SPOILER ALERT
Well kids it's official: Bleach is over and the ending pissed me off even more than how I met your mother, which is saying something because I was on tumblr fa daaays after that. I think all us ichruki fans died a little bit inside here, I sure as hell know I did. I've shipped some uncannon/unrealistic couples before but never in my life did I think this would end up being one of them. You know what even gets me the most? At the end of the day I can see Renji and Rukia. I don't like it and don't think they had any chemistry, but with their history and their friendship I can see where one could develop a relationship there. Ichigo and Orihime….? It just does not make sense in any way I look at it. I wanna hear Kubo explain this ending and rationalize this couple because this makes 0 sense.
I didn't even read the final chapter, just looked at the spoilers enough to know it was all a bunch of bullshit.
And then this little drabble basically wrote itself.
uhgggggggggggggggg.
The Mistakes You Wished You Made
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.
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For them it never ended.
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.
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They're too old to be doing this shit. This bantering, fake-fighting and arguing like they're teenagers again all while tension seeps out their pores like toxic fumes only they can notice.
They insult and annoy and jab all while their respective spouses and children laugh from the other side of the room, never once suspecting their interactions stem from something far deeper, never considering the fairytale ending is all a big fat lie.
In another reality the paths their lives had ultimately taken made perfect sense. Ichigo ends up with the beautiful doting wife with hair like his mother and Rukia reunites with her long lost childhood love and they all live happily ever in their own little worlds.
And yet, sometimes worlds collide. Destinies that were never meant to clash intersect and intertwine.
Rukia watches as Orihime kisses Ichigo on the cheek and later Ichigo glances over as Renji holds Rukia's hand so absentmindedly it almost seems natural and at one point they both lock eyes and seem to say look how good at this we are.
Later when they're saying goodbye, Ichigo sees her facade slip just a little bit when she hugs him goodbye and whispers "This was nice wasn't it?" and hears another lifetime in her voice, one that they both understand was never possible but will always be kept alive somewhere in the deepest crevices of their hearts.
He can't look her in the eye after.
A few days later Renji mentions that they should visit the Kurosakis more often and Rukia replies with an absent minded maybe but she's got a lot of paperwork and doesn't want her squad to think she's being lazy. Renji scoffs that that isn't possible but Rukia is already out the door, muttering something about wanting a juicebox.
That same night Ichigo has a dream that he's fifteen again and walking home from school with her, hands occasionally touching but neither making a point to move away.
When he wakes up he almost says her name.
edit: still mad
did anyone else feel like they were reading a different manga by the end? Those first few arcs of bleach were amazing and then after decide it went south and then this last one…idk just didn't even feel like Bleach anymore. As mad as I am it doesn't seem real because of how out of character everyone is…
okay done ranting now.