#indigo: kazui

[nilovalentine]

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[vannahfanfics]

The Simple Honor of Domesticity

Category: Family Fluff

Characters: Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki

Requested By: @deliazeedork​ (Tumblr)

Rukia held the flat of her hand against her forehead as she gazed up at the brilliant azure sky stretching above Karakura Town. Her indigo-hued eyes beheld the bright landscape dotted with fluffy white clouds moseying along, occasionally masking the intense luminescence blooming from the burning white-yellow sun peaking at the atmosphere. The time had just reached the height of noon, and to celebrate, the life-giving star blasted all its heat down onto the welcoming earth. 

“The perfect time to dry the laundry!” Rukia chirped blissfully, dropping her arm so she could stoop down and scoop up the laundry basket resting by her feet. She scurried across the threshold of the front door and into the freshly-cut front yard, where the clothesline strung from the side of the house to the wooden fence outlining the small suburban property. Humming pleasantly, Rukia dropped the basket so she could begin plucking clothespins from the taut wire gently swaying on the afternoon breeze. One by one, she pinned them into her shirt so she would have easy access to them when she began stringing up the clothes. She paused when she heard the front door rattle, eyebrows knitting in confusion. Her expression then melted into soft affection as her five-year-old son, Kazui, carefully held the door open so his three-year-old brother Takeshi could waddle through the doorway. 

“Mama,” Takeshi boy purled as he spotted her with his round, warm brown eyes. Cooing, he gestured at her with grabby hands, while Kazui regarded Rukia with a serious expression so like his father that she almost had to do a double-take.

“Mom, I tried to keep him inside, but he just won’t,” the orange-haired boy complained. Takeshi squatted down so he could cautiously descend the stairs, going down backward by lowering his feet while grasping the ledge of the stair above. Rukia smiled warmly as her baby boy settled on the pathway and then hurriedly whipped around so he could begin running toward her. 

“Oh, it’s all right,” she sighed contently, crouching down to embrace her son with her slim arms as he plowed into her. Rukia chortled as he nearly threw her off-balance with his eager embrace, only managing to stay upright by pushing the balls of her feet into the dirt. “Takeshi, would you like to help Mama with the laundry?” The little boy peeled away from her to look curiously at the mound of fabrics piled into the plastic bin. 

“Okay!” he chirped in agreement. He toddled forward to plunge his chubby fists into the pile of cloth, digging in to drag out several articles of clothing at once. Rukia hastily lunged forward to keep the freshly-washed clothes and bedsheets from tumbling into the dirt, allowing Takeshi to cling to the bottoms of the fabric while she carried it over to the line. The boy screeched delightedly, apparently very amused at the way the damp material wiggled in the wind. Rukia regarded him affectionately before instructing him to hold the fabric still so she could secure it to the wire. Takeshi watched her with rapture as she plucked up two clothespins to clamp the bedsheet onto the clothesline. 

“Kazui!” Rukia called over her shoulder, holding the sheet at bay as it attempted to ripple into her person. The boy was sitting on the stoop, watching the two hang the clothes with a blank expression and fists pushed into his cheeks. He perked up as his mother addressed him, straightening and dropping his hands onto his knees. “Would you like to help?” 

Rukia smiled in amusement as his internal debate reflected clearly in his expression. After a few seconds, he called, “Okay,” and trotted over. Rukia watched him in endearment as he gently stopped his brother, who was growing frustrated at how the wet clothes were tangled together, and showed him how to pull apart the clothes properly. Kazui gifted Takeshi two socks; the boy squealed in excitement and stamped his feet in elation as if he had won first prize in a race. Giddily, he ran over to Rukia to hold them up proudly. 

“Thank you,” she praised as she kneeled. “Let Mama show you something fun!” She took one of the socks from him and slipped it over her hand, ignoring the way the water within cooled her skin. Grinning, she thrust the sock into his face and began flapping her hand like a mouth, making nonsensical noises. Screeching laughter and high-pitched cackles exploded from his small body as Rukia nuzzled the damp sock-puppet into the side of his face, squirming away at the odd sensation of the wet sock in his jet-black hair. Still giggling, he shoved his short, stubby arm into the sock (which was one of Ichigo’s and therefore covered nearly up to his shoulder). He waddled back to Kazui, who was watching with a mixture of embarrassment and amusement. 

“Ha-ha! I got you!” Takeshi screamed and began mimicking Rukia, bouncing up and down as he paraded the puppet in Kazui’s face. Rukia held her free hand over her mouth as she laughed mirthfully, pleased by the flush of delight rosing his round cheeks. Kazui flinched away from the wet sock, snorting in laughter and batting at his brother’s hand. As his big brother took off to begin running in circles around the yard, Takeshi chased after him, chubby legs stamping through the grass as he tried his best to catch up. Rukia resumed hanging the clothes on the line as the two boys frolicked through the grassy space. A serene smile graced her face, and her cheeks shone with a rosy hue as she listened to their gleeful laughter and spotted their forms flitting through the gaps in the clothes. 

If you had asked her ten years ago, Rukia would have abhorred the proposition of settling down and resigning herself to domesticity. She was a Soul Reaper, for crying out loud- a fierce warrior, a fiery spirit who lived for rising through the ranks and hunting down the Hollows. Where was the honor of being a housewife? Now, however… As she paused to peek around the fluttering bedsheet and watch as Kazui allowed Takeshi to clamber on top of him and pinch his nose with the damp sock-puppet, Rukia couldn’t imagine her life as anything else. 

There was a simple honor within domesticity- the honor of watching young lives bud into maturity under her careful attention and care… Now, after all this time, she understood Hisana’s devotion to her adoptive elder brother and deep desire to have a family. Rukia already experienced more love than she ever thought possible, and yet it grew every day as she watched her boys slowly navigate their shared childhood. Her heart swelled, enjoying them tussling in the grass, with Kazui being gentle so as not to unduly hurt his sweet and energetic younger sibling. I’m so grateful…

“Rukia!” The woman turned to see her husband walking up the path, clutching a plastic bag from the convenience store down the road. A gentle smile brightened his angular face. Rukia dropped the piece of clothing that she had been clutching back into the basket so she could skip over and press a kiss onto his cheek. “What’s that for?” he laughed. 

“I missed you.” 

“I’ve only been gone ten minutes,” he reminded amusedly. Rukia puffed out her cheeks, displeased at his disregard for her affections, and lightly hand-chopped him on the crown of his head. 

“I missed you for those ten minutes, dummy!” she scolded, striking him several more times. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt, so he only chuckled and reached up to grasp her hand. Her face flooded pink as he brought it to his lips so he could kiss her palm. 

“I missed you, too.” Rukia hurriedly turned away; even after years of marriage, she still hated for him to see her blush. Ichigo laughed at her cute embarrassment, pressing little butterfly kisses across her knuckles to fluster her further. Though the temperature of her face rose several increments with each passing second, Rukia could not bring herself to retract her hand. She was both grateful and disappointed when Takeshi and Kazui charged through the drying sheets, simultaneously screaming “Daaaaad!”

“Hey, hey!” Ichigo grunted as they slammed into his long legs, making him stumble back a bit. Rukia laughed at his crooked smile and the way he leaned over to bear-hug them each with one big arm. “You’ve been helping Mom with the laundry, I see. Good boys. I love it when you help out your mother,” he praised as he ruffled their hair, Kazui’s bright orange and Takeshi’s midnight black. After a second of nuzzling his children, Ichigo let them go, and they immediately ran back to the laundry to play around in the damp clothes. It was only a few articles, so Rukia was content to allow them to slip them on and dirty them up; she would have to rewash them eventually, after all. As she watched them affectionately, Ichigo sidled up to wind his arm around her hips. 

“Ya know,” he hummed, pressing his lips into her fluffy black hair, “sometimes it still surprises me that you adjusted to all this so easily.” 

“Huh?” she blinked, pulling her head away to look up at him in surprise, though she’d basically had the same line of thinking just a few minutes ago. He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“It’s just… I dunno… You’re such a firecracker, ya know?” Rukia huffed haughtily and crossed her arms. As soon as she looked at her two boys chasing each other around the yard, Kazui bogged down with one of Ichigo’s hoodies and Takeshi chasing him with one of Rukia’s cardigans wound around his neck like a cape, the tension melted from her body like snow. 

“What do I have to miss, Ichigo? I have everything I need right here.” Ichigo remained still beside her for a moment. He then huffed in amazement. She could feel him smiling as he pressed his face back into her hair to press a lingering kiss into her scalp. His big arms enveloped her smaller form, drawing her into his body to cover her in his gentle radiating warmth. 

“Yeah. Me too.” 

Together, they continued to watch their two bundles of joy play around the clothesline; together, they simply enjoyed the product of their union, the simple honor of domesticity. 

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

[akariitsuki42]

Spirit Saga

Ch6

Chapter 5

I did everything I could to keep Onyx because Ichigo has never been this demanding before, has he really forgotten that he is now my cousin? So when night arrived, I could not get to sleep because of how he was acting towards me, Alex, Onyx, Mugetsu, Esperanza, and Shiro, when it comes to Orihime, his son, Rukia, and Renji he acts like nothing is wrong. I wonder it has to do with the fact that HIS memories are obscured now, if that's the case, I need to do something about this, I softly called out, "Hey Onyx." "Couldn't sleep?" he asked. I sighed meaning that there was something on my mind, Onyx opened up the closet door like Rukia used to do, "What's on your mind?" "Ichigo has been acting very weird," I said, "Are his memories obscured this time?" "I wish I knew but we need to get everyone back before things get worse," said Onyx, "Thankfully I know on how to get them back. Let's sneak out and find a Karaoke place so we can loose the tension." That is what we exactly did, Onyx was always the one to keep his guard up even when Ichigo was being protective, doesn't matter, Onyx is my brother and guardian. We walked into a place that has a stage but no one was singing, Onyx asked the manager of the place, "Can we take the stage for tonight?" She was the sweetest lady, told us, "Of course you can, darlings." We walked up the stage and we saw Alex again, this time he was with Volaris, he knew exactly on what to play when he saw us, Ignite played first to warm us up, we got no one's attention for some time, which means we got to up our game. The lady who let us was watching us, she was loving us and how in sync we were being, she asked us, "Are you two a couple?" "No, we are brother and sister," said Onyx, "Don't ask, just accept it." She nods, I think she knows on what we are because Carry On from Avenged Sevenfold started to play, got Levy back, because there was someone with a cup of water who watched their drink vanish to thin air, then we heard, "Hey guys!" Onyx shouted, "Aunt Levy!" She waved where the lady was, then Centuries played then started to get some attention with Must Be Nice from Nickelback it was only Onyx this time. Then I noticed that did not got their attention, I felt someone behind me, I turned, Jagaur's back, he was head bobbing to the Nickelback song, "Hey, Jagaur." He looks at me finally, then smiles, "I'm waiting for a hug." I hugged him same with Levy, then I did Immortals from Fall Out Boy, and In The Air Tonight from Phil Collins, I guess that there was a colonel who was supposed at his base because we heard someone who never raised his voice and that colonel was close to harming the lady that let us on stage, then we saw a fist and a few teeth falling into view. Hurricane is back, never lost his chivalry, then we heard him say, "Get out of here, scumbag." The guy ran out, I waved, "Hi, Hurricane!" "Hey, Lady Akari," he said, immediate change of attitude, "Don't mind me I'm just doing my thing." "As we can see, by the way, nice to have you back," said Onyx, "Next song." Not Gonna Die, Out of Hell, and Rise from Skillet played then A Light That Never Comes from Linkin Park played, got Raven and Layla back. Then Thunder played, I felt a shocking feeling and out came Evangeline beginning to dance with her partner Hurricane. A lot of songs later, I got most of them back, my sassiness came back because Jagaur was the source of it all. I was back in bed same with Onyx, everyone else hoped onto Hurricane's back and went straight to the cottage to power up the portal so that the others would come out. I can not wait to see mom and dad after so long of being away from them, morning rises and it was time to handle Hollows, I was energized again, I am now use to my falchion because I did a couple Heart blasts to a few, Ichigo caught up to me, Onyx, and Mugetsu, tells only me, "Let Kazui have his first kill." I rolled my eyes, "He's not old enough, Ichigo Kurosaki." Then I casted a Shadow Ball, threw it at a Hollow who was going after his son, "He has yet to know on what to do." "I'm sorry, what is going on," he asked, "First thing you were scared to even fight with your falchion and now you are using it with no problem, what happened to you?" "Wouldn't you like to know," I sassed, "I'm not telling. Let's go Mugetsu and Onyx." "No, you are not going anywhere until you tell me on what is going on with you," said Ichigo. Then the thought of hate surge through my body and mind, it was unbearable this time, Mugetsu could see this, tapped on the side of my temple, it calmed the being inside, saying, "Keep calm until we get into the cottage." I nodded to what he said, Mugetsu said to Ichigo, "Dude, you are effecting her every action to do anything. She is battling something greater than her and it might kill her." Raven showed up and casted a mental lock key, unlocked his memories again, Ichigo ended up saying, "I didn't know that what I was doing was causing her to be like this." "It's alright you didn't know, Ichigo," said Onyx, "Now, you remember on who she is and her power?" "Yeah," he said, "She's Akari Itsuki, who I took under my care without knowing that she already has a brother but I know that she knows I was trying to prepare her for a world that does not care about her feelings." "Which it won't matter because her inner being won't let anyone say anything evil towards her," said Mugetsu, "Let's just say that you will lose her again and she will never come back from what she was battling." After we separated from Ichigo, I went to Shinji for help, I called, "Hello? Anybody here?" "Ah, Miss Itsuki," said Shinji, "Been a while." "I need your help please," I cried. Hiyori, who didn't like me in the beginning but she still did, walks up into view, asked, "What is it that you need from us?" "I'm battling something and I don't know on what to do," I said, "I came here so I can learn what it is and how to deal with it the best I can." "Well then you came to the right place," said Shinji, "Let's what is within you shall we?" "Go easy on me please," I said. Then everyone heard, including me, "I know on who it is." We looked at who it was, I called out, "Mugetsu, what are you doing here?" "To tell you on what is going on within you," said Mugetsu, "You might've thought that the Elemental Realm was your inner mind, but it is not because I went through it, Akari, something is preventing you to go into your mind." "How do I get there?" I asked.

Mugetsu's POV: I told her that I was going to see on what I will by going into her mind, I went in to her mind, the view before me was unbelievable, there were evil thoughts flowing through harming Nikushimi's power level and hurting her physically, I got to work on destroying each and every one of those evil, mean, and nasty thoughts. I used all my power skills to get the ones that were in my reach, I called out, "Nikushimi! I'm going to come back with back up because this is unacceptable for something like this to happen." "Please, help me, Mugetsu," she said, weakly. Esperanza and Onyx may be the guardians of Akari alone, but I protect Nikushimi, it was my sworn duty to protect that fragile thing until she has her power and strength back. Time to get Denver and Dakota, well it's going to be real easy for me to find Denver because he remembers on who he was, Dakota has no idea on who he is, so I decided to go to the market because that is where they working at, both of them are working at the market, one was a cashier and the other was stocking the shelves. I went to Dakota, who was stocking the shelves, "Hey, I need your help." "Can it wait, Mugetsu?" he asked, "Unless it's very important." "It's Akari," I said. That got his attention, "One moment please, could you finish for me?" "Sure," I said, starting finishing on what he was stocking. Yes I work here too, I'm just the Co-manager of the place, I was told that I didn't have to be here unless it was an emergency, I went to Denver and told him what is happening with Lady Akari. I got the 2, no one said anything back to what I was doing because I like things my way, then Dakota had the nerve to ask, "Is your hair that long yet?" "Shut up, Dakota," I said, "I have yet to say that I have hair extensions." "There is a thing called shampoo," said Denver. I just looked at the 2, I can not believe these 2 are actually seeing through this long ass hair, am I really that easy to get caught? I asked, "Can you act like it's this natural? I don't want to be made fun of as I already am by a Black Panther." "Fine, whatever floats your boat, milady," Dakota joked. I shouted, "Do I really look like a woman?" "No you don't," said a lady behind us. We looked, it was a girl with lavender hair that was wearing an indigo and golden yellow dress, she was also wearing a necklace that has a clock, I asked, "How's it going, Usami?" "Where you are going with these 2?" she asked, "Bring them back because I might need you all to be here since this place is going to be busy in a few hours." "Usami, this is more important," I said to her, "I'll be right back with them, but for right now, they are on their breaks." She nods knowing that I am stubborn, man, I got it from my host, Ichigo Kurosaki, damn you, strawberry, shrug it off, then we see him, Dakota groaned, "Great, here comes the grouch of all grouches." "What happened while he was there?" I asked. Dakota answered, "I kept seeing him saying to Akari to watch on what she eats even though she tells me and Denver that she is naturally that thin, not to mention she has extreme high metabolism." "She does fight a lot and it burns a lot of calories," I said. We went back to where Akari was, I led the 2 into her mind, I asked, "Do you guys know on what power you guys have?" "I have Energy," said Denver. Dakota tells me that he has Void, "Alright guys, see those thoughts, destroy them because they are causing damage to that little fragile girl over there," I said pointing at Nikushimi. They got the memo, Denver looks like Ukitake right? Here is what Dakota looks like, he's the Dangai version, his attire is exactly what you think it is, the right sleeve is always torn and he has to have something wrapped around his entire arm and his hand would always be covered with a black glove with a very long black thick string that he always does to his own clothing. Let's just say that is his Soul form, we are currently breaking his habit within his body because that has got to stop, he almost lost his job to what he almost did to his uniform, I did come up with a compromise that he can wear the black glove with no string attached to it, he's slowly getting there. We got the thought taken care of and we exited the mind of hers, Dakota goes, "Well, that was nerve wrecking, those thoughts were not what I had in mind." "Maybe we need to set her an application to the market so the 3 of us and hopefully Usami can keep an eye out for her," I said to them, "I know for a fact that it's not going to stop until we find out on who is the source of all this nonsense."