#now get ready for Rukia's missing i

[oreo-massacre]

mild pet peeve that i need to get off my chest:

People thinking Ichika's name is a combination of Ichigo and Rukia's name - how?

Like, Ichika being named after Ichigo is true in many ways, but where does the Rukia part come from? It's an actual word, much like Ichigo, but instead of a pun (one protect in ichigo just sounds like "strawberry") its literally "strawberry flower" (because its the flower Orihime embroidered for Rukia's wedding).

And mind you, I get people not knowing anything about WDKALY, or not even simply googling what she's named after lmao. But is it the "ka" part that trips people up? Like, where does Rukia have a "ka" in her name? There's a "ru", theres a "ki" and theres an "a".

At this point, with this kind of shaky basis I'll go on and declare that Rukia called her "Ichika" in Kanonji's honour too (ICHI go + KA nonji). I mean shes a big fan and all that. 🤨🤨🤨 Also, even if say, in some super unlikely circumstance, Rukia'd sneak in her own name into her kid's (because its always rukia doing the naming in people's assumption, because ship lmao) like I almost guarantee you it'd be symbolic and less awkward than "strawberry flower", because Rukia has fuckall to do with flowers in the entire series anyway.

I'm no poet but just the Kurosaki naming convention alone "Isshin" (one heart) "Ichigo" (one - from isshin, protect - for Masaki/his family) Kazui (one - following Ichigo, brave - general theme of the karakura kids especially and of the series, hence he ties into the last speech of the last chapter)

Even the Ishida family where you have Soken (ancestor bowstring) ryuken (dragon bowstring) and uryuu (dragon rain). Like, you can see how packed with meaning they are.

Shiba clan having the kanji for birds in their names and the clan's connection with the "sky" (the "ku" in kukaku is literally sky, like her tattoo), Jidanbo and Jirobo following a suffix convention. Rukia's name doesn't even have any kanji to do that with, let alone the absolute stretch that is converting "kia" to "ka" willy-nilly. Kubo takes care picking out his names - virtually every character, foreign or not has a basis or a namesake - especially the japanese cast. Which is why this whole thing is so ignorant, especially in the goddamn cheating aus. And the absolute confidence of these fools too. Like its "haha, funny" once or twice if you indulge in it, but the stupid ass ignorance pisses me the fuck off.

Besides, if you do read/know about WDKALY Kubo pre-packaged the joke for you. The joke of "youd think Ichika was named after Ichigo? No, you fool, it's Orihime's favourite flower and Rukia is playing favourites," but deep down its also a reference to Ichigo so win-win.

Frankly, if you dig symbolically with the assumption that its a reference to two people, and assume the strawberry kanji is for Ichigo and the flower "ka" kanji is for someone related to flowers, well......there are a couple of flower named or related people, and on first glance, Orihime, the real origin of Ichikas name has just as little to do with flowers as Rukia, but literally all the shun shun rikka, and rikka ( lit. six flowers) as a word itself, are named after flowers, a wholeass six of them, so essentially, Rukia named her kid after her goddamn otp whether you follow Kubos naming sybolism or not, and you dont even have to skew Orihime's name for that. Cool. 😃

[ichiruki]

Don't know if you got same question as this ... But I want to ask can you explain why relationship between Rukia and Ichigo is romantic not friendly and show moments which actually shows how they have romantic feelings for eachother?

** you can ignore it if you want ... But I'm new here and in the fandom too so I had questions 😶 **

That’s the beauty of Ichigo and Rukia’s relationship! They love each other in many ways and since very early on. I think the Fullbring arc really cemented that they also love each other romantically because after having time apart we see just how much (and how fondly) they think of the other... and how nobody else comes close.

Chapter 424 is Ichigo telling us what’s been going on since the battle with Aizen and every panel is full with the calm life he’s living except when talking about not having powers. To me it suggests he has a lot of feelings about that fact and, given the size, he tries not to think about it too much.

But when we get to the panel about Rukia there’s so much empty space it takes up half the page. It’s presenting itself as the heaviest thing on his mind after the battle; not being able to see her. 

Also, (this is just a theory) seeing this in color makes it look like the panels are connected up to this point... like if he thinks too long about what happened he’ll eventually think about her. “Now I don’t have any soul reaper powers” changes the subject to Karin. “It’s been 17 months since the battle” changes the subject to school. “Ever since then Rukia hasn’t come to KK once” the scene ends and transitions to one about missing her. It’s like Rukia is always in the back of his mind and after all this time it’s easier to avoid it.

Of course he misses her, but having an excuse for her ready proves how much she’s been on his mind, and outright denying it is so like him. I wouldn’t say this specifically is rooted in “romance” but with other moments we can see just how much he wants to see her again and it really goes beyond what he feels for anyone else.

Take for example when he only mentioned that Rukia hadn’t come to visit him despite having other friends from the SS, especially Renji. In the next chapter he dreamed of them and Byakuya but it’s Rukia that stands out.

She’s singled out from the guys and her panel is bigger, but what really separates her from them is the fact that it’s cropped sooo close to her face. There isn’t even a sliver of her shoulders, Ichigo is really concentrating here. Renji and Byakuya’s presence is enough but not when it comes to Rukia, he seems desperate to see her again.

Being a protector is literally in Ichigo’s name so losing the power to do so was hard on him, anyone could see that. Orihime was glad at first but ultimately had to ask Rukia to figure out a way to get his power back and Chad could barely look at him since he lost it. Chad goes on a little bit more about how wanting to fight/protect those around him makes Ichigo who he is, and while that’s definitely correct what comes next suggests that there’s something more important. 

Love is subjective. Riruka drew her ability out through her love/adoration of cute material things and the happiness it brings her. Orihime persevered because of the love she feels for her best friend Tatsuki who always protected her. Chad manifested his ability because of the pride his family (his grandfather, who he loves) instilled in him. Fullbring can be activated with love that is familial, platonic, or even with a hobby/inanimate things.

Saving his sisters from the same monster that killed his mother wasn’t enough to activate his fullbring. Helping Orihime, Chad, and Uryu, his friends, also wasn’t enough. Being strong enough to hold back the equivalent of 100 thousand blades in the form of a ginormous, fiery bird wasn’t enough either. Apparently it doesn’t even slightly trigger it.

Remember when I said Ichigo was avoiding Rukia? She was present in each event he thinks about. Of course she isn’t the most important person in each scenario, but even in the moment he saves her life he doesn’t picture her face like the rest of them. Him doing that cements the fact that he’s trying to hold back thinking about her... until he can’t anymore.

The power comes all at once when he finally thinks of her. Just her. 

At the end of the SS arc we figure out that what Ichigo wanted most when he saved Rukia was to see her smile again, and because of the power he gained for her sake he was able to do that; because of power he was able to save so many other people, too. The thing is, he remembers her in the moment he lost his powers; not one of the times he saves her or she saves him or the result of any of that. He began training for fullbring to protect the people important to him but it isn’t being activated by those bonds and instead by the pure desire to see her smiling again. 

Putting everything together tells us that he loves her romantically; if his fullbring isn’t being activated by his platonic or familial bonds or the pride in having the power to protect them there is only one type of love that separates her from the rest. 

We can keep going... with a liiiittle bit on Rukia, too.

Seeing her for the first time in 17+ months literally stopped the rain and put light back in his eyes after he lost his power AGAIN with the people he’s closest to  turned against him. He was bawling his eyes out, more powerless than he’s ever been, and unsettled about his dad and Urahara’s sudden appearance, but she immediately put him at ease without any effort at all.

He believes in her right away just like she does in him. Like she always does.

When Rukia gets the chance to fully think about how special and strong Ichigo is, both in strength and heart, we see her in complete awe. 

If she was simply proud and or amazed by him she could have replicated the smile she had at sokyoku hill when she felt his power “flowing into her.” The expressions on her face here (off the top of my head) are completely new and softer than ever. It looks like her own heart skipped a beat —

— It skipped just like time does when they’re seperated. 

The arc opened with Ichigo wondering if he can keep up with the speed of the world without her and just about ended with this poem, “When the two that share destiny part and reunite, beyond the frame of time, the ceased clock will awake and start to tick once again.” Ichigo and Rukia are incomplete when they’re apart and are at their happiest when together. 

When remembering her happiest moments during her fight with As Nodt, Rukia thought of Ichigo the most. When fighting Yhwach and remembering his most despairing moments, the night Ichigo lost Rukia to Renji and Byakuya comes second after losing his mom. The emphasis on their bond is consistent throughout the story and even until the last chapter.

If Ichigo and Rukia’s relationship was supposed to be strictly platonic the amount of content we were given would have to be cut in half. Cut down on the anime fillers/openings/endings, the movies, the musicals, the color spreads...  the poems about the other person, the speeches about how one feels about the other, the emphasis on their shared trauma and the fact that they saved and helped each other overcome their misery, the overwhelming feeling of wanting to see the other person happy, Ichigo’s parents replicating his and Rukia’s first meeting, “The Love and Destiny Ichigo Inherited,” the partings, the reunions... Y’know, put all the ships on an even playing field, but that’s not what happened. 

Ichigo and Rukia have the kind of relationship that was said to be ��more than friends” since the second arc. 200 chapters later when they spend over a year without seeing or even speaking to each other we can see how they spent that time thinking of the other and more than anyone else. Time goes on but their bond will never break, and they don’t deserve anything less. 

[milkberryroll]

pride, prejudice

"How about that upperclassman from the PT department? He liked you, right? He's a sports coach, now!" 

Yuzu close to shoved her phone screen to her twin's face, showing her black haired counterpart a photo of an acquaintance from university. Who apparently harbored feelings for Karin years ago. 

"No thanks. I turned him down before." Karin took a sip of her almost gone pear lemon soda.

also in ao3.

"Besides, I told you, didn't I? Not looking for a boyfriend. Not today, not tomorrow, not anytime soon. I'm way too busy for commitments. " She added, completely shutting her sister down. 

Yuzu pouted in disappointment — Karin really lacked romance in her bones. Maybe a good Pride and Prejudice movie night with Ruki-nee would help convert her, she thinks. 

"Oh, you're no fun, Karin-chan!" 

"I'm not interested." 

"But I'm telling you, once you see That Guy for you, you'll be eating your words!" 

"Yeah, yeah. Forget that, Ruki-nee's waiting for us at the department store, help me choose shoes for Ryouka, she says. And, Ichi-nii will be coming to get us, apparently."

Dismissing her twin with a text from their sister in law, she begins to stand up from their table. Yuzu proceeded to sip up the last of her iced chocolate, and stood up to follow her sister, ready to leave the cafe. 

"Speaking of, Ryouka-chan's going to school this coming semester, huh? Time flies so fast!" Yuzu wondered aloud, thinking about how her niece now is at that age for elementary school. 

"Yeah, it was like yesterday Ruki-nee was curs—" She bumped into a wall of toned muscle, losing her balance, expecting to meet carpet, only to be pulled to the same body she ran into by a firm arm around her waist. 

"Are you okay?" 

Karin looked up — and it was then rocks met ocean waters. Her eyes met with the owner of the voice, and saw turquoise looking back at her. 

An invitable encounter. 

"Ah, yeah. My bad, I wasn't looking where I was going." Karin tried her best to speak straight and not stumble on her words. 

"No, it's fine, I also wasn't paying attention." 

With a slight push, she pried herself off of the man she was now in an almost embrace with and bowed slightly in thanks, before stalking off to finally exit the cafe before any more eyes stare. She wasn't here to make a scene anyway, just to help her sister in law shop. 

Her sister was staring at her from outside the cafe with stars in her eyes, now with their brother, looking ready to tear a stranger's limbs apart.  

"Don't start." 

Meeting her siblings, she warned her twin, although she knows Yuzu will, regardless. Karin sighed in preparation for another tirade about romance and fate and destiny. 

She wanted to think it's not. 

 //

With a sigh, Toshiro slid to his seat, seeing his sister smile at him, readying himself for whatever she's about to spew out. 

"She's pretty!" Momo nonchalantly uttered. 

"Unfortunately for you, I'm not looking for a girlfriend. Besides, I'm here to bring you to your OB appointment, since Izuru had an emergency at work." Toshiro replied without missing a beat. 

"Oh, would it kill you to actually be fun, for once? This is why you have no love life, you're way too serious. You were cuter when we were younger." 

"Shut up." Toshiro called a waiter over to take their orders, after taking a backward glance at his chanced encounter. 

Oh, there's someone with her. The orange haired guy. 

The little peep did not go unnoticed by Momo's observant eyes. 

"Too bad, seems like a guy is with them. A boyfriend, perhaps?" 

He decided to ignore the little twinge of disappointment in his chest.

//

"My bad Karin! I swear I'll make it up to you next time!" Rukia's voice rang from her phone's loudspeaker. 

"I told you it's fine! It's my off today. Anything else I need to pick her up?" Karin picked up her wallet, preparing to fetch her niece up from her first day of school. 

"Nope, just your ID! Call me if anything comes up! And grab some food for the two of you on the way! I'll send you the money!" 

"No, it's fine, Ruki-nee. Alright, I'm going to get her now. Bye!" With that, Karin ended the call, turned her car ignition off, and alighted the car. 

Going into the school premises, she searched for staff she can talk to. 

"Oh! Hi, good afternoon! What's your business here?" 

A voice rang from behind her, and it was a teacher coming out of the faculty room.  Oddly, the voice sounded pleasantly surprised. 

Bowing to return the greeting, she introduced herself. 

"Hello. I'm here to pick up Kurosaki Ryouka, first grader." She handed her ID to the teacher. 

"Kurosaki Karin... What a pretty name. And sorry for not introducing myself, my name is Momo. I'm the first graders' art teacher, so I actually know Ryouka-chan." Momo grabbed Karin's ID, and proceeded to lead the way. 

"Oh, that's great! I'm not too late picking her up, am I?" 

"No, you're not! She's still with a few of the other kids playing, so she's doing well. I take it she's your daughter?" Momo inquired with Karin, as they walked the halls to finally arrive at the classroom. 

Karin burst out laughing, tears in her eyes, stopping as she tried to catch her breath. Momo, now some steps ahead of her, stopped to look back at her guest. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. No, she's not my daughter, she's my niece! I don't even have a boyfriend!" Karin said in between chuckles. 

"Oh! Apologies!" 

"No, no worries. It was just funny." Wiping tears from her eyes, she continued on walking to catch up with Momo, when she crashed into someone. 

"This makes it the second time, huh." 

A familiar voice. 

It was the guy she bumped into at the cafe. With his arms around her. He's saved her again. 

And for the second time, their eyes met. 

"We meet again. And sorry, for the second time. And, thank you."  She apologized to the white haired guy. 

"Oh! I'll introduce you two! Shiro-chan, that's Miss Karin, here to pick her niece up. And, Miss Karin, that's Toshiro, my brother!" Momo pipes up, sounding elated, and her voice breaks the two out of whatever dangerous territory they have entered to. 

He reluctantly let go, and suddenly she longed for his warmth on her.  

He offered his hand for her to shake, and she took it without question. 

He found her hand, soft and small, fitting with his own well. 

"Nice to meet you. But, I guess, it's more of nice meeting you again?" Toshiro greeted. 

"Yeah, it is. Small world, huh? You're my niece's teacher's brother. And to think, what occurred at the cafe happened the second time around." Karin snickered. 

"Here's to hoping the next time we meet, if ever, we're not smacking and crashing into each other." Toshiro answered in return, with a smile in his voice. 

"Yeah, I hope so too." 

Yuzu would probably laugh at her face and tell her "Told you so! Fate and destiny does exist!" if she knew about this, Karin mused. 

 //

Karin and Ryouka waved goodbye to Momo and Toshiro, with the sibling pair waiting and waving back until they were out of sight. 

"Wasn't that nice? Maybe you guys are really meant for each other." Momo teased her brother after a brief moment of silence. 

"Shut it." 

"Pease, you seemed happy seeing her again." Momo stalked off to proceed to the faculty room, and pick up her things to finally go home, with her brother trailing after her. 

"That's not it." 

Momo stopped just in front of the faculty door. 

"Oh, by the way. The orange haired man? That was her brother. And, she's single." She quipped. 

"You have a chance after all, Shiro-chan!" She hummed as she entered the room and closed the door behind her. 

He's not so against it now, if fate and destiny was always that pretty and amazing. 

[banzaitaka]

Hello, I hope all is well in your life. Prince Rukia, is it possible to have the part with Zonghli about the kid who steals the bag and gets adopted? I really liked what you did! If you don't want to, that's okay!

---

Lucky for you, the day tumblr was being a bitch I had to wait about 2 hours to get picked up, phone on the brink of dying

So I spent some of that time to write everything down I remembered of Zhongli's part

Otherwise I might've still been too annoyed about loosing it in the first place and would've declined this request kdjfskj

SO HERE IT IS

Genshin_Impact_Masterlist

I hope this is what you wanted & you enjoy reading!

TW: abandoned reader, mentions of blood (no major wounds)

Zhongli x gn! reader

Thief no more

(Y/HC) hair, messy and wild. Simple clothing, dirty and torn. Stomach empty, begging to be filled as soon as possible. Their life on the streets wasn’t easy, but they survived by taking things that weren’t theirs. They didn’t like to steal, they couldn’t even be proud of themself when they managed to get away with stealing twice as much they usually got.

Which should be considered an accomplishment, seeing they barely managed to get their little hands on anything at all.

Now that they thought about it, it actually had been quite some time since anyone spotted them. Or someone did, but just ignored them. Who would want to help such an useless little thing anyway? Their parents definitely didn’t, having abandoned their child for not learning as fast as the neighbor kid.

The (Y/EC) eyed clutched their kryo vision in their scratched hand, the kryo archon seemed to be the only one seeing and understanding them.

The rumbling of their stomach made them grit their teeth to prevent themself to bend over from the pain. They were so incredibly hungry…

Just for a moment, it seemed for them, they felt dizzy and their vision got blurry. So as they looked straight ahead and waited for their eyes to focus again, they were surprised to suddenly see a bag laying on a bench. The person that seemed like the owner was just walking a few steps away from said bench to talk to someone.

It seemed like the perfect opportunity for the child.

—

Their little legs carried them for what seemed like forever, but kept begging the (Y/HC)-haired to stop as they ached with every step, every turn. They were sure someone noticed them, the dizziness prevented them from concentrating and they weren’t ready to face the owner of the stolen item if they were caught.

As soon as the child found a place to hide in an alley with a dead end, they let themself fall to the ground. Only the gods knew how the child managed to live like this.

They didn’t even wait to catch their breath, immediately emptying the bag in hopes of finding something edible…

…but there was nothing.

Their shaky breath echoed through the alley, soon followed with wild sobs as they completely gave up on life in that very moment.

They wrapped their twitching arms around themself and pulled their bloody knees to their chest. They didn’t even realise they hurt themself when they fell to the ground, but they didn’t care.

No one wanted them anyways.

"Uhm...mister Zhongli? Your bag seems to be...missing...?"

"Oh. How unfortunate.", was all Zhongli said as he turned around to see that his bag was indeed missing.

He turned back around with a hand on his chin, "The items in that bag were rather important. I have to find it quickly."

The brown-haired looked around, soon seeing a child running away, clutching something to their chest.

Zhongli couldn't say for sure they snatched his bag, but it was worth investigating for sure.

With a quick head-bow to the person he was conversing with, he began to go after the suspicous child. Swiftly dodging people scattered around Liyue harbor.

Only when a crowd of tourists blocked his way he halted, keeping his eyes on the child as they turned a corner. Finally, Zhongli had a chance to take a glimpse at the object they were holding onto so tightly. If only for a moment.

Recognizing the color though, the brown-haired grew more sure of his suspicion, quickly trying to snake his way through the people without bumping into anyone.

Suitable to his suspicion, the amber-eyed also had a theory ready as well as a plan.

He slowed down his step once he turned the corner, not seeing the child anywhere. His gaze shifted to an alley way just a few meters away from him. Stepping into said alley, Zhongli quickly made out the items of his bag scattered across the dirty ground, but more importantly, a crying child with bloody knees cowering in the dark.

Carefully, the man approached the thief, kneeling infront of them, "You must be starving.", he said in a hushed voice.

The (Y/HC)-haired flinched upon hearing a voice so near so suddenly, not daring to look up at first. But after a few seconds they couldn't help but to do so, raising their head from behind their arms and locking eyes with the man they robbed.

"I'm sorry...", was all they let out in their scratchy voice.

Zhongli shook his head, "No no. You simply tried to survive. Come, I won't let you tend to yourself like this any longer."

---

A small smile forced itself on their face, holding onto Zhongli's shoulders as he carried them on his back.

They went to get something to eat and were now on the way to Bubu Pharmacy to get their knees tended to.

"Mister Zhongli?", they called out, "Why do you not have a wallet on you?", they asked, recalling the events of a few minutes ago at Wanmin Restaurant.

Zhongli chuckled, "I forgot it at home."

"Huuuh..."

Discarding the topic, Zhongli slightly looked over his shoulder for a moment, "I noticed you are in possession of a kryo vision. I can show you how to use it, if you'd like."

"Really?", they asked, not doing well in hiding their excitement. "Why yes. If we don't find someone to take care of you, you'll stay with me anyways. Might as well, right?", it was hard not to hear the smile in the brown-haired's words, widening the child's own smile further.

"Thank you so much...", they whispered out as their grip on the man's shoulders tightened.

"Haha, you're very much welcome, my child."

[chiapetirl]

Bitter iced coffee lingered on her tongue as she made her way down the street.

It’s the first day. Why am I so nervous? She took the straw between her teeth, biting down. Relax, it’s just high school. 

“Wah! Hey!”

 Snapping out of her trance-like state, Rukia turned to see who was shouting this early in the morning.

“THIEF! STOP THAT MAN!” A middle-aged man stood on the other side of the street, pointing after another man tearing down the sidewalk with a briefcase in hand. “STOP HIM! THAT BAG’S GOT MY WORK LAPTOP IN IT!”

Really, at this time of day? Rukia’s eyes narrowed, shifting her book bag. Have criminals gotten this bold? Good grief. Nimbly, she crossed the street, a car barely missing her as she chased after the man. The half-empty cup of coffee slipped from her hand, spilling on the sidewalk. Looks like I’m going to be a bit late. “Hey, stop!”

The man looked back once, his face half covered by a hoodie. He didn’t slow down, zigzagging between pedestrians, knocking a few over. Rukia made her way through the path of destruction, determined. 

“HEY! THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, MAN?!”

 Making off with a stolen bike, the thief pedaled as fast as he could, knocking into tables and signs until he cut into traffic.

Crap! She stopped, extending her hand. I have to use it, I guess! The air crystalized, growing colder in a split second. The concrete beneath her feet turned into a glossy sheen of ice, following the direction of her exposed palm. It cut beneath moving cars before it reached the bike’s tires. Losing traction, the bike tipped over, its rider hitting the asphalt, the bumper of a car dangerously close to his skull.

“Excuse me!” Rukia pushed through the onlookers, the Chappy bunny keychain on her bag bouncing as she ran. “Sorry, pardon me!” The traffic jam would draw attention. Please, brother, she begged. Please don’t watch the news this morning. 

Already on his feet, the thief slipped on the ice before stumbling forward, determined to get away. It was enough of a closed gap for Rukia to catch up, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him backwards. The stolen bag fell from his hands, skittering out towards the crowd. His hood had fallen back, revealing a scruffy young man. His eyes were bloodshot. Drugs. 

“You think you can get away with robbery in plain daylight? With all these people around?” Rukia asked, hands at the ready. “Are you really that desperate for cash?”

“Hey, would you look at that! Isn’t that Rukia Kuchiki?”

“Kuchiki? As in the Kuchiki Hero Agency?”

“Holy crap, her older brother’s Senbonzakura! So cool!”

“Look at the uniform! She’s probably on her way to U.A.!”

Well, if the news doesn’t get a hold of this, it’s definitely going on Twitter later. She grimaced. People were already making a fuss, taking pictures. “Don’t try running now. You won’t get far, so just sit back until the police get here.”

The thief’s expression went from manic to enraged. Steam rose from the asphalt beneath his hands. Shit! “EVERYONE! MOVE BACK! HE’S GOING TO-!”

Asphalt and concrete blew up, flying through the air and ripping through buildings. Screams followed the explosion, the sound of broken glass falling onto the street muffled as Rukia’s back hit the wall.

Read more of It's Not Perfect, But It'll Do here.

[akaluan]

Kisuke's wings are an aberration in that they don't seem to exist.  Yet he can absolutely still fly and it confuses the hell out of people.  What is actually happening is his wings are made of energy that isn't normally visible to humans/shinigami but hollows can see it.  Ichigo also ends up being able to see them. And is therefore very confused when people tell him Kisuke has no wings.

-- prompt from Discord user Yuurei

---

There’s something bothering Rukia.

Ichigo casts her a sidelong look as they leave the Urahara Shoten, wondering what about the place — or the residents — has gotten under her skin. This isn’t the first time she’s returned from the Urahara Shoten with a crease between her brows and her delicate, ice-pale wings tucked tight against her back, but he still has no idea what she’s reacting to.

Sure, Hat’n’Clogs is an oddball and the definition of shady, but the man doesn’t seem to be lying to them about anything: avoiding the entire truth, yes, but Ichigo hardly expects honesty out of a man like that.

(Urahara seems the sort to have a past, and Ichigo’s seen what that does to a person.)

(So long as the man doesn’t betray them, Ichigo doesn’t care.)

Rukia catches his glance and huffs, crossing her arms over her chest and muttering, “I’ll tell you when we get home.”

“Alright,” Ichigo agrees easily, not in any rush to force Rukia to speak of whatever’s been bothering her; it hasn’t affected their work so far, so he’s content with not knowing.

(Even if it’s driving him to distraction trying to figure out what’s wrong.)

Still, it doesn’t take long for them to get home and head up to his room, where Rukia immediately hurls herself down on his bed and props her chin on her crossed arms. Her delicate wings flutter and then still, and she grimaces a bit as she slants a glance at him and says, “I don’t know how you can just… just not react to Urahara-san.”

Ichigo blinks in surprise, then tugs the chair out from under his desk and straddles it, crossing his arms over the back and resting his chin atop them. “Not sure what you mean,” he tells her honestly. “I react to Hat’n’Clogs being… *Hat’n’Clogs* every time we go there. It’s hard not to, you know?”

Rukia scowls at him. “I mean his lack of wings!”

“His— what?” Ichigo pauses to digest Rukia’s words, wondering what the hell is up that she can’t see Urahara’s frankly gigantic wings. The man doesn’t even attempt to hide them, with the way he constantly rustles and flares and gestures with them as he talks; in fact, Urahara’s wings are a better judge of his mood and honesty than anything *else* about him, which is…

Well, now that Ichigo thinks about it, it’s a bit weird, isn’t it?

In Ichigo’s experience, the shadier a person, the better control they tend to have over their wings. Urahara though is like… like Yuzu, almost, without any real filter between his mind and his wing motions. Between that and the way Urahara’s wings ripple with color as he talks, Ichigo’s been feeling pretty confident on his read of the man lately.

“Do you— doesn’t everyone have wings?” Rukia asks as she sits up a bit. “All the humans I’ve seen so far do!”

Ichigo stares at her for a moment, then slowly asks, “You really don’t see any wings on his back?”

“No!” Rukia exclaims, then narrows her eyes at him and asks, “Wait, you see wings on him?”

“Yeah, I just… thought his whole ‘I’m a shady shopkeeper, look at me’ routine was bothering you,” Ichigo admits a touch wryly. “The disconnect between the words he’s speaking and what his wings are saying can be jarring until you get used to reading him.”

Rukia gapes at him in shock, then tumbles off his bed and darts over to latch onto his arm, practically yanking him out of his chair as she marches towards the door. “Come on,” she demands as she pulls him out of his room. “We’re going back to the shoten and figuring out what’s going on right now.”

“I don’t think—” Ichigo cuts himself off with a sigh and lengthens his stride to catch back up to her, knowing he’s not going to be able to talk her out of anything when she’s in a mood like this. He gives Yuzu a sheepish smile and a wave as they cross the main room and go right back outside.

(He just hopes Urahara doesn’t take offense at anything that’s about to happen.)

(It’s hard to tell with the man sometimes, even with the tells that his wings give off.)

Rukia pulls him to a stop the instant they come within sight of the shoten, and Ichigo immediately sees why: Urahara is outside talking with Jinta, his back to them and his wings partially flared for balance. He seems in a relatively good mood, Ichigo judges as he takes in the crimson feathers laced with gold. There’s no sign of any of the colors Ichigo’s learned to be wary of, though there’s no telling how long that will last.

“Do you really see wings on him?” Rukia hisses at Ichigo.

“Yeah. You don’t?” Ichigo gives Hat’n’Clogs a thoughtful look, trying to figure out if Urahara’s wings are some sort of… who knows. Illusion, maybe?

(But why an illusion that only Ichigo can see?)

(Or maybe that only Ichigo can see through?)

(… no, that makes even less sense.)

“No!” Rukia grumbles as she leans closer, her eyes narrowed and her attention honed down to a laser focus that Ichigo… actually sort of feels sorry about.

If there really is something weird going on with the man’s wings, Ichigo kind of regrets bringing attention to it; he knows what it’s like to be singled out for something he can’t — won’t — change about himself, and he honestly wouldn’t wish that sort of attention on anyone.

Hat’n’Clogs notices them quickly, his wings closing tight against his back as he rises to his feet and turns to greet them. “Maa, the two of you are back sooner than I expected. Do you need anything else?”

Ichigo eyes the way Urahara’s wings are twitching and the spots of blue-violet that are creeping in across the crimson, then clamps a hand on Rukia’s shoulder and says, “Nah, we were just out for a walk,” despite the offended hiss that Rukia aims at him.

Acid green blooms across Urahara’s wings, though the man’s expression doesn’t betray whatever emotion he’s feeling; a variant on surprise, Ichigo suspects, though he’s not quite sure what exactly acid green might indicate.

(He’s already discarded any preconceptions he has about what colors mean what emotions.)

(Urahara just doesn’t fit into any neat box no matter how Ichigo considers him.)

(Which is perfectly fine, he didn’t really expect the man to, but it still means he’s feeling his way through the dark.)

(Well, he’ll learn.)

“Ah, well, if you do end up needing anything…” Hat’n’Clogs says leadingly, his gaze lingering on Rukia for a moment before sliding back to Ichigo; it’s clear he’s expecting them to say something about his wings — is expecting them to comment on his wings — and that just makes Ichigo all the more intent on not.

“We’ll keep it in mind,” Ichigo declares before Rukia can speak up, then pinches her shoulder just in case.

“Ichigo!” Rukia yelps with a scowl, swatting at his arm.

Ichigo snorts and jerks his head in the direction of home. “Come on, dinner’s about ready,” he says mildly. “You wouldn’t want to make Yuzu sad by missing it, would you?”

Rukia’s scowl deepens and she wavers for a moment, casting a confused look at Hat’n’Clogs, before she gives in with a sigh and pushes past him. “Fine,” she mutters. “But we’re talking about this later.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ichigo says with a shrug, already expecting a long, rambling lecture from her about… whatever it is he’s stumbled across this time. Not that he particularly minds; it’s interesting to try and piece together what Soul Society is like from the hints she accidentally drops during each one. So far, he’s picked up on a rather telling divide between the noble houses and the average Shinigami, along with some disturbing hints on how loosely regulated the Divisions are, and a whole host of other tiny details that he’s pretty sure Rukia has no idea she’s giving away.

He’s pretty sure this will reveal a whole new array of details about how Shinigami feel about an individual’s wings, which will give him some idea on how they’ll expect him to act if he ever meets other Shinigami.

Still… it’s strange that she can’t see Urahara’s wings; maybe he’ll ask his friends, see what they say about it.

(The mystery kind of suits the man, if Ichigo’s being honest.)

(Who knew there were invisible wings out in the world?)

(Weird.)

[swingsdown]

domestic ichiruki maybe?

A year after they marry, Rukia discovers K-pop.

Ichigo had wanted to settle in Soul Society right away, but she had glanced up at him with wide eyes and asked if he’d already seen everything that the land of the living had to offer. He’d taken one look at her face, remembering how she’d grown up trapped by the lines of the Rukongai, remembering how that night they’d met had been her very first mission in the human world, and quickly agreed to stay a while longer. 

He now regards that decision with immense regret.

They’d traveled all over Japan, and even though Ichigo had grumbled as Rukia dragged him through every roadside strawberry stand and tiny town, he’d liked (loved) watching her face as she’d discovered every new wonder. Then one day, in a little soba shop in Nikko, Rukia had looked at the small television playing a music show in the corner, and asked who are they?

“Ichigo, get out of the way! I don’t want to miss the start of the broadcast.” Ichigo stares balefully at Rukia from his newfound place on the floor. He’d been lounging on the couch, trying to catch the last of the late fall breeze through the open window, when Rukia had skidded into the living room, fully decked out in purple, ready to fight him for his spot in front of their TV.

“Nae pi ttam nunmul…”

Ichigo does not resent these seven Korean men that he’s never met, he just…

Okay, so maybe they dance well and sing well and make Rukia smile. Maybe he feels a little left out; maybe he hadn’t thought that living in the human world for another year or so meant that her attention would be divided this way.

(Maybe he’s a little glad that said Korean men won’t be under his or Rukia’s jurisdiction in Soul Society.)

“Ichigo, their comeback this time is so good! Ichigo?”

Rukia peers down at him from over the edge of the couch, “What are you doing on the floor? Get up, let’s learn the dance together.”

The men on the television descend to the floor and then pop back up in an acrobatic maneuver that makes his joints ache.

Ichigo heaves a sigh and gets up, narrowly avoiding Rukia’s light stick as she enthusiastically (and gracefully, the fuck) follows the steps. 

He dances. 

(That look of wonder makes it all worth it.)

[recurring-polynya]

For Stuff For Renji's Birthday Prompts: 1) time travel turn back the clock nonsense, bc I'm an enabler and Karakura teens plus shithead Renruki teens has *Byakuya voice* strong comedic potential OR 2) Hisana lives but due to wacky circumstances, nobody notices Rukia's existence at the Academy... until they've graduated and Renruki have joined Squad 11. Dealer's choice! (Honestly whichever you pick, I might try writing the one you don't. I am not a writer these 2 just live in my head rent free)

Why would you make me choose between these, whyyyyyyyyyy?

To be honest, I almost did them both, but this was the second one I did, and I figured that I should probably do some other people’s prompts, and then I ran out of time. I might do you some time travel shenanigans later. (This should in no way stop you from writing these, I would flip my chips if you wrote something, let alone something based on my horrible ideas)

In any case, I couldn’t resist the second options and I have spun it out into a delightful bit of Byakuya-torture. Please enjoy!!!

Special thanks to @kaicko for helping me come up with the clerical error, because you all know me, I can’t just say “a clerical error.” 😂

Read on ao3 or ff.net

💀   💀   💀  

“How is the tea?” Aizen Sousuke asked smoothly.

The tea was excellent, but Byakuya wasn’t in the mood for Aizen’s needy attempts to ingratiate himself. “Adequate,” he replied dryly. “You said you had something to discuss with me.”

“Ah, diligent as always, Byakuya,” Aizen sighed, “always eager to get back to work. I’ll get to the point: I happened to speak with your wife recently at a fundraising event. She’s very interested in the people of the deep Rukon, and said she travels to South Rukongai frequently.”

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. “What is your point?”

“Well, I thought it was a bit of a strange occupation for a woman of your wife’s noble standing, but then Gin reminded me that she was actually from there herself, that there had been a bit of a to-do when you two married. I don’t tend to follow gossip myself--”

“I repeat, what is your point?” Byakuya gritted your teeth.

Aizen made a pissy little throat clearing noise and fiddled with a folder on his desk. “The fact is, Byakuya, your wife reminds me a great deal of a young woman who served in my squad a few years ago, whom I recalled also hailing from the Rukon. I wondered if there might be a.... connection.”

Byakuya’s shoulders stiffened. Impossible. He had put watches on all immigrants to the Seireitei. He would have reviewed anyone who came from the South 78th.

“Inuzuri Rukia,” Aizen read from his file, and Byakuya’s blood ran cold. “Shin’ou class of 2066. Unseated. Petite, like your wife. Dark hair. Very striking eyes. Unfortunately, an unremarkable shinigami. Potential for a good kidou user, but didn’t take direction well. More interested in sword combat, although she had little aptitude for it. Ah, here it is. Hometown: District 48, South Rukongai.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Byakuya said flatly. “Inuzuri is the 78th district of South Rukongai. Why would she carry a surname from a different district?”

Aizen made an exaggerated frown. “Very strange! A clerical error perhaps? Hold on a moment.” He stuck his head out of his office door and said something to the shinigami on reception duty. “Fortunately, there’s an easy way to clear this up. It’ll just be a minute.”

Byakuya gripped his teacup, unsure of how to feel. A clerical error. Class of 2066… she would have enrolled in 2060, in the middle of Hisana’s worst turn, when she had been bedridden for nearly four years. Their attention would have lapsed. It made sense.

“She does not sound like your usual recruit,” Byakuya accused. Aizen was constantly finding ways to skim the highest performers from the Academy, all the gifted children.

Aizen looked sheepish. “Ah, well, you see, there was a young man of some talent that I was eager to recruit who was… attached to her. I thought she might have some potential if properly guided, but it never panned out.”

Aizen’s good deed was suddenly beginning to make sense. The girl had transferred out and taken Aizen’s prize with her. He wanted Byakuya to go fetch her away in hopes that the talented one would come home. Byakuya actually felt much better now that he’d identified Aizen’s ulterior motive, and further, that it had more to do with his own petty recruiting schemes than Byakuya’s family (specifically, Byakuya’s wife).

There was a knock at the office door, and upon being bid entry, a young woman walked in. Although indeed petite and dark-haired, she looked nothing like Hisana, and Byakuya remarked as much.

“Oh, no, this is my Seventh Seat!” Aizen chuckled. “Miss Hinamori, you were friends with Inuzuri Rukia, isn’t that correct?”

The young woman’s eyes had gone wide when she recognized Byakuya. “Er, yes, sir,” she said, her eyes darting between the two captains. “We shared a room while she served here.”

“Do you happen to remember what district she was from?” Aizen asked in an overly friendly manner.

“Oh, sure, it was South 78,” Hinamori replied. “Inuzuri, of course.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know all the outermost ones,” Aizen said in his goofy voice again. “Her paperwork says 48.”

Hinamori’s brow furrowed for a moment and then her face brightened. “She and Abarai had very heavy accents when they first came to the Academy, and used a lot of deep Rukongai language quirks. I don’t remember all of it, but they both used to use ‘shichi’ instead of ‘nana’ for seven, especially when referring to their district. They weren’t very fond of their home district. I wonder if the registrar misheard.”

“Well, there you go!” Aizen said, slapping his hands on his desk. “A very logical explanation!”

Hinamori beamed.

Byakuya found Aizen’s need to be liked by his subordinates very unprofessional and off-putting, but he tried to push it aside. He was trying not to be too eager, but this was probably the best lead he’d had on Hisana’s sister in all the years they had been searching. “Where is she now?” he grumbled.

Aizen turned his doe eyes on his fawning subordinate once more. “I don’t suppose you still keep in touch? She couldn’t have lasted very long there, they must have transferred again?”

Hinamori made a face like she didn’t want to say the answer. “I’m afraid that Kira and I had a bit of a falling out with Abarai and Inuzuri when they left. I haven’t talked to them in a few years, although we still have some mutual friends. As far as I know, though, they’re both still at Squad Eleven. I heard they were doing fairly well there, actually.”

The room seemed to retreat around Byakuya. All he could hear was the blood pounding in his ears and the reverberations of the most horrible words he could possibly think of: Squad Eleven.

---

Byakuya knew it was poor etiquette to visit another captain’s squad when the man was out, but he absolutely could not stomach the idea of discussing the matter of his wife’s sister with the Kenpachi, so he waited until Zaraki and his miniature lieutenant were sent out to go trample half of East Rukongai before visiting.

He also knew that he probably should have said something to Hisana, but he couldn’t bring himself to get his wife’s hopes up, only to dash them, should this turn out to be nothing, like so many leads before it. So, the secret sat in his stomach, heavy and acidic, jostling with the guilt of his breach of etiquette.

“Is there someone here,” he gingerly asked one of the gentlemen on gate duty, “who takes care of administrative matters for the squad?”

The man swiveled his head, which appeared to grow directly from his torso with no need for an intervening neck, to his fellow guardsman. “What?”

The other fellow had been busy trying to remove wax from his ear with a pinky. “WHAT?” he shouted back.

“Paperwork!” Byakuya said a little louder. “Is there an office of some sort? A person who knows what’s going on?”

He supposed he could have asked for the girl, Inuzuri, directly, but he didn’t feel… ready.

“I think he wants Ayasegawa,” the neckless guard hazarded.

“WHAT?”

“I’ll be right back.”

Eventually, the burly gentleman returned. With him was a strangely elegant person with a silky curtain of hair cut severely to chin length and piercing violet eyes. “It really is you,” the lovely man said with a level of disdain that Byakuya almost had to admire. Before he had a chance to get offended, the man dipped into a respectful bow. “Welcome to the Eleventh, Captain Kuchiki. Fifth Seat Ayasegawa at your service. What in Soul Society can I possibly do for you?”

“Apologies for visiting while your captain is abroad,” Byakuya replied, not meaning a word of it.

“Oh, he’ll be very sorry to have missed you,” Ayasegawa frowned. “But I’m sure you could make it up to him later.”

Byakuya’s eye twitched. “Perhaps. I have come to enquire about a young woman whom I am told transferred to your squad three years ago.”

“Does she have a name? That might make it a little easier.”

“Inuzuri Rukia.”

Both of Ayasegawa’s eyebrows shot up, and his mouth curved into a feline grin. “Ninth Seat Inuzuri, of course!”

Byakuya blinked. “Ninth Seat? Captain Aizen told me she was middling at best.”

Ayasegawa's face suddenly went stiff. “She was not well-served at the Fifth, but she has bloomed here most beautifully. Inuzuri is my personal protege, you know.” He stared at Byakuya under hooded eyes. “What is your interest in her? Captain?”

Byakuya took a deep breath through his nose. “My wife is also from Inuzuri. She is trying to locate someone she knew there. It is possible this Rukia is that someone.”

Ayasegawa frowned. “Well, I can introduce you, if you like. I should warn you, though, Rukia doesn’t have a lot of lost love for her hometown.”

“My understanding is that there isn’t much to love about it.”

“Mmm,” Ayasegawa agreed. “Well, come along, let’s go find her.” He concentrated for a moment, clearly trying to find her reiatsu. She must be a woman of some power, after all. “Ugh! She and Abarai are at it again! Every day!”

Byakuya swallowed stiffly.

“Well come on! She’s out at the training fields, clobbering our Tenth Seat, yet again.”

Oh. That kind of “going at it.”

Ayasegawa was shaking his head. “The two of them are literally an unstoppable force and an immovable object.”

“Abarai was also at the Fifth?,” Byakuya probed cautiously. “I was told they were close.”

“Of course they’re close!” Ayasegawa scoffed. “They’re partners!” He thought for a moment. “Abarai is from the 78th as well, you know. If Rukia turns out to not be your girl, perhaps one or the other of them knew the person you’re looking for. Abarai is one of those people who just… knows everyone. He’s the personable half of the pair.”

“‘Partners’?” Byakuya echoed. “What… kind of partners?”

Ayasegawa stared back at him like he was insane. “Partners.”

This path of inquiry clearly wasn’t going to get him anywhere, but wasn’t particularly relevant, either. “I did not think kidou-type zanpakutou were permitted in the Eleventh,” Byakuya sniffed. “Aizen’s records indicated Inuzuri wields an ice-and-snow type.”

Ayasegawa gave a little shrug. “Zanpakutou classifications are arbitrary. Obviously, if she had a bunch of showy blizzard attacks like Matsumoto’s little prodigy friend, it would be a no-go. Rukia can take the blade of her sword down to sub-zero temperatures. She has a weapon-shattering attack and she doesn’t feel pain when she’s fighting. It’s fundamentally no different than a zanpakutou so massive that only the wielder can lift it, or a whip sword that’s controlled with one’s reiatsu.”

This sounded like a quibble to Byakuya, but it’s not like he had come to the Eleventh looking for sound logic.

“She’s incredibly fast, probably the fastest person in the Eleventh, although no one’s really sure what Yachiru’s top speed is,” Ayasegawa continued on. He glanced at Byakuya slyly. “I hear you are very fast.”

“You have heard correctly.”

“That’s why Abarai can’t beat her. If he could land one really hard hit on her, she’d go down, but he’s not fast enough and she’s just too agile. He’s my partner’s protege, you see, so I have to take their little scraps very personally.”

How did this man talk so much?

“What did you say your wife’s relationship was to her again?”

“I did not.”

“Ah, right. Oops, look out!” Ayasegawa abruptly dove to one side as a giant mass of shihakushou and pink hair and what might be a sword came crashing through the split rail fence surrounding the training field.

Byakuya was not in the habit of ducking, so he merely plunged the force of his reiatsu down into the earth like a piton. It was almost, but not entirely sufficient. Byakuya gritted his teeth as he was driven back, dirt piling up behind his heels as he skidded backwards.

When they finally came to a halt, Byakuya looked down at the meaty youth lying at his feet. This must be the infamous Abarai, although he certainly didn’t look like one of Aizen’s usual simpering overachievers. The first thing Byakuya observed was the eye makeup. Most shinigami applied at least a little eyeliner, on grounds of tradition, but few bothered to blacken the entire eye socket, as in the skeletal facepaint of old. The second thing Byakuya noticed were the tattoos painted across his forehead and neck. They were black and spikey and horrible. The third thing was the hair, which was bright pink and spikey, and utterly at odds with the makeup and tattoos. The fourth thing was the big, sheepish grin, which honestly just tied the whole hideous tableau together.

Byakuya glared down at the lout, and in a moment of pettiness, flared his reiatsu to a level that should have sent blood spurting out of his ears.

“I’m afraid that’s not going to do much to someone who has a weekly sparring slot with the Kenpachi,” Ayasegawa commented dryly.

“Sorry ‘bout that!” the lummox cheerfully apologized as he sat up and brushed himself off. He had an Inuzuri accent so thick you could spread it on toast, an accent that Hisana tended to slip into only when she was extremely bent out of shape. Abarai snapped the sword hilt in his hand, and the tangled pile of steel on the ground neatly retracted into something that looked a little more like a weapon, if a weapon were designed by a creative and overly violent child.

“That’s a captain, you buffoon!” another voice rang out, and every muscle in Byakuya’s body locked. “Show your respects!”

The voice clearly affected Abarai as well, because he leapt to his feet, spun, and slammed into a bow. “My apologies, Captain…” his eyes glanced up and abruptly widened, “Kuchiki.”

“Greetings, Captain Kuchiki! Welcome to the Eleventh Division! I apologize very profusely for throwing Tenth Seat Abarai at you!” A second young person had come to join Abarai in his bow, and they both rose in unison, Abarai looking suddenly pale and nervous, his companion looking calm and confident.

So this was Inuzuri Rukia. She had Hisana’s voice. She had Hisana’s stature, and standing next to Abarai made her look positively childlike. She wore the same dreadful eyeblack, but the eyes that shone out of it were a variation on Hisana’s, harder and three shades more purple. The rest of the face was Hisana’s. Her hair was dark, shaved on the sides, arranged into porcupine spikes on top, although one lock hung down stubbornly between her eyes. Her ears glittered with silver piercings. At least she was free of awful tatt-- wait, no. Byakuya had missed them at first, because they were white. Abarai’s tattoos were spiky and sharp, but Inuzuri’s were graceful swirls, like ribbons wrapping lazily down her forearms. Even her reiatsu was like Hisana’s-- but instead of a cool, refreshing wintergreen, Inuzuri’s was the bone-deep cold of winter, a cold so harsh it burnt in the lungs.

There was no doubt.

This atrocious delinquent was his long-lost sister-in-law.

“Can we help you with something, sir?” Inuzuri prompted. “Abarai here’s a big fan of yours.”

“Shut up, Rukia,” Abarai managed through gritted molars.

“Inuzuri Rukia, you died as an infant thirty-six years ago and were sent to the 78th District of South Rukongai, is that correct?” Byakuya said stiffly.

Inuzuri and Abarai both bristled, a pair of mongrels raising their haunches. “That seems about right,” Inuzuri replied slowly. “My early years are a little hazy.”

“My wife, Hisana also died thirty-six years ago and was sent to Inuzuri with her infant sister,” Byakuya went on. “They were separated. My wife has been looking for her sister ever since. You… resemble her greatly.” Byakuya let the implication hang in the air. He couldn’t bring himself to say it.

There was silence for a moment. Then there was the distinct noise of a laugh that, having been held in, had escaped through someone’s nose. “Sorry! Pardon me!” Ayasegawa wheezed, clapping one hand over his mouth and looking away. “Bit of. Dust. In my throat.”

“I told you! I told you, you looked like that picture of her in the Bulletin!” Abarai was hissing.

“I thought you were lying because you thought she was pretty!” Inuzuri hissed back.

“I thought she was pretty because she looks just like you!”

“Now is really not the time, Abarai!” She cleared her throat and tried to stand up a bit taller, a futile effort. “So, uh, so what? What does that mean, if I am her sister? Does that… does that make me noble?”

A higher pitched wheezing came out of Ayasegawa. The level of impudence was extraordinary.

“I would like you to come to my home to meet her, first,” Byakuya put off making any promises. “We can discuss what comes next. As a family.”

“I’m at work right now,” Inuzuri excused.

“Inuzuri, I need to know how this pans out, you can have the afternoon off,” Ayasegawa informed her.

Inuzuri’s confidence seemed to be draining out of her. She took a tiny step closer to Abarai and groped for his hand. “I’m bringing Renji,” she declared.

“Is he compulsory?” Byakuya asked. Inuzuri was absurd looking too, but at least she was small.

“He’s my family,” Inuzuri insisted.

Byakuya’s brows furrowed. This could prove problematic. “In any sort of legally binding sense?”

“We’re engaged!” Inuzuri announced.

“We are?” Abarai goggled.

“I told you I’d marry you if you could ever manage to beat me in a fight! What else would you call that?” Rukia hissed at him in a voice that was still, unfortunately, perfectly audible.

“I’ve been trying every day, and honestly, Rukia, it’s not looking good for me!”

“Can you just go with it for once, instead of arguing with me every time?”

“If you want to leave and never tell anyone you found her,” Ayasegawa put in, “I am very bribable.”

Byakuya was sorely tempted.

---

End note: To further explain the number mix-up, as I understand it “seven” in Japanese can either be said as “nana” or “shichi”. People usually say “nana” for two reasons-- 1) to avoid confusion with 4 (”shi”, although you can also say “yon”) and because “shi” is a homophone for death. Given how shitty the districts in the 70s are, I rather liked the idea that they residents use the “shichi” pronunciation as a bit of gallows humor. (And if you don’t have a rude nickname for the town you grew up in, well, congrats for not growing up somewhere shitty)

I don’t actually speak Japanese, tho, so forgive me if this is all nonsense. 😁

[rukia-writes]

Gold Event: Zoro

Zoro x (fem) reader

Warnings: Spoilers! For those who haven’t watched the movie. Rough sex, mention of a daddy kink, alcohol, 18+ sex, no minors

80 seconds

Total shock.

Sanji was in utter disbelief.

Never mind that the Gran Tesoro was getting ready to explode in any second, the sight of Zoro carrying the gorgeous stage dancer in his arms was sending him over the edge.

Never mind that the Gran Tesoro was getting ready to explode in any second, the sight of Zoro carrying the gorgeous stage dancer in his arms was sending him over the edge.

Never mind that the Gran Tesoro was getting ready to explode in any second, the sight of Zoro carrying the gorgeous stage dancer in his arms was sending him over the edge.

“Zoro, I can carry myself-you’re going the wrong way. Keep straight.”

Zoro grimaced at being told he was running the wrong way by the woman in his arms and for the sake of time opted to keep straight, smirking he simply responded with,

“See? This is why I have to carry you.”

Smiling (Name) simply let the muscular man carry her while thinking to herself he could run much faster than herself until a familiar blonde made his way over to the couple with a over the top pissed off face.

“Where do you get off carrying the beautiful lady?!”

“Eh? Don’t start with that shit ero-cook!”

The two began to argue amongst one another surprising (Name) for the most part as Zoro mentioned briefly before that the two were crewmates a day ago. The had met in the casino while she and group of dancers performed on stage catching Zoro’s attention, getting her to have a few drinks with him and from there on out the two hit it off.

Now after fighting Dice here (Name) was in his strong arms while Zoro was wearing the black leather suit showing off all those muscles that he worked hard on for so long, (Name) did manage to sneak a few glances at his chest since he had a little opening exposed.

That was when Sanji stopped running entirely as though he was frozen which happened so abruptly Zoro stopped running and scolded him as they didn’t have time for him to stop running. Sanji then made a face that seethed with rage confusing Zoro until Sanji spoke up,

“Where did you go for an hour when we first got here?”

Now it was Zoro and (Name)’s turn to be frozen as they believed Sanji had caught on to a rather naughty secret the two shared. Zoro didn’t even answer Sanji as he continued running only making Sanji anger rise further.

While running Zoro kindly flash backed to that night while giving (Name) a look of “You remember” and (Name) returned the look of “I remember.”

It was the first night the two met while inside a VIP private room that was right above the casino.

(Name)’s shoes and leggings were on the floor with Zoro’s white coat close by his sunglasses were on the table but his his cock was deep inside a certain stage dancer cunt. While sitting on the large red sofa that of course had gold trimmings was Zoro had his sweet dancer in the reverse cowgirl position with her riding his cock to her pace while he was content with playing with her breasts, massaging them in a circular motion while thrusting his cock upwards when he wanted her to move up and down on his cock more. Zoro also kissed her neck from behind something he found to be a weakness of hers, that and how great his thick cock felt inside her.

The same could be said for Zoro as he would moan and swear aloud when he felt how tight and amazing she felt while either bouncing or grind her hips back and forth pleasing his cock. Soon enough, Zoro’s hands that was massaging her breasts started to play with her nipples making her moan his name much to Zoro’s delight and when he was finished playing with her nipples he went back to massaging her breasts.

Just as (Name) was feeling her orgasm Zoro effortlessly lifted her up making her whimper his name aloud as she missed the feeling of his cock being inside her, muttering a “I’m not going to miss your pretty face orgasm.” While turning her around to face him and then proceeded to slide his cock back into (Name)’s needy and wet cunt making her say his name aloud not caring who heard. Pulling the corset down Zoro looked at (Name)’s breasts before rubbing them again and instead of letting (Name) take control he took over and began in a rough pace and fast pace that made her bounce up and down on his cock while her breasts were in rhythm with his pace.

Tilting her head back (Name) felt nothing but Zoro’s cock and how it hit her g-spot over and over with scary precision. (Name) would try to speak but Zoro’s rough and fast pace prevented her from doing so, the only words (Name) could get out was “So good.” And “more” and if Zoro knew better he thought he heard (Name) call him daddy but he wasn’t certain as he was busy watching his sexy stage dancer bounce up and down on his cock biting his lip with a smirk as he did so.

(Name) didn’t think she was going to be fucked so well but here she was with her toes curled and her mind numb as Zoro did nothing but use her body for his pleasure, like the monster he could be. Before long both reached their orgasm in a euphoric high as (Name) felt Zoro’s cock twitch excitedly and pulsate few times as his cum filled every inch of her cunt as she moaned at the feel while her body shivered slightly at the best orgasm she ever received.

Zoro on the other hand simply smirked and asked if she was ready for another round, since only 30 minutes had passed.

Thinking back to that night (Name) shifted slightly in Zoro’s arms, noticing Zoro looked at her with a smirk.

“You remember huh?”

“How could I forget?”

Zoro heard the sly in her voice making him smirk in response as he muttered under his breath “You won’t forget tonight either.” (Name) didn’t catch what he said but he but she had an idea and welcomed in making some more memories.

✨Rukia-Writes✨

[woodrokiro]

Bar Service (fic)

Fandom: Bleach

Characters/Pairing: IchiRuki

Summary: Bartenders--especially bartenders around the corner from her apartment--are strictly off limits. Restaurant AU. Written for @ichirukimonth . TW warning for mentioned child abuse. 

She doesn’t think much of the restaurant a few blocks away from her new apartment.

She always passes it to and from her work commute, of course. Maybe from time to time she glanced over, musing how it looks cute enough--a great place to take a date or some friends....

Before Rukia remembers: 1. She doesn’t have the time or capacity to date, and 2. She has no friends here yet… And probably won’t for a while, considering her lifelong difficulty making them in the first place. 

It’s fine by her, honestly. She likes throwing everything she has into her job, loves doing her best to earn a smile or laugh from her patients. That’s enough social interaction for her, and at the end of the day she can go home, pour a glass of wine, switch the television on to some silly drama and order takeout without mourning the “loss” of a Friday night.

So for the first few months that she’s living in Karakura: no. She doesn’t even think about stepping foot in Amore e Morte. 

Until she gets a particularly bad case at work. 

The fact that it was a foster child case alone makes her heart hurt--but of course, there’s always more with these sort of situations. 

A little girl named Hina, aged eight but looking so much smaller waiting there in her office. The social worker sitting with her--a woman named Rangiku, who Rukia knows a little and actually quite likes--squeezes Hina’s tiny hand before pulling Rukia to the side, quietly explaining the situation. 

Physical abuse from her former home where she had been for a year. Her teacher kept noticing bruises in odd places and finally called CPS, who did nothing for two months before the behavior escalated and Hina ended up in the ER.

Her new foster mom is a real nice lady, says she hasn’t been acting out or anything but… Rangiku shrugs, flashing a reassuring smile when the little girl looks their way. You know. 

She knows. 

So Rukia does what she does best: she goes to the little girl, introduces herself by her first name, and focuses on her work until she can sob angrily in her car at lunch break. 

And when her workday is done, when her emotions are fried and she’d really like a drink or three anywhere but her lonely apartment--she sees the restaurant’s sign, glowing warmly in the dusk light. 

Amore e Morte. Love and death. A weird name for a restaurant, she thinks, and wonders if the owners either don’t know Italian and thought the name was cool or are just uppity snobs. 

If you’d stop being so cynical you might go out and actually enjoy life. She can practically hear Renji’s voice scoffing in her ear now.

She parks her car at home before walking back over to the restaurant.

--

The outside of the restaurant is nice enough, but the inside is… Well. Lovely.

Brick walls painted white make the entire place look minimalist yet cozy. A couple of trendy paintings hanging sparsely through the restaurant makes the environment chic, but not overbearing. A few hanging lanterns bring just enough light to let everyone see where they’re going, but otherwise candles are utilized at each of the tables for a romantic touch.

Rukia sees by the sheer number of couples there that it is indeed a good place to bring a date.

And by the looks of one dish smelling deliciously of chicken and bell peppers that passes her by in a waiter’s hand, the food isn’t too bad either. Rukia’s mouth waters. 

“A table for one, miss?” 

Rukia startles from her musings, feeling rather silly as the bright and cheery hostess smiles patiently back. 

“Oh! No, I don’t think that’s necessary. I wouldn’t want to take up one of your tables. Do you have bar seating?”

“Of course! Right this way.” 

The hostess leads her into an adjacent room that sits tucked away from the main dining room. There’s still a couple of tables in this room, and two of the eight bar stools are occupied but it’s so much quieter here, the noise of the dining room a mere buzz. She breathes a small sigh of relief as she takes the stool at the far end. She wanted to be out and about, just… Not that out and about.

“Our bartender Kurosaki-kun will be taking care of you. I believe he’s just in the back talking to Chef, he should be right back.”

Rukia thanks her, taking a glance at the menu. 

She quickly finds out Chef Yasutora Sado’s menu inspiration is Mexican-Japanese fusion cuisine, which is… Interesting, considering the restaurant’s name is Italian. In any case, she’s fascinated. Rukia by no account considers herself a foodie, but the thought of blending traditional Japanese dishes with Mexican spices and turning them into something like sukiyaki tacos makes her stomach growl. 

“Can I get you something other than water to drink?”

Her gaze flickers from the menu to the well-toned arm extended out toward her, pouring a glass of water. Her eyes move up the arm to the man it’s attached to. 

A handsome guy, she’ll admit: if it wasn’t for the obviously bleached orange hair, the sword tattoo on his forearm peeking out from under his rolled sleeve, and the fact that he looked like he wanted to be literally anywhere else.

If she had to pick him out from a crowd, there’s no doubt she’d know him as a bartender. What a walking cliche. 

“Yes, I’ll take--” She didn’t even take a glance at the drink menu. She looks down quickly. “Sorry. Can I get a matcha mojito?” 

He nods, his hands suddenly flying through liquors and shakers and mixes to make her drink. “You ready for food, too?” 

“Any recommendations?” 

“Everything.”

She snorts. She’d be irritated by the subpar service if it wasn’t for his small smirk at her response. 

“Seriously, everything’s good here. If you get something you don’t like, drinks are on me.”

“Risky.” Rukia lifted an eyebrow. “You place that bet with every customer?”

“Every single one.” 

She highly doubts that, but she appreciates the trust in his workplace nonetheless. She orders a couple of small plates, and he tends to his other drink orders while she sips her own. 

The food, when it comes out, is… Infuriatingly good. Infuriating because she would have loved to have scored a couple free drinks off the arrogant punk bartender, but she’ll have to swallow her pride because the sukiyaki taco is absolute divinity. She sips her second drink, already accepting that she’s gonna have to admit to him she’ll be paying full price for everything she ordered.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like she’ll have a chance to gloat. From what she hears next door, dinner service has picked up and with that: drink orders. He’s doing as well as he can--hands expertly flying through the liquors, garnishing the cocktails with an expert flourish before passing them on to a server--but she can tell he’s feeling the stress, particularly when he reads his second to last ticket in the rush.

“Fuck,” she hears as he rolls his eyes, stalking over to the wine cabinet. A server comes by, concerned. 

“You need anything, Ichigo?”

He waves a hand, not turning to look at his coworker. “No, no I’m fine. Just annoying when I don't open a bottle before rush, that’s all.”

The server scuttles off to tend to her tables while Rukia watches him bang a (very expensive looking) wine bottle on the counter, clumsily ripping into the foil with an opener. At one point he cuts his thumb, and he half-hazardly wraps a paper napkin around it while he tries helplessly to pull the cork up. The wine opener doesn’t grip the bottle steadily a couple of times, she waits on baited breath to see if he’ll break the bottle. After a few dangerous-looking test runs, he manages to hoist the cork up, cursing out a “fucking finally” at the sound of the cork popping.

The whole thing must have taken ten minutes.

Maybe it’s the matcha mojitos finally hitting her, but she can’t help it. She laughs. 

He shoots her a wild look and she covers her chuckles with the back of her hand. 

“Sorry, sorry! I’m not--it’s not funny. I just… That was the most atrocious opening of a wine bottle I’ve ever seen.”

Ichigo stares for a moment before scoffing, turning back to his (finally opened) bottle and pours the wine into a glass. “Yeah, well… I don’t do wine service here, lady.”

“Excuse me? That’s ridiculous. You’re a bartender.”

“Exactly. Bartender. I do cocktails, not fancy wine stuff.”

“Let me guess, you consider yourself a mixologist.”

“Don’t ever call me that. Ever.” He’s shaking his head as he moves on to his next order, but oddly enough Rukia feels like she knows he’s suddenly having a good time. “Like I said, I don’t do wine etiquette and all that. That’s for the servers.”

“I’m just… It’s hard to believe you’ve made it this far in a nicer restaurant’s bar without knowing how to open wine.”

“Not that far. I’ve been here for like, six months.” He shrugs at her inquisitive stare. “Old buddies with the chef. I bar backed in college where he was a line cook, so… And if he ever got sick of me, my sister is his sous chef. Then again, she’s more likely to fire me than he is, the brat.”

“Especially with you not knowing how to open a fine vintage.”

“Get over it. When it’s not busy I get one of the servers to help me.” He looks down, having seemingly forgotten about his paper toweled thumb. “Shit. Hang on, I gotta get a bandaid from the back--”

“I have some, if you want.” Rukia starts digging through her purse. “If there’s not some restaurant code for the kind of bandage you’re supposed to use, of course.”

“If it looks neater than a shoddy paper towel job, ‘should be fine. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Here.” 

He stares at her outstretched hand. She stares back, getting more irritated as she waits. 

“What?”

“... It’s a Chappy bandaid.”

“So?”

“So why are you a grown ass woman carrying around Chappy bandaids?” 

“They’re for my patients, for kids.” She’s telling the truth, technically. To say she also quite enjoys Chappy as a character does not need to be mentioned. “Do you want it or not? Swallow your manly pride or go looking for an ugly beige bandage while your tickets pile up again. Tick tock.”

“Fine! All right, already.” He takes the bandaid and starts unpeeling the paper adhesive. “You a pediatrician or something?” 

“Child psychologist.” Suddenly Rukia remembers Hina’s sweet face and feels terrible for not thinking about her once this entire dinner. 

“Jesus.” Ichigo’s shaking his head, pressing Chappy to his cut.

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

Maybe it’s the alcohol, maybe it’s the guilt, maybe it’s the fact that it’s such a weird response to her revealing her profession, but Rukia can’t help it. She narrows her eyes and crosses her arms.

If he’s uncomfortable with her sudden hostility, he doesn’t show it. He shrugs. “It’s just… I can imagine it’s a hard job. Sometimes, anyway.” 

Oh. 

“Oh,” she exhales. “I’m sorry, I--yes. It can be, yes.I just… That sort of response I’ve only ever gotten from people that don’t believe in the importance of mental health. ‘Shrink talk’ and what have you.”

“Nah, I believe it.” He’s finished his job of covering his wound and moved on to his next drink order. 

She’s abashedly stirring the ice in her glass when she barely hears him say: “I had to go to a children’s therapist once, as a kid. Helped me a lot.”

She raises her head to look at him. He hasn’t changed his facial expression, nor is there any change to his body language as he continues to do his job--but as a psychologist, Rukia can’t help but wonder whether she’s the first person he’s ever told this to. 

“Me too. When I was a child, I… A therapist had helped me, too.” She raises her glass and clears her throat. “To recognizing childhood trauma, I suppose.”

He lets out a short laugh at the sudden dark joke, a sound so quick and so… So nice she can’t stop the fleeting thought that it’s a sound she’d like to hear more of. She shoves it away. 

Bartenders are absolutely off limits. 

He raises the glass that he’s mixing a cocktail in. “Yeah. Cheers.”

--

Later when she finally picks up the check, she pauses.

“Excuse me.” She waves Ichigo down, maybe just a tad tipsy. “You got the check wrong.”

He frowns, taking the bill from her and scanning it. “What are you…”

“You forgot to put a drink on there. My third one.”

It clicks and he rolls his eyes. “Oh my god.”

“What? I’m being honest.”

“It’s on me.” He slides the receipt back to her. 

“But I didn’t dislike any of the dishes!”

“Take some advice, will you Doc? If the restaurant staff didn’t put something on your bill and you still got it, chances are: we wanted to give it to you.” They lock eyes for an intense moment before he clears his throat, looks down to wipe his (suspiciously clean) bar. “‘To childhood trauma,’ and all that. Now stop yapping so loud about it. You want everyone in the restaurant to hear about me giving out free stuff?”

She shuts her mouth at that, but one small detail about what he said is bothering her.

“It’s not ‘Doc,’ so you know. I have a name. It’s Rukia. Rukia Kuchiki.”

“Okay. Whatever, Rukia.” He turns around and waves his hand. “And I’m Ichigo. Just pay your damn bill and come back soon or whatever.”

And with that: she guesses she has a new spot.

[mysterylover123]

Mysterylover Watches Bleach Episodes 353 "Pigtails, Meet Hime"

1. Right off the bat we have Ichigo back in dark robes and with a sword! Yeah that feels like Bleach.

2. We get our basic Shonen fight where the hero gives it his all and the villain just catches his sword.

3. Just when the villain is getting into a good monologue his sidekick shows up to give Ichigo a harder time.

4. And now our main character has been turned into a black square. Um ok. This arc is so weird.

5. OK I see Ichigo is now trapped in a video game. That's pretty much what this whole arc feels like. Bleach does Wreck-it-ralph.

6. And apparently the villains are now playing Ichigo's weird Video Game. These two vs Chad apparently for Ichigo's Soul

7. The villain Duo and Chad trade blows for a little while. It's your basic back and forth and honestly not too exciting. I'm really missing Hime and Rukia right about now.

8. Oh, and apparently Ichigo's game is done cooking or whatever. Some gauge on the game box fills up. It's all very bizarre.

9. Pigtails is back! Thank goodness I needed my usual dose of Bleach Ladies Running around and kicking ass. She's saving Ichi's but, I think at least.

10. What's happening with Sado?! Damn Ichi's friends dropping left and right now.

11. OH SPEAKING OF! We finally check back in with Uryu and Orihime. Thank God I was worried the plot had abandoned them.

12. They go through some exposition and seem to have figured out what's going on. You two need to get on that now so Ichigo can get out of the video game or whatever it is.

13. Thankfully the weird cast has gotten Ichigo out of the game already. OK well that felt pointless.

14. After a lot of exposition that I really don't followe we cut back to Hime. She and Uryu have hashed out what's going on and Chad finally brings her in on the plot. Thank God now we've got the time reversing goddess on our side the plot should hopefully pick up the pace a bit.

15. And back to Ichigo and the fullbringers playing video games. Man they're just like all teenage boys.

16. OOH but now Pigtails is meeting Hime! Please be best gal pals I'm missing all the lady friends from the last arc.

17. Hime owns the whole ep of course as she sassily states she's over her issues with healing and ready to have Ichi's back. FYEAH that's our girl.

18. We end with Hime joining the video game and a little bit with Urahara. Wow that was a lot in one episode ya'll.

[m3kuroshirt]

GrimmIchi Weekend Challenge #4: When time comes

Words: Impact, Silence

Genre/Trope: Enemies to Lovers

Word count: 2793

Warning: canon typical violence, some language

Challenged by @m34gs

Summary: (5+1 - Enemies to lovers) - 4 times they were enemies and 1 they weren’t, then everything changed.

(1)

Seeing Rukia dying right in front of his eyes was the most terrifying thing he had experienced up until that day. The enemy had pierced her body like it was nothing. Ichigo was petrified for a couple of seconds and when the world started to make sense again he launched forth, clashing with that blue haired devil, who was laughing and enjoying all too much the blood shed. He launched with all his might at the maniac in front of him, swinging his sword at every opportunity. Yet, that bastard kept dodging and toying with him. Ichigo felt the lacerations in his skin gushing blood, and he could feel his inner hollow slowly and steadily trying to take control of his body. But before that happened he was on the ground, the enemy towering him and ready to swing a final blow. Ichigo was ready for the impact, but it never came. When he could focus again he saw Tosen right behind the blue haired man. Despite the adrenaline still running through his body, Ichigo didn’t know what to do; he didn’t have the strength to fight at the moment. Then, he heard a displeased sound coming from the blue haired man, and the next thing his mind focused on was the garganta opening and both of them stepping inside. But before it closed completely, the devil spoke:

“I’m the Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez! Don’t forget, shinigami!”

-x-

(2)

Training with the Visored wasn’t as easy as Ichigo had first thought, specially not with that sly annoying smirking guy. Still, after everything, Ichigo was confident that he could tap into his hollow powers for at least a few minutes now. Fear wouldn’t be the one thing that could make him hesitate in his next battle. The memories of losing control to his hollow were still fresh but he was certain that he was on the path to master its power. He just needed to keep fighting. Fighting with—

“He’s here.”

Ichigo was never good with sensing others reiatsu but for some reason the powerful presence of Grimmjow drew him in like a moth to fire. So, as soon as that spiritual energy hit his senses, he took off.

Facing Grimmjow again was a matter of… something. Ichigo wasn’t quite sure the reason behind his need to square up with him, yet, he knew he wanted to clash blades with the Arrancar again and beat him.

“What happened to your arm?”

“I discarded it. I don’t need it to defeat you, shinigami!”

They clashed and Ichigo decided it was time to test his new found power. The surprised expression on that ever scowling face stirred a dangerous feeling of pride and satisfaction in Ichigo. He was going to show the other that he was strong.

He swung a getsuga tensho.

Grimmjow clashed with him again.

Everything was exhilarating, he felt alive and in control, everything was going well and Ichigo knew that with just one more blow Grimmjow would be the one on the ground. It truly would have been his win if his hollow mask hadn’t cracked. If his time limit hadn’t been reached.

The opportunity to prove that he could take the other was gone. And Grimmjow laughed victoriously as he took his chance to get Ichigo on the ground.

Another victory to Grimmjow.

Ichigo would be finished for good now, if the maniac smile on the other was any indication. However, another Arrancar got in the way. He saw disappointment in Grimmjow’s features, but before he was engulfed by the endless darkness of the garganta, a promise to battle again in Hueco Mundo was made.

Ichigo’s whole body shivered in anticipation.

-x-

(3)

When Ichigo set foot in Hueco Mundo to rescue Orihime he knew deep down in his gut that Grimmjow would be waiting for him. He was stepping inside his lair, right into a trap - or so he thought. However, something stirred inside him when he saw that his enemy had rescued his dear friend from the clutches of whichever monster she was held captive. Seeing Orihime somewhat safe was a relief, a weight - he didn’t know he was carrying before - seemed to have lifted off of his shoulders, and now the only thing left to do was to proceed on wining the next battle.

Grimmjow was waiting for him, expectantly.

Ichigo could hear the drums of a violent battle soon to be unfold, his heart thumping in his chest fast and his whole body trembling from the prospect of seeing the blue-haired Arrancar. He was excited but terrified at the same time as he knew the high stakes of the battle he was fighting. Still, Grimmjow triggered something visceral that was consuming him little-by-little from the inside. Ichigo dared to say he felt pride for being noticed by the other, but the foreign, aching feeling that crawled even on the surface of his skin was— a craving.

Ichigo’s thoughts swirled his mind, still, he tried to keep his usual facade, burying any improper emotion deep down. That proved impossible as every single feeling increased tenfold the moment he saw Grimmjow standing close to him. And when that boisterous voice told him it was time to fight, Ichigo felt like he could let go the trigger of an invisible gun. So, he blurted out:

“Not here”

Grimmjow and his never ending devious smirks got the message loud and clear, both of them sprinting away from the spectators.

They clashed.

Swords lacerating skin.

Gushing wounds painting their skin red.

Grimmjow used his resurrection.

Ichigo released his bankai and hollow mask.

The thrill of battle was something that Ichigo knew all too well, and he wouldn’t admit that the feeling wasn’t all that unpleasant - specially for Grimmjow, who would never let him live in peace if he discovered it.

Then, Grimmjow’s rough voice from exhaustion reached Ichigo’s ears, “You came here to fight me, admit it, Kurosaki!” He laughed as their powers collided in another furious attack.

Ichigo felt a surge of panic as he realized Grimmjow could so easily read him, which made him wonder what faces he was making for the other to get to such conclusions. He wanted to counter, to tell the other that he was wrong, that he was fighting not because it felt good but because he had an obligation to… some greater good or something. In any case, he did have a purpose, he needed to protect the people who he loved. And if that meant fighting enemy after enemy so be it. But instead of denying the accusation, Ichigo chuckled and copied that same smirk the Arrancar usually had on the lips:

“I’ll always fight you.” Ichigo didn’t wait for a reaction from the other, and launched a getsuga tensho.

They fought with claws and teeth, almost literally. And Ichigo couldn’t avoid the thought that if they weren’t in opposite sides, they could have developed some sort of friendly rivalry. Grimmjow and his incessant thirst for the battle field and defeating strong opponents had spiked Ichigo’s interest as he had never seen someone so convicted on battling him. The Arrancar didn’t want to rule worlds, he didn’t care about others, the blue-haired beast just wanted a good fight and to be the king of whatever he thought he should be king of.

Ichigo’s thoughts ran wild and even though his focus was on the battle before him, Grimmjow had almost clawed his face off. Luckily, Ichigo’s quick reflexes saved him. A missed attack didn’t discourage Grimmjow one bit, as another powerful attack reached Ichigo, who kept blocking. For a split second, Ichigo noticed an opening as Grimmjow’s movements started to get sluggish and predictable. He lunged forward, releasing a getsuga tensho right on Grimmjow’s face.

The battle ended not long after.

Out of respect, he held Grimmjow by the wrist preventing his imminent fall on hard sandy ground. He left the unconscious Arrancar there, and shunpoed back to his friends. But, not long before Ichigo had reached them, Grimmjow was back at him, ready to fight - demanding him to fight. Ichigo lunged forward with Grimmjow, but this time Ichigo dropped his sword. He wanted to make a point. Grimmjow and his fight didn’t have to end there with one killing the other, they could go on and on forev— Ichigo paused for a second at the thought.

When Grimmjow barked some insults, demanding him to pick up his sword it was then that Ichigo was sure that they could keep fighting forever. And Ichigo knew he could persuade the other, make a some sort of contract, he was almost convincing Grimmjow that they could meet again at another time. And if it weren’t for the devil Arrancar number 5 to interrupt their exchange of words, perhaps they could have come up with an agreement where they could fight again.

Ichigo would take Grimmjow at any time, anywhere, and he was sure Grimmjow would too. The what ifs in Ichigo’s head kept flooding his mind as he saw Grimmjow on the ground, blood covering every inch of his neck, drenching his clothes.

They’d have been excellent partners. Ichigo thought as he prepared himself to not only defend his friends and himself but also avenge a fallen Arrancar.

-x-

(4)

With everything going to hell as per usual, Ichigo still kept fighting, an obligation to end another battle crawled through his very soul as he knew it was the only way to protect the people he loved. In the middle of all the crisis, Urahara contacted him to update him with some vital information regarding Soul Society and the Quincys. Urahara was in Hueco Mundo, and Ichigo still wasn’t sure what he was doing there, but it didn’t matter Ichigo was sure it had something to do with collecting data and finding a way out of the current situation. What Ichigo wasn’t expecting to hear was a well known voice, a voice that he had wished to hear for a long time now. It had to be HIM shouting in the distance.

“This voice… Is it…?”

He heard some more yelling and cursing before the call went silent for a second and then Urahara kept explaining… something. Ichigo didn’t pay that much attention, his mind was still swirling over the fact that he was sure he had heard Grimmjow’s voice. To think that maybe the Arrancar was alive and doing well stirred something in his very soul. Excitement and anxiousness ran through his body like wildfire, and Ichigo wished that he could see Grimmjow again.

-x-

(5)

Hell went loose. That was one definition of what was going on. Yet, Ichigo was ready to launch into a messy bloodied battle field once more. Another fight that in all reality wasn’t Ichigo’s but somehow he got dragged once more into it. He had fought too many “gods” and tricksters already, one more wouldn’t make a difference now. The only difference was his surprise to know that the remaining Arrancars would help. Even more surprised he was when he saw a Garganta opening and a very familiar blue haired Arrancar appeared before him.

“Grimmjow!” Ichigo gaped, suddenly the air he breathed wasn’t enough and he felt a knot forming in his throat.

Eyes immediately locking in Ichigo’s figure. Those electrifying blue eyes were as mesmerizing as Ichigo remembered them, and that scornful face hadn’t changed a bit. Grimmjow didn’t waste time, closing the distance between Ichigo and himself ready to have a quick fight. They stood in front of each other, eyes trained observing and waiting for any movements, any remarks, anything that could trigger them clashing their swords.

They probably would’ve started fighting already in any other situation, but another familiar green-haired Arrancar crushed him in a hug. At that moment, Ichigo not only heard but saw Grimmjow's annoyance. And for a second Ichigo thought he saw a glimpse of possessiveness in the other. After that, Ichigo got too involved with all the new people arriving and asking questions to really pay attention to Grimmjow. When he finally got the chance, however, he sat down next to the other and tried to talk. Grimmjow mostly scoffed and replied with dry and sarcastic remarks, nonetheless, listening Grimmjow bickering with others and hearing his hoarse deep voice directed to Ichigo affected the substitute shinigami in ways that he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. It wasn’t like they were friends, they barely even had anything in common - as far as a Ichigo was aware of. Yet, Ichigo was excited and glad to see Grimmjow again.

“Why are you helping us?”

“If Hueco Mundo is gone… Where else would I fight you?”

Right then Ichigo was sure that their bickering wasn’t only because they were enemies. Something had changed, the Arrancar Ichigo was looking at wasn’t his enemy anymore. Grimmjow was an ally but more than that the blue haired man was Ichigo’s rival, someone who brought to the surface Ichigo’s true nature; someone who understood Ichigo; who showed their feelings through actions more than words.

Which was why Ichigo panicked the moment Grimmjow lunged himself in the enemy's territory, chasing his opponent. And Ichigo’s heart skipped a beat when he had lost Grimmjow from his sight.

Despite Grimmjow’s reckless actions, Ichigo could see it was his usual pretend game of ‘I don’t care’ to cover the truth behind it: to have Ichigo advancing faster to the final battle. To have Ichigo unscathed as possible.

-x-

(+5.5)

Ichigo wasn’t sure what he expected after the war was over, after they defeated a God. However, he wasn’t expecting to not find Grimmjow. His heart sunk when he didn’t hear from the Arrancar. And even though the days passed by in a blur, Ichigo still felt an emptiness inside of him. Ichigo’s life went back to a mundane pace, he didn’t have anything overly difficult to handle, perhaps the most difficult thing now was his collage classes but he still aced them anyway as if they were the easiest thing he’s ever done. Still, it didn’t matter what he was up to during the day, once his head hit the pillow at night silence and peace wasn't something he had. Ichigo's mind wouldn’t quiet down, Grimmjow still haunted his thoughts night after night. By now Ichigo had realized what was going on with him. Not fulfilling the one thing he wanted long ago had made his mind swirl with thoughts of ‘what if’.

What if he had let his hormones talk when he noticed he had indeed a crush on Grimmjow.

What if he had kissed Grimmjow when he had the chance.

What if Grimmjow came back.

That thought alone branched a thousand more scenarios in his head. And even though no one had ever said anything whether or not Grimmjow was dead made everything worse. Because that gave Ichigo hope. A hope that kept growing day after day that Grimmjow would appear out of thin air in front of him.

Ichigo sighed. Another night he was having trouble sleeping. He had tossed and turned in bed a couple of times by now. Yet, the only thing he could think of was strong arms that could be embracing him if Grimmjow was there.

Ichigo turned around again, facing the wall. The window's curtain open, letting the moonlight dimly lit the room. Ichigo’s eyes glanced up to the night sky. He stared for long minutes, watching the bright stars flicker. He was almost closing his eyes, almost falling asleep when a shadow loomed in front of the window. He jumped out of bed fast, immediately grabbed his shinigami badge and without a second thought he let his body fall flat on the bed and he was in his shinigami form.

Just then he took a good look at the figure at the window.

He gaped.

Mouth slightly open in surprise.

Heart beating fast, feeling like it would burst out of his chest.

He swung the window open, and before the man hovering outside could say anything Ichigo drug him inside and crushed the other in a tight hug; face buried on the other’s neck, hands clutching a white jacket.

“So you missed me.” The man’s hoarse voice came out low and right at Ichigo’s ear.

“Fuck you, Grimmjow!” Ichigo blurted out, but he didn’t release the other from his arms.

“Eh? Took you long enough to tell me that.” Grimmjow laughed, as he nuzzled Ichigo’s neck.

Ichigo had a thousand and one questions for Grimmjow. And another thousand and one curses to be directed at the Arrancar too. Yet, all he could think of now was to have that man in his arms and not let him go; not to let him out of his sight ever again.

[pinkhairedlily]

Blue Fire Tree

Prompt: Everlasting (last day omgggg) | Gift for @tinaillustrations ! Hope you like this fluffy piece! I enjoyed writing this one. 🤗| Happy HitsuHina Week! @hitsuhina-week 💛💙

“Fire trees should be blue not red,” Ichika mumbles while filling in the traced pattern of the tree on the canvass as Hinamori gathers her unruly red mane into a semblance of a bun. Her charge was a Shinigami apprentice and had the hodgepodge attitude of both of her parents. She was sarcastic, blunt, inquisitive, passionate, and kind.

Renji thought she was the best person to teach his daughter common spells to start off her training. Not that Hinamori disliked being the resident kido expert. She particularly loved the monicker, but there were times she felt she didn’t deserve the title. Like today when, for some other reason, Ichika and her was blindsided by arts and crafts.

“Wouldn’t you like the flowers to resemble your hair?” Hinamori clips the last of the strands and looks over the child’s shoulder. The colors spill out of the lines and the scenery seems to change from summer to winter.

“But blue is the hottest color. Imagine trees blooming with the brightest flames, the most intense warmth, and the most lasting flowers.” Ichika finishes the piece with a last dash of blue paint. The apprentice turns to her and asks, “Does it look so desolate?”

“No, not really. To me, winter has always been warm.“

Someone coughs behind them to get their attention. Hitsugaya Toushiro, captain of the 10th Division, stands awkwardly at the entrance of the dojo with a tray of tea and pot of biscuits. It doesn’t escape her notice that he used the tea set she gave last Christmas, and this observation makes her feel giddy inside.

Maybe I’m just appreciative of people who use my gifts, Hinamori justifies to herself.

“Hello, Captain Hitsugaya. Is that for us or for Vice-Captain Momo?” Ichika greets him as she takes the tray off his hands.

The blush creeps on the captain’s face just as quickly as his brows furrow in annoyance. He quickly glares at the mischievous remark of Ichika and redirects his gaze to his equally flustered childhood best friend. “This was not of my own good will. I was threatened by Byakuya to take good care of his precious niece, and it just so happens that this space is under my jurisdiction.”

Hinamori tilts her head in a slight apology. “I hope we don’t bother you too much. Would you like to join us for some art session? Ichika loves to paint today.”

He almost says something, but he stops himself. His stance goes from alert to rigid, and tension fills the air. “Maybe some other time.” Ichika glances from her current teacher to the captain and back to her teacher again.

“Oh, sorry for taking up your time.” Hinamori slightly bows, unsure of what transpired just now, and Hitsugaya nods in return. Before he is completely out of her sight, she calls out to him again.

“Shiro-chan?” He glances back at the sound of his nickname. “Thanks for the tea.”

He smiles in mild annoyance before he flash-steps out of their sight. “It’s Captain Hitsugaya to you.”

--------------------------

“Something’s bothering you,” Rangiku says to Hinamori as she slides beside her in the ramen booth. “Your treat in exchange for my wisdom.” She proceeds to order her usual ramen and sake combo.

“How was your trip to the Land of the Living?” Hinamori asks, obviously skirting the issue she wishes to raise.

“Kazui is subdued and gentle like his mother, but somehow, he manages to get into fights with bullies on the street. It’s his Ichigo genes.” The combo meal arrives along with two shot glasses. “How are you doing with the chaotic devil spawn Ichika?”

“She’s progressing really fast with the kido, but she gets so distracted easily. It’s cute though that Renji and Rukia are not pressuring her. Great parents. How nice it must be.”

Rangiku side-eyes her while slurping the thick noodles. “How nice what now – “

Hinamori plays with her empty bowl and fidgets with her chopsticks. “To not be alone.”

She chokes on her noodles and quickly downs half of the sake bottle. “Oh, this is great news! I have someone on my mind who would like to be in your company forever.”

Hinamori gives no response and instead continues fiddling with her bowl. “How nice it is to be also like Shiro-chan, content and busy enough to be single. How do I become like your captain, Rangiku?”

The smile fades from the woman’s face and is replaced by a bustling vein near her temple. “I’m sorry what did that short man do or say to you?”

“I asked him if he would like to do some art with us, you know, help me with babysitting for a few minutes, but he literally stiffened like a stick. Seems like he doesn’t want to waste time with kids or do any family-related activities. Or maybe he’s just too busy, captain duties and all.”

And yet he took the time to bring you tea, a voice screams inside her mind.

“That’s….rude,” an exasperated Rangiku remarks. She pours a glass for Hinamori and decides on a plan. “Unless you’re seeing him as….?”

“Huh? Oh no no no.” Hinamori downs the liquid in one gulp, suddenly embarrassed by her friend’s insinuation. “We’re just friends, childhood friends. I…don’t see Shiro-chan that way.”

“Sure, whatever you say Momo. Do you want me to introduce you to some people?”

Hinamori looks up at her, doe-eyed.

“I guess that’s a yes.”

--------------------------

Hinamori actually forgot about her request to Rangiku as she and her student started to settle in a rather serious kido training. The plan apparently was set to happen after a week when she came across a bulletin announcing her quest for a perfect match through a one-day interview application. This was the first time Hinamori wanted to be swallowed by the void and never return to Seiretei.

She finds herself visiting Division 10 HQ every afternoon but to no avail since coincidentally, Rangiku has some errands to do in Karakura, and won’t be back until the date of the interview. Or maybe it has also something to do with Hinamori avoiding Hitsugaya and having to do all the explaining. And so she had no choice but to wait for the inevitable day.

“Uhhh Vice-Captain Matsumoto, you said introduce, not organize a whole dating screening process!” Hinamori’s voice goes a pitch higher for each word, but Rangiku is too busy arranging the people lining up to notice her.

Her current captain, Shinji Hirako, chuckles beside the blondie, amused by the growing line of eligible Shinigami singles in their HQ. “You are quite the eye candy in our division, huh. Didn’t expect you’d have this many suitors.” He squeezes his vice-captain’s shoulder as form of reassurance. “You should have told me, Hinamori. I could have set you up in an arranged marriage.”

“Captain, that’s atrocious!” Hinamori protests. She walks over to Rangiku to disperse the line, but Yumichika and Ikkaku move to her side and grabs her midway through her litany of objections. They lead her to a makeshift container with two chairs facing each other and a table in between.

“This is ridiculous,” Hinamori mumbles her breath, her energy already defeated by the two dumbasses in front of her.

“Well to be fair, Hinamori, this is a long time coming,” Yumichika says.

“And the result necessitates this kind of method so stop mumbling and screen your admirers, babe,” Ikkaku supplies. Irritated, Hinamori chases them off with two fireballs.

The first ten Shinigami ‘applicants’ were too insufferable as they were clearly aiming for the prestige of her position.

“If dating a vice-captain would give me a higher seat in Gotei 13 then why am I still single?” she bats the question to the 11th person who sat across her. When they didn’t give her an answer, she sighs, “Next please.”

“Would you know what’s my favorite brand of tea?”

“Uhh, Robusta.”

“I believe that’s coffee. Next please.”

“Hello, vice-captain Hinamori, I brought you peaches. They’re my favorite.”

“I’m allergic to them. I’m sorry. Next please?”

“What are your strengths?”

“Well, I can do shunpo.”

“That’s basic Shinigami skills.”

“…………..”

“…………..”

“I’ll see myself out. Thank you for your time, vice-captain.”

“I know you’re traumatized by Aizen-“

The container collapses as Hinamori summons Tobiume.

--------------------------

“I think I will be forever alone.” Hinamori looks on as her fellow vice-captains clean up the mess she incurred over the unfinished statement earlier.

“I’m really sorry if I did the whole thing over the top,” Rangiku tells her sincerely. She hugs the raven-haired girl and waits in silent for the commotion to die down. “Though the last one was really foul, and you were valid to be angry.”

“I was afraid I’d burn down Captain Shinji’s quarters.”

“You can, just to piss him off. The whole process is so draining, huh?” Hinamori nods at the observation. Rangiku continues, seemingly voicing her own thoughts, “It’s hard to put yourself out there especially when they don’t know batshit about you. Would be easier if you have common interests or when they’re already your friend.”

The last phrase is said so pointedly that Hinamori’s mind automatically pictures Hitsugaya. She runs along with her imagination. How easy it would be indeed to spend the rest of her life with him. And as if her mind conjured him, the 10th Division Captain comes into view alongside Ichika. It looks like her student dragged him to the unfortunate event.

There’s an angry glint in his eyes that Hinamori noticed. It was the torn expression he wore when she wounded her knees back when they were kids, the same frown when she told him she would kill for the traitor, the same worried eyes when she almost died. But his eyes refuse to meet hers.

“You missed all the fun, Captain.” Rangiku stretches out her arms as she stands up. She gestures for the rest of their friends to come nearer so they could re-group and go home. “It was a bad plan, and I owe Hinamori one. So we’re kinda ready for your scolding.”

Hitsugaya stays silent throughout the shuffling of his fellow Shinigami, in fact he remains frozen for too long that Ichika elbows him to get a response out of him. “Come on, you ruminated one week for this, and I had to physically stop you from harassing the interested applicants.”

“Shut up, Ichika,” the silver-haired captain mutters.

“I’ll tell on you to Uncle Byakuya!” the redhead sticks out her tongue and runs over to the side of Rangiku.

More annoyed than ever, Hitsugaya grunts and storms off towards Hinamori. “I’m not here to scold anyone. I’m here for the….dating application,” he gulps amid the collective gasps that ran through the group and the muffled laughter of Rangiku who clearly foresaw this.

“Well, what can I say, but fucking finally!” The blonde swigs a new bottle of wine from inside her robes and goes to do a little crowd control.

Hinamori’s eyes get a little bit bigger, and she stares at him with mouth agape, but she lets him grab her hand, in a gentle manner that he usually does, and brings her to the farthest fire tree in the area.

“Shiro-chan, what did you mean……” She continues to stare at his hand who somehow refuses to let go of her yet.

Ironically, he is also staring at the same hand, unsure whether to let go right now before he can actually say something. “I don’t know why you had to go through all of that.”

“I’m..I’m still confused, to be honest. It was just a passing feeling of loneliness, and I rambled to Rangiku which she took seriously….” Hinamori knows she is starting to word vomit out of nervousness, but she halts when he finally lets her go. Maybe she has misunderstood his presence again.

Hitsugaya raises his palm to her. “Would you let me…uhhh…word vomit this time?”

She slowly nods, rather shocked at his insistence, and even more so when he chooses to ramble.

“Momo, I have a cold reiatsu. My touch is never warm. But I know you like green tea, steeped in warm water for exactly 10 minutes, and that you don’t put sugar. You are afraid of storms, and you need a blanket around you to calm down. You like watermelon, but I think it’s because I subjected you to multiple summers of conditioning. You’re my childhood best friend. You’re hardworking. You are a kido expert. You earned your right to be a vice-captain, and you’ll do greater things.

And I know it’s not enough to say that I know you, I’ve always known you, but will it be enough for you to allow me to stay beside you?”

Hinamori leans against the trunk of the fire tree, breathless from his train of words. “Oh my god, this is too overwhelming. I thought you hated being not single.”

“What?” Hitsugaya looks at her with a puzzled expression.

“You don’t like Ichika. Or doing art…with kids.”

“Well, Ichika is a brat to me, but she’s a good student and will be a good Shinigami like her parents.” He nurses his temples for the growing headache. “Momo, listen to me.” He steps closer to her and makes sure she’s only looking at him. “I panicked because I visualized you and me….and you know. It wasn’t right when I haven’t even told you anything yet.”

“Oh.” The moment of realization dawns on her. “Oh, that’s great.”

“So we can finally go back to how we were.” Hitsugaya lets out a shaky breath as he sits on the grass and watches as the red petals of the fire tree shower them lightly.

A blushing Hinamori crouches down to his level. “Well, not quite. You should know, Shiro-chan, your reiatsu has always been warm and comforting to me.” She reaches out to take his hand and intertwines their fingers.

Hitsugaya smiles as he silently thanks himself that he outgrew her by two inches so he could easily slip a kiss on her forehead. “It’s Captain Hitsugaya.”

--------------------------

Ichika tries to see beyond the wall of spectators but Rangiku is not letting anyone through. She huffs indignantly, wanting to know whether her incessant prodding and pestering of the oblivious Hitsugaya bore some fruit. She has no choice but to juice out all the details later on from her uncle.

On second thought, maybe she won’t have to. Blue petals swayed with the light breeze of the wind, and on the far edge of the Fifth Division’s HQ is a lone blue fire tree.

[emiruem]

I was telling this hitsukarin AU to Abby, but then I realized that it seemed to have become just a mountain of text, although at the beginning I was just explaining the concept. I'm not a writer and I have big problems with language, but I wanted to tell this story ahhabahahah.

An adult Karin, who became a member of the women's football team of the Japanese national team, therefore, often tours to different countries.

She hadn't seen Toshiro since high school, when he helped her protect the city from the empty ones when Ichigo lost his strength. She was in love with him ( but of course they both never realized that their feelings were mutual)

After Toshiro left, then she decided that she would forget these feelings and move on with her life. Then she started dating one of her childhood friends, they studied together and he was in love with her for a long time too.... they had a long relationship

One day during the football cup, which was held in Korea, Karin realizes that she is pregnant with her boyfriend's child. For this reason, she decides to skip the season and return to Karakura.

At the same time, General Shunsui decides that it is time for the soul society to change in order to lag so far behind the human world, but for now this is only his initiative and he needs to discuss a lot of things with the council 46 later, so he sends captains who have lived in the human world for some time ( captains-vayzards and Toshiro) to prepare reports on the human world, which will allow the general to convince the council 46.

Karin returns to Karakura and when she comes home, she realizes that her boyfriend is cheating on her with some other girl while she is away for work.

and...karin is hysterical from the fact that the person with whom she lived for so long betrayed her, and she is also pregnant from him and does not know what to do, she has already told yuzu about the pregnancy and is already afraid that ichigo and her father will think about all this. She has nowhere to go because she absolutely will not return to this guy in their shared apartment so she returns to the kurosaki house where there is no one.

Ishshin went to Naruki for a medical samet, Yuzu lives with Jzinta in another place and Karin does not want to bother them, Ichigo and Rukia are now in the soul society.She simply locks herself in "her former room" and succumbs to hysteria and apathy.

Her ex-boyfriend calls her constantly, but she does not receive these calls because she does not want to hear anything from him.

She hears the doorbell ring and thinks that most likely it was he who came. Therefore, she loudly shouts "get out, I'm even sick of seeing your face" through the door.

In response, she hears Toshiro's voice: "I knew that so much time had passed and you wouldn't want to see me"

she is surprised to understand who exactly came.... in even greater hysteria, she slowly opens the door looks into toshiro's face, not understanding what is happening at all

He sees her and understands that everything in her life is "WELL, NOT OKAY AT ALL" his feelings, which have only grown and grown so much over the years that he came to see her right after he received his gigai, were greatly inflamed in his chest from anger at something that caused her such obvious mental harm.

She let him into the house because she just couldn't do it any other way. she told him well, in general, everything that happened because she just couldn't do it any other way. She needed to tell at least someone this, he just listened to her and she knew that he would not condemn her for her situation and story.

She end with the questions " what should I do now, Toshiro ? This child, what should I do with him?

* a moment of emotional tension*

Toshiro comes up to her and hugs her , he says that since he is here now, he can't leave it as it is, he will help her in everything that will be in his power.

He almost says, " I can stay and be close to you and this child". He already loves Karin and knows that he will love the child that will be born to her. In addition, his mission is very long and he can afford to stay close to her for at least the next 10 years in the most difficult period. Of course he has nothing in this world and he will have to try very hard to have a child and take care of Karin.

Karin understands exactly what Toshiro means and cannot reject him... she is afraid of being left alone and losing her first love again, his embrace is warm and his presence really gives her confidence that everything will be fine with her and her child.

Toshiro calms Karin and gives her a sense of security and tenderness that she has been missing for a long time in past relationships.

She is already beginning to believe that she will live quite happily with Toshiro , who told her about his mission and completely showed his true feelings for her.

That guy also appears soon, but Toshiro will send him away with the phrase " you are not worthy of being the father of the child that Karin will give birth to"

it even comes to a fight....but what is the point of a person fighting with a trained shinigami and everything is fine BUT

one day, Toshiro wakes up in their already new rented apartment from a scream

Karin, screaming in pain, wakes him up and says that she urgently needs a doctor, Toshiro is horrified to see blood flowing down her legs. Terrified, he still calls an ambulance and tries to use therapeutic kido to help Karin

Karin still loses consciousness and is admitted to the Isida's hospital. Genicologists and obstetricians diagnose "miscarriage provoked by a strong nervous and hormonal breakdown" while there was also a " threat of death of a woman in labor"

Toshiro can only wait at the intensive care unit with a stony face, but internally realizing that now most likely there is going on in horror that now he can lose both Karin and their child, he just sits silently completely in shock

Abby s point:(totes unrelated note but what if she dies but he can't go back to soul society because of his mission, by the time he goes back to ss, she's already with family, without any memory of her living days anyway )

He no longer even believes that everything will end well, because he is primarily a shinigami and understands when people are on the edge of life and death.

When the operation was just over and Karin was still unconscious. The obstetrician recognized Toshiro as the father of the child and laid out all the information about the condition of Karin and her fetus to him

Toshiro, who no longer hoped for anything at all, realized that the worst had happened on the face of the obstetrician. Therefore when he was informed that Karin was still alive his eyes were already ready to shed a few tears of happiness

but this was replaced by frustration when the obstetrician said about the death of the fetus. The doctors reassured him saying that judging by the tests and Karin's general condition, she will be able to have children later when her body recovers

but toshiro silently realized what a blow it would be for Karin who found it difficult to love this child and as soon as she love him she immediately lost him

the obstetricians told him to issue documents for Karin's admission to the ward and he was not there when she woke up and the doctor told her about what had happened to her

Karin felt only pain and fear for the child even more than for her own life, but when she woke up, it became a little easier for her in the hospital. She felt tired and empty. Obstetricians reported that it was not possible to save the fetus Later, doctors will say that Karin was very lucky, cuz her body was always trained and always led a healthy lifestyle.

she realizes that she has lost her child and this leads her to complete emotional burnout. When Toshiro walks into her hospital room and sees her awake, she slowly turns her head in his direction and says softly: "I lost him"

"Yes, I know, and I'm sorry I was completely useless," Toshiro takes her hand,his facial expression twists and he looks away.

Karin does not react in any way she looks into  empty space

......

Toshiro understands that she will need a lot of time, so he decides that he will give her as much as he can give and he  will not leave her as long as he can be near in this world.

[hashtagartistlife]

ichiruki greco-roman mythology au!!

- Kurosaki Ichigo as an ordinary human who loses his mom at a young age, a la canon - Kuchiki Rukia as the goddess of fate

- At seventeen, Ichigo goes to the local temple dedicated to the goddess of fate and demands she tell him how to alter fate so that his mom can live 

- Rukia replies (through her priestess) that fate is not something that is so easily altered, but if he is determined, there is a long quest involved to prove his worth 

- Ichigo agrees to take up the quest and sets out on his way

- Rukia, despite being goddess of fate, is quite fond of mortals who wish to defy fate-- she has seen many mortals attempt this quest before, and she's made a habit of disguising herself as a human woman to accompany them so she can see firsthand what drives them to want to rise above the destiny set out for them by the gods

- Of course, nobody has ever managed to finish the quest. (It's just as well, because the final step in changing one's fate involves arriving at the main temple of fate in Olympus, killing the current god or goddess of fate, and taking their place. Rukia didn't see fit to tell Ichigo about that part. After all, nobody has finished the quest in all her years of being goddess; Ichigo is not likely to be any different!)

- (Except Ichigo's Ichigo, of course he is.) 

- So Kurosaki Ichigo sets out on the long and arduous quest to shatter fate and Rukia, disguised as a human woman, slots herself into the quest with him, occasionally giving him hints and guiding him in the right direction, and as with every other AU, they slowly fall in love, until-

- until Ichigo gets along further in the quest than anybody has ever done before, and Rukia starts to worry

- She didn't expect this. He's getting so close to the end. What if he really does clear the whole quest? What if he really does reach her temple in Olympus? Will he kill her? Will he be able to? She's seen the way he looks at her-- does she look at him in the same way? She didn't expect this. She didn't expect any of this-- Ichigo clearing the quest, the potential confrontation at her temple, all these feelings--

- She tries to dissuade him from the quest. She tries fighting, yelling, tears, persuasion-- but Ichigo's adamant. He's started this quest, he's going to finish it.

- And while she agonizes about a decision, they eventually come to the final and most dangerous step of the quest, just before her temple on Olympus 

- Somehow in this last leg of the quest ichigo almost gets killed, and Rukia sacrifices herself instead without a second thought

- Ofc, she doesn't actually die, being a goddess and all-- the only thing that dies is the shell that she inhabited while she was pretending to be human, and she wakes up in her temple in Olympus, safe and sound-- but in that moment, she realises that she probably loves Ichigo enough that she wants to see him succeed in his quest, wants to see him change fate, wants to see him happy and triumphant-- even if it means sacrificing her life for it 

- Having come to this conclusion, she waits in her temple for Ichigo to arrive, because by now she's seen enough of him to know he will succeed in clearing even this last hurdle 

- Ichigo, meanwhile, just saw (or thinks he saw) Rukia die in front of him, for him

- He clears the final step in his quest in a haze of grief and rage and makes his way up the steps of the temple of fate, ready to throttle this so-called goddess of fate, whoever the hell she is, first his mom, now Rukia--

- and when he finally arrives at the temple, it's Rukia waiting for him at the altar, but cloaked in divinity-- there is no way to miss it. She's not human. She's a goddess-- and if she's waiting for him here, at the temple of fate, then she must be-

- he falls to his knees in front of her. Rukia steps up to him, wearing a smile.

- 'the final step in changing fate is killing the goddess of fate and taking her place.'

- She curls his hand around a holy dagger, and points the tip of it at her heart. For a second, Ichigo grips the dagger hard, presses the tip of it into her chest, but then his grip loosens and the dagger falls to the floor. Rukia looks at him, asks why--

- "When I saw you here," he says, "I thought-- I should feel betrayed. You lied to me the whole time, kept me in the dark, made me fall in love with you only to tell me that this is the final step in my quest-- was it all just a game to you? Something to pass the time?"

- Rukia starts protesting, that she might have kept him in the dark about this final step but that doesn't mean she didn't mean everything she said and did to him, that she really does want him to succeed and that's why she's offering her life--

- "But none of that mattered. I should feel betrayed-- I don't. The only thing I felt when I saw your face was relief. I was so-- so glad that you weren't dead, that you were still alive, that you still exist--and you think I'll be able to kill you? I can't. I can't, Rukia." 

- Rukia, again, protests, tells him not to throw away what he wanted so much just for her, that she can't be the barrier to him getting his mom back and being truly happy, he can't choose her over his mom-- 

- except she's a moron. Ichigo doesn't even want to bring his mom back from the dead anymore. Sure, his family was torn apart in the aftermath of her death, but they all eventually picked themselves up and kept living their lives, as the living tend to do. They all healed in various ways, it was just him that was stalled in the past with his grief and guilt. Going through the quest with Rukia let him heal from the trauma of losing his mom and towards the end of the quest, he'd decided that, even if he managed to clear the whole thing, he won't ask to bring her back from the dead-- he just wants to see her again, one more time, to say sorry, before letting her go completely.

- And then Rukia died, and he cleared the last leg of the quest solely for the purpose of bringing her back. So how the hell does she think he'll be able to kill her? Rukia thinks Ichigo's just like... throwing away his life's purpose because of her when in reality, she'd been his new purpose and reason to live for a long time now.

- Ichigo tells her all of this. It takes some convincing, but eventually, Rukia comes to terms with it. And then she says, well, alright, fine. no fate defying today. But you did clear that whole quest, which is pretty impressive. I can grant you a wish for that. Did you want to see your mom again? 

- And Ichigo says no, I want you. 

- Rukia splutters-- you can't just say that, I'm a goddess, what does that even mean-- in what capacity--

- Ichigo: whatever capacity you'll let me have you? 

- And then they fuck in her temple against the altar of fate! (Whenever Ichigo thought fuck fate in his younger years he didn't quite expect this outcome but hey, he'll take it.)

- ..... ok that last part is just in there for self-indulgence, doesn't actually contribute to the point of this AU. I haven't thought about how this AU actually ends, either -  Ichigo probably becomes some minor god of something obscure and they both live on Olympus happily ever after or whatever. Not important. The main  point i wanted to make with this AU was: 

- Kurosaki Ichigo, local fate and destiny hater, being brought to his knees when fate comes to him wearing Rukia's smile, being unable to defy the fatedness of Ichigo and Rukia. Ichigo will fight tooth and nail against every other fate that the world presents him with, but when the universe shoves Rukia in his direction and says, here, she's your fate, she's your destiny-- he can't fight that, doesn't want to fight that. The concept that Rukia is the only fate he will accept. Great Concept! The end! 

<IR AU: Fate and the Hero> FIN

[taichoh]

old friend

pairing: hitsukarin word count: 5298 (oopsies) warnings: none note: this is my self-indulgent fix-it fic because i can. technically post-canon, there's a hint of ichiruki but this is about my babies, who aren't babies anymore. :') ao3 link

Upon entering her adult years, Karin was coming to terms with her growing list of responsibilities, wishing she was just a kid again when the list was much smaller. Everyone can relate to missing things from their childhood, kicking a soccer ball around on a summer day, only having to stress about a simple book assignment instead of the plethora of things you’d worry about now, coming home to a full house even if it was chaos sometimes.. Most of the time. The house wasn’t quiet now, but it wasn’t as chaotic either. Karin missed it.

Ever since Ichigo decided to live the rest of his life in the Soul Society, things calmed down a bit. She was happy for him, he’d gotten a semblance of his life back after the Winter War, but it only took a couple years for him to crave a different life. She saw how morose her brother had gotten going day by day without a certain short black haired, newly appointed captain, and it only took him this long to realize some things everyone else could plainly see.

The Human World was boring anyway. She wouldn’t tell anyone yet, but she planned to follow in her brother’s footsteps. Karin wanted to wait much longer of course, for a multitude of reasons, one being she was stubborn and wanted to do what she set out to, fully prepared to hurdle any obstacles, and there were plenty.

But now she’s here, having finished school and now fully runs the family clinic with her sister. For a while their dad was with them, but after a very heartfelt conversation and a boatload of tissues, they all agreed that his time in this world was up as well. It was funny, how instead of his daughters, he was leaving the nest and going back home where he was welcomed, especially after the war. They missed him but Karin and Yuzu didn’t miss how much easier it was for their dad to smile whenever he visited. Still, with their brother and dad in a different world, reaching out wasn’t as easy as a phone call away, though Karin figured it wouldn’t be long before Urahara remedied that with yet another invention.

She still hangs out with old and new friends, but feigning disregard to Yuzu’s nagging about finding someone to settle down with was getting old. And so was she. Well not really, but she felt old. She was only in her 20s but she considered herself old when she found a gray hair in her hairbrush. It was most likely stress but regardless, the next thing would be wrinkles or joint pains and the stress from that is just gonna cause more grays to show up so really there’s no upside. She missed the days before puberty, and how much she didn’t care about her appearance. She doesn’t much these days either, but even Karin, with her confidence, had a list of insecurities that piled up over the years. It was part of being human she supposed. She missed when all she worried about was beating the stupid juniors at soccer, getting a scrape on her knee, grass stains, etc.. But she was skirting around the elephant in her room. She couldn’t ignore it any longer. She missed him. A lot. A huff escaped her as she stood at the sink in the bathroom connected to the clinic. She was watching the last of the suds from the soap disappear down the drain when she thought of him for what felt like the first time in ages. But it hadn’t been ages, she thought of him just a couple of days ago, when Yuzu mentioned yet again that she noticed how lonely Karin seemed. It was a bit harsh but Yuzu was right, and Karin knew she was just worried for her sister. “Have you talked to Hitsugaya recently?” The question caught her off guard and made her stop halfway from spooning more soup into her mouth. The answer was no. They hadn’t talked in quite a long time. She half expected to see him amidst the aftermath of the war, but she assumed he had a lot on his plate, so the idea was dismissed. “We barely talk to Ichigo or dad Yuzu, they’re all busy over there.” She knew it was bullshit the second it left her mouth. Acting nonchalant was getting harder and harder around Yuzu, because even though Karin is skilled at it, her sister was one of a handful of people that could break down those walls with a single push. The others are her brother and a boy with snow white hair and eyes you want to swim in, as much as she hates to admit it.

“But I remember you guys being pretty close, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you reaching out... I know you miss him.” It was so embarrassing being read so easily, and it was making her lose her appetite. “Yuzu he’s a captain, he’s got plenty on his plate as it is.” I’m sure I’m the last thing on his mind. “So is Rukia and she along with the rest of the gang visits us ! And from what we’ve heard from Ichigo and Dad, things have been going pretty smoothly.” Yuzu had a point. The last time they saw their family including Rukia was maybe a month ago. Karin was just getting in her head. She knew Toshiro probably wasn’t that busy but she also knew that he wasn’t the type to sit and do nothing. He was a busybody. When he wasn’t eating, sleeping, or visiting her, he was working. And when the time between his last visit continued to stretch, she figured he must have been as busy as can be. Or, maybe he forgot about me. “Toshiro would never forget you!” Yuzu shouted across from the table, making Karin jump and her cheeks flush. Did she say that last part out loud? “I can’t believe you would even entertain the idea! No one could forget you !” Even in an accusatory insulting tone, Karin knew Yuzu was being pragmatic. She always was. Karin groaned and hung her head over her dinner, not wanting to look at Yuzu’s disappointed glare. “I know,” she said dejectedly. “It’s just... A lot has changed. There was a war, we’ve graduated, Ichigo and Dad moved out. It’s been a while.” Karin couldn’t even remember the last time she saw him. It’s been years. Karin was a full fledged adult in her 20s. She wondered if he’d grown an inch or two by now. She missed whenever he’d roll his eyes at her height jokes. “Well I think it’s been long enough.” It seemed Yuzu was going to take matters into her own hands. Getting up from her seat, Yuzu started gathering their empty plates and explained her plan,“Ichigo, Rukia, and Dad are coming to dinner soon, so when they go back you are going with them.” This made Karin open her mouth to object but was immediately cut off, “And don’t use that excuse about leaving me alone. I can take care of myself, and I can call Jinta if I need to.” Karin sunk into her seat as she watched her sister clean up their dinner. Yuzu’s mind was made up, and Karin knew better than to argue with her. Every Kurosaki had the potential to be increasingly scary when they wanted to and that included Yuzu. Karin shivered at being at the mercy of her sister’s wrath hidden under that bubbly exterior.

So, it was happening. She was going to the Soul Society. To see Toshiro. After years of no contact. That’s fine. The more she thought about it the more her thoughts turned intrusive, and it was taking everything in her to not punch her reflection. That would end up with bloody knuckles and a broken mirror, so all Karin could do was take another breath, and leave the bathroom. Yuzu’s plan was panning out, as days from their conversation, their little family reconvened over dinner and it was time for them to go back home. Karin excused herself to go to the bathroom and grab her bag of necessities that Yuzu forced her to pack because apparently her trip was extended to a couple of days and not hours as Karin presumed. When it was announced, Yuzu simply explained she had some extra work to do so she would join next time, which everyone accepted much too easily. “You ready?” Ichigo asked as Karin rejoined them all on the main floor. Karin nodded and gave Yuzu a small smile which she mirrored and nodded as if to say ‘good luck’. The four of them filed onto the empty street and before she knew it they were walking through the Senkaimon. Isshin and Ichigo walked a couple steps behind Karin and Rukia as they walked the dark path that was the Dangai. Karin had only done this a handful of times, to visit her family but it still gave her chills everytime she made the trip. “So, you got anything planned?” Rukia’s voice broke her out of her reverie. She glanced over to see Rukia smirking, looking a little too proud for Karin’s liking. What she could be insinuating?

“Uh, not really.” Karin tried her best to seem nonchalant, but Rukia was getting better at reading Kurosaki’s much to Karin’s chagrin. Her only plan was to see Toshiro, but she’d probably visit some others. A simple little reunion. Part of her wanted to confide in Rukia, but she had a feeling Rukia would absolutely make sure this reunion happened. She gulped willing her anxieties to shut the hell up. “Ooh, I see, so Captain Hitsugaya has no idea you’re coming.” “How did you-” “Oh please, I’m not as dense as your brother,” Karin suddenly appreciated the distance between them and the two idiots behind them, who looked to be having their own conversation after she took a glance over her shoulder. “Plus Yuzu might have filled me in.” Her smug grin made Karin’s blush deepen but there was no hiding it.

“You can’t say anything!” Karin kept her voice low but still full of urgency, which Rukia took in earnest. “Of course Karin! I would never! Unless you wanted me to, and I won’t say anything if you feel the need to deck the Captain in the face, though I have a feeling you won’t want to-” “Why would I want to punch Toshiro?” Has he done something? What did he do? Does he have a girlfriend? What happened? Her mind was racing at Rukia’s admission and the urge to turn around and go back home popped into her head.

Rukia only sighed at Karin’s confusion, “Well according to Yuzu, it’s been a long time for you two. And he never reached out. When me and Ichigo parted ways when he lost his powers, I couldn’t reach out to him as much as I wanted to. And I wanted to. So badly,” Rukia’s voice turned solemn and Karin relaxed, suddenly thinking about how much she envied their relationship. They were so good together, and they’ve been through so much, yet they managed to traverse all those obstacles and found each other again.

Karin vaguely wondered if she’d ever have that kind of connection with someone. Suddenly Toshiro’s name was written all over her mind, but she was getting ahead of herself. Just because she’s had a crush on him for years and years doesn’t mean he feels the same. He could already be with someone for all she knew. Rukia was right, Karin might want to punch Toshiro after all.

“Anyway, he’s had all this time and he hasn’t visited! I’ll have you know things have been just fine in the Seireitei, so really there’s no excuse.” Rukia sounded like Yuzu, and they both had a point, but- “That could go both ways though.” Karin admitted, frowning and going to scratch the back of her neck. “Well I suppose, but I still think the Captain should’ve done something. He always visited you didn’t he?” “Yeah, but I’ve been to the Soul Society before, and I chose not to go see him or anything.” “Why not? That doesn’t seem like you.” Rukia was so right. It was not like Karin at all. If she was her younger self she’d kick down his door and demand him to abandon all paperwork for a game of soccer. But that was younger Karin, who barely considered her crush on the Captain of the Tenth. This was older Karin, now an adult who had to deal with her feelings. Ugh. “I know. I guess I didn’t want to bother him. He is a Captain and all. And now that I’m older I kind of understand that it’s a lot of responsibility.” Once again, she was spouting absolute bullshit and Rukia was prone to picking up on it after dealing with this family for so long. “I’m disappointed in you Karin,” She said with a hint of mockery, not meaning it wholeheartedly, but still being genuine, “It might not be my place to say, but I know I’m not the only one that noticed how much happier Captain Hitsugaya was in your company. Don’t forget I’m a Captain myself, does that mean you think my relationship with your brother hinders me in being one?” “Of course not! I never meant to-” Karin exclaimed, immediately sorry for her backwards thinking, but instead Rukia chuckled. “I know, I’m just saying. You’re right in that we have a lot of responsibilities as Captains, but you know Hitsugaya, he’ll take on more than he needs to, and you were always good at reminding him there was more to life than paperwork.” A couple moments passed as Rukia’s words sunk in. Karin considered herself an adult but she still had so much to learn. She was so grateful she had someone like Rukia to show a different perspective. Karin had to admit, she had definitely mastered the art of handling a Kurosaki. They’re family was so crazy and complicated and Rukia had no problem at all. In the back of her mind Karin reminded herself to kick her brother’s teeth in if he didn’t propose soon. There was a difference though. Ichigo and Rukia lived in the same world. Karin and Toshiro did not have that luxury. But that thought was for another time. Just focus on one thing at a time. Soon Karin was squinting when a bright light washed over the group as they entered the Soul Society. The sky above them was blue with only a couple of clouds hanging, a gentle breeze wrapped itself around Karin, and she felt oddly relaxed. She regrets not visiting more often, this could easily become her second home.

“Well it’s about time!” Karin noticed the voice immediately and watched the beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair walk up to them. “Lieutenant Matsumoto! What brings you here? We weren’t expecting a welcome party.” Rukia chimed in for Karin, who smiled at Rangiku. Just like it had been a while since she’d seen Toshiro, it had been a while for everyone else too. Rangiku and Karin managed to strike up a friendship when Karin was confronted by Toshiro’s second during one of their visits to the human world. Karin got that ‘don’t hurt him, or I

I’ll hurt you’ talk, which Karin quickly concurred and vowed to be a good friend to him. It shocked Karin to see her jaunty personality freeze over to solemnity, and immediately melt again after the serious words were said. She knew Rangiku wasn’t an idiot, she wasn’t a Lieutenant for nothing. Above all she was glad Toshiro had her. “I heard Karin was coming to visit so I wanted to come say hi!” And when she meant ‘hi’, that meant suffocating Karin in her bosom, and not for the first time. Though after learning first hand about Rangiku’s affectionate nature, she could understand how someone like Toshiro found it a tad aggravating. Karin smiled up at her as she pulled back from the hug, “It’s nice to see you again Rangiku.” “Likewise,” Rangiku smiled gently and stepped back, “So what does Karin Kurosaki have planned for this visit?” She seemed much too hopeful for some reason, and Karin had a feeling she knew what it entailed. Again, Rangiku wasn’t an idiot. But lying wasn’t Karin’s forte so she might as well be honest. “I was gonna visit Toshiro, if he isn’t busy.” She gulped. Rangiku’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning, squealing and giving Karin another hug that once again suffocated her. Seems like that was exactly what she wanted to hear. “Oh wonderful! He’s not busy at all, and he’ll be overjoyed to see you! You really grew up didn’t you?” Rangiku’s narrowed gaze and lilted voice made Karin blush. Her tone was definitely suggestive but she wasn’t wrong. Karin had a small growth spurt amidst puberty, her hair got longer, still in a ponytail. “Who knew you’d grow up into such a beautiful woman?” She didn’t know how but her cheeks flushed even more. “Wait until the Captain sees you-” “Rangiku!” Karin exclaimed, throwing her hands up to cover her face, suddenly feeling self conscious. Not only at Rangiku’s boldness but the fact that Rangiku, who was one of the most beautiful women she’d met, just complimented her like that. Rangiku only laughed, brushing a lock of hair behind her shoulder. “Come on let’s go!” Suddenly Karin was being dragged away to the 10th barracks no doubt, left to look over her shoulder to watch Rukia smirk and give a wave before turning to leave the gate as well. Rangiku let Karin catch her breath, and they walked in silence, until Karin had a thought, “I can’t help but wonder if Toshiro’s grown at all, like an inch maybe? He told me you guys aged differently here.” “Oh yes, we do! I haven’t done much aging in a looong time. Kind of a perk dontcha think? I’ve looked like this for ages,” Rangiku smiled brightly while flaunting and she had every right to, she knew she was beautiful. Karin would be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t envious. As a human you have so little time compared to the time you have as a shinigami. Though the profession is dangerous, so there’s that to consider. Karin remembers when Toshiro explained the way of reincarnation and the way things worked for souls. A weight she didn’t realize she had was lifted from her shoulders that day. “And Toshiro?” Rangiku’s smile turned mischievous again but Karin was too busy looking ahead at the continuing street. “The Captain’s grown a tad, nothing too drastic.” “Oh.” Karin chuckled, that meant she’s probably still taller than him. “So I can still make height jokes.” She smiled smugly, looking forward to his disgruntled face, it was so cute when he got embarrassed. “Oh I’m sure,” was the last thing Rangiku said before they rounded the corner and they arrived at their destination. Karin’s stomach started doing somersaults, and while it had to do with the fact that she was incredibly nervous, she was also very excited. But the reality of their time apart is hitting her once again and she didn’t know how to feel about it. “Don’t be nervous.” Rangiku’s voice was suddenly softer, warmer, almost motherly. And once again, Karin was being read like a book by another shinigami. Damn, she needed to work on her poker face. All Karin could do was give her a small smile before she realized they were right outside of his office. All that stood between them was  a sliding door, and suddenly her hands were clammy.

One last gulp, “Okay,” was all Karin could say.

And Rangiku being Rangiku, gave Karin no time to think before she promptly shouted, “Oh Captaaain!” and slid the door open with gusto causing Karin to jump and for the captain seated at the desk to snap his head up in alarm. But it was not Toshiro. No, Toshiro was cute and albeit attractive according to Karin, and this man was not cute. He was downright gorgeous. He was devastatingly handsome. Nope, not Toshiro. This was an imposter.

But, amidst her gaping, Karin noticed his hair was white, like Toshiro’s, and his eyes were that cerulean color that made her weak in the knees, like Toshiro’s. He was sitting in Toshiro’s seat, wearing a white haori like Toshiro did, and they were definitely in the Squad 10 offices. So, it has be- “Toshiro?” Karin croaked. Her eyes blown wide, her feet still planted at the doorway, while Rangiku buzzed next to her watching the whole exchange.

“Karin?” Oh god, even his voice was an octave lower. His eyes mirrored hers in that they were wide with shock. He couldn’t believe she was here, in the Seireitei, in his office. He also couldn’t believe that was Karin. But the more he looked at her the more he saw the familiar features he made sure to memorize, along with some noticeable new ones.. She was beautiful, and he thought he had the term defined already with a picture of her. It was still her, but he needed to update his memory it seemed. Her hair was still jet black and in a ponytail, only it was longer and a lock laid over her shoulder, her eyes were still as captivating as always, a grey abyss he’d gladly succumb to if asked. And her body, she was definitely an adult. She definitely grew up, but, so did he. What must she think of his new look? He was too starstruck to notice her eyes darken and her brows drop down in anger. “I can’t believe you!” Her fury replaced her nerves and she was suddenly marching across the threshold, fists tight at her sides, “You are such,” She grabbed the nearest object to her which was a pillow from the couch in the middle of the room and lobbed it at his head which Toshiro barely dodged, “an asshole!” Another pillow, only this time he caught it with both hands, using it as a shield for the third pillow. Toshiro wasn’t unfamiliar with Karin’s wrath, however, that didn’t mean he was happy with being at the end of it. Speaking of, her aim has dramatically improved. Anyway- “Karin-” “It’s been years Toshiro-” “I’m sorry-” “You could’ve visited-” “I know I-” “And you went and grew up! Looking like a fucking model all of a sudden and not even telling me!” A model? “Let me explain-” “No you are going to listen to me!” Karin was panting, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she stood in the middle of the room staring him down. Toshiro fought against his instinct to shout back and promptly shut his mouth, his brows creased in regret. She was shaking with rage and she was on the precipice of breaking something, preferably his face, but- shit Rukia was right. Again. “You don’t get to sit there on your ass when you never bothered to visit after years Toshiro. Years! When Ichigo got back from the war I had to hear that you were okay from him because of course I worried. I thought we were friends, I thought we-” “We are friends!” Toshiro couldn’t take that disappointed look anymore, but she was wrong. They were friends. Friends. “I thought we were closer than that.” Karin finished her thought, her energy depleting, shoulders starting to sag. He didn’t know which was worse. Karin angry, or sad. He just didn’t like it when she was upset. And he was the cause of it. Seeing her hang her head made his heart ache, and not in the way it usually did when he looked at her.

Toshiro had all the words he wanted to say on the tip of his tongue, but he was speechless. Part of him knew this day was bound to come around, he just wished he could’ve been prepared. But then again, expect the unexpected, especially with Karin. He couldn’t hate himself more than he did at this moment.

“I’m so sorry Karin,” His voice lifted her head and they locked eyes, his full of regret and hers, disappointment. “I-” This was harder than he thought, his chest hurt, his hands were stiff, and all he wanted was to see Karin happy, but he didn’t know how to make it happen, but she deserved an explanation. “I should’ve visited you. I wanted to. So badly. Even after things settled, I was so caught up in everything, I didn’t realize how long it’d been. I lost track of time. I’m sorry Karin. I was- I am an idiot. The last thing I wanted was to make you feel neglected and I went and did it anyway.”

Taking a hasty breath, he pushed himself to stand, rounding his desk and standing in front of her , only the usual roles were reversed and he was now looking down on her. No, it didn’t feel right. He towered over her and yet he felt as small as can be. Karin was still silent, ignoring his height for the moment, though she wasn’t entirely surprised given his changes. Changes she wished she could’ve witnessed sooner. Her eyes were glassy, tears on the brink of falling down her cheeks, but she willed them to stay. Until she watched Toshiro drop to his knees and bow before her, resting his head at her feet. She almost didn’t hear the tiny gasp that came from behind her, she’d completely forgot Rangiku was here, witnessing this all. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness Karin, but still, I’m so so sorry.” Karin was.. astonished to say the least. She expected an apology, but she didn’t expect this. Toshiro did many things, overwork himself, scowl, eat unhealthy amounts of amanatto, but he never did anything half-assed. Here was Toshiro Hitsugaya, a Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads, bowing with his head at the feet of a simple human. Maybe not simple, but human nonetheless. Any bystander would argue that this was completely preposterous, but they wouldn’t know that Toshiro viewed Karin in the highest regard. He knew how much he royally fucked up, and he’ll spend the rest of his life trying to make up for it. “Look at me.” The closeness of her words startled Toshiro and he slowly lifted his head to see her knelt in front of him. Now it was his turn to be astonished. It wasn’t unlike Karin to be gentle when she wanted but Toshiro couldn’t understand why she would want to, he neglected their friendship for years and now she was smiling at him. Expect the unexpected. Toshiro held his breath. Karin huffed and her smile widened, “Don’t be so dramatic,” she didn’t stop herself from using her finger to brush his hair from his face. The gentlest touch, from hands that could do plenty of damage. She should’ve socked him, he knew he deserved it, he would’ve taken it. But instead, she was caressing his face. Not that he was complaining, it was just oddly uncharacteristic of her. She really had changed after all this time. They both did. Toshiro kicked himself for not witnessing it. “I forgive you, but don’t do it again.” She smacked his head, not enough to actually hurt, but enough to get the point across. He spoke too soon. This was definitely Karin though. Rubbing his head, he slowly sat up and back on his haunches, even while hunching, he was still looking down at her. It was so odd to him. But he’d have to get used to it it seems. At least there wouldn’t be any more height jokes. “Thank you, I don’t deserve it.” He said, watching Karin get to her feet and offer her hand to help him up. “Yes you do. You said sorry. That’s all I wanted. We’re adults now.” “You threw pillows at me.” “You deserved that. ” “...Yeah.” Toshiro sighed. A moment of silence passed until Karin spoke again. “I mean it, don’t do this again. I won’t be so forgiving.” “It won’t happen again. I promise.” Toshiro gave a gentle squeeze to her hand which he never let go. The simple action made her blush, looking down to their entwined hands and up his arm, which were much longer, and then to his broad shoulders, and finally back up to his face, much higher than she was used to. “And don’t grow anymore. You’re like a giant now. It’s gonna be annoying having to look up at you.” And as easy as that they were back to bickering, the tension filtered out of the room as easily as a simple breeze, and they were both thankful. “For what it’s worth, I’m not a fan either.” Toshiro noted, scowling at his new height and features which he still hasn’t gotten used to. All these years he complained about his height and now he realizes he should’ve been more careful with what he wished for. And on top of that, he was getting an increasing amount of attention which Rangiku pointed out was thanks to his sharpened features. Not his cup of tea. “I never said I wasn’t a fan.”

Karin’s words made blood rush to Toshiro’s face, did she just- Maybe it’s his cup of tea after all, if it’s Karin’s attention. That being said, he’d never wanted anyone’s attention more than hers, and now that he has it, he’s just a little alarmed. But in a good way, he thinks. And it made it easier to smile at her, even with a face redder than ever. But it was quickly replaced with a frown when he realized his Lieutenant just witnessed this entire scene with Karin, where she yelled, he bowed, she smiled, and he blushed. Her squeal made both Karin and him wince, looking over to see her jumping up and down with glee, then running over to pull them down into an uncomfortable hug. “I’m so happy for you too!” Rangiku was sniffling, squeezing the life out of them, and when she let them go they gave each other a confused glance before Toshiro spoke. “Why are you crying Matsumoto?” He asked, slightly worried and as well as confused. Karin looked softly at Rangiku, but still confused by her tears. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. You guys are just too cute together!”

Karin almost interjected to say that they weren’t together but what stopped her was another squeeze of her hand from Toshiro. A slow shake of his head told her to just let it go, and with further thought she realized convincing Matsumoto of anything was a difficult feat.

Later, after Toshiro escorted her to her family for dinner, dropping her off with the promise of seeing each other the next day, Karin thought about how even when walking through the Seireitei, they continued to hold hands. Toshiro paid it no mind it seemed, and while Karin wasn’t complaining, it still puzzled her.

Correcting his Lieutenant from time to time was normal for him, especially when it came to bold claims like this, but this time he refused. Did Toshiro reciprocate Karin’s feelings? Something about his behavior made her feel elated as well as nervous, they’d have to talk about it eventually. It would take some time for her to completely forgive him, but if what happened today was any consolation, everything would be okay.

They both can definitely sleep better tonight, and there was always tomorrow.