The "Holes in the Rain" Series by hallowd (PG-13)
Fandom Category: Bleach
Pairing: Rukia Kuchiki/Ichigo Kurosaki
Fic Title: The "Holes in the Rain" Series
Author: hallowd
Link: Holes in the Rain, Girl in the Box, and Bones of the Night
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13 / blood, violence, spoilers for Soul Society arc
Genre: Drama, Friendship
WIP?: No
Special Rec: 16/30
Why This Must Be Read: This author has such a wonderful grasp of these two characters, and I loved reading both Rukia and Ichigo's point of views. Following them through three distinct points in the series these pieces really capture these two people and gives both Ichigo and Rukia such emotional depth; their interactions, banter, and the way they relate to one other is just pitch perfect, making this series a must read for any fan of this pairing.
It feels surprisingly like mercy.
Because she is alone, on an abandoned rooftop on the outskirts of Seireitei, she smiles up at the gently blowing treetops. The wind has not really risen yet, but a hint of it is already sweet on her skin. Rukia is not much one for poetic expression, even in the best of circumstances, but these quite are the best circumstances.
Her execution was thwarted, her sentence lifted, and no one died. At the moment, she would endure poetry, even those foreign specimens Ichigo furtively keeps on his bookshelf, with convoluted floral imagery of... well, she went back to her horror manga at that point. Ichigo never seemed to notice she had even touched his books.
Most often he pays no attention until she kicks him upside the head. He had better brush up on his perception now that she will no longer be there to clue him in.
Today, at noon, the dimensional gate will open and take her rescuers back to the living world.
Yesterday she told Ichigo and Inoue that she would not be going with them. It is the only sensible -- possible -- course of action. She has been gone from Soul Society for too long.
If only Ichigo's unquestioning faith that she would come along would stop nettling her.
'I don't owe that idiot a thing. What else could I do but stay? Did I ask him to --' Acerbity seems lost on her conscience. Even when she tells it that unquestioning faith is only a more gracious aspect of the dogged determination that dragged him through Soul Society on his stupid, noble mission to save her life.
At least that part of him has stayed the same.
It might be too much to say she left behind a boy and found a man come to rescue her, but he has changed. He entered an alien world alongside a handful of companions nearly as clueless as he was, armed only with the same reckless courage and undying attitude that marked the taking over of her shinigami duties.
Ichigo would have shaken down the walls of the Senzaikyuu itself to find her. In fact, what he did was not any less remarkable -- or foolhardy.
It is hard reaching accord with yourself when you are of two minds as adamantly as Rukia right now.
Then again, she has never known anyone quite like Ichigo before, and the thought is both a thorn and a comfort.
Pairing: Rukia Kuchiki/Ichigo Kurosaki
Fic Title: The "Holes in the Rain" Series
Author: hallowd
Link: Holes in the Rain, Girl in the Box, and Bones of the Night
Rating/Warning(s): PG-13 / blood, violence, spoilers for Soul Society arc
Genre: Drama, Friendship
WIP?: No
Special Rec: 16/30
Why This Must Be Read: This author has such a wonderful grasp of these two characters, and I loved reading both Rukia and Ichigo's point of views. Following them through three distinct points in the series these pieces really capture these two people and gives both Ichigo and Rukia such emotional depth; their interactions, banter, and the way they relate to one other is just pitch perfect, making this series a must read for any fan of this pairing.
It feels surprisingly like mercy.
Because she is alone, on an abandoned rooftop on the outskirts of Seireitei, she smiles up at the gently blowing treetops. The wind has not really risen yet, but a hint of it is already sweet on her skin. Rukia is not much one for poetic expression, even in the best of circumstances, but these quite are the best circumstances.
Her execution was thwarted, her sentence lifted, and no one died. At the moment, she would endure poetry, even those foreign specimens Ichigo furtively keeps on his bookshelf, with convoluted floral imagery of... well, she went back to her horror manga at that point. Ichigo never seemed to notice she had even touched his books.
Most often he pays no attention until she kicks him upside the head. He had better brush up on his perception now that she will no longer be there to clue him in.
Today, at noon, the dimensional gate will open and take her rescuers back to the living world.
Yesterday she told Ichigo and Inoue that she would not be going with them. It is the only sensible -- possible -- course of action. She has been gone from Soul Society for too long.
If only Ichigo's unquestioning faith that she would come along would stop nettling her.
'I don't owe that idiot a thing. What else could I do but stay? Did I ask him to --' Acerbity seems lost on her conscience. Even when she tells it that unquestioning faith is only a more gracious aspect of the dogged determination that dragged him through Soul Society on his stupid, noble mission to save her life.
At least that part of him has stayed the same.
It might be too much to say she left behind a boy and found a man come to rescue her, but he has changed. He entered an alien world alongside a handful of companions nearly as clueless as he was, armed only with the same reckless courage and undying attitude that marked the taking over of her shinigami duties.
Ichigo would have shaken down the walls of the Senzaikyuu itself to find her. In fact, what he did was not any less remarkable -- or foolhardy.
It is hard reaching accord with yourself when you are of two minds as adamantly as Rukia right now.
Then again, she has never known anyone quite like Ichigo before, and the thought is both a thorn and a comfort.