Heh, always wanted to do one of these.... and since I've been RP starved for the last... oh.... 3 weeks or so, my muses have clicked back into writing mode. Yayness. Anyway, I went on a random reading binge roughly... 4 days ago, and have just been saturating my brain with all the fanfictiony goodness. And this is the result... my first ever '20 Truths' drabble fic thing. So then, anyone who's never read my work will be mighty confused with some of the references here, and this is sufficiently AU to piss off the hardcore canon people. Healthy doses of shonen-ai and some mild angst towards the end. Hitsugaya makes a very brief appearance in this... can't have a story without little Shiro-chan, now can we?
If the organization seems a bit off, I apologize. Like I said, this is my first one of these, so it's new territory. Suggestions for improvements are more then welcome.
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1) Life
Memories of their mortal life are rare among shinigami, and Renji was no exception. He does remember this much however. Nothing he knew then, nor anything he's seen in his time in the Soul Society can compare to the orange-haired substitute's determination and resolve. Or his love for the once ryoka.
2) Dead
The fact that he is technically dead, and Ichigo is alive never bothered him much.
3) Heaven
Whoever said that heaven was some far off place in the sky was a fool, because Renji's been to heaven before, and he found that it exists anywhere that he and Ichigo can find a minute's privacy.
4) Kiss
First kisses are supposed to be special.... not something that happens when you spook your soon-to-be boyfriend from a sound sleep and he knocks your feet out from beneath you.
5) Hair
"Yanno Renji, if you'd stop wearing your hair like that, people wouldn't call you a pineapple."
"...."
"I'm just saying..."
"Jus'.... go suck a strawberry er somethin'."
"You don't have to be so testy about it, I was just trying ta be helpful."
"Wha' if I like it like this?"
"What if I told you I liked it down?"
Renji started wearing his hair down more often.
6) Fruit
Really now, how many people can you think of would enjoy being called 'Berry Brains' or 'Pineapple Head'?
Renji and Ichigo would be at the bottom of my list.
Well, neither of them mind too much when it's the other calling him that.
7) Laugh
His laugh was a guttural sound, rough and almost barking in nature. Probably part of the reason he was likened to a dog so often.
To Ichigo's ears, it was the most beautiful sound any person could make.
8) Rooftop
"What is it with shinigami and rooftops?" sighed Ichigo as he leaned out his window to see which one of his friends was camping out on his room this week.
9) Doors
"...." Staring at the piled of rubble on his bed, Ichigo could only sigh, "I go through more window's when you're in town Ren."
10) Home
"They always say, home is where ya heart is, an' mine sure ain't here," sighed the redhead as he stared at his ceiling, another night lost to a lack of sleep and wistful thoughts of his lover in Karakura town.
11) Nightmare
"Got 't get out... ge' movin'! Wha're ya wai'n fer! Get outta tha way!" Renji thrashed and howled in his sleep, trapped in the throngs of a nightmare that haunted him even now, years later. His spiritual pressure fluctuated wildly, alerting all in his division that something was wrong, until they realized it was just another bad night for their favorite taicho. Few of them ever noticed the faint presence of someone sneaking through the halls from the 4th's hospital towards the taicho's quarters. Those that did knew better then to sound the alarm, for it was just a friend coming to Renji's aide. Only two ever smiled knowing smiles, for only Rikichi and Rukia knew the truth. Ichigo was the only one that could ever calm Renji when he was like this, for only the soothing presence of someone he loved unconditionally and with all his heart could break the nightmare's spell.
12) Past
The pain of the past haunted both of them. Ichigo still carried the weight of his mother's death. Renji the binds of his Rukongai past and the guilt of not seeing his former captain for what he was.
But the past was also filled with pleasant memories. His mother's smile, her loving protection, karate with his friends. Rukia's smile, her bossy, yet lovingly fierce protection of her little family, days in the academy spent with Momo and Izuru before the hell that was Aizen.
And always, the stolen moments after the ryoka invasion, while both where recovering from their injuries and Ichigo's gang was sent home.
13) Invincible
The younger shinigami looked to you like their invincible savior.
14) Reputations
"Heh, getting a bit of a reputation aren't ya, Ichigo?"
"What? As the savior ryoka, or the idiot strawberry?"
"Both," came the simple reply from Hitsugaya, who'd happened to be passing by on his way to find his absent fukutaicho.
15) Present
The present is filled with blood, tears, and pain. The present is a never ending battle, that neither side showed any signs of winning. All we can do now, is hope that when the tides finally turn... they turn in our favor.
16) Hope
They fought and struggled, protecting all they could, holding on to the notion that as long as they could, they would keep hope alive.
17) Wrong
It's too bad that the reputation that proved to be wrong.... was the one we most needed to be right.
18) Hell
Hell is not some far off place deep underground. Hell is watching a madman kill and maim everyone you ever hold dear... while you are powerless to stop it.
19) Lost
"So many lives lost. So much destruction. The only good that came from the war was seeing the madness of Aizen finally extinguished. " Yamamoto sighed heavily, his stern gaze sweeping the hall that stood only half filled, so many familiar faces gone. Those that remained were haunted by what they had seen and done, forever changed.
"Things will never return to normal..."
"Normal is a myth. All we can do now is... rebuild.... and learn from the past to make things better for the future."
All eye's turned to the youngest of them, slightly amazed at the words that spoke of a wisdom beyond his 20-something years.
20) Future
The future is always uncertain, it can change at any moment. For now anyway, as the two young taicho lay entwined under the light of the harvest moon, the future was nothing more then a pleasant dream they had an eternity to realize.