She hates this life. She hates Inuzuri and the people there.

That is the line of thinking Rukia had ever since she is old enough to form coherent thoughts. The 78th District of Rukongai is not a kind place, and she considered herself lucky to be able to find a good friend in the form of Renji. Why is he her only friend, you ask?

The rest of their friends are already dead. Simple as that.

One got eaten up by hollows, two were killed by adults during one of the heists gone wrong. Another had stupidly tried to scare the adults off with a mask drawn in an imitation of a hollow's, hoping to steal the food left behind when the adults ran away in their fear. He wasn't expecting the adults to fight back and killed him instead. The adults only realised their folly when their last friend was already dead.

It is just her and Renji now.

They had known each other for only a short ten years, and in these ten years their little group had dwindled to the two of them. Both of them were gifted with spiritual powers, which might explain their continued survival.

If only she knows how to properly use it, it might get her out of sticky situations. Like right now.

"Stop right there!"

Rukia continues to run as fast as her legs can carry her with the stolen food in hand. As souls with spiritual power, she and Renji feels constant hunger if their stomachs weren't filled. They need food, unlike these buffoons who are so weak in spiritual power that they only eat to satisfy their cravings. Why would they hoard food like that if they don't need them? At least share it with those that needs it!

A rope suddenly appeared near the floor and was pulled taut the moment Rukia crossed it. She watched in satisfaction as the rope trap which Renji had set up tripped a large group of the adults who were chasing after them. She turned around a corner, where she knew Renji would be waiting for her and they would make their escape together.

"Renji!"

Rukia let out a worried shout when she saw her best friend pinned down by a group of thugs. How did his location got found out?!

"Hand over the food, girl." One of the thugs growled out as he pressed a dagger near Renji's throat. "Or he goes."

"F-Fine! Just don't hurt him!"

Rukia handed over the stolen goods immediately. Nothing takes precedence over Renji's well-being. They are all each other have left.

"Boss, we got the stuffs back."

"Good. Off them."

Rukia watched on in shock as she was suddenly grabbed and pinned down onto the floor together with Renji without any time to react to the sudden change. Renji gave her a wink, and Rukia immediately closed her eyes.

His home-made flash bomb got the thugs covering their eyes as they screamed in pain from the sudden bright light. Rukia and Renji immediately made a run for it the moment the hold their captors have over them loosened. They ran thorough the dark alleys, dashing through the maze of twists and turns and didn't stop until they reached the safe haven which is their dingy hideout.

"Huffhuff… You alright, Renji?

"Yeah." Renji replied between pants of breath. "You?"

"I'm fine." Rukia replied as she turned around, only to let out a startled scream when she saw an unfamiliar set of eyes looking at hers barely an inch away.

Both Renji and her immediately jumped backwards upon the silent appearance of the newcomer. The girl couldn't be much older than them, but what got them concerned is the fact that not only the girl had sneaked up on their backs without a sound, it is the fact that she is a Shinigami given the robes she wore.

Not only that, the hairpieces she wore on her hair are undoubtedly kenseikans.

A noble

"Hmm… You do look a lot like Hisana-nee." The petite Shinigami mused as she crossed her arms with amusement dancing in her eyes while looking at Rukia with as if appraising her. She turned to Renji.

"And you, my friend, look like a pineapple."

"What is your damn problem!" Renji burst out in a fit of rage at the comment about his looks, raising a threatening fist at the small Shinigami. The only thing standing in his way between him and the Shinigami girl is Rukia, who is physically holding him back.

"Renji! Don't! Calm down and think! She is a Shinigami!"

They weren't expecting for the Shinigami to burst into peals of laughter while rolling on the floor.

"Oh Kami! I wasn't expecting you to be this funny! HAHAHA!"

Renji and Rukia exchanged looks, a silent question between them if the other knows what is wrong with the Shinigami girl. From the looks of it, none of them have any clue.

"In any case." The Shinigami freaked them out once more as she appeared at their backs without any warning, but this time her arms are now draping around their shoulders like they are best friends.

HOW did she do that?!

"It's time for the both of you to go home. I have been searching for three years. THREE YEARS!" The Shinigami wailed out with her face facing up and screaming into the ceiling. "I have enough of getting stuck in Inuzuri!"

Go home? What home? This is home, no matter how rundown and horrible it is.

Without giving them any warning, the girl around their age pulled them along without their consent and they clung to her for dear life as she flew through the air with them. Even after decades later, the both of them would vehemently deny the fact that they were screaming themselves hoarse the entire duration.

They would soon find out why the Shinigami girl had said that she is 'bringing them home'.


She cannot believe it. She has a sister. An older sister.

An older sister that had left her to die when she was just a baby.

She wanted to scream, to punch, to do anything to vent her anger and frustration out on the person who had left her to such a horrible fate. But when the woman -her older sister- hugged her with tears streaming down her face, apologising profusely to her over and over again asking for her forgiveness, she just cannot bring herself to hate her.

That was how she got adopted into the Kuchiki clan.

There were violent protests from the other members of the clan, especially the clan elders, in accepting another commoner into their clan. However, her new sibling in the form of a defiant Kurui shut them up behind closed doors. Whatever happened in there will forever be a mystery to her. Her brother-in-law and the Head of the clan, Kuchiki Byakuya, did not even have to lift a finger.

However, a concession was still made. Renji wasn't able to get himself adopted as a sibling of Kuchiki Byakuya but that didn't stop Kurui from making a suggestion. Renji was appointed as their personal retainer. It gives Renji some form of power and protection within the clan and also allows him the freedom to stay in the huge manor. The clan elders were unable to find a reason to argue against it, so they dropped the subject.

Their lives suddenly took a hundred and eighty degree turn for the better.

Rukia had a hard time adjusting to living a life of a noble, but her older sister and brother-in-law had tried their best to help her and Renji. Rukia soon realised that Byakuya really loves her sister, even going so far as to break the rules that he had sworn to uphold just for her. Even if they had barely met before hand, Rukia can feel that Byakuya truly treats her as his own flesh and blood sister from how he looks out for her in his own subtle way.

How can she not grow to accept them as her family after that?

Renji is simply grateful for having a roof over his head and not needing to constantly worry about food and water. He immediately took up the offer to learn as much as he can, be it reading, writing, or learning the combat arts when given the chance. He takes his duty as a retainer seriously, taking it upon himself to be the strongest retainer that the Kuchiki clan ever produces. He is aiming to be a Shinigami in the future, a strong one who will one day serve under Kuchiki Byakuya as his Vice-Captain. He refuses to serve under another.

All because the Kuchiki clan had given him a chance to live properly.

Kurui had chosen to return back to the Seireitei after she found them. According to Hisana, Kurui had volunteered to be posted to Inuzuri to help Hisana search for her. Hisana would have looked for her personally, but Byakuya and Kurui had stopped her due to her poor health. This was the main reason why Kurui volunteered to search for Rukia in Hisana's stead, because Hisana's health doesn't allow her to do so unless she wants her already frail health to deteriorate further.

It was a search that spanned across three years. A noble had willingly lowered her status to personally search for a commoner like her, staying in that hideous place for three years without complaints. The only reason she did what she did is because she wants to help her sister-in-law, her family.

Rukia had heard that Byakuya and Kurui had a grandfather, who passed away due to old age two years before Kurui had found them. Rukia can tell that Kurui misses her grandfather dearly from how often she visits his grave to talk to him whenever she is at home and the forlorn look on her face whenever he became the topic of their discussion. According to Kurui, Byakuya and her grandfather were the people who had raised her. It was her grandfather who first taught her how to properly wield a sword and taught her the various clan techniques.

It is obvious that Kurui misses her grandfather very, very much.

It wasn't long before Rukia decided to be a Shinigami too, just like her brother and sister-in-law. Hisana has her concerns but conceded upon seeing how determined she is. It also helps to have a Shinigami Captain and a Third Seat promising Hisana to keep an eye out for her.

And thus, after much fussing from her older sister, an approving nod from her brother-in-law, tons of gifts from Kurui, and her best friend Renji by her side, the two of them enrolled into the Academy.


He was just a street rat. A commoner. Someone who was unwanted and someone unimportant. The only person that was left standing by his side is Rukia, someone that he had sworn to himself to protect at all costs. The both of them are orphans, left to fend for themselves in this unforgiving world for eternity.

So when they found out that Rukia had an older sister all along and said sister is now the matriarch of one of the Four Noble Families, he thinks he is entitled to be suitably confused.

Why would anyone abandon their own sibling?

Hisana's explanation didn't satisfy him, but if Rukia forgave her, then all is fine in his opinion. Rukia's well-being is his foremost concern.

What was irritating is the midget known as Kuchiki Kurui, even if Renji developed an immense respect for her over time. Not that he would tell her about it, since the annoying midget would just use that and lord it over him even after he turned grey and wrinkly and is on his deathbed. He had no doubts that she will even visit his grave daily just to annoy him, not allowing him to rest in peace as she cackled in that evil laughter of hers.

Still, she was what made him into who he is.

If it wasn't for Kurui taking him in as a retainer of the clan, he would have been booted out of the Kuchiki manor and separated from Rukia. If it wasn't for Kurui, he and Rukia would have continued to live the life of a street rat for who-knows-how-long. If it wasn't for Kurui, he would not be half the man he is today.

For that, he is grateful.

He respects her older brother as well. The 28th Head of the Kuchiki clan is a quiet individual and carries himself as he would expect others to follow. His word is law. His teachings are strict. He is a warrior right down to the bone. He is untouchable. Like the moon, he is someone so high-up and unreachable that you can only hope to be but can never be.

And yet, never had Byakuya once looked down upon him for being a commoner from the Rukongai. Kurui was the one who managed to get him to continue staying by Rukia's side, but Byakuya was the one who spotted his potential and trained him. He taught him what he knew, never treating him any different from the others. Renji recognises an opportunity when he sees it, and so he took it.

He found himself having a deep respect for the man. He found himself wanting to surpass the man who taught him the way of the sword. It soon became clear to Abarai Renji that Kuchiki Byakuya is the only man that he will serve under. He will not serve under someone else. However, Renji still wants to become a Shinigami. He could continue the current arrangement by training under Byakuya and end up as his own personal guard, but he wants to be more.

He wants to become a Shinigami, a protector of Soul Society.

Byakuya agreed to his request without a second thought, saying that becoming a Shinigami will do him good. Byakuya even agrees to let him join the Sixth Division, the division that Byakuya leads, should Renji prove himself worthy of the offer upon his graduation from the Academy.

Kurui merely gave him a pat on the back and a thumbs up. She laments over the fact that he doesn't want to join the Seventh Division like she did, but promises to come over to the Sixth Division more often to visit him, claiming to help relieve him of the boredom that comes from being a member of the Sixth Division.

And by that, Renji has no doubts that Kurui will never miss an opportunity to irritate and annoy him whenever she comes over from a visit. Does her mouth ever stop talking?

Byakuya is a Head of a clan and he isn't always around to teach him. Kurui took the role of his teacher when that happens. Her lessons are basically a one-sided beatdown as she very gleefully pummelled him six feet under the ground, all the while teasing him about various things. For a midget, the force of the punches she casually threw is enough to level a sea of trees. He never would have expected someone like her to possess such strength.

And if he thought that her punches are scary, her skills in the sword is something that gives him nightmares every single time he is on the receiving end of it. There are no showy movements, no flashy strikes, just plain swings that uses the minimum action to achieve the required effect. There are no wasted movements involved as she slashed at him with the intent to kill, with his legs as the only saving grace when he uses it to run as far away from her as possible.

He couldn't tell as a street rat from the 78th District, but after his lessons with Byakuya, he now possesses an eye good enough to tell that the infuriating midget had put in decades of effort in honing her skills in the sword. Despite her harmless appearance, she is someone you would never want to cross.

Her respect for her grew after that, even if he is still annoyed by how she purposely poked fun at him for his hair, his tattoos, teasing him about him and Rukia all the damn time, along with many other things he is too lazy to mention. But he is a retainer of the Kuchiki clan and Kurui is also his master. He will serve her until his dying breath, just as he had sworn for Byakuya.

He is Abarai Renji, retainer of the Kuchiki clan and Kuchiki Rukia's best friend. He is a Shinigami-in-training who will one day grow into one of the deadliest warriors Soul Society had ever birthed. He is the one who will one day work his way up to be Kuchiki Byakuya's right hand man and surpass him.

The Kuchiki siblings had given him the chance to show the world what he can really be, and he is going to make full use of it.