Purgatory
Character/Pairings: Kaien~Rukia
Rating: T
Genre: Romance/Spiritual
Summary: This was originally intended to be a drabble, when it turned out a one-shot.
This is an AU one-shot. Rukia is a human-beautiful, talented, smart, yet lacking something- a greater force- in reality. Kaien is an angel, powerful, strong, and one of the most greatest divinities of either universe, but a fallen bird that has been cast out of heaven due to graceful clemency of his superiors. The two meet, which ensues in a passionate yet forbidden relationship. What will become of them in a world where demons and majestic angels reign?
He kissed her in her dreams. It was only when she slept that he could touch her soft creamy skin, feel her silken, raven-winged tresses between his fingers and communicate with her. When she awoke, she never remembered their nocturnal meetings. She never recalled him leading her from danger-that inner voice that divided right from wrong whenever she walked on the opposite path. She wouldn't know that he would lie beside her when she pulled the sheets over her elegant figure, and cradle her in his arms when she entered her routine reveries.
Kaien Shiba was fallen, alone, and yet Rukia Kuchiki made him feel somewhat whole again. He followed her to work where she took photographs almost everyday for the daily newspaper in Karakura town. She had the imaginative eye, so it didn't matter where she was, she could always catch a great picture in still motion or in the midst of chaos. Rukia had been adopted by Byakuya, a business owner who traveled all over Japan making deals and such. But the days were far and in between now when her brother ever bothered to give her a decent phone call so as to check up on her. To Kaien, technology had not given any particular fascination up until he met her, when she moved into the apartment building he resided on top of.
Her soul was gorgeous, full of so much love and propriety that he could literally portray the snow that danced in the winter of her heart. Kaien had stood in that same scenery, under the barren trees, as he held in his arms a woman he did not even know. His moist lips had moved sensually against hers as he kissed her, his fingers clutching onto the fabric of the crisp white kimono while he moaned in guilt and anguish. Rukia Kuchiki didn't move back, but she embraced him tighter as they parted to breathe.
"I...I don't even know you," she whimpered, startled as much as he by their actions. "What's your name?"
He greeted her with warmth when Rukia pressed her cheek up against his black shihakusho, her heart inexplicably aching for him. "Kaien Shiba." His aquamarine irises were drowning with the current of the ocean and his mounting misery, making Rukia feel helpless to aid the situation. His hair was ridiculous, she told herself humorously; it was so spiky, and the strands so fine that it resembled the blades of grass. His locks, albeit short, long at his nape enough that Rukia could tug on them in satisfaction, twining them between her slender fingers.
Then, without question, Kaien would encircle her tiny form with his arms, pressing open-mouthed kisses along the vein that supplied her lifeblood as he salivated from her scent. Rukia mewled desperately, tilting her head back so the angel could prolong their love-making without breaking contact. They both were so vulnerable, without protection. The walls she'd built had disappeared, leaving her exposed and naked to the fears she'd always knew would one day consume her. Helpless, Kaien felt the floodgates open as trust came upon him from the poor girl in his embrace. Neither had felt these things before. Rukia had to struggle to even remember what she'd been afraid of in the first place. Except all she noticed was but a moment in time. Before she slept, he would always walk past her room in deep silhouette.
Rukia was always tired of racing for the benefit of other people that didn't appreciate her talent, and whenever consciousness threatened her he always said he'd wait here for her. A cold end, an evening, and that was just the beginning. He barely knew her, but they always turned to each other when the loneliness came to be too much. Maybe it was because they were both on the edge and uncertain of their lives, but in the end all they could do was return to their same bland routine. They could bend and break, they could cry, but it was only on a day like this that they knew the world would cave in. There was nothing left to sing, there was only desperation. Justice didn't exist, and wonder was apparent to the thought if the wicked would ever lose. Well, welcome to existence, he thought. The tension is here; it was everywhere. They dared him to move. They hissed callous words at him just like the archangels, saying salvation was here when he couldn't see it anywhere. Kaien tried to lift himself up, and it was only the contemplation of a place where there was no Rukia that got him moving.
"Oh, look," they sneered, "an angel who's fallen from his perch. Don't feel so high and mighty without them wings, do ya? Well?" The mock imitation of Kaien materialized from the floor, pallor a sickly green that complemented the splashes of orange around his pitch black eye sockets. Metastacia, a demon of the Underworld, was the entity that had tagged Kaien since his departure from Soul Society. All angels that descended from above were eventually tracked down by beasts that would want to devour their souls for higher status. Metastacia was just an experiment, though he was to depraved to ever notice this. Sadistic as he was, Metastacia never kept the same face twice, and tended to switch forms.
Aaroniero, another spirit that had latched onto Kaien, was even more disgusting than the former, and twice as ugly. If he was any of the seven deadly sins, it was most definitely lust; he couldn't ever get enough of something, and when he did, the results were never a happy ending. Kaien had a constant watchful eye over Aaroniero, seeing as how lately the demon had taken to implying his sudden desire for Rukia's innocence. But Kaien never allowed her to be alone, and Rukia was too strong spiritually to ever give into temptation or sin. His cornerstone, this light shining through, and also a human far beyond the likes of which he'd never seen. Aaroniero and Metastacia weren't the ones she should have feared, anyway. Kaien was to be recalled to Heaven, from his purgatory. Tears swam in the liquid indigo of her eyes as he broke the news to her. "No! No, no, no!" she wailed, maneuvering closer to him.
"No! I-I love you! I love you Kaien, a-and you can't leave me...b-because I love you!" Rukia sobbed, her jacket and book bag plopping animatedly to the ground as she grasped handfuls of his robes in her tiny hands.
"I love you, too, Rukia," he confessed, cupping her cheek with his right hand. There was a small hiccup from her, and he captured her lips in a kiss that emanated longing and affection. They made love that evening, both tangled up in each other, one open and the other closed so as to try to hide what was about to happen. They both knew that when she followed, he would go. She worried that she would never see his face again, and doubt only filled his mind as he somehow found that they were both colliding in the present events.
Kaien was scared to find that she was constantly in his thoughts, and he knew this was why he had to leave her. Even the best of angels fall sometimes; Kaien of all them could appreciate this. Only his own kind could see the wings he'd earned, the span and length that all envied him for. The stars refused to shine, yet as he prepared to depart and the voices of his comrades reached his ears, Rukia saw him. Kaien's black shihakusho glittered, his aquamarine irises vibrant with joy and his complexion unnaturally like that of a god. Her mouth parted in her amazement as she took in the sight of the feathered wings encircling her form, shielding her. From what she'd read in textbooks and heard in modern myths, Rukia had portrayed an angel's wings to be like snow: white and pure, and soft. Yet Kaien's were sleek, thoroughly preened to perfection, and of a thick ebony texture, each feather given the appearance of fragility, though they were impervious as steel would be. He was gorgeous.
"You're beautiful," she chocked out, feeling pale in insignificance next to him. Shame overtook Rukia, and she merely turned her face away in pain as Kaien shrugged his shoulders, coaxing his wings to fold on either side of him so he could pull her into his arms.
"Rukia...don't feel inferior. No angel could compare to what you have inside...and that's heart." He leaned down, his cheek brushing hers as he came close enough to whisper in her ear. "You're my reason for being. I can't exist without you. Don't think I'm perfect, Rukia. I've made many mistakes, and the only reason I could change for the better was because you were there." The heavens wept profusely as Kaien embraced the human who'd changed him forever, the one who'd given him a reason to start over anew. He told her he wished he could take all her suffering away and catch her tears before they fell, and this was why he needed her to hear him now.
"With you, Rukia, I was able to show a side of myself that wasn't there before. And what I do- what I am doing- is all because of you," he breathed. "I love you." Kaien apologized to her, saline water rolling down his cheeks. His wings encompassed her, the dew-like drops that gathered on his feathers and then floated to the ground lulling her to sleep. The only thing he lamented was that she would remember. Rukia would recall all of it: their love, his words, advice, and the butterfly kisses he planted on her face. It wasn't something as simple as erasing her memories of the time they'd spent together, and of how Kaien professed his love for a human girl to the archangels. It wasn't a tragic story or a fluffy romance, just another tale to tell. They couldn't mess with free will; they were divine creatures from the above, but that didn't mean they could deny the existence of companionship between two beings from different worlds.
The very knowledge that Rukia could indeed see Kaien meant that there was still some trace of belief in the spiritual world in that of the material reality of the next. Even so, Kaien didn't wish to regress.
One year from now, after sobbing her heart out and going through endless amounts of tissue, Rukia had returned to do doing what she loved most: photography. Kaien's image was forever vivid in her mind, and she always sobbed when it hit her, curled up on the same couch, stuffing the same brand of chocolate into her mouth whenever she was consumed by thoughts of his smile, or his touch. On one such particular evening, Rukia had managed to evade home for fear of being by herself, and instead stayed with the local journalist at work to help put together the entries for the newest issue. Feeling rebellious towards her greater conscience, Rukia refused the company of her friend and was faced with the walk home. It felt off, denying this part of herself. This angelic voice inside her had never led her wrong.
Yet, she assured herself that the aura she always felt nearest her would protect her from harm should it walk her way. But that was until Rukia came to the cozy alley that led to the lot introducing her apartment building. The lot was enclosed, vacant, and lack of any escape of the man who was leaning up against the brick wall to the right of the narrow passageway. Rukia was frightened, and she wringed her tiny hands together as she waited desperately for a sign- anything- to get her feet moving. And that was when something- she wasn't quite sure what- came over her, and she felt so warm and secure that she could have drowned in it. Steadily, Rukia found herself walking forward, her strides exuding confidence until, without realizing it, she'd passed right by the stranger she'd been so scared of.
The following morning, gossip abound when word spread that a girl had been brutally beaten and raped in that very same alley. Rukia reported to her landlord that she thought she might know who it was, and the story was then taken to the police. Oshima was identified from a mug shot and taken in for questioning when Rukia confirmed that he was indeed the one she had seen the day before. He broke down during the interrogation and confessed to the crime. Maybe it was out of pity for the guy, or just curiosity, but before he was hauled to prison she got the officers to stop long enough so she could ask him why he had mugged the other girl rather than her. "Because there was a man with you," he blubbered. Rukia witnessed as he was dragged away to the holding cells, her heart inexplicably leaping when she heard his voice. "I couldn't let him hurt my princess now, could I?" Kaien smiled. I was always there for you. After all, I am your guardian angel. It's my job.
A/N: I didn't originally intend for this to get so long, but when it comes to Kaien and Rukia, I tend to get a little carried away. In this case, the story sorta evolved on its own and ended like this. Hope ya liked it! Reviews are appreciated. :}