Title: Laying us bare
Rating: T (violence)
Characters: Rukia, Ichigo, Grimmjow
Pairings: hints at Rukia x Ichigo
Setting: Manga chapter 202+ (and subsequent spoilers) – right after Grimmjow enters the real world for the first time
Description: It struck her suddenly that in one fateful moment – one stab of his hand into her breast – and Grimmjow had done what months of their separation and subsequent reuniting in Soul Society had not even painted so starkly.
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"You won't get out of this," the Arrancar warns, and she knows it to be true. This was no Nii-sama or Renji she could lure away with hot tears, harsh words, and a willingness to lose everything if only to assure he would be ok. This was no pathetic, C-grade hollow she could throw herself in front of and assume the damage in his place.
Not and walk away to tell the tale, at least.
"I will kill you both," he boasts, and this she knows is untrue. 'You will not hurt him,' she replies fiercely, though her lips and lungs will not work in tandem to share the resolution. 'I won't let you.'
"Sexto Arrancar – Grimmjow! Remember that, Shinigamis! Now, which one of you is the stronger?"
"Ichigo – run!" she is finally able to burst, forcing the command frenetically as if the empty words might build her up and make her capable of protecting him this time. She wasn't; she knew that the moment the Arrancar stepped into this world. His spiritual pressure surged and endeavored to force her to her knees, though she refused to comply.
It was over embarrassingly quickly nonetheless.
With his hand piercing her chest, inching its way beneath her sternum steadily towards her heart, Rukia found it odd that it was suddenly easier to think rather than harder. It was as if in a flash of red and blinding pain, all the haze and pollution of her inner world of turmoil was burned away.
"Rukia!" Ichigo screams, and his voice is as raw as her open ribcage. It struck her suddenly that in one fateful moment – one stab of his hand into her breast – and Grimmjow had done what months of their separation and subsequent reuniting in Soul Society had not even painted so starkly.
He had laid bare their hearts.
'These mortal wounds, like the sun, burning away the mist we use to hide ourselves...'
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Finis