clumps of colors
(bleach; kurosaki ichigo / kuchiki rukia)
01. Blur
The world rushes by in clumps of colors as he rides the wind with her on his back, his warmth enveloping her and seeping deep into her skin.
02. Eye
He remarks that she needs to learn how to draw properly; she pokes him in the eye.
03. Attention
She squeals in a rather undignified manner when she sees the Chappy TV marathon; he is blatantly ignored for the rest of the day.
04. Cool
It is rather difficult keeping up with his image in school when everyone is cooing about how he and Kuchiki-san are such an adorable couple, her always kicking him in the face and pulling him away.
05. Command
It is obvious to everyone, even Keigo, exactly who wears the pants in this relationship. ("But –" "Oh shut up, Ichigo.")
06. Gentle
He complains that she is an unfeminine, violent little midget and in response, she thwacks him in the head with the book she is reading. ("Ouch! That's a hardcover, damnit!")
07. Hold
Tiny cuts curve into her heart with every one of his fights and every drop of his blood, but she could never explain that feeling; she holds back her own pain and quietly heals away the last of his injuries.
08. Safe
The nightmare seizes her and she wakes in the cramped, dark closet, but the familiar waves of reiatsu sweeps over her and soon, she can breathe easily again.
09. Goodbye
Red mingles with the unrelenting rain ("The bleeding... It won't stop."); she is gone.
10. Wait
She stares out at the slab of sky from within the Tower of Penitence, her heart a churning mess of fear, frustration, trepidation, and most of all, hope. ("An orange-haired Shinigami, with a zanpakutou as tall as he is.")
11. Drive
His arms ache, his legs won't move, but in his head, all he can see is her face – she's waiting for him. ("I won't let you die.")
12. Stop
She waits for the pyrogenic creature to consume her, but the heat only swirls harmlessly in the air around her; she opens her eyes.
13. Shadow
They sit side by side, watching the yellow sun sink beneath the horizon.
14. Hide
He fights down the melancholy and smiles at her before he steps through the gate; the rain has stopped, and she's happy – that's all that matters. ("Thank you.")
15. Need
He wakes up and calls for the little midget ("Oi, we're gonna be late for school."), before he remembers she isn't there anymore.
16. Sudden
He hears her ("Dumbass."), and his senses go numb – she is standing on the windowsill, she is here.
17. Change
She's never good with change; that night, she slips back into his room and quietly climbs into his (her) closet, eventually falling asleep to his soothing leaking reiatsu.
18. Last
Even though he doesn't really want it, he fights with her over the last juice box in the fridge, just to watch her face light up when he eventually gives in.
19. Motion
She is rapidly gaining the upper hand over the Hollow, Sode no Shirayuki dancing fluidly in front of her, but he rushes in anyway ("Oh damnit Ichigo!"), not willing to take even the slightest chance.
20. Young
It strikes her how much he has grown over the past few months, but she quickly dismisses the idea of mental growth as he engages Kon in yet another meaningless argument and quickly proceeds to throw Kon against his (her) closet when he loses.
21. Wrong
When he asks her one night, as subtly as possible, if she regrets breaking the laws of Soul Society for him, her immediate and affronted negation (and the magazine that sails dangerously past his head) surprises him.
22. History
The flu leaves him flushed and restless, and she tries to soothe him by narrating stories from her youth in Rukongai; it only causes a lingering pride and an acute pain in his chest as he listens.
23. Power
He spreads the flu to her gigai, and thinks he's gained the upper hand this time, until he finds himself racing up and down the stairs to attend to her every whim. ("A Chappy mug? Where the hell am I supposed to get a Chappy mug?!")
24. Picture
He is livid at his father for getting her that camera, not only because it's in a ridiculous bright shade of green, but also – ("Rukia! I'm showering! No! Get out! Get that camera out of here!")
25. Naked
The following day at the Shinigami Women's Association meeting, she hands over her prize; Nanao screams in disapproval, Yachiru squeals in delight.
26. Child
("Tell me what you were like as a kid.") He spends the night telling her about his mother; she is content to listen.
27. Ghost
She carries ghosts in her heart, of her friends, her sister, Kaien; she prays she will never have to add him to that list.
28. King
The other he was born because of her, for her; that's why he holds back whenever she's around, not wanting to cause her worry and grief.
29. Vision
She is always exactly ninety degrees to his left or right, and that is where she will stay.
30. God
He stares down at the enemy, seeking comfort in her strong reiatsu, fighting her way towards him.
31. Now
It's just barely over, the fire still rages, blood still trickling down; she kisses him.
32. Book
He tastes copper and sweet relief on her lips; he reckons this night will go down in all of Soul Society's history scrolls, as well as his own.
33. Time
The healing begins.
34. Soul
Kon decides that he needs a social life, one where he does not have to witness his roommates exchange saliva on a daily, make that an hourly, basis. ("I'm moving out!" "…great?")
35. Mad
Acting belligerent towards him is always a source of entertainment – the verbal abuse, the physical torture, and then of course, the make-up session.
36. Torn
He finds it difficult to resist when she and her sisters, all dressed in cute identical blue kimonos, are pouting at him. ("Yay! To the Tanabata Festival!")
37. Harm
After all the Hollows, Kenpachis, Byakuyas, and Aizens, he belatedly realizes that she is the ultimate poison to him; he should have ran the very moment he first saw her stepping in through his window.
38. Fortune
He doesn't need his father to tell him how incredibly lucky he is.
39. One
She traces the indigo sign on his door, unsure of how and when her hundred over years of life (death) crashes into this one concentrated point – one town, one room, one closet, one person.
40. Thousand
As he paces outside the Kuchiki quarters, countless scenarios run through in his head, mostly consisting of Byakuya's outright objection and a certain death served by a thousand incensed cherry blossoms.
41. Precious
("I'm gonna marry her. I'm trying to do the right thing here by seeking your permission, but I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with her, no matter what you say.") He watches, incredulous, as something like an expression flickers across Byakuya's face and a strange noise akin to laughter escapes from the Kuchiki heir's throat.
42. Never
It takes a whole bottle of sake for him to choke out the words. ("Never leave me again.")
43. Sing
At the wedding celebration, Isshin, dressed in a ridiculous violet suit, gets embarrassingly drunk.
44. Bother
("Byakuya is here. Again.") She smacks him on the head before heading out to greet her brother.
45. Wash
("Laundry? What do you mean I have to do the laundry? You can do it.") Over in the living room, Byakuya orders Renji to return to the Kuchiki House and bring a manservant back.
46. Learn
She tells him he has to start learning to be a father, though if possible, not quite from his own; he can only stutter and stare. ("Stop that. You look like a moron.")
47. Hunger
In the second month of her pregnancy, amidst wild mood swings and midnight food expeditions, he laments that hell has truly descended.
48. Wall
She insists on re-decorating the house for the baby; he comes home to find Chappy Land.
49. Fool
Sometimes she wonders who the bigger idiot is; him – the one who slashed through Seireitei to get to her, or her – the one who gave him her heart on the very first night they met.
50. Believe
Stepping into the rainbow-colored hospital ward, he sees her holding their little miracle.