#Karine + Kiddos

[hell-drabbles]

I must say, I did not expect to see your reblog of the Katekyo Hitman Reborn fan fic on my feed, I love that anime to death and I was VERY surprised when I saw Tsuna's name(I was half expecting it to be a character from another series, until I saw Reborn and read the post further)

Yeah I was there for the period of when that anime reached its peak in popularity. Took over my brain for a time certainly and had many a small fanfic ideas back in the day. Tsuna was one of the first characters I ever had the urge to just bully, alongside Allen Walker from D. Gray-man, characters like that I always want to mess with just to see them flustered.

But yeah, that blog is mostly dedicated to fanfictions of varying shows rather than a single piece of media. Not much in it at the moment, but it'll grow with time. Lot of anime I consumed as a kiddo, didn't matter how bad or fanservicey it was. Like DearS and Karin. And cute ones like Shugo Chara and Rozen Maiden. Just, lot of anime. Not as much anymore, my attention span has slacked off but that's fiiiiine.

[wqbytop100]

WQBY

TOP 150 for the week ending March 17, 2024 22 New this week. 22 off No Re-entries

You're Hired --NEIKED, Ayra Starr -9

Outlaw Love --Brooke Eden (Dave Aude remix) -7

Slide Out --Life On Planets -10

Houdini --Dua Lipa --12

She's On My Mind --Romy -6

I Don't Wanna Worry --NEEDTOBREATHE -2

Monster --A7S, ALOK -20

Weak ---Vintage Culture, Maverick Sabre, Tom Breu -1

When I Wake Up --Lucas & Steve, Skinny Days -133

Weight Of the World --Bonnie X Clyde -5

Jet Plane --R3HAB, VIZE, JP Cooper -3

Reckless Child ---Milky Chance -4

Dirty Desire--- Vicetone -8

Heart Still Beating --Nathan Dawe, Bebe Rexha -14

Never Be Friends --Jost, Minogue -16

Make Me Your Mrs. --Mae Stephens --114

Give Me --Will Clark, BURNS -13

The Afterhours --Kyle Watson -11

Before You Go --Seeb -21

Low Again --Bakermat -146

Anyone--Morgan Page -27

Lonely Dancers --Conan Gray -15

Waterslides --Tiesto, Rudimental, Absolutely -24

Texas Hold 'Em --Beyonce -17

Ride --Grant Brett -75

Graveyard --A R I Z O N A (Shoffy remix) -18

Kissing Strangers --USHER -61

Mr. Useless --Shygirl, SG Lewis -25

Close Your Eyes --Lucas Estrada, Tribbs, Stephen Puth -28

Kill Anyone --Two Feet, Ari Abdul -23

It's Love (If We Get It Right) --Anthony Russo -19

One On One ---Sofi Tukker -22

Both --Tiesto, 21 Savage, BIA -36

All Fok'd Up --Kapuzen -34

Feels Like Us --GT_OFICE, ALWZ SNNY, Robbie Rosen -33

You --Svidden, Seeb -35

Bad Blood --Theresa Rex -37

Spicy Margarita --Jason Derulo, Michael Bublé -30

Yes, And? --Ariana Grande -52

Next Years Light --Elliot Moss -39

U Miss Me --Vicetone -31

Dark Skies -- A R I Z O N A -32

Flex --Tony Dark Eyes -38

Lift Off --Dombresky -43

Diamond Therapy --Diplo, Walker & Royce, Channel Tres -46

Do You Feel It --VAMERO, Cyril M. Mougleta -51

More Baby --Chris Lake, Aluna -44

Good In Goodbye --Frank Walker, Trivecta -40

Cutting Loose ---Disco Lines, J. Worra, Anabel Englund -47

Rhythm Machine --Westend, Max Styler -49

Dizzy --Sick Individuals, LOUI LANE -50

Other Boys --Marshmello, Dove Cameron -41

Forever (Stay Like This) --Armin Van Buuren, Goodboys -129

ADHD --Mae Stephens -86

No Reason --The Chemical Brothers (Chris Lake remix) -56

Lullaby --Britti -137

Triumph --Bishop Briggs -128

How Do I Say Goodbye --Adventure Club, Delaney Jane -42

I Got Time --Brittney Spencer -139

Lie To Me --Jubel/KIDDO -52

Underwater --Dubvision, Afrojack -70

You Know It --Gorgon City -85

***Without You --Disco Fries, Lavish Life -(new)

Venemo --Sofi Tukker, &Friends, Mari Merenda -76

Home --CamelPhat, RHODE (Vintage Culture Remix -90

Fire ---Alan Walker, YUQI, JVKE, (G)I-DLE -26

Take A Moment --ATB, David Frank -29

Easy ---3LAU, XIRA -45

Spend the Night --BJ the Chicago Kid, Coco Jones -48

I'll Be There ---Robin Schulz, Rita Ora, Tiago PZK -54

Sorry Ain't Enough ---Michael Gerow -55

Hangin' On -- A R I Z O N A -57

Mirrors --Caravan Palace -58

Dreamteam ---Galantis, Neon trees -59

Body Moving --Eliza Rose, Calvin Harris -60

Powerful Women --Pitbull, Dolly Parton -62

Purple Irises --Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton -63

Young & Foolish --Loud Luxury f/Charlieonafriday -64

Wanna --Paul Dally -65

Stress You --Lucas Estrada, SUPER Hi -66

Sorry Now --A R I Z O N A -67

Strangers --Kenya Grace -68

Say it Right --Dubdogs, Farfetch'd -69

Space --Shane Codd -82

Raccoons --Carvan Palace -94

Lil Tune --Gus Dapperton, Electric Guest -81

In Your Arms --Jess Bays, Jem Cooke -111

Progressive Heart --Pat Premier (Dave Aude Remix) -84

Beautiful Things ---Benson Boone -73

Some Kind of Static --Neil Francis, Alan Braxe -87

Me Before You --Bleachers -88

Dreams --Ali Farben, Maurice Lessing, Emma Wells -96

Might Just --Walker & Royce, James Patterson -112

She --Karin Ann (Benny Benassi Remix) -109

DFHMPU --Ari Abdul -95

***Come With Me ---Claptone -(new)

***Soultrain --Tripolism, Nandu, Radeckt -(new)

***Feel This Way ---Victoria Nadine, R3HAB -(new)

***My Body ---Illusionize, Y&M -(new)

***Life Goes On --HU -(new)

***Best Of Your Love --Ownboss, LAWRENT, Ekko - (new)

Public --Mike. -71

A Day in the Life --Apollo LTD -72

Good For You --Dimitri Vegas, Chapter & Verse, Goodboys -78

Run Free (Countdown) --Tiesto, R3HAB -79

High and I Like It --It's Murph, Evalyn -80

Spirit of Thunder --Yung Lean, DVRST, Riff Raff, Bladee -83

Lucky --Dermont Kennedy -89

Somethings Gunna Workout --Jai Piccone, 1tbsp -91

Murder on the Dancefloor --Sophie Ellis-Bextor -92

Fantasy --Cosmo's Midnight feat/Frank Moody -93

Ohh LALA --Idris Elba, Sasha GiGi -98

What Do You Do for A Living? I Do My Best --Iamnotshane, EMME -99

Lead Me On --FLETCHER -100

***Sleep Tonight (This Is The Life) --Switch Disco, R3HAB, Sam Feldt -(new)

***Everything You Do --Afroki, Afrojack, Steve Aoki, Aviella -(new)

***Love Me --INNA -(new)

***Need Your Love --Llkay Sencan, KALUMA, Adam Woods -(new)

***Kettle's Up --Mahmut Orhan, Axelax, Botan -(new)

***Cutting Through the Country --Medium Build -(new)

***Premeditated --FETISH -(new)

***What If We Met --Ali Gatie -(new)

***Regret The Morning --SILK, Mali-Koa -(new)

***Gravity --Matt Hansen -(new)

***I Still Believe -- Lecrae, for King & Country -(new)

***Kiss Me Better --Julie Bergan -(new)

***Anthem --Diplo, Sharam, Pony -(new)

***Without Your Love --Deorro, TELYKAST, Catello -(new)

***Out Loud --Cage the Elephant _(new)

Alive --K-391 -102

Follow You --Return of the Jaded, MELLY OHH -103

Everybody Knows I'm High --SHAED -104

Never Be Lonely --Jax Jones, Zoe Wees -105

The Tower --Future Islands -106

Loneliness --Pet Shop Boys (radio edit) -107

Pictures Of You --Anyma -108

Hustla --Francis Mercier, Emmanual Jai -110

Beautiful Drug --Zac Brown Band (Avicii Remix) -113

Lonely Nights --Papa Beats -121

Taking It Back --DJ Minx -122

I Don't Remember --Walker & Royce, VNSSA -130 >>>

Dance Is the Answer --Dubdogs, RUBACK, Ticon, Raja ram -131

Burnin' --Rinzen, Shallou -134 >>>

Missing You --Frank Walker, Nate Smith -138

No Man's Land ---Marshmello, Venbee -140

Mas Que Nada --Oliver Heldens, Ian Asher, Sergio Mendez -143 >>>

Mirrors --Caravan Palace -144

Run --ATB, Nu Aspect, Orem -145

Pull You Closer --Sistek, Sadie Rose Van -147 >>>

Checking In -- for Kind & Country, Lee Brice -148

22 New on the Chart this week #63 Without You #96 Come With Me #97 Soultrain #98 Feel This Way #99 My Body #100 Life Goes On #101 Best of your Love #115 Sleep Tonight #116 Everything You Do #117 Love Me #118 Need Your Love #119 Kettle's Up #120 Cutting Through the Country #121 Premeditated #122 What If We Met #123 Regret the Morning #124 Gravity #125 I Still Believe #126 Kiss Me Better #127 Anthem #128 Without Your Love #129 Out Loud

[shysheeperz]

[badassberryfarmerart]

A piece that i could’ve sworn i posted but i dont think i did when i looked through my stuff? A Fran that i practiced color lineart with

Made w/ MediBang

[bitiing]

/That quote; such a mood for these codependent kiddos

TFW these fools want to learn how to make other people happy and forget that they have to make themselves happy in the first place…

[gcmblingdice]

"Right. Right. Bleeding." He just fidgets before standing up and just...shit he is in full panic mode.

"Go get the first aid Woo," karine says softly, nudges him. "I've dealt with this in the past. It's probably a shallow wound. Ellis got them a lot."

Woo just nods before he scampers away into the house, beelining up the stairs to the laundry room where first aid was kept. He them grabs a bottle and pain meds.

Karine has also compartalized for the moment, instincts overriding as she takes off her shirt, moving to press it onto his wound. "Momma is here." She murmurs. "Momma got you."

Woo returns, the items set up in the master bathroom, to help Karine with Chan. "Lets get him inside."

"Okay. Okay. Um. Can you take him?" She asks, standing shakily while helping Chan up.

"Oh. Sure. Yeah." He gently takes Chan with him while Karine moves to Key.

"Baby girl, once we get rid of the body I want you to spend the rest of the evening with me, okay?" She asks, hugging them.

He stops responding and after checking everywhere finally narrows it down and just knock knock bitch its Ellis. Karine curls up at the knock, burying her face in Chan's chest. Key and Woo werent due back til later, right?

chan purses his lips, gently pulling a blanket over karine before giving her her favorite plush.

[ sms: 🔮 appa, 🗝️ noona ] 😌 if i don't text back in thirty minutes come home because fuckstick mcgee showed up for karine && i'm throwing hands

once he's sure both texts have sent, he slips his phone onto the nightstand && slides out from under karine - promising her he'll be back. locks the bedroom door just in case ellis gets into woo's apartment. he opens the door, immediately shoving ellis away from it so he can shut it behind him. "mate, i told you not to show up."

@gcmblingdice

[kusin-tisdag]

Johannes: Hey Karin! You wanna come see your baby cousin? Karin: *runs* Hi baby Mats! I will teach you EVERYTHING you need to know in life! I am amazing, and you are a baby - so you’ll want to learn from me! Johannes: Ok kiddo, let him sleep and grow and then you can teach him everything.

[soratoninn]

about sora…

sora supremacist [also, an enthusiast of myself]. african american. of minority. any pronouns are cool. pansexual. smut/nsfw writer. i write to educate myself on safe sex, and also for coping mechanisms.

likes: naruto. mathematics. writing. discord buddies. dashiegames. learning more about myself. black femininity and excellence. manga collecting. iced coffee. the color peach and sage green. the haitani bros.

my zodiac sign: leo, latin for lion, is the fifth of the zodiac.

dislikes: racist bitches. misogyny. fourth period. homophobia/transphobia. ignorant weirdos who write for minors and then claim minors dni. homework. people who misuse aave and disrespect pronouns.

my favorite animes: ergo proxy, great pretender, black butler, nana, tokyo revengers, hunter hunter, sailor moon, 91 days, bungou stray dogs, paradise kiss, hellsing, erased, demon slayer, naruto, one piece, and jjba.

favorite artists: kali uchis, tyler the creator, frank ocean, kendrick lamar, j cole, korn, cypress hill, sofaygo, attila, falling in reverse, nine inch nails, beyonce, brent faiyaz, bryson tiller, playboi carti, kaash paige, lil uzi vert, white zombie, ski mask the slump god, yeat, and xxxtentacion.

currently reading: tokyo revengers, chainsaw man, death note, & kamisama kiss.

currently watching: paradise kiss, say I love you, nodame cantabile, and princess jellyfish.

kins: beatrix kiddo, gogo yubari, o—ren ishii, izana kurokawa, kakucho hitto, manjiro sano, konan, karin, sasuke, tomoko kuroki, umaru doma, nobuo, yasuo, huey freeman itachi, kaz kaan, michiko malandro, armin arlert, alex benedetto, canary, atsuko jackson, & karin

2022 — soratoninn (toruzaki) on tumblr. do not copy, modify, redistribute, translate, or write spin off stories based off of my own content. remember, plagiarism is illegal.

[themerrymutants]

Ok I am back

I’ll be slow but I’m back, I’m currently in the mood for feral!Enigma things to expect a bunch of opens with her. I will try to get through some of my drafts but I’m thinking of dropping most of them just to get a fresh start. Planned threads that haven’t been started will still happen if the other party’s still interested.

[kisaell]

so what happened between Sylvia and Karine? why are they not together?

They used to fool around together but Karine fell in love

she knew how that was going to end so put it to an end before someone got hurt.

It is a constant source of doubt for her. What if...

[paxohana]

Inked - Abandonment

Chapters: 20/? Fandom: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov Characters: Otabek Altin, Otabek Altin's Family, Yuri Plisetsky, Victor Nikiforov, Katsuki Yuuri, Mila Babicheva, Yakov Feltsman, Original Female Character(s), Lilia Baranovskaya, Jean-Jacques Leroy, Georgi Popovich, Ji Guang-Hong, Phichit Chulanont, Leo de la Iglesia, Christophe Giacometti Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Tattoos, Tattoos, Body Modification, Crush at First Sight, Getting to Know Each Other, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Aged-Up Character(s), Supportive Otabek, Confessions, Love Confessions, First Kiss, Mild Language, Light Angst, Fluff, Sarcasm, Companionable Snark, Hanging Out, Attraction, Masturbation, Dating, Mutual Lust, past girlfriends, Parenting a Sibling, Doubt, Commitment, Surprises, Frottage, Implied Sexual Content, Competition, Travel, Disappointment, True Love, Arguing, First Time, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Anxiety, Unrealistic Expectations, Switching, Celebrations, Blowjobs, Rimming, Marriage Proposal, Christmas, New Year's Eve, Injury, Fingerfucking Series: Part 1 of Inked Summary:

A terrifying situation changes Otabek and Talya's lives forever.

Groaning when his phone vibrated on the surface of the nightstand, Otabek didn’t bother opening his eyes while feeling for the device.  He knew it was early because the sun wasn’t penetrating his eyelids yet.  He was scheduled for the late shift that day and had been looking forward to sleeping in. Feeling Yuri’s warmth against him, he was happy the intrusion hadn’t woken him up. Barely opening his eyes, he focused on the answer button and pressed it.

“What?” Otabek growled.

“Beka?”

While it was unusual for Talya to call him this early, Otabek told her not to worry about the time if she ever needed to talk.  He didn’t like the fact that morning, but it was his sister.  Opening his eyes and yawning, he took a deep breath before replying.

“What’s up, kiddo?” he asked.

“Beka, Karin’s gone,” Talya said, Otabek’s brows furrowing when he detected a hint of fear in her voice.

“She probably had an errand to run or something,” Otabek assured her, “Mom will help you if you need something.”

“Mom and Dad are in England,” she whined.

[gcmblingdice]

Those outfits 🥺🥺🥺 how old are her kiddos now? Will she have another kid or will Sunflower and Elena be only kids?

Sunflower was born uuuhb August 2020. So she almost 1 year old!!! She's started to walk and and is trying to talk more. Karine and Jiho are speaking English with her, but also speak in Hangul and Caribiean Spanish respectively. Karine also speaks in French sometimes too.

Now see Sunflower was also born at full term. Unlike Elena. In both pregnancies Karine did have issues with pre-eclampsia, in which Jiho took her to all the appointments. Karine was to scared to do early birth and so it was closely monitored. She was often in the hospital for weeks or days with IVs and oral supplements. A few times they almost lost her, but she was born a week before her actual due date and was healthy as can be.

Karine, as in v1 and v2, was also working through getting sober. Unlike in v3 where Jiho was more active and helped her, Karine had to manage on her own as Joonwoo and Chan were also going through stuff.

In v1 and v2 Karine had more difficulty and often when people did reach out she pushed them away. Getting sober was hard and she was scared. The increased hormones from pregnancy didnt help, nor did the pre-eclampsia complications. Karine was also processing that she was raped and her child has the same dna as her ex. Karine lacked the support she had in v3 due to her fear of being vuneralblez but also because her supposed partners were to busy to reach out and check and it was a big shit storm that led her to ODing.

Luckily Woo got to her in time after receiving the mass text. At 24 weeks on New Years Day Elena was brought into this world via emergency c section and pumped for any drugs, as was Karine. For almost an entire month both her and Elena hung in a very dangerous balance. Thankfully things worked out.

Elena is now 3months and 11 weeks (roughly) 😌😌😌

[shysheeperz]

[badassberryfarmerart]

I lined this but i cant remember if i posted the sketch? Sooo? Expect a colored version soonnn

Made w/ MediBang

[panharmonium]

more in-progress naruto thoughts under the cut!

i’ve only progressed by like ten episodes but we just got out of the filler and back into the real story, which means that i feel like i’m moving at a million miles per hour because we went from Nothing happening to Everything Happening All At Once

[spoiler policy disclaimer first, as always: I am watching naruto for the first time and i am trying to avoid spoilers, so please don’t interact with this (tags included, because the notifications now show them to me automatically) with any spoilery commentary, including even general things like “oh i love this show but it gets less good after X point” or “X season is better than Y season” or any general assessments of quality/likability/etc re: future seasons.  Thank you! <3 ]

- real!madara has finally made his appearance (and the scene where he appeared was Epic.  i love when they introduce new music).  i wasn’t surprised to see him; i’ve suspected for a while that fake!madara isn’t who he says he is (specifically, i’ve been guessing that he’s madara’s brother, but the story hasn’t confirmed that, so who knows; i could be wrong).  anyway the five kage are lining up to fight him, but we haven’t seen any of the battle; it cut away to naruto’s part of the story and we haven’t gotten back to gaara’s group yet...i think we’ll get into that tonight.

- the tailed beasts part of the story has taken a huge leap forward and i LOVEEEEE it; once again i am SUCH a sucker for the whole “compassion for your enemy/turning your enemies into friends” motif and ughhhhhhhhh it’s fantastic; THIS is the stuff that i love watching naruto do.  this is what he’s built for.  “just who the hell are you to say that having a tailed beast makes me feel despair” + kurama opening his eyes open hearing that - i LOVED that shot.  and i loved the show turning things around and showing things from the perspective of someone who’s been locked in a cage for so long...and the parallel they drew between iruka saying “he’s not a beast; he’s a leaf shinobi and his name is naruto” + naruto releasing kurama from his cage and recognizing him by his name.......MASTERFUL

and oh my god they showed us the BABY tailed beasts wtf i was definitely not ready for this face:

pROTECT HIM ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

- kurama roasting naruto for accidentally kissing sasuke that one time; i was HOWLING; naruto really said he wished he and his tailed beast could joke around and bicker with each other like bee and gyuki do, and kurama just went “ok if you say so”

- sasuke is finally outside lmao.  got tired of sitting around in the dark i guess

- TAKA IS BACK!  honestly suigetsu was winning my heart last night all over again.  i’ve always liked him, but boy, he was not pulling punches yesterday, complaining to jugo about how sasuke dragged them into a conflict that wasn’t what they originally agreed to/dropped a ceiling on their heads/left them for dead...i believe the word “reprehensible” was used, in fact....YOU GO, KIDDO!  tell it like it is! 

- taka also apparently stumbled upon some kind of master plan of orochimaru’s.........no idea of the details at this point but i KNEW we couldn’t count that guy out yet XD

- just a general observation: at this point, i feel like i have hundreds of questions, and instead of answering them, the show just keeps posing more:

a long time ago kabuto said something about “so long as i have the edotensei and that OTHER jutsu, i’m invincible.”  what other jutsu was he talking about???

after that very same conversation with kabuto, fake!madara told black zetsu “you’d better get started on our OTHER program” - what other program was HE talking about???????

fake!madara also once said something very brief about “linking sasuke to the gedo statue”.........what.  what was that about.

what did naruto see when he and sasuke had that brief encounter.  sakura knows he’s hiding something.  what was it?

a million years ago jiraiya was talking about the first hokage’s necklace and said “there are only two like it in the world.”  naruto’s is broken...so who has the other one?

how did itachi know about fake!madara in the first place?  back when fake!madara was telling sasuke about everything that happened, he was like “itachi was the only one who knew of my existence/he agreed to help me if i promised to leave the hidden leaf alone” - but how did itachi even know about fake!madara at all? 

shisui uchiha...what the fuck happened to make him think he needed to kill himself and hide his eyes

how the fuck did danzo end up in cahoots with orochimaru???  and did danzo use shisui’s eye for anything while he possessed it (besides trying to influence the people at the five kage summit)???

i’m still not clear on the parameters of all the visual jutsu.  why do sasuke’s new eyes look the way they do, if they’re itachi’s???  itachi’s were always a kind of three-spoked pinwheel, but now that they’ve been transplanted into sasuke they look completely different - why?  i don’t even fully understand what the mangekyo is - when it was first introduced i thought it was the thing kakashi could do, but we’ve never seen anybody else use it that way (unless that’s actually what fake!madara is doing when he sucks people into him...) - itachi can use it for tsukuyomi and amaterasu and the susano’o because he has it in both eyes, but is that the extent of it?  what are its capabilities actually???  and what was kabuto talking about when he said the rinnegan was a natural progression of the sharingan?

what is written on the uchiha stone tablet?  is it information about how the sharingan can be used to control tailed beasts?  or something else?

how did taka end up under orochimaru’s control?  like - didn’t we once see a flashback of karin participating in the chunin exams at the same time as sasuke?  what the hell happened to her???  how did she end up with orochimaru?????  

what was going on in that brief flashback with madara and the tsuchikage?  the one where young ohnoki is like “that wasn’t the agreement” and madara is like “there is no alliance; you bow to the hidden leaf; also don’t ever mention hashirama’s name in front of me again”?  what is the CONTEXT

what exactly do madara and fake!madara get out of the infinite tsukuyomi?  like...okay, so everyone’s a zombie living in a fantasy world, and what will YOU be doing, exactly?  i’m just not sure i understand their ultimate motivation.  

so many questions about this whole “six paths” thing; i don’t even understand what that is right now or why the sage of the six paths created the ten-tails to begin with or...or anything about it.  fake!madara told konan a bunch of info about shadow style and creation powers but it all went way over my head and i don’t feel like i have any clarity on it yet.

this isn’t plot-related at all, but i still don’t even know what happened to rin.  i’ve known she was dead for like 700 episodes but i have absolutely no clue how what happened.  honestly this show is as tight-lipped about kakashi’s personal information as he himself is; they give us the tiniest bites of information and then just let us stew for years...they never told us what happened to his mom, even.  they told us kakashi was a chunin at age SIX and just like...didn’t think that warranted further discussion.  they mentioned he was a former anbu operative and then never mentioned it again (though i do know that’s coming...it’s been several hundred episodes, so i CAN’T WAIT)

i probably have a billion more questions that i just can’t recall at the moment because there are too many of them to keep in my head at the same time.  i am sure many of these will be answered to one degree or another as i move forward, but right now i am just like “boy, time is ticking, and we have so much left to address...how???” 

[california-raccoon]

eye's on the sparrow

He just stares at her, like he’d been wishing for his mom but she appeared instead. This belief - in wishing, in divine intervention, in fate - is probably the reason why he chooses to believe in her. BLEACH / AU / ICHIRUKI • [PART 1/?]

A/N: It figures my first official attempt at fanfic is gonna be for this old ship in the wildest year 2020. Apologies in advance because I am no writer, but like a kid messing around in a kitchen, I hope you enjoy it anyway. Bone apple teeths, my dudes.

——————

I.

The first time she meets him, he’s by himself on the side of the road. He isn’t doing much of anything, just a lot of crying, same as that day his mother died. Rukia wasn’t there to see it happen, but she saw the officers and the cars all hovered around the scene in the aftermath, a pop of bright yellow about her height wailing like a siren. 

For all of her seven years of living, she is precocious enough to understand death and loss, but when she greets him weeks later, she has no kid gloves to treat him with, just her bare-knuckled fists knocking into his shoulders. He loses his balance among other things, face no longer crunched together in tears but spread wide with shock. 

“What’s wrong?” says she, without any hint of sympathy. The boy offers her nothing in response. His hand is on the pavement, catching himself.

He just stares at her, like he’d been wishing for his mom but she appeared instead. This belief - in wishing, in divine intervention, in fate - is probably the reason why he chooses to believe in her. He swallows his tears long enough to tell her “I lost my mom here,” with a glint of hope in his eyes as if she could find her for him.

“Was she pretty?” Is all Rukia asks, trying to imagine her, and the boy cracks a smile.

“The prettiest. She made the best blueberry pancakes for breakfast and held my hand while we walked. I was supposed to protect her… but,” The boy chokes, big drops forming on the sides of his eyes.

“Just… don’t forget her.”

The boy gulps at this, not really understanding but nodding anyway. Maybe it’s Rukia’s imagination of his mother now in her mind, as pretty and warm as the sunshine, smelling like pancakes and blueberries, that causes her to reflect. She squats down next to him with a frown on her face.

“You’re lucky, I don’t have a mother to remember.” Rukia says, “So whatever you do, don’t forget her.” 

He looks up at her then, eyes as big as saucers, and she helps him up to his feet. They say nothing else in the exchange, but he keeps looking at her, so she ruffles his hair to make him stop. She likes that she’s a little taller than him that she can do that; the other boys she knows are older and too tall for her fingers and fists to reach.

When she sees him the next day, he isn’t crying anymore but he talks. About little things, at first. A lot of stories about his mom, so he won’t forget. How she warmed the room with her presence, could peel apple skins in one long strip and loved reading books about funny English plays. As the days go on, it mixes with stories of things he’s learned in school, or his classmate in karate who he can never seem to beat. Rukia listens. They walk together down the road on his way home.

“Where do you live?” he asks one day, between showing her this new Pokemon card he’d traded Mizuiro during recess. It’s another rainy afternoon, but he’s okay, and they’re sharing his umbrella on the road home.

“Up that hill over there,” she says, pointing past the street they’re on. 

“That’s pretty far. You can take my umbrella with you; I live right here.” The boy exclaims, stopping right in front of a family clinic. There’s a chipper smile on his face as he hands her the umbrella to hold.

She doesn’t really know what to think, the gesture unusual to her, but she takes it with a small thanks before parting ways.

 -

II.

Ichigo is six the first time he invites a girl over to his house. He doesn’t really know her name, nor does he know much of anything about her, now that he thinks about it, but they somehow walk home together every day and he’s happy for the company of his new friend.

She doesn’t accept at first, but once she manages to sneak up to his window by climbing the adjacent tree, it’s as if she’s always been there. He shares his manga and his favorite snacks and teaches her how to play Pokemon among his growing collection of cards. She’ll stay over an hour after sunset, the pair of them reading and laughing until he has to head down for dinner, and she’ll leave the way she came. If his dad is wise to the situation, Ichigo doesn’t really know, but the man is all too happy to give him extra snacks to carry into his room whenever he asks.

On one weekend Ichigo finds himself packed in with his sisters in the car, dad behind the wheel with a list of things to buy and the promise of candy and ice cream at the end of the day if they behave. When they pass the hill, all he sees are lush forest greens and the Torii that pokes its head among the body of stairs. There are no houses, so he asks where they are.

“There are no houses there, son. Just the orphanage near the Shinto shrine.” His dad answers with unexpected gravity. 

Ichigo says nothing in response to this, but he looks up what an orphanage is later in the dictionary once they get home, remembers the girl with no mother and cries.

He notices it, seeing her again on his way home from karate. She usually comes up to meet him from the river, playing by herself. Her clothes are a little too big on her, waiting to grow into them like the hand-me-downs his sisters complain about.

He can’t really bring himself to say anything to her, though he really wants to. It’s on the tip of his tongue, to tell her that he knows, but he never gets the chance to because they’re home before he realizes it and the door bursts open just as soon as he gathers the courage to speak.

“Welcome home, Ichigo!” His dad surprises him outside their doors just as they’ve arrived. There’s a sly look on his eye that Ichigo is too young to decipher, but he feels as if some secret’s been found out when his dad turns to the person frozen in place next to him.

“And who is this young lady accompanying my son home today?” 

Ichigo’s mind is racing to respond but he can’t find a simple answer. Static bubbles out of him instead in stammers and incoherent half-words that only stop when she says her name.

“Rukia,” his dad repeats with gentlemanly charm. “Thank you for keeping an eye out for my son. Come in and stay for dinner.”

His dad figures out everything but he’s surprisingly lenient about it. She’s allowed to stay as she wishes, for snacks, for games, as long as she heads back before nightfall. The terms are fair, especially with the long summer days ahead of them, and sometimes his dad will leave work ahead of schedule so they can have earlier dinners with her as their guest.

It’s how most of Ichigo’s summer unfolds: him, his sisters, and Rukia eating dinners together, watching tv and playing video games. Her drawings of bears and rabbits mix with Yuzu and Karin’s on the refrigerator. The newness of having her over gives the family something to talk about, and they welcome her openly. The rest of the days are a haze of laughs and pixelated dungeons where they save princesses. 

“Why do you always play by the river?” Ichigo asks her one afternoon. The question stops her in her tracks, thrown off by the question. They’re on the way home, the usual babble of the river filling her sudden silence. She’d been talking to him about her strategy to defeat the boss at the Fire Temple. He’s a little guilty he wasn’t paying attention.

“My friend Renji was adopted a week before I met you,” she tells him. “We used to sneak out and play by the river all the time before he went away.”

“Will you go away too when you get adopted?” 

“I don’t know. Probably.” She shrugs, but her fingers are tightly wound like the first day they met.

Later that night after she leaves, Ichigo tugs on the bottom of his dads shirt as he’s putting away the last of the clean dishes and stares up at him.

“Can’t we adopt her?” He chokes out, vision wet and blurry as he says it because he already knows the answer.

His dad sighs, picking him up by his armpits, and suddenly he’s four years old again, crying on the kitchen counter. Ichigo is surprised to find himself tightly wound in his dads arms, a hug so warm and sincere he thinks he could choke if he doesn’t remember to breathe.

“Sorry, kiddo.” His dad ruffles his hair when they pull apart, and looking up at him, his eyes look wet too. 

The last of his summer is a countdown till it finally happens. It’s a normal sunny afternoon walking back from karate. He lingers over the view of the river before walking home alone for the first time in months. There’s a pit in his stomach that he ignores and he mostly sulks in his room the rest of the evening.

She shows up two days later with a big smile on her face that he’s never seen. He knows before she even says it.

Her smile is so big it eclipses the frown that threatens to show on his face because the more he listens to her, the happier he genuinely feels for her. A young couple from Tokyo, and the woman is warm and sunny just like any mother should be, she says. 

“The man isn’t as goofy as your dad, but he seems nice… I’m moving with them to Tokyo this week once the papers are signed.”

The mention of the move makes her nervous, the only other emotion she’s expressed in her retelling of the past two days. They spend the rest of the afternoon on his father’s computer looking up pictures of Tokyo, then find a map in the garage to see how far it is from Karakura.

On her last day, Ichigo and his dad go out to buy a small bouquet of flowers in congratulations, and they snap a photo together along with his sisters, who are hugging her in a fond embrace. 

“Write to me,” he says with a grin, hand stuffed in his pockets, suddenly feeling too cool for goodbyes. She ignores it completely and gives him a fierce hug.

“Of course.” She laughs at him, then punches him fondly on the shoulder for good measure. “Thanks, Ichigo.”

The words throw him off, the first time she’s ever called him by name, and he tries hers in kind. 

“See ya later, Rukia.”

They write to each other the way pen pals do, in a pattern of energetic bursts of conversation between the pauses of closing signatures that grow wider until their lives fill with classes, exams, friends and families. The letters stop coming at the end of the year.

[PART 2 → ]