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Chapter 2

Renji watched Rukia as she looked around. At first, she hadn't believed him when he told her they were going to visit the place where they had grown up together. At first, she had been against it. As she thought about it more, though, she realized that he was right. It was something she needed to do.

Captain Ukitake had been completely in favor of Renji's idea, and Renji had spent the rest of the day getting ready. He had collected Rukia early the next morning and they had taken a carriage ride almost all the way to the 78th district. They camped under the stars, and used shunpo to go the little remaining district.

Now it was morning on the second day of their trip, and they were standing outside the remains of the ramshackle building they'd slept in so often. It didn't look too much worse than when they had lived there –maybe a little more weather damage and some different graffiti, but nothing too dangerous to go inside. However, it had long been abandoned, and now no children bickered inside it. Apparently a larger building down the dirt road had become the hot spot for the local strays, because there were a multitude of children dressed in rags standing outside it. They were watching the two shinigami like hawks. Renji remembered wearing rags like those, and he remembered watching anyone who wasn't local in case they should drop something valuable. He and Rukia had been smarter than to bring anything like that though. All they carried was enough food for the trip and their respective zampactos.

"Do you want to go in, or are we just gonna stand here and stare?" Renji asked as she stood there drinking in the outside appearance of the building. Rukia snapped out of her daze.

"Of course we're going in, retard! We didn't come all this way just to look at it." Renji smiled. He hadn't missed this place, but he had missed the way she talked and acted here. She led the way inside and he followed her closely.

Inside, the sunlight was streaming through the doorway and the windows, both the original ones and the accidental ones. He walked over to two worn spots on the floor near the back wall. There used to be two makeshift sleeping pads here. Probably stolen the night we didn't come back for them, Renji thought. He inspected the two spots. One was darker than the other because of the weight difference between the two people who slept here, and both were perpendicular to the wall. He smiled. He had wanted her to sleep by the wall so that he could sleep between her and the door. She wouldn't have any of that, because she was convinced that she was as good of a fighter as he was, or maybe better. And so neither slept between the other and the door. Instead, he had claimed the side closer to the windows without explaining why.

At some point Rukia had come to stand beside him.

"There's five more spots over there." She gestured to a place near a different wall. "Remember moving?"

"Yeah." They walked over to the other spots. These were in a circle, and were all roughly the same. "When they died, because we couldn't sleep in the same place without them."

Rukia meandered back over to the two spots, now noticing the difference in wear patterns. He was that much bigger than me back then, too. I had forgotten that. Renji followed her.

"You know, Renji, I know why you chose that side."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do. I just decided not to say anything. I knew you wanted to be all macho." Rukia gave him one of her goading grins. Renji almost frowned, but restrained himself.

"How do you know I didn't just want the sunlight in the mornings?"

"Please. You hated waking up early." They were silent for a moment as each regarded the set of two spots on the floor. "It sucked, didn't it?"

"Getting up?" His remark earned him a punch in the arm, and then he answered her question for real in a lower voice. "Yeah. But somehow we survived, and now we're shinigami. You belong to a noble house, and I'm a vice captain."

They stood for a few minutes in amiable silence, remembering the time before they were admitted to the Shinigami Academy and comparing it to their lives now. Eventually, a small presence at the door disturbed them. Rukia turned around to see a child standing there, and a few small heads peeping around the corner.

"Hi there." She smiled at the small boy. "What's your name?"

The boy looked about ready to crap his pants, but he gave her an answer anyway. "H-Ha-Habuiri."

"Don't be scared. We're not going to hurt you."

Habuiri eyed Renji carefully, not quite sure whether or not to believe Rukia's promise. Renji raised a tattooed eyebrow.

"I'm Rukia, and that's Renji." She followed the boy's suspicious gaze to Renji. "He's not scary." She turned to Renji and gave him a death glare. "Say something!" she hissed.

Renji raised one hand in greeting and rubbed the back of his neck with the other in a sheepish grin. "Howdy."

"Umm…" Habuiri looked like he wanted to ask a question, but wasn't sure if it was alright. Still standing in the doorway, he proceeded in a tiny voice. "Uhh…why did you come here?"

"Huh?" The two shinigami weren't expecting the question.

"They said you came to arrest someone. Or everyone. Or look for something. Or find someone to take back with you to be a death god."

"No, none of those." Renji answered without thinking, but didn't say any more than that. Then there was a brief pause.

"Did you really used to live here?"

"Who told you that?"

"I heard you talking." A moment of awkwardness followed as Rukia and Renji weren't sure how to respond, and the boy just knew he'd gone too far. He threw himself at their feet. "I'm sorry! Please don't kill me! I didn't mean to listen! But I want to be a death god too!"

They saw that the kid just wanted to know if it really was possible for stray kids like him to get out and make something of themselves. Rukia bent down and quieted the child. "Yes, we did." Habuiri looked up with wide eyes and Rukia continued. "If you work hard, you can become a Shinigami too." The child's face lit up with hope. "Now go on. Your friends are waiting."

"Y-yeah!" Then the boy ran back outside, and the small peeping heads at the doorway joined him.

Rukia looked at Renji. No words were needed. They had each reverted to a time when a look from one or the other was often all it took to convey meanings. The meaning behind this look said, 'remember when we used to dream about it? It was possible after all, and maybe we'll see that kid again someday.' After a moment, she spoke.

"I'm ready to go for a walk."

As they headed out, Renji paused at the door to take one last look around. Bittersweet? Nah, that's not it. Everything here was just shitty. Nothing but the 'bitter.' He smirked at his own humor as he turned and followed the only 'sweet' that had ever made life here bearable for him.

So, What do you think? I have some ideas for the next few chapters, but I'm also taking suggestions for stops they should make along the way while they're in the district. :) Up next, theoretically: Marketplace Tavern