When Ichigo woke up, he found himself in a small room inside the monastery. He was stripped of his clothes and weapons, except for his trousers. Next to his bed there was the redhead who had shot him.
"You just shot at a vice-sheriff, amigo." Declared the priest solemnly as he placed a jug of water and two cups on a small table next to the beds. Ichigo sat up painfully, touching his nursed wound, as the priest helped the redhead to sit up and held the cup to his lips. The redhead glared at Ichigo as he sipped the water slowly.
"You're such a cowardly bastard to shoot someone in the back!" Ichigo yelled as they both tried to get up to attack each other bare-handed. The priest punched both on their ears, causing them to yelp out in pain, and forcing them to sit back on their beds.
"Renji here is a very good friend of Rukia," he explained slowly. "You two better behave or you won't get any food today." With that, the priest walked out of the room leaving the two men eyeing each other suspiciously. Renji closed his eyes and after a while started to talk quietly.
"I first met Rukia around ten years ago. She came to Rukongai during the night, climbed up a tree and slept on its branch. In the morning, I spotted her wandering around the market. She looked really scrawny. Then there was a small kid getting beaten up for trying to steal. There was a crowd of adults circling the kid and throwing rocks at him, while the owner of the stall was kicking him. Rukia found a bottle of whiskey next to a doorstep. It was half full and she tore a piece of her dress and stuffed it in. She shook the bottle a bit to soak the cloth and then set it on fire. She then threw it at the adults who screamed in fear as they scrambled out of the way. The stall keeper was still in shock as Rukia ran to the kid, pulled him to his feet and ran away with him. Most of us kids were amazed and we gathered around the stream, bordering the town, where Rukia was washing the boy's cuts. From that day onwards, we ganged up and started trying to do some community work in order for us to earn our living. It was really hard for us to gain the trust of the adults. And sometimes we had to resort to stealing when they cheated on us by paying us less. But we managed to live safer and we were happy. Then Padre Yasutora came and he opened up this old and abandoned building. Some priests came along to help and he invited us here; giving us shelter. Thus people stopped trying to cheat us and gave us better jobs too. We loved Rukia who was like our mother. She always looked out for us and supported us; especially the younger children. She would always get out the positive in everyone of us."
"How come she ended up being adopted by the Kuchiki then?"
"When Byakuya was chosen as head of the family, he went around the towns to check on the sheriffs and vice-sheriffs. We went to see when he came to Rukongai. At that time, we had been together for seven years. Most of our old friends were dead and we were helping the priests with the younger children. Kuchiki Byakuya spotted Rukia, and after some months he came with some old men from the family and proposed the adoption. Rukia refused instantly, but they told her that they'd be back in a week for her answer. I got angry at her refusal, I wanted her to have a good life; where she could get medical assistance if she got sick- unlike our friends who died of illness; where she didn't have to wear out her bones working in order to earn a meagre meal; where the roof didn't drip during the winter; where in summer she wouldn't have to sleep in the basement to take advantage of the humidity since it was so hot that you could barely breathe. She could be treated properly and with respect. If I had to be selfish, I would have told her to stay, but I let her go. I haven't seen her for three years now. I started working with Byakuya as a vice-sheriff but she was never around him, so I couldn't see her."
Ichigo could see the tears filling Renji's eyes and felt sad for his loss. He could see that he loved Rukia dearly.
"That is why I have to arrest her. I don't want her to end up in the hands of the Mafia. She'll be safer in jail." Renji said sadly.
Ichigo nodded, "However, I can't let you arrest her. She's my bounty. We'll see who will get to her first."
Renji scowled at his antagonist, but couldn't do much until he healed.