Notes: I've been out of practice with writing for a while, so this was kind of an exercise to get back into it. And, of course, to get my IchiRuki fix! So here's 50 drabbles. Not my best quality, but oh well. Prompt list from harmony283 on tumblr.
"Even if I now saw you only once, I would long for you through worlds,"
-Izumi Shikibu
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Blame
There's no one to blame but himself. If he had been stronger, his techniques more refined, perhaps he could have saved them both this heartache. Losing his powers isn't the end of the world. Losing her is.
Proof
Perhaps in the next lifetime, we'll meet again. This one is mired by star-crossed loves and unrequited unions. I don't love my wife. You don't love your husband. At least not in the same way we care for one another. And yet, we succumbed to the paths thrust upon us, partly due to a warped sense of duty, and partly out of fear of following our hearts.
Maybe it will be simpler next time. I'll love you and you'll love me, and no one will stand in the way of our unbreaking bond. I know we'll find one another again. This wasn't the first, and it won't be the last. Please, just wait for me.
Assistance
It goes like this. He teaches her how to open a juice box. She instructs him in combat against the undead. He assists her with homework problems. She educates him on the proper balance of souls throughout the realms. It's a give and a take relationship. They find a balance that suits them in those early days.
Going
Every time she walks away from him, the deep, visceral part of him is screaming at her to stop. He's proven time and again that he's half the man he could be without her at his side. They've always functioned better as a pair, and call him codependent, but there's a gnawing in his gut every time she steps away. Deep in the confines of his mind, the morbid side of him is always left wondering if this will be her last departure.
Birthday
It's his first birthday celebrated in Soul Society. He doesn't know if shinigami even celebrate their birthdays. Perhaps they're more attuned to their death days? Or re-birth days? Either way, he's never made a big deal of the anniversary in the past. As far as he's concerned, it's just a marker for another year spent at her side. And that's the greatest gift he could ask for.
Scientist
She thinks he might have become a doctor, like his father before him. He would have settled down and married a nice girl, had a bumbling brood of beautiful children, and lived out his years happily and peacefully. And, if she were so lucky, she'd be the one to greet him at his end of days and ferry him to the other side.
He throws a wrench in that future the second he throws his lot in with her. She's doomed him, she thinks. Subjugated him to a life always on his toes at the next great threat, dragged him a world away from his loved ones. Never mind the fact that he comes willingly into her orbit. He's always had a choice. It just so happens that he chose her and all of the ramifications that came with that. And he'd choose her over and over and over again.
Silent
He says "thank you" in their final moments instead of "I love you," and then she goes radio silent on him. The frantic, desperate side of him thinks that maybe if he'd only uttered the right words, she wouldn't have vanished from his sight and from his world. But it's too late for regrets, so he whispers the words aloud to himself in the dead silence of his room, hoping against hope that the sentiment reaches her, wherever she is now.
Behalf
Renji doesn't mean to cause her any trouble, but he doesn't think he'll ever forgive himself if he doesn't speak his piece before her just once. In the aftermath of the Quincy War, and her burgeoning relationship with the substitute he calls a brother, this is his final chance. A part of him knows how she'll respond, has always known. But that sad smile and downturned gaze still sends a shock through his core. His chest is tight as she softly shakes her head at him. His vision blurs, but he offers her that same fake smile and exuberance from when she was adopted into the Kuchiki family decades ago. "I'm happy for you, Rukia." The sentiment rings true, even if it doesn't quite reach his eyes.
Rumor(ed)
Rumors have followed them since Rukia's early days at Karakura High. At this point, they were experts at dodging intrusive questions and leaving just enough to the imagination to keep others guessing about the nature of their relationship. (They managed even under the SWA's stalwart surveillance, who keep readers up to date in their weekly column on the two.)
Tip
The one piece of wisdom she carries with her throughout the years is this - never die alone. It was imparted to her by a man who she loved dearly, but died by her own hand. So, when she finds Ichigo lying alone on the battlefield, beaten and bruised, that old mantra resurfaces in her head. His reiatsu is fading fast and despite her adept kido skills, she doesn't think she could heal him out of this one. So, she takes his much larger hand in hers and tells him that his heart will live on with her. Even when the lights fade from his eyes, she does not depart from his side.
Idle
It's strange, finally being at peace. The latest villain has been conquered, and for once, there's no one next in line to take the helm. This idyll phase gives him ample time to reflect on other matters – namely, his feelings towards a certain shinigami. He's old enough now that he doesn't devolve into a bashful, stuttering mess at the thought of having romantic feelings towards someone, but he's still a novice in the arena. How can he adequately communicate the depths of his devotions to her? How can he put into words just what she means to him? He putters around these thoughts for weeks until, as usual, she beats him to the punch. After a routine hollow mission in his hometown, she simply pulls him down to her height and plants a kiss on his unsuspecting lips, imbuing all of her thoughts, feelings, and emotions in that single action. Between the two of them, they've found that actions tend to speak louder than words.
Brother
Rukia holds her brother's opinion in high esteem, and as such, breaking the news of their recent courtship is nerve-wracking at best. To Byakuya's credit, whatever emotion he experiences at their announcement is masked behind that ever-cool facade. He can hardly color himself surprised. The two had been dancing around each other for years now, and it was evident during their seventeen months apart that what he once thought was merely a passing fancy for his younger sister ran much deeper. She was miserable without him. And if this brash, loud-mouthed hellion brought her a semblance of happiness that she so deserved, then so be it. While he wasn't necessarily opening his arms in familial warmth, his calm, quiet acceptance was all Rukia could ever ask for.
Beneath
As a member of one of the four great noble houses of Soul Society, her station is far above hers. As the Lieutenant to her Captain, there is also a hierarchy to be observed. However, she has only ever seen him as her equal. You'd never see them with heads bowed in subservience or a respectable two steps distance in between. No, they've chosen to walk this path of life together side by side.
Redecorate
He thinks about tearing his room apart. Ripping up the posters, thrashing his clothes around, making it so unrecognizable that he can pretend as if she never occupied the space in his 2x2 closet. He's seconds away from letting loose a hurricane upon the place when a carrot-topped, spiky-haired rabbit drawing stops him dead in his tracks. Even with her gone from this world, there's traces of her everywhere.
He suddenly can't stand the thought of her coming back and seeing a whole new room, a whole new him, and discovering any inkling that he may have moved on from whatever there was between them. No, he'll leave her scribblings intact, the human clothes she left strewn haphazardly around his tiny closet, even the empty juice boxes littered underneath his bed. He'll maintain them like a shrine to a time when he was happiest in his life. A time when he had her. And maybe (if) she comes back, it'll be like no time had passed at all.
Gravitation
It's as if every adversity they've ever faced has insisted on trying to tear them apart. When she faced execution on the Sokyoku for the crime of saving his family's lives, and Byakuya and Renji cruelly wrenched her from his realm and left him for dead. When he lost his powers, defeating Aizen, and the Soul Society claimed it was the return to the natural order of things - a human, relegated to his station, a shinigami, back to her duty with no distractions. Even Yhwach, holding hostage their future happiness with his haunting final words. But, despite the opposition, he always finds his way back to her. He's tied to her gravity. Even if she is the moon, and he the sun, he's the one caught in her orbit. And he'll follow her until the stars themselves implode.
Kilt
Many aspects of the human world still tantalize and puzzle her. The world is a lot bigger than his humble hometown in the Japanese countryside. The idea of different cultures and identities astound and entertain her. He can't tell if he's concerned or amused at her deep dive into Scottish class and customs. He chooses to take it all in stride and entertains her interests; he's sure she'll move on to Native American folklore or Greek architecture soon enough. He's sadly mistaken when she takes up the bagpipe, complete with an authentic kilt. He's sure they can hear the cacophony all the way to Soul Society.
Afterthought
Her own safety comes only as an afterthought. The moment his well-being is threatened, she leaps into action, damning the consequences. He was the one named "to protect," but she carries the mantle just as well. Even with a blade in her belly and blood oozing relentlessly, she can't find it in her to second guess her actions.
He drops to his knees beside her and frantically flaps his lips, but it's all a dull thud in her ears. She lifts her lithe fingers to graze his watery cheeks, using the last of her strength to leave him with one final glimpse of her lips upturned and eyes trained only on him.
Unearth
They bury Chad on a crisp, fall afternoon. He's the last of their ragtag group to fall to the hands of time. When his soul awakens, it's Ichigo that's there to guide him to the other plane. When they reunite on the other side, a new lightness overtakes him. His family is finally complete once more.
Sometimes family is your shinigami wife and children, your spiritually sensitive sisters, and your superpowered best friends.
Shield
They're so scared of shattering what they have between them that they duck and evade all the signs pointing them to take the next step. They hide behind words like "nakama" and "you changed my world," flittering just around the cusp of what could be something more. He's always been someone who barreled headfirst into whatever he was facing, damning the consequences. And she's always held her head up high when facing her battles. And yet, they continue to dance around each other, in this strange give and take, never pushing too far into the boundaries of romance. Perhaps one day, they'll let the shields fall, and be truly genuine with their feelings. For now, he'll take having her at his side, just a hairsbreadth out of reach.
Blacklist
Life on the run is hectic and unpredictable. They've been on the road for god knows how long - ever since her summons to Soul Society came, along with the warrant for her arrest. He can never stop paying her back for her selfless actions that spared the lives of him and his family, so he'll stay by her side as her guardian and companion, dodging shinigami scouts and slaying hollows on the side. He bid goodbye to the life he knew and set off for a journey of twists and turns, all in the name of the one who changed his world.
Misquoted
It was never meant to end like this. He once said he couldn't keep up with the speed of the world without her in it. Now a decade's passed since their last meeting. There's excuses for miles. He's been busy taking over his father's clinic; she's leading her division as captain of the 13th. They each bore a child with their respective partners. They let their friendship, their bond, fall to the wayside, because it was easier than enduring the pain of walking separate paths. Their paths had once intertwined, seemed like they were coinciding lines that stretched on into eternity. So what changed? And if they gave all that up for these lives they now lead, what was this feeling of discontent brewing beneath the surface of their spotless lives?
The world keeps turning, but he still feels like he's seventeen, trying to keep up without her.
Copying
His wife is beautiful, kindhearted, and endlessly patient. Any man would be lucky to have her. Despite her attributes, she pales in comparison to the one who rules his heart. He is regretful that he can't return the love she so selflessly heaps upon him. It would be so much simpler if he could love the decidedly human girl-next-door. But, it's a shade of the afterworld that commands his affections instead. She took a piece of his soul with her when she crossed the gates for the final time, and he doesn't think he'll ever get it back.
Argue/Arguing
Despite participating in more than a handful of fights that have determined the fate of the worlds, their worst argument occurs between the two of them alone. Tossed around are words that cut deeper than the bite of a blade in battle.
"Inoue would be better for you. She has a kind heart. She's been in love with you all this time. And most importantly, she can give you the normal, human life you deserve."
"Didn't you learn anything those seventeen months we were apart? I don't want a human life. I don't care if the next big bad is after me every week for the rest of my life! I want to be at your side, with the power to protect those we love. It doesn't matter if she's in love with me. Because I'm in love with you."
Lens
If anyone were to take their relationship and really scrutinize it under a microscope, that's where their castle in the sky would come crumbling down. The perfect life they lead is nothing more than a farce. A beautiful couple with a precocious, young child - it inspires envy in any who have even a passing glance. But, take a closer look, and the cracks in the mirror become evident. He's a man trapped in a loveless marriage to a woman far too good for him, with a child that he wishes was hers instead.
Bell
The school bell rings for lunch, and he makes his solitary sojourn up to the rooftop. It used to be a group activity, with all of his friends gathering for the meal, but lately he's been rather talented at pushing them away. He can't stand the pitying glances, the reluctance to meet his eyes, the way they refuse to speak her name.
He sighs, leans his elbows along the railings, and stares off into the distance. What would Rukia say if she could see him now? She'd probably kick that sorry look right off his face and yell at him to quit moping about. The thought almost brings a smile to his face. Almost. Tatsuki noted that he stopped smiling after his mother died. It briefly returned when Rukia came and cleared the rain for him, but his joy had dissipated once more, just as she had.
Arrest(ed)
Sitting alone in her jail cell, she has ample time to reflect. She faces execution for her grievous crime of showing compassion to a human boy and his family. She went above and beyond the call of duty that night, and despite the foreboding consequences, she can't find it in herself to regret the decision. Given the same scenario and circumstances, she would choose saving Ichigo again and again.
Havoc
After all the muck and mayhem they caused together in their younger years, they were like strangers to each other now. The shinigami called Kuchiki Rukia hadn't set foot in Karakura Town in decades. She'd slowly allowed herself to drift off into the sidelines of his life, to give him the chance for normalcy that he so deserved. She's stopped visiting, stopped taking missions in the world of the living, stopped checking in on him. She broke her own heart to save his. She hopes he settled down, started a family, led a fulfilling life.
Little did she know how empty he felt when she forced herself to fade away. He never married, never strayed far from his hometown, in the fleeting hopes that if she ever reappeared, he would be there to greet her, as he always had.
He's near the end of his years now in the human world. Perhaps he'll find her on the other side and they can recapture what once was. It's the only hope he's got left.
Tool
To think that they had just been pawns in someone else's game, all this time. Had their meeting been meticulously orchestrated, and not an act of fate? No matter the means, he knows deep in his bones that they were destined to meet - just as they had in every life before this one. He's drawn to her like a moth to a flame. Whether or not they were simply tools in Aizen's grand mastermind scheme, he will seek out her guiding light in each and every lifetime.
Blanket
It's the dead of winter, and they lay huddled under the sheets for warmth. Her frozen foot scrapes along his bare thigh, and he lets loose a high-pitched, undignified yelp. She's doubled over in laughter, tears threatening the corners of her eyes. Not one to be made a fool of, he ushers all of his might and completely yanks the blankets off of her and quickly tangles them around himself.
So that's how he wants to play it, huh? They don't call her the ice princess of Seireitei for nothing. Her ice block hands worm their way under the protective blanket encasement and find the bare skin of his neck. He was absolutely done for.
Fancy
The Kuchiki manor has never really felt like home. As she waits for sleep to take her, in her far too ornate bed, in her far too large room, she's drawn back to squeaky closet doors and hand-me-down sundresses. The finer things don't mean much to a Rukongai brat, but the free-flowing warmth and acceptance she felt at the Kurosaki abode mean the world.
Dash
The years have flown by in a flurry. He's gone from high school graduations to vice-captain promotion ceremonies. It's not how he pictured his future would turn out, but he wouldn't trade this life for anything. That first hollow the night where the story of destiny began might have been the best thing that ever happened to him. With this small woman at his side, whose stature could never encapsulate the heart she carries within. And with a little one on the way, their cup is overflowing with happiness.
Away
He'd rather have her for this single, ephemeral moment than not at all. Tomorrow, she marries another man. A man who loves her, but could never understand the depths of her soul the way he does.
Their time together is fleeting. She's walked away from him so many times in the past, but never by choice. It's a trend that continues with this final goodbye. She's simply doing her duty, she says. He wants to shake her awake from this nightmare and scream, "Damn your duty! Damn anyone that tries to keep us apart!" Perhaps if he could eke out the words, he could change their fate. But, the die has already been cast, and all they have left is this transient slice of time. So instead, he'll hold her and whisper sweet nothings and pretend that tomorrow will never come.
Syndication
They once defied destiny for one another. Couldn't they beat the odds once more? Everything is stacked against them. The laws of a long-dead bureaucratic society, the natural order of the worlds, the naysayers who believe their relationship doomed from the start. But, he didn't tear down captain after captain in a daring rescue mission just for the chance to see her smile again, to be thwarted by the perceptions of others. She didn't spend seventeen grueling months jumping the ranks and committing every spare moment to restoring his abilities just to be subjugated by the very society that once branded her a criminal and left her for dead. The bond they've forged far overpowers the opposition. A thousand shinigami couldn't keep them at bay from what their hearts desire. One way or another, destiny will bend to their wills once more.
Champagne
After months of waiting, out pops a bouncing, baby boy with his signature champagne eyes and her trademark midnight locks. Burgeoning in his chest is the most pure, unadulterated joy he's ever felt. His pride, his family.
Note
The highlight of his day are the notes tucked into his lunchbox. His daughter, with whom he's been joined at the hip with practically since birth, was aghast when he had to go back to work following paternity leave after having their second child. She made her displeasure known at first by channeling her cold, Kuchiki side and completely freezing him out. But she was a daddy's girl at heart and couldn't stand not talking with him. She slowly began to accept his other responsibilities and decided to channel her energies into another avenue.
She's definitely her mother's daughter if her doodles have anything to say about it, but the bunny daddy and daughter drawings never fail to plant a silly, simpering smile on his face for the rest of his shift.
Physical
They'd never been shy about getting physical with one another before. A dozen or so kicks to the head and a couple swords through the chest would prove that point. So why then, with warm cheeks and eyes averted, hands creeping oh so closely between them but just out of reach, does physical touch now seem like an insurmountable task?
Dull
It's not the future he envisioned for himself when he was fifteen, seeing spirits, and still wholly steeped in grief over his past. He never pictured himself a highly-ranking member of an elite, undead military complex, with a tiny, but formidable wife at his side, and two, twin bundles of joy in his arms. These days, he's more occupied with changing diapers and burping babies than overthrowing madmen bent on ruling the worlds. But he'd take these ordinary, unnoteworthy moments over the excitement of his past any day.
Frozen
Orihime freezes in her tracks. She'd been on her way to see Kurosaki-kun, finally working up the courage to reveal her feelings to him. She finds him at the park, in his shinigami garb, doubtless having just finished a duel with a hollow, from the exertion on his face. That's not what halts her. Laying daintily with her head in his lap is the shinigami girl who changed his world. They don't have to say a word between them for her to understand. Her heart decays in her chest, but perhaps this was the confirmation she needed to finally move on.
Stumble(d)
He's blindingly drunk, stumbling around the room until his foot catches and he tumbles to the ground. He barks out a harsh laugh. How pathetic. How far you've fallen from grace, Kurosaki Ichigo. He thinks back on what reduced him to this simpering mess - the only woman who could get under his skin. She's another man's wife now, and he can't stand it. So, he drinks away his sorrows and pushes away everyone who ever cared. She's out of his reach now, and nothing else can touch him.
Hunt
She is a warrior, after all. He forgets sometimes, when he sees how she jumps in joy over a new Chappy release, or how she quietly helps his sisters set the table, or how she looks at him with such softness in her gaze. He forgets that she was forged for battle, from the depths of Rukongai, to the elite of the Gotei 13. He remembers, when he sees her poised for a fight, elegantly dancing with her sode no shirayuki through combat.
She is a warrior, after all.
Gibberish
And suddenly, words escape him like butterflies fluttering free from their cage. He's reduced to a sopping pile of gibberish at the sight of her. She's radiant in her bleach white kimono, as her gleaming violet eyes playfully peak up at him from under her headpiece.
This is the moment he's waited his whole life for. Every action and inaction has led him to this juncture, where their union becomes consecrated. His loss of speaking ability is of no consequence, as she's always been able to read him with just a look. And she's taken aback by the unbridled love in his gaze.
Camp
She keeps vigil at his bedside, for almost a month's time, as his powers slowly drain away from his inanimate body. Sometimes she reads to him, from his own poetry collection. Sometimes she regales him with stories of their shared history together. Other times, she simply speaks to him, desperately trying to communicate everything she needs to before their time is up.
"I love you I love you I love you. You changed my life, you made me become a better version of myself, you saved me when I didn't think I deserved it. You're like my other half. I'll be incomplete without you. I don't know how I'll go on without your sarcastic comments and teasing remarks and quiet companionship. Please don't leave me."
When he finally stirs, there's a sad resignment in his eyes. She doesn't know if he heard any of her frenzied confessions, but she meant every word and she's desperate to ensure he knows just how much he means to her. But, they simply run out of time. Instead, she lightly teases him, hoping to provide some semblance of comfort in this trying time. Maybe now's not the time for her heartrending confessions. Maybe their time will never come.
Weak(ness)
"I missed you, you know." Saying the words aloud leaves him utterly vulnerable before her, but he's somehow okay with that. This is him bearing everything before her. Before their separation, he would have never uttered such sentiments aloud, instead relying on her ability to read him with just a look. But on the other side of that time apart, he can no longer keep his emotions in check. He has a visceral need to let her know just how much she's affected him, just how much she means to him.
"You fool," she chuckles. "I missed you, too."
Bargain
He's on his last leg. He's not sure how much more he can take.
"Just let me see her one more time. And I swear I'll live out the rest of my miserable, pathetic human life. I'll wait for the day my soul crosses over and we can reunite on the other side. Just let me have one more moment."
But, his desperate, heartrending pleas meet empty ears. The universe had never paid him any heed before, and it wasn't about to start now. What he doesn't say aloud is, "Rukia… please wait for me."
Alcohol
She's never been one to fall victim to the bottle and drink her troubles away. But, as of late, she finds herself throwing back sake shots with Matsumoto and company more often than not. The burning, bitter taste as it slinks down her throat provides a momentary reprieve from cacophony inside her mind. Anything to dull the pain of losing him. As she knocks back her sixth shot that night, Renji shoots her a concerned glance, but says nothing of the matter.
Wind
A violent breeze knocks loose her scarf and carries it off towards an unwitting stranger. A surge of pink cotton suddenly assaults his face, and he doubles over in a panic. Finally wrenching himself free from the tangled mess of fibers, he is at once consumed by a vivid recollection of this scent. Visions of what must be another time flash through his mind. A girl in a dark uniform posed with an elegant sword. An execution block engulfed by bright flames. A mask made of bone encased upon his own face. The images serve only to disorient him further, but he pauses his reverie as a young woman comes jogging up. Violet eyes meet amber for the first time (in this lifetime). An easy smile settles on his features. His soul is singing out, "There you are. I was looking for you."
Temptation
He looks after her with such longing, that she nearly flinches under the intensity of his gaze. She's not sure she'll ever grow used to being the object of someone's (misplaced) affections. Rukia is wrong for him on so many levels. She's sarcastic and biting when she means to be; she's a warrior through and through, as unladylike as they come; and, for god's sake, she's not even alive. A dead girl could never provide him the warmth and devotion he needs. So why then, does her head in the crook of his neck feel so right? Why do their fingers interlaced fit as if they were melded for one another? Why does being in his arms feel like coming home?
Eighteen
Is eighteen too young to die? Strangely, he's at peace with it. He has been drawn to the other side for most of his life. So, learning that his soul, his very being, is damaged after spending so long enduring the pull of opposite planes, comes as a bit of a shock, but the news is not entirely unwelcome. Deep down, he's always known he was meant for more than this mundane life in the world of the living. And it's not that he's got a hero complex and believes himself meant for greater things. It's just, he doesn't know how he's managed to survive this long when the other half of his soul has been on the other side, waiting patiently for his return.
Bottle
He's no stranger to bottling up his emotions. Ever since his mother died, he's hidden his true self behind a facade of rage and apathy. It's when new feelings start to take the field, that he discovers a problem. What is this lightness he feels when he's around her? He tries to mask it with feigned irritation and indifference towards the subject of his consternation. But, she manages to pull the ghost of a smile and unexpected barks of laughter from his fabricated detached persona. Try as he might to disguise his sentiments from the world, he can't keep up the thin veneer around her. She just has a way of getting underneath his skin, in the best way possible.
Rhythm
They've fallen into an easy rhythm. After so many years together, they move in seamless synchrony, both in battle, as well as in their home lives. She's the ice to his heat, the moon to his sun. Together, they've crumbled would-be dictators, seen the ages rise and fall, and raised a bumbling brood of Kuchiki-Kurosakis. She still grates on his nerves, and he still knows how to push all of her buttons.
The years keep passing them by, but he promised as a boy of fifteen to spend every last one of them by her side. At fifteen or five hundred, the one thing that doesn't change is their unwavering devotion to one another. It's a love that spans lifetimes and will continue, as the ceaseless clock ticks on.
.
.
.
.
.
"If you came to me with a face I have not seen, with a name I have never heard, I would still know you. Even if centuries separated us, I would still feel you. Somewhere between the sand and the stardust, through every collapse and creation, there is a pulse that echoes of you and I.
When we leave this world, we give up all our possessions and our memories. Love is the only thing we take with us. It is all we carry from one life to the next."
-Lang Leav
Notes: Please review and let me know what you think!
