#❊Rukia Headcanons - The Heart and Mind❊

[rukia-kuchiki-divided]

how does your muse get local news and updates on current events? are they up to date with all the latest goings-on or do they prefer to avoid it altogether?

(In Soul Society and Living World)

In Depth Headcanon Questions | Accepting 

~Rukia usually gets updates when in the World of the Living with her soul phone. It updates automatically with hollow alerts and orders from the soul society.

She *may* have had Urahara modify it so that it also allows her to watch cute rabbit videos and play mobile games. Oh and of course, there is the countless stream of memes she sends to Ichigo asking for their meaning and then to Renji describing their meaning to him. Whether the true meaning of those memes gets lost in translation.... is another story lol

When in the Soul Society, they use those hell butterflies which are beautiful but not nearly as much fun as her soul phone. Which will have service in the Soul Society thanks to Urahara!~

[seii-fantasy]

hey can I ask for some Lu Bu headcanons with a human s/o? thank you!

But it kinda might be hard fr me to do it but ill try it anyways

Yea why not , its rare that somebody do our Big Flying General

Lü Bu Fengxian Headcannons

Credit to the magnificent @rukia-writes

Lü Bu is known to be a harsh man when it comes to battle/fighting

Somehow he took an interest in you , after you met and sparred with him

At first he will denying it , until the both of you met again

He doesn't know , how to explain it so he might ask Randgridz or Cheng Gong (But mostly Cheng Gong)

If you love fighting as well , then you both are going to the war together

If there's something he do love clearly with you is your strenght

No one will get near you , bcs you know Lu Bu got that kind of aura and face that means "Dare to come near my s/o , ill bite your head off:)"

But he loves you tho

Only you have the privilege of riding Red Hare with him (Cheng is secretly jealous of you and he wont admit it)

And Red Hare loves you , and loves it when you're patting his head

And Lu Bu got chosen to be the first fighter for the humanity

You got the privilege to meet his Valkyrie , a beautiful and kind hearted woman named Randgridz

You told Lu Bu to not be harsh on her , while doing the Volundir

The fight didn't go well as planned but you had one thing in mind after the fight of Lu Bu

Avenge Lu Bu , which it means , kill the one who killed ur Love

Oneshot time

Warning : Nudity and swearing only

"Hit harder like a man not like a kid!" Lu bu said to his new soldier "Yes ! My lord !" The New soldier yelled .

At Lu Bu's tent , he sat on the couch , tired from the training session as you came back with your armor full of cut and blood "Finally somebody i love is back from her training session" he sighed , you came , sat on his lap and gave him a quick kiss before standing up again and went washing yourself .

Everything was alright until you felt a presence next to you, you looked who it was

And it was none than your lovely giant (Dont tell Lu Bu , i say that or i might disappeared !) You sighed and whispered "Why in the world , when im taking a quick shower you always feel the urge to come with me?" You smirked knowing the answer that will come "What ? Can"t i take a shower with the woman i love?" He smirked back as you blushed and looked away , "You're an asshole !" You muttered under ur breath to which Lu Bu chuckled "The one you call an asshole right now , is your lover" you start to giggle and he suddenly lift u up and kissed you passionately

And you two kept laughing all night with ur jokes.

[bleachbleachbleach]

who is your fav fav character from bleach?

if you want you can separate answers for male/female or for shinigamies/arrancars/etc 🤲🤲🤲

meow 🐱 have a great day

Whipplefilter:

Hitsugaya! 😭🥰 He was my favorite when I first read Bleach ~15 years ago and he’s still my runaway favorite now, having come back to it in 2020. He’s who I think about every day, whether I’m spinning out fanfic scenes in my mind or lovingly returning to some microdetail in canon or just building out completely inert, ephemeral headcanons that have no intended use. He’s who I’ll go full Close Reading on—every bodily expression! Every linguistic tic! I want to know it! He’s a character about whom I feel so intensely that I feel like the only way I can convey that love with the fullness and specificity I’d like is to write him in fanfic, and even that is something I think is really, really hard. I’d say the impulse, "I want to write you" is peak love for me, but I guess really it’s "I have to write you," which is the peak atop the peak. I just really love him, I cry.

I think he has such an interesting way of perceiving the world and of understand who he is and where he’s placed in it. He has these really incisive reads of things while also simultaneously knowing absolutely nothing, and often knowing that he knows nothing. Like, he’s willing to accept the WIP of it all, but is really aggressive about doing the work. Narrating your fights is a typical convention of shounen, but I am so tickled by the fact that at multiple points an opponent issues a taunt or points out a weakness and he’ll just be like, "Yes" and go on to explain in detail where he thinks there’s room for improvement. I find this completely bananas but also very endearing. He manages to be very forthright and straightforward and the squarest person alive while also constantly doing or saying things that are inscrutable and/or outright arcane. This doesn’t even get into the other 119 things I Think Are Core to Hitsugaya, which is why I feel like I can’t actually tell, I need to show. It also feels very personal, so I get self-conscious and shy about it/worried that I am going to overburden everyone around me with the magnitude of my blorbo feels, even though this is literally what fandom and Tumblr are putatively for.

After Hitsugaya, my favorites are Byakuya, Renji, Rukia, Matsumoto, and Hinamori; they move around in terms of in what order they appear. Then Hisagi, Akon, and Mayuri. Thennnn probably like… Ashisogi Jizou (Zanpakutou Rebellion Arc) and Sasakibe. I’ve probably made some horrible erroneous omission here and there are characters that outrank Ashisogi Jizou and Sasakibe but this is what my heart is saying right now.

ippoddity:

One time I tried to make a list of my favorite Bleach characters, and then I realized that it was impossible to make a tiered list. So then I tried to make a mind map thing of my favorite characters and it was so sprawling and ever-changing that I had to scrap the whole thing. If I had to choose some favs that are consistently at the top of the heap, I think I would have to go with Aizen and Renji. Aizen has long been my fav, ever since my first go-around with the series years and years ago. I think he’s probably one of the best manga/anime characters of all time. The deception! The motivations! The power! But also, the fallibility and the loneliness 🥲. Renji because who doesn’t like an underdog story? Renji is one of the first characters to bring humanity to the shinigami, because he shows that they are more than just their military training, they have regrets, and the capacity to love. Plus, he just looks really cool.

Other favorites which I am incapable of ranking: Hisagi, Byakuya, Ishida. And then the next batch includes Akon, Mayuri, Matsumoto, Ukitake, Ichigo. These groupings have very permeable membranes, and characters move in and out of them all the time. If you asked me in a month who my favorite characters are, I would probably give you a different answer lol.

[kamitakes]

hierophant and the world for the tarot hc meme!!!

tarot headcanon questions!

05. the hierophant: what are your muse’s morals / ethics? do they follow their moral code strictly?

Following similar patterns in his symbolism, there are 2 key things that are reflected in Jūshirō's morals and ethics: his role as a captain in the Gotei 13 ( how he personally follows tradition, honor, and duty ), as well his deep attachments to people ( how he believes in the power of the individual and the ability to change ). He's maintained his role, despite his health, for a long time for a reason; he gets shit done and he's not afraid to act when a situation calls for it. But he's also a mediator, a calm and serene figure to those seeking refuge. He understands the depths of emotions, of the heart, of the soul, and of the spirit that drives people to action

His morals and ethics ultimately reflect the good he wants to do by others. He doesn't want to see others suffer how he's suffered and continues to suffer. Be it by listening to their sorrows or helping inspire them to change and grow, he's devoted to the people around him. He seeks to preserve life where he can even if it means choosing the difficult path. However, if he has to raise his blade, he does so knowing it's the last option available to him. If someone is truly heinous and is incapable of changing for the better, he'll act as a captain of the Gotei 13 would and terminate the enemy

The situations with Kaien's death and Rukia's execution are excellent examples of both sides of the scales, where he acts like a Captain and makes a call befitting his role ( out of mercy and fatherly / familial love for Kaien ), and when he tosses that duty aside to preserve life ( especially the life of someone under his command he deeply cares about ). Jūshirō follows his moral code strictly, regardless of the consequences it can have against him

21. the world: is there one thing in life that your muse must accomplish? what will they do when they complete that goal?

This man has one (1) goal: to see the younger generations surpass himself and the other elder captains to bring about true change in Soul Society. It's been a long time coming, especially with the way the Gotei 13 clings to stagnation through tradition. Mind you, he's just as guilty in upholding that stagnation with a slow approach to change and a difficulty to see beyond honor and duty as the other elder captains are

He understands that he, likely, won't be around to see the end result, but it doesn't mean he isn't filled with pride seeing them steps ahead of where he was at their age. If it were up to me, after Rukia surpassed him, Jūshirō would've been able to retire and live out the rest of the time he had left doing whatever he wanted, but no, Ti.te Ku.bo thought that was a stupid idea

[glacialdeath]

⚡️

send me a ⚡️and I'll fill out for you/your muse:

my first impression of your muse: Akon is bit forgotten in what I can remember of my earlier bleach days, breezed by except for maybe his name for me mostly. Although, I think he rose a bit in coolness and screen time with TYBW a bit when he's communicating with Ichigo and I enjoyed seeing a bit more of the rest of the 12th squad at that point too.

my first impression of you: I think I remember you being very sweet, and very kind, with a very good heart. :) And always having great interactions with many sorts of people.

my favorite thing about your muse: I think I would say he has an interesting blend of sensibility, some more wicked/blind inventiveness, where it's not too strongly always one way or the other. I don't know if I'm phrasing it right, but his mind is quite unique, which I quite like.

my favorite thing about you: You always seem to have such energy and have been a great force in the community that I've admired and enjoyed. You go very deep into characters, and put them in interesting situations that I love reading on, headcanon or interactions wise

would I ever consider shipping our muses: I don't think so? Friendship maybe?

a plot I’d like to see between our muses: Hmm, first sort of ideas are like, Rukia getting Akon to help her build a sort of obstacle course or something else for like some kind of silly event. Or polar opposite and I'm not quite sure how it would get there but possibly Rukia having some kind of motivation for getting him out of the lab or something? Rukia is an outdoorsy sort and I could see her pushing that on people that shut in too much maybe?? She has very little interest in scientific processes, but likes the results of them??

an AU I think would be interesting for our muses: Hmm, I'm not very good at AU's but maybe something like a modern verse would be interesting? And they're like some kind of business partners or something??? or proposing to work together?

[deivorous]

@mysteriousshopkeeper asked @“Do you think it's more than coincidence, considering where his Hollow hole is located, that Grimmjow loves to punch holes through peoples' torsos?”

Headcanon: Grimmjow commits emotionally invested homicide via injury matching his own hollow hole.

Grimmjow kills (a measly) 5 characters on screen: Luppi, Melony, Loly, Quilge, & Askin (chapters 240, 273, 500, 665/666). He doesn’t kill a single one of them with a blow to the abdomen. The count is:

Impalement: 1 (Askin)

Crush injury: 1 (Loly)

Sword strike: 1 (Quilge)

Cero: 2 (Luppi + Melony)

As you can see~ No deaths via abdominal impalement. The closest would be Askin or Luppi, but both are pretty clearly shots to the chest where there is a heart (or would be a heart if Luppi had one).

Grimmjow has, however, stabbed two people in the guts! Right about where his own hollow hole sits! Both of these people are our protagonists. Ichigo twice and Rukia once.

When Grimmjow states that Ulquiorra “punches a hole in the exact same location”, in the upper sternum, Grimmjow says Ulquiorra has does so because he has “taken interest in his prey”. This preference for leaving a hole in their prey’s body at the same location as a hollow hole is likely pervasive through Arrancar and Hollows, including Grimmjow.

The relationship between Grimmjow and Ichigo is too complex to fit into this post, but their fight is deeply personal.  Grimmjow has clearly stated on multiple occasions (including in the above panel) that Ichigo is his prey. Thus, it is no surprise that Grimmjow impales Ichigo through the stomach, not once but twice.

Grimmjow’s relationship and perspective on Rukia is not so neatly laid out by the text however, and we must make some inferences. Rukia is Di Roy’s killer.

Grimmjow’s first words to our protagonists are as follows (with some variation based on translation):

“What is this? Di Roy’s killers are still here and waiting around? You wont get away with this! I’ll have no choice but to kill you both!!” (202, pg 6)

Grimmjow’s deceleration is aimed at both Rukia and Ichigo equally, though only one’s reiatsu is still in the air from her recent victory. This is why Grimmjow goes for her first (despite thinking she’s the weaker of the two). He is mad that Rukia killed his fracción. He identifies Rukia as his prey, and he guts her in revenge.

TL;DR Grimmjow only aims for the abdomen when hunting people selected as his prey. This indicates that his killing them is personal.

[banzaitaka]

Hola prince Rukia, think of yourself first! It's possible to have the brothers Saiki and Aren with a self-deprecating O/N male (''man, do you love me? I'm trash????''), every time when told that he is handsome, he grimaces. What will they do?

----

O o f

Been there, are there

As I was typing the last section of this request, I got a YTTD request and I'm literally so happy

Saiki K Masterlist

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

X male! reader

Headcanon+Scenario: Aren Kuboyasu, Kusuke Saiki, Kusuo Saiki with a s/o who is self deprivating

Aren does not understand why (Y/N) would talk about himself like that, not in the slightest

And he has no idea how to deal with it either, so he just repeats his comment in a louder and harsher way -If he scares (Y/N) accidentaly, he'd panic, apologizing for his tone and repeating it again, softer

But aggressive love-talk, as I like to call it, is a standard thing when it comes to beeing his lover -He keeps slipping up in his old way of talking when he's excited or serious about something that involves you. And that includes him being loud and using certain terms that would be censored on the internet

"Why are you staring at me?", (Y/N) asked, catching Aren red handed. "Huh-?", Aren snapped back into reality, he got lost in thought as he admired his boyfriend's side profile for maybe the 6th time that day. He just couldn't help it.

The (Y/HC)-haired looked at Aren, expecting an answer to his question, as the other just stared back with wide eyes and a blush adoring his cheeks. "Ehehehe...", Aren chuckled as he rubbed his head sheepishly, looking to the side, "Well..."

(Y/N) rose a brow, "Well what?", he kinda felt nervous from this situation, not so positive thoughts already flooting his mind. Even though they did not match the purple-haired's embarrassed face at all.

"You're so...handsome...I- I couldn't help it.", Aren finally confessed, "Kinda got lost there, ehehe.", he bashfully smiled, looking back at his boyfriend. His smile quickly left his face though, as he saw the skeptical look on the other's face. The grimace made Aren's heart stop for a second.

"Hmmm, meh.", the teen averted his attention back to his phone as he scrolled through cursed Tumblr posts.

Aren frowned, "You're handsome!", his sudden outburst made (Y/N) flinch, turning his head to look at the purple-haired once again, "Huh?" Aren grabbed one of the other male's hands, looking him in the eyes with a serious expression, "You are handsome."

(Y/N) could feel Aren's hands starting to sweat, indicating that he was nervous. He was certain the former delinquent was not the type to lie about things like that just to make him feel better, no matter how much he cannot believe his words to be true.

"You're handsom-" "Yeah, yeah, I heard you-" "You're really really handsome!"

Kusuke comes prepared -This man has a whole powerpoint presentation, listing every thing about (Y/N) and why those things make him not only the most good looking, but also the best boyfriend to him

He goes over it like it's a school project he was eager to present the class -He really is eager to go over it, no matter how many times -He also updates it whenever there is something new to add

Kusuke doesn't show it, unless he feels really really soft, but it hurts him whenever his boyfriend talks himself down -It hurts both his heart and his brain -Heart because he loves him and just wants him to be comfident about himself -Brain because the mere fact (Y/N) doesn't think of himself as a king is just too inlogical for his brain to comprehend

Tapping his eraser on the table in frustration, (Y/N) tried to make sense of all the numbers and letters on the sheet infront of him. Even with Kusuke sitting beside him to help, he just couldn't get it in his head. And exams were in a few days! How was he supposed to pass?

"Your frustrated thinking face is cute.", the blonde stated matter of factly out of nowhere, a dreamy smile on his face as he took in the sight a little longer, "I should add it to the other things I love about you."

(Y/N) stared at him with a frown, "I'm sorry what? You have peculiar taste.", he looked back at his sheet, "Besides, how are you still even sane when your boyfriend his too stupid to solve a single one of these problems?"

"Even if your IQ level was way under average, that wouldn't cease my adoration for you. If anything, it would give me more reason to spend time with you.", Kusuke said, almost Prince Charming like. He gave his statement even more of a romantic vibe by giving his boyfriend a kiss on his cheek.

(Y/N) grimaced, not at the kiss, but at the other's words. He just couldn't believe it.

Kusuke's smile never left his face, actually widening when the two of them locked eyes again, "I know that expression." (Y/N) sighed, "Well, I can't help it."

The blonde jumped to his feet and clapped his hands twice. The lights dimmed and a projector started booting up, revealing a title screen that said "Reasons why (Y/N) (Y/LN) is perfection! Presented by Kusuke Saiki". This all took the (Y/HC)-haired off guard which is why he couldn't muster up a single word.

"Now then,", Kusuke began with an innocent looking smile,"I shall now present to you "Reasons why (Y/N) (Y/LN) is perfection!"!"

Kusuo can't relate, though he understands why his boyfriend has certain doubts and a negative perspective on himself -Not because he agrees, cause he definitely doesn't, but instead because he knows the world is filled with darkness and horrible people

That being said, he is another one who does not know how to comfort someone or how to make someone realize how much they're actually worth -The best he can do is reassure (Y/N) of his feelings for him, no matter how embarressing it might get for himself

His mind reading ability comes in very handy in this, since it makes it easier for him to determine how to approach a situation without making anything worse

(Y/N) stared at himself in the mirror, a frown planted on his facial features. Hairbrush in hand, he desperately tried to make his hair look good, at least acceptional. But minute after minute passed by without the male having a single positive thought about it.

Frustration was building up inside of him which led to more negative thoughts, by now, directed towards his face as well, slowly capturing his whole body. Everything he was insecure about.

Kusuo was quickly fed up with hearing all of that from his boyfriend, so he walked towards the open bathroom door and peaked his head inside, "Do you want me to help?", he offered after a few seconds of contemplating.

The (Y/EC)-eyed sighed, "Not even you can fix what is my face. Actually, my entire being." He turned around to look at the pink-haired, waving around with the hand he held the hairbrush in, "How could you even love garbage like me?"

Face indifferent, Kusuo looked at his boyfriend, //This again...I can't stand it when he says stuff like this.//, he watched (Y/N) turn around again with a sigh, waiting, //Come on, (Y/N)...Give me a hint. How can I make you feel better right now?//

//Please just hug me...Gah that's so selfish of me to even think that.//

There it was. A rather clear hint this time which Kusuo was really grateful for.

Reluctantly, since he himself was not used to physical affection, Kusuo walked up behind his boyfriend and wrapped his arm around his waist. Silent. Just standing there. All he could do is what (Y/N) wished for to comfort him. Until he figured out how to do it without depending on his powers at least.

[rukia-writes]

General 40 year old Monkey D. Luffy headcanons✨

Warnings: chest hair, Daddy kink

40 year old Portgas D. Ace

People who have been following me for a long time saw this coming a mile away. 😭

The D. In Luffy’s name means Dilf now is a 40 year old Luffy.

Luffy has that big bara chest now, personally I think Luffy would have chest hair but due to him eating the gum gum fruit that’s cancelled, but his chest is smooth and he has softest chest but once he flexes it of course becomes hard-but listen his beloved chest is still comfortable.

His hands have always been rated E for everyone, and still is, but now his hands are strong with thick fingers and with a prominent vein. When he slaps his on the ass they know.

😭 it’s the sexiest thing as well.

Luffy doesn’t try to be sexy either because even though he’s older he’s still a kid at heart. (And we love him for that)

But anyways, his s/o will be minding their business cooking, watering the gardens, training, whatever have you and Luffy sneaks up behind his s/o and gives one good slap to his s/o ass. His s/o is going to moan I’m sorry.

Don’t be mistaken either Luffy’s slaps aren’t harsh either. No, no, no it’s the kind of slap that conveys the message of: Daddy is here.

Still though, Luffy isn’t aware and he doesn’t mean to do it on purpose it just happens.

Also note: this happens most morning when he’s looking for his s/o on the ship, because we all know Luffy sleeps late, so when he finds his s/o he’s half asleep and half awake when he does what’s above.

Also! His sleep voice —-

Get a bucket and a mop-

40 year old Luffy’s voice is deep but it also has that hint of innocence of when he was younger. 😭 😭 enjoy that please.

He’s also good dad material, so amazing with kids because he still is one he’s just older and a dilf now.

Side note: modern au wise he’s the dad/guy who would get in the McDonald’s play pin (or something similar in the one piece world) and gets stuck.

But please he’s so handsome when he gets stuck in the tunnel.

Helpful.

Need someone to help carry that heavy stuff? Luffy is on the way, say no more. As a matter of fact he loves helping his s/o out in anyway he can he gets a little bit upset if his someone in his crew help out his s/o before he gets there.

Throws a little tantrum but nothing serious.

His bounty poster?

Whoever took his picture for his bounty deserves a raise because he’s smiling but ..he’s so handsome. (Dilf)

Both his s/o and Boa Hancock have his bounty poster in their room hanging up. (That he knows of ✨) he was flustered a bit when he saw it hanging in his s/o room or their room.

40 year old likes to play “old” by hunching over and says “I’m getting old, (Name) help me.”

It’s all an act, he just wants to bear hug his s/o. He has quite the grip too when he accomplishes this. ✨

In short, 40 year old is where it is at.

✨Rukia-writes✨

[recurring-polynya]

So I've had a thought and I need to know your thoughts on it. Do you think now that Rukia is all big, bad captain that Renji is still gonna be the one that leaps in front to take an attack for her? Because there's something about that that I fucking love and I need to know if it's just me.

You mean this?

This is what you love?

Because me, too, Anon. It pains me in my feminist heart, but I can’t get enough of this shit.

Unsurprisingly, I have spent a lot of time trying to justify my love for this, and I think it contains the answer to your question as well. 

The only Bleach ancillary book I own is Color Bleach, which contains those hexagonal battle data charts for all of the captains circa the Soul Society Arc. I have looked for similar charts for lieutenants or updates, but I couldn’t find any, so I made my own. These are what I imagine for Rukia and Renji around the time of the No Breaths from Hell arc. I’ve included a reproduction of Byakuya’s for comparison (again, this is Soul Society Arc Byakuya), but I tried to use all the other captains as benchmark points. Keep in mind that some of this contains my own headcanons, for example, I feel in my heart that Rukia should be very fast, even though I have no canon support for thus. For the record, Rukia’s numbers came out very similar to Hitsugaya’s, which I think is about right. Anyway, here we go:

Some footnotes:

I love that Rukia and Byakuya’s came out basically mirrored, where Byakuya is higher on defense and lower on stamina, but otherwise, they have a very similar, well-rounded skill set. This feels correct to me.

I am sure some people would rate Rukia higher on intellect and Renji lower. I really struggled with this one, esp in regards to the way other captains are rated. In the end, I gave them both an 80 because Hitsugaya and Komamura got 80s and that felt correct to me. Furthermore, I think that Renji knows a lot more about tactics and swordplay and Rukia knows more about history and lore and kidou, and so if you put them on a team, they might have an equivalent intellect of 90 or 100 because their areas of expertise are complementary. (In theory. In actuality, they turn into idiots whenever they are together, science cannot explain why this happens)

I don’t know why this charts list “kidou/spiritual pressure” and then only seem to rate on kidou (Zaraki got a dead zero, even though he has one of the highest spiritual pressures of any captain)

All three of them are fairly well rounded, you’ll notice, but where they differ is key. Renji’s greatest strengths, in my opinion, are his defense and stamina. I have posited before that Renji can take a tremendous amount of damage and I don’t think he’s even anatomically capable of bleeding out-- his big meaty heart is somehow capable of producing more blood faster than it can fall out of his body. I honestly really debated on giving him an Attack score of 90-- it felt too high to me. However, in the grand scheme of captains, I didn’t feel justified in putting it lower. After thinking about it for a long time, I decided that the issue is that Zabimaru is basically an area effect zanpakutou. I think that in a one-on-one fight, he doesn’t have as much sheer attack power as someone like Komamura (who has a 100 attack). On the other hand, there’s an episode where he mows down about 8 Menos who are conveniently standing in a line, and to be honest, that’s useful! In theory, Senbonzakura can do this too, but I think Byakuya has spent a lot of time learning to concentrate it, which makes him better at duels than Renji. Personally, I count Rukia’s sword attacks under “Attack” (rather than kidou) and her bankai, in particular, has off-the-charts destructive power. Byakuya and Rukia are also both extremely skilled and effective kidou users. 

I saw Rukia described as a glass cannon once, and I think this is very apt. Captain Rukia is tremendous offensively, but she just doesn’t have very many hit points, plus she needs cover for the time she’s transitioning in and out of bankai or setting off her attacks (I can never tell if her long-set ups are supposed to be happening in real time, or if it’s just, like, for effect. It always feels like her opponents are standing around, waiting for her to finish her little dance routine, which is very funny to me). In other words, it is perfectly rational for Renji to take hits for her, in fact, it’s good strategy. Sorry for the American football metaphor, but he’s basically like an offensive lineman, creating time and space for his quarterback (either Rukia or Byakuya) to get off a snap without getting sacked.

Also, it is well-documented that Renji somehow gets hotter the more beat up he gets, and Rukia is really good at making distraught faces when Renji takes a bullet for her. 

[pjinthestreets]

ok ok i know kubo sucks but hear me out. POST-[whatever arc ended the series it also largely sucked but i did read it. the quincy king situation]

this is a shipping headcanon post be ye warned

ichigo and orihime are married. they live w, and are simultaneously dating, ishida and chad. rukia and renji are married. they both hook up w the karakura ot4 but lets be realistic theyre dead and stuff so we’re talking weekend visits (rukia more often tbh)

NON-DEBATABLE: rukia and orihime obviously have a Thing thing. theyre in lesbians. rukia and ichigo are 100% soulmates, i think even people who dont Ship it recognize they love each other.

renji/ichigo goes without saying too i feel, the dick-measuring bro-yness does not stop from getting higher. im talking hooting and shoving each other up to and during buttsecks. when rukia is involved there’s a higher chance of serious vibes and tender momence but she does also laugh and goad them while they’re wrestling naked so you never know. shes been known to instigate mood-breaking silliness when shes nervous also

ishida/ichigo... same as w rengy honestly, the sexy rivalry is there. quite a bit closer n more tender w these two though the path 2 emotional honesty is paved with mutual avoidance lmao. the way they trust each other without understanding each other means a lot to me shut up.

i think ishida n orihime start dating each other before either of them confesses to ichigo lol, they bond over being into him and form a pact to get ichigo to notice At Least one of them. ichigo meanwhile doesnt even notice theyre dating much less trying to seduce him. ishidas making her cute dresses n shit hyping her up and martyrfully eating his heart out with gay yearning lmfao while orihime is like contriving situations for ichigo to hang out w them and be nice to ishida (which never work). i feel like ichigo kinda gets railroaded into going on a date w orihime which is like cool but confusing bc he... feels the same abt her as he honestly does abt ishida n chad so like?? maybe he doesnt Like Like her Like That? which, uh oh? and it takes orihime kinda spilling the beans abt the whole situation for him to be like oh. hell yeah then. can chad come too

chad and ichigo.... these guys were each other’s first love and you cannot change my mind lol. chad ichigo original otp chad ichigo for lyfe etc. while tatsuki was teaching orihime how to kiss these two were already emotionally bonded for life. you know ichigo saw him in a tank top for the first time and discovered his own dick the same night.

i think ishida has a big gay crush on chad thats not rly reciprocated, chad is�� bemused by him although overall thinks hes pretty alright. that post thats like >i fell in front of a 6′2″ guy >he helps me off the ground >”silly little boy you should be more careful” >instant throbbing boner  yeah thats ishida

i do think renji and orihime have Done Stuff in the context of rukia and ichigo foursome, but theres not like chemistry there imo they just end up Horny and sitting next to each other like so do we kiss now too or? ishida similarly doesnt have Vibes with rukia but finds renji annoyingly hot for how otherwise insufferable he is. especially funny when his whole thing is like ‘im an elegant and strategic problem-solver (not true) unlike you who is a monkey-brained idiot (more true)’ and they both end up in the same stupid situations together. chad meanwhile doesnt even participate in the rukia/renji group secks events, hes like ‘yeah im gonna go to the gym or something for a few hrs text me when i can come home’ hahaha

[rukia-kuchiki-divided]

Headcanon Q’s

When your muse enters a grocery store, what’s the first section they walk to and why?

At first, Rukia would be overwhelmed by the lights and sounds of the store. She’d watch the people walking around, casually putting items into their cart. Walking around, she would be drawn toward the art supply section, looking at the various sketchbooks and markers, grabbing anything rabbit related. Nearby would most likely be a few children’s toys. Rukia would look over that section, grabbing onto a cute rabbit plush that resembled Chappy the closest.   Afterwards, she would probably wander down the aisles, looking over at the various products and people. A family would catch her eye and she would watch them curiously, watching the parents interaction with their child. It would remind Rukia of her younger self and how that version of her would have given anything to have access to a store like this. How many people in Hanging Dog could have used these resources? 

Watching humans interacting and leaving with their groceries, knowing those families would have food and the children she saw well fed - all of this would warm her heart and only strengthen her conviction to protect humans to her full capacity as a shinigami. 

[godkilller]

@shirenui144

A more sombre question, but had me wondering... Has Gin ever cried / what would it take to make him cry? I imagine it would be verse dependent, but could a man this guarded ever visibly show such emotional hurt?

          out of character.  Why must you hurt me.

          But it’s an excellent question, and as you say too -- Gin has become such a guarded, numbed, and twisted man. He has, for lack of better wording, killed off that part of himself long ago. He is also one of the topmost guarded characters in Bleach, even Ichigo’s little trick of ‘reading his opponent’s heart’ during battle did not work on Gin. Gin was empty. Gin wasn’t even ‘looking at Ichigo’ with his heart when fighting. They did not reach each other. Gin is so utterly closed off from others and himself that there’s an eerie absence of self present in him, a swallowing abyss, intimidating and oppressive. Gin has also spent his entire existence isolated, he joined Aizen extremely young and thus his centuries-long otherness began. He cannot show emotions akin to Toshiro, who is often used in ways alongside Gin to show what happens if one shows emotions and weakness to Aizen Sousuke via childhood friends. Renji and Rukia, too, are used in ways that contrast Gin and Rangiku subtly in the background. Gin’s interactions with Rukia about Renji, and his interactions with Toshiro about Momo are to make Gin more of an other. He is removed, unlike them.

          So Gin does not despair openly like they do. He doesn’t shout or cry for the audience to see. He’s a villainous cold-hearted bastard.

          This is on top of the potent sense of cultural toxic masculinity and military way of avoiding / “dealing with” emotionally charged moments, not speaking of trauma, and the whole nine yards of suppression which channels into self-worth issues and a tendency for violence. Most characters in Bleach, and especially male characters, aren’t allowed to really stop and think about what they’re feeling, doing -- Ichigo being able to do a decent amount of that, yes, with his protagonist badge, but even then ?  It’s pathetically insufficient, barely a taste of what Ichigo actually should be experiencing, and no other characters are allowed to mourn losses or suffer long-lasting consequences for their actions, for injuries, for mistakes, for harmful words or acts. It’s an action / fighting series, the audience is here for big flashy swordfights and cool abilities, not emotions. Certainly not darker topics of PTSD and the like.

          You can slice it any which way, but Gin grew up as a child soldier. It can be contrasted by the fact that the majority of the Gotei 13 / Shinigami characters are shown, in flashbacks, as entering the Academy whilst in adulthood, becoming Shinigami once adults, with the exception of people like Toshiro, Momo, Hiyori, who all look / are perpetually young.

          Gin is a little older than Toshiro, for context, by the way -- and he is younger than Byakuya. Because Tite doesn’t know how the ages of his own characters work, it can be argued that Gin and Hiyori are possibly within the same ballpark in terms of ages. But like. Look at her. What the fuck. ANYWAYS, the point is ?  Gin’s young, and his trauma is fairly fresh. From the Winter War -- and then 110 years into the past to the Turn Back the Pendulum arc -- Gin spends the majority of his childhood either playing caretaker for Rangiku, who is actually a little older than him, and then killing; first, the three Shinigami that attacked Rangiku, then the Third Seat of the Fifth Division, and then many more likely during his career of observing failed projects at Aizen’s side, witnessing horrific Hollowification experimentations, and many more things. The crucial period of development for things like higher level empathy  ( Gin showcases it by sharing his food with Rangiku, a stranger, and then we see the absolute absence of it from then on )  and Gin swiftly enters into the midst of Erikson’s industry vs. inferiority stage of development; what does he have to offer the world ?  What can he become ?  Will he be good enough ?  This is the stage in which Gin makes the connection as well as makes peace with becoming a monster; this is what I’m offering, this is what I’m becoming, this will be good enough.

          He flipped a switch. It’s questionable whether or not Gin has the ability to cry once he’s an established Third Seat. It’s gone, it’s been swallowed down a hole so deep and dark Gin doesn’t want to go searching for it. He doesn’t want to cry. Gin already has a negative connotation connected to crying given his quote “I’m gonna become a Shinigami, change things for ya, so that you don’t have to cry anymore, Rangiku.” Not crying = good. Not crying means better. Rangiku crying over what was done to her was what embedded into Gin that he needed to be stronger. No crying allowed. None. In his mind, obviously, Gin doesn’t actually make that connection that ‘because Rangiku did this, I’ll do this’ no, he’s not so meticulously aware yet, but there’s certainly an imprint left on him from those earlier years in the Rukongai, dreading her tears, hating them, hating those men, and so crying = murderous intent. Crying = anger.

          If Gin cried as a child, he didn’t realize he was doing so. I can see him crying in his sleep from a dream, a nightmare, a jam-packed series of emotions hitting him whilst vulnerable, whilst unable to smile and swallow it all down. I can see him waking from it and wiping at his face, feeling utter detachment like an ache in his chest, an otherness, like that wasn’t even him crying, that wasn’t him. Gin wouldn’t think more of it, he wouldn’t dare linger on the thoughts. Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know.mp4 and all that jazz.

          Gin is more likely to lash out in anger than let himself cry. I have a headcanon / drabble somewhere of Gin screaming into his inner world, clutching at his hair, feeling so terribly close to crying but he can’t, it literally will not happen. He’s too bottled up and frustrated from that that when he actually has an opportunity to cry and it doesn’t naturally happen because he’s become so suppressed, it just outright angers him. Because he has latched everything up, lock and key, by the time Gin’s an adult -- if he were to cry as an adult, it’d be during a flurry of explosive emotions. He cannot just casually let loose, no, that door’s jammed shut, it’s been coiled tight in him. A pit of despair by the time the Winter War rolls by. Gin admits to feeling anxiety, dread, during that conflict -- a sign of slowly coming undone, no longer able to keep himself from hesitance, doubt, insecurity, and anticipation hovering around him like a dark cloud. Gin cannot cry, though, not now. Not when he’s so close to making all the pain worth something...

          So it’s no surprise that Gin really only starts getting the actual opening to properly cry in my canon divergent verses. But the catch !!!!  Gin has failed so thoroughly and so brutally that he feels he doesn’t deserve to weep about it. That this is merely a fraction of the karma he deserves. He experiences suicidal ideation, daydreaming of how it’d simply be easier if he hadn’t survived at all. He feels too hollow to cry, then, at the start. He feels too heavy, too much, it’s too much to cry about. He ruined himself and Rangiku for nothing. He did all of this for nothing. And now Rangiku wants answers, still waiting, watching him, and he can’t cry in front of her. IT’S STILL INGRAINED IN HIM FROM CHILDHOOD: she’s the one who cries and he’s the one who comforts. The audacity of him to cry in front of her after everything he put her through, as though he were the victim and her the one needing to comfort him. Gin may be morally gray, but at times he truly sees the world in black and white. No moderation, no give and take.

          It’d hit him later, when he’s learning to become more vulnerable. When he’s trying to open up to Rangiku about something he has to rip from himself, his heart holding onto this sorrow for so long Gin has to surgically remove the truth from himself. AS A CHILD, WITNESSING WHAT HAPPENED TO RANGIKU COUNTS AS A TRAUMATIC EVENT. Not talking about it for 110+ years does a number or two on you when you at last, FINALLY, tell her the fucking scoop. Gin repressed what happened to Rangiku because he recognized that Rangiku did not fully and properly remember, recollect, what happened to her. He knew. Gin saw.

          Compartmentalizing her trauma on top of his own, as though a keeper of it, a sin-eater, Gin would feel absolute despairing relief at finally telling her. Despairing because he’ll be inflicting upon her something he’s been holding back, holding that door shut, for the entirety of their knowing of one another, and to finally let go of the door and let that beast of trauma go charging at her undeterred ?  There’s immense guilt attached to this entire affair. Gin feels childlike guilt; why her, and not me ?  I wish it could’ve been me, we could’ve traded places and I’d be fine, I’d live, we could live happy together.  Akin to survivor’s guilt, Gin wishes those men had found him and taken a piece of his soul rather than Rangiku’s. The ‘why’ of it haunts him. Why her. Why didn’t I stop them. Why didn’t I show up sooner. I could’ve bitten at them, kicked and hit, we could have escaped together -- or at least you could have. Gin also feels guilt at a base adult level: why am I keeping this from her ? No, it’s too late to tell her, she’s happier now, there will never be a good time to tell her.

          There are so many things, feelings, thoughts, that Gin has never shared with Rangiku due to it all being tied to the unspoken secret he’s let fester inside of him.

          SO WHEN GIN FINALLY TELLS RANGIKU WHY HE JOINED AIZEN, WHY HE TRIED TO KILL AIZEN, WHY HE SAID THOSE WORDS TO HER DURING THAT BLIZZARD AND BECAME A SHINIGAMI ... GIN’S GOING TO BREAK DOWN.

          The truth is tied to vulnerability in Gin’s mind. Telling it means ripping himself apart at the seams. Everything he crafted himself out to be was made around this secret. It’s going to be bloody, it’s going to hit him like a fucking train. Gin’s going to feel it coming, rumbling on the tracks, he’ll hear it even, that approaching storm, he’ll know by the prickle at his eyes and the closing of his throat, but still nothing’s ever prepared him for the absolute choked finality of the truth, and he’s going to do his best to hold it back -- it’s instinctive, it’s in his blood by now to mask it, stop it, divert and drawl his way out of it. But this time he can’t just stop halfway and distract her, talk about something else. No, Gin’s cornered himself and it’s high time Rangiku got the truth from him, he can’t run away any more. He’ll have to grit his teeth and talk through it, swallow it back just enough to speak, to tell her what he’s done to them both and for what, for why, it’s the worst possible conversation they could ever have, but one they need. And Gin’s going to find himself incapable of holding back a sob the more he discloses, the more that slips out and escapes him the more the emotions tied to that sunken anchor come up too. He will feel simultaneously lighter and heavier for it.

          There are numerous ways Gin’s thought about wording it. He’s thought about the numbed approach, MISSION REPORT style: Aizen Sousuke harvested souls from the 64th Rukongai District, they took a piece from you. Perhaps not, no, not like that. Maybe... back when y’were a kid, there were three Shinigami assigned to the 64th District to collect souls to fuel Aizen Sousuke’s Hogyoku. They took somethin’ from you. I saw it. I saw them hoverin’ over you, I saw it in their hands. I saw’em offer it up to Aizen in the forest, collectin’ firewood. I saw him.

          WHY DIDN’T I STOP HIM, WHY DIDN’T I ATTACK THOSE THREE MEN THEN AND THERE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT WITH YOUR COLLAPSED FORM A FEW FEET AWAY, MAYBE I COULD HAVE TAKEN THEM ON AFTER ALL. I COULD HAVE CRUSHED A SKULL IN WITH STONE, I COULD’VE STOLEN HIS SWORD BEFORE THE LIFE FULLY FADED FROM HIM AND MADE IT VANISH, I COULD’VE CARVED THROUGH THE SECOND, SLICE THE TENDON AT THE THIRD’S ANKLE AS HE ATTEMPTED TO FLEE, WARN OTHERS. SLIT HIS THROAT AS HE CRAWLED AWAY. YOU’D HEAR IT, OFF TO THE SIDE. YOU’D SEE ME COME UP TO YOU WITH BLOOD SPLATTERS. YOU’D SEE ME LEAN OVER YOU WITH NOT A PERSIMMON OFFERED, NO, YOUR OWN FUCKING SOUL THEY PLUCKED FROM YOU. SHAKY HAND. BLOODIED HAND. TAKE IT, TAKE IT BACK. I FIXED IT --

          Just tell her. JUST TELL HER.

          DO YOU REMEMBER THE DAY WE MET, RANGIKU ... ?

[darisu-chan]

Rukia immediately tried to speak with Ichigo, and yet the guy got shy and went straight towards Hanataro

But never fear, Rukia

Cause then he graced us with this iconic scene

He’s so extra

I love him

And then his tsundere self came through lol

But of course finally seeing Ichigo made Rukia’s guilt come back

(I just wanna hug her)

She cares about Ichigo so much, and he must have realized it, but that doesn’t mean he’s gonna listen to her because he cares about her that much as well.

And I guess if this were a shojou, ir if Ichigo had a different personality, he might have made his feelings clearer, but he knows that they’re not safe yet, and that he must defeat Byakuya before moving forward.

But of course Rukia’s not just about gonna let him hurt himself, and he knows it, so he stops her before she can say anything else lmao

And then he lets his dominant personality come through

To be honest this was kinda hot. New headcanon: Rukia, later on, thought about this and immediately went red as her mind took her to not very PG themes

But this is Rukia we’re talking about, and so she’s gonna get defensive

(I love this scene)

(Also love how Ichigo wanted her to tell him to save her, but this is Rukia, and that was never gonna happen. But sometimes what we wish for isn’t truly what we wanted, because boy did he get those “tasukete” from Ori tend fold in the HM arc lmao)

Rukia clearly smiles at him endearingly. Be still my heart! And Ichigo goes all tsundere again, while also telling her to worry about herself, indirectly saying he’s been worried about her!

And next he tells her to not worry about him, while flashing her a smile!

And this is the only known moment in the manga when Ichigo reminds Rukia of Kaien. Notice it wasn’t when they met, so no, she didn’t save Ichigo because he looked like Kaien. I’ll write another post about Ichigo vs Kaien, but right now what I can tell you is that Kaien was always so reassuring but he still died, and Rukia doesn’t want Ichigo to die, not for her sake. And remember before this she met Ganju, who recognized her as “the Shinigami who killed Kaien,” so of course she had to be thinking about him.

And Rukia closes her eyes, almost seemingly to stop herself from crying. She’s so worried about Ichigo! She’s not even worried about her impending death but about him becoming hurt because of her!

This is what IchiRuki is all about, goddamn.

[bansept]

When the fight was over - Headcanon

I recently saw such a beautiful fanart of Ichigo and Orihime after the battle against Ywach, I wanted to write this. I unfortunately forgot the artist's name but to all fanartists, the ones who draw, the ones who paint, the ones who doddle : you are the core of all fandoms. Your art work is loved and looked with wonders by so many around the world. You make us dreams and smile, cry and laugh, and I live and support all of you for healing my unsteady heart with your art.

On with the headcanon! Enjoy!

When the rumble of the battlefield died down, the smoke from all the shots fired on the marble floor of the Soul Society flying away, Ichigo kneeled on the ground, trying his hardest to breathe properly.

His arms, legs, feet, his entire body was aching from the muscle ache of having to wield Zangetsu against the Quincy leader. He was panting on the floor, clearly feeling blood oozing out of his injuries in his feet, where the bastard's attacks had treacherously hit him. Ichigo winced in pain, sitting down as Renji was barely standing, Zabimaru now back to its shikai, back on the shinigami's hip.

"We did it... You did it Ichigo..."

He kept mumbling, not believing his own words. They sounded too beautiful, too idealistic. Was the thousand year-old really gone? What of his last words? Ichigo could feel his brows knit together in worry, mind already ready to think of a way to defend himself if danger were to appear.

But instead, the sound of labored breathing and pants from a voice the two men knew very well.

"Renji! Ichigo!"

They turned simultaneously, seeing an almost healed, but still damaged Rukia holding onto Orihime, who was looking pale. Too pale. Her eyes were almost completely closed, bruises, cuts and burns all over her once smooth skin.

Ichigo didn't think and got up, rushing to her side, even when he felt like he would loose his feet. His body was begging for him to rest, but his mind shut it out.

What was more important than himself was her.

"Rukia! What happened to Inoue? Did someone else attack you?!"

He almost barked, regaining his footing once he was close to the two women. The small one looked utterly devastated to see her friend in such a bad state, and didn't let go of her as she very carefully slid her to the floor. Renji joined the small group to gently pat Rukia on the back, silently looking at the scene.

"Inoue! Hey, can you hear me? Come on, please open your eyes, just for a bit?"

Ichigo tried, leaning close to the light haired young woman, who opened her eyes a bit wider in what seemed an excruciating effort. Ichigo smiled at her before looking for something to place her head on, anything that could be used as a pillow for her.

Rukia noticed him and gave a white cloth, surely an old Quincy cape that had been lost in battle. Ichigo thanked her quickly before placing the garment on the ground, a little white puddle, and making Orihime rest her head on it.

"Inoue... Hey, do you hear me well? Press my hand for yes."

Ichigo gulped down a nervous sweat when he placed his hand in hers, and inwardly gave himself a slap. Inoue was badly injured and he was blushing and angsting over holding her hand... Stupid crush of his.

Orihime, on her side, opened and closed her eyes several times, trying to lick her lips but couldn't really so she kept her mouth agape, making breathing much easier. Everyone could see a light blush taint her cheeks as she held onto Ichigo's hand.

"Rukia, we should go look for some medics. Inoue can't use her powers to heal herself right now." Renji said, voice obviously worried for his friend. The brunette nodded, gently letting go of Orihime, and smiling down at her.

"We will come back soon. Don't make too much movements, okay?"

Orihime blinked multiple times, as if to say a cheerful yes, and managed to pull her lips up into a smile. All the shinigami's puffed out a breath of relief and laughter.

When the two shinigami's were gone and Ichigo was alone with her, simply holding her hand and making sure she kept her eyes opened, that she was conscious and that she didn't move, he felt on edge. The battle had died down for now, and they were in a weak state, it would be fairly easy for someone to pop out and try to embuscade them.

He felt a tight squeeze on his hand, a finger running over his knuckles and immediately turned his head towards Orihime, cracking some bones in the process.

"...Y...You... W...won.... Ku...Rosa...ki-kun..."

She smiled, tears pearling in the corners of her eyes. Ichigo felt his face enlighten when he heard her voice, almost identical as before, but a bit more rough. He scooted even closer and smiled the brightest smile he could at her.

"Thanks to you, Inoue... We won thanks to you. Thank you so much..."

Her eyes widened, forgetting the pain for a moment, forgetting the heavy ruins around them, the smell of dust and blood she smiled at him, a true, wide smile, raising their joined hands together so it was up in the air.

"V... victory!..."

She breathed out and Ichigo took charge of keeping their hands up, hesitating to kiss them. Instead, he gave her a laugh, clear and deep from his heart, which was radiating like the sun.

When the medics arrived, Ichigo refused any types of healing or medicine as long as the girl laying under him wasn't treated first. Rukia and Renji watched from afar while their wounds were being tended. They both snickered lightly at Ichigo's furious scowl when someone tried to tear their hands away from each other.

Orihime was healed pretty quickly, the burns disappearing from her flesh and the cuts sealing back. She quickly sat up, still a deep red carmin as she looked at her friend, who glanced at her with the same expression.

Without a word, she deployed her powers, golden wings traveling to their friends and opening up to heal them, while a smaller pair of her pin fairies opened up around them. There, in the gentle orange like veil, the two teenagers kept close, not saying a word, not making a sound, hugging each other so tightly, neither wanted to pull away.

Ywach was defeated. Orihime had managed to shield Ichigo from many deadly attacks and repair Zangetsu after Tsukishima had used his fullbring. Ichigo had delivered the finishing blow after teaming up with his friends and Aizen.

All was over. All was done.

And yet, as the two humans held onto each other like they would lack air without the other, they knew it was the start of a much sweeter story.

[cate-deriana]

Synchronicity

So, here is my first contribution to IRmonth20. It may be a little messy and all over the place but I wanted to get this headcanon idea out :D So yeah, enjoy!

Prompt #4 - crossing blades, crossing hearts

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

It had been two days – although it had more felt like ages – since their arrival in the Royal Realm. Apart from strange meetings with even stranger residents, well zero squad members if you wanted to be precise, nothing really noteworthy had occurred… until that morning.

“So starting today the two of you will be training together.” Ichibei threw at them without further explanation.

It took a few seconds to sink in, before Ichigo tilted his head with a raised eyebrow looking at the so-called ‘leader’ of this squad with a questioning expression: “Sorry… what?”

“Are we playing deaf, Kurosaki Ichigo? The final battle is just around the corner, we don’t have time for this. You and Kuchiki will be training together. You have chemistry, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

Ichigo peeked over to Rukia standing next to him from the corner of an eye, then back to Ichibei: “I am fine with that. But Rukia had barely two days to recover, she nearly died and you want her to start training again today?”

Now the zero squad leader was the one to raise an eyebrow – a rare sight: “Well, do you want to win the war or do you want us all to die?”

The orange haired shinigami’s expression darkened but his eyes glared with determination: “I want to win, of course. But…” He tried to object again but was cut off by Rukia: “Stop insulting my abilities! I am able to decide if I’m ready to train again for myself.”

She had turned to face him visibly angered.

He did the same trying to cool down his temper. Otherwise things would get out of hand rather quickly: “This is not about your abilities it’s…”

“Stop protecting me!” She shot at him.

Screw his temper.

“Oh, sorry I thought that was the deal: I am protecting you and you are protecting me that’s how it works!”

The argument went on while Ichibei was watching them slightly shaking his head: “Yeah, you two have good chemistry. Hopefully that’ll save us all.”

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

“So, that’s the training ground you’ll be using. Quarters are over there and behind that you’ll find one of those hot springs to heal your wounds and recover. You’ll be training together, eating together, sleeping together. … And with sleeping together I don’t mean sleeping with each other. That’s not what you have to do – unless you want to of course, I’ve heard there was some unresolved tension. I’ll come to check on you once in a while. Any questions? No? Then I’ll see you around.”

  ----------------------------

That was what Ichibei had said before leaving them, alone. About three or four days had passed since. They had been training constantly for something the squad leader had called ‘reiatsu syncing’. Seemingly the zero division and some other questionable ex-shinigami, namely Urahara Kisuke, believed there was a possibility to defeat the ‘future foreseeing’ Juhabach with some telepathic ability that would make it impossible for him to take a look in said future because he would not be able to foresee what he could not see. Why they believed Juhabach was even able to see the future was beyond Ichigo. As far as he knew he wasn’t, maybe they knew more than him. But that wasn’t the point.

They of course were all convinced that only Rukia and him would be able to gain this telepathy ‘reiatsu syncing’ ability. The reason? Well, apparently it was because they had more than once shared the same reiatsu before. He wasn’t sure if he should really believe them and their far-fetched theories. Just because Rukia had transferred her powers to him twice didn’t necessarily conclude in them being able to communicate without words. Ok, maybe there had been moments when he had been sure to know exactly what she was thinking but… that was not the same as talking through mere thoughts, was it?

“When will you finally stop holding back, Ichigo?”

Rukia’s scolding voice brought him back to reality. They were in the middle of training, no miraculous telepathic conversation had occurred yet.

“I am not holding back.” He sounded as if he had to convince himself as well.

“Yes you are. I know how strong you really are so stop holding back and come at me with full force. Where is the point in training if you can’t even do that?” Her voice wasn’t angered although she hated him for going easy on her, for underestimating her out of fear she might get hurt.

“If I come at you with full force I might kill you.” Ichigo stated dryly.

She crossed her arms, her tone a little scolding: “I don’t want you to kill me I want you to start fighting seriously. I am not that weak you know?” Rukia let out a sigh putting Sode no Shirayuki down. “I guess we should have started with those stupid training swords. That way you wouldn’t have to be afraid of accidentally cutting me in half.” The irony in her voice was evident. “Though I have at least learned how to properly wield a sword. I should be the one at advantage here not someone who thought he could just chop a Menos into tiny little pieces to reach its top.” She shook her head disbelieving adding a mumbled “Stupid” to her rant.

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t have the privilege to go to Shino Academy just to drop out midway cause I have a wealthy brother.” Ichigo tried to counterattack with his equally sarcastic remark.

Rukia’s eyes darkened: “You know what? Renji wouldn’t hold back.” Her reiatsu rose to a dangerous level. “Because he acknowledges me as a warrior.”

Ichigo’s expression changed in an instant after hearing the red head’s name from her mouth, he was in fighting mode and mood obviously: “You want me to go all out, yeah?” He didn’t wait for an answer his hand already on the arm holding his sword.

“Ban-kai!”

Rukia watched his transformation with a content smile as he was engulfed in black: “Now we’re talking.”

Maybe she should have given him a moment, given them a moment but one she didn’t want to get into another argument with him again and two she couldn’t keep it to herself any longer. “Bankai.” It echoed in the air before the training ground was covered with a thin ice layer, the temperature gradually dropping.

Ichigo didn’t have any time to comprehend what happened when her sword suddenly clashed with his really close to his face. He didn’t see her attack coming at all, because… well…

“Y…you have achieved bankai?” The shinigami substitute managed to get out, their zanpakutous frozen in place. The superior smile on her lips widened: “Surprised?”

His eyes travelled down and up again examining her new form. A somewhat inappropriate thought crossed his mind. He tried to shake it off: “Well… uhm…” If he wasn’t in the middle of a fight he would’ve scratched the back of his head in an awkward situation like that.

“I thought you were a lot faster than this.” Her voice brought him back to reality.

“Huh?”

“Your bankai.” She clarified for him. Something in her eyes left no doubt that she was seriously challenging him and something inside him couldn’t resist that.

He gave her a provoking look: “I’m just getting started.” Ichigo pushed her away with his sword.

“Finally.” Her smile didn’t fade.

The battlefield’s atmosphere changed, black and white flashes being the only thing that could still be seen. They were not really fighting against each other but rather fighting alongside, equally, synching their steps, their moves as if they were dancing. They were paying attention to each other but at the same time pushing each other to their limits. It would have probably continued like that a lot longer if Ichigo didn’t skip a step of their choreography for – payback time you could say.

Rukia found zangetsu only inches away from her throat, Ichigo’s body pressed against hers from behind.

“I got you.” His breath was touching her cheek.

Sode no Shirayuki was uselessly dangling in her right hand. She could have probably stabbed his foot, but… Rukia didn’t want to admit defeat, not yet, not now and certainly not in this position. That… was definitely too close and too… She paused – that could work.

Ichigo was damn sure she wouldn’t be able to escape him that easily. I thought you were a lot faster, huh? Of course he was he’d made that more than clear now. His pride would crumble only moments later.

She turned her head to him: “Don’t be so sure.”

Before he could realize what she was up to a sharp pain shot through his left leg causing him to drop his sword. It felt as if it had been frozen… Oh, that’s what she had done. He sighed trying to keep his balance but the leg gave away.

Rukia was about to declare her victory when Ichigo grabbed her wrist in the last possible moment pulling her down with him. If she didn’t let go of her sword she would have probably pierced his chest with it – again. Without it, it was only her unarmed-self landing on top of him. She propped herself up, one hand on the ground the other on his chest, furiously glaring at Ichigo: “What are you doing?!”

“What are you doing?! You just froze my leg!”

Wouldn’t it have been for their newly found argument she would’ve noticed a lot sooner that the position they were in now was a lot more indecent than the one before.

Instead of counter arguing Rukia looked to the side mumbling her retort rather to herself: “You didn’t leave me with another option…” Her eyes wandered around as if she was searching for the next thing to say, her right hand subconsciously travelling over his chest.

She wanted to put the blame on him alone for this but had to admit that it was at least halfway her fault as well. Then again if he didn’t have to prove his abilities then… her eyes caught her hand realizing the feeling of her skin on his.

Did Ichigo always have a muscular body like this?

Her eyes were still fixed on his chest questioningly tilting her head.

“No, actually that was a lot of training.”

Rukia nodded absentmindedly before it hit her in the face: “Wait! What?!” Her eyes shot up to him: “You heard that?!” She sounded a little hysteric, understandably so. Rukia watched him in shock a few seconds then rolled herself on her back next to him. That didn’t just happen. He was just making fun of her again and didn’t have the slightest clue what she’d… Wait, did she say that out loud? She was ruffling her hair trying to calm down her breath. Her heart was racing. Seriously, if this was a joke it wasn’t funny…

“I didn’t know you payed attention to this kind of things.”

She would’ve liked to kill him for this stupid grin his voice gave away. Rukia exhaled deeply, biting her lip in order to keep her anger contained: “Well, I didn’t. That’s the reason I didn’t notice until now.”

Ichigo folded his arms behind his head she could see it from the corner of her eye. He was taking this so casually. “I didn’t know you saw me like that.” His idiot smile was still there, as if he had just learned that his high school crush liked him back.

“Like what?” Her voice was indifferent, even a little annoyed. She wanted to get this conversation over with.

He turned to the side to face her. She didn’t do the same.

“Like a man.”

Now she did. She rested her head on her hand and looked at him with a sarcastic expression: “Uhm, as far as I remember you are one, right? Unless you are actually a woman and are just really good in disguising as a man and making everyone believe you were one.”

Ichigo repressed a laugh: “I take that as a yes.”

Rukia rolled back onto her back: “Do what you want.”

A moment of silence followed.

Then she suddenly heard his voice in her head:

Your bankai looks really good on you. It’s beautiful.

Rukia turned only her head, skeptical if she had really heard him say that.

It suits you.

His lips had not moved at all.

It’s even… a little sexy.

Her eyes widened when she instantly jumped to her feet trying to get a few steps away: “Okay, that’s enough! I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but this is definitely going too far.”

He’d never seen her so close to panicking before.

We’re in the middle of war. We cannot. This is not about us. We have to…

“Rukia.” He grabbed her shoulder turning her around to him: “Don’t you see what just happened?”

She was frozen in her spot just like their surroundings had because of her bankai.

“It worked.” He declared in triumph when she didn’t react, another rare smile on his face.

She blinked at him a few times until it finally sank in.

“We did it.” Rukia murmured. He was right she did hear his thoughts – word for word. “We really did it.” She repeated, this time fully aware what this meant. They would be able to defeat him, to win, to end the war.

A few moments of silence followed. None of them really knew what to say or what to think. There wouldn’t be any way to hide from now on, would it?

Ichigo cleared his throat breaking the awkward moment between them: “Well, uhm… So…” He looked right then left, not sure how to tell her. “You know… now that… we are able to hear each other’s thoughts…” This time he did scratch the back of his head. “Well now that you will find out anyway... I can just tell you myself… I guess.” A deep exhale followed before he looked back into her eyes: “I really like you. Not as a friend, not as my partner in battle, not as the person who saved my life, but…”

“I know.”

A frown appeared on his face and he looked a little confused. Rukia just smiled one of her soothing smiles: “I mean it’s not like we had no idea about our feelings for each other until now.”

His frown deepened. “Weren’t you the one close to panic just a second ago because I hinted something like that? And now you are acting like this is absolutely normal?”

She rolled her eyes, a little sigh followed: “Well, now that you’ve actually said it… there’s no reason to anymore. When you’re set to do something nothing and no one can stop you, that’s how it’s always been. So… as you said – we’ll know anyway.”

I’d like to kiss you.

What’s holding you back?

I don’t know, isn’t this… What if you’re right and this is going too fast?

We’re at war, yes. Maybe it’s not the best timing.

Thought so.

But, maybe it’ll help us. Because there’s nothing left unsaid between us.

So you think we will win?

What do you think?

Well I can do anything, as long as you are right next to me. So, yeah we will.

We will.

We will win.

 And then he kissed her. And he would wonder why they didn’t do this earlier. And she would ‘say’ that he just didn’t ask.

They would fight the finally battle together. They would win. They would survive. They would save everyone just like the zero squad and Urahara had hoped. But most importantly in the end they would be happy. And Juhabach would never return.

 Because it was their story – a story where life and death would no longer be apart.

[hajike]

hitsuhina: Forecast

For: alexiethymia for the hitsuhina gift exchange! Feel free to check it out on AO3 too :) 

Words: 2.3k

Notes: Set post-manga ending and based off your lovely headcanon -

-Renji, once when he was really drunk, consolingly put his hand on Hitsugaya’s shoulder as if to say he understood. Hitsugaya’s ensuing glare could freeze his soul and he then realized that it was only because he was Hinamori’s friend that he wasn’t cut down on the spot.

Whatever had happened on the trip to and back from the 6th Division’s Senkaimon had apparently completely rattled Renji’s brain. Somewhere along the way to return Ichigo and his friends to the Human world after the wedding reception, Renji had taken whatever speck of common sense he had and promptly tossed it out with the last pathetic remnants of his self preservation.

Or maybe, Toshiro reasoned, they had gotten attacked by some remaining Quincy. Or Arrancar. Or even bloody Captain Mayuri looking to test out his new toys on some unsuspecting idiots idiots. Hell, maybe this wasn’t even Renji, maybe this was some Reigi clone, because the real Renji would know better than to—

“—keep holding strong, Captain Hitsugaya! The bond between you two is strong, stronger after everything, just like ours! Happiness is still in reach!”

Toshiro eyed the arm firmly draped over his shoulder with no small measure of disgust. Renji appeared oblivious to it. The vice captain’s other hand was frantically wiping the horrid mix of tears and snot streaming from his face as he kept choking out, “I know, Captain Hitsugaya, that if you persevere! If you persevere, you too will be in my position one day, joined together with your childhood—“

The small bit of reiatsu that leaked out of him was enough to freeze the sake cups before them solid. As well as a good portion of the mess on Renji’s face, along with part of his hakama sleeve. “Ah! My nose! What—“

Renji lifted his slightly frostbitten head to meet Toshiro's stare and froze. What little of a drunken flush he had left quickly bled into a look of deep regret. Ah, the poor man had sobered up some. Enough, at least, to realize that it was only the smallest of margins that kept him still able to use his extremities, margins that included the fact he was a vice-captain of the Gotei 13, that he had imbibed enough sake to not be completely in control of his motor functions, as well as the most important—

“Oh, Renji! Congratulations again!” Momo’s voice echoed through the bar, even through the din of Rangiku appearing to be challenging Captain Kensei to another drinking game in an effort to keep him from dragging away his already unconscious lieutenants away. Pour souls.

Toshiro forced himself to pay some attention to the ensuing scuffle, even as his childhood friend smiled across the table, her face beaming with a drunken flush and pure joy. Joy currently directed at the man putting careful distance between him, rubbing at the icicles that still clung to his nose.

Renji’s face was lit up in relief at her arrival. “Momo! Just in time!”

Toshiro shot him a sharp look just as Momo blinked. “Eh?”

Renji darted looks between the both of them - Toshiro’s face blackened with impending doom and Momo’s slight confused smile, one of her hands brushing back a small strand of hair that had fallen from her intricate bun. The newlywed's mouth opened and closed, once, twice, and just as Toshiro was rather sure the man was about to stick his foot in it—

Rukia slid in neatly beside him at the head of the table, her arm linking with his. Her face was a mask of polite geniality of the Kuchiki variety. “Ah, my apologies Captain Hitsugaya and Vice Captain Hinamori! I’m sure what my husband meant to say was, how glad he was that the two of you could make it to our reception! And with everything seeming to wrap up, you’re both just in time to give last congratulations.”

It was a shoddy deception but effective, Toshiro had to admit. Momo’s face immediately brightened at seeing the now married pair. Renji was staring at his wife like she was Bodhisattva come again. Although, to be fair, it wasn’t a far cry from how he typically looked at her so there was every chance he had already forgotten the precarious position his loose lips had put him in.

“Rukia! Rukia, we’re married! In the marriage registry! Together!”

Definitely. He’d definitely forgotten. And gotten sidetracked enough that he was gushing about his wife again, same as when he’d first sat down next to Toshiro. Although now she had appropriately substituted in as his arm rest, thank the frozen heavens. Rukia’s answering smile as she leaned into his shoulder was full of amusement and a near overflowing affection. “Yea, Renji. I was there.”

Toshiro couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Renji’s answering cheer, knowing it was only the fact he’d frozen the sake in his cup that it didn’t spill all over the inebriated man and his now wife. Although Rukia probably wouldn’t have minded much, not with the lovestruck look on her face from her husband’s excitement.

The soft moment was interrupted by a sudden hiccup, following by the sound of high pitched sob. Ah, Toshiro noted with a wry smile, crybaby Momo strikes again.

“Rukia, Renji…I’m so happy you’re together!” She was looking at the linked pair of Vice Captains with tears streaming down her cheeks, frantically wiping at an eye with the corner of her kimono. “So..hic…happy!”

Toshiro frowned. Ah, she was gonna mess up the sleeve. Rangiku had gushed about the kimono to him earlier, calling her one of her best selections apart from her own peony patterned one, selections that had taken a good half a day longer than the time off she’d gotten approved for. He’d complained as much as expected, but it hadn’t been that much of a chore taking over the paperwork. Not when they’d both returned flush faced and grinning over the spoils of their fabric battle, sharing excited giggles and promises to visit that draper’s again. And besides, paperwork actually got done faster without Rangiku there to stuff the longer forms in the back of her cabinet.

Momo’s own kimono pattern was dotted with peach blossoms and was a soft blue that left the whiteish pink petals as a striking contrast. A far cry from the dull brown she’d used to favor in their youth. Then again, it had been some time since he’d even seen her with a new kimono. Or new anything.

Resolving to give Rangiku some leeway the next time she insisted on rushing off for another girl’s shopping spree in the human realm, Toshiro jumped in, “Stupid Momo. Aren’t you the one who told them they had to have a wedding ceremony? Now you’re going to spend the entire time crying?”

She sniffed in response. “I can’t help it! It’s so wonderful! After everything, it feels like my heart is boiling over in excitement!”

“Eh? You sure it ain’t just the entire bottle of fruit sake you finished on your own?”

“Shiro! I did not!

He shrugged, leaning on an elbow. “Right, right. Your zanpaktou must have just evaporated it, huh?”

Momo puffed out her cheeks, ready to snap back just like her sword’s release, only for a crash from the other end of the bar to take their attention. For heaven’s sake. Toshiro groaned. He took his eyes off Vice Captain for five seconds and this.

Apparently Captain Kensei was not at all as straight laced as he had been led to believe. Or maybe he still didn’t understand exactly why it was that no one ever accepted a drinking battle with the Vice Captain Matsumoto. Toshiro had seen members of the eleventh division clear a path for her the day after one particular competition, one where he’d heard on good sources that both Madarame and Yumichika had needed to be sent to the fourth after. Commander Kyōraku was one of the few that could keep up with her, although with his new duties he hadn’t had much time…which might explain why Rangiku was currently trying to induct Kensei into her drunken circle.

“Ha! You’re just on three? I’m on four, Captain of the Ninth, four! Four whole bottles of sake!”

Mashiro had woken up from her slumber, although not necessary her stupor, to cheer her captain on. “Waa, Kensei! You’re losing, you’re really losing! Your super lieutenant is so disappointed!”

Hisagi slurred next to her, “Your super-duper lieutenant is still here for you, Captain!”

Red faced and swaying a little, Rangiku still shot him a look, “Ah, Shuuhei, you’re really rooting against me? I’m hurt! Our drinking relationship means nothing to you, huh?”

“Oi, don’t try and turn my vice captain against me,” Kensei growled, eyes narrowed and barely supporting himself on the table with a hand. “Loyalty is everything in the ninth! Right, Hisagi!”

“Ah, no, I mean,” Hisagi waved his hands around, “As your vice captain I’m rooting for you, Captain! By as a friend I’m also rooting for Rangiku! Not that I don’t see Captain as a friend, I—“

“Wait, how many bottles?” Rukia leapt from her seat, yelling out, "Idiots, we’re covering this one, you’re gonna use up all our gift money!”

Renji, who had apparently been relying on his wife to sit up straight, cursed as he started to slip sideways. Toshiro watched with amusement as Momo struggled to catch him before he broke his head open on the table. He kicked away the leg of an already passed out Kira before she tripped on it, ignoring the way the man drunkenly groaned and rolled over, cuddling a sake bottle to his chest.

Rangiku was absolutely unashamed facing the new bride. “Ah, ah, already tight with the purse! Just ask your brother, I’m such Captain Kuchiki would love to assist his lovely little sister!”

“Like hell I’m asking my older brother to cover you drunkards! I’m taking this out of the seventh and tenth division budgets, don’t think I won’t!” Rukia shot back.

Rangiku puffed up, pumping a fist holding a sake cup in the air. “Too bad! Captain already cut my expenses off from the division! Besides, I have! No money! Hah!”

“Wow,” Mashiro said, eyes wide and nursing another sake bottle. “You say that so proudly, Rangiku! Amazing!”

Kensei looked at them with a stricken face. “Wait…am I on the hook for this? Dammit, you evil witch! You’re worse than Lisa!”

Beside him, Momo laughed, light and free. Toshiro couldn’t help but tear his eyes away from the developing scene again to watch her. She’d managed to balance Renji before he hit the table, which was good, although the man had already broken free to cheer his wife on in her berating of their drunkard friends. Quite loudly, if he might add. Momo seemed none too put off by it, her laugh only growing louder as Renji offered to back Rukia up in beating the sake out of them. Toshiro barely registered the noise, attention entirely fixed onto his childhood friend.

It’d been…a long time since he’d seen her laugh like that. Growing up her smile was a given, as regular as the sun rising in the morning or one of his spinning tops knocking everyone else’s out. She’d smile at everyone, everything, and always saved that brighter smile for when he was looking at her and returning it.

Granny smiled at him too, but it wasn’t the same. Didn’t feel the same, anyways. Momo had always smiled like she was welcoming the world home, taking everything around her in and finding such delight in it that it couldn’t help but spill over her face. Her smile was energy, condensed, and he’d coveted it like a man starved.

And maybe he had been. It had certainly felt like he was wasting away whenever she was upset, or hurt, or during those long months she’d been in the fourth and twelve divisions recovering from the betrayals of a world that dared not value her enough. Her. Of all people.

Other could tease him all they wanted on their childhood friendship, their suspicions of further feelings, but Toshiro never spared a thought for what they thought, only following what he knew. And what he knew was that Momo was the most important person in the world to him. That he would protect her, always, that smile of hers, the light of hers, that unending warmth she so freely gave, every bit of her light that graced this world and blessed him with the opportunity to bask in it.

It felt greedy to ask for more, when he’d already been given so much. And yet…

As Rukia made the ill formed decision to challenge Rangiku to a drinking battle for the money, Momo’s giggles turned to quick snorts of amusement. When Rukia began to argue about taking shots of alcohol per body mass instead of cups, and that Rangiku counted as three of her, her snorts turned into peels of laughter that left gasping, following by — a rather loud burp.

Toshiro raised his eyebrows in astonishment. The noise managed to wake up Kira for a second, who promptly hit his head on the underside of the table and passed out again.

Momo clapped her hands over her mouth in embarrassment. Toshiro slowly smiled at her and she flushed further red. “It—it was the sake!”

“Uh-huh,” he replied, unconvinced. She noticed and hunched her shoulders, kimono wrinkling at the action.

“It was!”

Toshiro leaned his chin against his hand. “Bed wetter, cry baby, and burp champion, Momo. You’re really wracking up the titles, huh?”

“Shiirroooo,” Momo groaned, burying her face in her hands completely. The sight of her, flushed and embarrassed because of him, sent a quick burst of contentment in his chest, a warmth that was at odds with the permanent chill of his reiatsu. He couldn’t help but let his smile soften as she continued to bluster in embarrassment, somehow also managing to press closer to his side as if trying to hide in his captain's haori. He absentmindedly tucked her closer, running a hand down her back.

A flicker of movement nearby caught his eye and Toshiro looked to see Renji giving him a smug look. It would be worthy of reprisal if not for the soft, understanding gleam in his eyes.

Toshiro humphed and turned his head away, making sure not to move so much that the inebriated woman latched onto his shoulder fell off.

Fine. Maybe Renji was onto something.