#mizuiro replies

[richestguyonmercury]

How come you only appeared in two episodes?

He just stares at the stranger puzzled, not really knowing what they're talking about.

[julieemarine]

Saizo lives in a very nice house with a pool, hot tub, ans Jacuzzi so please imagine the other Mizuiro siblings trying to come with Sakana to his place so they can use his hot tub or Jacuzzi

Oh, man. Where do I start? I just know that the other Mizuiro sibs are gonna beg Sakana to hell and back until she relents and lets them in the jacuzzi.

[asukaskerian]

Monthly word count - September

TOTAL: 3 026 words :X

that's all?? it felt like more ;^;

POSTED: nop

IN PROGRESS: -bloodsport (390 words) -grimmichi superheroes AU (221 words) -madatobiizu cherry wine (1 537 words) -bleach suburban ot4 (878 words)

-- bloodsport -- "They checked out the historic neighborhood too, and the Ambassadors' Row where you'll be lodged eventually--"

Ichigo could see her losing patience with his shit behind her affable smile, and suddenly he was out of patience with it too, with himself. 

He still didn't want to do the tourist shit. But he needed to be doing something.

"What's the shittiest neighborhood you can get to in under an hour from here?" he asked, rolling his stiff shoulders and stuffing his hands deeper in his front pockets. 

Askin stared at him with his mouth open, and then moaned. "Oh nooo. Kurosaki, no. My man, my friend--"

"I'm not looking for a fight! I just --"

He forced himself silent, staring at the two Arrancars in front of him. Neither one was showing any inhuman traits right now, but he could feel them there. He could feel the whole room around him with that other sense that wasn't quite telekinesis -- that was, Urahara liked to say, to telekinesis what echolocation was to sound -- could feel the personnel discreetly waiting behind closed doors so he could have the lobby to himself, deferential and only vaguely annoyed that it was taking him so long to clear out. Askin was exasperated-worried-shielding; the Arrancars... 

The other one was small and thin and delicate-looking. They felt even more predatory than the woman.

Both of them, really, had the same fangy edge. Like cats watching a new creature wander by, trying to figure out if it was anything they could mangle or what.

Ichigo missed being unable to read an Arrancar's emotions properly. Normal human beings didn't feel things like that.

"If I'm going to live here," he said, firming his voice, his chin raised to meet their eyes in turn, "I don't want to only know the rich areas."

-- superheroes -- "So," Rukia said the moment they were out of the building and the rushing student crowds, and brought so much suspicion and emphasis on the word that Ishida and Inoue immediately went on alert like pointer dogs.

Behind them, Mizuiro and Chizuru arched their eyebrows; Asano blinked a full three seconds later. Okay, no escape from there, but at least when they drew closer it stopped anybody else from moving in too.

"Family trouble again?" Ishida asked, looking vaguely unimpressed, except for his wary, narrowed eyes.

"Eh... Sorta. Stray cat kinda wandered into my house and now we're nursing it back to health. It's, uh, bitchy." Ichigo made vague clawing motions with his hands and felt lame as hell.

Asano flopped against his shoulder to peer at his face; Ichigo sidestepped out from under him. "Hey! No, but there's something you're not telling here, Ichigo--"

"It's blue," Ichigo hissed under his breath.

Asano made a worried face and immediately huddled closer, telegraphing his sudden oh-no-big-secret-shhh! with every line of his body and every furtive (not) glance. "Whoa, whoa, buddy, that's, uh, not a cat then."

Groaning, Ichigo replied in the same exaggerated undertone, "you think?"

-- cherry wine -- "Send me Tatsuo next."

"Yes sir."

Izuna passed her as she went back into the receiving room, crossing the engawa and hopping down into the garden with him. "I'm back."

"Welcome back. News?"

"We're going to the theater this afternoon!" Izuna gave him a wide, insincere smile. "You had better not hate on the show, it was the best I could find."

"Huh." Madara arched an eyebrow. "Any reason why we must go, then?"

Izuna started counting on his fingers pointedly. "Because I want to see a show and you never want to go out; because we don't have any invitations for this afternoon so why not. Because I promised the Haruno sisters a date."

Madara ruthlessly shoved down the annoyance that wanted to bubble up at Izuna getting him involved in his social entanglements with strangers. Izuna had liked them, so it should be good enough for Madara -- and from Izuna's strange smile, the date wasn't even the point. 

"And?"

"We need to be seen out in town and not caring." A telling pause. "And it won't hurt if people assume we kept them around last night."

Decoy and political maneuver all at once. Alright.

After yesterday's clusterfuck of embarrassments and straight up ambushes -- the official apology, the tea party that was supposed to show unconcern and strength and instead got him drugged into a rut, the assault on Naohime trying to set them against the Senju and get them in trouble with the daimyos all over again -- they did need to do some damage control.

"Also you didn't even look at them last night!" Izuna added in a fit of pique, throwing his hands up exasperatedly. "I need some data if I'm gonna calibrate my search properly and they have really unique hair, which is the only thing you admitted to liking to me."

"--I see."

"It's all in really pure shades of pink! Not muddy or rusty at all, thick and long, everything, and they're both cute and they have very striking blue eyes to go with it, so visually they're great. As people they're also great, they're just looking for a fling and weren't weird about us being nobles or being shinobi, I will be so cross, niisan."

Madara swallowed back a chuckle. "Very well, I'll go."

-- suburban ot4 -- Grimmjow's face is still creased from the pillow. From the nap they just took, more of an excuse to curl up together and rest, keeping an ear out for Kazui. His hair is a mussed mess.

His face says 'please tell me I didn't hear what I just heard', but not in a hopeful way.

"... Kurosaki?"

Nelliel goes back to the mattress, sinks down to her knees at the edge. Behind her, Ichigo's feet shuffle tentatively. 

"Hey," Ichigo says, voice quiet, sad, guilty. "We're back."

Grimmjow stares up at him. He's still buried in comforters up to his hips. "Didn't go well, huh."

Another beat of silence, heavy. "No. The rental contract was -- we tried, he--"

"It's okay," Nelliel interrupts, gently, and doesn't look at him. "He changed the guest spots, yeah?"

"Fuck," Grimmjow mutters to himself, and rakes both hands over his face, jaw gone tight. "Fuck."

"I'm sorry. It's back to two guests now. I can't even say anything because that's just standard."

Nelliel and her package count as a single guest as long as the kid isn't out of her belly, and not a day longer. The second her child is born, that makes three.

[seraphronos]

long overdue intro post !!

- nox / sera

- xe / it / void / they

- 17

- nonhuman angelthing(kin) (seraph) !! ( angel blog is @seraphicdownfall )

uhm things I like/fandoms !!!

- project sekai (so normal about rui kamishiro. oh so normal)

- angels

- needy streamer overload

- honkai star rail

- vocaloid

- tomorrow I will be someone's girlfriend

- jfashion (dark girly (+ subcul), yamikawaii, mizuiro, ouji)

- will wood, paseri onuma, naisho no pierced earrings, candye syrup, iyowa

random info !!!!

- uhm hello !!! I get pretty awkward and sometimes do avoid talking to others, I'm sorry !! please give me a bit if time to respond if I don't instantly, I promise I will reply as soon as I can 👍

- #1 rui fan real (do not argue about this with me pls)

- pls dni if you consider yourself a 'fashion jirai', pro/comshipper, anti neopronoun/xenogender/otherkin,

tags i use !!!!

#👁🪽 || art

#👁🪽 || own post

#👁🪽 || reblog

#👁🪽 || misc

oc tag format is as follows !!

[emoji][name][pronouns] || OC

thank u for reading !!!! :3

[insomniac-jay]

To the Belly of the Beast

After receiving a tempting email from her agent, Vytal heads to Kaijura Studios for a new job. There, she meets a new face.

Vytal/Suma Chikara belongs to @calciumcryptid

Aquanette/Sakana Mizuiro belongs to @julieemarine

When her agent told her that she found her a gig she might like, Suma half believed him.

As much as she enjoyed working on more serious, mature shows, it became tiring interacting with an adult fanbase. Hopefully this new job would give her something new, something fresh.

"Your destination is on the right."

Suma's attention stayed on her phone the whole ride. She scrolled mindlessly through news of her fellow heroes and celebrities as the car came to a stop. She turned her head away to nod at her driver opening the passenger door.

Donning a pair of sunglasses, she stepped out then looked up at the building. According to her agent this was the famous Kaijura Studios, the same studio that produced the much beloved Monster Wars franchise. Suma heard about it through the grapevine of friends and family with young children-- whom the franchise was massively popular with.

Okay, so I'm gonna possibly be working on a kids series, Chikara thought as she walked towards the building.

Greeting her was a small garden with statues of the famous monsters, or kaiju, from the series. It looked like it was ripped straight out of a concept for a children's park, but that's gave the place a welcoming atmosphere.

The garden was peaceful, serene. Like Suma could spend several hours in it and never get bored; and for that she commended them.

Soon the hot summer air was switched to the cool AC air upon Suma entering the building. She stopped at the receptionist's desk and tapped the little bell.

"Hello and welcome to Kaijura Studios," the receptionist greeted. "How can I help you?"

"Hello, I have a scheduled appointment here with your boss," Suma replied, taking off her sunglasses. "Name's Chikara Suma."

The receptionist typed away at his computer before looking back up at her a few minutes later. "Yes, you are on the list. Give me like, two minutes to make a phone call then I'll send you his way."

Suma nodded and stepped back from the desk. While the receptionist was busy, she decided to look around to get a feel of what she was about to get herself into.

Luckily the first thing that caught her eye was a picture of an older man watching two young boys holding cameras. Their features were reptilian with long tails and claw tipped hands and feet. The eldest boy had crystals protruding from his back while the younger one had fins.

"Miss Chikara."

Suma's attention turned back to the receptionist. "Hm?"

"Mr. Kaijura is ready to see you."

The receptionist then gave her directions to the boss's office. With that part done, Suma made her way to Mr. Kaijura. According to the receptionist, his office was on the third floor and towards the back.

As she rode the elevator, her phone buzzed. It was a text from her agent.

How's it going so far?

Pretty good. The place is nice and the receptionist was a sweetheart.

Trust me, Chikara. You are going to love the new role.

The elevator came to a soft halt as the doors opened. A noticeably smaller and chubbier woman with curly ultramarine hair and eyes walked through the doors. She pressed the button for the first floor.

"You work here?" Suma asked.

"Oh, no. Sai- I mean, Mr. Kaijura asked me to do some stunt work for the upcoming movie," the woman replied. "My name's Mizuiro, by the way."

"Chikara. I guess that you and Mr. Kaijura are quite close if you're already on a first name basis with him." Suma winked at Mizuiro, causing the latter to fluster and fidget.

"W-well-"

The elevator dinged when it reached the third floor, cutting their conversation short. Suma gave Mizuiro a smile before walking off and heading to the back where Mr. Kaijura's office was. Once there, she moved to knock on the door only for it to be opened for her.

"You must be Chikara," Mr. Kaijura greeted. "I'm Kaijura Saizo, or you can call me Ori-"

"Ah, so you're Orion!" Suma exclaimed. "Sorry about that. I've just always wanted to meet you because of all the things I've heard about you."

Saizo smiled. "It's fine. Now, lets get to our meeting, shall we?"

[kurowrites]

@copperbadge

Not sure if anyone replied to this in the tags but the use of 'blue' in green light (aoshingō 青信号) as opposed to the use of actual 'green' (midorishingō 緑信号) is not necessarily owed to people's perception of the exact shade where blue turns to green, but rather that blue (ao あお) has often been used to mean green in different contexts since antiquity. I think green (midori みどり) has seen similar uses, but I am not really familiar with those, and I think they were rarer.

The shade of a green light is interesting, however, since the last ~thirty years have seen the development of a new colour category in Japan, mizuiro 水色. And mizuiro means... aqua. So there, contemporary people would agree with you. But when the first green lights were used in Japan, they were initially called both green and blue, before the blue version ended up dominating. It still MEANS green light, however, not blue light, because あお can be used for both.

Hope this helps. 🙂

Is My Blue Your Blue? A visual perception test that judges what you call blue and green and compares it with others’ results. I am “bluer than 68% of the population.” Now do red/pink, red/orange, and blue/purple!

[dragonesszena]

Bleach Anime Celebration 2022 - Day 2: New Looks

Tags: Uryu x OC, now we’re getting somewhere, fluff and stuff, he’s in denial, it’s fine, no warnings, rating pg?, set in the time skip after Hueco Mundo

While there were probably better choices of model, Uryu had to admit that Rina was at least the most tolerant person he’d roped into standing in the same place, as still as possible for an indefinite amount of time, while he caged them in a mess of fabric and pins. Granted, she was the only person he’d managed to convince to do this, but that still said quite a bit. He supposed he could have convinced one of the other handicraft club members to model for his project, but they were busy with their own and, besides that, he felt like this was in some small way a repayment for her help in the Soul Society and now here as well.

“Remind me again why you couldn’t just use one of the mannequins?” she asked as he fussed over a seam running down her side. The pastel blue fabric wasn’t cooperating, insistently bunching in certain places though he’d ironed it before draping it over her. He was beginning to suspect it had something to do with the fabric of her shirt underneath the one he was working on, but he couldn’t ask her to take it off just to make things easier. Yes, they’d spent a fair bit of time together between her healing him and visiting his cell in the Soul Society, and now occasionally tagging along whenever a Hollow appeared, and he was willing to consider them friends, but to ask something like that of her was… a bit much, to say the least.

“Because the project directions say it’s to be modeled on a person,” he replied around the multitude of pins clenched in his mouth. He noticed her arm was shaking slightly and stood up, waving a hand at her to signal that she could put it down, reaching up with his other hand to take the pins out of his mouth. “And, if you want it to fit properly after this I have to see it on you,” he concluded. Even with perfect measurements (which he certainly didn’t have because she’d done the majority of them herself) you had to be able to see how the fabric fell to make adjustments.

“I’d imagine that’s the point of it,” she commented, idly shaking out her arm as she looked around the room, which looked like a tornado had come through it with the various piles of fabric and half finished projects strewn around. There was a reason why he preferred not to work in the craft studio at the high school, but he hadn’t thought it proper to invite her to his apartment for the fitting.

“Do you like the colors at least?” he asked, stepping back to get a better look. He was particularly fond of the blue he’d chosen, and she’d already approved it when he showed her the fabric initially, but she’d been a bit leery of the pale orange he’d shown her to go with it, which now curved across her chest from her left shoulder to right hip in several folds. He could tell the swath of fabric wasn’t lying properly against the one underneath but he couldn’t fix it at the moment without putting his hands somewhere wildly inappropriate for a friend to reach. Making a mental note of it for later, Uryu watched Rina’s face as she looked down at herself for any sign of what she truly thought.

“I do,” she replied with a surprised smile, “but this bit is pulling in a few places.” She indicated the strip of orange, gently running a finger over it as though she was afraid of it simply falling off.

“I’ll fix it later,” he promised her. If he loosened it, would it lose the dimension in the folds? Or was it the folds themselves that were causing it to pull? Hmm, maybe it was just the pins, and once it was sewn it wouldn’t have that problem at all…

His musing was rudely interrupted by a whistle from someone standing in the doorway, upon which he looked over to see Ichigo and Orihime’s friend, Keigo, there with Mizuiro right behind him. Uryu reached up to adjust his glasses while simultaneously hiding the brief press of his lips and sudden tension in his jaw.

“I haven’t seen you around here before!” Keigo exclaimed. “Are you a new student? Uryu, have you been hiding her?”

“What are you two doing here?” Uryu asked in lieu of answering either of those questions. Keigo wasn’t the sort to hang out after school hours, and was perhaps the last person he’d expected to see there.

“D&D club of course!” Keigo replied, looking vaguely offended that he’d even had to explain until his gaze snapped back to Rina again. “I mean… sports team! Obviously! Unless you’re into D&D of course, then…” He trailed off with an embarrassed laugh that elicited a similar one from Rina, albeit softer. Uryu noticed she’d turned slightly away from the door, shifting her weight towards him as she clasped her hands in front of herself demurely, only to stick herself with a pin if her slight wince was anything to go by. Or maybe she was wincing in embarrassment while listening to Keigo’s rambling, he thought.

“Anyway, I’m Keigo, and this is Mizuiro,” the other man continued, as if oblivious to the sudden tension in the room. “Are you new here? You should let us show you around! We know about this really great restaurant and-”

“No,” Uryu replied, more sharply than he’d intended, causing all of them to look at him with expressions of varying confusion and surprise. “She doesn’t need a tour,” he finished in a more moderated tone. “Even if she did, we’re going to be here a while with fittings, so…” He trailed off, hoping the pair would take the hint, but alas.

“I wasn’t asking you,” Keigo replied, ignoring Mizuiro’s gentle tugs on his uniform’s sleeve. “I was asking her if she’d rather hang out with us than be bored to death here getting pins stuck in her.”

“I haven’t-!” Uryu started hotly, reining himself in with a huff. He knew better than to let the man get under his skin like this, but he was failing miserably at it. “I need to finish this project for the handicraft club, so, if you don’t mind,” he said, knowing there was still impatience in his voice as he gestured for the pair to leave.

“Look, if she’s as smart as she is pretty I’m sure she can talk for herself and- what Mizuiro!?” Keigo cried out as his friend more insistently tugged on his sleeve to get his attention. The other man cupped a hand over his mouth to whisper something in Keigo’s ear that caused his eyes to widen as he looked between Uryu and Rina for a moment, only to burst out laughing. “What? No way!” he exclaimed. “That’s impossible!”

Uryu had the distinct sensation that steam was coming out of his ears like some sort of cartoon character as Keigo laughed at whatever his friend had said.

“Okay, but seriously, a gorgeous girl like you, a hot guy like me, and a night out on the town, what do you say?” Keigo asked with a grin, waving his hands in the air like he was presenting something.

“Get out!” Uryu yelled, finally snapping. He wasn’t far from the door, close enough in fact that it was only took a few strides to reach out and slam it in their faces, almost literally if Keigo hadn’t taken a hasty skip back just in time. An awkward silence descended on the other side of the door before Keigo muttered something that sounded like ‘maybe you were right’ and he heard their footsteps walking away.

“What was that all about?” Rina asked, and he felt his face heat as blood rushed to his cheeks.

“Nothing, they just…” he trailed off, realizing he had no excuse for his actions and that he didn’t really understand why he’d reacted that way himself. Sure, Keigo regularly annoyed him and they didn’t particularly get along, but that still didn’t excuse yelling at him like that. He let out a slow breath, reaching up to rub the back of his neck idly, and shrugged slightly with his other shoulder. “Sorry, did you want to go with them? I shouldn’t have… spoken for you like that,” he said, turning back to her.

“No,” she replied with a laugh, her smile putting him at ease. His gaze still fell to the floor, skimming away from her for a moment before he looked back to her. “Does he, uh, talk to every girl like that?” she asked, rubbing her fingers together as she too looked away from him.

“Yes,” he said truthfully. She nodded slightly, as if having been expecting his response, and he noticed the slightest frown on her face before it vanished an instant later. The silence that hung between them was painful, but he didn’t have the slightest clue how to break it. Instead, he gestured for her to move her arm again and went back to attempting to fix the seam he’d been working on.

He wasn’t sure if he was imagining the awkwardness in the room, but judging by Rina’s occasional fidget where she had been perfectly still before he could guess she was feeling it too. “Um, are we going to be here for a while? Because I’m kind of getting hungry,” she said finally, just as he managed to pin the seam flat.

“No, you can go if you want, this just needs to be sewn now,” he admitted, stepping back for a moment just to make sure everything looked right now. He still had to fix the front, but he couldn’t figure that out while it was on her anyway. The hard part was going to be extricating her from the shirt without stabbing her repeatedly, but fortunately he was able to peel it up and off of her with only a couple soft complaints.

He expected her to say goodbye and leave once he’d freed her, but instead she hesitated, shifting her weight from side to side as her gaze flickered across the room before settling somewhere over his left shoulder.

“Would you, uh, want to go to dinner? Or do you need to do that now?” she asked, gesturing to the mass of fabric and pins in his hands.

The correct response, he knew, was to turn her down, but... “No. I mean, yes. I mean-“ He cut himself off, flustered and at a loss as to why. “No, I don’t need to do this now,” he replied after a moment when he’d sorted his response out, “and I could eat, yes.” The logical part of his mind screamed at him so loudly he could barely hear himself tell her that he just needed a minute to put everything away before he’d be ready to go. He was a little relieved when she nodded in understanding and stepped out to wait for him in the hallway.

What the hell was he doing?

[thetwstwildcard]

❝  is that too much to expect? that i would name the stars for you?  ❞ for any? 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

Ren Hanabusa x Mizuiro Miu

"Well it's quite rare to see you out this late, dorm leader." Mizuiro smiled softly as she turned, holding a paper crane in her hand as more floated around her "The other students are asleep. None would dare risk being out past curfew unless they are in our positions of power." The masked boy replied calmly. The crane chuckled into her sleeve, looking up "You know..." She started as she looked at the stars "You used to love the stars. We'd spend nights naming constellations whatever we wanted. Names that only we would know" she held a paper crane on her fingertip like a butterfly as she let it fly off. Ren watched in silence as she loosed her kimono slightly, showing the beginning of her scars.

"Before I gave up my wings, I'd fly as high as I could. I would say that I would bring a star down to you and name it after you." She smiled sadly, looking longingly at the vast sky. Ren frowned behind his mask "Miu, you know I don't remember any of that. I am not that person." His tone was softer. For a moment she hid her face in her sleeve before looking at him "I know..." The faint sadness in her voice was only reflected in her eyes as her expression only shown calmness. She stepped towards him, putting her hand on his chest as she leaned her head "Miu-" "Let me stay like this for a moment... Please." Ren nodded, returning to silence. Mizuiro peered at his masked face, trying, desperately, to view any bit of his face. Though her efforts were to no avail as the white fox mask covered any bit of expression the young man could have made. She frowned, leaning her head back as she listened to him.

"The beating of your heart... The sound of your light breaths.. Everything is different than back then.." Her lip trembled "Mizuiro..." Ren finally spoke again "Even how you say my name." She smiled sadly as she stepped away from the kitsune "thank you for indulging me, dorm leader." She bowed her head lightly before walking away. Ren stood still for a moment, and when he was sure no one was there he took his mask off momentarily "This sky... It is so familiar and yet. I do not have any memories of the person I was before I died." His mint eyes scanned the stars before he put his mask back on 'what stars did we name? For her to name stars after me and sacrifice her wings for me... She must have truly loved the me before death.'

[speeding-fox]

Happy Father's Day

Sequel to this.

It was that day once again, Father's Day. Like his husband, Mizuiro, Midori hadn't expected to become a father, but now he has two wonderful kids, and he wouldn't change that for the universe! He had just gotten washed up after his daily diligent after lunch training exercise when he went down one of the mansion's halls, looking for his two kids, luckily it didn't take him very long, when he rounded the corner, there they were, neither party expecting the other to be around the corner. "Oh! Kids! I was just looking for you two!"

"Dad!" Tiiru exclaimed as they leapt to their dad and tackle-hugged him. Unlike Mizuiro, Midori didn't need to balance himself to keep himself from falling over, and was able to catch Tiiru and return their hug with ease.

Midori laughs. "Hey Tiirubon!" He glanced to Shian to greet her too. "Hey Shianbon!"

"Hey dad!" She greets back as she held a handmade mug with "#1 DAD" written on it in her hands.

He eyes the mug intently, his eyes sparkling a bit. "Is that for me?" He asked as he set Tiiru down.

"Yup!" She answered.

"Shianbon and I made this with Taka's help!" Tiiru chirped.

"You saw the one we made for "mom" on Mother's Day," Shian held the mug out for Midori to take. "so we thought to make a matching one for you for Father's Day."

He didn't say anything right away, he gently takes the mug from her hands, quietly looks it over, both sides having "#1 DAD" written in two different handwritings, then begins tearing up, he has plently of "#1 Dad" mugs, but this one, this one is special, his kids made it for him. "Kids..." He utters softly as he starts shaking.

Both kids get concerned when they see their dad's eyes start to water. "Dad..?" The next thing they knew, they were scooped up by his arms and held close to his face as he starts crying.

"It's so PERFEEECT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE BOTH OF YOU SO MU-UU-UCH!" Midori sobbed loudly.

"We love you too, Dad." They reply. They know their dad can get emotional, even get a little embarrassing, but that's how he is, and they love him for who he is just as much as he loves them for who they are, though as close as they are to their dad, they would rather not be "this" close to him at the moment.

[chrismho]

Lakmé

Summary: Is this not the closest I’ve ever been to living?  The Kurosaki Family invites Rukia along with them to the Opera. Ichiruki/Rukia-centric one-shot inspired by the opera scene in Moonstruck. Set a little bit after FB arc.

PS: It’s a pretty famous song but if you haven’t heard Flower Duet  before, I highly rec you give this rendition a listen, it’s breathtaking! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9NK-EbUAao

“ICHIGOOOOOOO! RUKI-CHAAAAAN!” 

SMACK!

A day in the Kurosaki household was not complete without at least one collision between Isshin’s face and either Ichigo’s foot or fist. 

“I don't know how many times I have to tell you, old man: QUIT DOING THAT!” Ichigo roared, swiftly kicking his father back to the other side of the living room.

Rukia waited patiently for Isshin to complete this strange ritual, a fond smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Oh, Masaki!” Isshin sobbed, throwing himself upon his poster. “H-how cruel, how unloving our son has become! And Rukia at his side, so pure and lovely! W-we truly have here a beauty and the beast!”

“SHUT IT!”

 The dark-haired shinigami watched them butt heads and felt a vague sense of nostalgia swirl inside her. I didn’t realize how much I…missed this, she silently admitted to herself. Seventeen months had passed and Rukia kept herself busy with work--very busy. Too busy to stop and realize just how much she missed life in Karakura. But now that she was back, the realization was sudden and overwhelming; she missed late night hollow-hunting, the bustling hallways at Karakura High, she missed Keigo, Mizuiro, Tatsuki, she missed indulging in her schoolgirl act, pretending that she was human and truly one of them. But most of all, she missed him. That was a realization that had set Rukia very much on edge. Ichigo was a comrade, a partner, a friend. A friend she found herself pining for in those seventeen months. She recalled a saying she learned in the human world, something along the lines of “absence makes the heart grow fonder”. 

Absence had only made Rukia’s heart confused as hell. 

Though almost two years had passed, her relationship with Ichigo picked up almost right where they left off. They bickered, laughed, they understood each other without need for words. But…now there was something new. No, not new; it had always been there. But now....now it was loud. And hard to ignore. It was something that Rukia couldn’t quite name, but its presence was undeniable. It wasn’t uncomfortable...but… but it was there. 

“What do you say, Rukia-chan? Oh, please say you’ll be joining us?”

Isshin’s question snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Eh? I-I’m sorry?” she asked, startled. 

“THE OPERA! An old buddy and colleague of mine has season tickets to the opera house here in Karakura. He’s away on a business trip so he gave me tickets to tomorrow’s show. We haven’t seen you in so long, the girls would just love if you came! SAY YOU’LL JOIN US!” 

“Don’t push her, Dad!” Ichigo said irritably. He turned to Rukia but didn’t meet her gaze. “Seriously, y-you don’t have to go. It’s really boring, the last time I went I wanted to die-”

“OH, BUT THAT’S NOT TRUE,” Isshin cut off gleefully, shoving Ichigo out of the way and putting an arm around Rukia. “The last time we went, Ichigo was but a boy. Though only eight at the time, he was so moved by the performance that he wept and blubbered all night long--” 

“HEY! N-NO I DIDN’T!”

“Yes, you did!” Karin called boredly from the kitchen. 

Ichigo hunched up his shoulders and scowled, his ears and cheeks an angry shade of red. 

“I’d be delighted to attend this...this ‘op-ohr-a’, Mr. Kurosaki!” Rukia declared, a cheerful and sparkly smile on her face. “Excellent! Come tomorrow evening at 7, and dress your very best, my dear! The opera is a most formal event,” Isshin beamed. 

“Whatever. And get your arm off her!” Ichigo grumbled, yanking Rukia away from his father and up the stairs to his room. 

“Ah, young love,” Isshin sighed after them.  “Eager to get her to your bedroom, I see? Yes, yes, I’m sure you have a lot of catching up to do, if you catch my drift--” 

“SHUT UP!” Ichigo screamed over his shoulder. He hurried Rukia inside his room and slammed the door shut. 

“Nice to see the family dynamic hasn’t changed,” Rukia said, a sly smile on her face. She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall alongside his bed. 

“1000 Yen says my dad’s got an ear pressed up to the door right now,” Ichigo replied. He sounded annoyed but there was a humorous glint in his eye. He looked up and met her gaze. They both dissolved into a quiet, gentle chuckle. 

“Feel free to sit, you know,” Ichigo said, gesturing towards the bed. “I know it’s been a while but time’s never stopped you from acting like you own this place.”

“No, that’s okay. I’m fine here,” Rukia responded, cursing herself for answering him a little too vehemently. Ichigo looked at her questioningly, and Rukia could have sworn she saw a very, very faint blush creep on his cheeks. A moment of silence passed. 

Tension. That’s what it was. 

“So what is this opera thing, anyway? I just realized I agreed to something I know nothing about,” Rukia asked, eager to change the subject and genuinely curious about this “most formal event” that moved a young Ichigo to tears. 

“It’s, uh, like a play. But with only singing. Really loud, annoying singing. And fancy costumes. And they usually end in tragedy.” Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head. 

Her amusement at his fumbling explanation made Rukia forget her discomfort earlier. She smirked and flopped onto his bed. “Sounds like fun. So this loud, annoying play moved you to tears, eh?”

“IT DID NOT-Hmph, *ahem*, It did not move me to tears, I told you already that I found it boring. And I SAID YOU COULD SIT ON MY BED, NOT LIE ON IT!” 

“Oh, Daddy, th-they’re on his bed already! They certainly are fast, aren’t they?” a muffled voice that sounded suspiciously like Yuzu’s could be heard saying from the other side of the door. 

Ichigo’s left eye twitched. 

He swung the door open and Isshin and Yuzu tumbled onto the floor. “SCRAM!” He roared, shaking his fist as they hurriedly fled the scene. 

_____

Giant, crystal chandeliers hung over the U-shaped hall, twinkling prettily in the warm, golden light. The house was packed with many well-dressed and well-to-do people. The euphony of various conversations and chatter rang pleasantly in the air. If Ichigo had been moved to tears by the place alone, Rukia would understand; it was truly, truly beautiful. She tilted her head back, taking in the glittering chandeliers and intricate paintings of flowers and stars on the ceiling. She must have looked visibly awestruck, for she turned to her side to find Ichigo looking back at her, an odd, almost tender smile on his face. She gave him a sharp elbow in the ribs. “What? What’s with that dumb look?” She snapped. 

“AGH! What the hell, Rukia?” He glared, letting out a sharp exhale before putting on another smile, this one more teasing. “N-nothing, I was just thinking...the last time I was here as a kid, I remember looking up at the paintings on the ceiling and counting all the stars as a way to pass the time. I guess I was just wondering if you were doing the same.” 

Rukia blinked. It was rare for Ichigo to divulge….well, really anything about his past and his memories. To share this random little anecdote felt oddly intimate. She felt her cheeks warm slightly and turned away. “Heh, no I wasn’t counting, I was just...admiring. She looked back up and couldn’t help but laugh. “Ichigo, there are hundreds of stars, up there! Did you really count them all?” He looked up too and smiled wryly, shaking his head. “Nah, the show always started and the lights would go off before I ever finished. But...I like that I don’t know. It’s this weird, unfinished mystery that just...stays up there on the ceiling, y’know?”

His amber eyes and fiery-orange hair glowed in the warm light of the hall. He glowed. Does he even know how handsome he looks in that stupid tux? Rukia thought, torn between feeling endeared and annoyed. And spewing out weird, lovely musings like that, too. What an idiot. 

She looked down at the program in her lap. In intricate, gold cursive, the words Lakmé: Opera en 3 Actes shone smack dab in the middle. “Is...is this in French?” she asked. “Yeah, but it’s okay; you see those black screens above the curtains up there? They’ll have translations…”

The lights began to dim. 

Quickly, stealthily, Ichigo stole one last look at Rukia in full light. She was already a beautiful woman but tonight she practically glowed. With the help of Yuzu and Karin, she had parted her cropped hair to one side and teased it into elegant waves. She had reluctantly let them put makeup on her, too, and Ichigo had a hard time keeping his eyes away from her lips, soft and painted red like a pomegranate. She was wearing a dress that Ishida had surprised her with a few weeks ago, a wine-colored sleeveless piece that gently hugged her form and flowed past her knees. Yeah. She glowed. It was annoying. 

Y’know, I bet she knows exactly how good she looks and is only pretending to be oblivious. He thought. What an idiot.

The red velvet curtains pulled back to reveal what looked like a stone courtyard on stage, adorned with all sorts of plants and exotic flowers. But the set was nothing compared to the music that emanated from the pit in front of the stage. She’d never heard anything like this. Not on the streets of Rukongai, nor in the banquets and gatherings in Seireitei. What was it Ichigo had called them? An orchestra. An orchestra, an orchestra, an orchestra. She had to remember that word. How so many voices, so many different strange and wonderful-looking instruments, could come together and create a sound so unified and sweet amazed her. 

A procession of people dressed in long, unstitched garments came onto the stage, singing words Rukia could not understand. A big man, clad in a costume beard and yellow robe, opened his mouth and began to sing a solo.

Rukia froze. 

It was obvious what he was doing required much skill, but….he sounded...funny? Rukia narrowed her eyes and fought a smile, trying to reason with this deep voice that shook with such a fervent vibrato. 

She heard a snicker two chairs away from her, and turned to see Karin in the dim light, her face contorted humorously. Rukia was about to join her before Isshin turned to his daughter with a glare so scary and dangerous that any humor at all in both Karin and Rukia was effectively vanquished. 

So entranced was she by the costumes and lights and flutes and cellos that the dark-haired shinigami found herself forgetting to glance up at the translations above the stage. She looked just enough times to gather that this was set in a temple in which rites were being performed. The ritual ended, and as smoothly as they glided in, the singers drifted back off the stage, leaving behind two women. 

The women, arm in arm, walked down to the “river” on stage to gather flowers. The one dressed in red turned to her companion and began to sing:

Viens, Mallika, les lianes en fleurs

Jettent déjà leur ombre

Sur le ruisseau sacré

qui coule, calme et sombre,

Eveillé par le chant des oiseaux tapageurs.

Rukia froze once more. This time, there was no urge to laugh. Goosebumps rose on her arms. Her ears tingled. What, Rukia thought shakily. What is this?

The other, dressed in a simpler, sun-colored dress answered her friend in a voice just as haunting and sweet:

Oh! maîtresse, c'est l'heure

où je te vois sourire,

L'heure bénie où je puis lire

Dans le coeur toujours fermé

De Lakmé!

 Rukia clenched her teeth, maintaining a stone-cold Kuchiki expression while her soul inside shook and quaked. 

What is this?

                                                 Dôme épais le jasmin

                        Sous le dôme épais où le blanc jasmin

Like flowers landing on the surface of a pond, their voices floated, glided, rippled through the hall, lighter than air. 

                                                    À la rose s'assemble

                                        À la rose s'assemble

The melody seemed to follow some invisible wave that drifted down, then up, then down, and down again. It was elegantly unpredictable, like the path a feather takes on the way to the ground.

Rukia’s throat caught. The swelling in her chest bewildered and almost angered her. This...this beauty was almost cruel. Her eyes felt hot. Her face remained expressionless.

                                                 Rive en fleurs, frais matin,

                             Sur la rive en fleurs, riant au matin,

I never did get the chance to understand what it is to live, Rukia thought. She had, in fact, died when she was only a baby. 

I....could see traces of what life was in the youth and excitement of Ichigo and his friends...the sound of their laughter, their chatter about the future.

                                                 Nous appellent ensemble.

                                       Viens, descendons ensemble.

With each rise and fall of their voices, Rukia felt as though her soul was expanding. The singers’ figures became blurry behind the tears that began to well in her eyes.

But this…this swelling in my chest, and the goosebumps on my skin. My throat...feels tight. 

A tear broke free and began to trickle down her cheek. 

Is this not the closest I’ve ever been to living?

Ichigo gazed steadily at the stage, letting himself float and drift with the melody. It was no wonder the Flower Duet was such a famous song, even to those unfamiliar with opera. He cleared his throat as quietly as he could and turned to check on Rukia. His jaw clenched. 

                                               Ah! glissons en suivant

                           Doucement glissons; De son flot charmant

She stood absolutely still, upright, her small, pale hands clenched into fists on her lap. She did not look at him. He watched with well-hidden astonishment as a single tear rolled down her cheek. She stared solemnly at the women on stage, blinking slowly. Her amethyst eyes glistened with the water and salt that filled them. 

                                                         Le courant fuyant

                                  Suivons le courant fuyant

A lump began to form in Ichigo’s throat. He turned away, back to the stage. He couldn’t put into words what she was feeling, but he felt he understood it. He didn’t want to intrude on her moment, but he also wanted to let her know that she was not alone. Even when they were worlds apart, he’d find a way to reach her. Slowly, his hand moved towards hers. 

His fingertips lightly brushed her wrist, and traveled up towards the back of her hand. 

Rukia kept her eyes fixed on the singers. She gave no indication that she even noticed his hand on hers. A twinge of disappointment and embarrassment stung him. I...probably ruined her moment. I shouldn’t have-

His heart stopped. Silently, suddenly, the slender, cold hand seized his own. She intertwined her fingers with his and squeezed lightly. She did not look at him. 

                                                     Dans l'onde frémissante,

                                      Dans l’onde frémissante

To this day Ichigo couldn’t say what the hell compelled him to do what he did next. Maybe it was the nearly two years of separation, or the swelling music and stupid, glittering, chandeliers messing with his head, or the way she gripped his fingers with such a quiet and loving intensity, or a mix of all of those things. Slowly, he raised her hand up, off her lap. 

                                                   D'une main nonchalante,

                                      D’une main nonchalante,

Rukia stirred, tilting her head slightly towards him. He brought her hand up to his face and slowly, gently, firmly, pressed his lips against her knuckles. Rukia’s eyes flashed wide open, and now she turned to look at him. Another tear rolled silently down her otherwise stoic face. Ichigo opened his eyes and looked back at her. 

                                            Dôme épais, blanc jasmin,

                             Sous le dôme épais, Sous le blanc jasmin,

Nothing was said, but a thousand words were exchanged between them. Ichigo lowered her hand but did not let go. They held their gaze for a moment longer, then turned their heads back towards the stage. 

                                                      Nous appellent ensemble!

                                    Ah! descendons ensemble!

[richestguyonmercury]

Some kids started a snowball fight with the guards. [*points behind me to a nearby gate, where a snowball fight is indeed taking place*] I slipped in while they were distracted.

I think you both better go somewhere else so neither of you get caught in the crossfire. Oh, by the way Mizuiro, Kiiro's around, and he's throwing snowballs at people, so watch your back, he already got me twice.

"Ah, is that.." Kajuu couldn't think of anything else to say, while Mizuiro sighed annoyed and rubbed his temple. He wasn't in the mood for any of this. Looks like his plans to go on a stroll were out of the window, with that bloke around. How does he manage to always come around at most inconvenient time?

He tapped on Kajuu's shoulder to get his attention and nodded towards the entrance, indicating they go inside, then gestured to the foxy guest to come with, if they so wished. It was getting too cold for his liking anyway. Kajuu seemed puzzled on his master's wish to invite someone in, but he didn't object.

[darisu-chan]

whatever our souls are made of (his and mine are the same), pt. 9

Hi!

Today I have another one-shot just for you.

Hope you guys like it!

You can also read it here.

See you!

as long as i have you

Prompt: us against the world

 Summary: Even if no one else understands their relationship, it’s alright as long as they have each other

Things have been tense since Rukia and he have been hanging out with his humans friends again.

 Ichigo can tell she wants to tell them off, but doesn’t.

 She’s prudent like that.

 Meanwhile, all of them except for Ishida seem a bit put off by Rukia’s presence.

 Ichigo doesn’t get it.

 Especially when it comes to Inoue and Chad.

 He thought they considered Rukia their friend as well.

 But it appears as they don’t.

 He has to wonder if they link her to the Shinigami and to all the battles they had to fight in.

 Not that it is Rukia’s fault.

 It’s not his fault either.

 He never asked them to come and join him.

 They did so willingly.

 Although, maybe the last war had been too draining for Inoue and Chad.

 Perhaps they wanted to forget everything and Rukia’s presence complicated things.

 Still, they had absolutely no reason to treat her like she was a bother.

 Or like they disapproved of their relationship.

 Ishida, who has always known how to read the room, does all he can to strike up conversation with Rukia and not let her feel excluded.

 But it doesn’t work.

 Not really.

 Because Ishida is often left behind as well.

 Probably for the same reasons Rukia is.

 Ichigo is not.

 Not when he is by himself.

 But he sometimes feels as if he can’t relate with his friends anymore.

 Like they are from completely different worlds.

 He had heard about things like this happening before.

 Of growing out of your childhood friends.

 Yet he hadn’t realized it would feel this lonely.

 His sentiment rings a little true, though.

 He has never been normal.

 From his birth, Ichigo has been able to see spirits and that has made him different to everyone else.

 And even if that hadn’t been the case, his hair color had often alienated him when growing up.

 But with Tatsuki, Chad, Keigo, Mizuiro, Inoue and even Ishida he had felt accepted in some way.

 Like a normal teen, minus all the world saving and whatnot.

 And he had felt bad.

 Lying to them.

 In particular to Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro, who had never been a part of his adventures.

 Even if it had been for their own good.

 However, eventually Ichigo had realized he didn’t want to be normal.

 After seventeen months without powers, he had known who he wanted to be.

 And that wasn’t a human being.

 He would have never imagined this would isolate him from his friends.

 Or that they would try hard to isolate Rukia.

 Rukia, who had never hurt them or done anything to be disliked.

 And, gods, Rukia is on a whole different level than they are.

 She just gets him.

 Period.

 Although she’s not a human and there are many things about his world she doesn’t yet understand, she knows how to read him.

 Whether it’s because of their shared trauma, similar personalities, or hell, even destiny, at the end of the day it is Rukia who makes him feel understood.

 And it’s not something that Ichigo can explain.

 Not something his friends could ever fathom.

 Meeting Rukia was earth shattering.

 His bond with her just is the way it is.

 So it hurts when the people he trusted most don’t see her that way.

 Ishida sort of gets it.

 In a “I’m not sure what is going on here but I support you” kinda way.

 He is fond of Rukia.

 Considers her a friend.

 And he knows how important she is to Ichigo.

 That is enough for him.

 He just wishes the others were like his cousin.

 Keigo doesn’t get it.

 Or thinks he does in a more simplistic manner.

 To his credit, he tries.

 He likes Rukia well enough.

 But he doesn’t understand how deep their bond goes.

 Chad is probably aware there is more going on.

 Yet, as of late, he has put this barrier that Ichigo cannot break.

 It is as if his best friend is telling him he doesn’t approve of Rukia.

 Ichigo can’t really understand why.

 It is the same thing with Inoue.

 It is as if she thought Rukia was going to vanish from their lives forever.

 It seems she wants to keep her at arm’s length.

 And the others follow her example.

 Tatsuki and Mizuiro, for their part, haven’t grasped the idea of him and Rukia sharing their lives and being together.

 Not that Ichigo can blame them.

 It’s just annoying how they do what Inoue and Chad want and purposely ignore her.

 It’s not only annoying but insulting at this point.

 So much so he doesn’t want to hang out with them anymore.

 Not even when they had supposedly made up.

 So one day, he suggests that they simply shouldn’t show up at one of their get-togethers.

 “Why?” Rukia questions him.

 “Because they keep ignoring you.” Ichigo answers her honestly.

 “But they’re you’re friends.” She retorts.

 But you’re more important. He wants to say but doesn’t.

 Rukia must read it on his face anyway, because she shakes her head, sighs, and then says, “I’m not bothered by them. I don’t care what they think. I’m just worried about you. I want you to keep your friends.”

 He wants so too.

 Friends who actually care about him.

 That won’t make a fuss because Rukia is not really human.

 And his own friends aren’t that.

 He thinks they might find that acceptance in the Soul Society.

 But he quickly learns it isn’t as easy as that.

 The Kuchiki elders don’t approve and much less after Ichigo insulted them at dinner.

 They deserved it, though.

 Assholes.

 But it’s not only them or the other noble clans who talk smack behind their backs.

 Other Shinigami aren’t approving either.

 Thankfully, it’s none of their friends.

 Even Renji has nothing to say against them.

 They’ve got Byakuya’s full support.

 But there are other Shinigami, some from the 13th division too, that look at them with disapproval.

 As if they believe it simply isn’t right for a human and a Shinigami to spend time together, not even when that human isn’t fully human either.

 It’s grating.

 Hell, it’s tiring.

 Cause everywhere they go, someone has to say something about it.

 They’re lucky that their families get it and encourage them.

 Yuzu and Karin adore Rukia and look up to her like an older sister.

 Isshin already considers her his daughter.

 And Byakuya has fully embraced him as a Shinigami, ally, and, say, even a friend.

 But outside of their very small circle, it seems like everyone’s against them.

 Ichigo just doesn’t understand why.

 They’re not hurting anyone.

 They’re just not normal.

 And their bizarre bond is hard to accept for some people.

 Ichigo doesn’t want that.

 He wants to give Rukia all the love and acceptance she deserves.

 Which others won’t give her, so long as they’re together.

 He expresses as much one day when everything feels as it is too much.

 “So?” She replies, seemingly uncaring.

 “So, doesn’t it bother you?”

 Rukia grows quiet and then shrugs. “Kinda. But I’ve already decided this is worth whatever is thrown at us.”

 She’s right.

 Of course she’s right.

 “So it doesn’t bother you you’re stuck with me forever?”

 “Nah. I made my peace with you being an idiot already. Besides, you need me to keep you in line.”

 “More like you need me to reach high things for you.”

 “Well, that too.”

 They share a laugh and it all seems better.

 Brighter.

 And Ichigo guesses things won’t change anytime soon.

 There will always be those who oppose them.

 But he doesn’t have the energy to care anymore.

 Because, even if no one else understands their relationship, it’s alright as long as they have each other.

 “It’s you and me against the world, then.”

 “Always.”

 “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

[writingrei]

beating around the bush

Ichigo leaned back on the wall underneath the bridge, covering his face with a limp arm. His gritted teeth sucked harsh breaths between them before he unclenched his jaw to take in lighter breaths.

“Are you alright, Ichigo?” Chad asked from afar.

Ichigo raised his arm from above his eyes, taking a glance at Chad, who was brushing off his clothes of dust. The redhead covered his eyes again and huffed, sighing, “Yeah, I’m fine. I should probably ask you that. Dude hit you in the head with a bat.”

“Hmm. I’m alive,” Chad said, staggering over to Ichigo.

Ichigo’s eyebrows creased, concern growing ever more in his face. Getting closer to Ichigo, Chad failed to raise his leg high enough off the ground, the concrete catching the tip of his shoe, making him lose his footing. Ichigo gasped through his teeth, while Chad only let out a slight waver in his voice in surprise.

Ichigo impulsively reached out to catch his friend, pulling back when two firm hands slammed on the wall behind him to catch the large teen’s fall. Startled, Ichigo looking between the two arms that were held next to both sides of his head. With his eyes darting around, his eyes awkwardly made its way to Chad’s one visible eye.

He was just as shocked as Ichigo, if not more so as he was utterly frozen in place. He knew that this position was awkward, though he didn't know how to move to make this less awkward. It didn’t help that blood was running down his face, and that he looked like the scene of a murder.

Lowering his head slightly, which covered his eye with his hair again, Chad said, “Oops…” which snapped himself out of his stupor. But he didn’t move.

What is going ooooooon?! Ichigo thought. Ah, shit. There’s no one around anymore.

Chad groaned, dropping his right arm and bending his left, getting him closer to the wall. He slumped down a bit, but it didn’t help him from continuing to tower over Ichigo. It sure did help him get closer to his face though.

The redhead gulped, looking up at Chad who practically hung over his head. “You uh… you doin’ okay, buddy?”

“Ichigo...” Chad said, his voice significantly more lax than prior.

Ichigo immediately turned as red as a tomato, his face burning enough to spew steam from his ears.

Then Chad dropped like a rock, Ichigo trying to catch him but in turn got dragged down with him. Ichigo yelped, one of his hands being caught between the ground and Chad’s back, his knuckles and elbow slamming into the concrete with it. He was too busy absorbed in the minor pain and shock that he didn’t realize he landed partially on top of Chad’s chest.

His eyes rolled into the back of the skull as he was too flustered to make this awkward situation less so.

“Ow,” Chad groaned. “I think I need an ice pack.”

Ichigo unrolled his eyes and subtly snorted at the nonchalant comment. Any longer that his eyes stayed rolled, he might’ve started foaming from the mouth.

“I think you need a bit more than an ice pack. I’ll take you back to my place and my dad can check you out,” Ichigo said, sitting up and smirking.

Then he looked down to see what he pressed down on, and saw his hand on Chad’s chest.

It’s like a huge cushion, was the only thought that went through Ichigo’s head. AH FUCK WAIT MY HAND IS ON CHAD’S FUCKING CHEST!

His hand snapped up and off of his chest, then he awkwardly put it away next to him on the ground, trying to not make it seem like he was disgusted to have been touching Chad.

“Hmm.”

“C’mon, dude. Get up.”

Ichigo hopped to his feet, signaling for Chad to do the same. He slowly got up to his feet, looking down at Ichigo who smirked at him. The smaller boy extended his arm to welcome him to lean on him for support. Chad put his arm around Ichigo’s shoulder and Ichigo put his around Chad’s back. Together, they began limping off to the Kurosaki Clinic.

———

“ICHIGOOOOOOO!” A boisterous voice yelled, followed by a tough elbow jamming right into the side of Ichigo’s temple. The momentum of the hit sent him spinning and flung him face first onto the sidewalk in front of their part home part clinic.

“Um,” Chad said, a few beads of sweat trickling down his face.

“DAD, WHAT THE HELL? AREN’T YOU ON THE JOB? WHAT WOULD YOUR PATIENTS THINK IF THEY SAW YOU HITTING ME LIKE THAT!” Ichigo snapped up, rubbing his head.

“Luckily, it’s no busy day, and the two patients we have right now are faaaaast asleep,” Isshin said, stretching his arms.

“You almost make it sound like you killed ‘em…”

“HOW INSULTING! However, it’s more insulting to see you coming home covered in bruises again!” he glanced at Chad, who watched the squabble, then back at Ichigo. “And you dragged one of your friends into it too!”

“I didn’t drag him— well… maybe I did drag him into it… Huh…”

“See!”

“That’s besides the point—!”

“Ichigo!” A new voice interjected.

Ichigo’s youngest sister peeked out from behind her father, rushing outside.

“Oh no, you got into another fight again! Come inside! You too, Chad!” Yuzu cried, grabbing Ichigo by the wrist and practically dragging him inside. Isshin moved out of the way, letting Chad inside their clinic first before closing the door behind them.

“Oh, Ichigo, you’re still a trouble magnet as always, it seems,” Karin said, reading a magazine off in the corner of the room.

“Wasn’t my fault!” Ichigo hissed as Yuzu placed him down on a patient bed. “They had it coming.”

“You say that everytime,” Karin sighed, not looking up from the magazine.

“Karin, Yuzu, you look after Ichigo’s friend, I’ll deal with Mr. Delinquent himself!” Isshin demanded.

“Hey!”

Isshin grabbed Ichigo by the ear, twisting it violently and making him scream. “You are going to tarnish the name of this clinic if people find out that my only son is a backwards kid who’s only looking for fights!” “I wasn’t looking for it, they asked for it!”

“Mmmmhmmm,” Isshin hummed, full of doubt.

He pulled out some antiseptic and cotton balls from nearby and got to work on cleaning up Ichigo’s wounds. His son hissed from the pain of the chemicals getting into his wounds, wincing in pain when one dab of the antiseptic would burn more. 

Ichigo just silently took the pain, glancing over at Karin and Yuzu who were tending to Chad every so often. 

“Dad,” Ichigo whispered, yanking on his father’s ear and bringing it close to his mouth. “Can I, uh, deal with Chad’s injuries myself?”

“Hmm?”

“I kinda want to talk to him. Alone,” Ichigo looked behind him to the two unconcious patients. “Well, as alone as it gets.”

Isshin gasped silently, his hands raising to his bearded cheeks. He knew exactly what Ichigo was going after. “My boy is becoming a man…!”

Ichigo hissed as his dad, his face flushing red.

“Yuzu, Karin! Let’s go back into the house and get some snacks. You’ve both been working hard. Let Ichigo take care of Chad, alright?” Isshin said, standing up as he tried to pry his daughters away from their patient.

Karin glared at Ichigo, but the gaze was oddly smug. Ichigo gritted his teeth at her.

He waited until his family was definitely gone before he shuffled over and sat on the edge of Chad’s cot.

“Yo,” Chad said.

“Hey,” Ichigo replied, picking up the materials his sisters left behind and leaned over his friend. “Chad, I-- sorry for getting you into one of these messes again,” Ichigo sighed, continuing the work of cleaning up the bruises on Chad’s cheek.

“It’s no problem,” Chad said. “We promised that we’d have each others backs. I don’t mind taking a couple of hits for you.”

Ichigo brushed back Chad’s hair off of his forehead, allowing him to finally see both of his friend’s eyes at once. It was fun not being able to see either of them, interesting when he could see just either one, but it was different seeing both at the same time. Chad had such a soft gaze, in contrast to Ichigo’s sharp and nearly always judgemental one.

The way Chad looked at him almost made him want to loosen up. 

“Ichigo?” “Oops, sorry,” he said. He got up to get a towel and wet it as much as he could to wipe off all the blood off of Chad’s face. Plopping down back onto Chad’s mattress he grazed his forehead. The brown skinned boy winced and closed his eyes. Taking this opportunity of Chad not being able to see him, Ichigo mouthed “Oh my GOD,” to himself as his cheeks got splotched with red. 

“Ichigo, you didn’t get your family out of here for no reason, did you?” Chad asked, eyes still closed.

“Huh? Well, yeah you’re right. I just— uh. You know I just wanted to thank you for stickin’ with me. It means a lot.”

“Mm.”

That couldn’t only be what he wanted to say.

“Also! Uh. I never really expected someone like you to hang out with me. At least not for so long. You kind of hit… different compared to other people I know,” he said, starting to slow down on Chad’s face.

Chad opened an eye which made Ichigo flinch and reminded him to get back to working on his wounds.

The redhead looked away for brief moments, trying not to meet Chad in the eyes as his face was so obviously pink.

“I’ve known Tatsuki for like, ever, but I dunno, I don’t think I’m as close to her as I am with you.”

“Really?”

Ichigo sputtered, “Gah! W-w-well yeah! I don’t see her staying with me to beat up losers asses like you! This is more intimate!”

He could see Chad raise an eyebrow from the corner of his eye.

“GAH! Not like intimate-intimate— It’s just an us thing! I don’t think I’d be able to have something like this with anyone else! Not with Keigo, or Mizuiro, or Tatsuki! Just you.”

Chad stared up at Ichigo with no response as the boy started to fumble with some nearby bandages in a container. He gently began to slap some bandaids on Chad’s smaller open wounds.

Silence rung between them and that wrung Ichigo’s heart.

“You actually meant intimate-intimate, didn’t you?” Chad asked flatly.

Ichigo was silent for a bit.

“Yeah…”

Chad chuckled quietly, making Ichigo dig his chin into his chest.

“It’s okay. I like you too, Ichigo. You don’t need to say it.” And you probably never will anyway…

“Gah!”

His flustered response made Chad chuckle again.

“Are we dating now?” Ichigo blurted out, the impulsive question making his eyes roll into the back of his skull harder than before.

“If you want,” Chad shrugged.

“Do you wanna…” Ichigo choked, “seal the deal?” 

“Huh?”

“Like we…” he choked out of embarrassment more, really starting to feel the foam gurgle in his throat as he clenched his fists. “Kuh- kuh- kuh- ki- ki…”

It was starting to get painful watching Ichigo like this, so Chad just cut him off before he gave himself a stroke.

“Yes, if you want.”

Ichigo snapped out of his embarrassment stupor and looked down at Chad.

“For real?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re really chill with all of this.”

“I already said I liked you.”

Ichigo whined, his eyebrows wrinkling. “O...kay…”

Ichigo clenched his eyes shut, drawing wrinkles on his forehead from the strain of it as he slowly began to lower himself down. Chad kind of just watched him struggle above him, not sure whether to be confused or to chuckle.

“It's okay, Ichigo. It’s just me.”

The stress in Ichigo’s face let up slightly, but he still kept his eyes screwed shut. He kept slowly leaning down towards Chad’s face, at least where he thought it was. He realized he was aiming off when a hand rested itself on his cheek and slightly angled his head properly. 

Extremely embarrassed, he kept leaning until he was startled by the press of his lips against another. Ichigo screamed so loud on the inside of his head that stifled screams could be heard from the depths of his chest. He tensed up when he felt the same hand on his cheek trail up to the nape of his neck, feeling a finger slowly trace where his hair ended.

Shiiiiit! I can’t really be this awkward, can I?

Taking the tiniest leap of faith, he rested his hands on Chad’s cheeks and tilted his own head to the side to lock their lips together a bit better. Ichigo sighed into the kiss as he started to relax into it. He didn't know how to feel, but this experience sure was happening. He thought he was enjoying it, because he sure didn't stop, until—

"Hey, Ichigo, we're back! Are you two—" Yuzu asked, getting cut off by the loudest shriek she'd ever heard come from her brother. It was loud enough to wake up the other two patients in the room.

Ichigo’s hair seemingly spiked up like the fur on a cat’s back as his face turned beet red. He jolted up, nearly flying off of Chad's bed and onto his feet. 

"Ichigo, were you just—? " Karin started, grinning.

"NO!"

"Are you sure, because it looked like you were ki—" 

"I WASN'T! Just. Cleaning his wounds..."

After his abrupt outburst, he groaned, putting his hand on his head as he began to stumble with his vision beginning to fade. “Shit,” he whined, plummeting to the floor face first.

“ICHIGO!” his family cried, Yuzu shrieking the loudest out of all of them.

“Ichigo?” Chad asked, peering over the side of his cot.

His family crowded around him in a panic, while Chad just watched with concern. He reminisced on how red Ichigo’s face had gotten when his family rushed in. “I guess the blood really went to his head…”

[tasteofshapes]

IchiRuki, the first time they said I love you and meant it romantically?

A/N: Warning, this is a long text post. This is also for day 28 of Ichiruki month. I had to skip several days of prompts to finish this, but oh man, writing this was SO. MUCH. FUN. I’ve played fast and loose with the manga and LA movie and basically combined both into one long timeline, so this is somewhat canon compliant. Also, please drop a comment and let me know: for long fics (anything 5 pages and over), do people still prefer reading it on tumblr or just a link to AO3?

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Day 28: puppy love / Into Something Rich and Strange  |  Other Days

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Ichigo doesn’t know when it starts. Maybe it begins during one of those lunches, when Mizuiro talks about his latest girlfriend, and the other boys curiously press him for more information: how far have you gone? Have you held hands? Have you kissed? Are you planning to go to a love hotel? He’s too busy thinking about how he can squeeze in more training, so he completely misses Mizuiro’s replies, and is taken aback when the group’s attention suddenly refocuses on him and his relationship with Rukia.

“So what’s going on with you and Kuchiki-san”, Keigo asks, a sly smile on his face, and Ichigo is forced to confront the reality of the nature of their relationship.

“Nothing”, he says truthfully, and maybe the answer pricks at him more than he thought it would. 

Or maybe it starts even before then, on one of their early morning training sessions down by the riverside, when he looked up and saw the way the wind rippled through her hair, and realised, with a startled sort of ache in his chest, that Rukia was fiercely beautiful with that sword in her hand. Either way, the dawning knowledge that something’s happening that he doesn’t quite understand makes him grumpy.

Despite having had one secretly living in his closet for the last month, Ichigo doesn’t know the first thing about girls. He’s never really noticed them except to observe that they come and go in a pack, and they’re always giggling and blushing every time they look at him or call his name. He supposes that’s why he’s never really noticed that Rukia was a girl – logically, he knows that she is, but Rukia isn’t part of any of the girl cliques that form and break and reform again every week like the tide, and she definitely doesn’t blush when she’s around him. She’s just… Rukia, and she drifts through the school days like a jellyfish, invisible and indistinguishable from the hundreds of other students that course through the hallways of his school.

So it’s with a certain amount of surprise that he looks at her one morning, his training sword knocked out of his hand and hers pressed to his throat again, and says, “You look different.”

 “I- what?” Rukia’s nonplussed, but her sword doesn’t waver as she darts a quick look down at herself. She’s wearing their mandated school uniform, not a button out of place.

He frowns, because the way the dawn light plays over her face is a mystery that he is determined to solve. “Did you do something with your hair?”

She blinks at him in confusion. “No? Ichigo, focus. I’ve got my sword to your throat, what’s your next move?”

“You’ll surrender?” He says, and she just laughs at him.

“And how do you plan to make me, fool?”

In reply, he knocks her sword aside, grabs her hands and yanks her forward. She stumbles straight into his arms and he catches her automatically, then takes three quick steps forward and pins her against the tree. He presses a forearm against her throat, his free hand gripping both her wrists and pressing them into the tree trunk above her head. She’s warm and tiny under his hands, and her eyes are wide as she looks up at him in surprise.

“So,” Ichigo says, and he’s proud of the fact that his voice comes out steady, “we were discussing the terms of your surrender?”

Rukia scowls up at him so unhappily that he laughs, and the moment is gone. It’s something that he can’t stop thinking about though, a memory that filters to the surface of his consciousness over and over again. After that, something changes. There’s a subtle, but noticeable shift that he can’t quite put his finger on.

Ichigo doesn’t give it much thought after that, except that he finds himself looking at Rukia when he thinks she isn’t paying attention, and she keeps catching him at it and frowning puzzledly back at him. Ichigo concludes that he would not make a good spy.

It finally hits him one afternoon, when they stay back after class so that he can help her with English Literature. The classroom is empty, and it’s just them, twin heads bowed over the textbook as if in prayer. English is her worst subject, and Shakespeare completely eludes her. He’s explaining a scene in Romeo and Juliet to her when she shakes her head and says, sounding lost, “but they just met! How do they know they love each other?”

Ichigo shrugs. “They just do. Romeo falls in love with one look at her beauty too rich for use, for he ne’er saw true beauty till this night, and then he realizes that he never loved anyone until that moment. And Juliet falls back in love with him when they kiss for the first time.”

She lifts one skeptical eyebrow. “That sounds awfully shallow to me. What kind of love can survive on a foundation as shaky as a look and a kiss?”

Ichigo privately agrees. “Puppy love,” he suggests. At her quizzical look, he elaborates: “eh, when you’re young and stupid, it’s easy to fall in love. In all the books they say it only takes a moment to capture a heart. The small things, you know, like the way she laughs or turns her head, or how she glows in the morning when the sunlight hits her face…”

He trails off as Rukia lifts her gaze from the textbook to look him with those big, violet eyes, and then Ichigo realizes that he’s been describing her all along. He stares dumbly back at her for what seems like an eternity until she looks away, uncomfortable. The silence stretches on and on.

“Rukia, I,” Ichigo says, mouth dry, and then stops, because he doesn’t know what comes after. He doesn’t know what this is, and he doesn’t want to say things to her if he can’t be certain of what he means.

“It’s getting late,” she says abruptly, avoiding his eyes as she stands up and starts gathering her books. “We should head back before it gets dark.” 

Ichigo doesn’t remind her that it’s four in the afternoon, and that the sun doesn’t set till seven.

He scrubs a hand through hair, frustrated at himself, but says, “yea, alright,” and starts packing up too. They’re quiet on the way back, and there’s an awkward distance between them that stretches like an ocean. 

On the surface, nothing changes, but now he’s conscious of her in a way that he never was before. She’s a puzzle that he’s just beginning to understand. 

He mulls over it as he queues up with her to buy her lunch. Rukia has depleted whatever credit she had during her time in the Living World and she has no source of income, so more often than not, he ends up being her personal ATM. At first he buys her things that she���s not used to with the aim of helping her get used to the modern world: curry buns, potato snacks, and canned Coke. She duly tries them all, but then one time he catches her eyeing the ramen stall longingly, and from then on he makes it a point to get her something that he definitely knows that she likes.

Today, it’s curry rice. Meal duly purchased, they make their way over to a table in a corner and he pulls out the homemade bento that Yuzu has made: salmon teriyaki with tamago and deep-fried tofu, topped with a generous helping of rice. He would have asked Yuzu for an extra one for Rukia, except that he can’t quite come up with a good reason for it.

“You’re lucky Yuzu’s such a good cook,” Rukia says, eyeing his tamago, and he automatically cuts it and puts half on her plate.

“You’re being nice today,” she says, sounding confused.

“I’m always nice.”

“Not this nice. And anyway, your face says otherwise. I think half the girls in the class are terrified of you.”

“Only half? I must be losing my touch.” He pauses, and it stings that she thinks he’s stingy enough that he wouldn’t share his food with her. “Rukia, you know you can always ask me if there’s something you want. If I can get it for you, I will.”

A look of apprehension settles over her face, but before she can reply, Chad appears behind her, with Keigo and Mizuiro in tow.

“Is this a lunch date, or can anyone join?” Mizuiro says, making flirty eyes at Rukia, at the same time that Keigo says, “Ichigo, you sneaky bastard! So this is where you’ve been disappearing to during lunch! Kuchiki-san, has he been hitting on you? What a terrible experience that must have been for you!” Despite the sympathetic words coming out of his mouth, Keigo’s giving Ichigo obvious winks of approval and there’s a massive leer on his face.

Ichigo closes his eyes and contemplates if he would get away with murdering the two of them in front of half of the school.

“Ah, company!” Rukia says, and the relief is evident in her voice. “Please, sit! Making conversation with Kurosaki-kun has been such an ordeal. He’s all broody frowns and dark looks, and now he’s saying he wants to give things to people for free? He is clearly insane and I think this is why he has no friends.”

“You poor thing,” Mizuiro says insincerely, and drops into the seat next to her, and Ichigo resigns himself to spending the next half an hour fending off inappropriate personal questions from his friends.

He tries to bring it up again a few days later after they finish a round of Hollow hunting. He’s getting stronger, the Hollows are getting easier to vanquish, and he’s riding a successful post-Hollow high when he turns to her and says, “do you think you’ll still need me in the future?”

“Huh?” Rukia’s distracted, checking the mobile.

“Once you get your power back. Do you think you’ll still need me?”

“Oh. I haven’t really thought about that, so I don’t have an answer for you right now. To be honest, it doesn’t feel like I’m getting any stronger.” She clenches and unclenches her fist, troubled by the way her body responds, and he can’t help himself as he moves towards her and touches her shoulder.

“Well, no matter what, I’ll always be your friend.”

Rukia looks up at him in alarm. “A Shinigami and a human can’t be friends,” she says cautiously, and he snorts.

“Then what would you call this? Of course we’re friends. In fact, we’re more than friends, aren’t we?”

“Are we?” She says softly, uncertainty written on her face, and this is his undoing.

“Of course we are,” he says, and they’re standing so close now that he can feel the heat radiating off her body. “You live with me, and I buy you lunch everyday. We’re- we’re…” He doesn’t have a word to describe this. His hand is still on her shoulder, her hair brushing against his fingers. Abruptly, she takes a step back.

“It’s late. We should head back.”

He’s thrown by the sudden change, but swallows the protests lodged in his throat because Rukia looks wary, and he’s not so selfish that he would push this onto her.

He blows out his breath, says, “okay,” then turns around and couches down on one knee, offering his back to her, hands positioned to catch her. “It’ll be faster this way,” he says when she doesn’t move.

She’s hesitant, but they’re several miles out of town and walking will take ages, so she gets on. She’s a warm weight on his back, a reminder of the storm of confusion swirling inside him. They don’t talk for the rest of the night, and he doesn’t bring it up again.

Things finally come to a head after he fights Renji and loses, and ends up lying on the school’s rooftop staring up at the sky while she frantically tries to rub away his wounds.

“Rukia,” he says, “what are we going to do?”

She goes still, but she doesn’t reply. The sunset that day is a brilliant watercolour of pink and orange, but all he can see is her by his side, head bowed. It’s finally then, when he has to face the threat of having her taken away, that everything crystallises and he sees what this tiny girl has begun to mean to him. But there’s no time and no good moment to say it; he has a month to buy her freedom, and he throws himself into training with renewed vigour. Rukia’s too worried about the possibility of him dying to concentrate on anything else; she completely gives up all pretense at being human and spends most of the school day staring blankly out the window.

Ichigo knows this, because now he spends most of his school day watching her stare out the window. He’s vaguely aware of his classmates whispering about him, but he doesn’t have any spare energy left to wonder what fresh rumours are circulating around him and Rukia this time. He trains harder than he’s ever done in that month, and they talk battle strategies at night, and he tries not to think about how each passing day is a countdown to her life.

In the end, he loses. Byakuya stabs him twice and then it’s over. He’s left on the ground, bleeding out, and her eyes are filled with unshed tears as she looks at him for the last time. There’s so much to say and not enough time to say it. Ichigo watches her go with her brother and Renji, watches the gates open and swallow her up, and closes his eyes against the hard knot of failure in his chest.

Except that it’s not the end. He gets stronger and goes to Soul Society and beats up everyone who stands in his path, upending centuries of orders and rules along the way, and saves her.

“Yo,” he says, and the way her eyes widen comically as she stares at him is worth it. Worth every scar, worth every drop of blood split, worth what he has had to transform himself into.

“You idiot,” she screams a moment later. Predictably, they get into a fight right before she’s about to be executed. 

But he saves her, exposes the traitors rotting in the core, and then it’s all over. He doesn’t relax until she’s been officially pardoned. Once it’s done, once she’s finished yelling at him for being such a fool, Ichigo, is your head completely empty?, they find an unoccupied rooftop on a random building on the 13th Division’s grounds and he lies back against the tiles  and lets out a long sigh that he didn’t know he had been holding in. It’s a months-long sigh, a deep sigh of satisfaction, and he feels his whole body go loose and liquid.

“Why did you come,” Rukia says, and he hates how uncertain she sounds.  

“Dummy, you saved my life. You changed my world. Of course I would.” The tiles against his back are warm from the sun, and he’s deliberately not looking at her.

“Ah. Well, if it’s because you think you have a debt to repay,” and he wonders if that’s a note of disappointment that he hears in her voice, “you can consider your debt discharged.”

He snorts in reply, raising himself up on elbow to look at her. “This was never about repaying a debt, Rukia. You idiot, isn’t it obvious how I feel about you by now?”

Her face is a mixture of emotions that he can’t read. “Oh,” she finally says. “So is this… puppy love?”

He snorts again, staring at her with incredulity. “Rukia. After all that we’ve done for each other, I think we’ve gone a bit past the puppy love stage by now, don’t you?”

“Oh,” she says again, faintly. The silence stretches out before them.

“Anyway, you know they die at the end, right?”

“What?”

“Romeo and Juliet. She’s destined to marry another, but they fall in love, so they try and marry in secret, only Romeo gets banished. So Juliet tries to fake her own death to escape and be with him, only he thinks that she’s actually dead, and kills himself. Then she wakes up and finds him dead, so she kills herself.”

Rukia’s eyes grow wider with every passing sentence. “That’s a terrible story! I can’t believe they actually teach you this.”

Ichigo shrugs. “It’s meant to be a romantic tragedy, you know, the two lovers killing themselves because they think the other is dead.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Killing yourself for no reason is no way to honour the memory of the person you love. But trying your best to live your life in honour of them, that’s how you know they were important, that they meant something.” Her voice grows soft. “Ichigo… if I had been executed, I would have gone peacefully, knowing that I had given my life in exchange for someone that meant a lot to me.”

“Oh,” Ichigo says. He’s thinking about what she said, about sacrifices and his mother, and it takes him a full minute before the rest of her words finally hit him. Then, “ohh.” He looks at her then, trying and failing to hold back a smile. “So, you mean me?”

“Well, actually I was referring to Chad.” Rukia says, deadpan, and he laughs and daringly, reaches out for her hand. She looks at him in surprise, but she doesn’t pull away. Her hand is warm and small in his, and his breath hitches as their fingers carefully interlace. The world has gone golden from the rays of the setting sun, and his chest is tight with joy.

“So, what now?”

“I’m going to stay in Soul Society for a while,” she says decidedly, and he raises an eyebrow but doesn’t interrupt. “I’ll need some time to recover and get my powers back. And then after… after, I’ll come and find you.”

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Ichigo says firmly. She nods. 

They sit there until the sun sets, and the lights of Soul Society come on one by one, twinkling like constellations in the dark. Rukia leans against his arm and rests her head on his shoulder, and they stay like that for a while, until it gets too cold. Then he walks her back to the Kuchiki manor, telling her about his fight with Kenpachi, and she tells him that he is a lucky moron of the highest order and he should stop courting death so literally.

Everything goes back to normal, only now they try out this new thing of holding hands when no one’s looking, and he feels giddily happy whenever he sees her. They have a few more of these rooftop conversations, and then he leaves a few days later, with the others, and Rukia comes to see them off at the gates. 

“I’ll look for you,” she tells him quietly, as the others exchange goodbyes, and he grabs her hand and squeezes it quickly.

“It’s a promise.” He looks at her for one long, last moment, trying to commit the image of her kimono flapping in the breeze to memory, and she smiles at him.

“Thank you for everything, Ichigo,” she says.

Because he still always wants to have the last word, he says, “that’s my line, Rukia,” and then hurries through the gates.

Returning to real life after that is like a punch in the gut. Everything is loud, frenetic, and he feels one step behind and out of sync. The world moves too fast without her in it. But he remembers her words, so he refuses to let himself pine, forces himself to join in, and slowly, a sort of equilibrium returns. Still, he leaves his window open every night, waiting. 

Then one day, one particularly bad day, he hears the shocked gasps of his classmates and looks up to see her standing at the open windows of his classroom, outlined against the sun. His heart stutters to a stop.

“What’s with that look on your face,” she demands, and he has no idea what she’s talking about because the next thing he knows she’s kicking him in the face.

“What the - Rukia!” He yells, furious, and she grabs him and drags him out of the classroom. She gets the whole story out of him, makes him apologise to Orihime for being weak and pathetic, and then the ball of shame that he’s been carrying around in the pit of his stomach abruptly dissipates.

“You big idiot,” she says fondly, “can’t even survive a month without me?”

He scowls. “I didn’t know how long you were going to be away! You could have given me some warning, you know!”

“And where would be the fun in that? You should have seen the look on your face. It was like you had seen a ghost!” She chuckles at her own joke as they walk back to class together. 

“Funny,” he mutters. “Are you staying with me?”

She turns to look at him in mock surprise. “Don’t you want me to? Have you moved on already, Kurosaki-kun? Tsk, what a fickle heart you have.”

“Rukia!” 

She laughs at his outraged expression. “My things are already in your room,” she says comfortingly. They pause outside the classroom. “I’ll find you after school,” she promises, and then she slides the door open to a wall of noise as his classmates pounce on her and drag her in and demand to know where she’s been. He can’t get anywhere near her for the rest of the day.

Afterwards, he waits impatiently by the school gate, checking his watch every few seconds. It’s sticky and humid, the air heavy with the promise of rain. She comes running up, face flushed, and he’s struck by how happy she looks, how alive.

“Yo, Ichigo,” she says, brushing her hair out of her eyes and all he can think is, beautiful.

“Stop stealing my lines.” He says, and she laughs at him. 

They don’t touch, but they are close enough that their hands brush against each other as they walk back slowly. There’s no need to rush, and they settle back into their routine as easily as if they were never apart. She catches him up on what she’s been doing in Soul Society, and he tells her what he’s been up to. 

The rain starts as they’re halfway back, and they make it a run for it before giving up and taking shelter in the awning in front of a closed shop. Rukia’s completely soaked through, and she couches down, shivering, her hair sticking to her cheeks.

“It’s cold,” she says, sounding surprised, wrapping her arms around herself, and Ichigo digs into his bag and pulls out his rumpled school jacket.

“Here,” he says, then squats down in front of her and drapes his jacket over her shoulders. His face is close enough to hers that his every exhale is a puff of warm air against her cheek.

“Thanks,” Rukia murmurs, ducking her head. The jacket’s oversized on her, and he tucks the fabric more securely around her. His hands linger on the collar of his jacket, and then he grabs the lapels and gently pulls her forward and brushes his lips against hers.

She kisses him back, sweet and slow, and he doesn’t realise how long he has been waiting for this moment until it happens. He’s breathless and flushed when they finally part, and the words that he has wanted to say to her for a long time finally bubble up to the surface.

“Rukia,” he says, and at that moment, he’s never been more certain of anything else in his life. “I love you.”

She smiles back at him, her face bright like the sun, and says, “I know that, you dummy. I love you too.”

[senboago]

THE MEGA RP PLOTTING SHEET / MEME.

First and foremost, recall that no one is perfect, we all have witnessed some plotting once which did not went too well, be it because of us or our partner. So here have this, which may help for future plotting. It’s a lot! Yes, but perhaps give your partners some insight? Anyway BOLD what fully applies, italicize if only somewhat.

Mun Name: Abby / Kitty      Age: 24       Contact: pm, discord

Character(s) I rp: (canon) Candice Catnipp, Haineko, Mizuiro Kojima, Retsu Unohana, Yachiru Kusajishi; and them I have about 8 ocs. Which muse(s) inspires you the most atm?(for MM): Elsabeth, Naomi, & Haineko. Current Fandom(s): Bleach (and one One Piece oc) Fandom(s) you have an AU for:  Bleach (Mizuiro’s shinigami au) My language(s): English (natively), Japanese (elementary level) Themes I’m interested in for rp:   Fantasy / Science fiction / Horror / Western / Romance / Thriller / Mystery / Dystopia / Adventure / Modern / Erotic / Crime / Mythology / Classic / History / Renaissance / Medieval / Ancient / War / Family / Politics / Religion / School / Adulthood / Childhood / Apocalyptic / Gods / Sport / Music / Science / Fights / Angst / Smut / Drama / etc. Themes/Genres you have an AU for: history, mythology

Preferred Thread length: one-liner / 1 para / 2 para / 3+ / novella. Asks can be send by: Mutuals / Non-Mutuals / Personals / Anons. Can Asks be continued?:   YES / NO   only by Mutuals?:  YES / NO. Preferred thread type: crack / casual nothing too deep / serious / deep as heck. Is realism / research important for you in certain themes?:   YES / NO. Are you atm open for new plots?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS. Do you handle your draft / ask - count well?:  YES / NO / SOMEWHAT. How long do you usually take to reply?:  24h / 1 week / 2 weeks / 3+ / months / years. I’m okay with interacting: original characters / a relative of my character (an oc) / duplicates / my fandom / crossovers / multi-muses / self-inserts / people with no AU verse for my fandom / canon-divergent portrayals / au-versions (as main or only verse). Do you post more ic or occ?:  IC / OOC. Are you selective with following others?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS.  

Best ways to approach you for rp/plotting:  Pms, mostly. If you have me on discord, even better. I have both apps on my phone too, so I’m usually good about replies; granted if I’m not busy, left my phone somewhere in the house, or am asleep.

What expectations do you hold towards your plotting partner:  Well, I tend to be the type that actually fails at coming up with plot ideas. It’s not that I don’t think of anything, but that I’m either too shy or my brain is too exhausted of ideas. So I guess just enthusiasm works for me, since it gives all the same energy! Especially when talking about ships (including platonic and hate ships) between our muses ‘cause that usually helps lead into some potential plots, as I’ll always be up for discussing new stuff for them; like how we want to develop them, where will they go, when will they get there, etc.

When you notice the plotting is rather one-sided, what do you do?:  I’m a bit of too quiet to say anything really, kinda like a pushover. But if I can gain the confidence, I’d prefer to ask what’s going from my partner’s end. If it turns out they’re really not interested then, and I hate to do it, we’ll just drop it. I want us both to be having fun, and if they’re not into it, then it’d be too selfish of me to try and continue it.

How do you usually plot with others, do you give input or leave most work towards your partner?:  Again, I’m pretty terrible at it, so I’m usually a go with the flow type person. So unfortunately, that leaves most the plotting to them, unless my brain decides to wake up. But when I do have an idea and have the courage to, I’ll pitch it to them. Usually my plots end up starting out as some random headcannon between our muses and their ship, and then it falls into the fascination of ‘I wanna rp that now’, just to see it have a story.

When a partner drops the thread, do you wish to know?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS. - And why?: I get anxious easily. So whether or not I was really into it, it’s nice to know, and easier on my nerves if it was something I was really into. However, it’s not entirely and outright demand that they do all the time. - What should your partner do when dropping a thread?:  Not required, just preferred that they just let me know.

What could possibly lead you to drop a thread?:  Two things. Disinterest is one, and pretty self-explanatory. Then there’s if I just lack the energy for a certain amount of time, after several attempts to actually reply. I usually hate to drop threads. But if I feel there’s absolutely no way I’ll be able to reply, then I’ll either pm my partner directly or make out a post and tag those I’ve dropped threads with, if it’s multiple. - Will you tell your partner?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS.

Is communication in the rpc important to you?   YES / NO. - And why?:  Even though I’m terrible of communication, I still like to hear from my partners every once and a while. It’s kinda why discord is easier to get a hold of me ‘cause, since I have two servers there I mod/admin, I usually check it and will answer there more often. - Are you okay with absolute honesty, even if it may means hearing something negative about you and/or portrayal?:  I wanna say yes, but there’s that anxiety in me that says no. It’s a hit or miss with me. I usually try not to get defensive, and most the time won’t. It’ll just end up making become a bit more cautious, confused, or reclused, depending on what it is; and that’s all ‘cause of anxiety. - Do you think you can handle such situation in a mature way?  YES / NO.

Why do you rp again, is there a goal?:  Mostly to have fun. Also so I can explore my muses and work on my creative writing. When people like what I post too, it makes me extremely happy and excited, wanting to pour out more! So really, not much of a goal other than just share my thought process and ideas.

Wishlist, be it plots or scenarios:  To roleplay and post more stuff for Mizuiro. And to build more relationships of all kinds for my muses, especially my ocs. I’d also like to explore darker themes for a few muses as well, though that’s a bit of a tall order... Not too people can handle or are willing to deep dive, so I’m not sure if that’ll happen really.

Themes I won’t ever rp / explore:  I don’t really have any hard limits. However, I usually refrain from a lot simply for the comfort of others. So I guess there’s quite a bit I won’t ever get into, though I’d like to.

What Type of Starters do you prefer / dislike, can’t work with?: i’m usually good with just about anything. If I’m not, then I’ll inform my partner.

What type of characters catch your interest the most?:  Better question is; what type am I not into? Though truthfully, I’m really into characters with a lot of development, an establish backstory of any kind, and just about any that can capture my heart (which isn’t hard to do btw). I’m not picky and I have very few I truly hate, except for their person rather than the character.

What type of characters catch your interest the least?:  Flat, one-dimensional types with very little development or their own story. I like seeing the ins and outs, the positives and negatives of a character. I want them to put me on a roller coaster of emotions, since that’s life in a nutshell. If they can’t, then I’ll lose interest quickly. Also mary sues/gary stues. Characters that just don’t make sense or follow the universe’s logic are also a major turn off.

What are your strong aspects as rp partner?:  Oh boy... I guess my dedication and love for my muses’ ships. It’s not much, but only thing I can think of. I also try to keep an open mind, be as understanding as possible and to support my partner wherever I can.

What are your weak aspects as rp partner?:  My inability to reply to drafts that have been sitting for a couple of weeks. I want to reply, and yet, as soon as I open the draft and get to work, my brain blanks. It’s really frustrating.

Do you rp smut?:  YES / NO. Do you prefer to go into detail?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS. Are you okay with black curtain?:  YES / NO. - When do you rp smut? More out of fun or character development?:  Just about whenever, as long as partner is up for it. And it’ll be for either or, depending. For certain ships, such as Kaede and Kenpachi, I feel it is part of their character and relationship development, seeing as they’ve managed to grow a deeper bond with each other through it. For other muses, such as almost anything with Amaterasu, it’s usually out of fun. - Anything you would not want to rp there?:  Eh... not really, unless partner is uncomfortable with it.

Are ships important to you?:   YES / NO. Would you say your blog is ship-focused?:   YES / NO. Do you use read more?:  YES / NO / SOMETIMES. Are you: Multi-Ship / Single-Ship / Dual-Ship  —  Multiverse / Singleverse. - What do you love to explore the most in your ships?:  The growth between them. Just literally anything between that. Watching the couple’s bond deepen, how much they learn about each other, and the trust that strengthens over time. - What is your smut tag?: nsfw mention

Are you okay with pre-established relationships?: YES / NO. - And what kind of ones?:  Just about any; romantic, sexual, platonic, hate, family, etc.

► SECTION ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

- What could possibly make your Muse interesting towards others, why should they rp with this particular character of yours now, what possible plots do they offer?:  Usually that’s up to the other’s interpretation of the character. But Kaede has some potential, developing surprising friendship despite her division’s reputation. She’s bit of an opposite from her captain and co-lieutenant, probably being the most patient and kindest of the three, as she’s the only one to pursue any friendships. I would say I’d love to find more plots in reference to her backstory, whether some random character she befriends or is enemies with finds out her birth, or she feels to rekindle a past friendship.

- With what type of Muses do you usually struggle to rp with?:   ... I dunno if I really have an answer for that. Kaede’s one of my easiest going muses, unafraid to interact with anyone. She tends to fit in just about anywhere. Though I’m sure this partly due to her being my most developed and being well established. - With what type of Muses do they usually work well with?:  Honestly, I think just about anyone, depending on the scenerio and who they are. That also determines how she approaches and interacts with them.

- What interests your Muse(s) in general:  There’s a list of things. Gardening, social gatherings, her division... She’s also into new experiences, things that are foreign to the Soul Society. - What do they desire, is their goal?:  She simply wants to make her mother proud, to better society if she can, and continue to aid and serve her division. - What catches their interest first when meeting someone new?:  Body language. It’s a trained type of thing, trying to read them by how they hold themselves. How approachable they appear, their intent, etc. - What do they value in a person?:  Depends, as she understands everyone is different. But mostly their determination, honesty, and dedication, even if she’s not the receiver. She can still respect them for it. - What themes do they like talking about?:  Eh... Just about anything, aside from herself. Anything gardening or about flowers is where she’s the most enthusiastic. - Which themes bore them?:  Idle chitchat or small talk. She likes to carry an actual conversation. So trying to ask her about the weather, she’ll more than likely walk away.

- Did they ever went through something traumatic?:  Sort of? There’s a couple things; the discovery of Azashiro’s imprisonment and his crimes, the sudden disappearance of Yoruichi and Kisuke, and the brief encounter with Yhwach’s clone during the war. - What could possibly trigger them?:  Both Azashiro’s imprisonment and Yoruichi and Kisuke’s exile have been resolved, so no. Though to ask her about Azashiro, she’ll be guarded and, depending on the person, defensive. The incident with Yhwach was a literal flash, leaving her physically scarred, but otherwise unfazed. - What could set them off, enrage them?:  Azashiro, yes. Depending on who the person is, obviously. Kisuke is the most notable target of this rage. - What could lead to an instant kill?:  Again, Azashiro, depending on who brings it up and what’s brought up. Mostly, if it targets her mother and threatens to expose them, including her adopted father.

- Is there someone /-thing they hate?:  Yhwach and Aizen. Both have caused a degree of grief in the Soul Society, and even for those outside it. She also hates those that use their position of power for selfish reasons. - Is there someone /-thing they love?:  Her mother and adopted father, and the Shiba clan as a whole. Her division, and her current captain and co-lieutenant, along with her former captain and her brother Yuushirou. She also loves, though won’t admit it often enough, Askin (verse dependent). Kenpachi as well (verse dependent). Any and all her friends, including Kisuke. There’s also a huge soft spot for animals of any kind.

Is your Muse easy to approach?: YES / NO. - Best ways to approach them?:  As long as you’re not a sworn enemy to her or the society, just about anyone’s good to go. Just strike up conversation, ask for a spar, to drink, etc. She isn’t one to simply ignore or dismiss anyone, so long as there isn’t any bad terms between them. - Where are they usually to find?:  In the second division offices or training grounds (sometimes in the onsen), at her home, or strolling or patrolling through the Seireitei.

Something you may still want to point out about your muse?:  Eh... nothing I can think of off the top of my head. Except that, no matter how kind a face she has, she can still be a merciless killer.

CONGRATS!!! You managed it, now tag your mutuals! ♥

Tagged by:  @skyvar​ (thanks for the tag, though not sure if I should really be thanking you ‘cause this about drained me!) Tagging:  you reading this.

[subjectitute]

@senboago​ replied to your post: sometimes i remember there are people out there...

mizuiro vc: but without mayo we can’t have tuna salad

a sacrifice i’m willing to make to rid the world of evil.