Notes: "Kiss" requested by CottonballLOL. From the August 6, 2005 prompt for the lj community 31_days.
His body was artifice, a golden cage.
She drew against him, striking out wildly, calling to him with the blade he knew so well. She felt foolish, like joining 13th for the first time, meeting her fukutaichou for the first time. Why would he care anything for her, with nothing to recommend her but early graduation and the Kuchiki name, borrowed nobility hanging loosely on her shoulders.
It had been so easy to accept his rough kindness, to fall into step beside him. In the end, she didn't regret what she did so much as what she didn't do.
She fought urgently, trying to assure herself. His skeleton was a weapon, dark and seductive, speaking her name like the redemption she so desperately craved and of which she knew she was undeserving. Her sword sang as it crashed against his, caught in a tidal wave, a flurried dance.
She breathed in slowly, shaking with anger. How long had he suffered, since that night in the rain; how long had he been forced to wear that shell; how long had Nejibana twisted in the hands of another?
Rukia closed her eyes. There was no redemption, not for this.