Stopgap
Series: Exiles-verse
Title: Stopgap
Summary: When Aizen is discovered to have been defeated by a group of exiles months after his defection, the Soul Society is understandably uneasy. They begin an investigation which eventually locates twenty years gone deserter Kuchiki Rukia, leaving Kuchiki Byakuya and the recently appointed captain of the Third Division, Abarai Renji, in an awkward situation. AU, Ichigo/Rukia.
Rating: Hard R
Warnings: Violence, nondescript sex, gratuitous Japanese, and spoilers for current arc in the manga.
Ichigo gets out early on Thursdays and he's trying to get some homework done before Rukia comes home later that afternoon while Kon keeps distracting him, when someone knocks on his door.
"Fuck, did Rukia forget to pay the rent again?" Ichigo scowls and throws Kon into Rukia's room. "Stay there, moron. And if you so much as touch Rukia's clothes or anything, I will feed you to that dog across the street."
"Unfair!" Kon shouts and Ichigo opens the front door quickly.
"Tatsuki?"
She's in her usual denim shorts and jersey, but there's something about her posture that suggests she's extremely uncomfortable. Ichigo frowns in confusion.
"Hey, Ichigo," she says, smile oddly brittle. "Mind if I come in?"
"Uh, sure," he says, stepping back to let her inside. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"No, thanks."
She looks at him strangely, as if he was the one who showed up with no notice at his apartment and frowns.
"Wow," she says, looking surprised. "I guess Asano didn't tell you after all. I underestimated him."
"Keigo didn't tell me what?" Ichigo says in confusion, noting how pale Tatsuki is. He shuts the door behind her and suddenly wonders if something has happened.
Tatsuki sighs and runs a shaking hand through her shoulder length hair. "You're going to find out anyway, so I figured it should probably come from me," she says, more serious than he's seen her in a while. "So I guess I'll just say it. I'm gay."
Ichigo stares.
"And I've sort of been sleeping with Chizuru."
Ichigo stares some more.
"Well," Tatsuki says, swallowing and crossing her arms over her chest uncomfortably. "Say something."
"Er..." Ichigo says, throat going dry, trying to put it all together in his mind. "Okay...wait, Honshou? Don't you hate her?"
"Apparently not," Tatsuki says dryly, letting out a uncomfortable laugh. "But Asano found out and we all know how that's going to end."
"Oh," Ichigo says.
Will this change things, he wonders, looking at her closely. After all, Tatsuki is his oldest friend and this is kind of a huge deal. On the other hand, Tatsuki dating girls is just about as weird as when she was dating guys and Ichigo's never thought of himself as prejudiced anyway.
"Well, okay," he says awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry."
Tatsuki raises an eyebrow. "You're sorry?"
Crap, that didn't come out right. "Uh, no, I mean, I'm...I don't care, it's fine. But other people..."
"Don't hurt yourself now," Tatsuki says with a grin, her shoulders relaxing. "Orihime knows, but that's about it. I wasn't really planning on telling anyone, but then Asano..." She sighs, bringing a shaking hand up to run it through her hair. "But you're my oldest friend, so I thought you should hear it from me."
Ichigo makes a mental note to call Keigo and threaten him with grave bodily harm if he breathes a word of Tatsuki's secret to anyone. He's never seen her so shaken up in all the years he's known her, and she doesn't deserve the scandal Keigo's love for gossip would cause.
"Do your parents..." he asks carefully, after a brief pause and Tatsuki sighs.
"No," she says with a sad smile that is just so wrong on her face that it makes Ichigo want to punch someone. "You'd think they'd have figured it out by now, as I'm a walking stereotype, but they're completely clueless. I'm not sure I ever will tell them. Certainly not any time soon. I don't think they would react well."
"I'm sorry," Ichigo offers, lamely, wishing there was something more he could say. But there's nothing he can do to fix this, so he keeps his mouth shut.
"It's alright," she says with a grin that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "I just...thanks, you know." To his utter horror, her eyes look a bit wet and she blinks rapidly before continuing. "For not freaking out."
"I wouldn't-" Ichigo says frantically, shocked and unsettled by the out of character emotion on her face. "I mean, we're friends, you know. Something like that would never be a problem."
Tatsuki nods tightly, seeming not to trust herself to speak.
"I won't tell anyone either," Ichigo adds quickly, hoping this is enough to wipe the lost and sad expression off her face.
It is. Tatsuki rolls her eyes at him. "Alright, alright, now you're freaking out," she says annoyingly, and therefore sounding a lot more like herself. "Stoppit."
Bitch. And here he was trying to be nice.
"So..." Ichigo says in retaliation, crossing his arms over his chest. "Honshou?"
Tatsuki glares at him. "I refuse to talk about that," she says tightly, and then, inexplicably, smirks, "I guess it could be worse though. I could be in love with a dead girl."
Ichigo blinks. "That's...oddly specific."
Tatsuki gives him a exasperated look.
"What?"
"Look, Ichigo," she says determinedly, putting her hands on her hips in the way that has always meant bad news. "I opened up with you, now you gotta open up with me, that's how it works. I know you're in love with Kuchiki-san. It's really, really obvious."
Ichigo gapes at her. "What?" he yelps, his voice jumping an octave embarrassingly. "What are you talking about?"
"We're not blind, you know," Tatsuki says, looking annoyed. "I mean, come on. When even crazy psychotic mass-murders comment on it, you know there has to be something there."
"You trust Aizen over me?" Ichigo says disbelievingly. "And what do you mean by we? Who else thinks that?"
"Oh, c'mon, even you're not that stupid, Ichigo," Tatsuki continues inexplicably. "You've never even looked at any other girl besides Kuchiki-san. I know for a fact that there were girls in high school who liked you, naming no names mind you, who were a lot prettier and not exactly lacking in the chest department and you never even noticed."
This is news to Ichigo. "What? Who?"
Tatsuki scowls at him. "Stop changing the subject," she orders, channeling her inner karate instructor. "And stop denying it. You two are attached at the hip! You live together. She slept in your bed when we had that party a couple weeks ago, for God's sake!"
"Because there was no room anywhere else!" Ichigo explains, feeling his face heat up in mortification. He cannot believe that Tatsuki's actually serious about this.
"Uh huh, and sleeping on the floor is absolutely out of the question for someone our age," Tatsuki says logically. "Look, you don't have to admit it or whatever, but your pussyfooting around is starting to piss everyone off. You're going to have to be the one to make the first move, because obviously she won't. So just, you know, do that and stop tormenting the rest of us with your unresolved sexual tension."
Ichigo stares at her with uncomprehending horror and Tatsuki groans and hides her face in her hands.
"Honestly," she says, exasperated. "You two are so...Even Tsukishima-san says-"
"Who's Tsu-" Ichigo starts, but he doesn't get to find out what this random person has to say about his and Rukia's relationship because then his phone rings and it's Inoue calling to tell them that Ishida's been attacked.
A/N: Attack of the plot! I knew it was around here somewhere. I promise things will start to speed up now. Please comment!
Title: Stopgap
Summary: When Aizen is discovered to have been defeated by a group of exiles months after his defection, the Soul Society is understandably uneasy. They begin an investigation which eventually locates twenty years gone deserter Kuchiki Rukia, leaving Kuchiki Byakuya and the recently appointed captain of the Third Division, Abarai Renji, in an awkward situation. AU, Ichigo/Rukia.
Rating: Hard R
Warnings: Violence, nondescript sex, gratuitous Japanese, and spoilers for current arc in the manga.
Ichigo gets out early on Thursdays and he's trying to get some homework done before Rukia comes home later that afternoon while Kon keeps distracting him, when someone knocks on his door.
"Fuck, did Rukia forget to pay the rent again?" Ichigo scowls and throws Kon into Rukia's room. "Stay there, moron. And if you so much as touch Rukia's clothes or anything, I will feed you to that dog across the street."
"Unfair!" Kon shouts and Ichigo opens the front door quickly.
"Tatsuki?"
She's in her usual denim shorts and jersey, but there's something about her posture that suggests she's extremely uncomfortable. Ichigo frowns in confusion.
"Hey, Ichigo," she says, smile oddly brittle. "Mind if I come in?"
"Uh, sure," he says, stepping back to let her inside. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"No, thanks."
She looks at him strangely, as if he was the one who showed up with no notice at his apartment and frowns.
"Wow," she says, looking surprised. "I guess Asano didn't tell you after all. I underestimated him."
"Keigo didn't tell me what?" Ichigo says in confusion, noting how pale Tatsuki is. He shuts the door behind her and suddenly wonders if something has happened.
Tatsuki sighs and runs a shaking hand through her shoulder length hair. "You're going to find out anyway, so I figured it should probably come from me," she says, more serious than he's seen her in a while. "So I guess I'll just say it. I'm gay."
Ichigo stares.
"And I've sort of been sleeping with Chizuru."
Ichigo stares some more.
"Well," Tatsuki says, swallowing and crossing her arms over her chest uncomfortably. "Say something."
"Er..." Ichigo says, throat going dry, trying to put it all together in his mind. "Okay...wait, Honshou? Don't you hate her?"
"Apparently not," Tatsuki says dryly, letting out a uncomfortable laugh. "But Asano found out and we all know how that's going to end."
"Oh," Ichigo says.
Will this change things, he wonders, looking at her closely. After all, Tatsuki is his oldest friend and this is kind of a huge deal. On the other hand, Tatsuki dating girls is just about as weird as when she was dating guys and Ichigo's never thought of himself as prejudiced anyway.
"Well, okay," he says awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry."
Tatsuki raises an eyebrow. "You're sorry?"
Crap, that didn't come out right. "Uh, no, I mean, I'm...I don't care, it's fine. But other people..."
"Don't hurt yourself now," Tatsuki says with a grin, her shoulders relaxing. "Orihime knows, but that's about it. I wasn't really planning on telling anyone, but then Asano..." She sighs, bringing a shaking hand up to run it through her hair. "But you're my oldest friend, so I thought you should hear it from me."
Ichigo makes a mental note to call Keigo and threaten him with grave bodily harm if he breathes a word of Tatsuki's secret to anyone. He's never seen her so shaken up in all the years he's known her, and she doesn't deserve the scandal Keigo's love for gossip would cause.
"Do your parents..." he asks carefully, after a brief pause and Tatsuki sighs.
"No," she says with a sad smile that is just so wrong on her face that it makes Ichigo want to punch someone. "You'd think they'd have figured it out by now, as I'm a walking stereotype, but they're completely clueless. I'm not sure I ever will tell them. Certainly not any time soon. I don't think they would react well."
"I'm sorry," Ichigo offers, lamely, wishing there was something more he could say. But there's nothing he can do to fix this, so he keeps his mouth shut.
"It's alright," she says with a grin that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "I just...thanks, you know." To his utter horror, her eyes look a bit wet and she blinks rapidly before continuing. "For not freaking out."
"I wouldn't-" Ichigo says frantically, shocked and unsettled by the out of character emotion on her face. "I mean, we're friends, you know. Something like that would never be a problem."
Tatsuki nods tightly, seeming not to trust herself to speak.
"I won't tell anyone either," Ichigo adds quickly, hoping this is enough to wipe the lost and sad expression off her face.
It is. Tatsuki rolls her eyes at him. "Alright, alright, now you're freaking out," she says annoyingly, and therefore sounding a lot more like herself. "Stoppit."
Bitch. And here he was trying to be nice.
"So..." Ichigo says in retaliation, crossing his arms over his chest. "Honshou?"
Tatsuki glares at him. "I refuse to talk about that," she says tightly, and then, inexplicably, smirks, "I guess it could be worse though. I could be in love with a dead girl."
Ichigo blinks. "That's...oddly specific."
Tatsuki gives him a exasperated look.
"What?"
"Look, Ichigo," she says determinedly, putting her hands on her hips in the way that has always meant bad news. "I opened up with you, now you gotta open up with me, that's how it works. I know you're in love with Kuchiki-san. It's really, really obvious."
Ichigo gapes at her. "What?" he yelps, his voice jumping an octave embarrassingly. "What are you talking about?"
"We're not blind, you know," Tatsuki says, looking annoyed. "I mean, come on. When even crazy psychotic mass-murders comment on it, you know there has to be something there."
"You trust Aizen over me?" Ichigo says disbelievingly. "And what do you mean by we? Who else thinks that?"
"Oh, c'mon, even you're not that stupid, Ichigo," Tatsuki continues inexplicably. "You've never even looked at any other girl besides Kuchiki-san. I know for a fact that there were girls in high school who liked you, naming no names mind you, who were a lot prettier and not exactly lacking in the chest department and you never even noticed."
This is news to Ichigo. "What? Who?"
Tatsuki scowls at him. "Stop changing the subject," she orders, channeling her inner karate instructor. "And stop denying it. You two are attached at the hip! You live together. She slept in your bed when we had that party a couple weeks ago, for God's sake!"
"Because there was no room anywhere else!" Ichigo explains, feeling his face heat up in mortification. He cannot believe that Tatsuki's actually serious about this.
"Uh huh, and sleeping on the floor is absolutely out of the question for someone our age," Tatsuki says logically. "Look, you don't have to admit it or whatever, but your pussyfooting around is starting to piss everyone off. You're going to have to be the one to make the first move, because obviously she won't. So just, you know, do that and stop tormenting the rest of us with your unresolved sexual tension."
Ichigo stares at her with uncomprehending horror and Tatsuki groans and hides her face in her hands.
"Honestly," she says, exasperated. "You two are so...Even Tsukishima-san says-"
"Who's Tsu-" Ichigo starts, but he doesn't get to find out what this random person has to say about his and Rukia's relationship because then his phone rings and it's Inoue calling to tell them that Ishida's been attacked.
A/N: Attack of the plot! I knew it was around here somewhere. I promise things will start to speed up now. Please comment!