Affected By Death

Prologue

"You're more agile than a cat." Kaien says with a bit of a chuckle, as he checks his pocket to see how much he has left to spend.

Rukia breathes hard as she squats down, pleased that she'd been able to give him a perfect demonstration of her tumbling skills. She'd just mastered her back hand spring into a flip, and she loves the feeling of flying as she turns in the air. She glances at Kaien and sees him tilt his cheek up, enjoying the cool breeze on such a hot day.

"Kaien-dono, I can teach you to do it too, if you want." She tells him, but he gives her a pained look in response.

"That looked like you need to be pretty flexible...I think I'll pass on learning that one, Kuchiki." He winks at her anyways and looks up at the sky.

"It's really fun though." Rukia says, feeling a bit annoyed at his lack of interest in learning how to tumble, but he looks back at her before he answers.

"I have fun just watching you. It's always amazing to see how much strength you actually have, since you'd never know it just to look at you." Kaien says, with a warm laugh.

Rukia blushes a tiny bit when he tousles her hair, and then she ducks her head while crossing her arms across her chest.

"The element of surprise is always an advantage in a physical confrontation." She says confidently, and Kaien laughs before he rests his hand on her shoulder.

Rukia's eyes widen, because of the white halter top she's wearing, she can feel the warmth of his hand directly against her skin, and she inwardly shivers. She hopes he couldn't feel it too.

"You're right, and I feel sorry for anyone who is ever stupid enough to attack you." He says it while looking at her fondly, and Rukia is a tiny bit flustered by the way he is focusing on her.

"Where's Renji?! He's late! If he doesn't make it soon I'll give him a black eye. He's afraid he'll lose to me again." Rukia says with clenched fists and Kaien squeezes her shoulder before letting go.

"He's always late. You should stay here, and wait for him. I want to run over to the store and get some juice." He tells her, but Rukia frowns at his words.

"Why don't I just come with you? Renji will wait for us, would serve him right since he's late anyways." Rukia says, and Kaien laughs at her which takes away her will to argue.

"Just wait here, Kuchiki. I'll be right back."

Those were the last words he spoke to her while still in good health...because not even five minutes later, she could hear shrieks coming up the block from the direction of the corner store. The words that had her feet moving before she could even think about it were words that would haunt her for many years to come.

"Some kids have been stabbed!"

"Kaien-dono!" Rukia didn't even realize she was screaming but she got to the scene in time to find Kaien along with a girl his age, in a pool of blood together outside of the store.

It's fairly obvious the girl is already dead by the amount of blood covering her. Rukia wonders if he knew the girl, or if he tried to protect her, but it's also obvious that an ambulance won't arrive in time to save his life.

"Kuchiki..." His voice raspy, Kaien makes eye contact with his younger friend, and her eyes are spilling over with tears.

"Hang in there Kaien! Why didn't I come with you!?" Rukia says frantically, but he coughs and she doesn't say anything more.

"Don't look at me like that Kuchiki...didn't I make you a promise that I'd always be there for you? No matter what...even in death..." His voice gets weaker with every word, and Rukia pulls him closer.

"Kaien-dono?! Kaien-dono?! ...Kaien-dono!"