Drabbles - Post II
Continuation of the previous post of drabbles...
Title: Curiosity
Author: SayuriStang
Rating: Fairly PG
Pairing: Rukia/Urahara
Spoilers: To end of SS arc.
Summary: The stages of an unlikely relationship.
Peripheral
A menos grande.
When Ishida had started this so called ‘competition’, he would have never thought. At the time Ichigo ran off to save his family, he hadn’t even heard of one. She, herself, had only thought of Uryuu’s recklessness. Besides, a menos grande was like something out of a dark fairytale.
Nobody had seen it coming.
Except for, of course, Kisuke.
Now, she sat frozen and bound to the ground, watching Ichigo run blindly at a gigantic hollow.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Hell, even Uryuu knew better then to attack the menos grande straight on.
Stupid, Ichigo! The first thing you do is run at it! As if I didn’t specifically mention that you always have to a strategy!
Every muscle in her body was tense. The last moments of Kaien’s death flashed before her. Don’t die. Don’t die.
It was in that moment a hand came to rest on the crook of her shoulder.
Restricted as she was, Rukia was clearly aware that it was Kisuke’s. His thumb kneaded softly in small circles.
As annoyed as she was by him and his stupid kidos, a part of her admitted it was soothing.
“Don’t worry.” He bent down, his face swimming into her field of vision. “If anything happens, I’ll interfere.” In her peripheral, she could see the end of Benihime’s sheath. Urahara is better then any Soul Society strike squad.
Like magic, her body relaxed and she stopped straining against the kido.
So, the two watched silently as the battle progressed. Ichigo, amazingly enough, was able to land a blow and ward the hollow back into Hueco Mundo, just as Kisuke had hinted and Ishida actually did prove to be useful if only for the aftermath with Ichigo’s fluctuating powers.
In other circumstances, Rukia would already have bounded over to his side, drop kicked him, and be in the progress of giving him an earful. But, the minor fact that Kisuke continued to stroke circles on her back was enough to keep her still.
-Owari
Waltz
He was hiding something. She just knew it. Behind all of his lazy antics and the playful attitude, he was still a scientist. Seretei could strip him of all the titles they wanted but he would still be the same captain with the determination to match. Besides, she rationalized, why put up the persona if there weren’t something to hide?
Though, Rukia supposed, she wasn’t one to talk.After all, how many times had she put on that flawless Kuchiki mask or adopted the dutiful shingami routine? Even now, she was throwing up pretenses.
Pretenses and personas are just means to an end.
Anything to find out what he was keeping from her. So, she found reasons to keep wandering past his store. There was equipment that just seemed to keep breaking, orders that needed to be checked up on and there were definitely questions to be answered. Just not the ones she wanted to ask.
At night they started to run into each other habitually. No longer did they make up excuses. They simply greeted each other and chatted lightly about the day, eventually falling into the companionable silence. All the time, she watched him. She just never realized he watched her, too.
Once when the stars were particularly bright, the silence was broken.
“So, how much longer do you think you have?”
She eyed him narrowly. “You know Soul Society even better then I do and you’re asking that question?”
His grin was not one of the boisterous shopkeeper. “If you had a choice would you stay?”
Rukia looked down. “I don’t know.”
He nodded. “Sometimes I wonder myself if had I the chance to return…”
Would you really take it...
In the weeks that she had been here, Soul Society grew farther and farther away as if the period between now and then were bridged by some immense chasm. Here you could be anyone you wanted, be yourself and still have friends without those political entanglements. And even though she would say otherwise to Ichigo, humans were not stupid.
Bit by bit, she was wondering how she could go back to Soul Society.
“The human world really is not as bad as they claimed it to be.”
“Most things aren’t.” He shrugged. “You’ll notice that Soul Society has a tendency to over-exaggerate.”
She looked at him. The sight of him in the moonlight was now familiar sight. If Kisuke were the way Soul Society had made him out to be she doubted he would have helped her as he had. That he’d even be sitting with her now.
She would miss him.
“I suppose I would like to stay in the human world.” It was the first time she admitted it out loud.
“With Ichigo?” There was something veiled underneath the tease.
“I-” she paused. “I really don’t know. I mean I can’t intrude upon his life forever.”
He eyed her carefully.
“Besides, I would miss being a shinigami.” Rukia smiled whimsically. “That’s the thing about humans. I can’t imagine what it would be like to die a meaningless death.”
“You want to die in battle?”
Rukia’s smirk was tinted with a bitterness. “I don’t think it can be helped. Trouble is where I live.”
A clouded look passed over his eyes, as if he were reconsidering his words.
The secret.
“I don’t think you or I will die peaceful deaths.”
She wondered what he meant by it, but that look in his eyes and dark night kept her silent.
Many nights would pass and they would continue their dance around the other. He knowing the all the steps, she dancing to his cue. It was to Rukia’s folly that she never had the courage to ask.
Quicksand
Some people fall in love and touch the sky, some people fall in love and find quicksand.
---------
She had been sitting in her room for the past week.
Even Byakuya’s worried now, Rukia thought bemusedly. Kiyone and the others from the 13th Division had already been by in efforts to coax her out. Renji had practically ordered her out of her room. Even Captain Ukitake had come to see her. They thought it was Ichigo. Kiyone had teased her; Renji had crossed his arms and blushed. The Captain had smiled at her and said he’d support her decision, but Byakuya had merely observed her quietly. She believed that he was the one who really understood.
Her friends thought it was Ichigo.
It wasn’t. And Byakuya knew very well.
It’s funny how that worked.
Yes, admittedly she did miss Ichigo. He had gone through hell, defeated half of Seretei and managed to save her from certain death. It wasn’t a joke. Besides him, Ichigo was one of the few people she had frequently thought about during her captivity and of course she couldn’t help but notice his changes. For example, he was significantly stronger then when she last saw him. The first time they met on that bridge he had already achieved second release and had immense control over his spiritual power. Then, just three days later, Ichigo had achieved bankai. Only one person’s techniques could have achieved such extraordinary growth.
His.
She reached for the now care-worn journal. Cradling it carefully, she flipped through its contents. Nothing she hadn’t seen before but again and again she would go through it searching for something that would give a hint to as why he did it.
Why he did it without her consent. Without acknowledging her. Without asking. Why.
She wondered when it was that he came to his decision. Was it when he first met her? Did he decide to prey on the wayward defenseless shinigami not only hiding his secret but getting back at Seretei at the same time? Was it before or after those meetings on sidewalk? Before or after he knew her?
Was that what he was really trying to say the whole time?
Rukia threw the journal against the wall.
She needed to leave. Now. She needed to get out of this stupid room. After what happened with Aizen, she doubted anyone would deny her a small excursion.
---------
Apparently, she had an affinity for sidewalks. It was three in the morning and there she was sitting on the pavement, waiting. Waiting, but refusing to admit for whom. So there she sat as the bell chimed one, two, three times, wondering if he ever came out here at all anymore, if everything he did three months ago really was motivated by guilt. Or worse, pity.
She frowned and refused to give into emotion. She would not cry.
Rukia really had no idea why she was doing this. She had her fill of meditation back in her cell in Seretei. For the past week she had thought of him. And she was tired. She was through with thoughts of Kisuke. Of the fate he had so nonchalantly resigned her to.
Yet, she waited.
She knew for certain he wouldn’t come. It was the opposite side of town. And-
She was a pawn.
But, she continued to wait hoping something - anything - would happen. Hoping that at least sometime he thought of her. That he missed her.
So there she sat in the darkness for a man she knew would not come. She had already been there for an hour, and she had had enough.
She rose, almost tripping herself in the darkness. They never had replaced that light. Scanning the area one more time, Rukia started off for Ichigo’s house. It was in that moment a hand clamped firmly around hers.
She stood stalk still.
Rukia would know his hands anywhere. They were big, gentle, assured. But they knew death. Swordsman’s hands.
She was certain he wouldn’t come. She hadn’t actually planned anything to say even if she had thought about it. She thought- She thought that maybe the only time she’d ever see him was in passing.
She thought. She thought. She thought.
But of course, Kisuke was always full of surprises.
He moved closer and Rukia could feel his breath mussing her hair. The warmth being transferred from his hand to hers. Now he was here and he was very real.
But, she had no words to say.
What could possibly describe it? The sense of betrayal… To be told by Aizen that all she had been the whole time was the means to an end. A convenience.
So, she did the only thing she could do. She turned and looked at him, drawing in a deep breath, ready to give him a fully dramatic and angst ridden speech but was stopped by those grey, grey eyes. All of the things she thought she could say clamped up in her throat.
And it was all Rukia could do but kiss him.
--------
Hope everyone enjoyed! Don't be shy to leave a comment. I love feedback!
Title: Curiosity
Author: SayuriStang
Rating: Fairly PG
Pairing: Rukia/Urahara
Spoilers: To end of SS arc.
Summary: The stages of an unlikely relationship.
Peripheral
A menos grande.
When Ishida had started this so called ‘competition’, he would have never thought. At the time Ichigo ran off to save his family, he hadn’t even heard of one. She, herself, had only thought of Uryuu’s recklessness. Besides, a menos grande was like something out of a dark fairytale.
Nobody had seen it coming.
Except for, of course, Kisuke.
Now, she sat frozen and bound to the ground, watching Ichigo run blindly at a gigantic hollow.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Hell, even Uryuu knew better then to attack the menos grande straight on.
Stupid, Ichigo! The first thing you do is run at it! As if I didn’t specifically mention that you always have to a strategy!
Every muscle in her body was tense. The last moments of Kaien’s death flashed before her. Don’t die. Don’t die.
It was in that moment a hand came to rest on the crook of her shoulder.
Restricted as she was, Rukia was clearly aware that it was Kisuke’s. His thumb kneaded softly in small circles.
As annoyed as she was by him and his stupid kidos, a part of her admitted it was soothing.
“Don’t worry.” He bent down, his face swimming into her field of vision. “If anything happens, I’ll interfere.” In her peripheral, she could see the end of Benihime’s sheath. Urahara is better then any Soul Society strike squad.
Like magic, her body relaxed and she stopped straining against the kido.
So, the two watched silently as the battle progressed. Ichigo, amazingly enough, was able to land a blow and ward the hollow back into Hueco Mundo, just as Kisuke had hinted and Ishida actually did prove to be useful if only for the aftermath with Ichigo’s fluctuating powers.
In other circumstances, Rukia would already have bounded over to his side, drop kicked him, and be in the progress of giving him an earful. But, the minor fact that Kisuke continued to stroke circles on her back was enough to keep her still.
-Owari
Waltz
He was hiding something. She just knew it. Behind all of his lazy antics and the playful attitude, he was still a scientist. Seretei could strip him of all the titles they wanted but he would still be the same captain with the determination to match. Besides, she rationalized, why put up the persona if there weren’t something to hide?
Though, Rukia supposed, she wasn’t one to talk.After all, how many times had she put on that flawless Kuchiki mask or adopted the dutiful shingami routine? Even now, she was throwing up pretenses.
Pretenses and personas are just means to an end.
Anything to find out what he was keeping from her. So, she found reasons to keep wandering past his store. There was equipment that just seemed to keep breaking, orders that needed to be checked up on and there were definitely questions to be answered. Just not the ones she wanted to ask.
At night they started to run into each other habitually. No longer did they make up excuses. They simply greeted each other and chatted lightly about the day, eventually falling into the companionable silence. All the time, she watched him. She just never realized he watched her, too.
Once when the stars were particularly bright, the silence was broken.
“So, how much longer do you think you have?”
She eyed him narrowly. “You know Soul Society even better then I do and you’re asking that question?”
His grin was not one of the boisterous shopkeeper. “If you had a choice would you stay?”
Rukia looked down. “I don’t know.”
He nodded. “Sometimes I wonder myself if had I the chance to return…”
Would you really take it...
In the weeks that she had been here, Soul Society grew farther and farther away as if the period between now and then were bridged by some immense chasm. Here you could be anyone you wanted, be yourself and still have friends without those political entanglements. And even though she would say otherwise to Ichigo, humans were not stupid.
Bit by bit, she was wondering how she could go back to Soul Society.
“The human world really is not as bad as they claimed it to be.”
“Most things aren’t.” He shrugged. “You’ll notice that Soul Society has a tendency to over-exaggerate.”
She looked at him. The sight of him in the moonlight was now familiar sight. If Kisuke were the way Soul Society had made him out to be she doubted he would have helped her as he had. That he’d even be sitting with her now.
She would miss him.
“I suppose I would like to stay in the human world.” It was the first time she admitted it out loud.
“With Ichigo?” There was something veiled underneath the tease.
“I-” she paused. “I really don’t know. I mean I can’t intrude upon his life forever.”
He eyed her carefully.
“Besides, I would miss being a shinigami.” Rukia smiled whimsically. “That’s the thing about humans. I can’t imagine what it would be like to die a meaningless death.”
“You want to die in battle?”
Rukia’s smirk was tinted with a bitterness. “I don’t think it can be helped. Trouble is where I live.”
A clouded look passed over his eyes, as if he were reconsidering his words.
The secret.
“I don’t think you or I will die peaceful deaths.”
She wondered what he meant by it, but that look in his eyes and dark night kept her silent.
Many nights would pass and they would continue their dance around the other. He knowing the all the steps, she dancing to his cue. It was to Rukia’s folly that she never had the courage to ask.
Quicksand
Some people fall in love and touch the sky, some people fall in love and find quicksand.
---------
She had been sitting in her room for the past week.
Even Byakuya’s worried now, Rukia thought bemusedly. Kiyone and the others from the 13th Division had already been by in efforts to coax her out. Renji had practically ordered her out of her room. Even Captain Ukitake had come to see her. They thought it was Ichigo. Kiyone had teased her; Renji had crossed his arms and blushed. The Captain had smiled at her and said he’d support her decision, but Byakuya had merely observed her quietly. She believed that he was the one who really understood.
Her friends thought it was Ichigo.
It wasn’t. And Byakuya knew very well.
It’s funny how that worked.
Yes, admittedly she did miss Ichigo. He had gone through hell, defeated half of Seretei and managed to save her from certain death. It wasn’t a joke. Besides him, Ichigo was one of the few people she had frequently thought about during her captivity and of course she couldn’t help but notice his changes. For example, he was significantly stronger then when she last saw him. The first time they met on that bridge he had already achieved second release and had immense control over his spiritual power. Then, just three days later, Ichigo had achieved bankai. Only one person’s techniques could have achieved such extraordinary growth.
His.
She reached for the now care-worn journal. Cradling it carefully, she flipped through its contents. Nothing she hadn’t seen before but again and again she would go through it searching for something that would give a hint to as why he did it.
Why he did it without her consent. Without acknowledging her. Without asking. Why.
She wondered when it was that he came to his decision. Was it when he first met her? Did he decide to prey on the wayward defenseless shinigami not only hiding his secret but getting back at Seretei at the same time? Was it before or after those meetings on sidewalk? Before or after he knew her?
Was that what he was really trying to say the whole time?
Rukia threw the journal against the wall.
She needed to leave. Now. She needed to get out of this stupid room. After what happened with Aizen, she doubted anyone would deny her a small excursion.
---------
Apparently, she had an affinity for sidewalks. It was three in the morning and there she was sitting on the pavement, waiting. Waiting, but refusing to admit for whom. So there she sat as the bell chimed one, two, three times, wondering if he ever came out here at all anymore, if everything he did three months ago really was motivated by guilt. Or worse, pity.
She frowned and refused to give into emotion. She would not cry.
Rukia really had no idea why she was doing this. She had her fill of meditation back in her cell in Seretei. For the past week she had thought of him. And she was tired. She was through with thoughts of Kisuke. Of the fate he had so nonchalantly resigned her to.
Yet, she waited.
She knew for certain he wouldn’t come. It was the opposite side of town. And-
She was a pawn.
But, she continued to wait hoping something - anything - would happen. Hoping that at least sometime he thought of her. That he missed her.
So there she sat in the darkness for a man she knew would not come. She had already been there for an hour, and she had had enough.
She rose, almost tripping herself in the darkness. They never had replaced that light. Scanning the area one more time, Rukia started off for Ichigo’s house. It was in that moment a hand clamped firmly around hers.
She stood stalk still.
Rukia would know his hands anywhere. They were big, gentle, assured. But they knew death. Swordsman’s hands.
She was certain he wouldn’t come. She hadn’t actually planned anything to say even if she had thought about it. She thought- She thought that maybe the only time she’d ever see him was in passing.
She thought. She thought. She thought.
But of course, Kisuke was always full of surprises.
He moved closer and Rukia could feel his breath mussing her hair. The warmth being transferred from his hand to hers. Now he was here and he was very real.
But, she had no words to say.
What could possibly describe it? The sense of betrayal… To be told by Aizen that all she had been the whole time was the means to an end. A convenience.
So, she did the only thing she could do. She turned and looked at him, drawing in a deep breath, ready to give him a fully dramatic and angst ridden speech but was stopped by those grey, grey eyes. All of the things she thought she could say clamped up in her throat.
And it was all Rukia could do but kiss him.
--------
Hope everyone enjoyed! Don't be shy to leave a comment. I love feedback!