Ink Burns

Post Soul Society arc, Rukia has to deal with lingering injuries and Byakuya finds old habits of care returning. Fluff with Angst, I-4, mild spoilers

It had been coming for days; she’d felt it like a presence standing behind her shoulder, stepping closer and closer again until it merged with her backbone and unstrung her. She didn’t know why it was now, why this hadn’t happened when she was locked away or about to die or at some other time that made sense. She just knew she couldn’t hold it back any more, and a few hot tears spilled over as her breath rasped harshly in her lungs.

Rukia talks to her brother about career plans. Drama, I-3

Kuchiki was her House, just as Rukongai was her past. And neither a survivor of Inuzuri nor a daughter of Kuchiki needed anyone holding open doors for her. She’d open her own damn door.

Very memorable ceremonies. Drama with Romance, I-3

But however much of a pain parts of it had been, it all came down to this. To he and Rukia, having escaped from the layers of their formal robes and elaborate hair ornaments, down to a yukata apiece, in a dim bedroom that belonged to them.

Rukia and Renji, and, in fact, most of Soul Society, prepare; plotting continues. Drama with Romance, I-3

He looked up at her with entreaty. “Are you sure I can’t just stay the third morning?”

Byakuya causes there to be romance, like it or not. Fiat Romance, I-3

Rukia sank back, arrested by the phrase marry out of the house. She remembered the conversation she and her brother had had in the garden one evening, about regrets and stubbornness, and spouses and honor. Her heart couldn’t decide whether to stop beating or to race.

Renji catches a glimpse of Rukia dealing with her own new position. Drama with some Angst, I-3

It was good to know she hadn’t lost any of the edge off her vocabulary after all those years in a noble house.

Byakuya and Rukia speak of regrets and possibilities. Drama with Romantic Angst, I-4.

“Tell me about Hisana.”

Rukia campaigns against her brother’s stoicism. Drama with Fluff, I-2.

Rukia drew some odd looks, marching through the main offices of Sixth Division with a tray of tea.

Slightly twisted ficlet about the aftermath of the Soul Society arc. Spoilers through manga 181. Totally Cracked, I-1

“Nii-sama?” she asked, a bit cautiously just in case this was a symptom of madness, or some strange family ritual she’d never heard of.

Rukia gets exasperated and points out the obvious to Renji. Spoilers through manga 181. Mostly Humor, I-1.

“Get it straight,” she snapped at him. “I am fully recovered. I have not had my spiritual energy drained. I am not in a false body that keeps draining it. I have not just come out of a prison that also keeps draining it.” Each not was punctuated by a brisk shake.

Knowing the history of Byakuya’s promises, Rukia makes one of her own, and hopes Renji can accept it. Drama with Angst, I-4.

A subtle softening passed over her brother’s face. Nothing so overt as a smile, but Rukia brightened to see it. I’ll make our house proud, she assured him silently. I will. I promise.