nekohime19

[asukaskerian]

omg #2 from the arranged marriage prompts but with grimmichihime, where ichigo and orihime are already in a relationship and maybe even engaged but a war with hueco mundo/aizen faction leads to an arranged marriage deal where orihime is sworn to grimmjow in the hopes of ending the war... the drama of it all

2. Royalty AU - To end a war IT'S 2K LOOOONG sobs. also do not ask me about the worldbuilding i don't want to think about it because i WILL try to figure it out andm qvbv bqjhrvb f. yes. that.

anyway.

--

"You ain't supposed to be here, princess."

The girl's lower lip quivered; her brows scrunched down. A child's attempt to appear fierce. Grimmjow snorted, leaning his hip on the fancy chest of drawers he'd been saddled with for this farce. Embroidered shit from Hueco Mundo and local kimono bundled side by side, a present he hoped to never use again.

"I know. I thought--"

"You thought you'd see me without a chaperone and make double sure we got hitched?"

The twisted tangle of her hands came apart into fists. "No!"

Hooo. Grimmjow tilted his head, regarding her. She had a baby face; he'd have thought her sixteen instead of twenty had he not read the reports. Her hands clenched in her high-waisted, pleated skirt and he couldn't help but notice that it had been rigged so the hem was higher, easier to move in; underneath were dress uniform pants and laced-up ankle boots. Probably how she'd managed to climb his balcony -- but for a princess she sure wore some foreign style underthings.

"No?"

"No," she repeated, anguished, and then breathed in and out to steady herself, eyes closed. "That isn't why. I just -- there hasn't been a moment to talk to you directly, and I think -- you probably don't know. About me."

"Ah. Last-ditch attempt to have me break it off."

"I'm not actually a princess, you know."

She lifted her chin like she expected shock, anger. Grimmjow laughed. "Oh yeah?"

"I'm not!"

"You got the mark of the Soul King. Right? One of his fancy powers."

"Yes, but -- Grimmjow-san, that's not. I'm a commoner, I-- I was legitimised last year. We don't even know what branch I come from for sure." She met his eyes, sad but resolute. "My mother was a prostitute. This marriage alliance -- it's an insult."

... Haa. He reclined against the wall, arms crossed loosely, watching her. Trying to be brave, to be honest and good. She was gonna be devoured alive.

"I'm only a duke as a way to keep my rebellion in check."

"--Ah?"

He snorted. "Don't even got a single drop of blood in common with Aizen, but I had enough support that he needed a way to break my power base in two and put a leash on me. So now the anti-royalty have ditched me and the rest have been fuckin' appeased by thinking I have a chance at the throne whenever he kicks it, but he won't. Guy's fully intending to become immortal somehow."

His voice had gone bitter by the end. He swallowed it; pointless to show too much emotion to someone so ill-suited to court. She would never keep the secret tight enough.

He was gonna have to carry her back home to the royal palace and be saddled with keeping her in one piece, though. Another weight chained to his ankle, disguised as an attempt to make him more palatable, give him more appeal to the cowards of the capital.

"So he knows..." she whispered, a slow horror rising as she started to understand the implications. "He won't break it off."

"Nah. Gonna wait until we're married and then make a fuss about suddenly discovering it to gain an advantage against your country, probably." Or take Grimmjow down a peg by starting rumors at court. Or both. Aizen was nothing if not efficient.

His fiancée (how fucking alien a word, related to him) pressed both hands against her face and muttered to herself for a bit. Grimmjow left her at it. He probably had letters to read--

"I'll run away," she blurted out. 

Grimmjow gave her a nonplussed look. "What the fuck. Who do you think is gonna hunt you down then?"

"You won't find me."

He pushed away from his perch, took a few slow, gliding steps toward the girl. She didn't step back, chin up, feet set, like a glowing ball of bunion-healing power was gonna keep her safe from him.

... She really thought he wouldn't find her, too.

Grimmjow had never lost a quarry and the whole continent knew it. She didn't seem that stupid.

"I thought you wanted to stay home, but that's not even it, huh," he mused, voice low, looming to see how much pressure she could take. "What's your reason? Can't be your previous fiancé."

Shocked indrawn breath. "You knew about him?"

"Sure. Had to know if you were gonna pop out a really premature baby, didn't I."

The girl flushed, said nothing. He didn't even get the impression that this was why she was so desperate to stay home -- that she had celebrated her previous engagement too early. 

"But you can't marry him and live in his back garden, now can you," he kept going, testing, searching. "The fuck are you thinking? Think some bland civilian schmuck would give you a nice little life hidden away in the attic?"

The way her eyelids twitched on certain words needed to be trained out of her at some point.

Her guy, she believed wholeheartedly, could and would hide her -- had the ability, or had the connections; had the determination. Her guy would take the risk of putting the Four Noble Houses on his ass... 

Because they were already riding it anyway.

Grimmjow barked out a laugh. She stared at his widening grin, and her hair pins pulsed with glowing gold, like now she was properly wary of him -- of a man from an enemy country who outweighed and out-reached her and of whom everybody would say he had a right to do to her whatever the fuck he wanted.

A pretty girl like her had to know his kind of man was dangerous, and yet she was only afraid now.

"You guys are in the rebellion."

He was only barely surprised when the window swung open and a man in battered samurai armor plunged sword-first at him.

He was slightly more surprised when the rejected beau -- some nobody from the cadet branch of a fallen noble house, from the reports -- managed a slash and a swipe at a surprise angle that clanged hard against Grimmjow's not-so-decorative vambrace.

Nice.

Grimmjow drew his blade, and while the man was distracted eyeing it, kicked him solidly in the guts, folding him in two. No armor but two pauldrons to get in his way; the room was large enough to maneuver. He rolled low, swiped his feet out from under him as the guy wobbled back up, lunged -- 

Got kicked off in a way that sent him crashing through a folding screen. The wood splintered noisy like a gunshot. He rolled to the side, behind the low table, kicked it upright to break the guy's charge and then shouldered it straight onto him. Ahh, noisy, so noisy, Aizen was going to be so pissed off. Grimmjow couldn't stop grinning.

Their swords rang against each other, sliding until they locked at the guard. Grimmjow leaned in to smile. The guy had the same kind of forthright, justice-blind eyes as the girl. Well-matched pair of idiots. He hated it.

He shoved forwards with his superior weight, feinted left, right, punched. Was a little appreciative whent his fist was almost blocked, parried enough to lessen the impact.

But the guy's sword was longer than his, so now that Grimmjow was under his guard he was fucked. He aimed the point of his sword--

Golden god-light, impassable. Jarring his arm to the shoulder. He tried to go around the side and it only grew to cut him off again, and then suddenly it was blooming out like a sail catching wind and shoving him back.

His fiancée stepped forward, hands joined at the fingertips before her chest. "Don't fight!"

Ah. Not just a small healing ability, then. The powers inherited straight from the Soul King seemed to be very random when all put next to each other, but also... people usually didn't get more than one. Interesting. Did Aizen know? Was he trying to sneak her out from under the Seireitei's nose? Or had she managed to hide it even from him? Grimmjow pressed a hand to the barrier and while it didn't hurt him, it also didn't yield at all.

"No fighting! Sh-- Kurosaki-kun, we know things about him too. He won't -- he won't sell us out. Right?"

He watched her give soft entreating looks to her old boyfriend, the boyfriend slowly shift to stand before her. "I guess" was the first thing Grimmjow heard in his voice, quiet and roughened by doubt and effort.

"Don't know why you're pretending not to be a Shiba when you could be the clan head's ginger body double."

"Well see, usually when I'm committing treason I wear a mask," Kurosaki-Shiba replied dryly, and discreetly eyed the room for an escape route. 

Grimmjow had turned them around, though; he stepped right in the middle of the wide open window, opening his arms, and crooked his fingers invitingly.

"I... don't suppose you're planning to let us pass through."

"You can come right into my arms, sweetheart." He turned his wrist so the edge of his sword would catch the lamplight. 

The next look was toward the door, but the noise they'd made had not been subtle. The corridor was filling up with hotel employees and guards from Grimmjow's country -- who knew better than to barge in without his say-so, but weren't going to disperse without having put eyes on him either.

Shiba's sword stayed up for long seconds of narrow-eyed wary thought before the point flagged down. "Fine. What the fuck do you want."

What did he want... Hm. Shiba had good fighting instincts. Could be better, though, sharper. The princess was a little sneakier and a lot more powerful than she seemed. Their righteous fervor was gonna grate on him something awful very soon...

Aizen had a leash on him, but the only real leash on them would be through Grimmjow, and they didn't like him enough to stay their hands out of fear for his safety.

He dropped his sword, tossing it onto an abandoned sitting pillow. Baffled, the lovebirds stared at him with dumbly blinking eyes.

Grimmjow smiled, slow and languorous, as he undid his waistcoat and tugged loose his shirt laces, letting the cloth slide open over his chest. 

A twitch, a yelp, two blushes. 

Cackling, Grimmjow tackled them both around the waist and let his momentum carry the three of them right into his bed.

"Whoa whoa what the fuck?!" "Iyaa, wait, wait--" "What are you--"

The mattress bounced under their combined weights. Cackling, Grimmjow sat up, straddling them both, and wasn't shy about digging in his knees. "Welp, looks like we're all compromised now. Gonna have to marry you both."

The shriek that came out of Shiba was higher than even the princess' voice could reach. He seemed to have switched from trying to punch Grimmjow's nose in to pressing both hands to his chest to keep him away, as if Grimmjow was even seriously trying to lean close. Virgin bottom behavior. Even the girl was still earnestly trying to knee his balls back inside his body.

"Ahh, shut up, I'll scratch your backs if you scratch mine. Yeah? We can all benefit from this."

And he threw an abandoned book at the door, making it clank obviously enough that the guards would decide it was sufficiently like a knock and check in on him. 

As the door creaked open, he decided to indulge his captives' panicked squeakings -- had to start things off on the right foot if he didn't want to have to deal with too many knives in his household, after all. Princess was yammering about how he couldn't marry Kurosaki-kun who wasn't a maiden at all and boys couldn't marry boys and anyway she didn't want him to be a concubine but you couldn't have two main wives-- 

"Ah, don't worry, in my country you can marry whoever the fuck you want." Behind the bed the room was filling up with rubbernecking guards, come in to stop an assassination attempt and discovering a tryst instead. Ignoring them utterly, he grinned into her wide, wide eyes, her scarlet face. "It's gonna piss everyone off, I can't wait."

[recurring-polynya]

Happy New Year! Apologies if you’ve talked about this already but what are your thoughts about the anime trailer? And what is your wishlist for the anime?

I probably gushed about it on Twitter and reblogged a bunch of gifsets, but I am not sure I have talked about it coherently on here.

I thought the trailer was awesome and a very good first trailer! With the cool remix of Number One, and the way it opens with Ichigo calmly strolling up to a bunch of hollering Hollows, his big-ass sword slung over one shoulder, I felt like it just perfectly hit that chord of "Hey, remember the way the first time you watched Bleach? Yeah, it's kind of dated now, but remember the way it blew you away? Well, hold on to your butts." If I hadn't already come back to the fandom, it would have grabbed me by the shirt and headbutted me. The animation is gorgeous and it showed my two faves in their most badass moments, back-to-back in the same dramatic color palette. I expect there to be a second trailer, maybe in the spring, that might show a little more of what the story is gonna be about, but as far as getting people who may have forgotten how much they love Bleach to sit up and pay attention, I think it was great.

I am honestly a simple woman, I just really love Bleach, and I am very forgiving of its flaws. I do not think that the TYBW arc was a masterpiece by any means, but I do hope that they stick as close to the manga as possible, with some fleshing out of the fights and maybe some addition character moments. (Give us more of Senjumaru, you cowards!!) The original anime had a bad habit of changing random things for no reason, often ruining the pacing of an arc, or just being weird, and I hope they just don't. Anyway, here are some things I am hoping for:

Bleach has always set the bar for OPs and I am looking forward to an absolute bop. Stretch wish: Let the OP feature one of those classic flash-thrus of every captain posing with their lieutenants, we never got a single scene of Rukia and Ukitake doing Captain Shit together, the least they can do is throw us a dramatic power pose.

The OST in the classic anime kept the old bangers while adding in a new motif as new settings and villains were introduced, and I hope that gets retained. Please, please, please let me hear Precipice of Defeat in the year 2022. If they play Reminiscence while Byakuya tells As Nodt “It is not I who will defeat you”, I will probably burst into tears. 

Shinigami's Cup, please please please. I would also like roughly 4 filler episodes. Not, like, Bount filler, but the High Quality filler like the Lamp Society episode or the Maid Cop movie. What I really, really want is a third New Year's episode in the same A-side lieutenant wacky hijinks/B-side sweet Renruki story format to round out the trio.

To be honest, the one part I am extremely worried about them messing up is the part where Rukia confronts her fears while fighting As Nodt. I actually rather like the way the manga never shows what her greatest fear is, but subtlety hints that it's Renji-related (he isn't shown among her lesser fears, the fact that the title of issue 566. What is your fear? is placed on the same page as Rukia warning Renji to play it safe and hide between battles). It would aslo be fine if the anime wants to make this more explicit, but I will flip a table if they ruin this for me.

At one point, I was convinced they would never include the dick-rope scene + sensual sweating, but... maybe??? After this summer’s one-shot was catered so specifically to my interests, I feel like there’s actually a possibiity!

The Kenpachi - Unohana fight better fuck.

I am also really looking forward to the part with Yachiru's shikai and I hope it is more than 3 seconds long 

There are so many fights in the TYBW and so many of them are boring, I hope they deal with this somehow, I really do not want this to be another Fake Karakura Town arc. At least in this case, they aren't stalling for the manga to catch up, so I don't anticipate them repeating so much between consecutive episodes, at least.

We deserve to see Byakuya's caboose in the Royal Realm. I am not even into this man, I just think this shot should be full length, to, you know, emphasize how Serious this arc is.

[m3kuroshirt]

GrimmIchi Weekend Challenge #4: When time comes

Words: Impact, Silence

Genre/Trope: Enemies to Lovers

Word count: 2793

Warning: canon typical violence, some language

Challenged by @m34gs

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

(1)

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

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

-x-

(2)

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

“He’s here.”

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

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

“What happened to your arm?”

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

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

He swung a getsuga tensho.

Grimmjow clashed with him again.

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

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

Another victory to Grimmjow.

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

Ichigo’s whole body shivered in anticipation.

-x-

(3)

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

Grimmjow was waiting for him, expectantly.

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

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

“Not here”

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

They clashed.

Swords lacerating skin.

Gushing wounds painting their skin red.

Grimmjow used his resurrection.

Ichigo released his bankai and hollow mask.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The battle ended not long after.

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

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

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

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

-x-

(4)

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

“This voice… Is it…?”

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

-x-

(5)

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

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

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

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

“Why are you helping us?”

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

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

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

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

-x-

(+5.5)

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

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

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

What if Grimmjow came back.

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

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

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

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

He gaped.

Mouth slightly open in surprise.

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

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

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

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

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

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

[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.

[littleeyesofpallas]

There's a Bleach rant ive been trying (and failing) to sort out in a nice orderly succinct post for a while now about how thru a mix of my usual rundown of the Arrancar Arc set up, my (also) usual metatextual reading, and then also slipping into some headacanon-y territory, I've convinced myself that the real endgame on the Arrancar Arc should've been a confrontation between the Visored as "surprise" villains and the Vastlord Arrancar as surprise good guys.

In part key to this being my already kind of established theory on this blog that the Fullbringers were basically a rehash of a dropped Visored plot that we never got to see fleshed out in the Arrancar Arc.  I'm pretty certain the Visored's goal (if they'd ever even gotten around to being given one...) would have been to obtain the Hougyoku to become human again(again this kind of banking on my other established theories including that the Visored weren't actually shinigami but human substitute shinigami like Ichigo) as their hollows were a curse. But then as a twist they'd really be out to further push their hybrid power as neither Shinigami nor Hollow.  Meaning they’d have been a ragtag group of 3rd party humans without rank, whom Ichigo turns to for guidance when the Shinigami and Urahara can’t help him, who appear initially hostile, end up friendly and kind of goofy, but ultimately were training Ichigo for their own benefit and not out of benevolence.

But then, opposite this, the Arrancar were clearly positioned to be an inversion of the Visored, not just in the basic outline of their powers but in their implicit alignment as well. Notably, the shinigami were already of questionable morality after the Soul Society Arc and it seemed like Kubo had every intention of following up on that.

Now, there’s a lot more to all of this than that... but that’s kind of where I keep tripping myself up in tangents, so let’s just kind of move along for now...

If we figure that the Visored were positioned to be villains masquerading as allies, and posit from there that the Arrancar might not all be as villainous as they seem we find that any potential evidence of this being set up hinges on the elusive nature of the Vastlord. We know they're human sized and stronger than a captain as hollows, that they are very few in number, and that Aizen is actively seeking them out in order to complete/perfect the Espada, and that he is quick to discard and replace weak Espada. (ala Grimmjow/Luppi and the Privaron.)

The first and only real Vastlord we see is Wonderweiss, as we catch a single glimpse of him as a Hollow, but bound in bandages, just before he’s turned into an Arrancar by Aizen; the only time we actually see this process; He is clearly humanoid in shape and size in this scene, and given the context above all being freshly exposited at that point in the story, it’s a pretty clear inference.  This would mean that Wonderweiss is positioned to be one of Aizen’s new, perfect Espada ranks, soon to replace one of the existing ones. (although this is never followed through on.)

Of note, Wonderweiss shows up in the diversion party covering up Orihime’s abduction alongside other Espada, and takes Urahara offguard, strongly suggesting that he is in the very least stronger than Yammy, who struggled to keep up with Urahara previously.  Other than just a nebulously high power level, Wonderweiss stands out by his vacant/dimwitter and/or child-like demeanor.  Of note: Tousen refers to him as “Pure” although even he doesn’t seem to know what exactly that means.

But you know who else has a nebulous power level, ominously foreshadowed (before not being followed up on for a long time) and a generally innocent and child-like demeanor?  Nel.

When Nel is first introduced she actually drops a bit of info about how the Numeros are the ranked Arrancar of Aizen’s army, and how she isn’t one of them, implying that there are just other arrancar living out in Hueco Mundo.  Additionally there are a few peculiarities about her and her companions: For one her mask is not clearly broken nor actually missing much of itself at all, which seems to imply her mask wasn’t removed properly (something Kubo does happen to follow up on, but I’ll get to that later...) and although their brief discussion with Ichigo does identify all three of them as Arrancar, Dondochakka and Pesche don’t actually look like Arrancar at all.  Although it can be argued that Pesche’s mask is broken and hidden under the fabric bolted over one eye, Dondochakka’s mask appears fully intact, and he doesn’t even have a hollow hole...

So here’s another bit of where I get tripped up by my own meta headcanon...  Kubo seems to have a general habit of taking old ideas and reusing them, sometimes it’s character types or dynamics, sometimes its powers and themes, sometimes it’s certain panels or scenes.  And I feel like he does this most often when the first time he tried, he didn’t quite get everything he wanted out of it.  

I also believe that Kubo’s very traceable plans for the Arrancar Arc that he set up early on, were effectively ditched by around the time the Grimmjow fight happened.  And broadly speaking, I realize that that is a less substantiated theory than some of what I peddle.  And I can go into a lot of the kind of orbital evidence that I think suggests it, but it still only goes so far, and doesn’t amount anything irrefutably concrete, so I’m going to also fight the urge to go on that particular rant...

NOW, with that in mind, I think Nel’s dynamic with Nnoitra was originally part of something that Kubo was effectively at risk of losing when he shifted gears to wrap up the Hueco Mundo rescue mission faster.  And in his usual style, I think he quickly retooled key moments of that dynamic into what we wound up with in order to quickly shoehorn it into what remained of the Hueco Mundo phase of the arc while he still had the chance: Nnoitra taunting Ichigo for not knowing “what” Nel is; his inferiority complex; and a number of small scenes and exchanges, including the one where Nel waxes philosophical on what it means to have gone from Human to Hollow to Arrancar.  I believe that this accounts for a number of issues I see with Nel’s whole reveal and fight and backstory with Nnoitra not really fitting into the general flow of the story or the timeline we’d been given prior. (which is, you guessed it, another rant I’m not getting into here!)

A few additional weird notes that I don’t even know how to rectify personally...

in the Unmasked character book Ulquiorra gets his little flashback origin story, which I don’t really know if I’d place in the realm of building on Kubo’s final continuity for the arc, as something he salvaged from old ideas, or something he honestly just did more or less outside of continuity as bonus content just because it’s what he was vibing that week...  But it suggests Ulquiorra wasn’t actually made by Aizen but was a naturally occurring Arrancar who removed his own mask.  And in the bounds of this particular building theory that  actually puts him in a category similar to Nel, as a Vastlord who got his masked removed by means other the the Hougyoku.  And I don’t think I need to remind you about his whole character arc with Orihime and his fixation with finding out what Heart is and how he die a more sympathetic figure than most of the Arrancar.

Starrk’s awkward death flashback where he also appears to have not actually been made by the Hougyoku at all, but is in fact a naturally occurring Arrancar.  And his similar disposition to Ulquiorra, where they both seem possessed by a sense of longing for surprisingly human connections(and understanding of Heart, and companionship) and is actually rather adverse to fighting if he can help it.

And finally (I promise this is all going somewhere...) Zommari’s extremely peculiar death in which he berated Byakuya and shinigami for having arrogantly and self-righteously appointed themselves protectors of humans and executioners of Hollows, something he suggests is against a kind of natural order or sense of justice.  He dies praising Aizen, implicitly as someone who appears to have promised him and the other Arrancar an alternative to this system.  As a tiny tack on, Aisslinger also dies with similar praise for Aizen, saying that Hollows are born from fear and only someone fearless like Aizen has the right to lead the Arrancar.

SO...  Now that we’ve collected these kind of disparate bits of data I’m not even gonna waste your time with trying to suss out the difference between the inferred continuity, the meta-textual intent, or speculation(because that’s where I get lost in these drafts) I’m just gonna launch right into fullblown headcanon...

...in a part 2 post.... because otherwise this’ll be twice and long and nobody wants that...

[captainsupernoodle]

@wolfsrainrules @north-peach IT’S HERE!!

This is very long????????????

(also writing this really drove home another one of those moments where i'm just like “what the FLIP I have FAMILY as young as this hero WHAT ARE THE GROWNUPS DOING”)

Ichigo is immediately like “a person who Knows Things! Who's willing to Tell Me Those Things!” and sits down and lays out everything he's been mentally and not-so-mentally screaming about since he got STABBED with a SWORD and got up with MAGIC POWERS. Byakuya eventually meanders them to his estate and orders tea and half of soul society feels Judged even though they're not sure where it's coming from. Byakuya is massively unimpressed with Everything.

Whether this is right after the first invasion or later would change some things, but in any era what the fallout mostly boils down to is the Gotei freaking out because suddenly! The super-powerful kid they've had running around is asking questions! And doing things!! Legally!!!

Ichigo puts Byakuya on speed dial on his soul phone and calls him up every time he thinks of a problem or someone tries harassing him or Isshin says something that just. Doesn't add up.

And eventually he just starts calling Byakuya to yell about shinigami nonsense around town (his bedroom is no longer marked as a safe house, has the esteemed Gotei 13 fallen so low–), about theories and experiments he's doing to adapt kido to his reiatsu levels, about history and science and reishi architecture and whatever else catches his interests, and Byakuya pretty much always picks up, even if it's just to tell him that he's in a meeting and setting a time for them to talk, and when he visits soul society he has friends who are eager to see him but he always spends some time at Byakuya's.

(more under the cut!)

Byakuya is quick to invite him into the Kuchiki library, and they spend many afternoons and evenings just sitting quietly, Ichigo tearing through scrolls and records, Byakuya doing paperwork or reading, and sometimes Ichigo will ask a question or Byakuya will point out that this author over here expounds on that point in the book you're reading, and they'll have intellectual debates over hasty bites out of their dinner and the staff is Scandalized by the young lord taking books to the table but after the first three times they got up in the middle of eating bc byakuya was trying to enforce Decorum ichigo just brought his books with him and then byakuya had to get up to reference something and it was just too much trouble. The head servant whatever is just like fine! fine, at least they're not eating in the library, who knows what might happen with a Shiba in the works, at least the young lord still has a grip on his temper.

And it is funny to anyone who sees them together -- it took a little while because Ichigo isn't actually in SS all that often, he usually trains in the bunker and Kisuke is about all the mad scientist he can handle, but he comes to hang with Renji & other friends on some weekends -- but they actually do get along like a house on fire after byakuya flipped the "mentor" switch and let his guard down enough to keep getting sucked into heated debates. Ichigo's not a rebel, necessarily, in that he's not out there constantly looking for reasons to pick fights with anyone, he just doesn't let anyone pick fights with him or his friends and also goes "well that's stupid" with... pretty much any kind of unjust authority and law. It drives Byakuya a bit bonkers but he channels it into "educate the unfortunately misinformed future clan head" instead of immediate senbonzakura-ing. Trouble is that Ichigo is entirely ready for friendly debate throw-downs and yeah, maybe he doesn't have a law degree, but execution without a trial for trying to protect people, byakuya, really?

And this is where a little of the cultural confusion comes through, because Byakuya is intellectually aware that Ichigo is human but it doesn't really affect much beyond Ichigo being from somewhere else and being unfamiliar with soul society. And he's like, mostly adult-shaped, right? He's bigger than Toshiro, and most souls that look like Ichigo are already out doing things, even if they're still pretty closely connected with home, and he acts young sometimes but most of the time he's at Byakuya's level, just less experienced, which is to be expected given shinigami aging. So Byakuya answers any questions he has and applies pressure in ichigo's favor when needs be in the background, and otherwise lets Ichigo come to him and generally be independent.

And this works for Ichigo! He's been independent for years, wrongfully so, but he still has more life experience than most kids his age and is fiercely independent on top of that, so having someone to lean on is both novel and avoids being suffocating or condescending. A lot of the time he wants help – he already has more independence than he really wanted, and he's mostly adjusted to it, but it doesn't stop him from wanting some of that support that he's been lacking for so long, and that Byakuya is freely offering.

And eventually he figures out that he's started telling Byakuya things he hasn't told anyone else – questions about hollows eventually led to offhand mention of his hollowfication, and oh right, he'd actually kind of attacked Byakuya with his hollow mask, he'd probably want an explanation for that and even as chill as he's been so far the soul society anti-hollow rhetoric has gotta come into play somewhere with a noble –

Except Byakuya doesn't push. He never pushes. Even with that first offer, he was just laying out an option that Ichigo could take if he needed it, and he followed through when Ichigo took him up on it.

So he has a bit of a crisis and is a little more scowly than usual, but his sisters and friends know what it looks like when he's thinking really hard about something and leave him be, and he takes some long walks with Chad, just turning over what's been happening in his head and considering.

(Byakuya's been one of his people since he got his head screwed on straight, but Ichigo knows he has a tendency to latch on in ways that most people don't reciprocate, and it's okay. His friends have gone to war with him for someone they barely knew, they trust him, and he can lean on Chad most times, and it's good, it's good to have friends and precious people to protect.

But Byakuya isn't looking for his protection, or for someone to follow, or to spar with or experiment on or manipulate.

He's just – there.)

His thinking doesn't change much. He's already confided more in Byakuya than he has with anyone, because before hollows and Soul Society his friend group was all human teenagers doing teenager things, and Chad was sorely needed relief from a chaotic home life but he was still Ichigo's age, didn't have answers to a lot of the questions Ichigo's been shoving deep ever since his mom died. Byakuya doesn't press, doesn't judge, thinks deeply before speaking, but Ichigo always knows he's listening.

It's. It's good. It's really good.

And I guess I have a timeframe after all because Ichigo's really been there and back by the time of the Winter War. Byakuya sent his sister and his lieutenant to support Ichigo before he'd even been denied help to rescue Orihime, and came to Hueco Mundo himself, and listened again when Ichigo came to him, glaring and stiff, and slowly, quietly told him about dying and coming back less than human, fear in the faces of his friends and enemies, about seeing a soul – a person – crumble at his own hands.

Byakuya gets a hint, then, that Ichigo isn't quite the same as a soul. Souls might go entire lives only in soul society, from birth to death, but even souls who grow naturally rather than coming from the Living World are in some ways static, slightly less flexible in some fundamental way than those in the Living World. He does a little asking around, and Ichigo is so young even by human standards – Soul Society has been leaning on him like he's as old as his power levels suggest, in a place where passive reiatsu output is often more accurate than physical appearance, and all this time he's not even fully developed as a person, is still soft and learning how to exist in the world.

Byakuya has his own crisis right about then, and I'm playing fast and loose with timelines because I don't even remember most of the show, so in this au we're in a waiting period after clashing with the Espada just enough to get Orihime back – all the shinigami are alive, Grimmjow is licking his wounds-presumed-dead, tragic batman is dead, harribel and the tres bestias are not wearing battle bikinis cool, uuuuuuuum I think???? the vizard already happened before the grand desert slaycation??? Byakuya has a few belated heart attacks when he hears about training and the dangers thereof even though he's been privy to & helping with Ichigo's solo experiments with the hollow mask, and after Orihime is back and the shinigami do whatever sneaky sneak they've been planning or however it was they figured out about the time limit or whyever they wait for the Karakura pillars fiasco instead of, idunno, trying to prevent the megalomaniac from keeping hold of the magic rock….

ANYWAY there's a quiet period and Byakuya has his oh crap i'm a dad crisis and eventually is just like this is a literal child but he's proved himself time and time again that he's capable and wouldn't appreciate anyone butting in on his business uninvited, so instead he's sneaky about it. Most of his sneaking reveals that things are about like Ichigo's described, he has school and friends and training (urahara probably notices his snooping but he's certainly not the one filling in for Isshin's catastrophic failures in parenting, and maybe he sees the need or maybe he just isn't bothered enough to do something about being spied on, and he never interferes or tells kurosaki). Okay, this is fine, if everyone else is a complete and utter failure of a parent then he'll have to fill in whatever Ichigo hasn't covered himself. He gets an actually competent shinigami to cover Karakura, gets a copy of his school schedule and keeps people from harassing him near tests, is even more stringent with fronting central 46's stupidity and Very Firmly, At Risk of Murder cuts off all possible contact between Kurotsushi and Ichigo's people (and may start quietly grooming nemu to take over the 12th but nobody can prove it).

Things are bopping along, and then we have whatever permutation of the winter war that happens in this AU. Byakuya's been busy with the Grand Karakura Relocation or whatever the plan is and reinforcing his division, whipping them into shape after centuries of nothing but low-level hollows, and he knows that Ichigo's doing the same and he isn't concerned when they have less time to communicate.

Then Aizen.

I never actually watched the interim between the hundreds of episodes of vs arrancar fights and the butterfly beatdown but i'm assuming that everybody's tied up elsewhere or else they wouldn't have let a SINGLE 15YO fight aizen on his own, right? RIGHT???

Anyway in THIS fic that's the way it works, and while urahara and some of the other captains/ whoever's fighting fit, free, and not gonna die just from standing near the powerhouses lends a hand, so Byakuya is busy but not really worried bc Ichigo is a proven warrior and he has backup and for all his unexpected fondness, byakuya is still a military man and he Compartmentalizes.

Except then Ichigo's power rises and rises and rises again, and then all at once disappears.

Byakuya promptly flips his lid and Aizen goes into the box a bit more shredded than he did in the og timeline.

Everybody else gets the idea pretty quickly and flings Ichigo at Byakuya, who figures out what happened very fast and immediately decides Isshin has lost all rights to anything, ever. Ichigo is kept abreast of all developments in the efforts to get his powers back and NOBODY leaves him to his own devices for two years because Byakuya is persistently present and Isshin is on his shit list big time so he takes great joy in thwarting him at every turn.

I haven't watched or read the Ginjo arc at all but from what I gather they sneak in while Ichigo's isolated so there's a solid chance all that mess gets cut off at the knees.

Byakuya may or may not have an apartment and double life as a reclusive rich businessman in the Living World so that Ichigo has a place to stay when Isshin is Too Much, maybe the welcome eventually gets expanded to Chad and Orihime and the twins, but whatever goes on after Aizen, Byakuya is there and backing Ichigo up.

[despairforme]

basics !

FULL NAME.  Nnoitra Gilga. ( pronounced; Noitora Jiruga ).

NICKNAME.   Nnoi, the Mantis ( stagename ).

GENDER.  Male.

HEIGHT.   7 feet / 215 cm.

AGE.   26. ZODIAC.  Scorpio.

SPOKEN LANGUAGES. English / Japanese. It depends on where the setting is. I tend to keep things ‘ open ‘ to not make it so difficult with interactions. But typically I tend to center it around an ‘ american ‘ setting, because I don’t speak Japanese.

physical characteristics !

HAIR COLOR.  Black.

EYE COLOR.   Nnoitra only has one eye, which is S\stormy grey. It appear a little purple-ish in certain lighting. Like a dark thundercloud. His other eye is completely gone. Before he got shot ( when it was just blind ), it used to be milky white. SKIN TONE.    Pale, and he doesn’t tan. In summer, he might get a little sun-burnt. 

BODY TYPE.  Skinny. Underweight. And he hates it. Nnoitra is extremely ‘ lanky ‘. His arms and legs are long and thin. His waist is small. His shoulders, however, are very wide. His entire body is ‘ bony ‘. You can see his ribs, collarbones, hipbones. You can see his ribs across his chest as well. His hands are large and bony as well.

ACCENT.   Heavy. Uses slurs a lot. Incorrect grammar. ‘ Ghetto ‘ dialect.

VOICE.    Hoarse, deep. Voice claim is his Japanese voice actor (  Nobutoshi Canna  ) - not the English. DOMINANT HAND.  Ambidextrous. Tends to favor his left hand a little bit when fighting, but usually writes with his right.

POSTURE.   Slouches a lot - depending on his mood. Often drags his feet.

SCARS.   A completely missing left eye. The scarring on and around his eye extends from his brow-bone all the way down to his cheekbone. He also has a small scar on his left temple ( and a bald spot here ), from the exit wound caused by the bullet. His knuckles are also permanently scarred. 

TATTOOS.  He has a big, black ‘ 5 ‘ tattooed on his tongue, and “Santa Teresa” on his upper chest, and a tiny infinity symbol on his inner right wrist. He’ll also be getting a black-and-grey sun tattoo on his inner right arm.

BIRTHMARKS.  None.

MOST NOTICEABLE FEATURE(S).   His height is definitely what people notice the most about him ( only around 20 000 people in the entire world are as tall as Nnoitra ). His large eye-patch also draws attention, since when people wear eye-patches they usually aren’t this big. He wears such a large one because the scarring on his face covers a good portion of the left side of his face.

childhood !

PLACE OF BIRTH.    A small town. The kinda town that’s not so small so that everyone knows everybody, but the kinda place where you recognize people on the street, and if something happens ‘ everyone ‘ knows about it. HOMETOWN.    The town where he was born is also ( technically ) his ‘ hometown ‘ since this is where he grew up. However, he doesn’t exactly look at it as a ‘ home ‘. BIRTH WEIGHT.   Nnoitra was a small baby, but not so small that the doctors had need for concern. BIRTH HEIGHT.    He was about average size - a little on the small side maybe -.

MANNER OF BIRTH.  Natural. His birth took almost 24 hours, and was exhausting and very painful for his mother. FIRST WORDS. It took him longer than most children to say his first word. Most of his ‘ first words ‘ were just weird jibberish, and apart from ‘ yeah ‘ and ‘ no ‘, his first word was ‘ mom ‘. 

SIBLINGS.   Nnoitra has an older brother, Shinji. Though he’s not aware of this, since his dad left with Shinji before Nnoitra was born, and his mother never told him about any of them.

PARENTS.   Nnoitra doesn’t know who his father is ( his mother never told him about him ), but his mother was named Teresa ( that’s where his tattoo comes from ).

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.    Nnoitra was raised by his mother. She raised him to be a Christian, but she raised him with very little love ( because she didn’t love him ). She did her best to provide for him, and though they were ‘ poor ‘, Nnoitra never starved and she was never mean to him. She just didn’t love him. 

adult life !

OCCUPATION.  Nnoitra works at the club ‘ Hueco Mundo ‘ as a cage-fighter. He’s been working there for four years now, and is the club’s top fighter and hold the title of the ‘ undefeated champion ‘. His job pays well, and he absolutely loves it. 

CURRENT RESIDENCE.   He lives with Grimmjow, in a spacious, modern apartment on one of the top floors of an apartment building. The apartment has big windows in the livingroom, with great view of the city ( and even the nightsky ). Grimmjow bought this apartment for them for Nnoitra’s birthday in 2017, and they moved in shortly after. The apartment looks something like this ( only bigger and with larger windows ). 

CLOSE FRIENDS.  Does he have any ‘ close ‘ friends? Not really. He has some people who he would consider friends - Rangiku ( @jishintcra ), Ikkaku ( @yperifaneia ) and Emil ( @someidioticurl ), but he wouldn’t call these people ‘ close ‘ friends, and he doesn’t really share much with them or spend too much time hanging out. 

RELATIONSHIP STATUS.   Taken. Nnoitra is dating Grimmjow ( @grimmjxw ). They started dating in August 2017. FINANCIAL STATUS.   Middle-class. He’s got a good income, and pays for most of the living expenses they have as a couple ( since Grimmjow’s job doesn’t pay much - actually right now he doesn’t have a job ). Nnoitra has saved a lot of money ( he’s not even aware of how much he’s actually saved up ). Every month, he puts away money - out of habit. He’s done this for years, as his own personal ‘ medical insurance ‘. 

DRIVER’S LICENSE.  No. He doesn’t have one, and has never tried to get one either. He lives in the city, and everywhere he would want to go is ( to him ) within walking distance, since he likes to walk. For example, there is about a 20 minute walk to work. The chances of him passing the driver’s test aren’t that great either, and he has no plans of giving it a go.

CRIMINAL RECORD.   None. Off the records - YES. Nnoitra has done many criminal acts during his life. The worst one being attempted murder. In addition he’s done many acts of violence and theft. However, he’s never been arrested or charged, so for now, his criminal record is ( officially ) clean. It’s been a while since he did anything illegal, and he does try to live a life on the right side of the law, since he doesn’t want to ruin the life he has with Grimmjow.

VICES.  None, really. Nnoitra doesn’t drink too much, he doesn’t do drugs and he doesn’t smoke. He does tend to eat very unhealthily, but that’s about it.

sex and romance !

SEXUAL ORIENTATION.   Bisexual. ROMANTIC ORIENTATION.   Grey-romantic. Nnoitra rarely gets a romantic attachment to anyone. Actually, he’s only ever felt romantic love for two people. His ex - and Grimmjow. He has never fallen in love with a woman, or considered wanting a relationship with one. PREFERRED EMOTIONAL ROLE.    Dominant. Nnoitra likes control ( even though he can’t really deal with responsibility ). He likes to feel like he is the ‘ man ‘, in a very traditional and old fashioned sense of the word. 

PREFERRED SEXUAL ROLE.    Dominant. Nnoitra literally won’t bottom or submit. Being dominated is not an option for him, since he simply doesn’t find that arousing.  LIBIDO.  High. His sex drive is very ‘ healthy ‘. He relieves himself at least once a day, in addition to the sex-life he has with Grimmjow ( they have a good sex life ).

TURN ON’S.    This is a very long list. Tongue kissing, dirty talk, feeling wanted, biting, scratching, choking, blood, spit, cum, hair pulling, grinding, public sex. He enjoys firm touches - the firmer the better. As for physical aspects of his partner ( Grimmjow ), his abs are a big turn on. To be fair everything about Grimmjow is a turn on but yeah his abs are really hot in Nnoitra’s opinion. Also his thighs, dick and ass. Nnoitra likes it when Grimmjow is being pushy and a bit dominant, since Nnoitra enjoys being the one to dominate someone who isn’t naturally a sub.

TURN OFF’S.   Being dominated. Grimmjow being ‘ dominant ‘ from the bottom position is good, as long as he doesn’t expect Nnoitra to let him top. Nnoitra also finds crying unattractive ( though silent tears are nice ). Another turn-off for him is his partner using pet-names on him like: darling, sweetheart, angel ect. He’s okay with being called ‘ babe ‘ by Grimmjow, but he really prefers his name. Another thing that would be a big turn-off for him would be being physically restrained by ropes or anything of the sort. He also doesn’t enjoy sex if he’s too cold or if the scent of smoke is too strong. 

LOVE LANGUAGE.   Nnoitra’s love language is almost only physical. He doesn’t show affection through his words all that much. It’s all about the small touches. He doesn’t show much of this in public, but the small touches are always there. A hand on Grimmjow’s shoulder when they’re about to cross the road. Fingers through his hair. Walking on the road-side of the pavement. The looks he sends other people who seem interested in Grimmjow. Standing very close to him in lines. And in private? Hair touches. Cupping his face. Kisses - especially the top of his head. If they’re sitting next to each other, Nnoitra will always touch him, even if it’s something as simple as their shoulders pressed together. Nnoitra also loves to touch the back of Grimmjow’s neck. Another thing that speaks of his affection is how he looks at him - and how often he looks at him. Even if they’re watching something on TV, Nnoitra will spend a good amount of time looking at Grimmjow instead. 

RELATIONSHIP TENDENCIES.  It can’t be denied - Nnoitra can be somewhat toxic. He doesn’t mean to be, but he is. He’s controlling to the point of it not being healthy. He’s definitely way too jealous to give his partner much freedom when it comes to hanging out with others. He also constantly needs validation to feel like he’s loved. Because he rarely talks about his feelings, it’s often hard for Grimmjow to understand him and how he’s feeling. Nnoitra also has an act for always thinking the worst, and this causes unnecessary ‘ drama ‘. He’s simply not good at communicating ( neither is Grimmjow, to be fair ). He needs things explained to him properly in order to understand what’s going on. He’s also very bad at realizing when he’s doing something wrong. His over protectiveness is also so strong that it can sometimes come off as controlling and toxic. On the plus side - he is incredibly loyal. He goes out of his way for his partner and often compromises his own happiness or safety.

miscellaneous !

CHARACTER’S THEME SONG.   Undead and Whatever it takes by Hollywood Undead.

HOBBIES TO PASS TIME.   Walking, or just spending time outside. If he didn’t live in the city, Nnoitra would be outside even more, since he really enjoys nature. He’ll often spend time in the park. He also likes to play Auralux on his phone. If he has time to spare though - he prefers to spend it with Grimmjow. 

MENTAL ILLNESSES.   Nnoitra is rather paranoid, but he doesn’t consider this a ‘ mental illness ‘. The same goes for him being dyslectic. He probably has ‘ chronic depression ‘, but he’s never been diagnosed, and he doesn’t consider himself mentally ill, nor would he ever agree to take medication. 

PHYSICAL ILLNESSES.   Nnoitra has a chronic undiagnosed heart and metabolic condition. His BPM is higher than average. This causes light paranoia ( so some of his paranoia is actually physical and something he can’t help ), a high body temperature and high metabolism. This is why Nnoitra is unable to put on weight. 

FEARS.  Losing Grimmjow is probably what he’s most afraid of. Either losing him, or anything happening to him. Especially if it’s his fault. As for irrational fears - Nnoitra has a fear of being paralyzed. 

SELF CONFIDENCE LEVEL.   Low. Unless it concerns fighting, in which his confidence is very high. But other than that, Nnoitra’s confidence is low. His self-worth is low. He considers himself both a bad person and a worthless person. There are so many things about himself that he hates. VULNERABILITIES.   Depression. He’s incredibly pessimistic. His mental state is fragile. It doesn’t take much to make him feel down, sad, frustrated. He sometimes re-visits his suicidal thoughts. It’s hard for him to open up and trust others. He gets anxious when it comes to things he thinks he can’t handle. Another problem he has is that his pride doesn’t allow him to back down. Death before defeat. 

Tagged by: Stolen from @autumnswordsman ( now I know lots about Zoro, thanks! 8) ) Tagging: TAKE IT.

[akaluan]

Cursed by Fate (or Witches) Part 2

Part 1 | Part 2

((So this segment grabbed my muse and ran off cackling so... well okay then.

Grimmjow has synesthesia that results in him tasting magic. Why? Because I felt like it. (He’s not the only one in this verse either, which is why Erich has a way to deal with it when Grimmjow gets overwhelmed. If I write more, you can be damn sure the second person will be brought into this, lol.)

Also, send help, I’m building an entire headcanon about this verse and how it’s all put together. Plz no.))

Grimmjow wakes with the dry-leaf taste of time magic on his tongue and the citrus-bright taste of divine magic in his throat. It makes him gag. Makes him roll onto his side and press his head against the wooden floor. Makes him wish he could spit out the taste of magic on his tongue.

He smells blood — /his blood/ — and wonders dully whose hands he’s fallen into this time.

Not Aizen’s. The man’s cloying sweet-sour magic is gone from his mouth, washed away by a jumble of unfamiliar tastes. He can’t separate them out, not yet. He doesn’t know everyone well enough to do so—

If only he could rid his mouth of the taste!

(Mint-bright-sweet-melon-cinnamon-dry-raspberry—)

Grimmjow chokes. Struggles to push himself up. “G’way fuckers—”

A hand catches his wrist, slides up to lace their fingers together. Before he can react, can pull whoever it is in, can /disembowel/ the fool who approaches a /demon/, magic washes over him. Drowns everything out in a rush of clean mint-water flavor that leaves him slumping in relief.

“Better?” the fool asks.

Grimmjow opens his eyes and glares at the man crouched in front of him. Shoulder-length black hair and sharp brown eyes, pale skin and a toned body marked by magic. By very /specific/ magic. A witch.

He’s fallen into the hands of /witches/?

His glare doesn’t phase the man. “I’m going to let my spell begin to fade. Tell me if our magics begin to overwhelm you again.”

“Ain’t overwhelming,” Grimmjow spits, ears flattening against his skull. The man arches an eyebrow at him, body radiating disbelief and amusement. Grimmjow snarls. Tightens his grip. Digs sharp claws into the back of the man’s hand.

The scent of mortal blood blooms bright and fresh in his nose. Drops run down the man’s pale skin.

The man doesn’t budge.

His spell fades away, letting the mingled tastes of passive magic creep back into Grimmjow’s mouth.

Except now he’s ready for it.

Grimmjow exhales slowly and lets his mouth open, lips curling back as he inhales through his mouth. Scents and tastes and /essence/ mingle together, an entire /shop’s/ worth of scents muddying the mix, but Grimmjow is no kitten. He takes another breath as the spell fades even more and lets the connections build.

Fool tastes like raspberry and mint, undercut heavily with cinnamon tones and a touch of sweet. Someone who tastes like sweet-ginger with hints of mint and clove hovers anxiously to Grimmjow’s left. Behind him rests cinnamon-clove — predictably undercut heavily with mint and a touch of ginger — who is entirely at ease. Melon-citrus is fidgeting next to cinnamon-clove, worried about /something/ but unwilling to interrupt.

(Fool and cinnamon-clove certainly deserve each other, if Grimmjow’s sensing things right.)

(Ugh, magic-matches. Utterly ridiculous.)

Fool lets go of his hand and sits back, a pleased glint in his eyes. “Better?”

Grimmjow huffs and sits up properly, eyeing the pool of blood all around him. His bone armor is stained with it, painted with streaks of red-violet and scattering droplets with every move he makes. His hair is weighed down with it too, pulling at his head and sticking to his back.

He must look a sight, a demon drenched in blood and in full armor, sitting in the center of a little mortal shop.

He carefully lifts his restored left arm. Flexes his hand. Watches the play of muscle and tendon beneath his skin.

(He’s not an idiot. He woke to the taste of citrus-bright divine magic.)

(The only question is /why/?)

“The fuck you want for this?” Grimmjow demands. He hates this. Hates being wrong-footed by mortals. He appeared in their shop unconscious and gravely wounded, unable to barter or make demands. He owes them now, owes them his life and his arm and his very /ability/ to remain a Lord.

They can demand anything of him and the magic humming between them would /accept it/.

Sweet-ginger bristles at his tone and Grimmjow can /hear/ the other gearing up to speak.

He resigns himself to a shit deal. An impossible deal. Wrought by someone who doesn’t /know/—

Except that cinnamon-clove darts up and pounces, sending both to the floor with a /thud/ and a surprised squeak. Grimmjow tears his gaze away from Fool to take a look and blinks in surprise, trying to understand what he’s seeing.

Cinnamon-clove is /absolutely/ Fool’s mate. Matching magic-marks gleam all over her body, bright with active power. She’s straddling sweet-ginger and has a hand clamped tight over his mouth, keeping him in place with an ease that sends shivers down Grimmjow’s spine. Sweet-ginger, the poor fool, seems too shocked to react with more than /desire/ and Grimmjow barks a laugh.

He can see the appeal.

Cinnamon-clove tilts her head towards him, eyes /gleaming/ with restrained power, and Grimmjow lifts his hands in surrender. She flashes him a bright smile of approval then returns her attention to Sweet-ginger.

“Let us strike a deal,” Fool intones once he has Grimmjow’s attention again. “You came to us in distress and we have saved your life. The deal could not be struck beforehand, so let it now commence. Make your offer and we will barter.”

Grimmjow relaxes as the looming threat of /binding/ fades away, replaced by a kinder magic. Fool truly /is/ a fool for passing up such a chance, but Grimmjow will take every bit of advantage that he allows. Still, he owes them. Owes them /heavily/. “No fucking bindings,” Grimmjow warns with a glower. “I’ll play muscle, or go fetch you certain things from Hueco Mundo, or lend you power if you really want it, but /no bindings/.”

“Never,” Fool agrees. The magic ripples around them, twisting in acknowledgment before settling once more. “I propose a temporary contract between us until magic deems your debt paid. Your only requirement is to answer the summons within two days and listen to our request. From there, your acceptance of our request is up to you.”

It’s a kind offer, one Grimmjow never expected. There’s more freedom in the offered contract than most mortals would allow, and relying on magic to judge his debt paid frees them both of subjective arguments. “No requests that’ll see me incur more fuckin’ debt to you,” he says stubbornly, “same with healing. If I get hurt dealin’ with yer damn requests, healing is free.”

“Acceptable.” Fool offers his bloodied hand, magic rippling across his skin. “Do you accept the contract as stated?”

Grimmjow scowls. He can’t sense a trap in the contract that Fool has outlined but experience tells him there will be one. Without an idea of /what/ that trap is, however, he can’t explicitly work around it just yet. It’s all too good to be true. Too lenient to be a contract forged with a Demon Lord.

(Maybe they don’t know he is a Lord?)

“Fuck it, sure, whatever,” he growls when all Fool does is wait patiently for his decision. He reaches out and grasps the mortal’s hand, flaring his inner magic as their palms meet. “Name’s Grimmjow. Call and I’ll answer.”

The contract settles gently across his core before fading from his awareness. He can sense none of the malice, none of the /greed/, that so plagues the mortals.

“Well met, Grimmjow,” Fool says as he lets go and settles back on his heels. “You may call me Rerugen.”

“Tch. You’re still a damn fool, Fool,” Grimmjow says with a smirk. “So. You got anything you need me to do or can I just poke around.”

“Do /try/ not to cause inordinate destruction or terror,” Rerugen tells him dryly. He adjusts his glasses and gives the bloodied floor a /look/ before shaking his head. “Stick to the coliseum if you want to fight. No one will think twice about a demon visiting it.”

The mention of a coliseum perks Grimmjow’s interest. “Wait, this is /Karakura/?” As far as he’s heard, only Karakura continues to operate a coliseum despite the disapproval of the Shinigami. He’s never /visited/ — it’s a /mortal/ thing, after all, what interest to a Demon Lord like himself? — but he knows of it.

“Yes. Yes, this is Karakura.” And from the sound of Rerugen’s voice, he regrets that fact just as much as he takes pride in it. Grimmjow understands the sentiment.

Grimmjow laughs and scrambles to his feet, tail swaying happily. “Well! I know where /I’m/ gunna be! Seeya later, Fool and Fool’s minions!”

He darts out the door to the sound of annoyed voices and bolts down the street.

Maybe this situation wouldn’t be so bad after all!

And maybe he’ll find a miracle in the coliseum. Some way to grow stronger. Strong enough to return to Hueco Mundo and reclaim his throne.

(He can’t /wait/.)

[sorisanam]

Ichigo and ‘Protect’ is Not Special to Orihime. Ichigo Was not in ‘Debt’ to Rukia.

Ichigo felt the need to save Rukia -get hurt and die trying- because of what she did, not for who she is.

That’s fine. Do you see that as significant differentiation? Do you feel that had Rukia not risked her life for Ichigo, he would not have had significant emotional attachment/affection to her? Understandable.

False, but nonetheless, situationally understandable.

IchiHime and RenRuki fans are quick -’bitch, I got you!’ quick- when they think in this way.

Let me remind you that actions matter. ‘Doing,’ ‘done,’ ‘did’ matters. People are confusing action with the concept of ‘what he/she did [at a certain point in time]  created a relationship of ‘debt and further association’.’

Debt was never a true concept in Ichigo’s mind. He didn’t think of Rukia as a subpoena or someone he should pay back. He grew to love her and her presence very quickly.

‘Debt.’ Ha! With such an arbitrary nonsense approach to literature, what’s stopping me from saying Orihime would always have no more than a ‘his face is cute and funny’ schoolgirl crush if Ichigo hadn’t saved her life?

If you’re going to mishandle Occam’s Razor, nothing has meaning anymore. Every story turns into a blueprint that’s gone through too long a game of telephone.

But let’s not just use common sense, the tiniest bit of brain power, and the theory that the people vaguely understand the manga. No, let me not overestimate people, let me instead wave something shiny and spoon-feed this elementary concept to certain groups.

It’s impossible and stupid to say these women are given the same type of love and affection, but the theory of ‘not who they are, but what they did’ is a directly comparable point.

(By the by, wasting breath and spitting crap into the atmosphere is going to get some shippers a lung infection. I suggest a prescription of stopping the ridiculous notion that Ichigo and Rukia have a mother-son relationship).

(And just so we cover fandom-promoted make-believe bases: Ichigo’s teacher? Urahara Kisuke. (X) (X). You don’t get to use the mentor-student angle either).

“I want to protect mom. Mom, who always protects me.”

Ichigo wants to protect mom because of her protection of him. …Debt? No! Ichigo is the “speaking is not communication” guy remember? Learn the life-skill of identifying words from action (,thought, and feelings).

When Ichigo first felt the call to protect, he didn’t have the mental capacity or life experience to differentiate person from action. Does it mean his love is confounded or out of debt?

Negative. He loves his mother, she is his number one.

Fast forward, enter Rukia. Rukia; someone he does have the capacity and experience to realize person from action.

‘Debt’ is not debt. It’s an excuse, one not original or solely pertaining to Ichigo.

Some things should be known as truth without my needing to speak on it’s behalf, but I guess I’ll have to do it anyway.

Sado says, ‘I’m not close enough to Rukia to want to risk my life for her. But Ichigo is, Ichigo wants to, so I will.” (X).

Uryu says, “Ichigo wants to rescue her by himself. He’d probably be pissed if anyone else does it for him…I should do it myself! *cue gleeful cackle*” (X).

Renji asks, “Why do you want to save Rukia so bad?” (X).

Ichigo says, “I remember now, why I wanted to save you so much.” (X).

Evidence, allegories, and still, I can see where the difference in perspective plays in.

‘Protect’ seems to be the key word and this moment:

–is upper-echelon evidence to those hateful of IchiRuki. It’s what Rukia did vs. Orihime as a person. It’s debt vs. desire. It’s platonic vs. romantic.

Fine, fine. ‘Protect.’

But again.

He want to protect his mom.

He wants to protect his mountain load.

Rukia doesn’t want his protection.

I came to protect you. 

Tell me–is it the ‘vow’ aspect that’s so special? So telling? So defining? So breathtakingly romantic?

Okay. I’ll bite.

…Sado got a vow from Ichigo as well. The brothers fight for each other. They have each-others backs, one constant source of protection always. Sado wants to protect Ichigo same as -likely more than- Orihime ever wanted to. Sado fights only for Ichigo and for what Ichigo fights for. Orihime has no such solidarity of purpose (never forget her powers were unleashed and acted upon for the interest of Tatsuki’s well-being). (X).

Okay, but who else wanted to protect Ichigo as much as Orihime has? The next layer of the ‘bitch, I got you!’ contingency plan.

(And, by the way you can’t say something and say the opposite thing at the same time.’Rukia isn’t important because Ichigo only cares for what she did. But also, Orihime is important because look at what she tries to do for him).

Well…

Ishida Uryu went to kill himself to protect Ichigo’s life three times.Once for his life. Once for his humanity. Once trying to get him home from the war. (X) (X) (X).

Yasutora Sado aligned his will to fight to Ichigo’s. Sado all but died twice and would have laid his life down a million times over. Once in Soul Society against Shunsui Kyoraku. Once in Hueco Mundo against Gantenbainne Mosqueda.

Renji vowed to carry Ichigo on his back if Ichigo ever fell too low to climb back up. He also swore he would remain by Ichigo’s side, as his friend, even in health, until Ichigo’s last breath. He already fights by Ichigo’s side no matter what, does anyone doubt it will continue this way till death (do they part)? (X) (X).

Nel, anybody? She truly loves Ichigo a lot. She gave herself to death with the mentality of a child and the maturity of an adult. (X) (X).

Mom, who always protects me. Who died protecting her only son. (X). (X).

Do I even mention Rukia? Do I mention Rukia saving his life and his family? Do I mention her putting her life on the line again for Karin and Sado to give Ichigo peace of mind? Do I mention Rukia pushing Ichigo out of Sora’s (Acid-wire at the time) way? Do I mention Rukia going to kill herself at Soul Society for his sake? Do I mention Rukia saving Ichigo from Grimmjow? Do I mention taking on Rudbornn in his stead? Do I mention Rukia throwing herself in front of Tsukishima?

Hopefully you’ve opened those links, recalled those memories, and discovered a common thread.

Ishida says “I’ll help you because if you die it’s all my fault. Today I saved a shinigami, can you forgive me master?”

Sado says “You do this for me and I do this for you.”

Renji says “I’ll carry you because you have brought me back to my friend.”

Nel says “I’ll pay you back.”

Ichigo says “I’ll protect the mother who always protects me.”

Ichigo says “I didn’t say I want to save her, I said I have to!”

Even Orihime has said “I wanted to protect you this time. It’s always your shoulders this lands on…. Why did I depend on you to save me again?”

Are you going to tell me she does it for the pure burden she feels she puts on Ichigo? If you’re going to be so stupid, do it in full, not just against Rukia.

Y’all realize that even Orihime -the only character who arguable doesn’t shield her emotions in an impenetrable fortress- doesn’t share her true emotions a lot. Her kind, “sensitive” nature is not to be mistaken for open feelings.

‘Debt’ is not debt. ‘Debt’ is an excuse. ‘Debt’ is ‘I’m fond of you, I love you, I want to protect you because you are you.’

‘Debt’ is not a special sentiment. ‘Protect’ is not a special vow. But you know where you can find the difference that makes it special? In the moments Ichigo fails to protect and how those moments resonate with him.

There’s an order and a clear distinction. There are moments that hurt Ichigo and there are Rukia and Masaki.

Every other moment of great pain is jumbled together, it’s a generality. It’s an instance of looking back at your life and feeling the things you’ve gone through in flashes. Ichigo has been through some kind of shit, folks.

All other memories are flashes…but we always get a pause at certain moments of Rukia and Masaki. It’s never deluded, never pushed into other moments, never understated.Those two moments are brought up again and again and again.

Yes, the kid has been through a lot; but Rukia and Masaki are next level, they are his complete scope of pain, his experiential definition.That’s where the rain, that’s where the significance of the rain comes from.

Look at the other moments -they suck, they make you miserable if you love Ichigo (and we all fucking do) - but there isn’t much rain.

And that’s not all.

There’s always a differentiation. Rukia, Orihime, Uryu….Rukia. Ichigo and Rukia. Rukia being taken away. The memory is not of Renji’s face, it’s not Byakuya’s face. To my recollection, there has never been a flashback of that moment where Byakuya or Renji, the opponents, were shown.

This is important to note because Ichigo was talking about battle. Battles that he remembered, battles that were personal because they involved people he cared/now cares about a great deal. He is so mad at Aizen because he knows those battles are Aizen’s fault. Naturally, Ichigo wouldn’t have had to endure that if it wasn’t for the prick with faux glasses.

The commonality of this page is that all is that the faces shown were  faces of opponents (even in the first instance with Rukia’s bloody and bruised face, Shrieker was there).

The commonalty stays true until the last memory. Rukia isn’t an opponent, Ichigo isn’t an opponent. Ichigo didn’t remember himself in the other memories. But in the last one, it’s just Rukia and Ichigo. Opponents don’t matter, wounds don’t matter, the only thing that does matter is who he lost in that battle.

That’s pretty unique to Ichigo. We have so many flashbacks of opponents when he thinks about old battles/lessons/memories (even if the opponents are his friends at the present). Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, Uryu, Aizen, etc.

Never in this moment are we shown Ichigo concerned with anything other than Rukia. That’s fucking rare. That’s a difference.

His two most painful, life altering memories are of his mother (don’t feel like I need to further expand there) and his Rukia. That tells me a lot about who the most important women in Ichigo’s life are. Have whatever interpretation you want, I’ll stick to the manga.

Wait, there’s more! Here’s the kicker! The kick-you-in-the-crotch-spit-on-your-neck fantastic aspect of it all. They are the two pillars, these are the two moments, that lift him up the most. They are the only distinct reasons as to why Ichigo feels he can conquer the fear and pain Yhwach threatens him with.

You see the other moments are obviously sad but you can’t easily identify what the moments are. Rukia and Masaki? Yeah, everybody knows those two. You can’t devalue that.

Um, and you know the place certain shippers claim Ichigo doesn’t really belong to?

Can’t devalue that either. Those ugly Shinigami certainly seem to care for and love the boy. Please don’t misunderstand this. Ichigo has so much more love for him than Orihime. She is not the first, she is not the only one to ‘truly’ love Ichigo.

When you completely delegitimize a relationship to build another -when the mass majority of people with the same interests believe and defend the same- you are free for interpretation of mistruths without impunity.

But, falsely stated, not every interpretation or opinion is true or legitimate. Not in generality, not for debate’s sake. Facts, instances, situations, character traits, propriety or there lack of in the literary piece, etc. all factor in when you speak of something outside your own scope of likes and dislikes.

Here’s something lot’s of people seem to want to forget.

Ichigo was eager to get Rukia back.

He missed her smile.

They had a reunion and a moment at the end of ‘saving each other.’ Saving EACH OTHER.

There are two distinct images of Ichigo when he saves Rukia and later when he saves Orihime.

Only one of those moments does Ichigo looks back on with pride (one Rukia can remember with a smile). You see hero. You see protector. You see the man Ichigo likes to be.

Again, pretending there were latent feelings of protection in the hollow is made-up from a proven incorrect translation.

Read this, I don’t feel like explaining it again.

Ichigo wasn’t shown to be eager to get Orihime back, getting her back wasn’t his only goal, he didn’t have an all-consuming moment with her, his purpose of ‘rescue’ was confounded many times, and she wasn’t (their reunion wasn’t) the climax of her arc (I bring up the Hueco Mundo arc because that’s when IH shippers claim crush (for both) turns into love).

Kubo doesn’t full circle -> full development much (including Ichigo and Orihime), but that grace is always given to IchiRuki.

The only closure of the ‘IchiHime’ relationship belonged to only one person of the ship; Orihime. At the end, she finally got to fight with Ichigo; her own personal growth and personal achievement of goal (not a mutually shared desire).

Ichigo didn’t show care (not to say he didn’t care) for how Orihime might be doing emotionally. With Rukia, Ichigo said he’d make Byakuya cry on his knees apologizing for how he made Rukia feel, told Urahara he’d better apologize to Rukia (even if Ichigo knew she would have replied the same way he did), and told Byakuya to kindly shut his mouth and never say certain words in front of Rukia again.

What’s more, Rukia was shown to have done something for Ichigo that no one could do. She dried his rain.

It’s brought up again and again, by not only the IR fandom, but by Ichigo and Kubo, because that only moment is important as hell and belongs uniquely to only one relationship in the story.

Ichigo acknowledges, appreciates and values that aspect of his relationship to Rukia with a whole heart. That’s not a fandom making up crap and calling it ‘latent feelings.’ It’s present and obvious, acted upon and not assumed.

Ichigo and Rukia always do each other a positive. That’s your difference. And I’ve only mentioned 2 aspects of their relationship.

That “I will protect you next time” vow should have have been brought up many times (like Ichigo losing Rukia in the rain and failing to protect her like he wanted to) for the moment to have been specially romantic (like IH shippers claim) and top-tier significant. One hit, boom, a vow not only pertaining to Orihime, and then move on does not place her on a different or romantic level to Ichigo.

She’s precious, but she’s not the only one.

We were never given revelation nor suggestion that Orihime did anything unique (the sort of unique where you can’t give this thing/action/happening to any other character or relationship) to Ichigo. Of course, she’s Orihime and Ichigo doesn’t have and doesn’t want another Orihime. She. Is. Special.

But for so much talk about romance and uniqueness in relationship. For post after post preaching how those two feel such inflamed passion and share so many things only between themselves and how their little nuances align the planets…you’d think it would be at least a little true.

All that uniqueness and inflamed passion and understanding is present, but not with the ship IH fans would believe.

[gunnerpalace]

▲ ICHIRUKI (also that edit!!!! my heart!!!!!)

Unpopular Opinion #1: I really dislike the notion that’s been built up in the fandom that Ichigo and Rukia understand each other perfectly just through eye contact and that they don’t need to talk (and certainly not about their feelings!) because they’re soulmates and uwu just so perfect for each other. Because that’s bullshit, and it’s just not borne out by how they act in the text.

They’re incredibly damaged people who heal each other and develop a very deep and intuitive understanding of each other, but they clearly didn’t always have that understanding and even once they do, they remain somewhat codependent on each other. The clearest evidence of that understanding taking time to develop is the prelude to the Grand Fisher fight, when Rukia is chastising herself after Ichigo says he killed his mother. Then she comes back and gives her speech:

Ichigo famously parrots this back at Isshin later. Like, my dudes, it is unambiguously right there in black and white: they still need to communicate complex shit verbally. They’re good at reading one another’s emotional states and knowing when things are wrong with each other… but they aren’t psychic. They still need to talk. And that is why whenever Ichigo is in a funk, Rukia gives a speech to snap him out of it: she talks to him.

And I feel like this perception is fueled by the fact Kubo went out of his fucking way to separate them as much as possible within the pages of his manga and to ignore most of the time they did have together to talk because it got in the way of shounen-y things or whatever other bullshit explanation he might’ve had.

A whole month of Rukia’s two months in Ichigo’s closet, including his 16th birthday? Not shown.

Ichigo staying in Soul Society for a week, presumably around Rukia rather than his friends? Not shown.

Ichigo and Rukia’s day together after her return from Soul Society before the fight with Grimmjow? Not shown.

Ichigo and Rukia in the aftermath of Ichigo regaining his Shinigami powers in the Xcution arc? Not shown.

Ichigo and Rukia training in the Soul King’s Palace together? Not shown.

Ichigo and Rukia in the immediate aftermath of the war? Not shown.

They had an awful lot of time to just talk. And they presumably did talk, given for example that Ichigo knew Rukia would be at Kuukaku’s house if she wasn’t in Soul Society—he had to have some idea about Kaien, and that means she must’ve told him about him. But we didn’t see it.

Because Kubo is a wuss and refused to let anyone interact for any reason, but especially not people who’d talk for hours and hours due to having a natural and easy interpersonal connection. (The live-action movie is canonical as to how Ichigo and Rukia’s downtime would’ve gone down, fight me.)

Unpopular Opinion #2: In a related fashion, a lot of people in fandom say they’re not the kind of people to outright say “I love you” to one another. And while that is admittedly a very Japanese position to take (as saying “aishiteru” is considered really dramatic) I would counter by saying that Ichigo and Rukia very much are the  D R A M A T I Q U E  sorts who would do exactly that.

Like, come on, they met with Ichigo kicking Rukia in the ass, Rukia drawing a mustache on Ichigo’s face, and Rukia stabbing Ichigo through the heart to transfer her soul powers to him after he cracked some sexual innuendo like “Let’s do it.” Then there’s Ichigo’s various arrivals in the Soul Society arc, and Rukia’s arrivals at the start of the Arrancar, Hueco Mundo, and Xcution arcs to pay him back, which are all dramatic as fuck. It’s always spectacle with them around each other, and they can’t seem to help it.

Oh, but it’d be too dramatic for them to say “I love you”? As if. They’re precisely the kind of people to spring “I love you,” on each other in a society where that doesn’t happen often, just like they almost instantly skip to being on a first-name basis and start up that rumor mill. They would just need some time to come around to it.

I originally wrote here that: “(The Leia/Han thing from The Empire Strikes Back of “I love you,” and “I know,” would fit perfectly at the end of chapter 423, in either configuration, and you cannot convince me otherwise.)” I instead went and made it and gave it its own post, but you can have it again:

Tell me this does not work. Tell me it does not feel canonical. Tell me it doesn’t feel like them. And I’ll call you a bloody liar for your troubles!

Unpopular Opinion #3: They’re both switches. Neither is a defined top or bottom, sub or dom. (And to be honest, I pretty much hate the whole concept/trope in fandom for all ships that each party must be one defined thing.)

This is more of a Rukia-specific note but she tries to be so put-together and in-control all of the time that the idea that her thing is being in charge strikes me as weird; she’d seem just as if not more likely to have a kink of losing or giving up control (and being coaxed/made to forget her responsibilities/past as part of the act) simply because it was novel.

Meanwhile, on a more Ichigo specific note... Shirosaki/Hichigo/Zangetsu is basically Ichigo’s id and has a real thing for being The King and riding “a horse,” and you’re gonna tell me Ichigo’s an innocent bottom? Nah. I think Ichigo’s a little shy and seems fairly close to demisexual if anything, but he is also still clearly interested in women (as Yoruichi, Rangiku, and Tenjirou of all people could attest) and I think given what we see of Zangetsu, he would be pretty eager to learn.

(I would probably call them both demisexual overall. But they’re switches.)

Unpopular Opinion #4: This is IchiRuki-tangential, but I cringe when people write Byakuya as disapproving of Ichigo in particular or IchiRuki in general for the sake of petty drama. Post-Soul Society, Byakuya is absolutely Ichigo’s biggest booster other than Rukia (ahead of Isshin, Karin, Yuzu, Orihime, Chad, Uryuu, Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Juushirou, Shunsui, et alia). 

Dude did his best to kill Tsukishima, who he thought was a mentor-figure at the time, because he wanted to hurt Ichigo. He would be fucking thrilled, in his severely understated and conservative Byakuya way. The omake material with Byakuya getting Ichigo a lifetime meal pass in Soul Society is another example of this. 

Other than Rukia there is no one more likely to start singing “Number One,” and you can’t tell me he wouldn’t support them given that. I feel this should also broadly be reflected in most AU settings because it’s pretty fundamental to Byakuya’s development as a character.

Unpopular Opinion #5: This one is for the Bleach community at large, and I’ll say it real simply: there isn’t a single plot point or sequence of events in the rest of the pile of shit that is Bleach that works one bit without Ichigo and Rukia’s relationship as the lynchpin holding it all up. There is no manga without them and their interactions.

It is, as I have said before, functionally more of a supernatural romance than an urban fantasy because of this. IR is like, the goddamn Higgs field of Bleach: it gives everything else mass.