Six Drabbles
Title: Missed Places
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: Matsumoto-centric, mentions of Gin
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Set post-Deicide but before the current arc in the manga.
Warnings (if applicable): None.
Summary: There were certain places she could never go back.
Authors Notes: For thiscanbegin, who wanted Gin/Matsumoto with the prompt “avoiding the spots where we used to speak.”
There were areas in Soul Society where she did not tread anymore. Some were popular places, and her presence was not missed much there. In those places she was simply another face, albeit one with some...memorable...qualities, evident with a glance further down. She could be sure that her absence meant no loss of any sort to the people there.
Some areas it was harder to avoid. She had made friends in those places, mostly after him, but before his betrayal. Those friendships had died a slow withering death in the time he had been gone. Even now that she knew the truth, she was not sure she could go back there. Some things were better left dead and gone, even if they weren't completely buried, but in a dark corner of her soul she held hope that maybe one day she might go back and set right what went wrong.
And then there was his memorial. He had left nothing for her, given her nothing to carry on. So when she first came back to Soul Society, she had a marker made, with the kanji for his name, and left it in the part of the Rukongai where he had found her, offered her the dried persimmons that had saved her life. She went there once, to place the stone there, and had never been back.
Some places, it would just be devastating to return to.
-
Title: Seven In The Morning
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: One-sided Byakuya/Isane
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Set after the Soul Society arc but before the Hueco Mundo arc.
Warnings (if applicable): None.
Summary: She was looking forward to early morning visits.
Authors Notes: For darkmagic_luvr, who wanted Byakuya/Isane with the prompt “punctuality had always been a weakness.” I don't think this turned out how you wanted it to turn out, but I hope you like it.
He required her to be at the Kuchiki manor at seven in the morning, every morning that someone was ill. The previous Lieutenant had done so when his wife was sick, and Isane Kotetsu, as the trusted Lieutenant of the Fourth Division, would continue to be the on call medic for the Kuchiki clan if one was needed. It was a great honor, and she regarded it as such.
Rukia did not get sick very often, and when she did she was too lethargic to talk to her, because she had run herself ragged in an effort not to get her beloved nii-sama worried. But in the end she would push herself too hard and be completely out of things for a day or two. And when Isane was done checking in on her, she would report to the head of the noble clan.
So when he became very ill, it surprised everyone. Some had muttered that it was the same illness that had caused his wife to die, but Isane knew better. Hisana Kuchiki had died of a guilt-ridden heart, or at least that was what her Captain had informed her one day when she had asked about the family. He was fatigued and overstressed, and it was complicated by a horrendous bout of pneumonia, and he needed rest. So every morning at seven she was there.
She wondered when she had started to look forward to being at the Kuchiki manor at seven, and knew that it was when he had addressed her by her given name in his sleep. To see this brief glimpse of Byakuya Kuchiki with all his shrouds of formality pulled down to the ground had caused her to look at him in a new way. And as she saw he was getting better, she dreaded the day he would be well enough to not need her attentions anymore.
-
Title: Airplanes In The Night Sky Like Shooting Stars
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: Ishida/Orihime
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Goes AU at the very beginning of the current arc, before Xcution pops up.
Warnings (if applicable): None.
Summary: He always marveled at Orihime's sense of wonder.
Authors Notes: For kathy20121, who wanted Ishida/Orihime with the prompt “perhaps embracing weirdness is not that bad.” The title was totally stolen from the B.o.B song, which I was listening to at the time I wrote this.
“Make a wish!”
Ishida was pulled up close to Orihime's side by her sudden stop and the fact that she grabbed his arm as he continued to walk her home. He turned to look at her, and saw he face turned up to the sky, a look of pure joy on her face. He glanced up and saw her looking at the sky. “It's an airplane,” he said, hating to point it out because he didn't want to see that expression go away. It had been a very long time since he had seen it.
“Well, airplanes at night are kind of like stars,” she said. “Maybe they'll take your wish faster because they won't crash on Earth or burn up in space.” She looked at him, a wide smile on her face. “Make a wish, Ishida-kun?”
“I'll make one,” he said with a nod.
“I wish I can get to see a meteor shower, and have hundreds of stars fall so I can make hundreds of wishes,” she said, shutting her eyes. “I have so many things to wish for, and not just for me, but for everyone I know.”
He looked at her, then took her hand off his arm. She opened her eyes, a disappointed look on her face, until he took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers together. Then that radiant joyful expression settled on her face again. “I don't need a wish,” he said quietly.
“But if you had one?” she asked, stepping closer and squeezing his hand.
“That I had more nights like this with you,” he said, leaning over and kissing her forehead lightly. When he pulled away he saw the peaceful look on her face and knew once again that letting his feelings be known was the best decision he had ever made.
-
Title: New Base Of Operations
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: Urahara & Tessai
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Set right after the Turn Back The Pendulum arc.
Warnings (if applicable): None.
Summary: He could start over here, continue his work here.
Authors Notes: For amorphic, who wanted Urahara & Tessai with the prompt “the ground feels different here.” It's more Urahara-centric, so I apologize if this isn't what you wanted.
Karakura Town a hundred years before was a different sight. No high rise buildings, no paved roads. There were fewer buildings, and the town was much smaller. But in a way, it reminded Urahara of home, of the Soul Society he grew up in, and not the polished parts of Seirieiti that he had been near for the hundred years and more before that.
He set his pack down on the ground and looked at his companion. Aizen, the bastard...he had gotten away with it. He had destroyed all those lives, turned them in hybrid monsters, and now he was left to deal with it as best he could. But Tessai had come, and Yoruichi was soon to follow. With his loyal friends, he could get to work, could find a way to protect those in the world of the living that Aizen might try and attack at some later point.
He knelt down, touched his fingertips to the ground. For some reason, dirt on the living world felt different from dirt in Soul Society, though he supposed it should have felt the same because dirt is dirt everywhere. But he turned and looked at Tessai, and nodded. Yes, Karakura Town would be the perfect place to begin the work he knew would be needed at some point in the future. It felt different here, but special. Very special indeed.
-
Title: Now A Man
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: Matsumoto-centric, mentions of Hitsugaya
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Set in the future, probably past the current arc.
Warnings (if applicable): None.
Summary: The last time she thought about it, he wasn't a man yet.
Authors Notes: For valentineninja, who wanted Hitsugaya/Matsumoto with the prompt “he grew up right before her eyes.” I am really sorry if you wanted it shippy...I just can't write them that way.
She didn't know when her feelings had begun to change. She had, from the moment she had met him when he was a young child, adopted the “cool big sister” persona around him, where he was the perpetually grouchy little brother. Because for all intents and purposes, that's what he was. Even when he became a Captain, and made her his Lieutenant, she would never see him as anything more than someone she'd regard with affection.
But once Gin's revelations set her free, she stopped dwelling on the past and focused on the future. She stopped drinking as much, dressed a tad bit more modestly, stopped slacking off more. She became responsible, and found she enjoyed the change and the things it brought. The attention was wonderful, and she could appreciate it more now that she wasn't in a sake-induced haze.
Eventually she moved on, found a fulfilling relationship with someone and made plans. It was the day that she announced her engagement to her Captain that it hit her: he was no longer a grumpy little boy. He was a grown man, hardened by battle and great loss. He was a man with a man's problems. And though she felt happy when her Captain gave her a guarded hug and a gruff congratulations, she was sad because she knew the chance was very good that her now grown-up Captain would never have her happiness so long as he clung to his past. And she vowed she would do everything in her power to make that happen.
-
Title: Here Kitty Kitty
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: Ichigo/Orihime
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Umm...any point past the current arc, however it resolves. Just know Ichigo got his powers back and Rukia returned.
Warnings (if applicable): None.
Summary: Cat ears are sexy, but not when they make your girlfriend cry.
Authors Notes: For honeybear15, who wanted Ichigo/Orihime with the prompt “Ichigo comes home and finds Orihime in his room but one thing: she has ears and a tail like a cat! It seems like she ate something Urahara gave her and it turned her into a feline.” I would have made it longer but it just seemed stupid the more I wrote past this.
“Kurosaki-kun, what's wrong?”
He'd dropped his bag on the floor, and is staring at his girlfriend in shock. With the ears and the tail he's shocked she doesn't have fur, but he's faced with an Inoue/cat hybrid sitting on his bed. No, more like curled up on his bed. Curled up like a big cuddly human shaped feline.
She got up off the bed and every step she took was imbued with feline grace. She practically slinked up to him, and when she got to him she wrapped her arms around his neck and stared at him, her eyes wide with confusion. “Kurosaki-kun?”
At that precise moment her tail brushed along one of his legs and he jumped up, her arms pulling away quickly as he took a step back. “Inoue...can't you control the tail?”
“Tail?” she asked. He pointed down and to her left, and she turned. There was an audible gasp, and then her hands flew to her face. “I have a tail!”
“Ears, too,” he said weakly. Her hands moved to the top of her head and she felt the soft tipped cat ears that hadn't been there when he had seen her three hours before. She frantically touched her face, her chest, her arms, then looked at him, confused and scared. “Inoue, where did you go today?”
“Well, Rukia needed to go to Urahara-san's shop so we went there and I looked around as they talked and Hanakari-kun saw I was looking at some candy and gave me a piece and then I came here and you weren't here so I decided to take a nap in the sun.” She looked close to tears. “I always thought it would be fun to be a cat, but I want to go outside today and now I can't!”
He went over and hugged her, smoothing her hair back behind her cat ears, ignoring her tail as best he could. As soon as it was dark enough, he was going to flash step her to Urahara's and make him turn her back to normal, after her kicked that bratty half-pint's butt for a good while. If she wasn't happy, then he'd do whatever it took to make things right.
He just hoped this wasn't permanent, because no one deserved to look like this for the rest of their life, no matter how sexy cat ears made them.
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: Matsumoto-centric, mentions of Gin
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Set post-Deicide but before the current arc in the manga.
Warnings (if applicable): None.
Summary: There were certain places she could never go back.
Authors Notes: For thiscanbegin, who wanted Gin/Matsumoto with the prompt “avoiding the spots where we used to speak.”
There were areas in Soul Society where she did not tread anymore. Some were popular places, and her presence was not missed much there. In those places she was simply another face, albeit one with some...memorable...qualities, evident with a glance further down. She could be sure that her absence meant no loss of any sort to the people there.
Some areas it was harder to avoid. She had made friends in those places, mostly after him, but before his betrayal. Those friendships had died a slow withering death in the time he had been gone. Even now that she knew the truth, she was not sure she could go back there. Some things were better left dead and gone, even if they weren't completely buried, but in a dark corner of her soul she held hope that maybe one day she might go back and set right what went wrong.
And then there was his memorial. He had left nothing for her, given her nothing to carry on. So when she first came back to Soul Society, she had a marker made, with the kanji for his name, and left it in the part of the Rukongai where he had found her, offered her the dried persimmons that had saved her life. She went there once, to place the stone there, and had never been back.
Some places, it would just be devastating to return to.
-
Title: Seven In The Morning
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: One-sided Byakuya/Isane
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Set after the Soul Society arc but before the Hueco Mundo arc.
Warnings (if applicable): None.
Summary: She was looking forward to early morning visits.
Authors Notes: For darkmagic_luvr, who wanted Byakuya/Isane with the prompt “punctuality had always been a weakness.” I don't think this turned out how you wanted it to turn out, but I hope you like it.
He required her to be at the Kuchiki manor at seven in the morning, every morning that someone was ill. The previous Lieutenant had done so when his wife was sick, and Isane Kotetsu, as the trusted Lieutenant of the Fourth Division, would continue to be the on call medic for the Kuchiki clan if one was needed. It was a great honor, and she regarded it as such.
Rukia did not get sick very often, and when she did she was too lethargic to talk to her, because she had run herself ragged in an effort not to get her beloved nii-sama worried. But in the end she would push herself too hard and be completely out of things for a day or two. And when Isane was done checking in on her, she would report to the head of the noble clan.
So when he became very ill, it surprised everyone. Some had muttered that it was the same illness that had caused his wife to die, but Isane knew better. Hisana Kuchiki had died of a guilt-ridden heart, or at least that was what her Captain had informed her one day when she had asked about the family. He was fatigued and overstressed, and it was complicated by a horrendous bout of pneumonia, and he needed rest. So every morning at seven she was there.
She wondered when she had started to look forward to being at the Kuchiki manor at seven, and knew that it was when he had addressed her by her given name in his sleep. To see this brief glimpse of Byakuya Kuchiki with all his shrouds of formality pulled down to the ground had caused her to look at him in a new way. And as she saw he was getting better, she dreaded the day he would be well enough to not need her attentions anymore.
-
Title: Airplanes In The Night Sky Like Shooting Stars
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: Ishida/Orihime
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Goes AU at the very beginning of the current arc, before Xcution pops up.
Warnings (if applicable): None.
Summary: He always marveled at Orihime's sense of wonder.
Authors Notes: For kathy20121, who wanted Ishida/Orihime with the prompt “perhaps embracing weirdness is not that bad.” The title was totally stolen from the B.o.B song, which I was listening to at the time I wrote this.
“Make a wish!”
Ishida was pulled up close to Orihime's side by her sudden stop and the fact that she grabbed his arm as he continued to walk her home. He turned to look at her, and saw he face turned up to the sky, a look of pure joy on her face. He glanced up and saw her looking at the sky. “It's an airplane,” he said, hating to point it out because he didn't want to see that expression go away. It had been a very long time since he had seen it.
“Well, airplanes at night are kind of like stars,” she said. “Maybe they'll take your wish faster because they won't crash on Earth or burn up in space.” She looked at him, a wide smile on her face. “Make a wish, Ishida-kun?”
“I'll make one,” he said with a nod.
“I wish I can get to see a meteor shower, and have hundreds of stars fall so I can make hundreds of wishes,” she said, shutting her eyes. “I have so many things to wish for, and not just for me, but for everyone I know.”
He looked at her, then took her hand off his arm. She opened her eyes, a disappointed look on her face, until he took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers together. Then that radiant joyful expression settled on her face again. “I don't need a wish,” he said quietly.
“But if you had one?” she asked, stepping closer and squeezing his hand.
“That I had more nights like this with you,” he said, leaning over and kissing her forehead lightly. When he pulled away he saw the peaceful look on her face and knew once again that letting his feelings be known was the best decision he had ever made.
-
Title: New Base Of Operations
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: Urahara & Tessai
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Set right after the Turn Back The Pendulum arc.
Warnings (if applicable): None.
Summary: He could start over here, continue his work here.
Authors Notes: For amorphic, who wanted Urahara & Tessai with the prompt “the ground feels different here.” It's more Urahara-centric, so I apologize if this isn't what you wanted.
Karakura Town a hundred years before was a different sight. No high rise buildings, no paved roads. There were fewer buildings, and the town was much smaller. But in a way, it reminded Urahara of home, of the Soul Society he grew up in, and not the polished parts of Seirieiti that he had been near for the hundred years and more before that.
He set his pack down on the ground and looked at his companion. Aizen, the bastard...he had gotten away with it. He had destroyed all those lives, turned them in hybrid monsters, and now he was left to deal with it as best he could. But Tessai had come, and Yoruichi was soon to follow. With his loyal friends, he could get to work, could find a way to protect those in the world of the living that Aizen might try and attack at some later point.
He knelt down, touched his fingertips to the ground. For some reason, dirt on the living world felt different from dirt in Soul Society, though he supposed it should have felt the same because dirt is dirt everywhere. But he turned and looked at Tessai, and nodded. Yes, Karakura Town would be the perfect place to begin the work he knew would be needed at some point in the future. It felt different here, but special. Very special indeed.
-
Title: Now A Man
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: Matsumoto-centric, mentions of Hitsugaya
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Set in the future, probably past the current arc.
Warnings (if applicable): None.
Summary: The last time she thought about it, he wasn't a man yet.
Authors Notes: For valentineninja, who wanted Hitsugaya/Matsumoto with the prompt “he grew up right before her eyes.” I am really sorry if you wanted it shippy...I just can't write them that way.
She didn't know when her feelings had begun to change. She had, from the moment she had met him when he was a young child, adopted the “cool big sister” persona around him, where he was the perpetually grouchy little brother. Because for all intents and purposes, that's what he was. Even when he became a Captain, and made her his Lieutenant, she would never see him as anything more than someone she'd regard with affection.
But once Gin's revelations set her free, she stopped dwelling on the past and focused on the future. She stopped drinking as much, dressed a tad bit more modestly, stopped slacking off more. She became responsible, and found she enjoyed the change and the things it brought. The attention was wonderful, and she could appreciate it more now that she wasn't in a sake-induced haze.
Eventually she moved on, found a fulfilling relationship with someone and made plans. It was the day that she announced her engagement to her Captain that it hit her: he was no longer a grumpy little boy. He was a grown man, hardened by battle and great loss. He was a man with a man's problems. And though she felt happy when her Captain gave her a guarded hug and a gruff congratulations, she was sad because she knew the chance was very good that her now grown-up Captain would never have her happiness so long as he clung to his past. And she vowed she would do everything in her power to make that happen.
-
Title: Here Kitty Kitty
Author: Ragna (afteriwake)
Pairing: Ichigo/Orihime
Rating: PG
Spoilers (if applicable): Umm...any point past the current arc, however it resolves. Just know Ichigo got his powers back and Rukia returned.
Warnings (if applicable): None.
Summary: Cat ears are sexy, but not when they make your girlfriend cry.
Authors Notes: For honeybear15, who wanted Ichigo/Orihime with the prompt “Ichigo comes home and finds Orihime in his room but one thing: she has ears and a tail like a cat! It seems like she ate something Urahara gave her and it turned her into a feline.” I would have made it longer but it just seemed stupid the more I wrote past this.
“Kurosaki-kun, what's wrong?”
He'd dropped his bag on the floor, and is staring at his girlfriend in shock. With the ears and the tail he's shocked she doesn't have fur, but he's faced with an Inoue/cat hybrid sitting on his bed. No, more like curled up on his bed. Curled up like a big cuddly human shaped feline.
She got up off the bed and every step she took was imbued with feline grace. She practically slinked up to him, and when she got to him she wrapped her arms around his neck and stared at him, her eyes wide with confusion. “Kurosaki-kun?”
At that precise moment her tail brushed along one of his legs and he jumped up, her arms pulling away quickly as he took a step back. “Inoue...can't you control the tail?”
“Tail?” she asked. He pointed down and to her left, and she turned. There was an audible gasp, and then her hands flew to her face. “I have a tail!”
“Ears, too,” he said weakly. Her hands moved to the top of her head and she felt the soft tipped cat ears that hadn't been there when he had seen her three hours before. She frantically touched her face, her chest, her arms, then looked at him, confused and scared. “Inoue, where did you go today?”
“Well, Rukia needed to go to Urahara-san's shop so we went there and I looked around as they talked and Hanakari-kun saw I was looking at some candy and gave me a piece and then I came here and you weren't here so I decided to take a nap in the sun.” She looked close to tears. “I always thought it would be fun to be a cat, but I want to go outside today and now I can't!”
He went over and hugged her, smoothing her hair back behind her cat ears, ignoring her tail as best he could. As soon as it was dark enough, he was going to flash step her to Urahara's and make him turn her back to normal, after her kicked that bratty half-pint's butt for a good while. If she wasn't happy, then he'd do whatever it took to make things right.
He just hoped this wasn't permanent, because no one deserved to look like this for the rest of their life, no matter how sexy cat ears made them.