyes. I was too weak to run anymore. My legs were aching from running so far and for so long. He was still chasing me like no tomorrow. That's when my life changed forever. I was running across the street, panting and sweating like a dog when suddenly, I felt a force that caught me off guard. I slammed into the head of a speeding car. The events that occurred after were a blur to me. I think that the final minutes of my life were drained from me as I lay on the ground. There was blood coming from my mouth and I couldn't move. I reached for Rukia's little hand, but she laid still. I wanted to hear her cry this time. At least, then I knew she was alive. I wanted to hear her scream and wail like she did a year ago, but she didn't. I heard the murmurs of the people standing around me. Their voices were soft and fading away. Memories of my mother came rushing into my thoughts. I smiled. It was ironic, a girl getting her groceries and getting hit by a darn vehicle. I grabbed Rukia's hand and licked my blood off my lip. My eyes were heavy...so I decided to close them.

As I write this memoir, I can't help but think, if I hadn't reached for a third apple, what would've happened?

I expected to see a world of white. I expected clouds and people dressed in white and fluttering like angels. I expected angels. Either that or a fiery pit of torture. I woke up on the streets of a broken down neighborhood. Men and women were dressed in rags and children ran around in their own groups; no parents accompanied them. No one seemed to notice a girl and her sister sitting in the middle of the street. They all would pass by doing their own business. I looked beside me and saw that Rukia was resting next to my bare foot.

"Rukia...I'm so happy to see you alive," I whispered. I picked her up and cradled her into my arms. "Where are we?"

Just then a woman kneeled down beside us. She had sad eyes and thin lips that quivered when she talked.

"Hello there stranger."

"Hello," was the only thing I could say. She looked off into the distance.

"Do you know where you are?"

"No, no I don't."

"District 78, Inuzuri. You're in south Rukongai little girl. You are in Soul Society."

"Rukongai, Soul Society...I am dead, aren't I?"

"Yes," she repilied. "This is where souls of the deceased go. You and your sister were separated from your bodies that now reside in the living world. One more thing about Soul Society. We are separated into Rukongai and Seireitei, the Court of Pure Souls. We are commoners living in the worse of conditions. East, west, north and south Rukongai are each composed of eighty districts. One being the best and eighty being the worse. Since we are in district 78, you can expect life to be hard here..."

I didn't know what to say. I was dead, but living like I was in the real world. I was still holding onto life by strands of hair. I looked up at her figure. She got up from her knees and patted herself down to wipe away the dirt.

"Little girl, do you know why no one stops to help you up from your feet? Do you know why the kids are alone and the men sit on the streets? This life we live here is full of despair. There's crime everywhere and children are like stray dogs. They steal and trick us adults, but they share their rewards. They're probably the only ones who can still cherish another life other than their own."

She started to walk away, but I pulled on her dress. I croaked out one more question.

"Why are you telling me this?"

She stopped and released my grasp. "Because little girl. Souls come and go. Souls wither away and are reborn. Someone must tell these new souls this. Besides, you will be living here for the rest of your life. I might as well tell you your fate."

With that she walked away.

From the start, I was scared. That stranger told me that crime was common here and children depended on stealing like I did in the real world. Although I wanted water and I wanted to live, I didn't want to steal anymore. These children all around me stole and did numerous things to the older men and women, but it was harder here. Since these things happened often, people were more aware about their surroundings and the second they sense the presence of a kid, they would beat you with anything they could find. I was able to supply protection of myself and Rukia, but it was getting harder and harder to do so.

"Hisana! This way!"

"I'm coming Sachiko!" I was carrying a basket of fresh fish from the market, stolen of course. I passed the basket to Sachiko when I got tired of holding both it and Rukia. We ran behind a small hut and stopped to catch our breath.

"Wheres's Kiyoshi?" Sachiko had asked me.

"Look, he's coming this way."

Sachiko was a cheerful girl. No matter what it seemed like she had no worries at all. I met her when I was stealing water from an old man one day. Apparently she was doing the same thing too, so we decided to help each other. That was a month ago. Since then, we've been best of friends. Kiyoshi was a tall handsome boy a little older then both of us. He was quiet most of the time and he only talked when it was necessary. We only recently met him and the only thing we really knew about him was that he hated fishing.

"Look Kiyoshi!" Sachiko laughed. "We don't have to fish today!" She shoved the basket into Kiyo's hands.

"..."

I sat down on the ground and wiped off the sweat on my face with the back of my free hand. Rukia was chewing on a piece of candy that I gave her that morning. She certainly grew since we arrive in Soul Society. Her hair became longer and looked exactly like mine in a strange way.

"So Kiyo-kun, what have you been doing while we busted our butts for the fish?"

He opened his fist to reveal a stalk of cooking herbs. Sachiko jumped happily, but then we heard the screaming of the person who was selling the fish.

"Ah! Hisana, Kiyoshi! Let's go!"

Life in Rukongai was like a game. In order to survive, you must have wits and must be able to play along. We were like pawns in a big world, in a big game. Everyday we would play that game over and over again. Truly the winner was the one who could live till the end. In Seireitei, it was different, but back then, I didn't care. All that mattered was providing everything that Rukia needed. We had finally outrun the chaser and we were now walking and kicking the rocks next to our feet. I stared up at the clouds humming a song my mom used to sing to me. That's when I looked below those fluffy clouds and saw the "wall." The "wall" was the barrier between Rukongai and Seireitei. It stood towering above the districts and was pure white. I always had a tingling sensation in my body whenever I saw that wall. There was also the gate that was blocked by a guardian. This one was the Shuwai Gate.

"Hisana?"

"Oh, yes Sachi. My mind just drifted away, haha."

We all stared at the wall.

"Hisana?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you ever wonder what it's like beyond the gate?"

I looked at her light brown eyes and smiled. "I heard that...you are treated like a noble there. Everything's clean, and you could have almost anything you want..." My voice faded slowly.

"Shinigami."

"Huh?"

"In order to enter the Court of Pure Souls, the Gotei 13, you need to be a shinigami."

She sat down and put a blade of grass between her teeth. Kiyo sat too so I followed her lead. A shinigami was a soul with a certain amount of reiatsu, spirit energy. If you had reiatsu, then you were admitted to apply to the school there. You would go to the Shinigami Academy and train to become a death god for six years. Unfortunately, I didn't think we had any reiatsu, so we were stuck here for life.

I had a dream that night in the children's shack. It was one of the most peculiar dreams I've ever had. I was sitting alone in a garden of flowers and trees. There were petals everywhere, lovely sakura petals. In front of me stood two death planks, stuck in a mound of dirt and flowers. I crawled up to them to look at the names...Kiyoshi and Sachiko. I choked on the saliva that was stuck in the back of my throat.

"Sachi...Kyo-kun?"

The graves faded away and I was surrounded in pitch black darkness. A figure slowly emerged from the ground. It was Rukia, but instead of being a baby, she was a small girl. She bore her dreary eyes upon my face and whispered delicate words.

"Sister, I'm worried."

"Rukia..." My voice trembled slightly.

"It will be soon. Nothing can change that."

"What. What's going to happen?"

Her body started to disappear. I got up and started to run to her, trying to grasp any part of her. I missed her by a centimeter and fell down to the dark abyss.

"Ahh!" I woke up with sweat pouring down my face. My back stuck to my cheap kimono and my arms were shivering.

"Hisana?" Sachiko woke up from my scream and started to pat my forehead with a piece of cloth. I didn't say anything. I just stared at her eyes and thought about my dream. Sachiko...dead? Kyoshi...I looked at him too. He wasn't disturbed by my outcries.

"It's all right Hisana. Dreams are just dreams. Don't worry about it too much now."

I nodded and laid back on the ground. She was right, I told myself. Dreams were just...dreams.