Sunset saw them fishing, undisturbed, in the Rukon River.
Rukia had tucked her kimono up around her thighs and waded out into the current, while Renji followed behind with his spear hefted across his shoulders. It was summer and the water was warm, but Hayate and the other boys watched them from the bank.
"There's one! There, Renji!"
She shifted her body as a silvering fish swam past, her motion forcing it towards Renji who lunged at it. He struck the water in a half dozen places, lashing out wildly before losing his footing and disappearing under. Rukia nearly fell backwards herself, laughing: "Idiot! You won't catch it like that! You'll scare them all away!"
Renji straightened, his hair slick against his neck, his ragged clothes soaked through. He glared at her, then turned a look of exaggerated concentration on the water.
But Rukia was disracted.
Floating downstream from the city were a host of blossoms, their petals dusted with drops of water that glinted in the sun. In the middle of all the chaos that was Rukongai, its alleys that overflowed with mud, sweat, and the casual violence of its citizens, the floating blossoms seemed, to her, almost too beautiful to stand. With a cry of joy, she waded deeper and cupped the closest one in her hands. It was white. The petals sparkled as if each were encrusted with a thousand diamonds: "Flowers!" she cried, beaming back at the boys.
All six of them had frozen and were staring at her. She had only a moment to wonder why before Renji coloured suddenly and she realised that he was staring too. Except it wasn't at her. It was at the image of a girl, the shadow of a woman, standing bare-legged in the river against the setting sun. The light had caught the outline of her body through the thin yukata she wore. No-one had ever looked at her that way before.
Renji turned and waded back to the shore. He climbed out of the water to where the other boys were standing, gawping, and brought the flat edge of the spear round in a powerful blow that struck across their stomachs and knocked all but Hayate and Hisoka off their feet. He straightened, looking slightly proud of having defended her virtue, and she started to laugh.
The moment was gone. The other boys started to laugh as she waded back to shore and she joined them, surrounded by their noise and their jostling.
Renji dived back into the water and swum out among the blossoms. She watched him with her chin on her knees.