More Bleach
Title: Aftermath
Fandom: Bleach
Pairing: IchiRuki, ByaRen, ShuuZuru, more in the future
Genre: Romance, angst
Rating: T
Warnings: Ummm, whatever I usually say here. A lot of angst and stuff.
Summary: As Soul Society recovers from the betrayal of three captains, the shinigami who remain contemplate their relationships with each other.
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7663473/1/Aftermath
There are currently 3 chapters for this-they can all stand alone, but are based on the same basic concept. If you want to read the others, just click the link and go to the next chapter, or comment and ask me to post them on here.
It was surprising how quickly things were able to go back to normal, yet at the same time, how vastly different they were. Soul Society continued to function, but three captains were gone and in their place, five ryoka remained as visitors. Although a vast plot had just been revealed, the thought was not hanging over their heads. It was instead lurking at the back of their minds. Everyone knew the conflict was not even close to over yet, but just beginning. However, the overwhelming relief of having survived one of the largest crises in Sereitei's history was what filled the atmosphere, and everyone coped with the strange mixture of relief and apprehension in their own ways. Like the Sereitei, the shinigami involved looked basically intact, but they had been changed, irreversibly. The sogyoku no longer stood bloody guard over Soul Society, and buildings everywhere were shattered from a myriad of shikais and bankais. The shinigami and ryoka also took damage to their infrastructure. The experience destroyed their views from the time before, and the sudden new shifts in feelings scared them. So everyone carried on in a facsimile of normalcy, all the while trying to cope in the ways they best knew how.
...
For Ichigo, it was all too much. Since the day he had met Rukia, his world had been shattered. Ever since then, he learned new things every minute of every day, and one of the most important lessons was to just keep going. If he refused to stop, no matter what strange new experience assailed him, they could not stop him. Not the initial shock of learning about shinigami, nor the ghastly appearance of hollows, nor the pain of fighting and losing to others like Rukia. He did not hesitate at Urahara's deadly training, or at the journey into Soul Society which seriously lacked planning. He powered through being shot through a cannonball and fighting his way up the ranks of the Gotei 13. He refused to die, over and over again, despite the fact that he was mortally wounded again and again. Achieving in three days what most shinigami took years to do was something he took in stride, and he was even able to power through the rescue of Rukia from the Sogyoku, the fight with Byakuya, and the confrontation with Aizen. Ichigo was not a genius, and indeed, his durability came from his extreme lack of foresight. If he decided that he would get through, he would. It was as simple as that, and the approach left no time to stop and reflect on what was happening.
When the dust cleared and he was healed, it all hit him. Shinigami, hollows, the sogyoku, Aizen, and the sheer impossibility of what he had just done. It was like waking from a particularly outlandish dream and realizing that it was all true. The information was too much for him to handle, so he kept busy. He fought Ikkaku, because fighting was one of the only things he was sure of. And Rukia. No matter how much everything else overwhelmed him, his intense dedication to Rukia was something he never questioned. Not once did he regret meeting her, or turning his life upside down to help her, or risking his life and the lives of others to save her. It wasn't even a question; it was the only thing he was sure of with the utmost certainty. His name meant protection, and without a doubt it was Rukia that he had to protect.
When she said that she was staying in Soul Society, he wasn't really shocked. She fit here like she never did in the human world, with her brother and the rest of the Gotei 13. And his place was with his family. More than being sad, he felt at loose ends. The past days, which now felt like years, had been filled with the intense motivation of rescuing Rukia. Now she no longer needed rescuing, and he didn't know what to do. His actions were filled with the loss of her, but it wasn't a loss that he could fill, this time. She didn't need saving because she was happy. He had saved her, but he still lost her. The fact that this bothered him really annoyed Ichigo. He felt like he was acting like one of the sappy losers in a romance novel, not that he ever had read any. He didn't understand his feelings for Rukia, or the way she simply had become one of the largest parts of his life. And it was terrifying, really. So Ichigo applied his singular determination to his human life. He went to school, and then went to train in the Urahara Shoten, because it gave him some connection to her world, Rukia's world. This was where their worlds' intersected, and he was sure that if he lingered long enough, they would open up a path once more.
...
Rukia was mentally overwhelmed. She had spent weeks in isolation, with nothing for company but thoughts of her own death and the deaths of the people she held dear. It was one of the most frustrating feelings, to know that someone was constantly risking his life, over and over again, for her, and there was nothing she could do to stop him. And there was no question: if she could have stopped him, she would have. Having only seen Ichigo with her borrowed power, the idea of him taking on the Soul Society was absurd, and could only lead to his death in addition to hers. In Rukia's eyes, she had taken his life away by destroying his normalcy, and now she was in danger of taking his life away by causing him to lose it by fighting for a lost cause: her survival.
No one could imagine how excruciating it was to be in that tower. Ichigo, at least, was fighting. He was moving, and even if he wasn't necessarily moving forward, at least he was going somewhere. While she was stuck in place, only able to pace among the vast confines of her cell, wondering whether each second would be his last. She worried about Renji, about Byakuya, about Ishida and Orihime and Chad. But mostly she worried about Ichigo. Rukia would have said that she wouldn't be able to live with herself if he died for her, but in the situation, it wouldn't matter. If he died, then it was sure that she would as well. This was no consolation.
The reason she resented his interference most was the mixed feelings it had brought. She wished with all her heart that he was safely in the human world, without any memory of her, but at the same time, her heart cried out how happy it was to finally have someone who cared so much that he would fight for her, die for her. And these two pieces of her heart fought, selfishness versus selflessness, until she realized that they both had an equal presence. Eventually, she would resign herself to the fact that it didn't matter what she felt or what she did, because he was here, and if her sinful heart was a little glad for the fact, then so be it.
After it was over, she only felt numb. When she had been rescued from the beak of the sogyoku, all she registered was disbelief and anger. Disbelief because she had no longer dared to hope, and anger that after she had carefully eradicated all traces of foolish hope, he was there again to rekindle them. She couldn't bring herself to believe that he could save her, and yet she couldn't help the way that the traces of hope rose within her when she saw him floating before her, his sword taking the full force of the fiery form of the sogyoku as he looked at her with the utmost confidence in his eyes. It made her furious. How dare he come to rescue her now, after all the times she had tried, through word and deed, to keep him from the death that would come from challenging everything that was sacred to Sereitei. And how dare he make her so happy to see his stupid grin below that ridiculous hair.
But then he and Renji took her away, and Aizen spirited her back and painlessly removed something that he was perfectly willing to kill her for. Then it was over. Ichigo was hurt, Renji was hurt, Byakuya was hurt, and she was unharmed. There was guilt, and shock, and disbelief, and then denial. As they recovered, she wandered the Sereitei trying to rationalize what had just happened and why it had possibly had to happen to her. She tried to make peace with her demons, and found that they were just as fierce as the opponents Ichigo had fought for her with Zangetsu. She wrestled with where to go now, and what to do. Her thoughts were filled with Ichigo, with the idiotic and marvelous human who turned into a hollow and then a shinigami, who challenged Soul Society and survived, and who did it all for her sake while insisting that it was no big deal. Rukia wanted to be near him, to thank him, and to figure out why there was a bond that inspired them to defy all rules and logic to help each other.
But she had to stay. As much as she wanted nothing more than to go to Ichigo's house, Ichigo's world, which she considered more home than the cold Kuchiki mansion, Byakuya needed her, and Byakuya was as much her home as Ichigo was. Rukia was Byakuya's last remnant of his wife, hersister, and they were tied together through this mysterious and beautiful memory of Kuchiki Hisana. Byakuya had shattered one of the vows that he lived his life by to save her, and the least she could do was stay and learn about why he chose to save her, and why he choose not to earlier. They needed each other, and for not, her strange connection with Ichigo would have to wait.
Fandom: Bleach
Pairing: IchiRuki, ByaRen, ShuuZuru, more in the future
Genre: Romance, angst
Rating: T
Warnings: Ummm, whatever I usually say here. A lot of angst and stuff.
Summary: As Soul Society recovers from the betrayal of three captains, the shinigami who remain contemplate their relationships with each other.
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7663473/1/Aftermath
There are currently 3 chapters for this-they can all stand alone, but are based on the same basic concept. If you want to read the others, just click the link and go to the next chapter, or comment and ask me to post them on here.
It was surprising how quickly things were able to go back to normal, yet at the same time, how vastly different they were. Soul Society continued to function, but three captains were gone and in their place, five ryoka remained as visitors. Although a vast plot had just been revealed, the thought was not hanging over their heads. It was instead lurking at the back of their minds. Everyone knew the conflict was not even close to over yet, but just beginning. However, the overwhelming relief of having survived one of the largest crises in Sereitei's history was what filled the atmosphere, and everyone coped with the strange mixture of relief and apprehension in their own ways. Like the Sereitei, the shinigami involved looked basically intact, but they had been changed, irreversibly. The sogyoku no longer stood bloody guard over Soul Society, and buildings everywhere were shattered from a myriad of shikais and bankais. The shinigami and ryoka also took damage to their infrastructure. The experience destroyed their views from the time before, and the sudden new shifts in feelings scared them. So everyone carried on in a facsimile of normalcy, all the while trying to cope in the ways they best knew how.
...
For Ichigo, it was all too much. Since the day he had met Rukia, his world had been shattered. Ever since then, he learned new things every minute of every day, and one of the most important lessons was to just keep going. If he refused to stop, no matter what strange new experience assailed him, they could not stop him. Not the initial shock of learning about shinigami, nor the ghastly appearance of hollows, nor the pain of fighting and losing to others like Rukia. He did not hesitate at Urahara's deadly training, or at the journey into Soul Society which seriously lacked planning. He powered through being shot through a cannonball and fighting his way up the ranks of the Gotei 13. He refused to die, over and over again, despite the fact that he was mortally wounded again and again. Achieving in three days what most shinigami took years to do was something he took in stride, and he was even able to power through the rescue of Rukia from the Sogyoku, the fight with Byakuya, and the confrontation with Aizen. Ichigo was not a genius, and indeed, his durability came from his extreme lack of foresight. If he decided that he would get through, he would. It was as simple as that, and the approach left no time to stop and reflect on what was happening.
When the dust cleared and he was healed, it all hit him. Shinigami, hollows, the sogyoku, Aizen, and the sheer impossibility of what he had just done. It was like waking from a particularly outlandish dream and realizing that it was all true. The information was too much for him to handle, so he kept busy. He fought Ikkaku, because fighting was one of the only things he was sure of. And Rukia. No matter how much everything else overwhelmed him, his intense dedication to Rukia was something he never questioned. Not once did he regret meeting her, or turning his life upside down to help her, or risking his life and the lives of others to save her. It wasn't even a question; it was the only thing he was sure of with the utmost certainty. His name meant protection, and without a doubt it was Rukia that he had to protect.
When she said that she was staying in Soul Society, he wasn't really shocked. She fit here like she never did in the human world, with her brother and the rest of the Gotei 13. And his place was with his family. More than being sad, he felt at loose ends. The past days, which now felt like years, had been filled with the intense motivation of rescuing Rukia. Now she no longer needed rescuing, and he didn't know what to do. His actions were filled with the loss of her, but it wasn't a loss that he could fill, this time. She didn't need saving because she was happy. He had saved her, but he still lost her. The fact that this bothered him really annoyed Ichigo. He felt like he was acting like one of the sappy losers in a romance novel, not that he ever had read any. He didn't understand his feelings for Rukia, or the way she simply had become one of the largest parts of his life. And it was terrifying, really. So Ichigo applied his singular determination to his human life. He went to school, and then went to train in the Urahara Shoten, because it gave him some connection to her world, Rukia's world. This was where their worlds' intersected, and he was sure that if he lingered long enough, they would open up a path once more.
...
Rukia was mentally overwhelmed. She had spent weeks in isolation, with nothing for company but thoughts of her own death and the deaths of the people she held dear. It was one of the most frustrating feelings, to know that someone was constantly risking his life, over and over again, for her, and there was nothing she could do to stop him. And there was no question: if she could have stopped him, she would have. Having only seen Ichigo with her borrowed power, the idea of him taking on the Soul Society was absurd, and could only lead to his death in addition to hers. In Rukia's eyes, she had taken his life away by destroying his normalcy, and now she was in danger of taking his life away by causing him to lose it by fighting for a lost cause: her survival.
No one could imagine how excruciating it was to be in that tower. Ichigo, at least, was fighting. He was moving, and even if he wasn't necessarily moving forward, at least he was going somewhere. While she was stuck in place, only able to pace among the vast confines of her cell, wondering whether each second would be his last. She worried about Renji, about Byakuya, about Ishida and Orihime and Chad. But mostly she worried about Ichigo. Rukia would have said that she wouldn't be able to live with herself if he died for her, but in the situation, it wouldn't matter. If he died, then it was sure that she would as well. This was no consolation.
The reason she resented his interference most was the mixed feelings it had brought. She wished with all her heart that he was safely in the human world, without any memory of her, but at the same time, her heart cried out how happy it was to finally have someone who cared so much that he would fight for her, die for her. And these two pieces of her heart fought, selfishness versus selflessness, until she realized that they both had an equal presence. Eventually, she would resign herself to the fact that it didn't matter what she felt or what she did, because he was here, and if her sinful heart was a little glad for the fact, then so be it.
After it was over, she only felt numb. When she had been rescued from the beak of the sogyoku, all she registered was disbelief and anger. Disbelief because she had no longer dared to hope, and anger that after she had carefully eradicated all traces of foolish hope, he was there again to rekindle them. She couldn't bring herself to believe that he could save her, and yet she couldn't help the way that the traces of hope rose within her when she saw him floating before her, his sword taking the full force of the fiery form of the sogyoku as he looked at her with the utmost confidence in his eyes. It made her furious. How dare he come to rescue her now, after all the times she had tried, through word and deed, to keep him from the death that would come from challenging everything that was sacred to Sereitei. And how dare he make her so happy to see his stupid grin below that ridiculous hair.
But then he and Renji took her away, and Aizen spirited her back and painlessly removed something that he was perfectly willing to kill her for. Then it was over. Ichigo was hurt, Renji was hurt, Byakuya was hurt, and she was unharmed. There was guilt, and shock, and disbelief, and then denial. As they recovered, she wandered the Sereitei trying to rationalize what had just happened and why it had possibly had to happen to her. She tried to make peace with her demons, and found that they were just as fierce as the opponents Ichigo had fought for her with Zangetsu. She wrestled with where to go now, and what to do. Her thoughts were filled with Ichigo, with the idiotic and marvelous human who turned into a hollow and then a shinigami, who challenged Soul Society and survived, and who did it all for her sake while insisting that it was no big deal. Rukia wanted to be near him, to thank him, and to figure out why there was a bond that inspired them to defy all rules and logic to help each other.
But she had to stay. As much as she wanted nothing more than to go to Ichigo's house, Ichigo's world, which she considered more home than the cold Kuchiki mansion, Byakuya needed her, and Byakuya was as much her home as Ichigo was. Rukia was Byakuya's last remnant of his wife, hersister, and they were tied together through this mysterious and beautiful memory of Kuchiki Hisana. Byakuya had shattered one of the vows that he lived his life by to save her, and the least she could do was stay and learn about why he chose to save her, and why he choose not to earlier. They needed each other, and for not, her strange connection with Ichigo would have to wait.