#again not really sure why Renji came to mind when I was trying to think of a character to fill the role of Orihime's brother

[jylener22]

IchigoxOrihime In the Movies: The Mummy

No request to fill here. Just my imagination running amok.

“Renji, why are we going to the guardhouse? Is your contact the warden or one of the officers?”

Grinning sheepishly down at his half-sister, Renji replied rather evasively, “Well, I believe I remember him saying something about how he fought in the army at one time.”

Sensing more than seeing Orihime’s stern look, Renji held up his hands in surrender and said, “All right, all right...he’s one of the inmates at the guardhouse,” then he held up a defensive finger as he finished hastily, “However, I wasn’t lying when I said that he said he was part of the army.”

Firmly planting her feet, crossing her arms and glaring daggers from her slightly over five-foot-tall stature, Orihime nevertheless struck quite the intimidating figure as she said in a deceptively calm voice, “Before I take another step, you give me three valid and irrefutable reasons why I should talk to this...’friend’ of yours.”

Intentional or not, Renji merely said, “Look, I obviously can’t vouch much for his character as he is in the clink, but I’m telling you that he knows what he’s talking about. He can actually take you to...well, there.”

Shifting her weight, Orihime arched an eyebrow at him and asked in a flat tone, “Took you there last night, did he? All the way to Hamunaptra?”

“Well, no. Obviously not,” spluttered her brother, before he leaned close to her ear and said in a hushed tone, “It’s a risk, I’ll grant you, but what isn’t? You know what all the quacks and blowhards sounded like when they claimed to know how to get to there, but this guy I’ll swear has been there.”

Still not entirely convinced, Orihime’s body language nevertheless became more relaxed as she asked in a resigned way, “Why? How are you so convinced he can take us there?”

Leaning in closer, Renji whispered, “Because he doesn’t sound like he ever wants to go back. I think it’s also possible he regrets it and doesn’t want other people to find it.”

“Okay...then why did he say anything about it to you?”

Stiffening momentarily, Renji straightened up and tried to walk away when Orihime instinctively grabbed one of his arms and held it fast as she demanded, “Renji...what did you do?”

Massaging the back of his neck, Renji let out a half-hearted chuckle and said, “Oh well, I can’t really recall the details. Pretty sure there was a bottle or two downed during our little visit. Maybe a couple of poker hands where during a couple of hands secrets about that city were traded instead of money by the loser.”

“Great,” sighed Orihime, “Now I’m dealing with two gamblers, drinkers and cheats. Honestly, why me?”

Walking into the compound, Orihime had to suppress the urge to pick up her skirts and run away as fast as she could from the sights, sounds, but mostly the smells of the prison. Had her much taller and burly brother not been at her side, Orihime would have done so without a second thought, but as it stood at the moment, she figured that she’d come this far, so might as well see it through to the end.

While the warden had the good sense not to overtly leer or make offensive remarks about Orihime’s appearance, there were more than a few slow looks that made her feel once again like bolting. Arriving in front of what seemed to be an empty cell, Orihime was just turning to glare at the two men and rip them a new one for involving her in a ludicrous goose chase when a door on the other side of the cell burst open and two massive men forced another man into the cell.

At first, Orihime couldn’t see how the prisoner was any different from any of the other filthy and crude inmates she had seen thus far, but after the man gave his two jailers a rather impressive withering look, there was something about his posture and bearing that gave Orihime the impression that there was more to the man than what she was currently seeing. When he turned his attention to the group on the other side of the bars of his cell, Orihime found herself wondering what he might look like if he wasn’t covered in who knew how many layers of dirt and grime.

Her musings were interrupted when the man stalked over to the bars, menacing glower firmly in place as he demanded gruffly, “You two the reason I was so rudely woken up from my last nap ever?”

Completely taken aback, Orihime could only ask automatically, “Beg pardon?”

Raising his shackled hands to grip the bars, the man huffed and replied, “Guess it would be too much for a condemned man to expect that his last few minutes of life couldn’t be spent in relative peace and quiet.”

Before Orihime could think of anything else to say, the man asked curtly, “So, what exactly are you so desperate to find out from me?”

Stepping in beside Orihime, Renji said firmly, “You just keep a civil tongue in your head when you’re talking to my sister, Kurosaki.”

To Orihime’s utter astonishment, the man named Kurosaki suddenly lunged forward to land a resounding punch square on Renji’s nose. Unsurprisingly, Renji hit the ground clutching his nose while Kurosaki hit the ground not two seconds later when the two jailers dealt the man a punch each.

Before the jailers could continue with beating the prisoner, Orihime held out her hands and pleaded, “Oh please don’t! He’s had enough!”

After the men backed away, Kurosaki gave Orihime a wry smirk as he said, “Not bad, lady,” but then his scowl returned as he said, “but you still haven’t answered my question. What do you want?”

Looking down at her moaning big brother, Orihime decided that it would be best to finish this business up quickly and answered truthfully, saying, “My name is Orihime Inoue-Abarai and this is my brother, Renji. He said that I needed to meet you because you told him that you claimed to know the way to...Hamunaptra.”

Kurosaki’s face remained impassive as he asked, “What’s it to you if I do?”

Not at all phased by the man’s tone or demeanor, Orihime replied, “Well, it was always my father’s dream to find the city of Hamunaptra and up until the day he died, I helped him with his research and tireless searching. His passion for history and all the secrets it held quickly became my own dreams,” when she realized she was rambling, Orihime finished with, “It may seem silly to you, but I want to find this city to honor my father’ memory and if you have any information that could help me, I would greatly appreciate you sharing it with me.”

For a long moment, Kurosaki looked at Orihime with an expression she couldn’t quite read before he finally answered with, “Can’t.”

“Why?” asked Orihime before her brain was able to think that it was a ridiculous question and stop her from saying it aloud.

“’Cause they’re gonna hang me in less than an hour, lady,” Kurosaki said as he shrugged, “Unless...”

When he trailed off, Orihime didn’t realize that she had drifted closer to the bars to hear what he had to say as she asked, “Unless?”

Kurosaki leaned in closer as he said in a low voice, “Unless I was somehow pardoned of these trumped up charges they have against me and released, I won’t be able to tell you how to get to...”

“Hamunaptra,” Orihime supplied without thinking, staring up into his intense brown eyes.

“Right,” he said, “Think you can do that?”

“Do what?” Orihime asked in a daze.

“Get me out,” said Kurosaki gruffly, “Can I count on you?”

“I...I...” began Orihime in her usual flustered manner when all of a sudden she found her voice unable to leave her mouth as Kurosaki’s was suddenly covering hers. Had her brain been able to function at that particular moment, she would have been mortified at the thought that her very first kiss was coming from a man she had only just met, who was a prisoner near to being put to death and filthy as anything...and yet for some reason she never wanted the kiss to end.

Yet end it did, rather abruptly when the jailers landed two more ferocious blows and started dragging Kurosaki out the door in the back when the man in question turned back to Orihime and demanded, “Help me and I’ll help you!”

“Okay...”

[waheelawhisperer]

I think V3 & V8 do effectively convey the notion that raw force (be it personal or state level) doesn't solve shit if you're aimlessly saber-rattling, turning on allies & bamboozling (or throttling) the populace to preserve every scrap of power. There's also the ongoing failure of old-guard leaders (Jimmy, Leo, Oz.) to get out of their ruts, though I 'd have tabled the Musical Maiden Chair thing for a volume once Penny got it. *Ruby* has more than enough shit to work out with silver eyes alone.

Yeah, the old guard failing and leaving the new blood to clean up their messes is a pretty common theme in RWBY and we've seen it for several Volumes now, pretty much ever since Weiss started talking about how she wanted to redeem her family name. Between the mistakes of the headmasters, the various failures of Team STRQ, the way Maria talks about herself vs. how she thinks about the protagonists, and even the way Winter and the Ace-Ops struggle to make the right decisions, it's clear that RWBY wants to tell a story about the new generation surpassing their predecessors.

I definitely think Volumes 3 and 8 are really trying to hammer home the "strength is useless without unity" message. All of Atlas's vaunted military power is worse than useless when it's turned against the people of Vale. It fails to defeat Salem in Volume 8 because Ironwood is too rigid to work with others, to contemplate a solution other than brute force and sacrifice. Ozpin can't destroy Salem, no matter how hard he tries, and when we finally see her fight, she shrugs off everything the heroes throw at her. They only escape because of Hazel's sacrifice, because he stalls Salem long enough for Oscar to nuke her and holds her in place for the cane beam to hit.

When I think about my feelings about Volume 3 vs. Volume 8, there's a very similar sense of "what happens now?", but there are some distinct differences as well. It's hard to explain, but Volume 3 made me wonder "where do we go from here?", whereas Volume 8 makes me wonder "what's the point?". Volume 3 was a crushing blow, but it left me deeply invested in what came next. Volume 8 doesn't do that. It carries more of a sense of lethargy, a feeling of pointlessness, an uncertainty about whether it's worth even getting invested anymore, and it's because of the way the Volume handled a number of its plot points.

Basically, the way the Volume ended means a lot of major plot points went nowhere? Oh, Winter is being set up as the Winter Maiden, but that's a red herring and the powers and responsibility go to Penny? Nope, never mind, Winter has the powers now. Penny came back to life? Nope, never mind, she's fucking dead again, killed off in a controversial way by a controversial character in a scene that didn't even effectively establish the necessity of her death. Salem, our Big Bad, has finally taken the field? Surely she'll demonstrate how much of a badass she is now, why everyone should be terrified of the insurmountable evil queen of the Grimm, right? Nope, never mind, she gets sidelined 2/3 of the way through so Cinder and Ironwood can be the major villains. Blake spent her whole life fighting against racism and is now openly displaying her Faunus heritage in the Kingdom that's been most strongly associated with Faunus abuse and anti-Faunus racism? Surely she's going to have a major role to play here, right? Nope, never mind, she's going to do nothing but take Weiss's spot as Remnant's version of Renji Abarai and pine for Yang, all while Weiss and Yang do more to combat racism and Atlas's class divide by throwing a racist in a dumpster and snapping at an old lady and Nora gets the plotline that should've gone to her. Oh, Weiss's goal from the very beginning has been to salvage her company and redeem her family name, and she swears to defend her home in Volume 7? Nope, never mind, her home is now underwater, her company is in ruins, and the final boss of her storyline is apparently her own fucking brother, an abused child who her mother specifically begged her not to leave behind and was never more than a minor annoyance to be counteracted in comedic fashion, with no power or influence of his own beyond the password to his father's laptop. The culmination of Weiss's storyline was waving a sword in the face of her Auraless, untrained sibling and telling him to go to his room, after Willow handed her everything she needed to beat Jacques, and somehow this is supposed to be the big triumph we've waited 8 Volumes, 8 years of real-world time, to witness. Fan-fucking-tastic writing here.

It just... makes me wonder what plotlines I'm even supposed to get invested in at this point. RWBY's always had a problem with just never exploring things or dropping them when they become inconvenient, always rushing on to the next Cool Moment, the next thing the writers want to include, but Volume 8 feels particularly bad in this regard. Frankly, I think it's one of the worst Volumes in the show specifically for this reason. As much as I love the show, I just... don't feel the same hype for the approach of Volume 9 that I did with the approach of other Volumes.

[bleachbleachbleach]

Apologies for the ugly picture... I was not about to write that all out again. For full effect, please imagine me in a blazer, slacks, and dress top but also huddled in a blanket on the floor doing this instead of literally anything else I should be doing!

I was trying to get timeline stuff situated in my head (friends, I did not succeed), but I still think this was a fruitful exercise! I am only 70% sure the information on this whiteboard is complete or correct, but nevertheless, it led to some really interesting potentials that I feel like could be taken in a lot of different directions. Honestly, I think part of the reason my brain refuses to actually retain any plot-relevant knowledge of Bleach is because I prefer this state of wonder. Anyway:

Byakuya and Hisagi: Did you know that Hisagi’s Academy tenure coincided almost exactly with Byakuya’s marriage to Hisana? Wild.

Matsumoto and TBTP: If Ichimaru and Matsumoto entered the Academy around the same time (Hitsugaya seems to think they did, in any case), then Matsumoto, graduating in 6 years vs. Ichimaru’s 1, would have been a fairly new recruit to the Gotei 13 when the Big Vizard Exodus went down. I know we function on the assumption that the Divisions basically do not talk or interact with each other, but given that HALF the leadership vanishes, was there at least some anxious goss amongst the lower ranks? If this was a formative early period for Matsumoto’s tenure in the Gotei, what was it like later becoming Isshin’s VC?

Help Wanted: After the exodus, do you think all those positions were just vacant for decades? I mean, Aizen and Tousen were around. But when did Mayuri come into the picture as captain material? Soi Fon? Isshin re: Randomly Dead 10th Captain in TBTP Part 1? I mean, all the way to the Class of 2066′s first year, Ichimaru was Aizen’s VC still. Was 3rd just like, “eh, we’ll be captainless for 70 years. It’s fine”? (And if there were captains in the interim, LOL, were they so unremarkable no one speaks of them? Is there a gag order? Were they no one’s friends? Did all their friends simply also die? Valid.)

Kuchiki Stuff: I always assumed Byakuya’s captaincy and family head positions came simultaneously, because it seems like that’s how the 6th/the Kuchiki function, though I guess technically that wouldn’t need to be true. (Here also assuming that both would have to happen before marrying Hisana, because that also seems like how this would need to work.) But how long do you think their courtship was? If it took a few years, Byakuya and Hisana could well have met around the same time that Rukia and Renji did.

Kaien and Ichimaru: I’m also curious about the timeline on Kaien’s death. Kaien had seen Rukia’s shikai, so I assume they at least had a few years together. (I also realized who’s to say how much time elapsed between the adoption and Rukia entering the 13th? Are we told?) 

That leaves open the possibility that Kaien’s death and Ichimaru’s captaincy could have happened around the same time, which is potentially interesting just because our earliest knowledge of Kaien comes from Ukitake telling him about Ichimaru having graduated. So it makes me wonder if anyone in Soul Society ever thought about Kaien’s death/Ichimaru’s captaincy in tandem. (Also potentially coincident with Hitsugaya’s graduation from the Academy, relevant here because he’s also part of Club Tensai.)

Hinamori and Kira: I’m also curious about when Hinamori and Kira would have made VC. In my mind it’s not that much earlier than Renji does, but there’s really no reason why not? Since a lot of it has to do with what openings would even be available, and if Ichimaru moved to captain that opens up the 5th VC spot, and god knows what 3rd’s been doing this entire damn time. Kaien made VC 5 years after his graduation, so it seems like it’d be safe to assume neither Hinamori nor Kira would have done so quicker than that, in any case. Hisagi becoming VC would also be somewhere in here--again, I assume before them, but I guess it doesn’t have to be that way.

Hitsugaya: Also at some point in that general timespan, Hitsugaya becomes 10th captain. Again, I’ve assumed this was after Hinamori and Kira were already VCs, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. It doesn’t really seem like the Gotei is ever in a rush to fill these positions, with the exception of Urahara-->12th. Honestly, maybe that’s part of why Hiyori was so mad about it, among other things. Well, and Kyouraku-->1st, but hell. There was a war on. XD I feel in my heart that Hitsugaya probably hasn’t been captain longer than 15 years, but it’s interesting to think about the fact that there’s a potential that Ichimaru also hadn’t been captain that long by the time the series started. 30-40 years?

I didn’t put this on the whiteboard, but in that Aizen/Tousen/Ichimaru/Isshin section, Zaraki’s also in there somewhere. Which, jesus, there’s been so much turnover in the last 100 years no wonder no one knows anyone or remembers anything. What a mess. XD (Also Komamura??) I wonder how common that is--because like, the captains who’ve been around have been around, and in TBTP Shinji seems to suggest that this degree of turnover is not the norm. (And that’s BEFORE the exodus, lol.) Speaking as someone who was trained in a program that had a massive leadership meltdown right before I arrived, and then interim chairs for the near decade I was in said program, LOLLLLL can confirm, absolute clusterfuck, no institutional memory, no one talks to each other OR they hate each other, everything absolutely tracks for everything we know about the Gotei.

Lastly, I still cannot freakin’ believe they let Shirogane open a Lenscrafters in the midst of all this. WHAT IS THE STORY HERE.

[recurring-polynya]

For the Renji birthday prompt: A fic where Renji discovers that he can't go tits out anymore now that he's married (maybe with some jealous Rukia thrown in perhaps)?

I maintain that the new tits-in regime is self-imposed; I present to you my thesis. (I did not attempt to take on The Vest; I assume it came later, and I eagerly await more Vest Lore from Kubo himself)

Warning that I sincerely hope deters absolutely no one: This fic is about boobs. It contains many, many synonyms for boobs. Some of them are rude. 

Read on ao3 or ff.net

---

“I’m telling you, you’re jumping to conclusions. Sometimes he puts them away when he fights. He told me this.”

“I haven’t seen them in weeks.”

“It’s been winter.”

“That has never stopped him before. And it’s April now. Open season. And yet…?”

“I think we should just ask him.”

“You can’t just ask a guy, ‘hey, where did your tits go?’”

“I could, but I refuse. Abarai’s aesthetic is his own business.”

“Since when?”

“Okay, he’s here, someone’s gotta do it.”

“Not it!”

“Also not it!”

“Matsumoto, you have to do it. You’re the one who talked him into letting them hang out in the first place.”

“I agree with Yumichika. Renji knows what he’s doing, and if he has decided that the puppies are off-limits, that’s on him.”

“Hey, guys!” Abarai Renji’s cheerful voice rang out over the din of the bar. “Sorry I’m late!”

“Just means you have to catch up quick!” Rangiku declared, pouring him some sake.

“No missus tonight?” Shuuhei asked.

Renji’s entire face went pink and he got the same moony look in his eyes he always got whenever someone mentioned his wife or his marital state generally. “She sends her regards and says I’m supposed to drink extra for her. She goes over to the Manor on Wednesday evenings now to hang out with her brother.”

“Have you actually managed to call him by his given name yet?” Iba asked. “Now that you’re related?”

“His given name is ‘Captain’ and I call him that all the time,” Renji replied snottily.

“So. Renji,” Izuru said, leaning forward on his elbow. “Are you doing something different? With your look? I feel like there’s something different about you.”

Renji’s face lit up. “You noticed!” He swung his head around, his long braid swinging over his shoulder. “I’ve started braiding it!”

“Oh, no, it’s permanent?” Yumichika moaned.

“That’s not new,” Iba scoffed. “You slept with it like that the whole time we were roommates. I just figured that you didn’t have time to fix your hair in the morning anymore because you were too busy taking care--oof!”

“It looks very nice, Renji!” Momo said sweetly, extracting her elbow from Iba’s rib cage.

“It’s different,” Renji glowered at Iba. “I braid it loosely at night to prevent breakage and lock in moisture. This is an action braid.” He wheeled on Yumichika. “And I’m only French braiding it for now, because it’s shorter in front than in the back, you know, because of the accident. Once I’ve grown it out to all one length again, I’ll just do a regular braid.”

“You could just cut it to the length of the shortest part and go back to the pineapple hair,” Ikkaku suggested. “I always liked the pineapple hair.”

Renji turned pink again. “Ah, well. Rukia likes it long.”

“Yeah, I don’t think the braid is… what I was thinking of,” Izuru soldiered on.

Renji sucked his teeth thoughtfully. “I got a new tattoo? A pair, actually.”

“Oh! Did you?”

“On your chest?” Shuuhei asked hopefully. A healing tattoo would be a good excuse to cover up.

“Nah, on my thighs.”

Izuru sighed. “Since when do I look at your thighs, Abarai?”

“I have good thighs, Izuru.”

“He probably just looks different because he’s so happy now,” Rangiku suggested. “By which I mean getting your back blown out every night.”

“That could be it!” Renji agreed cheerfully. “Oh, I was wearing a scarf for a while there, when we had that cold snap! Is it the scarf? Or maybe the lack of scarf? It’s a nice scarf, Captain gave it to me for a wedding present. He says a man of quality should own a scarf.”

“I give up,” Izuru sighed.

“Hey, jocks, what’s going on?” a new voice interrupted.

“Akon!” half the table chorused and Renji scooted over so Akon could slide in next to him.

“Glad you could make it!”

“Yeah, sorry, I had an experiment I wanted to get finished up.”

“We were just talking about how there’s something different about Renji,” Shuuhei pressed.

Akon surveyed Renji for a moment. “Well, he’s got his tits tucked in for once. Aren’t you hot? You told me once you did that for ventilation.”

“That was very much a lie,” Renji clarified. “And I’m a married man now, my cans are closed for business. Speaking of which, Rangiku, fill ‘er up again, please, I’ve gotta keep up my wife’s reputation.”

---

Momo couldn’t believe this was happening to her. Out of their entire friend group, she was pretty sure she was the least interested in Renji’s… bosoms. There was a time… long, long ago when she had thought he was pretty hot stuff. She still counted him among her closest friends and favorite people, but had long ago come to the conclusion that big and beefy just wasn’t her type.

“Why, Lieutenant Hinamori! What brings you to my office?” Acting Captain Kuchiki Rukia leaned back in her chair, steepling her fingers. She must have been practicing, because the last time Momo had seen her do that, she had nearly fallen backwards out of the chair.

Momo sighed. “I have to tell you, this isn’t business.” Not exactly. It sort of was, in the sense that Shuuhei and Matsumoto (who apparently did care very much about Renji’s chest situation, so long as she wasn’t the one who had to confront him about it) had come over and dramatically draped themselves all over the Squad 5 couch and complained about the dreary state of affairs to Captain Hirako until he ordered Momo to go do some investigating.

“Good, because I have been filling out Nanao’s new skills-inventory-for-seated-officer forms all morning and I’m about to lose it,” Rukia said with an overly cheerful grin.

“We could go out to the yard and fight?” Momo offered hopefully. Maybe she could tell Captain Hirako that she got distracted and forgot to ask about Renji.

Rukia’s face fell a little. “Er, I’d love to, but I really shouldn’t today. Sentarou just made me this pot of tea, though. Do you want some? It’s lemon ginger, it’s really good.”

“Sure,” Momo agreed.

“So what’s up?” Rukia asked again, once Momo was perched in the guest chair, a fragrant cup of tea cradled in her hands.

Well, might as well just rip the bandage off. “I need you to know that I was put up to this by… you know. The idiots. The cowards we go drinking with.”

“Understood,” Rukia agreed.

“There is… some concern… about your husband.”

Rukia’s eyebrows shot up. “My sweet pumpkin pants?”

“I’m leaving,” Momo announced.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Rukia waved her hands, laughing. “I’ll be serious. What has that lunkhead done now?”

“This is so dumb,” Momo muttered. She cleared her throat. “He’s stopped going around with his bazongas hanging out all the time, and everyone’s losing their minds over it.”

Rukia stared at her. “Excuse me, his what?”

Momo made a vague gesture at her own chest. “You know. His… boobies.”

“That’s what I thought you meant,” Rukia nodded, her brow creased in thought. “Bazongas. I like that.”

“Not that I care!” Momo excused. “I mean, I agree, he should be allowed to dress how he likes, but you two seem to have a very equitable relationship and I said that I was sure he wasn’t doing anything that he hadn’t agreed to--”

“Hold on,” Rukia interrupted. “You think I had something to do with this?”

“You didn’t?” Momo asked. “He said he was keeping them tucked in because he was married now. We assumed it was at your request.”

“I didn’t even know!” Rukia replied. “I mean, I came home yesterday, and he was just--” she made a hand gesture like she was pulling her kosode open, “--completely out--”

“I don’t need to hear this,” Momo begged.

“Well, I tell you I had nothing to do with it,” Rukia assured her. “No one is more supportive of Renji acting slutty in public than me. Everyone knows I have that locked down, and honestly, it just makes me seem more powerful.”

Momo squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m going to punch Shuuhei so hard.”

Rukia rubbed her index finger over her chin. “It’s possible this came down from Brother…”

Momo whimpered, although, honestly, having a conversation with the other Captain Kuchiki about Abarai’s pectorals couldn’t possibly be more awkward than this.

“...or it might be… something else.” Rukia frowned. “I’ll talk to him, okay?”

“You will?” Momo asked hopefully.

“Yeah, I’ll take care of it. I can’t promise to bring the jugs back, but I’ll make sure it’s just Renji being a doofus and not Renji hiding his anxieties under aesthetic choices or Renji being oppressed by his brother-in-law.”

“Thank you, Rukia,” Momo said. Rukia could be bossy at times, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. “Sometimes, Renji has to be bullied into taking care of himself.”

“You’re telling me!” Rukia exclaimed. “Thank you for caring about him,” she added warmly.

“For the record, I care about him,” Momo replied. “Everyone else just misses the view.”

“Noted,” Rukia replied.

---

Renji had his nose stuffed in his cookbook, which lately, wasn’t a good sign. Renji only owned one cookbook, an encyclopedic tome that he only cracked open when he was trying something new or otherwise wasn’t sure what he was doing.

“I hope you aren’t making that kale curry again,” Rukia noted dryly.

Renji jumped three feet in the air. “Aaah, shoot! Rukia! I didn’t hear you come in! I’m so sorry!”

Rukia hopped up on her kitchen stool and leaned across the counter to give him a kiss. “We’ve been married for four months now. You don’t have to greet me at the door every single day, you know.”

“Sixteen weeks, three days,” Renji replied. “And I can still be sorry about it.”

“Just tell me we’re having something normal for dinner, and I’ll forgive you,” Rukia replied.

Renji jerked a thumb toward the stove behind him. “I made oden,” he explained. “It’s simmering, probably’ll be another ten minutes.”

“Ohhhhhh, I love your oden!” Rukia stretched her arms across the counter and did grabby hands at his hands until he laced his fingers through hers. “Did you make enough for me to take some for lunch tomorrow?”

“Depends on how much you eat tonight,” he replied. “Your appetite’s been really hit or miss lately.”

“Yeah, well...” Rukia agreed. “So what’s with the cookbook, then?”

“Oh,” Renji said vaguely. “I’m thinking about learning to bake cookies?”

“I’m in favor of that,” Rukia agreed, although her mind immediately went back to the conversation she’d had with Momo that afternoon.

“I’m not sure this book is helping,” Renji admitted. “If I was any good at baking, it would be one thing, but it’s too different. I’ve always been better at learning stuff from other people. Do you think it would be weird if I asked Iba’s mom to teach me? She used to make these little sesame biscuits for Iba. I would always steal them from him. They were so good and he didn’t properly appreciate them anyway.”

“It would absolutely be weird, and I think you should do it anyway,” Rukia proclaimed. She paused. “But maybe you could wait a few more weeks until we tell everyone we’re pregnant so all your friends will stop asking me what’s wrong with you.”

Renji’s eyes widened. “Did your brother say something last night? Because he told me he liked the braid!”

Rukia snorted. “No. He’s worse than you are anyway, he’s been reading books. Please make him stop, if you can. Actually, I’ve been getting complaints about,” she circled a finger in the vicinity of Renji’s chest.

Renji glanced down, and realized that his kosode was still neatly folded up to his collarbone. “Oops, sorry! I told you I didn’t hear you come home.” He immediately began untucking it.

Rukia leaned her chin on her palm, watching his progress. “I realize that making emotionally constipated people face their feelings is usually your department, but it seems you’ve got something heavy rattling around in there. Wanna talk about it?”

Renji’s eyes slid to one side. “Talk about what?”

Rukia cocked an eyebrow and waited.

Renji heaved a sigh. “Do you remember that time, back in Inuzuri, the first time I used my reiatsu in public? When I blocked a lead pipe with my arm?”

Rukia almost choked. “What do you mean, do I remember it? Of course I remember it.”

“Well, not so much that, but do you remember afterward, when you said I was too big and mean to be a sneakthief anymore? That it was better to confront the world and show it what we were made of?”

“I do remember that. I did not call you mean.”

“You probably didn’t. It’s probably just something I thought about myself.” He looked pensive for a moment. “In any case, it was something I really took to heart, especially after we split up. At first, I just wanted to make myself as big and loud and scary as possible. I liked the way people shied away from me. Later on, after I started hanging out with Yumichika, I realized that walking around sexy could be intimidating in a different sort of way, and I liked that, too.”

Rukia had a comment for that, but she decided to just listen, instead.

Renji smoothed the page of his book with his fingers. “I don’t want to look scary anymore.”

“You don’t look scary,” Rukia reassured him. “You haven’t looked scary in a long time.”

“I want to do better than that, though,” Renji frowned. “Has your brother ever talked to you about his dad?”

Rukia blinked, surprised, mostly that Byakuya had talked about Soujun with Renji. “A few times.”

“I, uh, asked him what his dad was like. Since I never had one myself. I expected him to either blow me off or start bellyaching, like he does about his granddad, but he didn’t. He said his pop was very gentle and kind. He said he was a good dad.”

“Byakuya loved his father a lot.”

“Yeah, that was pretty clear.”

“I hope he finished by saying what a good father you will make, but it’s my brother, so I’m sure he didn’t.”

“He said something about how he was sure I would proceed in my own way.”

Rukia sighed again. “Renji, you’ll be a great dad. It’s super obvious. I’ve only told half a dozen people that I’m pregnant and all of them who aren’t Byakuya have immediately reacted with ‘Renji is going to be such a good dad.’ You don’t need to change anything about yourself.”

Renji sucked his teeth for a moment. “Well, all my good dad instincts are telling me our kid is gonna wanna fight the world bad enough as it is, that the last thing they need is a dad who wants to fight the world, too. I’ve fought the world long enough. I’m probably never gonna be gentle, but I can try my best to be kind, and I can dress like a normal person in public for a change and… maybe I can make a cookie? It’s worth a try, I think.”

Rukia flashed him a sad, but fond smile. “You’re such a dork. A sweet, thoughtful dork, though, and I will support your experiment, even though you know I love your bazongas more than anyone.”

“‘Bazongas’? Oh no, did those assholes make Momo come and talk to you?”

Rukia shrugged and tried to look innocent.

“Anyway, you’re my wife, I will take them out for you whenever you want.”

“Yay!”

Renji furrowed his brow into its “determined” configuration. “Do not get me wrong. I am actually upping my chest day routine. I am going to keep them immaculate, and when my shirt gets ripped off in a fight, people are going to lose their minds over how lush my boys are.”

“I love you so much,” Rukia replied.

[voids-colourful-creations]

Ships Passing in the Night and Sailing Together Until Morning - Chapter 2

On the Subject of Caring

Summary: Goh isn't as accustomed to caring about another person as perhaps he should be, so he's not quite ready for some of the pitfalls of it. Pikachu tries to communicate. Koharu will support her childhood friend whether he wants it or not.

[Read on Ao3!]

[<Prev. Chapter] [Next Chapter>]

-

Goh’s heart dropped to his stomach the same moment Satoshi’s entire body dropped into Gengar’s arms. He almost appeared to fold in on himself, legs swaying back and forth as he fell forward nauseatingly.

“Satoshi.”

He called, just hoping to know what was happening at all. Satoshi didn’t respond. Eyes— when had those dark patches under them grown so large?— threatened to shut and Goh begged them not to.

“Satoshi!”

Goh leaned forward, calling harder, more desperate. Satoshi blinked for a moment, eyes widening as Goh’s voice rose. Just as quickly, as though being weighed down, his eyelids began to shut again.

“Satoshi!”

Over and over he called his name, but Satoshi had long since gone slack in Gengar’s arms, unresponsive. Regardless, Goh’s lips seemed to move on their own, meaningless syllables being pushed out near mechanically. Dimly, he registered Pikachu scampering over to Satoshi’s side, licking his cheek to no response.

Dozens of disconnected thoughts and ideas popped into Goh’s mind and disappeared just as quickly, fireworks of memories and concepts, fueled by fear and adrenaline.

“Satoshi.”

His voice cracked and finally fell silent, though his lips still traced the shapes. Replacing the sound of his name was Goh’s heartbeat in his ears.

He was beginning to feel numb, and then-

A sharp jolt of electricity coursed through his body.

“Pika! Pikapi pi-pika!”

Small paws reached around Goh’s leg, holding him tightly. Goh looked down in a daze, perhaps from the electricity, perhaps from the fear, meeting Pikachu’s worried gaze.

“Pikapi pikachu pi-pika! Chu? Chu pika pika pikapi, chuka?” Pikachu squeaked out.

And this was complete nonsense, Goh knew, a mix of fear and adrenaline and sheer stupidity, but somehow… he felt as though Pikachu was talking to him. Asking him, no- begging him for help. Maybe it was something in Pikachu’s eyes or his grip on Goh’s leg tightening. Maybe he was just projecting his own feelings onto the pokemon, maybe he had finally lost it-

But he could have sworn that in that moment he heard what Pikachu was saying. That somehow, someway, Pikachu was asking him, “Please, take care of my Satoshi.”

Was that what Satoshi had meant then, about Lugia?

Goh shook his head. There was no time for panic or pokemon human communication right now. He had to help Satoshi, and he had to do it now.

“Don’t worry, Pikachu.” Goh replied, though more for his sake than Pikachu’s. “I- I can do this. I promise… I’ll take care of him.”

Or at least he hoped he could. A few stray memories of emergency preparedness lessons and ‘what to do’s’ from his parents drifted through his mind, just out of reach.

“Pulse, I need to check for a pulse, " w as the first solid thought Goh could come up with. Which of course made the whole situation feel so much scarier, but then the idea of not checking and not knowing felt so much worse.

Goh reached for Satoshi’s wrist, holding it firmly in his hand. His thumb pressed lightly against Satoshi’s skin.

Goh felt his entire body relax as he registered the steady pounding of Satoshi’s pulse.

“Good, that’s good.”

Hesitantly, Goh leaned in closer, straining his ear.

“He’s still breathing.” He said aloud, which merited a few relieved pokemon noises.

As Gengar shifted its weight in order to get a better grip on the boy, Satoshi’s bangs fell in front of his closed eyes. Goh reached up subconsciously, brushing them aside. As his fingers brushed against uncomfortably warm skin, a natural conclusion snapped together in his mind.

“You’re sick, aren’t you Satoshi?”

Satoshi, obviously, did not respond, though Goh seemed satisfied with his conclusion.

On one hand, having any sort of idea of the situation was relieving. On the other, Goh’s heart was still racing and the anxiety of not knowing what to do was only gaining stronger by the moment.

The last thing he wanted was to do something wrong and risk-

No. He refused to finish the thought.

“Bun? Nybuny?” It was Hibunny’s turn to pull at Goh’s leg.

Goh bent down to the worried pokemon, Pikachu standing by its side.

“It’s alright, Hibunny. Pikachu too. Satoshi’s gonna be fine… he- he’s gonna be fine.” His voice wavered slightly as he spoke. Hibunny shook its head, reaching a paw up to swipe at Goh’s cheek.

Goh mirrored the action, finding his own fingers damp with tears.

Of course he was crying.

Goh reached forward, scooping up Hibunny in one arm, finding Pikachu crawling up the other to rest on his shoulder.

Hibunny rubbed it’s head against Goh’s gently, it’s soft fur drying Goh’s still slowly flowing tears.

“Come on, crying won’t help anything…” Goh muttered to himself. “Help… right.”

Help. Of course. He had to call for help.

“Rotom!” Goh called out, rubbing at his eyes with the back of one hand as he fished his phone out of his sweater pocket with the other. “Call someone from the lab!”

“Okay!” The slightly static voice called out with energy, but there was a hint more emotion than there usually was. Fear? “Who would you like me to call?”

“I- I don’t- Please, just call someone- anyone from the labs!”

“Okay!”

Goh cleared his throat, dragging his palm against his cheeks in an effort to disguise the tear tracks. Not that anyone was around to see, beyond the pokemon of course.

“…calling-! …calling-! …call-“

Someone picked up.

“Hello, Goh. What’s going on?”

Kikuna’s voice came through the line, curious and soft.

“I need help,” Was all Goh could manage to choke out at first.

Kikuna’s voice grew stronger, more attentive.

“What’s wrong? What do you need help with?”

And Goh hated how weak and childish he sounded, but for the sake of Satoshi he knew he had to cast those feelings away.

“I-It’s Satoshi. He- he passed out and I can’t get him to wake up and I think he’s sick and I can’t get us back to the lab and-“ Hibunny pressed its face against Goh’s again, and he fell silent for a moment. Calm down, it seemed to be saying. Take a breath, it silently encouraged.

So Goh did, a slow inhale followed by a shaky exhale.

“Please, come help,” He managed to say.

“Alright,” Kikuna’s voice was solid, something for Goh to hold on to. “Don’t worry, I’m coming to pick you up right now. Have your rotom send me your location, alright?”

Goh nodded.

“A-alright. Thank you.”

“Good job.” Kikuna said. Her voice grew quieter as she turned away from the phone to say something to someone else in the room. Her voice grew loud enough for Goh to hear as she yelled something that sounded suspiciously like, “Renji, I’m borrowing your car!”

Goh took another deep breath before speaking again.

“Rotom, send our location to Kikuna, please.”

“Okay!” It replied.

“Got it!” Kikuna’s voice called out, sounding a bit further away now. “Goh, I’m heading out the door right now, okay? I’m heading down the steps, I’m going to get in Renji’s car and drive right to pick you up. Do you want me to stay on the line with you?”

Goh shook his head.

“No, no it’s fine. I-I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

Goh could hear the slam of a car door as Kikuna climbed inside.

“Yeah… Yeah. I’ll be waiting.”

“Alright. If anything happens, call.”

And with that, Kikuna hung up.

So now it was time to wait.

Pikachu’s cheeks crackled with small bursts of electricity, sending tiny, harmless sparks at Goh. It would’ve been a lot more interesting to study the why and how had Goh not been so worried. Instead he placed a hand gently on Pikachu’s head, stroking him with light moments.

A car drove by in the distance, and Gengar pulled Satoshi in closer.

Goh sighed, a weary smile forming on his face.

“You really care about Satoshi now, huh?”

Gengar nodded, taking care so as not to disturb the sleeping Satoshi, though both knew he was out cold.

Goh nodded as well, soon turning into a quick bow.

“Sorry. For what I said about you cursing him and all. It wasn’t your fault. None of it, not what’s happening now or before or what your trainer did- none of it was your fault.”

Gengar stood silent for a moment, then nodded, it’s frown rotating to a smile for a brief moment.

Pikachu whined a bit, reaching towards Satoshi.

“Do you wanna get down, Pikachu?”

Pikachu shook his head.

“Pikaaa. Pikapi pika pika pi. Chu pikapa, pikapika pikapi?”

Goh bit his lip, trying to figure a response that would somehow console Pikachu despite not fully understanding what he was saying. He reached forward, almost on instinct, to hold Satoshi’s hand in his own. It was limp and warm and wholly uncomfortable and Goh held it tight. This seemed to calm Pikachu, though Goh couldn’t be sure.

Before he could stress too much about it, the honk of a car horn rang out, startling everyone in the area.

To Goh’s relief, Kikuna had arrived.

Kikuna pushed the car door open forcefully, hard enough for it to swing as far as it could and bounce back to where it had been. It would’ve hit her as she exited had she not run out so quickly.

She was taking this seriously, Goh immediately realized, and wasn’t sure if that fact was meant to be terrifying or comforting.

She presented an air of something resembling confidence, yet so much sharper, almost daring anyone to stop her before she reached her goal. Despite this, her voice and expression softened when she bent down to talk to Goh, still frozen so neatly in place.

“Come on, Goh, let’s take Satoshi back to the labs.”

Goh hesitated for a moment.

“S-shouldn’t we take him to a doctor or something first?” He asked, voice having lost its spark.

Kindly, far too kindly for Goh’s liking, Kikuna replied.

“Luckily for us, there was a Nurse Joy visiting the labs when you called me, and since she has experience with Satoshi in particular, she’s waiting for us there. It’ll be a lot faster this way.”

Goh’s stomach turned at the idea that any part of this situation could be referred to as lucky.

“Let’s get going, alright?”

Goh felt himself tense. He wanted to agree, he knew that was best and that they had to go, but part of him just wanted to stay frozen here forever.

“Goh,” Kikuna’s voice was gentle, holding him as though he was about to shatter, and Goh thought he might be sick, “I need you to let go of Satoshi for me, okay? I need to pick him up and put him in the car, and I can’t do that if you’re holding him.”

Weakly, Goh nodded, and painfully let his hand go, as lifeless as Satoshi’s.

“Good, good. Thank you.”

Kikuna turned to Gengar, thanking it as well as it passed off Satoshi to her. She handled the weight well, yet the sight wasn’t comforting to Goh in the slightest.

“I don’t think I can fit all the people and pokemon in my car.” Kikuna noted idly, merely thinking to herself.

“I could walk-“ Goh heard himself offer without believing it. Thankfully, Kikuna shot that idea down immediately.

“No, you’re riding with me, alright?”

The words were said forcefully, but with such a gentle air. It was a contradiction, yet one that Goh felt compelled to comply with. He nodded.

Gengar looked back and forth between the humans, then promptly melted into darkness, merging with Goh’s shadow.

Kikuna stood blankly for a moment.

“Well, that solves that problem. Come on, we don’t want to leave Joy waiting, right?”

With Hibunny in his arms and Pikachu still clinging to his shoulder, Goh ducked into the backseat of a car that decidedly wasn’t Kikuna’s, but that she had driven here regardless.

The car sputtered to life, and Kikuna took off down the road.

Each turn tossed Goh around, the ride going too fast and yet not getting there quickly enough.

Satoshi sat strapped into the seat next to him, Hibunny sitting between them with Pikachu clinging on to Goh’s shoulder. Goh tried not to think about how Pikachu would probably prefer to be on Satoshi’s shoulder right now. He tried not to think of anything at all, letting the street signs and sidewalks they passed become the meaningless blurs they should’ve been.

Kikuna said nothing, and neither did Goh.

The car’s steady hum was the only sound for Goh to listen to, interrupted occasionally by a soft ‘pika’ in his ear.

“Pipikachu, chu.”

It almost felt like Pikachu was whispering to him, trying to reassure him, but Goh dismissed the thought.

“Quit projecting onto the pokemon, Goh.” He thought to himself, half mouthing them without a sound escaping.

Pikachu squeaked some more, and Goh let the likely meaningless sounds run through his mind until they arrived back at the labs.

Everything became a blur once Goh opened the car door.

Adults talking above his head, Satoshi getting passed around until he wasn’t sure where he had gone. Someone was pushing him into one room or another, someone was speaking to him, but his senses seemed to have died. It was a scribble of sounds and sights he refused to process, until everything had finally died down, and the world had gone much too silent and still.

He sat on the couch in the lab’s centre room, both alone and lonely. The ever present electric hum of the computers accompanied him as best they could, yet Goh felt open, exposed.

He was looking at nothing. To the outside observer it may have appeared as though he was focused in on the floorboards, but Goh was decidedly looking at nothing. The nothing that sat between his eyes and the wooden floor. The type that turned everything twisty and not quite right when he looked at it for too long. That strange sort of always present nothing.

It wasn’t an interesting sight, but nothing always has the added benefit of being such. There was nothing associated with nothing, only the absence of things.

So for Goh right then, that sounded about right.

He was decidedly not thinking about Satoshi. He was not worrying if Satoshi was okay, on account of knowing full well that Satoshi’s welfare was completely independent of how much he worried, and doing so would only be counterproductive.

So he was not worrying. Not in the slightest.

He told himself internally that he could stand up and leave, but his legs made no effort to do so. It was for the best anyway. If he had gone to the park, Satoshi’s pokemon would ask him where Satoshi was, and then he would have started worrying. He was not sitting outside the dorm room’s door, because the unintelligible whispering of the adults within would only put him on edge. He was not looking around the empty room, he was not letting the absence of one person make him feel lonely, he was not worrying, he was fine .

He was looking at nothing.

He was looking at nothing so hard that he had completely missed the second person entering the room.

“Hey, are you listening to me?”

Goh flinched, a voice breaking the silence in tandem with a hand breaking his personal space as it came to rest on his shoulder.

He turned abruptly to meet Koharu’s concerned eye.

“Uh…”

She shook her head.

“Can you please just tell me what’s going on? Kikuna only explained half as she was running out the door, completely dropping everything.”

Goh felt his mouth dry up at Koharu’s clear exasperation.

“I… sorry.”

Koharu sighed.

“Of course.”

He hated how resigned she sounded, annoyed yet complicit with the situation. Hoping his voice wouldn’t break, he replied.

“Satoshi… got sick. I-I don’t know why.”

Koharu nodded, relaxing slightly with the added information, though not by much.

“How sick?” She asked, though he got the feeling she already knew as much, and simply wanted to hear from him.

Goh simply stared miserably at the floor, which Koharu decided to take as an answer.

“And what about you?”

Her voice dropped to that gentler tone, one she hadn’t used with him in years.

“Fine,” Goh replied, because it would be true if he believed so for long enough.

Koharu rolled her eyes.

“You’re not fooling anyone. What’s even the point of lying like that?”

Goh’s throat felt strained as he replied.

“It’s easier. It’s stupid and complicated and hard to explain, I don’t even understand it, so why even try.”

He jammed his lips shut, waiting for Koharu’s scathing response.

Koharu paused, expression unreadable.

“Then tell me what you do understand. And we can start from there.”

It wasn’t the response Goh was expecting. Taking a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, Goh spoke again, facing the empty space ahead of him instead of his friend.

“I’m scared.” He admitted, “This all feels weird and bad and scary and I hate it.”

His voice was quiet yet resonant through the too still air.

Koharu shook her head, sending her braid bouncing.

“You watched a person you care about pass out right in front of you with no warning, then couldn’t wake him up and had to call someone to bring him back here. Sounds scary to me. Nothing weird about it.”

“It’s not just that!” Goh added. “I just... I don’t know when it happened. When Satoshi stopped being an annoyance and turned into a person I would get this upset over. I wouldn’t have done that before...”

Koharu nodded, “Well yeah. Satoshi changed you, as a person and all. Though I can’t tell if that’s because he’s like… the second friend you ever made for more than twenty-four hours or because he’s Satoshi. ”

Goh tilted his head.

“He… changed me?”

Koharu rolled her eyes.

“If you can’t see it, that's your problem, but the Goh I knew wouldn’t be sitting with me and having this conversation if he hadn't met Satoshi.”

Goh leaned forward, eyebrows knitting together.

“D- do you think it’s a good change? Am I better now? Do you like me better changed than-“

Koharu raised a hand to give Goh a light chop on the head.

“Don’t go thinking about it too much. I was your friend before, I’m still your friend now. People change Goh. That’s just how they are. But you’re the one who’s gotta figure out how and why. More importantly, you’ve gotta figure out what you’re gonna do with that change.”

Goh didn’t move.

“If I’m better now then what part of me wasn’t good enough before... but then, If I’m not better, what didn’t I do enough of to change for the better?”

Koharu groaned.

“You’re not listening!”

Reaching to the side, she took Goh by the shoulders and turned him to face her.

“I like you for who you are, Goh, because we’re friends and I knew what I signed up for. You’re still you when you change, and I’m still gonna be your friend unless you change into an axe murderer or something. What I’m trying to get at is that you didn’t change for like four years. You just stayed inside all the time and didn’t talk to people. Now you’re doing that stuff again because of Satoshi. And making connections and being more open to new things, because of Satoshi. That’s a change. Only you can decide if it’s good or bad.”

Goh blinked.

“Well scientifically, the amount of time I’ve spent outside is better for vitamin d intake, though-“

Koharu cut him off, “Nerd.”

Goh rolled his eyes at her, appreciating the light air for a moment before it settled down into his lungs, turning heavy as he breathed out a melancholy sigh.

“You’re right. You have a habit of being right. It’s a bit annoying.”

Koharu grinned, though Goh continued without smiling.

“It’s just... change is scary. What if I don’t like the person I become?”

He looked up, turning to meet Koharu’s eyes, hoping his own didn’t look as watery as they felt.

Koharu nodded.

“I may not get half the things you say about pokemon, but that I can understand. Although, if you’re ever unhappy about how you’ve changed, you can always go back to the way you were.”

Goh paused for a moment in consideration. His life before had been busy, but felt hollow and lonely, even with Koharu to help fill the holes in his life, it still felt like the time he had spent was in some way, not enough. It was dark, cozy even, but small. Now his days were open and full of light. He couldn’t say that empty feeling was never there, but the warm complete feeling was certainly more present. He felt more complete, like with each passing day spent exploring with Satoshi, he understood him better, understood himself better. It felt wonderful.

Goh made a face.

“I wouldn’t like that at all.”

Koharu smiled, a laugh slipping out of her lips.

“Well, I think you’ve answered your own question.”

And there it was again. That nice warm complete feeling.

“Yeah. I guess I have.”

The near silence settled over them again, still not comforting but not as malicious or empty as it had been.

Koharu reached a hand out towards Goh, a softer expression on her face.

Goh shook his head.

“I’m not a little kid, Koharu. I don’t need you to hold my hand just cause I’m a little worried.”

“Geez, Goh.” Koharu chastised, shaking her head. “I know you love to act like you’re an adult and all, but you really can be quite childish.”

Keeping her hand outstretched, she continued.

“Being a kid isn’t such a bad thing, you know? You get to explore and experiment, you don’t have to know what all you’re doing with your life. It’s not a death sentence to just let yourself be a child sometimes Goh, from one kid to another.”

Goh remained silent. Without saying a word, he nodded ever so slightly, reaching up to hold Koharu’s hand.

She too stayed silent, not saying a word when something in the buildings would shift, or footsteps would echo down the now quiet halls, and Goh’s grip would tighten for a moment.

They stayed like that for a while.

When Goh went to bed that night, he found himself staring at the ceiling. There was no need to worry anymore, not with the steady snores of Satoshi below him, yet the residual anxiety remained. It was an odd sense of guilt that followed him. Despite knowing this wasn’t his fault, no one’s fault really, sometimes people just got sick, he couldn’t help but feel responsible.

His mind drifted back to the sidewalk, to Satoshi’s lifeless body, to Pikachu’s desperate squeaks.

Not for the first time, Goh fell asleep, dreaming intangibly of a warm light, encased in icy glass to protect it.

[End of Chapter 2]

[pinkhairedlily]

Into the Wonderful Unknown

Chapter 11 of The Spring He Came Back | 11 of 12

Momo: I told him don’t go and his response was to hold my hand. What does that even mean?

Rukia: He thought you were cold, didn’t he?

Momo: How come you know this?

Rukia: I have an idiot too, just so you know. (^,^)

“Why are you still up?” A yawning Hitsugaya appeared behind her. Hinamori hurriedly shut off her phone and turned to him.

“Why aren’t you still sleeping?” she asked. She closed the door to the patio and lightly walked towards Baba’s room. The heaters were still broken when she asked her again this morning. She might have to call utilities to do a home visit soon. Weirdly enough, Baba adamantly refused the home service when Hinamori proposed it to her over dinner.

“You weren’t sleeping yet.” His nonchalant behavior was what was confusing her. Her trauma made it hard for her to read actions and connect these with words. She was often taken advantage of in her ignorance in the past, and she knew deep down that Hitsugaya was not that kind of person. But will it do her any good if she wears her heart on her sleeve again?

He mumbled a soft good night as he pulled the blanket over his head, some of the strands still stood out. “Like a broomstick,” Hinamori noted.

“Hmm?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you cold again?”

“Not really.” Why? Will you hold my hand?

“Hmm. That’s unfortunate.” He turned his back on her and soon fell into a deep sleep.

The following morning, Hinamori inspected her room again while Hitsugaya helped Baba prepare breakfast and bento lunches. She tried to find the heater but to no avail. Baba might have placed it in the storage in the backyard? Following her hunch, she went to the small detachment at the back of the main house. True enough, she found the heaters from their rooms.

“Okay, let’s do quick repairs before I go to work.” She rolled her sleeves and started to look at each nook and crevice of the device. They were both in pristine conditions. Baba, like all their friends and all her acquaintances, was doing wingman duties. She mulled her next decision for the next few minutes – whether she should be angry at her grandmother for forcing her to be literally closer to Hitsugaya or just go along with it.

Ride this one out. Do or die. Wear my heart on my sleeve.

Hitsugaya was setting the table when she returned. “Did you check the heaters? Can they still be repaired?” Baba had an apologetic smile on her face, knowing that Hinamori figured out her scheme.

“Ah, they’re really destroyed. I called the repair shop too but unfortunately, they’re backed up for at least a week.” She really lied through her teeth, and Baba chuckled at the progress. Grunting to herself, Hinamori just occupied herself with a bowl of miso soup and hoped Hitsugaya won’t check them himself.

“Ah well, you and Baba will have to put up with me for the remaining days.”

Hinamori heard another thing entirely. He still intended to leave, and she only has two nights left to convince him to stay.

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

Hinamori visited the café after she closed shop. She was quite fulfilled with herself today – her antidote spray worked on the peonies and gerbera, she found a supplier for dried flowers, the impulsive arrangement she made this morning sold well, and she didn’t think of Hitsugaya the whole day. Well, not until she realized he didn’t come visit her at all today. He also wasn’t in the café, talking with Yuki. So where was he?

“Here’s your brew, Momo.” Yuki handed her drink to her. He might have noticed her curious expression because he asked next, “Are you looking for Dr. Hitsugaya?”

Hinamori shook her head rather strongly that there were neck cracks. “No, not really. He might just be busy today. Not like I minded it.” I apparently minded it enough to wonder.

“Oh, you’re right. He was in a hurry earlier when he ordered an americano to-go. He’s probably tying up loose ends because he’s leaving tomorrow,” Yuki surmised. This information caught Hinamori in surprise. Tomorrow. She thought she had two more nights with him. “That means, it’s his last night in your family house?”

“The town’s rumor mill sure works hard, huh? What are they saying?” There was a slight tremble in her hands.

“Rumors were so bad in his first days. Sleeping in your house instead of a hotel? That was a scandal waiting to happen, and then when people saw that he was still leaving, the rumors died down to you two being sibling-like. Of course, he would sleep in your family house. That was his second home, and you were his second family.” Yuki was looking at her intently, possibly gauging her response. She didn’t know herself – she didn’t know whether she should be offended or saddened. Hitsugaya might have confessed to her when they were teenagers, but ten years have passed. Could it be that this was all she was gonna be to him?

The doors to the café opened, interrupting Yuki and Hinamori’s conversation. Rukia and Renji were holding hands but remained unflustered when they saw their friend.

“Nice timing. I was just about to message you,” Rukia said. “We’re holding a farewell dinner for Urahara’s team.”

“It’s only a small crowd. Us and the three professors. Well, four now because Hitsugaya’s one already,” Renji further supplied. Both of them saw apprehension flickered across Hinamori’s face which soon got covered by a smile. They knew her for far too long that they recognized this was her immediate façade.

It was the academy, after all. There was a long history and probably some bad blood. She wasn’t sure if she was entirely welcome. Then again, this was an opportunity to spend more time with Hitsugaya and talk about his decision. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know about it. He clearly told her he’ll only be here for a week. And it wasn’t as if she bottled up her feelings; she told him “don’t go”, didn’t she? She just wanted to know if this was for good, if he won’t come back again, if there was another life waiting for him on the other side, if she was a thing of his past, or if he just came here for closure. “I’ll freshen up first. Where do I meet you?” Ride this one out. Do or die. Wear my heart on my sleeve.

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

Hinamori couldn’t remember the last time she went to a party. Rangiku forced her to join a mixer last year, but no one really interested her. She was far too engrossed in mapping out the business in her head while everyone in their table exchanged information. Then Hitsugaya came, and she was reduced to a blushing mess.

She let her shoulder-length hair down, finally making her strands experience the curling iron. Rangiku’s impromptu and overly enthusiastic make-up sessions proved to be useful despite her and Rukia rarely using cosmetics. She also took out from her closet the olive green blazer and short coordinates which she bought when her revenues finally went beyond breakeven. A comfortable pair of loafers completed the look. Just what was she thinking this would convince him to stay?

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

“Working girl, Hinamori,” Rukia quipped. This earned her a glaring look from Hinamori. “Are you changing tactics? Is this ~seduction~?” she jokingly whispered. This time, it was Renji who elbowed her.

“I’m pretty sure Hitsugaya will get a neck strain from staring too much at you.” Renji’s assurance served to fuel the fire stronger. Her two friends were so amused.

“Don’t get the wrong idea! I’m not trying to seduce him!” Hinamori fumed. There were still a few minutes to spare; she could go home and change into her more normal clothes.

“Hinamori! You look good!” Rangiku’s voice rang through the alley. She wore a strawberry midi dress in blocked heels, and her long curls were made up in a loose bun. It wasn’t hard to see the source of her flushed happiness as she was walking with a silver-haired guy who they presumed to be Ichimaru Gin.

Thank God Rangiku dressed up, Hinamori thought. However, she was still wary with how she looked. She immediately turned on her heels to make her way back to the house despite the rising protests from the 3Rs, but she hit someone soon enough. She got a sudden cramp in her foot and almost fell on her back but strong arms steadied her shoulders.

“Momo, are you okay?” It was Hitsugaya. Just her luck.

“Hello, Hinamori.” The professors beside him greeted in unison. Unohana, Byakuya, and Urahara waved hello, dispelling any negative scenarios Hinamori made up in her mind. Suddenly conscious of Hitsugaya’s arms on her shoulders, she moved away from him and bowed to the other professors in greeting.

“Barbecue, barbecue, barbecue,” Urahara led the small group into the restaurant. Hinamori failed to see Hitsugaya’s reaction as she quickly moved towards the safety of her friends’ exchanges and out of his sphere. So much for wearing her heart on her sleeve.

It was so typical of the academy regulars to reserve the whole restaurant for a small dinner. A long table was laid out in the center of the room, and lots of meat were ordered. Bottles of wine and beer were also prepared.

Maybe drinks will give me courage. Dejected, she sat beside Rukia and Renji and across the lovey-dovey Rangiku and Gin. While the former couple was subtle in their affections (because Byakuya was in the room), the latter was nonstop flirting. Never in her life has Hinamori felt so single. At the other end of the table was Hitsugaya and his mentors, debating over something else. Unohana, now the head of the academic board, claimed the seat beside her.

The dinner started out smoothly, and Hinamori enjoyed grilling meat for everyone, particularly for Unohana who apparently wanted a certain cooked appearance. She also got to relax for a bit since Ichimaru Gin took the hot seat.

“It’s your time to eat, Hinamori,” Unohana gently stopped her arm from cooking another batch of pork belly and urged her to sit down.

Taking a bite of a grilled asparagus, Hinamori’s eyes strayed to Hitsugaya’s seat at the other end of the table. He was downing a bottle of beer which he almost choked on when Urahara said something funny. She quickly peeled her gaze away when he noticed her staring. Her seatmate chuckled at the silent exchange.

“It’s a wonderful thing. I’m sure you knew the things Hitsugaya did for you,” she said. The professor placed a few strips of bulgogi beef on the grill. “He really hunted down all the affiliates of Aizen in five years, presented all evidence in the international teaching board and revoked Aizen’s and his accomplices’ teaching licenses. They also got blacklisted in the research field. The items you mailed to the academy – they were also part of that repository.”

The things Hitsugaya did for you.

He really looks out for you.

Even from afar, he was protecting her. “It took me quite long though.” There was a tinge of regret in her voice which Unohana picked up.

“At least you arrived where you wanted to be.” The professor took a sip of her tea. “Although, isn’t it time for you to go back and study in the academy?”

Hinamori’s eyes lit up at the possibility. Yes, she was contented with self-studying, but a focused curriculum would greatly improve her skills. “Wouldn’t there be a conflict of interest based on my past record?”

“I believe that record was already expunged. You didn’t have any knowledge of his operations, after all.” Unohana took from the grill the burnt strips of bulgogi beef. She smiled at Hinamori and ate them in one mouthful. “The academy isn’t the academy you knew before. There are no more Soul members and no networking involved. Just regular admissions and equal access to resources.”

Hinamori sighed. She briefly forgot about her business. “I’m not sure if I can. I have a flower shop.”

“And we have night classes for working students, parents, breadwinners, you name it. The academy tries its best to accommodate everyone and be flexible if need be. We also heard what you were doing in the flower farms. It’s a talent difficult to miss, Hinamori.”

“Am I not too old to pursue a bachelor’s degree?”

“Is there an age limit in the pursuit of knowledge?”

“Five already,” Gin said aloud. Rangiku laughed when Unohana and Hinamori finally steered their attention to them.

“I’m telling you it’s six.” Renji almost slammed his beer mug on the table. He might love drinking, but his tolerance was so high. Rukia, though, was another matter.

“What are they counting?” Hinamori asked Rangiku who was rather tipsy at this point.

“The number of times he looked at you.” Rangiku pushed six shot glasses to Hinamori. “Drink them all, baby.”

I didn’t even notice. Again, a blushing mess when it came to him.

“You just wasted your night cooking for us. You need a break.” Gin supported his girlfriend. “Drink your share, Hinamori.”

Slightly affected by the new opportunities coming her way and the enthusiasm of her friends, she downed three shot glasses in full. She cupped her fourth when her eyes strayed to where he was seated. She was supposed to make use of this time to talk to him, but he seemed intent to put some distance between them. In that moment, his eyes flitted to where she was. If it was possible to swallow the shot glass, she would have.

“This is so entertaining,” Unohana quipped.

“I don’t have any patience for this stealing-glances-game,” the intoxicated Rukia said. “You, Momo, are to confess tonight!”

“Ooooh I heard confession!” Urahara yelled from across the table. He stood enthusiastically and went over to Hitsugaya’s side. “I’ve got a story to tell!”

“Shut up, Kisuke.” Byakuya tried to pull him away from his mentee.

“What story?” Hitsugaya asked. He also finished his bottle in one long drink. Finally remembering what story it was, he reddened in embarrassment. “Urahara no!”

“That time when someone confessed to you in the middle of an open forum!” Urahara let them in on the secret. “The girl started with, Dr. Hitsugaya, your presentation was very nice and it answered big knowledge gaps in the field of Physics. Now I was wondering if you would fill in the gap in my life. It was so hilarious. The auditorium broke out in cheers.”

Laughter erupted around the table and more so when Hitsugaya just continued pouring himself a drink.

“We had to screen attendees at that point onwards because she might ask the same question again.” Byakuya also found the memory funny. “You maintained contact with her, right?”

“What is it to you?” Hitsugaya pouted in his defense. The laughter shifted into yells and whistles. This light atmosphere turned quite heavy for Hinamori.

So there really was someone else.

His phone rang amid the cheers, and he excused himself from the table. Hinamori’s heart sank further. The decision was made; she should just go home. “I need some air.”

When Hinamori was out of earshot, the people around the table sighed collectively.

“I can’t believe I’ll say this, but we have two idiots in company,” Unohana said, breaking the silence.

“After Rukia and Renji, of course,” Byakuya added, teasing the two lovebirds at the other end.

“Let’s hope those idiots realize it soonest huh?” Urahara went back to his seat and opened a new bottle of wine.

“It’s literally your fault.” Byakuya and Unohana were both clearly exasperated.

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

“I should say goodbye,” Hinamori muttered to herself. She saw Hitsugaya walked to the alley beside the restaurant. She tried to follow him, but a group of local drunks blocked her way. She sidestepped, but they also matched her move. She was feeling a little light on her feet. It was a bad call to finish the shot glasses Rangiku gave her.

“Hey cutie, where are you going?”

“Are you striding towards my pants? I mean, my heart?”

“Hey fuck off, I saw her first. Finders keepers.” Someone’s hand grabbed her wrist, pain shooting throughout her body.

Fingers wrapped around that someone’s arm, the grip was so tight one could see veins popping on his hand. “Don’t fucking touch her.” Silver hair in her periphery. An air of intimidation. Eyes like icy daggers. The strong arms holding her steady. “Stop hitting on my girlfriend.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have let her out of your sight? Fuck off dude.”

Hinamori was trembling more because of anger and less because of fear. Alcohol was truly a source of courage. “Why don’t you fuck off yourself?” She kicked the one in front in the balls, and elbowed the one grabbing her wrist. It happened so fast that Hitsugaya forgot he was holding someone hostage.

The local drunks scurried away, leaving the two unharmed. Hitsugaya pulled Hinamori gently into the abandoned alley, usually reserved for dumpster area, the dark acting as refuge for their recent encounter. She was still trembling, her hands cold and sweaty. Hitsugaya hesitated to come close within her personal space. A few minutes passed and she reached out for his hand, her pinky barely holding on to his other pinky.

“I’m sorry I lied,” Hitsugaya asked. “I drank so much I’m not sure I could fight them all off. So I thought the boyfriend card would be enough.” He hovered his fingers above hers in a quiet question of consent. She closed the space within their hands, their fingers finally intertwining, the cold dissipating in the warmth of his skin. “You were so badass there.”

“Thank you,” Hinamori chuckled. “But I guess you shouldn’t be holding hands with me when you have a girlfriend abroad.” But her fingers stayed where they were.

“What girlfriend? I don’t have a girlfriend, Momo.” HItsugaya protested. He faced her this time, the closeness of him backing Hinamori against the wall. “Urahara was spouting nonsense earlier. I rejected her. I don’t have any form of contact with her.”

“Why are you so adamant in proving it?”

“Then why did you rile me up with it?”

Hinamori couldn’t answer. Maybe she should have drunk two more shots.

“Are you okay?” Hitsugaya was clearly worried. He was red on the face, but Hinamori didn’t know if it was because of the drinks or because it was cold outside.

“Why should it be a pretense?” she asked, letting go of his hand. She turned her gaze away from his striking eyes.

“What? Momo, look at me.” He cupped her face, securing any form of escape. “Are you drunk? Because I’m kinda tipsy too. Byakuya made me finish one bottle of wine and some bottles of beer. I think my stomach is riding a pirate ship. So what pretense?”

“I like you.” Her stomach was a pirate ship suspended at the highest point, a roller coaster stuck upside down, and a basket at the peak of a ferris wheel.

“I know what you mean. You said it before already.” Her words were not getting through to him.

“I like you, Shirou. I meant it back then when I said I liked you too.”

“Of course, you like me as a friend.”

“How can I prove it to you, you broomstick idiot?” She felt like crying. What was running through his mind? How can she get her feelings across in actions if words were not enough?

Ah, there was one thing she could do, and she had the advantage. Ride this one out. Do or die. Wear my heart on my sleeve.

Hinamori’s hands strayed to his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. Her stomach lurched into a journey, the wide deep swing that came after the high, and then an expanse of space. This was probably why they associated butterflies with it. It seemed as if she was fluttering herself, her heels flying on to space, and the only thing grounding her was his hands on her face and his soft lips on hers.

Thank you, courage. She pulled back, content with her declaration, no matter the result.

“You look so beautiful tonight, Momo.” Hitsugaya spoke as if someone took his breath away momentarily, but his hands were still cupping her face. “Didn’t know you were so fashion-forward.”

“I’m glad you think so. It’s my alternate persona.” She joked back. She gathered what was remaining of her courage and truly looked at him.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. You can be angry at me tomorrow.” He pulled her face closer and kissed her again, full on the mouth, a little longer, and a little deeper. Over and over again, they would pull each other in with small rests for breathing, like how the world was rushing to bloom again in spring.

NEXT CHAPTER | 12 OF 12 | ENDLESS SEASONS WITH YOU

[gunnerpalace]

It is Time to Kill The Common Understanding of the Dome of Las Noches Fight Once and for All

I’ve been thinking about @starrdustcrusader​‘s post making fun of BBS’s interpretation of Full Hollow Ichigo, and while it is very good and covers a lot, I felt that I had something further to add. Please go read that post first so you are on the same page.

I also invite you to go read chapter 350, The Lust 4, and the next few chapters as well.

Now, like I said, the post in question does a very good job of pointing out what’s happening here: Full Hollow Ichigo has less than zero concern for Uryuu or Orihime. He is not interested in protecting them whatsoever. Indeed, he directly attempts to kill Uryuu, with that attack being very likely to kill Orihime as well. It is only stopped by Ulquiorra’s intervention.

And why did Ichigo attack Uryuu? Because he was a threat.

When you are doing dispassionate threat analysis, whether that be tactical or strategic, when you are thinking with an essentially military mindset, motive stops really mattering, because it cannot be taken for granted. What matters is capability. What someone says their intentions are, or what their intentions seem to be, often matter less from this perspective than what they can do, or are doing.

What is Uryuu doing in this fight? He is interfering with Full Hollow Ichigo killing Ulquiorra. And that is Full Hollow Ichigo's only goal. Thus, Uryuu is an enemy and is also to be killed.

And so is Orihime (if “merely” as collateral damage).

It's that simple. This is again pointed out in the original post. In the same way that Ulquiorra earlier said to Ichigo that, "Killing you is synonymous with protecting Las Noches," killing Uryuu and Orihime at this point is synonymous with “protecting,” because they are in the way and are actively impeding the mission. (”Protecting” what? We’ll come back to that.)

I haven’t said anything new yet, now have I? So let’s get to that.

Here is Orihime demonstrating several flavors of hubris, and also completing failing to do anything to save Uryuu from his imminent demise. What do I mean? Well, let’s take apart her statements:

“Because I said that, Kurosaki-kun is trying to help me.” This is an assumption on her part, and it is wrong.

“I trained because I didn’t want to be a burden to him.” Mind you, she also says this in both the Xcution and TYBW arcs, and is a burden and fails in both as well (the infamous ”Why am I crying?” and “Her shield didn’t work” moments). This should have been a learning moment for her and it was not.

“I came here because I wanted to protect him.” There are other meta posts that detail the selfishness of Orihime’s actions in Hueco Mundo and in general. I would also like to point out that this was also her exact same logic in going to Soul Society. She didn’t learn anything from that experience either.

“So why? Why at the very end did I depend on him?” A great question. One that she never truthfully owns up to, given (2). But there was a reason Kisuke told her to stay out of the war. You may recall Rukia's statement to Orihime in chapter 228, Don't Look Back, that "In a battle, the ones who get in the way are not the ones that lack power, but the ones that lack resolve." She went on to say "Of all the battles in Soul Society, no one was a burden to anyone else. Not Ichigo, nor Sado, nor Ishida, and neither were you, Inoue. If any of you were less than who you are, I wouldn't be where I am today." This was very charitable of Rukia, because Orihime's contribution to her rescue was negligible and was, to reiterate, not why she was even there. Furthermore, Orihime didn't listen to her here either: she is once again demonstrating a lack of resolve, as she will continue to.

So Orihime doesn’t learn. Great. But maybe you’re thinking about (1). What do I mean she was wrong? I mean, doesn’t the manga confirm she’s right?

This is the crux of that argument. And this is also one of the cruxes of IchiHime as a whole. The thing is... it’s complete and utter bullshit.

This is the exact same scene in the original Japanese:

Now, I don’t speak or read Japanese very well at all. I’m still a novice at it. What I can do, however, is use optical character recognition and translation tools.

(よ)呼んでる - Yonderu - Calling

(よ)呼んでるんだ - Yonderunda - They’re calling

(き) 聞 こえる -  Kikoeru - I can hear

(た)立てよ - Tateyo - Stand up

(た)立 て - Tate - Stand

(おれ)俺が - Ore ga - I will

(おれ)俺が - Ore ga - I will

俺が護る - Ore ga mamoru - I will protect

(The parentheticals are furigana used as a pronunciation guide.)

Now do you see a single instance of “her” or “she” in this dialogue, particularly when it comes to the final line of “I will protect”? No, you don’t. Because it’s not there. It was never there until a biased translator inserted it into the dialogue. I’m not alone in this analysis, by the way.

Quite some time ago, @kodoku-no-maria​​ did a wonderful analysis about Ichigo’s instincts (”Mistranslations that Created the IH Fandom”) that also covered this (using anime quotes instead) and came to a similar conclusion. It’s a great post and you should read it. 

This isn’t the post she mentions in hers, but there is one done specifically of the manga by a deactivated account. You should read this post too. (This also notes other things, such as how Orihime says “Help, Kurosaki-kun!” and not “Help me, Kurosaki-kun!” so we can take it that the Mangastream / Mangareader English translation is just generally dodgy all around at this point. Which may well impact the points I made above about Orihime’s character; but I think given the events of the Xcution and TYBW arcs that it is evident she did not in fact learn anything, so I will stand by the basic thrust of them.)

Okay, so I’ve marshaled my evidence on the battle and provided corroborating analysis. (I have also reblogged all three of these posts because they’re good, although the links are to the original sources or as close to them as I could get.) 

Ichigo didn’t turn into Full Hollow Ichigo because of Orihime. She had nothing to really do with it. Great. So what?

Well, let’s now move on to my theory.

Now, you might be thinking that it is fairly obvious that all of those lines are Ichigo’s inner monologue. But I don’t think it’s so obvious. In fact, I would suggest to you that it is actually a dialogue.

On the second page, with the third panel, it suddenly zooms in to the wound in Ichigo’s torso. This notably later becomes Full Hollow Ichigo’s Hollow hole. You notice here the dialogue changes, from commands (e.g., “Stand”) to personal pronouns (e.g., “I”).

I would submit to you that the first three lines are Ichigo’s. But I don’t think the last five are. I think they belong to two other entities. Especially the last three. First, let me steal two of Maria’s highlighted panels to make a point:

So who is talking? It’s simple:

Do you really think it’s a coincidence that Zangetsu (Hollow Zangetsu) shows up wearing the exact same outfit as ‘Full Hollow Ichigo’ after Tensa Zangetsu gives a speech about how:

I don’t think so. Ichigo "fell into despair and halted [his] progress" and Zangetsu, as 'Full Hollow Ichigo' is "the "source of [his] despair." (This is the same despair that Rukia noticed when Ichigo came down from the top of the dome to confront Yammy.) As has been previously pointed out in the linked posts, we see this despair on the dome after Ulquiorra’s defeat in Ichigo’s attitude. Starrdust covered these, but let’s go over them again:

He’s doesn’t seem all that shocked or concerned here, to be honest.

He’s a lot more shocked at what he did to Uryuu.

But the thing that really gets him is that he’s gone and killed Ulquiorra. That’s his despair.

This is the first time he’s out and out killed somebody. (And yeah, Ulquiorra is dead because he had his bits vaporized with a cero, not purified.)

He finally has to learn this isn’t all fun and games, that you can’t turn everyone to your side and redeem them and be friends with them afterward, as he did with Ikkaku, Renji, Kenpachi, Byakuya, and even to an extent Dordoni and Grimmjow. This is exactly what Dordoni was warning him about. This is the lesson he will be forced to learn again after weakening Aizen long enough for Kisuke’s kidou to work on him.

And it is why later, his determination to “save everyone” in the Xcution arc by cutting Ginjou down and killing him (even if he turns into a Plus as revealed in TYBW, undermining the whole symbolic importance of the act) is a big deal for his character development, and one of the few redeeming aspects of that arc: it shows that Ichigo learned a lesson from this fight: sometimes to protect you have to kill.

And who taught him that lesson? Zangetsu.

Who was speaking in the 4th and 5th lines in that transformation sequence? My bet is “Zangetsu” (Quincy Zangetsu) or Tensa Zangetsu. And who was speaking in the 6th, 7th, and 8th lines? Zangetsu.

What was Zangetsu protecting? Ichigo. That’s his instinct. That’s all he cares about protecting, just like Tensa Zangetsu. He sure the fuck wasn’t protecting Orihime or Uryuu. And the mask of ‘Full Hollow Ichigo’ is there to protect those instincts. And the mindless rage of ‘Full Hollow Ichigo’ is Zangetsu’s rage at Ulquiorra for trying to kill Ichigo.

We of course know from much later, in TYBW, that zanpakutou spirits aren’t some separate entity from the wielder, but are the wielder (hence why we go from “The Blade and Me” to “The Blade IS Me”) which Ichigo will affirm in the reforging of his into the “two Zangetsus.” So this can ultimately be read as self-preservation instinct. These are the aspects of Ichigo that were willing to do what he himself consciously wouldn’t in order to stay alive.

(Also, Uryuu was an idiot and wrong to stop Zangetsu as Ulquiorra still clearly constituted a threat, so he frankly got what he deserved, if a bit harshly.)

In summary, not only did the fight above the dome in Las Noches not have anything to do with protecting Orihime, but it was entirely about Ichigo’s character development and relations with the personifications of his powers, and everyone has been reading it completely fucking wrong for years and years.

If you don’t know, now you know.

[rukia-kuchiki-divided]

Can you write about the adoption scene from Rukia's perspective? Pls??

~Sure why not? Angst hours it is then! Under readmore for length because... I have no self control~

The unused study room at the end of the hall sat completely empty when Rukia arrived. Sighing softly as the door shut behind her, grateful that it was enough to effectively muffle the remarks about her origins in the Rukongai. Wasn’t it bad enough that she was surrounded by stuck up nobles who lived life without a care in the world? Meanwhile, she was back to rationing out her meal supply until she could manage to sneak out to the outer edges of the Seireitei and replenish her stash. 

Renji was supposed to meet her here so they could take their lunch break together. It had been a few days since Rukia really had a chance to talk to him. They’d both been training late into the night, normally too exhausted to exchange much more than pleasantries in the evening before giving in to sleep in their respective dormitories. Males and females were generally kept apart though Rukia felt safer sleeping up in the branches of the nearby trees then in her small closet of a room. It wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful to have a place to keep dry in the rain. But compared to living in the Rukongai with it’s wide open spaces, she found it a touch claustrophobic for her tastes.  

Wondering just how long his exam was going to take, Rukia let out another long sigh. This was his second major exam that would allow Renji to excel into the next level. If he passed, he’d be more than just an advance class above her. She should feel happy for him. She was happy for him. But that dark shadow of doubt weighed heavily in her chest which rendered reading her open textbook impossible. 

“The gap between us just continues to grow.” Rukia muttered to no one in particular. “Eventually, that bond will snap. Am I holding Renji back?  I  wish I was able to forget the Rukongai as easily as he seems to have done.” 

Groaning, Rukia tapped her forehead against the text book. What is wrong with me? Renji’s excelling and here I am feeling sorry for myself. Snap out of it, damn it!

So when the door suddenly opened, Rukia had already resigned herself to put on a happy face and congratulate the red head despite the pang of jealousy in her heart. 

“About time, baka. I thought you were gonna stand me up for-” 

Rukia’s eyes widened as she realized she did not feel Renji’s usual warm familiar reiatsu. Quickly jumping to her feet, she recognized the signs of nobility  from the kenseikan to the servants accompanying them, even to the way they watched her low bow with a critical gaze. 

“Forgive me, I thought you were someone else.” 

Rukia apologized, keeping her head low as she was taught. The last thing she needed was to piss off a noblemen who might have a say in how their classes were graded. There appeared to be two noblemen while the others were their attendants. Wait  - not just attendants but soul reapers! 

The younger one with the kenseikan had a zanpakuto in addition to an intimidating amount of spiritual pressure. It felt cold and hard like a steel blade on a cold winter morning. They match his hard grey eyes that look over Rukia’s face critically, as if searching for something. She watched as a flicker of immeasurable sadness crosses his gaze for an instant before it is locked behind a wall of steel. Was that pity?

“Forgive us, as it is we who interrupted your studying.” The older man spoke with a deep baritone, motioning for Rukia to stand up straight once more. “You are Rukia, is that right? From Inuzuri in the Rukongai?” 

“Yes, that’s me.” But how and why would nobles like them care about her or where she was from? Her brow furrowed slightly as she ran through a list of possibilities.

The older noblemen glanced at the younger one, his facial expression asking an unspoken question. Rukia watched as the younger one inclined his head slightly, an almost imperceptible nod of approval.

“I see.” The older man looked Rukia over once more  with stern eyes behind those delicate glass lenses and she felt significantly more uncomfortable. The way his eyes lingered on her worn red uniform and the smudges of dirt on her shoes made her feel as though she was being assessed for a price.

 “Then let us get on with the purpose of our meeting. Rukia, my name is Nobutsune Seike. I am the cleric elder of the noble Kuchiki Clan. This is Byakuya Kuchiki, the head of our noble house.” The pride in his voice as he spoke was overwhelming. Even Rukia had heard of the Kuchiki clan, though only in rumor as if they were a fairy tale to be sought after. 

“We would like to make you an offer to join our family.” 

The world seemed to suddenly turn on it’s side. Rukia blinked once and then twice to regain her composure. Surely she had misheard the elder?! Perhaps he was confused and misspoke?! Her violet eyes glanced up at who she now knew was Byakuya Kuchiki himself, looking at him for any sign of disagreement. But his face was stoic and still, as if he was made of steel himself. 

“My apologies,” Rukia managed to stammer out. “But I must have misunderstood. What would a noble clan want me to joint their family for?”  

For a split second, Rukia could have sworn she saw a look of disgust cross the elder’s face though he disguised it well. “Ah a very blunt question. But we can get to the details of things after we present our offer. Rukia, we would like to extend to you an offer of adoption. Not only would you be part of the noble Kuchiki Clan, but Byakuya Kuchiki himself will adopt you as his younger sister!” 

His younger sister? But... why? It didn’t make any sense to her. Before Rukia could interrupt, Nobutsune held up his hand. 

“Please, allow me to lay out the terms of our offer. You would become Rukia Kuchiki, no longer a nameless soul of the Rukongai. Your home would be the main Kuchiki house with all its amenities. Of course, you would be subject to the laws of our clan as any other member of Kuchiki house along with the additional requirements the main family house entails.” 

He paused again, looking Rukia up and down for the third time while pushing up his glasses. “We understand that there is a ... gap in education due to your upbringing. We are prepared to tutor you in our home as well as propel your soul reaper career. As a member of our noble house, you will not need to bother completing the Academy’s training course as we will arrange for private training. You will be allowed to join an available squad of your choosing and test for a seated position if you should qualify.” 

This was unreal. She had to be dreaming. There was just no way that the Kuchiki clan, of all the noble houses in the Seireitei, had found her and asked for her to join their family. Something was wrong. In Rukia’s experience, if an offer seemed too good to be true, it most likely was. There was always a catch. 

But - family. The idea of having a family with all the bonds that went with it was certainly appealing. Renji. His face instantly surfaced in her mind as he was the only one she had any semblance of a bond with at this time. What would he think of this? What would this do to their already fraying friendship? Nobility came with chains. Rukia was well aware of that. 

“What exactly would my extra duties require of me?” Her violet eyes carefully flickered between the elder and Byakuya, trying to gain any insight they might offer. 

“As part of the main family, you are expected to attend certain functions, maintain a strict code of conduct especially outside of the walls of our home. Your comings and goings will be restricted as well as your social circle and those you interact with on a casual basis. You will be allowed to continue your soul reaper career, as mentioned before, so that will be the exception to this. When the elders of our clan deem it appropriate, you will be wed to a suitor of our choice who meets the Kuchiki clan standards. In exchange, all of your needs will be provided for and your career elevated.” 

His thick white eyebrows raised above his glasses in a way of finality. “Well, do we have your interest, Rukia of Inuzuri?” 

Rukia was processing everything he had said, not missing the subtle way her freedoms would be restricted. Her gaze fell to the ground, heart torn. Could she do this? Could she really sell her soul for this? 

Again, Renji’s face swam into her mind’s eye. Of course not! Renji was her family. If she were to join the Kuchiki’s, then she would not be permitted to speak to Renji. That alone was enough to make her doubt this offer. But was she holding Renji back in his own life? Doubt crept in, a cold chill running up her spine.

“I..I’m not-” 

As if on cue, the door burst wide open and almost caused Rukia to jump. Renji’s excitement was rolling off of him as he blurted out his news. 

“Rukia! Guess what? I passed the second exam! Can ya belie-” 

The way his face shifted from exuberance to confusion was almost comical. Rukia saw the look of recognition as Renji took in Byakuya’s kenseikan and the spiritual pressure in the room. “Uh..” 

“It seems our negotiations have been interrupted.” Nobutsune eyed Renji with only thinly veiled disgust. “This place is no longer suitable for us to continue our discussions”

 He and Byakuya already began making their way back through the entrance as Renji moved aside for them to pass. “We look forward to hearing a favorable answer, Rukia.” 

Rukia’s mind was conflicted, thoughts rolling into each other as she tried to untangle them. But Renji was here now. He was the strategist, the one who kept his feet grounded between the two of them. He was her best friend, after all. If anyone could see the flaws in this plan and understand her view on nobility, it was him. 

“Renji..” 

He seemed startled out of deep thought, not having moved from his position beside the entrance way. “Oh Rukia! What - what was that all about, eh?” 

She averted her gaze, not trusting herself to look Renji in the eyes at the moment. “They were from the Kuchiki clan. They.. want to adopt me into their family.” Rukia was already shaking her head, holding one arm with the other across her abdomen to steady herself. “I don’t know what to do. Renji-” 

The last thing Rukia expected was to hear Renji exhaling in what seemed like relief. His hand moved to her shoulder, grasping her as he started to chuckle. 

“What do ya mean ya don’t know what to do? This is great! The Kuchiki clan is a powerful family! Oh man, yer gonna be living the life of luxury just like we always dreamed about!” He shifted his hand slightly on her shoulder as Rukia watched his face intently. “I wonder what you’ll be eatin’! Ah! I’m so jealous!”  

Fake. That was the first thought that crossed Rukia’s mind as she watched him. He was lying to her about how he felt. But why would he do that? Unless... she had been a burden holding him back this whole time? And now he had a way to severe their bond without feeling guilt. That was the only explanation that made sense to her, the only reason she could think of that Renji would lie to her - to spare her feelings. 

It was an almost audible snap in her heart as she felt the bond between herself and Renji break, finally frayed to it’s last thread. She understood now that there was nothing left for her here. He was giving her away, without even an after thought. She was a reminder of where he came from, a life Renji was desperate to forget as he fit in with the others in his class. That’s all she would always be to him - a painful reminder of why he would always be different. 

I see now.. Rukia felt the pinpricks of tears threatening to spill out of the corner of her eyes. This was kindness on Renji’s part. He was letting her go in the gentlest way possible. She reached up to grasp his hand with both of hers, gently pulling it off her shoulder. He looked down at her, meeting her gaze before she tore her eyes away. 

“Thank you.” 

Before Rukia allowed herself to say anything else lest she give away how broken hearted she felt, she did the only thing she knew how to do. It saved her life time after time and would be her saving grace again.

Run. Don’t look back. Just run. 

She ran straight down the hall, not stopping until she had caught up with the Kuchiki elder and Byakuya. 

She bowed, wiping away any semblance of tears that remained on her face before meeting their gaze.

“I accept.”

The elder bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement, glasses gleaming in the sunlight. 

“Welcome to the family, Rukia Kuchiki.” 

[of-muppets-and-men]

Penumbra

Just an Ichiruki canon divergent type story I’m taking a crack at.

This takes place a few years after the Quincy war.

Chapter One: Waning

Winter in the Seireitei was arguably even more frigid than it was in the real world. The chilling air seeping into every crack and crevice, freezing the citizens to the bone. Lower districts suffered the most, its poor residents struggling to keep warm. Huddling together like penguins to stave off frostbite and lost toes. And years of enduring it as a boy left a bad taste in one Renji Abarai’s mouth.

The restless lieutenant walked silently through the upper echelons of the Seireitei, Zabimaru tout by his side. His stride long and somber as he moved through the fortunate streets. The posh smiles of other souls sickening him to some degree. Their whisperings and hushed voices undoubtedly about him. The lieutenant adjusted his heavy cloak so he could avoid meeting their gaze. Renji had been to and seen hell, while these people hid and scattered like roaches. But he would ultimately pay their judgement no mind. After all, he had a more pressing concern; like finding his fiancee.

At long last, the shinigami reached his destination: The Shihouin estate.

Its gates opened before him, grandiose as always. A slew of servants filed out, forming symmetrically at the edge of the path. The respectfully bowed toward him, a Noble formality he'd come to hate. The head servant, a woman who’s name he hadn’t bothered to remember, guided him inside to meet her mistress. Renji followed the diminutive woman inside to a decadent living room where an old friend sat lazily.

“Mistress, you have a guest.” the servant spoke.

Yoruichi looked up to see who had interrupted her midday snacking, only to see Renji give off his familiar scowl. The reinstated head of the Shihouin clan fired back with a coy smile, then continued to nibble on a pocky stick.

With a wave of her hand, the attendant left the room, leaving Renji and her alone.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Sit.” Yoruichi coaxed “You are my guest, no?”

With a heavy sigh, Renji waltzed over, propping his zanpakuto against an adjacent pillar. He removed his thick cloak, laying it beside him as he made himself comfortable. Yoruichi’s sofa was soft, almost too soft as he felt his body sink into the cushions. In an attempt to start the conversation, Yoruichi pointed the open pocky box in Renji’s direction.

“Want one?” She asked with a purr.

“Where is Rukia?” Renji barked.

“Wow, straight to the point. Oh well, more for me.”

“Yoruichi…”

The Lieutenant eyes spoke volumes. He clearly wasn't in the mood for games. The Shihouin head rolled her eyes at his seriousness, laying her beloved snack on a nearby table. She refined her posture, crossed one leg over the other as she often did and spoke truthfully.

“I haven’t seen her in weeks, Renji. No one has.” Yoruichi answered his looming question.

Renji then slouched down, angrily muttering profanities to himself. Anyone could see he was distraught; he’d proposed to Rukia a mere 3 months ago. Now she just drops off the face of the Soul Society without telling anyone. Not Byakuya or any of the other captains, Not Kisuke or Yoruichi, and certainly not him. His only clue was a note reading 'don't look for me'. It was mind-numbingly frustrating to say the least.

Renji was so deep in thought, he hadn’t noticed Yoruichi scoot beside him. The forlorn Shinigami only broke his trance when she put her hand on his shoulder.

“Renji, I’m sure she’s fine.”

“But what if she’s been kidnapped?! What if she needs my help and I’m just sitting on my ass doing nothing?!”

“Renji… You, Rukia and Ichigo have faced down every person that has threatened the Soul Society. There’s no one left strong enough to even pose a challenge. Yhwach is gone. The Wandenreich are gone. So stop fussing over her safety. Rukia probably just needs some time for herself. And.. if that’s the case, she‘ll come back.”

The Shihouin Head’s words just barely set him at ease. With a quick jolt, he rose from his seat, fists clenched tight. The worry on his face or his heart hadn’t diminished as much as she had wanted. Slightly defeated, he made his way for the gate.

“Sorry but I can’t stay. It was good to see you, Lady Shihouin.”

An obvious and poor attempt to jab at her. At least he was trying.

“Have you talked to Ichigo yet?” Yoruichi asked curiously.

“No, but I’m headed to Karakura next.”

“Okay… stay safe.”

A nod was all she got in response. She walked him out; all the while surrounded by her entourage of servants and attendants. The lot of them bowed diligently as the lieutenant wearily made his way off the estate. As the old friends waved each other off, the gates cut off their view of one another.

Her many servants dispersed, leaving her to saunter back to enjoy the rest of her snacks. Before she could even take off her sandals however, a voice came from beyond the foyer.

“Is he gone?” the diminutive voice asked.

“Yes. He is.” Yoruichi responded.

“Good.”

The owner of the little voice traipsed out of the darkness. Illuminated by the light of the afternoon, a very nervous and also very pregnant Rukia met eyes with her confidant. A disappointed Yoruichi crossed her arms at the expecting mother. Rukia smiled timidly only to wince in pain, grabbing hold of her ever-growing baby bump. The Flash goddess was by her friend’s side in the blink of an eye, fearing the worst.

"Are you okay?" Yoruichi frantically asked, helping Rukia maintain her balance.

“Yoruichi, stop. I’m fine… really. She just kicked.”  Rukia explained, trying to calm her old friend.

“Wait. She?” She exclaimed in bewilderment.

“Mhmmm. Isane said it was a girl. Here, Wanna feel?”

Rukia calmly guided her friend’s hand to the spot her little one had made herself known. Yoruichi pressed her palm gently over Rukia’s stomach; to feel a tiny foot press back. The moment was precious, the both of them nearly began to cry. Using what strength they had, they forced it into a teary eyed chuckle instead.

“Alright, no more fooling around. You should be resting Okaa-chan.” Yoruichi chided.

Rukia chucked, rolling her eyes as they walked back to the guest room she’d been secretly staying in. But the manner of Renji’s visit had both of them troubled. Renji did love her enough to go looking for her, but how long until Ichigo came looking as well? He was Ichigo after all. Nothing on heaven and earth could stop him once he was invested in something. As Rukia pondered, Yoruichi had some questions of her own.

“Do you plan on telling Ichigo about his child?” She asked, her voice solemn and rigid.

Rukia looked up into her friend’s golden eyes “I don’t know if I can…”

“Well, one of these days, you’re not gonna have a choice.” Yoruichi once again lectured.

“I kno-”

“Do you? Rukia, I’ve lied to everyone I could for you. Hidden you away from your family, friends and your fiance. All so you could keep Ichigo’s child. Do you really understand the ramifications of what you’re doing.”

Caught in her frustration, Yoruichi hadn’t realized Rukia had become to cry. Tears streamed from the expectant mother’s eyes as she slumped to her knees. She buried her swelling eyes into her palms. The petite woman continually wiped at her cheeks, only for more tears to take their place. Knowing she’d said too much too soon, Yoruichi comforted her as best she could.

“Rukia, I’m sorry. That was exce-”

“No… you’re right. You’re absolutely right. I’ve asked so much of you. All for the sake of my child that I'm not even sure I'll get to see grow up. Yet I can't bring myself to get rid of it because it’s the only proof I have that he loved me.”

The small woman continued to bawl in the middle of the hallway, the noise of her sobs echoing off the walls. The deafening silence of the manor made Rukia’s sobs even more poignant. Yoruichi had fully embraced her by this point, stroking her hair to help calm her. Rukia’s relationship with Kurosaki had always raised Yoruichi’s attention, but she never would’ve guessed how far they went. That this whole fiasco was a sign; a sign Rukia was still hopelessly in love with Ichigo. Even though her child would likely never know her parents, Rukia had every intention of bringing her to term. A resolve Yoruichi would have to match.

“Okay. As your friend, I will help you through this. No matter what. But I do have one last question. Why haven’t called off your engagement? Or talked to Byakuya?”

“Because I’d be disowned. What future would my daughter have then?”

“Ichigo would take you in. I’m sure he would.”

“I’m not so sure. We haven’t spoken since… well, y’know. And if I suddenly went back with our child my arms. There’s no telling how he would react. Not to mention his engagement...”

Rukia had been plagued by uncertainty ever since Isane did her ultrasound. Every question her mind created led to more stress. Stress that threatened both her daughter and her. So Rukia had stopped thinking about it altogether. And it showed.

The elder shinigami doled out a heavy sigh, unsure of what to be more baffled by; that fact she willingly let herself get caught in this debacle or Rukia’s surprising lack of a plan. Well she’d already come this far with Rukia, she would have to see it through to the end.

“Oh dear, what did I do to deserve this.”

(Repost cuz Tumblr is wack)

[therainroguefanfiction]

⁂ Overprotective (Renji Abarai)

Genre: Slice of Life, Fluff, Comedy ☁

Word Count: 1,481 ☁

Pairing: Reader x Renji ☁

World: Bleach ☁

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You were part of Hitsugaya’s group that had been sent to the world of the living in order to assist Kurosaki Ichigo in his fight against the Arrancars. Though your elder brother had told you that you were not allowed to go, he was not your captain and, ultimately, his opinion meant nothing.

You smiled to yourself as you recalled the look on Byakuya’s face when captain Kyoraku had told him that exact same thing. Even captain Yamamoto had agreed! It was a priceless expression and you found yourself wishing you had taken a picture. The shinigami women’s association would have loved it!

Being caught up in the memory, you failed to take notice of your surroundings and ran right into another student. You opened your mouth to apologize but froze when you got a good look at him. The poor boy looked terrified out of his mind!

“S-Sorry!” he squeaked, scrambling to pull himself up off the floor. He tried to run away, but you wouldn’t let him get away so easily, grabbing his arm lightly. He cried out, shutting his eyes in a failed attempt to hide his tears. You softened your grip, eyes shining with concern for the human boy.

“Hey, are you okay?”

He looked up at you in shock, not expecting such a kind reaction. “I-I’m fine,”

You put your hand on your hip, giving him a disbelieving look. Before you could call him out on his blatant lie, another boy approached, calling out to the boy before. His body tensed at this, his hands wrapping tight around your shirt. It wasn’t too difficult to figure out that this new boy was the reason for the boy’s great fear. You didn’t know what he had done to scare him so badly, but the reason mattered little to you.

You gently pushed the mouse-like male behind you. “Was there something you needed with him?”

The unknown male stepped forward, trying to intimidate you with his height and a mean look, but you were far from scared. You had faced far more imposing opponents in your lifetime. This human was nothing to you.

“What are you, his bodyguard?”

“So what if I am?” you flipped your hair back and stuck your nose in the air as a sort of challenge towards the male. “What business do you have with him? I will settle it now.”

He growled at your attitude. “Watch how you speak to me, brat.”

“Or what?”

The male grabbed the front of your shirt, hoisting you up into the air and bringing your face dangerously close to his own. “Or I’ll beat you like I do that wimp you’re protecting,”

Your eyes narrowed in anger at the threat. What reason could he possibly have to beat this boy? None at all. As angry as you were, you kept your cool just as your brother had taught you. Expressing anger in such a manner was undignified and beneath you. “You’re invading my personal space. Release me.”

“You little bit – ” The boy’s speech was cut short by a fist to his face.

You landed back on the ground gracefully, blinking at the fallen boy. You looked over to the side to see who had interfered with your fight. Renji towered over you with an annoyed expression, but he wasn’t alone. Ichigo and Rukia stood on either side of him, as well.

“Y/N-sama, are you alright?” Rukia rushed to your side, eyes scanning your form for any sign of damage you might have taken.

You chuckled, patting the girl’s shoulder. “I’m perfectly fine,”

“Idiot,” Renji scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. “What are you thinking, picking a fight with someone three times your size?”

“I can handle myself just fine, you fool.” you bit back in annoyance. As much as you loved the red-headed lieutenant, it annoyed you to no end how overprotective he was of you. For god’s sake, you were the fourth seat of squad eight, you were more than capable of taking care of yourself, especially against a human.

“Is that why he had you by the collar?!”

You rolled your eyes and turned to the mousy boy with a small smile on your face. “If he messes with you again, let me know. I’ll be here to protect you, okay?”

He noded, managing a shaky smile. “T-Thank you,”

━━━━━━༻🌧️༺━━━━━━

“His name is Masato Kiyoshi and he gets bullied a lot,” Ichigo explained to you as you followed him to the roof for lunch. “He’s really shy and soft-spoken, kind of a pushover, and that makes him a big target. Kinda like he’s wearing a bulls-eye on his back.”

“How despicable,” you clenched your fists at your side, eyes closed in an attempt to keep your anger under control. “To pick on someone so much weaker than yourself, with no drive to fight back… they have no honor.”

Ichigo glanced at you and nodded in agreement.

There wasn’t much anyone could do, though. Even so, that was not enough to stop Kuchiki Y/N. Those boys had another thing coming.

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Later that afternoon, you snuck away from the other shinigami and followed Kiyoshi’s faint spiritual pressure. As you had suspected, he was surrounded by four boys, being kicked while he was down – quite literally. You rushed over, pushing the closest boy away. He stumbled back before hitting the ground. The others came after you at the same time, but you easily dodged their slow attacks and went on the offensive.

You slammed your foot into the stomach of one before snapping the second’s jaw with the heel of your hand. You dodged the third’s punch and retaliated with a punch of your own, right to the face. You huffed, eyes scanning the group for any signs of movement.

Kiyoshi was staring at you with amazement and wonder shining in his brown eyes.

You winked at him. “Told ya I’d be there,”

He smiled through his tears and rushed into your arms. “Thank you so much!”

With a chuckle, the soul reaper ruffled his messy hair, well aware of the three approaching spiritual pressures. It hadn’t taken long for your friends to realize that you were MIA, but it had been enough time for you to finish taking care of business.

“Y/N-sama! You shouldn’t run off like that!” Rukia scolded once she reached the two of you, her hands placed on her hips.

“She’s right, Y/N.” Renji stepped up beside his friend, eyes narrowed at the mousy boy that was still wrapped in your arms. He could feel the jealousy rage in the pit of his stomach, mixing with the worry he often felt for the reckless shinigami.

“I don’t want to hear that from you, Renji.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?!”

“You know damn well what it means!”

By this point, Ichigo and Rukia had migrated away from the scene, taking Kiyoshi with them. That left you and Renji alone, heated, and in each other’s face. Just like always, you ended up caving first, your eyes softening.

Renji, however, had no intention of letting the subject go. “Why are you so against me protecting you?”

“I appreciate the fact that you want to, Renji.” you murmured softly, arms wrapping around his neck and bringing his face closer until your forehead met his. “It’s just that you treat me like a child. I can handle myself… Byakuya taught me well.”

He heaved a sigh, his own arms slithering around your waist. “I know that… I just don’t want to lose you.”

“Aww, Renji. You’re such a sap~” you cooed, making his face turn almost as red as his hair.

His brow furrowed. You just insulted him, didn’t you? You totally just insulted him! “Why you – !”

“Catch me if you can, Renbaka!”

He growled before taking off after his lover, egged on by your carefree laughter. Sure, he was rather overprotective when it came to you and it often grated on your last nerve, but you loved him and would never ask him to change. Besides, you always managed to get your revenge, in one way or another.

“Damn it, Y/N! Give me my hair tie back!”

“Come and get it, lieutenant~!”

“Those two are perfect for each other,” Ichigo sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “How did they even end up together, anyway?”

“It’s very simple, really.”

Ichigo turned around to look at Rukia, expecting her to clarify, but he deadpanned when he saw her holding up her drawing book. “What the hell is that thing?!”

“Can’t you tell? It’s Y/N-sama!”

“Oh yeah, sure. I can see it now… IF Y/N WERE IN A HORROR MOVIE!!”

Kiyoshi laughed lightly as Rukia began to chase Ichigo, threatening him with the drawing book held over her head. The four were certainly strange, but they had saved his life and for that, he would always be eternally grateful.

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[tsukinotochtli]

During his first fight with Yhwach, Ichigo lost and with him all his hopes until...

Day 2 of IchiRuki month 2020.

Fantasy vs Reality

- Go, go...- a voice? Whose? I remember that voice, but it´s impossible, she was faraway - Ichigo, Ichigo,- am I dying? Why is she poking me? Why can´t she be nice? - Ichigo!!

- Ru.. – I opened an eye thinking that she arrived on time before dying, I got surprised when the first think I saw was the light of the sun and her violet eyes. - Rukia! What the hell?! – I looked around in surprise, it´s impossible, I am in the grass beside a big tree and in the horizon I can see the Sereitei, the blue sky and an angry face is looking at me with quizzical eyes - Rukia, What are you doing here? What the... where am I? - it can´t be, I died, I sure did, because I was in the room, right?

- What the?! What the hell I am doing here?! What the hell YOU are doing here?!! Can’t you see?! It´s almost teatime with Nii- sama and you’ve been here since the morning! You can’t leave me with all the paperwork! AND! pretend that you had things to do Mister “Renji needs me, I´ll be back” and came here to take a nap and believe that I won’t notice!!! Now move your ass from the ground, we have things to do! Nii-Sama is going to be angry if we arrive late. - Rukia is angry, but I can’t understand, am I dreaming? Of course, I am dreaming, I think so because this can’t be real, I mean... I... I remember fighting and unfortunately, he beat me pretty bad and I remember that I lost. But this is so real, I feel warm and at the same time relief, maybe dying is not a bad option? – Ichigo! – I look at her and I know that she notice that something is wrong with me, we know each other so well that is impossible that she´s not getting my words, her eyes soften and her voice become smooth – what is wrong? I thought Nii-sama didn´t scare you, you always say that he´s a softy- she smiled and laugh and then a shadow covered her eyes, sadness?- are you having second thoughts? – I raise an eyebrow because I really don’t know what is going on but if this is a dream, a mere fantasy I will continue in this and not in my reality, so I try to look convincing in her eyes. This fantasy I am creating while dying is weird.

- I never have second thoughts you know. – I stand up and watch her movements, she smile again which make me smirk.

- I know that this might be troublesome for you, you left your home and everything and I know it´s weird, but we really need to take that tea with my brother, you know that he really is into all of this, it´s tradition and with the revelation of your father´s identity, everyone was confused even you, us, but this is great, I heard him said that now that the Shiba´s name is clean again and that their status changed to what it was before and that Kukaku-san and your father decide for you to become head of the clan, things for us would be easier in the Kuchiki clan, there is no opposition to anything, not that nii-sama has something to be against in the first place, but having this, makes everything easier. – I saw a tint of blush in her cheeks, am I getting everything correct? Are we.. Am I.. she clearly said US! AND TWICE! I really need more information. But first things first and this is a statement, I live in the sereitei, I work with her, she´s angry and the most important thing. Rukia and I are a couple - Ichigo?

- Yes- I took her hand, she didn´t flitch or something like that, her hand felt so smooth, so warm, I look at her and notice the same tiny blush, I knew that my feelings for her were stronger to describe them to be just friendly feelings, I knew that I secretly had a crush with her and with the time I fell in love and love her in a more romantic way, but I never thought that she would feel the same, not that she didn´t care about me but, we never properly chat about this. I felt happy that in this fantasy we pass through all that and became something more – so, are you still angry about the papers? - we chat while walking toward Rukia´s house.

- Yes, it´s your duty as a vice captain to have the papers in order and you left them, as your Captain, you have to help me with other things to, and you are not getting good with the use of kido, you won´t became Captain Commander or Captain of any if you don’t get it, this has to be training for you and you are getting comfortable with everything. If I didn´t know you I would say that you like your position and you don´t want to become Captain, but I know you. – I laugh at her point of view, because in my fantasy, in this weird fantasy, product of my loss of energy and blood, because I know that I am dying and that this is not real and if I die, I would be happy if I stay in this fantasy, with her by my side, walking, together. - A penny for your thoughts. – I laugh again, she looked at me and smiled, I squeezed her hand.

- I am happy where I am, and I don´t need anything else.

- But Ichigo! – she frown - There are things that you could change, and being a captain in any squad and if Captain Kyoraku .

- The only thing that I want is in my hand.

- Ichigo! – She was as red as a beetroot and that was the last thing that I saw… when I woke up, Renji was at my side, telling me that we have things to do, everything was a fantasy, a product of my loss of blood, energy and injuries, I saw Rukia, she didn´t see me, she was helping Inoue. All I could think was in that beautiful fantasy, my reality was something else, a war that continues, the thought of me losing every time, and the fear of not being able to protect everyone consumed me. But sometimes in my mind, while we are running to catch up with this stupid war, a ray of light is all that I can think, all I need to win this war, I can´t lose, I can´t let that this fantasy stays like that and couldn´t become my reality. I must make it a reality. This fantasy is becoming a reality, just wait for me Rukia.. will you?

[volcanofireflame150]

A Soul meets another Seoul

Ch1; Ch20

Chapter 19

When I got done eating, I've noticed on how soft Ichigo was being towards me, is like he understands that I'm trying to live my life like he does. I got my bag and headed out to meet up with him, can't believe that I'm walking by myself for the first time, something tells me that I should've went with him, but I need to show myself that I can handle things on my own. Man, I should've told him to wait for me outside the front door this feels like any bad situation will happen any time soon, I looked behind me, then looked to the left and the right, the coast was clear, why am I being so paranoid? I couldn't help but whimper in fear, I know I'm being a little baby but remember that I only grew up in a small house with Shadow Phoenix and always remained by my side. At the moment, she's resting right now, all I did was wait until I hear my name being called by a certain voice of my trusting friends and brother, though the school is far away so they are probably way a head of me. I heard someone clear their throat, I looked, there was Talon, Raven, Layla, and Levy, oh right I have these guys. But they understood where I'm coming from, this world is huge for someone like me, then I heard it again, I looked in front of me, there was Renji. I feel so stupid right now, Renji said, "You know, I'm not always busy, you could always call me when you get like this." "Yeah, but I want to handle things on my own," I said, "Turns out, I'm not ready for that yet." "That's understandable," said Renji, "C'mon, the others, including Ichigo, are waiting for you." Once we got to the school, Renji left my side, telling the others on what took me so long, I never felt this so ashamed of myself before, all I heard was Ichigo saying, "Keep trying, Akari, you'll eventually get there." "Thanks, Ichigo," I said, still upset at myself. Asteria sees this, she walks over to me, gives me something, "Here take this." "What is it?" I asked, looking at a wolf charm necklace. She said, "The Brave charm of Artemis." "Thanks," I said, "But I can't take this from you." "I made it for you, Akari," she said, "Please as a token of our friendship." I took it, though I'm not fond of jewelry, I'm fine with this hairpin combination of mother, Talon, and Levy, we finally walked in to class I took my seat then began to read Talon's book. Turns out, I was the only one who is reading rock formations with the greatest detail, I looked around seeing Ichigo and the others talking, while I'm reading my worries away. Then I decided to pull out my new phone, started to continue watching Markiplier being a total idiot on Prop Hunt, then decided to listen to Mark's outro Crazy La Paint, fits him very well because he is so wacky. As I was reading about the different types of grass terrain, I noticed someone was about to approach me once again, I felt a tap on my shoulder, I paused and looked to seeing Keigo. I asked, "Can I help you?" "I just want to say, you are lucky to be the new family member of Ichigo Kurosaki," he said. I asked again, "Yeah, what's your point?" "I have permission to hang out with you right?" he asked. I just gave him a look of disgust, "Why would I want to hang out with you? I have stuff to do." With that, I went back to my music and the book, I noticed that this book was written by Talon, himself, he is very great at this sort of stuff, well, it makes sense if you are the Earth Elemental. I was about to read the Rain forest terrain until the book was out of my sight, I looked on who took it, Keigo asked, "What's this your reading?" "Give it back!" I said, raising my voice. He kept pulling it away from me, then my fire rage kicked in and elbowed him in the stomach, well, almost until Ichigo said, "Hey! Keigo, that's my little sister you are messing with, unless you want to get a beating from someone!" "Oh yeah," said Keigo, "Like who?" Then out of nowhere, I wasn't thinking clearly I grabbed him by the collar and threatened him, "Give me my book back or I will kick you where the light doesn't shine!" He felt my nail where the part I was talking about that would make him sing soprano, yeah, you know which part I am talking about. He gave me the book back, and left me alone, I looked back where Ichigo was standing, him, Uryu, Rukia, and mostly everyone was looking at me in complete distraught and surprised. Ichigo asked in a panicked voice, "Were you serious about that on what you just said?" "If he keeps bothering me, I will," I said, "But I'm not doing it the old way, it's like that but with a burning sensation." "Oooh-kay, enough about that," said Uryu, wanting to change the topic. After that I cooled down as soon as I went back to reading and Mark's outro, the instructor came in, "Good morning, class, and nice job Akari, I see you are reading something educational." I nodded, not wanting to be bothered anymore. I kept on reading until Ichigo wanted to read with me, I didn't want to lose my place so I scooted myself and my desk over, then turned the page where he left off, then said, "Wow, who ever wrote this is has a very keen eye on every terrain there is in this world." "You should know on who it is," I said, "It was written by Talon, himself." "Very fitting on someone who is a literal Earth Elemental," we only heard Levy said. He caught up on where I was, we began to read together, then we got caught reading together again, this is a different instructor who somehow does not like on how we are always remained side by side, he said, "Miss Akari and Mister Kurosaki, I would like it if you two separate from each other." This guy really bugs me to no end, does he not care that I only feel safe near Ichigo? Ichigo sees this look on my face where I am trying to fight this aggression, because this awakened mother, and that is not a good thing according to Talon, Levy, and Raven, if something awakens mother that she extremely loathes, someone is about to meet their doom, not to mention this guy was the reason why my Soul Page was taken away. Then Ichigo became very scared, I looked at him, then looked at who he was looking at, and oh boy, this instructor is about to meet his doom, she says to him, "I'm here for someone." "Oh, yeah who?" he asked. Her response was, "You!" Then she grabbed him by his tie and dragged him to where she was going, then we heard the principle of this school shouting, "YOU DARE SEPARATE THEM!!" Instantly everyone looked at me and Ichigo, then Ichigo tells them all, "She's my new sister, watch on how you interact with her." Then we heard, "YOU SIR, ARE FIRED!!!" Then came our temporary instructor who did not mind us at all, I smiled because I felt as much at ease then we went back to reading. When it was time for lunch, it seems like this is going to be a daily thing, Raven came in and brung me something different, this time it's spaghetti with Parmesan cheese, I started eating, once again all by myself then I noticed I was told by Ichigo that I'm now going to hang out with him. I was trying to find a way on where Ichigo was at, I couldn't find any luck on where he is, then Chad tells me, "He's up on the roof, I'll lead you to there." "Thanks, Chad," I said, then followed him. Once we reached the roof of this place, I noticed on how big is was, it was big enough to relief stress, I walked through the door, and the door closed, I thought to myself, "Okay, now to find on where he is." "Akari, over here," I heard his voice say. I looked and joined his group, Raven came back and returned the spaghetti to me, I went into my own world and started to eat without knowing that I was not alone right now so I felt Ichigo tapped my shoulder, I looked at him, "What is it?" "So, what's on your mind?" he asked. I shrugged, "Nothing at the moment." It was a small bowl, though I'm not complaining Raven is amazing with her cooking, she came and made the bowl vanish to thin air. I decided to stroll around the roof, getting sucked into the amazing view of the sky, a small smile formed on my face, oh how I miss looking at the sky with Shuhei. Someone spotted this and told Shuhei to show up in his Gigai, so he appeared, though he was walking through the door that leads back into the school, walking towards me, I see him and smiles big time, greeted him by running and giving him a big hug. Shuhei chuckled, "Hey, Akari." "Hey, Shuhei," I said, "I guess someone heard my thoughts." "Yeah, you can thank Renji," he said, "I know you missed me so much." I giggled, then Keigo, being the idiot on who never stops getting on what he wants, he comes over, asks Shuhei, "What's your status with little missy here?" "She's my soon to be wife, you idiot," said Shuhei, "I suggest you go away and never bother her again." "Alright, I'll leave her be," said Keigo. Knowing him, he will never stops bothering me, Shuhei sees this look on my face, then he said, "Let's watch the clouds, Akari." I nodded, smiling again, Talon mysteriously came out, tells me, "I'll make sure you guys are alone." While we were looking at the sky, I noticed on how Talon was serious about making sure that we are comfortable and protected, he conjured up a patch of grass and a singular tree, and stood guard, Keigo tried to bother us but Talon wouldn't let him.

Talon's POV: Seriously, what is up with this guy, I told him, "Look, pal, you are not bothering them, I don't care if class is resuming, they haven't seen each other in a while so why don't you go back to where you came from and never come back!" He listened, then I tried to stop Ichigo, but he said, "Thanks for standing guard while they do this but make sure you don't go overboard with your guardian status." "You are absolutely right on that one," I said, dropping the guard just a little, "But I can't help it, it's what I'm able to do." "Who do you protect with your life?" he asked. I answered, "Raven and my wife, Serene Jewel. I'll drop my guard when you approach me, though that might not be fair to her other friends." Ichigo tells me, "Just remember to not go over board." I nodded, knowing that I might screw up some time in the future I just know it that I might screw up my role as a stone elemental guardian, I just need to be careful on what I am doing and remain calm, just for her. I just don't know on how long I can keep this bottled up inside, I feel like I am going insane right now. I made a suggestion to Akari and she might want to keep me out for a while so I could blow off some steam, sadly there are no boulders around for me to lift up and carry around so I could break them with my hammer, I also told her, "If you happen to find Jaguar's weapon, make sure you keep him in check." "I will, Talon," she said, sounding concerned for me. I sighed, "Don't worry, I'll be fine for the time being." "But that doesn't mean that you are fine now," she said, "Talon, please, let me know on what's bothering you." I don't know what happened, but all I said was, "Stop pressuring me, I don't feel like saying anything for the likes of you!!" That was when I knew that mistake happened, I started a tension between us, it wasn't before long when Ichigo noticed that I made Akari cry, this bottled up pressure was taking its toll on me, so I gave her a look of sadness on what's really going on. Ichigo pulled her away in time so I could clear my mind away, when I was left alone, I couldn't help but go into my Grass Earth Elemental and just let it all out in tears. "Hey," I heard Ichigo calling for me, "Talon, where are you?" I just stayed silent knowing that he might tell me that I went too far but I figured it out before he did, yes, just because I'm a grown man doesn't mean I can't feel sadness, it's just I don't want anyone to see me crying. It wasn't long before Ichigo finally found on where I was, he asked, "What were you thinking?" "It's none of your concern, Kurosaki," I said to him, "My business is my own." "That's a load of bull and you know it," said Renji, "Look what happened back there was unlike you." "Well, maybe if you guys would've pressured me to do anything this would never happen in the first place!" I snapped, "It's not my fault that I was chosen to be this way so why are you guys telling me to drop everything I care about and obey the likes of you!! I am Talon GrimEarth and I do not obey your every command you throw at me!!" Silence came between us, I just couldn't handle it anymore so I raised my hand up and a wall of stone came in between us so I can cool down at last. I heard Raven saying, "I know that you are wondering on where she is, Talon, don't give up, you'll find Serene Jewel." "Yeah, I just wish that we didn't have to separate, she's my one and only," I said, "I'm trying my very best to keep myself together."

Akari's POV: Can't believe Talon was feeling all that all by himself, I asked the instructor, "May I use the restroom?" "Yes, you may, Akari," she said. I have something in mind that Talon would really love if I did something like this, so I went to Urahara's Shop, Urahara asked, "Ah, Akari, what brings you here?" "I have a favor to ask," I said, "Can a friend of mine go down below and destroy those boulders you have in the way?" "Ah, why, yes of course," said Urahara, "Just bring him over when you have the chance." "Thank you," I said, left the store and back to school. Mother tells me, "Talon is going to feel much better now you did that for him." "It's the least I can do for him," I said, "Plus I was told that he breaks boulders in order for him to calm down or something." I got back to the school, went back to my desk and resumed my reading session of the different types of rock formations from Talon GrimEarth. Ichigo walked in with a VERY irritated look, I'm not going to bother him, nope, someone else would so I just stayed silent. He sees me then taps my shoulder, I looked at him, he says, "Scoot over here so I can read with you." He said that with the tone of a very annoyed voice, so I just did on what he said, stayed silent and went to the page where he was at. He read up where I was at, I didn't say anything just let him flip the page, am I terrified of him right now? Does he notices on how fidget I am being right now? I mentally shook the feeling away, guessing Talon must've set him off. After the last bell rang, I went first so I could get Talon over to Urahara's place, once I got over to where Talon was, I shouted through the wall, "Hey, Talon." "What do you want, Akari?" he asked. I told him, "I found a couple boulders for you to destroy." As soon as I said that, came down the stone wall, Talon said, "Show me." "Follow me," I said, "Urahara was wanting someone to destroy a lot of boulders so I thought of you being perfect for that." Out of nowhere, I got a hug from Talon, when I dropped him off at Urahara's place, I know that I did a good thing for him, I was now seeing Talon in his natural state, and damn, he puts body builders to shame on how shape he is. He is SO buffed up, I decided to stay for a while because I want to know on how he destroys those boulders which are collided together, then I was told that he lifts them up with his bare hands. Urahara asked, "Is he going to get crushed by those?" "Urahara, Talon is a Stone Elemental," I said, "I was told that he is always getting caught lifting up boulders all day and night." "Not the night part," we heard Talon, "I prefer my sleep, thank you very much." "Okay, never mind then," said Urahara, "As long as he can get the job done then I can't argue with you." As I left Talon in Urahara's hands, I noticed that I did not tell Ichigo on where I was going, and he's in a very irritated mood right now, so I went home before he did. So I thought, I could swear that he's waiting for me to open up the door and I get scolded by him. I took a deep breath and stepped inside, I left my book with Ichigo, I'm not going to ask for it back, I will wait for him to return it for me, I asked Karin in a whispered voice, "Where is Ichigo?" "In his room," said Karin, "You might want to let him cool down, he's not in a good mood." "Yeah, thanks to an Elemental of mine," I said, keeping my voice at a low voice so Ichigo doesn't hear me. I think to myself on where I can throw my voice, I went to the karaoke place where I met Asteria Evarose, I went to the lady and asked, "May I go up there?" "Sure, what song do you want to sing?" she asked. I told her, "Um, this one." "Waiting for Superman from Daughtry and what else?" she asked. I chose a couple songs, she knows that I want to throw my passion at different things, I rocked at the Daughtry song, apparently I was testing the sound of the mic and music. I was hearing people clapping on their way inside of the building, I sang the songs I had queued up for me, everyone loved me on how I was doing every verse and chorus. My last one was Move Along from All American Rejects, when the intro was playing, guess who walked through the door? Yep, Ichigo and his friends, I looked in front of me, I was seeing the 12 EXO guys, I began to sing the song. After my setlist of songs, I walked over to where the EXO guys were, Luhan said, "That was amazing, Akari." "Thanks," I said, blushing. Kris said, "You will become an amazing singer or songwriter one day."

[detachableteacher]

I decided to split the chapter

“Guys! What happened?!” I see the three students, pretty much beat up for some reason. 

Renji has his broken glasses on his pocket, Michio has scars that look like he tried to fight back, and Kyotaro is in the worst state, with the blood from his wounds staining his uniform. None of the injuries seem brutal but they’re in really bad shape.

“We were blindsided,” Michio speaks up. “Can you help us?”

“Of course, come, I’ll patch you up.” And I ask them to follow me to the door of the supermarket, making them wait outside to avoid making a scene. I quickly get some bandages and betadine, rush back to my students with the goods and little by little bandage every wound and bruise they got. “There, now let’s talk about this.”

“Thanks, sensei.” Renji winces a bit from the betadine but manages a smile.

“It’s nothing. What happened to you three?” We start walking to the park.

“We were about to go home,” Renji starts to answer. “Then suddenly these guys ambushed us.”

"What did you do to deserve this?”

“Remember that student Kyotaro had a run-in with?”

“Yeah.”

“He was part of a group in school, if I could say it like that.”

I look at Kyotaro, who hasn’t moved a bit. “Is it the one on the classroom next door?”

Renji nods. “That same one you went to. After all that we didn’t hear anything from anyone about them, then this happened, they approached us and let out.”

“Then they left?”

“Yeah. Kyotaro was badly hurt, so Michio and I helped him up and we were heading to the closest place we can get help, then I saw you.”

“Good thing none of your injuries are too serious. If they had any weapons that would be a different story. Are they Amakusa students, too?”

They all nod. Kyotaro finally speaks, “No way I’d let them lord over us.”

We don’t know how respond to that, but I try. “You sure do care about your friends.”

“They’re my only friends.” I turn to him as he talks. “I’ll hate myself if I can’t stand up for them, for us.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

“Of course there’s nothing fun with being pushed around. I won’t have any of it, sensei.”

And idea sprung up in my head. I ask. “You think this won’t be the last time?”

“Of course not, why are you asking?”

“I have something planned, I think.” He turns to me. “Don’t get too excited, no one gets hurt.”

“What’s it going to be then?”

“I’ll try to make a case, with the help of a few other students, of course. I bet the case against them will be stronger if they get caught.”

“Sounds great, sensei!” Renji exclaims. “How would you do it, though?”

I spitball whatever little plan I have written in my mind to them. “We’ll have to keep watch, or this this a regular thing?”

“They just do it whenever they feel like it.”

“If that’s the case, this might take a while, but we’ll get them eventually.”

“Are you sure, sensei?”

I nod. “I’ll make sure it gets done.”

“Thanks.”

After a short pause, now that the air is less tense, Kyotaro asks, probably after looking at me a bit longer than usual. “Sensei, are you really wearing earrings?”

“These?” I take them out and show them to him up close. “Yeah, I’ve had these for quite a while now.”

“I’ve always wanted to wear an earring, but mom and dad don’t want me to.”

“Once you’re old enough, you can have them pierced, I didn’t have these earrings planned, actually. I lost a bet in college and had to get my ears pierced.”

“Oh, I expected something more awesome.”

“People get tattoos and piercings just for the heck of it, even stupid reasons count. Besides, what you should do for now is recover. Are your houses near here?”

“Yeah, sensei, we can manage our way home.”

“Alright, I should head home. You sure you can handle yourselves on your way home?”

“We’ll be okay, sensei.” Kyotaro nods at me with a slight smile.

“See you in class, then, stay safe.”

We wave goodbye and I get up, walking back to my apartment, finally making the dinner I went outside for in the first place.

-----

The next day arrives, just like any other. I guess they didn’t talk much about what happened yesterday, and other than the bandages they’re going about as usual as if they simply tripped on the sidewalk.

On my way to get coffee, Yu strikes up a conversation. “Good morning, Jun! Saw you buying groceries last night.”

“Didn’t notice you, I was focusing more on buying my things.”

“Have you heard about what happened to Yamaguchi and his pals?”

I act dumb, not sure how to react. “What happened?”

“Fistfight, really bad. Good thing someone helped out.”

I give him a stern look. “Were you...”

“Don’t look at me like that! I just saw those three while I was eating at the new restaurant.” From surprised, he gets questioning. “Wait, do you know anything about this that I don’t?”

“Yeah, they saw me on my way home, helped them patch up.”

“They told you what happened to them?”

“Their wounds would’ve told me, but they did.”

“Did they tell you who did it?”

“Yeah, apparently that other student had a posse at hand.”

Yu pulls out his cellphone. “I have some idea.”

“Who?”

“Check these out.” He shows a videos of fistfighting. “One of my students sent me these, and there’s always the same group in every case.”

“Are they from the higher classes?” None of these faces look familiar to me.

“Yeah, this, this and this.”

“Wait a minute... I got an idea.”

“Really?”

“They didn’t tell me what they looked like. If Kyotaro and his friends recognize him then we have a better case.”

“I should’ve thought that myself.”

-----

Classes are still going as planned, and everyone in the classroom I’m in is waiting for lunch to come. I’ve talked to some students and Yu on the plan and will get detailed over lunch.

Before anything, though, I immediately walk to 2-C and as luck would have it, the three friends are leaving the room.

“Ah, sensei!” Renji notices me first. “Were you looking for us?”

“Hey, I was just talking to Maejima-sensei, do these guys looks familiar?” I pull out a copy of the student pictures of the suspects.

Kyotaro’s eyes widen. “Yes. How did you-”

“Maejima-sensei and I will explain everything, follow me.”

We meet at the faculty’s small meeting room to detail what to do, with Yu bringing a few members of the student council and a couple other complainants. This surely won’t be done by today, but you can never be too sure.

“So Maejima-sensei and I have asked for your help to deal with this matter that’s happening under our noses.” I start.

“Is it Yamaguchi again?”

“No, luckily.” I answer while waiting for Yu to put up the slides. “I’m sure you’ve seen these guys.” I show some pictures.

“Isn’t he the one who had a fight with Yamaguchi?” Another student asks at the last portrait.

“That wasn’t the end of it, apparently.” I look at him, and he looks back at me. “After class this student here came back with reinforcements, these guys, and retaliated onto Yamaguchi and his friends.”

“Because of how things might happen, some of you guys will have to get the complainants to this room,” Yu continues. “And some of you will have to back us up for when we approach these guys and ask them to come here.”

And we lay out the game plan. Two teachers and four students, that should be enough. We wait on our positions and in just a few minutes, a student has cued us in to keep keep an eye on what might happen.

“Hey,” I approach the targets. “we need to talk to you about something, can you come with us to the faculty?”

“What?” Everyone’s looking at us at this point.

“Please, just come.”

With everyone looking at us, they grunt in annoyance, mumble “Fine.” and follow us all the way to the meeting room.

-----

As Yu was already tackling all this before I heard of it, I let him deal with the conclusion. While it’s just us two teachers, a couple of overseers and some students from both sides inside the room, there are others waiting outside for what will happen.

The room would otherwise be unassuming if we teachers didn’t make it a storage room on the side. A round conference table surrounded by ten chairs are the features still keeping this room a conference room. Every chair is occupied but I’m standing next to Yu who’s busy explaining the details.

The TV screen and whiteboard blend into the wall they’re on, but the TV is being used to show the collected evidence.

Each student involved gives their testimony about the incidents in question. It starts with the plaintiffs. Questions get asked, and Yu verifies if they’re in the collected footage.

“What were you doing before this?” He asks Kyotaro.

“We had ramen. At the noodle shop by the park.” He answers. “Before that, we went to the arcade.”

“The three of you?”

“Yeah, just me, Michio and Renji.”

“Then after that, how did they approach you?”

“From behind a wall, then one of them grabbed me by the collar and talked shit at me about my girlfriend before punching me straight to the face.”

“The same one as...?”

He nods.

“And you had to punch back?”

He nods again. “I can’t remember anything after that, only the pain.”

After him, his other two mates coroborate their events, and the other party seems to be more that they’re here and not somewhere else.

----

“Are these you in these pictures?”

“Fuck no!” They obviously deny the accusations, and this kind of deflection went on a bit until Yu stops halfway with the back-and-forth.

“Wait, what’s this mark here...” We all look for what he’s seeing. In one of the pictures, one of the arms has a noticable mark. “Roll your sleeves up.” Yu commands the three and after that, one of them has that same mark, what seems to be a scar on the same part.

“But that doesn’t look like anything! Maybe it’s-”

“No, none of these were altered, and we have something for comparison. Jun?”

I guess he means my own scar. After a surprised blink, I take my head off, remove my choker, and reattach my head, showing my scar for comparison.

“How long have you had that mark?”

“I got this two years ago in a knife fight.”

“That had to hurt. Let me just...” Yu checks the arm scar. “Yeah, that kinda looks like the one on this footage, and your hairstyles match.”

“Is no one going to point out that he barely got hurt in a knife fight?” A student interjects.

“Let’s not. One last question, though.Who was the one that Yamaguchi got into a fight with again?”

He slowly raises his hand.

“Did you ask your mates to get even with him last night?”

“I did.”

“You could’ve just left it between the two of you.”

-----

After filing the documents and setting the responsible parties to probation a couple of days later, some students want to celebrate this with us: Yu and me. From the looks of it we’re heading to the noodle place.

In total, a dozen people are going, and take up three tables by the time everyone gets a seat, counting us teachers on a separate table. One bowl for every one of us, each paying for his own.

“Jun,” Yu starts talking. “You sure about it?”

“About what?”

“Yamaguchi. I heard a bit about it, you’re planning to help him out yourself?”

“Yeah. I’m not saying I can fix him, but he can do better.”

“I can’t stop you, but lemme ask, why?”

I fall silent. Yeah, why am I doing this? You don’t exactly see a potential in Kyotaro at first glance, doesn’t scream out special. He fits every known stereotype about students like him, and he’s not the only one in school or class.

I muster an answer, a cliche one. “I don’t know, maybe I’m seeing something in him, as it always goes.”

Yu smirks. “I don’t doubt you, you did pull yourself up after that... thing.”

“But that’s me. Kyotaro’s different.”

“You can do it, you won’t stop, right? If a blast hasn’t, nothing will.”

-----

On my way home after that meal, someone approaches me, it’s Kyotaro, just by himself.

“Sensei,” He looks up at me after a bow. “I’m so sorry that I dragged you into this...”

“No, don’t feel too bad about it, it should be Maejima-sensei that should be apologizing to me.”

He looks at me in surprise.

“You did great, okay? Try not to get yourself in trouble again.”

He doesn’t say anything after that, only a nod before bolting off with his friends. 

“Look at him go.” Yu says as we get walking again. “I think I’m seeing what you’re seeing.”

“Obviously.”

“You know what I mean, Jun. I’ll just let you be with what you’re gonna do with Yamaguchi, how’s that?”

“Sounds good.”

“By the way, he’s already have a girlfriend and he’s like 18. How old are you again?”

That’s definitely Yusei. We laugh it off as we continue walking.

-END

[darisu-chan]

Connected

Hey!

This one-shot is part of my “alternate Bleach timeline” which you can read in order in the following links (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (the end of that one) ). This one is set directly after “2″, meaning it’s number 3 in this order.

Hope you like it!

You can also read it here.

Prompt: long-distance relationships

Summary: Ichigo and Rukia deal with being separated after finally getting together. 

Ichigo could hardly believe that that which he had wished for had actually come true. He and Rukia had been dating for a month already ─ although not in the best of circumstances. He still felt bad that, in a way, he had crashed her wedding to Renji. Ichigo never meant to hurt him. However, he couldn’t say he regretted it. He loved Rukia with all his heart, and it turned out she also loved him as much. Marrying Renji would have been a big mistake. And, who knows, maybe he would have made a similar mistake, dating someone he didn’t even like. His decision to talk to her before the wedding had been a blessing in disguise. Rukia hadn’t gotten married and both had run away to Karakura. There, they had spent four amazing weeks together. Ichigo had been on vacation from college, so they had spent all that time together. They went to the movies, they took long walks in the park, they watched the fireworks together, they ate dinner with his family, they read her favorite horror manga together, Ichigo made dinner for her once and they had a picnic on the river bank. Sometimes, they went Hollow hunting together and it was like in the good old days. Other times, they didn’t do anything special. They hung out in his room, talking about nothing and everything. Their future goals. Their dreams. Their motivations. Their feelings.

“I want to be a full-time Shinigami.” Ichigo had expressed one day as they both lay on his bed.

Rukia hadn’t even been surprised. She merely smiled at him. “Then become one.”

“You won’t tell me it’s dangerous or that I’m wasting my life?”

“I’m tired of giving you that excuse. It’s your life. Choose what will make you happy. I’ll support you, always.” She told him, looking at him straight in the eye. “And, besides, you’ve already been through many dangerous situations.” She joked.

Ichigo smirked. “Like defeating the whole Soul Society for you.”

She snorted and hit him with a pillow. “Fool.”

There were moments when they didn’t talk at all. When they were alone, their lips would join together and they would kiss, tongues exploring the unknown, hands wandering underneath their clothes. They felt closer than ever before. As if they should have been doing that from the beginning. It was definitely bliss.

But… all dreams must end.

This was a vacation after all. A break from their normal lives. After summer was over, Ichigo would have to go back to classes and Rukia would have to go back to her squad. She was the lieutenant, in charge of her whole squad now that Ukitake was gone. Kiyone and Sentarou would keep things in order, but they still needed their leader.

The end of summer came before either would have wanted, and they stood outside of the Kurosaki Clinic. Rukia was in front of him, looking as unexcited as he was feeling. It was reminiscent of another time they had said goodbye. Although, this time they could still see each other eventually. That wasn’t as reassuring as it should have been. Ichigo would have given anything to remain by her side.

“I’ll call you when I’m settled.” Rukia told him, the Senkaimon already opened behind her.

“I hope Byakuya isn’t too mad about it.” He replied, scratching the back of his head. He definitely didn’t want to face the older man’s rage.

She chuckled. “I don’t think so. Nii-sama was the one to encourage me to tell you the truth.”

“And I’ll never understand why he did that, but I’m forever grateful for it.”

Rukia smiled at him. “Glad you two are finally getting along.”

“Ah.”

They went silent, each staring at the other, trying to memorize the way they looked in that moment.

“So I guess I need to go.” She eventually said.

“Seems like it.”

“Don’t be so sad. I’ll be back when you least expect it.” Rukia said, elbowing his ribs.

Ichigo scowled. “Yeah, that could be several months from now.”

She sighed and then buried her head in his chest. He immediately wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. “I promise it won’t be like last time. I’ll make time and come in less than two months. We’ll also be able to talk through the phone.”

He nodded. “I’ll try and visit often too. Even if it’s only for a day.”

Rukia stood on her toes and pecked his cheek, making him turn red. “I’d like that.”

“Great.”

They kissed one last time, neither wanting to let go. But they had to pull apart just in case someone walked in to find Ichigo speaking to air. He didn’t need the fame of being crazy. He had enough by being mistaken for a hooligan.

“Bye, Ichigo.”

“See ya!”

And with that, she was gone.

Two months went by equally fast as they were slow. Each day was torture for Ichigo. He couldn’t focus in class. He got nostalgic each time he passed by a place that reminded him of Rukia, the river bank, his high school, the park, hell, even his own closet! It didn’t help that his friends and family asked about her often. And sure, Rukia called him almost every day, but that only made him miss her more. It would have been better if he could have visited her. However, she was extremely busy, and he had been too in a way, with classes and whatnot.

“And then Kiyone and Sentarou fought in the middle of a drill. I had to scold them, though deep down I was dying with laughter.” She told him that day during one of her calls.

Ichigo laughed with her. “Wish I had seen it.”

“Wish you had been there.” Rukia said, her eyes softening.

He exhaled shakily. “Me too.”

They grew quiet. Tension palpable in the air. He missed her. He missed her so damn much it was painful.

“When are you coming back?” Ichigo blurted out.

His girlfriend ─ God, he still couldn’t believe it! ─ frowned. “I don’t know yet. There’s been a lot of changes here. We’re still recovering from the war. And my squad’s in bad shape. If Ukitake-taichou were here, it would’ve been different.” She trailed off, eyes downcast. “And then there’s the fact I still can’t escape the rumors.”

Ichigo winced. “Is it still a problem?”

“Not around the Shinigami. The nobles on the other hand…”

“My dad called Kukkaku-san for help. But she said she doesn’t have much importance currently. Yoruichi-san asked her brother for help, though.” He explained.

“Nii-sama’s been doing what he can to. But this one’s on me. I’ve been doing what I can to explain the situation. I hope one day I’ll be free of judgement.”

The nobles, especially the ones from the Kuchiki Clan, hadn’t been too happy when Rukia had called off the wedding only to run away with him. All kinds of rumors had sprung from that decision. That she had been cheating on Renji the whole time. That Kurosaki Ichigo, the hero of Soul Society, had crashed the wedding and stole the bride. That the two had eloped to marry in secret. That Rukia was pregnant with his child and that’s why she hadn’t been able to marry Renji. They called her all kinds of things. Slut. Cheater. Whore. Ichigo wanted to give them all a piece of their mind, but Rukia had convinced him against that. Although being away for a month had helped in springing more rumors, it had given Byakuya the time to explain to the clan what had actually happened. The support of other nobles had been needed as well. But, still, things hadn’t changed much. Ichigo now knew how much Rukia had suffered when she had been adopted to the clan. Decades of solitude. She had just recovered from that and become her best self, and now she had to deal with this. He felt partially guilty for that. If only he had been man enough, they would have started dating right after the war with the quincies was over.

“Ichigo.” She called him, making him ignore all the self-deprecating thoughts that swirled his mind.

“Yeah?”

“None of this is your fault.” She said, voice filled with many emotions.

He sighed. “I just wish I was there to help you out.”

“Me too.” Rukia said. “But maybe it’s better this way.”

Ichigo grumbled. “I don’t care if it’s better. I just want to be there for you.”

She smiled sweetly at him. “And that’s why I chose you.”

He felt his heart rate increase as his cheeks turned red. “Sh-shut up.”

“And you’re cute to boot.” Rukia added, a teasing smile replacing the previous sweet one. “It’s really cute how you blush as if you were still fifteen. How old are you again?”

“You’re one to talk. You get red when I mention everything I want to do to you.”

It was Rukia’s turn to become flustered. “Don’t say such indecent things over the phone!”

He merely laughed. “You didn’t say that last night.”

She coughed. “In any case, I’ll come back as soon as I can. I’ll let you know beforehand.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll wait for you.”

They smiled at each other and, wishing them a goodnight, they hung up.

Ichigo collapsed on his bed, a stupid grin plastered on his face. Definitely the highlight of his day was talking to Rukia.

Rukia sighed as she finished more paperwork. Life had been hectic since she had come back to the Soul Society. Everybody whispered when she passed them by. People pointed fingers at her. She knew what they said. (There goes the girl who left her groom at the altar. The same one that eloped with the Substitute Shinigami. I heard she’s pregnant. I heard she cheated on her fiancé. I bet she wanted them both to herself. Cheater. Whore.) It was a pain to deal with it daily. It would have been much easier if Ichigo were there. He would have punched anyone who dared disrespect her. The thought made her smile. On the other hand, Rukia was happy he wasn’t around to hear that. She wanted him to live a more carefree life. She missed him, though. She missed him more now than ever before. It was as if a part of her only felt alive when Ichigo was near.

She had intended to go to Karakura soon, but two months had gone by and she was still stuck in Soul Society. There was a lot of paperwork to finish. Meetings to attend. Issues to oversee at the barracks. And Rukia had been aware this life wouldn’t be easy. That had been the reason she had tried to push her feelings away and almost made the worst mistake of her life. She had shared as much with her now boyfriend. But Ichigo was nothing less of brave. He hadn’t given a damn about that things that would try to keep them apart. He knew they would be able to overcome anything. That was how strong his will was. One of the traits she admired most about him. He was that kind of man in her heart. This pain and loneliness was worth it if, at the end, she got to be with him. So, Rukia decided to endure everything with a smile on her face until she could see Ichigo face to face again. It wasn’t as if they didn’t speak on the phone often enough. They were connected through those electronic waves. (She really needed to ask Urahara about that technology and how that even worked.)

Someone knocked at the door.

“May I come in?”

“Ise-fukutaichou.” Rukia acknowledged the newcomer. “Please, come on in.”

The lieutenant of the first squad entered her small office. They greeted each other as they normally did and Nanao sat down in front of her.

“I’ll cut straight to the point.” The woman said. “The Captain Commander wants to see you.”

Rukia nodded, dumbfounded.

Although she was a lieutenant, and she had been one for some time now, it wasn’t often that Kyouraku wanted to speak with her. In fact, they had only spoken once or twice in the two years that had passed since he became the new captain commander. Most of their conversations had been about the late Ukitake and their shared memories of him. If there were problems in her squad, Rukia submitted her issues with a written form and received one in return. It was a very bureaucratic process. Only the captains of each squad had direct communication with him. But, she figured, that since her squad lacked a captain, maybe certain things needed to be informed to her directly.

Rukia arrived at the first squad, following Nanao. The other Shinigami greeted her as she entered the barracks. She soon passed many rooms until she arrived at Kyouraku’s office. Nanao knocked the door and announced Rukia’s arrival.

“Ah, Nanao-chan! Let Rukia-chan come in!” He said, addressing them as informally as ever.

The lieutenant rolled her eyes in exasperation what Rukia muffled a laugh. Waving goodbye to Nanao, she entered the room and was warmly greeted by the Captain Commander.

“Come on, Rukia-chan, take a seat.” He told her, ushering her in.

She did as she was told and sat down in front of him. Kyouraku served her tea and the two sipped on it calmly. Rukia was curious as to why she was even there.

“How was the world of the living?” He asked her suddenly. “Is that little town as lively as ever?”

She nodded. “It’s the same as always. Although the Hollow activity seems more controlled now.”

“Good, good.” The commander muttered. “And how’s our dear Ichigo-kun? As sturdy as ever, I hope?”

Rukia blushed slightly at the mention of her boyfriend. “Yes. He’s been doing fine.”

“How does he like it being a Shinigami still?” Kyouraku kept asking. “Is he in good shape? He hasn’t had any problems with his powers?”

She shook her head. “He’s still as powerful as before, though more in control with his powers.”

He smiled. “And, say Rukia-chan, do you think he’s gonna come soon?”

“Pardon?” Rukia asked.

The older man chuckled. “Well, I know about his ambitions and waiting for his death sounds like an awfully long affair. Now that he has a good reason for coming here,” he said as he gestured to Rukia, “maybe he’ll like to speak to me about his future?”

She blinked once and then smiled in relief. Ichigo had told her early on that he wanted to become a full-time Shinigami. She hadn’t even bothered telling him what that would entail. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew exactly what that meant. Leaving his family back home. Not enjoying a human life. Going on life and death missions. Getting his hands dirty for the sake of others. But, Rukia found out, living a normal life wasn’t for someone like Ichigo. Being human was like being death for him. It had been in death itself where he had found the place he belong. It was a plus that that side was beside her.

“I think so. Yes.” Rukia replied quickly, feeling ecstatic about the prospect of Ichigo’s future life.

“In that case, why don’t you go and tell him yourself?”

“Sorry?” She asked, once again perplexed.

“Take a few days off. Got to Karakura. Spend some time with Ichigo-kun. And then, you can both come here and I can talk with him. How does that sound?” Kyouraku asked her kindly. His tone of voice sort of reminded her of her late captain.

“It sounds perfect, sir.” Rukia nodded, already smiling.

“Then get going. I got your squad covered.”

Rukia nodded, bowed once, left the room, and began running once she was out. She ignored Nanao calling out to her. She ignored everything and everyone around her. Without a second thought, she opened the Senkaimon. She ran all the way until she saw the exit. She jumped and, there, she was back in Karakura. She broke into a sprint and, leaping through the roofs, she soon found her way to the Kurosaki house. Rukia knew that she had to go to Urahara’s to get a gigai, but right now, she couldn’t care less about such eventualities. She simply climbed to Ichigo’s window and went through it, landing on his bed.

“Rukia?!” Ichigo exclaimed from his desk.

“Hi.” She said, approaching him and landing on his lap. He instantly wrapped his arms around her, but she could see he was still shocked.

“W-what are you doing here?” He stammered.

Rukia laughed. “What, do you want me to leave?”

“No!” Ichigo said quickly. “I was just wondering. You said you’d tell me in advance if you could come here.”

“Well, there’s been a change of plans. The Captain Commander gave me a few days off, and I immediately came here after he told me that.” She explained, feeling comfortable against his chest.

“What? Just like that?”

“Yep.”

“Huh… what’s the occasion?”

“Oh, nothing important.” Rukia said jokingly. “He just wants to talk to you about your future.”

“My future?” He asked confused.

“Ichigo… he wants you to become a full-time Shinigami.”

“Really?!” He exclaimed, a grin on his face. She nodded. “When should I go talk to him?”

“In a few days.” She answered. “Right now, we should enjoy our time together.” Rukia said, getting cozy in his arms, face getting close to his.

“Oh?” Ichigo asked. “You haven’t been here for five minutes and you’re already thinking about that.”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

He didn’t even need to be told twice.

They kissed passionately, pouring into the exchange everything they had been feeling.

Although their bond could take anything and be as strong as ever, the feeling of being finally next to each other was overpowering enough.

It was good, then, that they wouldn’t have to be apart any longer.

Ichigo and Rukia would both finally be together, after so many years.

They couldn’t wait for what the future had in store for them.

[recurring-polynya]

Love your writing! Renruki prompt: Married!RenRuki get into a fight and Renji's acting all gloomy when he goes to work the next day. He accidentally~ shares his woes with Byakuya.

Ahhh, I am not good at writing fights!! I think I am on the record as to saying that I think Renji and Rukia only fight over stupid shit, and I had a heck of a time figuring out something for them to fight over. Anyway, I did my best, at very least, this contains a lot of Byakuya Being Byakuya.

💔   💔   💔

“I think it’s in here, sir,” Third Seat Yuki explained, leading Byakuya into the Officer’s Lounge. “On second thought, you wait out here, I’ll bring it.”

Sixth Seat Taniguchi was sprawled on the floor, groaning. Rikichi stepped over him, and looked around. Fifth Seat Kuchiki had his leg propped up on a table, a bag of ice on his knee. Seventh Seat Shirogane and Fourth Seat Kuchiki were leaning against each other on the couch, snoring in unison. Rikichi picked his way toward the couch and poked Shirogane in the arm. “Hey! Hey, Shirogane! What happened to the training reports on the first-years?”

“Eh?” Shirogane asked, sitting up. “Training reports, right.” She shoved Kuchiki to one side, and extracted a thick binder, bristling with colored tabs from the depths of the couch. It was barely in Yuki’s hand before she was slumped against Kuchiki again.

“Found it!” Rikichi announced cheerfully, waving the binder and picking his way carefully back out.

“What… happened?” Byakuya asked gingerly. “It is not usually like this, is it?”

“Oh, no, sir,” Rikichi replied. “There was sparring after morning drills.”

“Everyone must have had an excess of enthusiasm, to have worn each other out so,” Byakuya observed. He was a bit sorry to have missed it. A spirited affray sounded much more entertaining than the interminable breakfast meeting with Lord Noragashi he had endured.

“Er, not exactly,” Rikichi excused, rubbing the back of his neck. “When I said ‘sparring’, what I meant was, ‘Vice-Captain made everyone fight him.’ He was in a bit of a mood this morning.”

“I... see,” Byakuya drew out. It had been quite some time since Abarai had felt the need to pummel his way through the top ranks. Byakuya had hoped it was a sign that the top officers were improving, but apparently, it had just been the recent improvement in his lieutenant’s disposition. Disappointing. “Any indication as to what precipitated this sudden bout of pugnacity?”

Rikichi paused and glanced around. “I think he might have had a tiff with the missus,” he said, voice barely above a whisper.

Byakuya arched an eyebrow.

💔   💔   💔

Byakuya pretended to be deeply engaged by the newest edition of the Standards for Disposition of Historically Significant Hauntings while taking occasionally surreptitious glances at his adjutant. He needn’t have bothered with the covertness, Abarai was clearly too tightly wrapped up in his own misery to have any sort of situational awareness.

The thunderstorm of ire that had possessed the man earlier had passed, leaving behind a drizzle of gloomy resignation. Abarai had dragged his brush half-heartedly across his paperwork for a while, but now all he could manage was to stare out the window listlessly.

Byakuya was not a nosy man and clearly, this was none of his business. In fact, he ought to chide his subordinate for this childlike behavior. However, Byakuya hesitated. This could very well be pertinent to his sister’s happiness. Now that Rukia no longer resided with him, how was he to know her daily mood, her overall humor? If there had been a row, surely Abarai was the one at fault. It was practically Byakuya’s duty as a brother to discern what had passed between them.

“Lieutenant,” he said sternly.

Renji seemed to come to himself suddenly, and straightened in his seat. “Yessir!”

“You seem out of sorts this morning.”

Abarai swallowed. “Sorry, sir! I don’t… I’ll do better, sir!”

Byakuya folded his hands. “Obviously, I expect only the strictest of professionalism from you, as always, Lieutenant, but you know that I care for your well-being. We are family now. If you have a problem you wish to talk through, you know that I am an excellent listener.”

Abarai’s face was overcome with what was obviously great emotion at this generosity. “Er… it’s nothing, sir. Really.” He grabbed his brush and began writing with great vigor.

Curses. That hadn’t worked at all. “Rukia is in good health, I trust? All is proceeding accordingly?” Perhaps there had been a disagreement regarding their pending offspring. Perhaps Abarai had suggested a ridiculous given name, which Rukia, in her wisdom, had rejected.

Abarai’s eyebrows furrowed. “Uh, yeah. Same as, uh, yesterday, when you asked.”

“You seemed distressed. I wondered if perhaps she had fallen ill.”

“Oh, no, nothin’ like that. She’s actually been feelin’ a little better lately.” He fiddled with his brush and looked back down at his paperwork for a moment. “Look, sir, can I ask your opinion on something?”

“Of course,” Byakuya replied, carefully keeping his face in its usual, disinterested mien, despite the fact that he was, in fact, very interested.

Abarai nodded slowly. “Okay, so, imagine there’s two people, see, a boy and a girl, kids like.”

“I can imagine it.”

“And they grow up together and they fall in love, right? But it’s hard for them to tell each other that, because they’ve been friends a long time. And they drift apart, it’s not looking good for either of them, but then the boy writes the girl a poem. It’s not a very good poem, it’s about how tall he’s gotten, not a great call on his part, but the girl goes for it, and she writes this lucky bastard a poem back.”

Byakuya nodded slowly. As usual, Abarai’s storytelling was circuitous and only dubiously coherent. Byakuya was familiar with the basics of Rukia and Renji’s courtship, although he hadn’t known poetry had played such a key role. He found that rather charming, actually.

“It works out,” Abarai continued on, “and they get married. Now, this woman is basically perfect. She’s beautiful, loyal, loving, the whole package. On the other hand, the guy is a real piece of work. He clearly does not deserve her.”

“I am following,” Byakuya nodded.

“So he’s a huge jerk, he doesn’t know what he’s got, and he cheats on her.”

Wait, what? “Excuse me?” Byakuya echoed.

“It doesn’t make any sense, but that’s what you get for marrying a guy who writes you a poem, I guess. He’s such a scumbag, in fact, that he thinks she’s cheating on him, too, just because she never calls him on this really obvious affair, and that’s how the slimeball mind works, I ‘spose.”

Byakuya tried to perform some mental math. Abarai had only been married to his sister for five months. How had he possibly had time to accomplish all this? Byakuya was beginning to think this was not actually an autobiographical story, in which case why was he telling it?

Abarai was waving his hands around enthusiastically at this point. “So he spies on her, trying to catch him in the act, and get this-- all he catches her doing is writing a poem about how she hopes he’s staying safe while gallivanting around with this other lady! I just bet he felt bad!”

All of this was beginning to sound vaguely familiar. Byakuya squeezed his eyes shut, trying to place this story in its proper context.

“Now, don’t get me wrong, this guy is a sleaze. I am not defending this guy in any way. But it’s not really about him, see? It’s about the lady, and the purity of her love for him--”

Byakuya gripped his head. “Abarai, this is just the plot of Izutsu, isn’t it? The noh play?”

“Oh, you’ve seen it?” Abarai asked. “We went on Wednesday, and I thought we both enjoyed it, but then yesterday, Rukia asked my opinion on it, and I gave it to her, and, uh, a big fight happened.”

“Of course I have seen it, it is one of the classical noh dramas! And Ariwara no Narihira is one of the Six Poetic Genius, he is not ‘a sleaze.’” Byakuya paused. “Rukia had strong opinions on it?”

“The strongest of opinions. She said the lady was dumb for pining over a shi-- poet, and that someone should have konsoued her in the first act. And I think she just really missed the point, I mean, it’s noh, it’s not like anyone’s here for a good time, how are you supposed to have any heartfelt songs about suffering in love if you ain’t got any suffering, am I right?”

Although one would never be able to tell from his facial expression, Byakuya found this entire shaggy dog story interesting on a number of levels. For one, every time he had ever taken Rukia to noh and asked her opinion of it, she had replied that the costumes had been very beautiful or that the dancers had been very skilled. She had never once expressed an opinion on the content. Reason number two was that Hisana had very strong opinions on the content of noh dramas. In fact, Hisana used to refer to Izutsu as the ‘Never Trust a Poet’ play. Byakuya very distinctly remembered her opining that “the husband was bad and he should feel bad; he should be the one who has to come back and haunt the damn well.” Byakuya eventually came to realize that Hisana’s complaints were primarily a ruse for the purpose of getting him riled up, and that the best way of short-circuiting them was merely to start kissing her and then to get riled up in a different way. He would give up his sword before he shared that piece of information with Abarai. The third interesting piece of information, though…

“I would not have expected you to take theater criticism so personally, Lieutenant,” Byakuya observed mildly.

Renji opened his mouth and then closed it again. “It’s just a dumb play,” he muttered.

Byakuya minutely adjusted the position of a paper on his desk. “Art is a reflection of our strongest emotions and a chance to explore the boundaries of concepts like love and forgiveness. It can be quite disconcerting to find yourself on the opposite side of a philosophical divide from the one person in your life whose opinions on romantic love are actually pertinent to you.”

“I just don’t understand why she’s mad at me!” Abarai lamented, throwing up his hands. “I liked the play, she’s one who said it was dumb. I don’t see how you can get mad at someone for liking a thing.”

Byakuya sighed, and reminded himself for the millionth time that Abarai had spent his formative years literally headbutting the humanoid mountain goats of the Eleventh instead of metaphorically headbutting an equally stubborn classical literature tutor. “Clearly, you find ongoing devotion in the face of obstacles to be an admirable quality, and were moved by the wife’s pining, which is, broadly speaking, the main theme of the play. However, consider the perspective of the one who is pined after, presented in this piece as a flawed idol, a cause of agony and suffering so severe that it persists past the confines of mortal existence.”

“Oh,” replied Abarai. There was a long pause. “Oh.” His face transitioned through a number of contortions, but not further words came forth.

Byakuya picked up the Standards for Disposition of Historically Significant Hauntings again, and pretended to flip through it. “Do you need to take an early lunch break today, Lieutenant?”

“Um, ah…” Abarai looked at his calendar. “I got Advanced Hakuda Skills with the upper seats at 11.”

“I don’t think they’re up for it today,” Byakuya noted dryly. “Go ahead.”

Abarai scrammed.

[feelingfredly]

The Fox Guards the Wolf

Part Three

The Rooster and the Hen House

The dojo was humming with activity, and Ichigo breathed in the familiar scents of sweat, leather mats, and incense, pulling his focus tightly in upon himself, and letting all of his stress melt away.

The first Saturday of every month was for officially refereed matches, and he’d faced three different opponents over the course of the morning, but none of them had beaten him so far. Now he had one more round, and he was done for the day.

He bowed to the referee, and then to his opponent, sending his best friend a challenging smirk.

“Hajime!”  

The two were evenly matched.  They’d been training together for four years, but this was the first chance they’d had to face off against each other recently due to Renji’s crazy study schedule.  Not many of the students at the dojo had as much experience as they did, and it was nice to be able to stretch his skills without being afraid he was going to accidentally hurt someone.

Ichigo raised his hands and lunged, thrusting one leg out and hooking it behind Renji’s foot as he trapped their hands high between their chests.

Grappling was Renji’s bread and butter.  He was taller, and a little heavier, and if he could get a good grip Ichigo would be in trouble. Today Ichigo was faster, though, and getting a good foothold off the bat gave him all the edge he needed.  He twisted, pulling Renji’s body closer, and then threw him over with all his strength, slamming the taller man onto his back.

“Ippon! Soremade.” The referee’s voice cut through the background noise. Match over. Three for three.

The friends stood, faced each other, and bowed again.

“Shit, Kurosaki,” Renji said, once they cleared the mat, “You were really in the zone today. I haven’t seen you move that fast since Inoue-san tried to get you to eat her chocolate-wasabi onigiri.”  He laughed but Ichigo remembered that day. He had moved pretty fast.  With Inoue’s food you had to—it was run or die.  “Three ippons in a row! You could have at least given me a chance.  You had me on my back faster than a fūzoku.”

Ichigo shook his head and tried to ignore the trace of red the teasing brought to his face. Renji was shameless.  Luckily, he’d taught Ichigo to give as good as he got.

“Just didn’t want to tease you too much, Abarai.  I know how hot and bothered you get thinking about pinning me like that.  You’d never have been able to spar with a hard-on.”

As freshmen the two had met in the dojo.  Ichigo had taken judo lessons since he turned twelve, and had been expected to keep training by his father, but Renji used judo as an outlet for some of his less socially acceptable impulses. He loved the physicality of it, and said more than once that it was the only thing that kept him from getting kicked out of school. It had only taken a few weeks for the two sparring partners to become friends, and after that first semester they found an apartment close to their classes and moved in together.

They’d fought off and on that first year. Renji went out drinking every weekend and slept through half the undergraduate population—male and female—and didn’t understand why Ichigo spent all his time studying. After a while, though, the newness of freedom wore off and he settled down into a more reasonable routine.  He had an ambitious streak that pushed him, and he strove to be the best in every class, but it never turned him into an asshole. He was still the charming, outgoing goofball he’d been from the beginning, and he only occasionally teased Ichigo about his volumes of Shakespeare by the bathtub, and the medical journals he left on the kitchen counter.

His dad hadn’t been thrilled when he said he wanted to move off campus, but after a few meetings he and Renji had hit it off.  Both Renji’s parents had died when he was small and he’d been raised in foster care, and while Kurosaki Isshin would never admit it, the redhead had become almost a second son. When Renji had been accepted to law school, he was just as proud as he’d been of Ichigo’s MCAT scores, and he’d bragged about them to anyone who would listen.

Hopefully, he’d never realize what his sons had gotten up to over the years.

“You working at the clinic tonight?” Renji asked. “I didn’t check the schedule this morning.”

“Not tonight.” Ichigo said. “I swapped with Yamazaki-san, so he could attend his little sister’s graduation ceremony last week, so I have an unexpected evening off.”

“Hot date?”

Ichigo rolled his eyes.  “Only if you count my laptop.”

Renji snorted.  “Sadly, that might sound better if I knew you had a porn addiction, but no.  You’re going to find some dusty corner and commune with your muse again aren’t you?”

They hit the lockers and Ichigo pulled his clothes out, focusing on getting dressed so he didn’t have to answer.

Renji was more supportive than most about his writing. He agreed that spending a year working on getting his novel finished and finding an agent was important, but he didn’t understand Ichigo’s choice to stop dating until he’d made a final decision about med school. For him, getting laid was a priority—like breathing—and he was convinced Ichigo was crazy to try to deny himself.

It wasn’t like Ichigo had completely given up on sex.  He’d had a few dates where he’d ended up in someone’s bed, but they’d been one night with no strings attached, and he never ended up in the same bed twice.  There just wasn’t enough attraction with any of them to make it worth the effort.

“My muse, as you put it, is better company than anyone I’ve been out with recently.” He tugged his shirt over his head and pulled it down. “Anyway, you know how I feel. Until I get things settled it isn’t fair to ask someone to put up with my shit.  Hell, I don’t want to put up with my shit.”

Renji came around the corner, dress shirt unbuttoned and untucked, and Ichigo sighed.  It wasn’t fair. The man was hot as hell, with his chest tatted up, and his muscles rippling subtly under smooth skin. At one time Ichigo thought he’d found his perfect match, but it wasn’t meant to be. They’d slept together a few times, and the redhead was as enthusiastic a lover as he was a sparring partner, but there was something missing and they both knew it.  

“Don’t sell yourself short, man.” Long fingers made short work of his buttons. “There are lots of people out there who have less of an idea of what they’re doing with their lives than you.  You’ve got a job, you’re writing a novel, you’re smart, you’re good looking,” he looked down at him and grinned, “and you have the hottest roommate in the history of cohabitation.”

Renji cocked his head to one side, looked at something over Ichigo’s shoulder, and stage whispered.  “Someone’s taken notice at least.  Although he seems a little on the shy side.”

Ichigo turned to see what he was talking about.  “What? Who?” All he could see were a few other judo students.

Renji shook his head, and looked a little dismayed.  “Dude was just standing by the door.  I noticed him watching the matches earlier.  Good looking guy.  I guess he saw me watching him, uh, watching, and ducked out.”

Ichigo slid his feet into his shoes and grabbed his bag, the weight of the laptop heavy as he slung it over his shoulder.  

“You sure he was watching me?” He looked at his friend. “Of the two of us, you’re the one who gathers groupies.”

Renji lost his smart-ass grin and shook his head.  “No way.  I gave him a good long look—you know I like the ones that look like they could do a little damage, and this guy looked like he could hold his own—but he didn’t notice me at all.  He was all about you.”

Ichigo felt his heart speed up a little.  “What did he look like?  Kind of tall?  Shoulders? Blond hair?”

Renji shook his head again, but looked questioningly down at him. “No.  Your height. Dark. Black hair, dark eyes, mid-twenties? Moved like a fighter.”

Sounded like another not-Yakuza, but this one had found him. Shit.

He shut his locker door a little too hard and tried to tamp down the disappointment he felt that it hadn’t been the geta wearing man from the day before. It wasn’t like there was any reason to expect to see him again. He hadn’t even told Ichigo his name.  

Even if he had said he’d see him again.

Renji stared at him a minute, and Ichigo could hear the wheels grinding away in his head as he put two and two together and as usual, ended up with five.  “What’s going on, Kurosaki? Are you in some kind of trouble? Is this blond you mentioned giving you grief?”

See? Five.

Still. While Renji could be as over-protective as Isshin, it was hard to mind. One of the things they’d first connected over was a hardcore desire to avoid the local gangs, and it was still a hot-button topic for his roommate. Renji had more than his share of run-ins with tough guys in the foster care system and he’d considered it his job to protect the kids who were weaker or smaller than him, whether it was from lousy foster parents, or predatory thugs looking to recruit cannon fodder for their turf wars.   For a lawyer, it was an excellent skill set. He could usually smell gang members a mile away, and it helped keep him out of trouble.  So, if this guy didn’t set off Renji’s sensors, maybe he wasn’t a bad guy.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

“Something strange happened yesterday at Como’s.  I was getting ready to  head in for my shift at the clinic when these two guys showed up with neon signs over their heads screaming We’re Bad Guys. Before I knew it, I was running a little interference in the middle of some sort of throw-down.  No one got hurt.” He thought about that and changed it. “Well, one of the guys with guns got hurt, but he was kind of asking for it.”

Renji stopped dead in the middle of buckling his belt, his eyebrows halfway to his hairline.  “Guns? Why am I only hearing about this now?  Did you call your old man and tell him?”

This was so not a conversation Ichigo wanted to be having.

“I’m telling you now. I didn’t tell you yesterday because you were balls deep in the flavor of the week when I got home last night and I didn’t feel like ruining the mood.  And no, I didn’t call my dad because there was nothing he could have done about it.  He’s retired.  Anyway, the man who was at the center of the whole thing seemed to have everything well in hand. He was so smooth you’d think that sort of thing happened to him every day.”

Renji made a strangled noise.  “Competence isn’t a good thing in these situations. You have to take this seriously. If you got in the middle of some turf war…”

Ichigo scrubbed his hand over his face. “It wasn’t like that. These guys were more like high-end kidnappers than gangbangers.”

Oddly enough, that didn’t improve things. Renji looked like he was going to have a stroke.  His face was almost as red as his hair.

“Kidnappers.” He glared. “Do you have any idea how crazy this sounds? And you didn’t let your dad, the retired police lieutenant, know? What the fuck, Kurosaki?”

Ichigo ignored the questions and walked out into the dojo with Renji struggling along behind him, still trying to get his shoes on.

“You know how Goat-face gets.  The minute he heard he’d start freaking out and acting like I was fourteen and being brought home from getting my ass kicked, again. I’m twenty-three, Abarai. I have a black belt in judo and a brown belt in karate.  I can handle myself. I don’t need to run to my dad for help every time something happens.”

He didn’t mention that it would terrify his sisters, or that it would throw the entire Kurosaki household into turmoil, forcing his dad to relive the nightmare of his wife’s death.  His father had many skills.  Moving on wasn’t one of them.  

“Kurosaki-san!”

The voice came from one of the younger instructors trying to flag him down as he headed for the exit.

“Someone left this for you at the desk.” Ichigo took the message with a respectful bow and murmured thanks, and continued out the door.

After the dojo the street was oddly quiet, the background buzz dropping to just faint traffic noise, and the two friends stopped and stood against the wall, looking down at the card in Ichigo’s hand.

It was a white card with a small red embossed inkan in the corner, the writing clean and precise, and it was clearly addressed to Kurosaki Ichigo.

“What’s that?” Renji asked, peering over his shoulder. “Love letter from a secret admirer? Maybe he was too shy to stay and ask you out in person. Or maybe it’s a ransom demand from your friendly neighborhood kidnappers. It’s even odds.”

Ichigo made a fed up sound. “Drop it, Abarai. Remember, I know where you sleep.”

Renji waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “As if I could forget. I keep my door open in case you ever want me to comfort you after a bad dream.”

Ichigo stared at his friend. It was like living with an overgrown puppy with ADHD and a sex addiction. How the man managed to survive in law school was a mystery.

Maybe he fucked all his professors.  It would explain a lot.

“Who is Tsukabishi Tessai?” Renji asked, switching his focus back to the note and Ichigo groaned at the mental whiplash. Definitely ADHD.

“I met him yesterday at the coffee house.”

Ichigo thought back and tried to remember all the details about the man that he could.  He was tall, even taller than Renji, with dark skin and tiny braids running along his scalp. The most powerful feeling Ichigo had been left with about him, though, was one of almost preternatural calm.  It was as if nothing short of a bomb going off could unsettle the man.  A good trait for someone faced with armed bad guys, he supposed.

“He was not one of the kidnappers I’m presuming?”

Ichigo sighed but didn’t feed the troll.

He re-read the note wondering if it was some sort of trick, but it hadn’t changed.  “No. He showed up after everything started to go to hell. He was driving, but he didn’t act like any chauffeur I’ve ever heard of.  Instead of freaking out over someone trying to grab his boss, or over the fact that we basically beat the crap out of two guys in the middle of the sidewalk, he just apologized for being late, took their guns and tossed the men into the back seat of his car.”

Renji looked like he wanted to start yelling again, but he restrained himself.  Barely.

“And this is… what? A thank you note? A threat? He wants to make sure you keep your mouth shut and don’t tell the authorities?”

Ichigo shook his head again, and gave up trying to make sense of it all, and handed the card over for Renji to read for himself.

“He’s offering me a job.”