A/N: Aaaaah, I've been so excited to share this with you all the past year or so. I feel like I popped off a bit with this one.
Thank you to xxaerii and lilsparkleghost for the wonderful art! Thank you also to tensaiteki-kuroneko for betaing this fic as well! I hope you enjoy all our hard work!
Evening was always the best time to feed. City streets overflowed with the washed-out relief of people heading home at last and plenty of other emotions besides. Fear. Anger. Anxiety. Hatred. And love. It bled from couples, out of family-run restaurants, cafés, museums, whole apartment blocks. Scraps of it to sustain incubi and succubi a week, a month. Decades.
Love was everywhere if you knew where to look. It was all too easy to find a lonely stranger in the night looking to grant Rukia every ounce of love they had to offer. She remembered bits and pieces of people throughout the years—hobbies, memories, even secrets. They were freely given, a currency most people didn't even know they were paying. Their hearts all tasted different. Each was a riot of experience tinged with flashes of their soul underneath.
Kuchiki Rukia was an expert in ensnaring her prey. A coy smile there. A well-placed flutter of eyelashes. A laugh. Humans were so weak to laughter. To a firm touch. The promise of connection, however brief.
She hadn't eaten a heart in years. Others of her kind thought her weak for it. Why sip upon memories alone when prey could offer her so much more? It wasn't as if the human would die. What harm was there in indulging?
Rukia refused to explain herself. Those born to this life wouldn't understand. They had never been human, never knew the value of memory to a soul that lasted less than a hundred years. They didn't understand that they could live off of multiple people at once without ever eating the whole of them. It was less filling at once, but they could survive off the scraps. That was never enough for beings who only knew how to take.
That didn't mean she was immune to taking a larger score every so often. He was some hotshot young investor-type who burned through more money than he could ever hope to make back—all for a drop of respect he would never earn from old money. She'd chosen him on a whim and already regretted it.
He rambled on about…hedge funds? Real estate? Rukia was more satisfied discreetly nibbling on the love gleaming off the couple seated next to them.
There…the sharp scent of strawberries. Rukia turned her head and froze. A tall man with wild orange hair walked past her, dark eyes downcast. His shoulders were slumped like the weight of the sky bore upon him. Underneath it all, she could almost taste it: a strong heart.
She looked upon him, shattered and made all the lovelier for it. A kintsugi recreation that barely held himself together. For the first time in centuries, she knew what it meant to starve.
The first heart she ate was a familiar one.
Abarai Renji was her best friend. He'd been by her side for as long as she could remember and she couldn't think of a life without him. Such was the way of all tragedies.
They and the rest of their friends lived in an abandoned house on the wayside of an already half-abandoned village. The remaining adults hardly cared about the tiny urchins struggling to get by. Most were swindlers and thieves or drafted by the local militia to keep the troublemakers in line. The militia had its perks, of course, but Renji had long-promised to never give in and join them. Not when so many of their friends fell victim to their brutality.
They'd carved a space out for themselves and it was enough.
Until a noble came in the dead of night to take her away. The whole town was in an uproar, shady merchants and beggars alike clamoring for his coins, his attention. The noble and his attendants did not even spare them a glance as their horses thundered past. It wasn't until they stopped outside her and Renji's hutch did the spectacle turn into panic. Had they stolen from the wrong merchant? Was this noble coming to enact some sort of petty justice?
His blank eyes fell upon her. "You are Rukia, yes? May we speak inside?"
Her blood ran cold. He knew her name. She eyed the sword hidden under the folds of his flowing haori.
The noble and his oldest attendant headed inside without waiting for an answer. The very idea of being refused seemed to have never crossed his mind.
Rukia turned on her heel and followed him, Renji at her heels. The door sliding shut behind them felt too final.
The elderly attendant cleared his throat. "Rukia-san, I would like to extend a formal invitation for you to live with us at the Kuchiki estate. Please pack whatever belongings you have and we will handle the rest."
Renji had never looked more shell-shocked. His eyes turned hard as he studied her, prodding her for answers. Rukia had none. She had no idea who this noble was or what he might want.
The noble turned away. "Do what you must. I will be waiting outside."
Renji stood frozen as he stalked past him without so much as a passing glance. The noble acted as if he wasn't even there. The steep difference in their status and power was immeasurable. It terrified her.
Rukia suppressed a shudder. "Renji, I…"
"I don't know if this noble is stupid or insane or what." Renji gripped her shoulders tight. "You go live a good life, Rukia. Take what you can from him."
"But what about you?"
"Don't worry about me. Go rob the bastard."
Always focused on the next score. He gave her a weak smile and let her go.
Rukia was whisked away to a palace in the north. The vast estate was far larger than the slice of Rukon that made up her entire world.
Not long after her arrival, the Kuchiki servants steered her to a tub of steaming water where they stripped her down and scrubbed her mercilessly. It was like they wanted to make sure every ounce of her former life no longer existed.
Every part of her ached when they finished, though she had to admit, the fine silks they draped over her felt even nicer on clean skin. The servants then led her through a series of hallways to a dimly-lit room in the corner. They announced her arrival and all but shoved her inside.
The noble stood in front of an elaborate family shrine. Elegant portraits of those long gone decorated the tiered podium, incense curling in the air like their own wayward ghosts. "You are not a prisoner here," he said, as though reading her thoughts. "If you wish it, you may go back to your home in Rukon. But first, please take this."
Bright light emanated from under the rustling folds of his kimono, casting a shadow of a cage through the cloth. His ribs, she realized. Was his chest on fire?
A cherry-blossom pink jewel pushed through and into his outstretched hands.
Rukia gawked as he stepped towards her. "What is it?"
"A gift. From your late sister."
Her eyes fell to a framed painting of a woman who looked too much like her.
"My wife, Hisana, would have liked you to have it. Please accept it."
"How?"
His expression softened. "Hold it to your own heart and allow it to enter."
"What will it do to me?"
"It will make you eternal. But there is a price. If you do not wish to pay it, I understand."
The jewel glimmered in response, a steady glow pulsing like a heartbeat deep within.
Go rob the bastard for as much as you can.
Whatever this jewel was, it was special. It glowed as bright as candlelight and radiated warmth. She bet unsuspecting nobility far, far away would pay good money for it. Then both she and Renji could stop scraping by. They would live the rest of their days in comfort.
Rukia gently pulled the jewel closer to her own chest. Something empty within her sang at the union. It wasn't until she glanced down did she realize her chest had rippled open. Her own heart thrummed within, almost aching for the jewel in her hand.
She took a deep breath and allowed the jewel to join with her own heart. Flashes of joy and warmth and love and loss swarmed her whole. There, a flicker of a face so much like her own smiling and laughing. Then still and pale. The jewel grew heavier in her chest.
The wound closed. Rukia began to scream.
She had no idea how long she laid there clawing at her chest, begging for this to stop, pleading for death. The noble simply turned his head away.
Once her cries finally subsided, he called for his servants once more. They were just outside. They'd stood by, listening in on her screams of terror and anguish and did nothing.
Only now did she realize what they were. Inhuman. A touch of hungry, red light burned at the very backs of their eyes.
She had no idea how she still had strength left, but she lashed out at her would-be captors. One woman shrieked as Rukia's nails clawed along her face.
The noble stepped forth, sweeping an arm out to stop them all. "Enough. Leave her be."
They bowed and hurried back to hover in the entryway once more. A small opening formed between their ranks and Rukia bound through to escape. The whole house was in a clamor as she dodged their scraping hands out past the front gate to the road leading through the forest outside.
When she finally returned to their hideaway, hunger bloomed deep in her belly. It was not like those many nights she and Renji spent skipping out on meals to save what meager scraps they had. No, this was something else entirely. She had to have the whole of him or felt that she would wither away.
Renji had loved her, perhaps deeper than she ever realized before. The taste was indescribable. Sweet and pain and bitter envy and oh, the longing. Torturous, slow, and so filling. Years of hunkering down, of dodging angry merchants and street vendors and watching out for her…devoured in an instant.
Rukia hadn't understood then what power she held. How much she could strip away from a person if she wasn't careful.
The next morning, ashamed at what she had done, Rukia hid up in the tree that swayed and creaked by their hutch. It was a tall, shadowy thing with small notches that only she could climb. She watched the sun rise, watched as the front door to their home slid open in the dawn.
Renji did not meet her eyes. He didn't try to look for her. Where once there was a bright warmth where his heart was now held only an empty pit. His eyes had dulled and when the militia rolled up to the town, he didn't hesitate to sign up for their ranks.
Rukia darted out immediately to stop him. "Renji, wait! Don't go!"
He frowned at her. "Who the hell are you?"
There was something wrong. This was not his usual, petty anger. He treated her as he would any other adult in town. Distrust. Disdain. Trying to look for an angle to get away.
It was as if he never knew her.
He joined the militia and was gone.
She cried for him. Of course she did. What had she done to him? Why couldn't she stop herself?
The man who cursed her with this new life took her under his wing. It was not uncommon for incubi or succubi to love a human if that love was returned. Their kind could grant their most beloved a part of their heart, turning them into one of their kind so that they might live out the rest of time together. It was supposed to be a mercy, he claimed.
"So why give this life to me? Why not save my sister?" she sobbed.
"Your sister was very sick. She would not allow me to save her no matter how much I insisted." His gaze fell. "She made me promise to share my life with you instead. I am merely honoring her wishes."
"Then Renji…"
"I am sorry." He squeezed her shoulder. "You could not have saved him."
Rukia clutched the fabric of her kimono so tight, she nearly tore through the fabric. "What about my heart? You didn't even give me the chance to spare him."
Her brother shook his head. "It wouldn't have worked. Your heart would not be ready for it for a hundred years yet."
A hundred years. Renji would have died either way.
Rukia fell to her knees and wept at his grave.
The pull of this human was something she hadn't felt since…Well, she didn't deserve to think of his name.
Her nameless date was upset at her sudden departure, sulking in his seat even as she paid for the meal. It didn't matter. Give or take a few years and this man would end up a shriveled husk while others bled him dry.
The orange-haired man, however…
As she continued to tail after him, she realized the man was swaying too much to be fully sober. A dulled grief encompassed his whole being. Such an aura might not be visible to any human, but even those around him gave him a wide berth like they could sense his malaise.
He shuffled on for longer than she thought he was capable of in that state. Blocks and blocks later, he finally collapsed in front of the steps of an apartment complex, keys rattling out of his hand.
She froze. This was her chance. Passed out, chest exposed, Rukia could take her fill of this man's heart for herself.
Her heels clicked along the pavement in a steady rhythm. Closer, closer she would have him if she just…
The man groaned, turning his face toward the dim streetlight. He was handsome, if a little younger than she was expecting. No matter.
Rukia reached out then paused. What if he was still awake? Would he scream? Expose her?
Better to take the subtle approach then.
"Excuse me, are you all right?" she asked. "Do you need any help?"
He mumbled something under his breath she couldn't quite catch.
Her eyes fell to his chest. The thrum of his heart called out to her. She could almost taste all the sweet memories and secrets and hidden longings he kept locked away. How had she gone so many years without consuming a heart like his?
She laid a palm flat against his chest…and nearly recoiled. The layer of anguish was thicker than she thought. What warmth he possessed was so entangled within that it was almost impossible to unravel one from the other. Succubi could eat other emotions. Some liked to feed off desperation or fear or rage. It was uncommon, but not unheard of. Rukia was not so sure she wanted to find out how his despair might taste with the rest of it.
"I can ease your pain," she said instead. It was an old line that lured in many humans before.
The man didn't stir and she feared he might have passed out there and then. Slowly, though, he raised his head to squint at her. "How?"
She held out a hand. "Come with me."
The man stared at her hand then up again at her eyes. "What's your name?"
"Kuchiki Rukia."
The man's smile was a little lopsided, but charming nonetheless. "Cool. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo."
Leading him up to his apartment was a chore in and of itself. He was so much taller than her and they had almost toppled back down the stairs more than once. It was a miracle they managed to get to his apartment at the rate he was going. He stumbled away from her to wrestle off his coat, which he promptly left forgotten in the front hall. Rukia threw him a look before scooping it up and hanging it on a hook nearby.
She found him rifling in his thin fridge stashed in the corner of his kitchen. Much to her surprise, he pulled out two cans of beer and began to down one.
"Should you really be doing that?" she asked before she could stop herself.
Kurosaki frowned down at the beer can. "Oh…right. Sorry."
Instead of putting the beer away, however, he passed the other can to her. "Here. Thanks."
"Oh, um…"
"Do you not drink? Sorry, should've asked first." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I don't have any other way to repay you right now."
I can think of so many other ways, she thought. The fact that he had a succubus in his apartment all to himself and not once did he think of sleeping with her was a feat in itself. So many humans she'd met often used alcohol as an excuse to act any way they wished.
This Kurosaki Ichigo was either painfully inexperienced or a gentleman through and through. How foolish. Didn't he know that made him easier to prey on? That deepest part of her hunger longed to devour his kindness, every rare source of happiness he still had. Truly, she had never felt so monstrous.
Rukia clinked her can against his. "Cheers."
"So…" he began, "Kuchiki, huh? That name sounds familiar. Did we go to school together or something?"
"I think I would remember you if we did," she lied. The Kuchiki family had supplied her with many tutors over the centuries. She never had any need to attend any human schools. "Your hair certainly stands out far too much."
"Yeah?" He fell back against a worn armchair with a sigh. "Would you believe me if I told you I didn't bleach it? This is its natural color."
"I don't think you're capable of lying even if you wanted to."
"That's nice of you to say to a guy you just met."
"I'm very good at reading people." Rukia let a coy smile play on her lips. "Besides, you're drunk."
"And very happy because of it."
Now that was a lie. If anything, that tangle of despair had only wrapped tighter around his heart.
His smile didn't falter as he said, "Today was a shitshow."
"Oh? What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"
He opened his mouth to answer then shut it again. A confused expression crossed his face. "Sorry, I…I wanted to thank you for helping me. Ranting about my day and giving you a beer isn't really the way I wanted to go about it. Really, thank you, but it's late. Do you want me to call you a cab? I don't know if the trains run this late."
Rukia blinked. This Kurosaki was certainly not the easy prey she thought he would be.
"Oh no, thank you. I'll find my own way."
If she stayed here any longer, she might very well devour him whole, sadness and all.
"Are you sure? It's no trouble. I just want to make sure you get back home safe."
Her smile was a little more forced. Here she was trying to do the decent thing and leave, and he was making it difficult.
"I'm sure. I have a ride waiting nearby." Rukia stepped back towards his door. "Thank you for the beer. And rest well."
"Oh, um, good night. Thanks again." He waved lazily from his seat. She wondered if he'd fall asleep there once she closed the door.
Her stomach growled, a sharp pain that demanded to be satisfied. It took everything in her to take the first step away. Then another.
She needed something to tide her over. Anything to distract her from the very tempting heart lying just behind an unlocked door.
Her kind didn't need to sleep as often as humans. Most nights, she wandered the city, watching the nightlife scurry this way and that. It was no feast by any means, but even scraps could be filling if she surrounded herself with enough of them.
Kurosaki Ichigo would not leave her mind. Prey like him did not come along often. It was a rare find and she had let it slip through her fingers.
No matter. This was one night of many. The despair clouding his heart might clear in the morning, making it all the more delectable when she finally did eat it up.
Rukia ran slow fingers over her lips. Another time. She did know where he lived now, after all.
She returned to her own penthouse apartment to change and briefly touch herself up before heading off to work the very next morning.
Kuchiki Industries had recently acquired a small publishing house that specialized in localization and translation of foreign texts. Rukia was meant to take a tour of the facility and see where they might need any improvements. Upon entering their small conference room to introduce herself, she was struck by the too-familiar sight of spiky orange hair standing before her.
"It's you!" Kurosaki said, straightening up. "Uh, sorry, I meant…"
Rukia laughed. She couldn't help it. He was just as earnest sober as he was drunk. "No need to apologize, Kurosaki-san. I suppose our first meeting was rather…unusual."
His face grew pink. "I didn't say anything stupid yesterday, right? Honestly, I barely remember last night."
It would be so easy to twist his misplaced memories to her advantage.
She clasped her hands behind her back and dug her nails deep into her palms. "No, you were very polite. You did hand me a beer as a token of thanks, but I didn't mind it."
"I'm really sorry. You shouldn't have had to look after me like that. I should make it up to you properly."
Don't keep promising me things you aren't prepared for.
Rukia kept her trained smile in place. "You can start with a tour. I'd love to see the process behind translating Western works to print."
Kurosaki ran a tight ship. Not that he was strict by any means, but he did set clear deadlines that he often enforced with stern reminders to the staff. Most of their translations so far were plays within the public domain, Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde and the like. He had a lofty goal to start translating some of the more recent popular Western titles, but he knew that wouldn't happen anytime soon, if at all.
In truth, there was not much that needed improvement from her end. There were a few lazy workers that needed straightening out, but nothing he couldn't handle on his own. Normally, that would have been that. Rukia would move on to the next matter and she would never see him again.
"As you can see, we may not work with a lot of titles right now, but I hope Kuchiki Industries can change that," Kurosaki went on as he set down his clipboard. "Do you have any questions?"
How can I devour your heart without revealing what I am? Rukia pressed her lips into a thin smile. She had many methods of reeling him in, practiced as she was in the ways of her kind.
"Why don't we discuss more over lunch? I'd like to learn more about the translation process and your plans for output if we were to acquire more titles for you."
Rukia continued to find excuses to meet with him. Meetings that could have been a quick email, another roundabout tour to show board members the fruits of their investments. Lunches and dinners and holiday parties—anything to keep him close.
Their meetings became less and less formal as time went on. It was a comfortable camaraderie where it almost felt like they could be friends.
It would be laughable were it not so pathetic. Foolishly perhaps, she thought she might build up an immunity to the lures of his heart. Her hunger never ceased. Never changed.
Kurosaki Ichigo was prey and nothing more.
The nights felt long, longer still as she roamed the city taking in what scraps of love she could glean. It wasn't enough. What with her visiting a veritable feast every day, it was a wonder she hadn't gone mad yet.
At least in her dreams, she might eat her fill. And her bed might finally see some use.
That night, Rukia was reminded of why she avoided sleep.
The eighties was a bustling time for Kuchiki Industries. As the world evolved, so too did the succubi and incubi's luring methods. At their current rate of growth, Kuchiki Industries could no longer stick to hiring only those of their kind. Human coworkers brought fresh ideas and even fresher hearts to consume. Rukia had watched the company grow from behind-the-scenes, with her brother's dedicated tutors teaching her the ins and outs of the job she was to undertake.
It was there, on her first day on the job, that she met Shiba Kaien. A brash salaryman with high ambitions, she finally had a taste of what love might truly feel like.
"You're a Kuchiki, huh?" he asked after introductions were finished. "Don't expect me to go easy on you just because your brother's in charge."
Rukia stood up straight. "O-Oh, um…I don't expect you to, sir!"
She still remembered the bass of his laugh booming through her chest. "I'm joking! Lighten up, will ya?" he said and patted a large hand on her head.
Nepotism meant nothing to him. He treated her just like he would anyone else, even inviting her to after-work trips to a nearby izakaya with the rest of the staff. He always looked out for those in his care. Rukia admired his easygoing nature, his effortless warmth.
Kaien had a wife.
Shiba Miyako was Head of Accounting at Kuchiki Industries. She was lovely and resourceful and so, so kind. She was much like her husband, always treating those around her with the same due respect.
Rukia admired them both, and in that admiration was her own downfall.
In late May, a drunkard stumbled from an alleyway and attacked Miyako. Her injuries were severe and she later died on the way to the hospital. The man had cut the carotid artery, the doctors said, and the ambulance arrived too late. They arrested the man who did it, but it hardly helped.
The funeral service was a quiet affair. Rukia came to pay her respects along with a few others on their team. Kaien was nowhere to be found.
Eventually, she found him standing alone by the entrance. No matter how many people tried coaxing him inside, he wouldn't budge.
It pained her to see him this way. Maybe she could try to help.
"I can ease your pain," she said and meant it. She had more control over herself this time. The whole of his heart would remain intact. It would just be the pieces that held Miyako in them she'd take.
"I don't think you can." He laughed, but there was no joy in it. "Thank you, though."
Rukia took a deep breath and opened her heart to him. It had been well over a century since she last removed her heart from her chest. It glowed like fresh frost on a bright morning.
Kaien stepped back, eyes wide. "What is that? How are you doing that?"
"If I had told you I was not human, you would treat it like another joke. I needed to show you. If you let me, I can take away the pain. I don't want to see you suffer."
"How…How would you do that?"
Underneath his sorrow and rage, Rukia saw it: the faintest glimmer of love and devotion to his wife. It was like ripe fruit, ready for the plucking.
"I can help you forget her. I don't want this to—"
"No!" He reeled back, fist bunched over his shirt as if that might shield his heart from her. "These memories are mine! I don't ever want to forget Miyako!"
She had never seen Kaien look so disgusted. This was a mistake. How could she ever think any human would see her as anything more than a monster in human skin? Even she, long ago, thought the same of her brother before he gave her a part of his own heart.
"I-I'm sorry. I thought…"
He eyed her up and down then blew out a slow sigh. "No, I'm sorry, I…I love her. Even if her memory pains me, I would never trade any of it for anything. I carry her heart with me. That's why it's so heavy."
Rukia stared at his chest, but still only saw the one beating heart within.
"It might be different to someone…like you," he said reluctantly. "But no matter what you see—no matter what you tell me—I know Miyako left her heart to me."
She stepped back, tucking her hands behind her back. "I see. Please excuse me."
Before she could retreat from this entire mess, he clasped a strong hand on her shoulder. "I know that must have been hard for you, Kuchiki. You were only trying to help."
Rukia stepped into the shadows. "You won't tell anyone?"
"I won't. I'll keep your secret."
He let her go and that was that.
The following days were not an improvement. Kaien would come to work late, deep bags under his eyes and hair even more disheveled than usual. He wouldn't speak unless someone asked him something. Rukia never saw him eat or do much but stand outside and smoke.
She couldn't stand to see him this way. Not when the solution was so simple.
"Please, Kaien-san, this is killing you. You can't keep going like this," she said.
He hovered out on a balcony, staring unseeing down onto the city below. The silence and growing distance between them was unbearable. And it was all her fault.
"You know, I've been thinking…" The ash from his cigarette broke off onto his fingers but he didn't seem to notice. "What happens to someone who has their heart eaten by someone like you? You eat their happiness, their best memories, and you leave them alive to…what? What does a person do when they don't have anything left to live for?"
"I don't understand."
He smiled, a thin sliver of a thing that was barely there. Ash fell off the end of his cigarette and he watched as it crumbled to the streets far below. After a moment, he jerked his chin to the pavement. "Do you think a fall like that would kill me?"
"Kaien-san…?"
"Kidding," he said with a dismissive wave. "Don't take anything I say too seriously from now on, okay?"
She worried for him anyway. She was right to do so.
Once May rolled around the following year, they got a call that Kaien had been in a car accident. According to witnesses, he sped through a red light and got hit hard by a semi-truck.
Rukia rushed to the Emergency Room, using all the Kuchiki influence to push through to see him before they prepared him for surgery. The doctors and nurses flitted this way and that, trying their best to work around her.
He was so pale. There was so much blood. How could there be that much blood?
Kaien grabbed her hand. "Kuchiki…I have something to ask you."
"Of course. Anything."
"Before I go, I want you to eat my heart. All of it. Please."
Her grip grew slack. "What? No…I can't."
"Rukia."
His grip was firmer now and she froze. What was he doing? He needed to save his strength for getting better.
"My heart…I want to leave it behind to you. Someone should know what happened to me and Miyako. Someone should know how much I loved her."
Rukia clutched onto his hand tight. "They know. Everyone like me could sense it. We'll remember. Just please…"
"Promise me. Please promise me."
How could she refuse him? What else was she to do?
Tears blurred out the rest, like inkblots on a page.
"I promise."
The rest faded into white.
Rukia awoke with a startled cry. Kaien's name rested just behind her lips, waiting to be spoken. To be cursed at. For anything.
Instead, she clamped down on the sound with her teeth and swallowed it back. She didn't deserve to say his name. Not after breaking the promise she made to him all those years ago. Kaien's heart stayed buried along with him.
Perhaps this was a test. Maybe the gods had seen fit to remind her of her sins. Her kind had always been monsters. How could she ever forget?
"Rukia?"
Ichigo's voice stirred her from her thoughts. They were having yet another lunch to discuss some translation rights Kuchiki Industries were aiming to acquire for them soon. Another excuse to see him. Part of her lurched at her weakness. Another part, deep down as she tried to push it, still longed for his heart and all he was.
"Hm? Sorry, I was miles away."
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
She smacked his arm with the back of her hand. "You fool. I don't need you to worry about me. Keep it professional."
"I don't think business partners are usually on a first-name basis with one another. Or hold their business meetings in a rabbit café," he said as he squinted up at the bright pink and green sign. A logo of a mouthless rabbit winked at them from underneath the lettering: Chappy Café.
"So, bunnies, huh?" he asked as they entered.
"You're not allergic, right?"
"No, it's just…I don't know. Suits you, I guess."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Ichigo flushed. "Nothing bad. Just…suits you."
One of the workers situated them in a cozy room with a handful of rabbits hopping around. Rukia shook the small cup of dried fruit treats they had given her as soon as she sat down. A white rabbit with floppy ears hopped right onto her lap to snatch the treat and ate it then and there. Her breath caught in her throat. A creature this vulnerable so openly crawling onto her lap and trusting her? Most animals treated her like a curse. They barked or hissed or simply ran away from her as soon as she approached. It was why she tended to avoid any humans that had pets.
This was…very new. She welcomed it.
"You okay?"
Rukia quickly wiped away the tears pricking the corners of her eyes. "I'm fine. They're just so cute."
Ichigo laughed, a warm sound that reverberated off the thin walls of the room. The bunny in her lap stood up a little straighter but still did not move from its spot. Petting down its back calmed it again. It tucked its tiny paws under its body, looking like an unbaked loaf of bread.
"You really like them, huh?" he asked, a rare wide smile across his face.
She pouted. "Yeah, so?"
"Then I'll take you to these kinds of cafés more often. You seem like you need it."
Rukia flushed. That rare smile of his damned her to reckless action once more.
Despite everything, she had grown to care for him, in her way. She had to protect him from every danger. Even herself.
"Ichigo, I need to tell you something."
He deserved the truth. And he deserved a better future away from her and her ilk.
"Hm?" He glanced up from feeding multiple rabbits treats. The little creatures crowded around him like he was a prince in a fairy tale. "Sorry, give me a second. These guys are super hungry."
"But—"
One of the workers came in with their food and she swallowed the words back. This was neither the time nor place.
After they left, Ichigo gently shoved the rabbits away to eat his soba. "Oh yeah, what did you need to tell me?" he asked as he split the chopsticks in two.
Rukia stared down at the white rabbit that seemed to have fallen asleep on her lap. It laid slumped over, pressing a little into her stomach to seek out warmth. It trusted her far too much.
"I realize this isn't very professional of me to ask," she began, scritching absently at the sleeping rabbit. "But I will need you to come by my apartment after work today. What I have to say is very important and I don't think it would hold the appropriate…gravity while we're surrounded by such cute creatures."
Ichigo snorted but agreed nonetheless. This was it. The moment of truth.
Rukia paced her apartment for around an hour before finally hearing a knock at her door. She took a deep breath, opened the door, and came face-to-face with a fresh bouquet of flowers.
She blinked. "What…is that?"
"O-Oh, uh, sorry, I don't know your favorite flowers, so I just got…whatever." Ichigo's face grew scarlet. "Are these not good?"
Rukia gawked at the tiny blue flowers. Forget-me-nots. She never had a favorite flower before, but she might very well choose this one.
"They're perfect. Thank you." Her voice broke.
"Oh shit, did I misread this?" he asked and snatched the bouquet back. "Sorry, you invited me up here, so I just assumed—"
Rukia tugged him forth by the collar and kissed him.
Forget propriety. She had deprived herself for so long. How could she resist him any longer when he looked at her like that?
He was such a fool. To come into a succubus's lair and bare his heart so openly…
They left a trail of clothes leading to her bedroom. She wasn't sure if they closed the front door, but at this point, she was beyond caring.
Rukia shoved him onto her bed with a strength she hadn't used freely in years. Ichigo stared up at her, not in fear, but pure awe. She felt his heart sing and reach out for her. With his chest exposed, she could devour his heart here and now.
She fell upon his neck and bit down hard. Ichigo shivered, the sensation coursing through her own body when his hands roamed over the notches in her spine.
She had no idea how long they lay tangled in their pleasure, but when it was over, she felt sated in the way only eating a heart made her feel. Was this what love felt like to humans? Could she simply subsist on this alone?
"I'm not human."
The words spilled as easily as that.
Ichigo lifted the hand thrown over his eyes and grinned at her. She saw the tired joke forming on his kiss-swollen lips and quickly placed a finger to them.
"Let me show you."
And so she revealed her own heart to him. Revealed the truth of what she was and why she pursued him at all. All the better for it. If he decided to run far away from her, it would be a relief.
"It doesn't hurt you to do that?" he asked instead.
Rukia finally met his eyes. He wasn't scared. If anything, he just seemed worried for her.
"Why do you care? I told you I want to eat your heart."
Ichigo tucked some stray hair behind her ear. "If you didn't care, you would've just ate it on the first night we met. Why didn't you?"
The question threw her off. Had her hunger been that of a succubi or was it truly something deeper? Could she even trust her own instincts at this point?
"Maybe you just had a crush on me this whole time and didn't realize," he sighed. "It's kinda funny, if you think about it."
"How dare you," she said, her voice cracking. "I could still eat your heart any time I like."
"Then do it."
This absolute idiot. This foolish human.
"I would eat all that you are. You would be a husk of your former self."
"I'm already hanging on by a thread as it is. What else could I lose?"
Rukia had met his family once during a holiday dinner. His sisters constantly teased him for dating his boss. His father, on the other hand, sobbed over the possibility that he might have a third daughter in their home. They were far more rambunctious than she was expecting, their love for each other so chaotic that it almost burst out of the room. She could feed on this moment alone for years to come.
"You have your family. You have your memories. Your passion and drive for your work. There's so much for you to live for. Why can't you see that?"
Ichigo smiled. "And you. I have you."
Before she could recoil, he wrapped a protective arm around her. "See? I could give my heart to you on a platter and you wouldn't take it. You're not a monster. I trust you."
Her eyes stung as she sank into his arms. He was the most irrational human she had ever met. Perhaps in a situation as ridiculous as a succubus falling in love with her prey, it made them a perfect match.
"You truly are an idiot," she mumbled against his shoulder.
"Thanks. You too."
Rukia scoffed but finally wrapped her arms around him all the same.
Despite accepting her for what she was, Ichigo would not take a part of her heart. At least, not yet.
"It's almost like vampire rules, right?" he said over lunch. "I think I'd wanna be turned in my prime. I don't know if I wanna look like I'm in my twenties forever. Same goes for my family. My sisters are still in high school, so they definitely have a lot of growing up to do before you share that with them, too. You can share with my old man, too, I guess."
Rukia flushed. "I didn't realize I practically asked you to marry me. It was so different when my brother did the same for me."
"Look, I know you're literally giving part of your heart to me, but I mean, even that's a huge sign of affection for someone like you, right?" Ichigo asked. "Besides, you said Byakuya did that to honor your late sister's wishes."
"There you go, calling him by his first name again. He is the CEO of the company that owns yours. Have some respect."
"I mean, if he is gonna be my brother-in-law sometime down the line, I think he's just gonna have to get used to me addressing him by first name from now on."
Rukia snorted. "You are so overly confident that it's annoying."
"Says the woman who offered her heart to me after sleeping with me once."
"Ichigo!"
"I mean, am I that good?"
"Fool! Be quiet! We're in public!"
"Come on, you can tell me, you know."
Even with the lingering note of embarrassment hovering around them, Rukia couldn't help but laugh. This human, her boyfriend, radiated love so openly that she never had to feed off of others again. A strong heart. A heart that would satisfy her forevermore.
She won this treasure without consuming it whole and she would not trade it for anything else.
A/N: NGL, this fic was heavily, heavily inspired by Sugar Sugar Rune's method of "eating hearts". I only read the first volume years ago, but something about the premise of that manga fascinated me. I really should find it online and read the rest.
Thank you for reading! Please go read the other Big Bang fics over in the AO3 collection, too! They're all fantastic. Until next time!