Time and Tide: Ch. 16, 17 & 18
His hair is and soft as she runs her hands through it.
Byakuya makes a sound between a moan and a sigh, gripping her waist and pulling her closer. With one hand, he sweeps the papers on his desk away, lifting her atop it. She smirks at him, twisting a lock of his hair between her fingers, feline eyes glimmering with mischief. Yoruichi can talk him into just about anything.
They know they’ll be caught, someday. Until then, it hardly matters.
Yoruichi bites his lips and kisses the corners of his mouth, arms sliding into his Captain’s haori to push it away. His hands run up her sleek calves and strong, dark thighs, skin bare to his whims.
He kisses her neck and Yoruichi lays her head upon his shoulder. His breath his hot and tepid against her skin, and when his palms slide up her ribs, Yoruichi shudders. Outside the door, she can hear members of his squad carrying on about their day.
They’ll be caught, someday, but that hardly matters.
Title: Time and Tide: Chapter 17 (Hair)
Characters: Rukia
Rating: G
Summary: She's becoming her own person.
A/N:None.
Rukia stares at herself in the mirror.
It’s late afternoon at the Kuchiki manor, and she can hear servants bustling in the halls. Rukia herself has been busily preparing for the Lieutenant’s exams, and the whole process is exhausting, but fulfilling; Rukia has no doubt that she’ll pass the exams without trouble.
Nevertheless, there are dark circles beneath her eyes, and her hand is constantly cramped from writing.
She sighs and takes a lock of hair between her thumb and forefinger. Squinting, she envisions herself with longer hair, down to her shoulders; pretty, but cumbersome. Anything shorter than her chin would look ridiculous.
She is becoming her own person. Rukia wants to change as much as she can, to herald this new, exciting chapter in her life. She is no longer just a sister of Hisana’s, nor a shadow at her brother’s side; she is a Lieutenant, a Kuchiki, and someone that has made Byakuya proud.
Although she has doubted it in the past, she now knows that Byakuya has always looked upon her with the pride of an elder brother, with a gaze just as protective.
Taking a deep breath, she lifts a pair of scissors before her. Securing a lock of her dark hair, Rukia pauses, breathes in, and snips the lock away. It falls slowly to her lap. Others follow, until she has cut her hair to her chin, straight and blunt. She turns her head this way and that, admiring her new reflection.
Now, she truly is Rukia Kuchiki.
Title: Time and Tide: Chapter 18 (Strength)
Characters: Momo
Rating: G
Summary: Her only proficient skill is kido.
A/N: I don't think people give Momo enough credit.
Momo knows she isn’t the strongest Shinigami in the Gotei 13.
No, not even close. She may be a lieutenant, but she now knows her promotion was all part of Aizen’s scheme, his own cruel way of using her and those around them. She was no more than a mannequin, posing whichever way he saw fit, until he cut her down and left her to die.
Momo gazes up at the starless night sky, arms around herself, bags beneath her eyes. Sleep has been hard to come by, too plagued with nightmares and visions of terror. She can’t remember the last time she slept the whole night through.
Her only proficient skill is kido, and Momo knows why; one must have a different kind of power to wield kido as masterfully as she; that power comes from within herself, her soul, where no one, not even Aizen, can touch.
She has inner strength.