Today's fics are all about alternate universes and realities. Worlds as fantastical as a fairytale, stories set in the distant past or the nearest corporate office (or the local high school or college). Please share with us some of your favorite alternate universe fics!
So this one is a series of separate stories that are not in a linear timeline but OMG DOES THAT NOT MATTER BECAUSE THEY'RE AMAZING AND IT'S FEUDAL IR WHICH IS TOP 5 IR LET'S BFFR.
Today's the day! The official start of Forget Me Not: An IchiRuki Fic Rec Exchange!
We're kicking off with a sweet prompt in honor of Ichigo's birthday: fics that feel like a warm hug. You know the ones. Comforting, soft, warming.
To participate, reblog this post with the title, author, and rating (G, T, M, E) of your favorite comfort fics. If any of the major trigger warnings apply (underage, graphic violence, non-con, major character death) and are not tagged by the author, be sure to indicate that.
Reading one of the recommended fics? Authors love comments - please be sure to let them know how much you enjoyed their story!
Kurosaki Ichigo is a 20-year-old med-student who could see ghosts for as long as he can remember. Then one night he meets Kuchiki Rukia, a shinigami hunting monsters called Hollows. One thing led to another and now Ichigo is on the floor dying and Rukia needs to find a way to save him. The method to do so is...questionable.
Kurosaki Ichigo is a 20-year-old med-student who could see ghosts for as long as he can remember. Then one night he meets Kuchiki Rukia, a shinigami hunting monsters called Hollows. One thing led to another and now Ichigo is on the floor dying and Rukia needs to find a way to save him. The method to do so is...questionable.
I have such good ideas for IR week and I can write a hell of a start but once it starts getting into the meat of it it's like I deflate like a balloon!!!!! WWHYYYYYYYY!!!! This is soooo annoying wtf am I taking Adderal for even?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
And I've gotten so self-conscious of my writing. I feel like I repeat phrases and actions too many times but my brain can't possibly come up with a different or more interesting way to describe things and I'm gonna rip my hair out!!! I wanna write these so bad but man is it discouraging when you're so limited mentally, ya know?
I was excited for Rukia week as I always am, but the brain is dry and shriveled after the IR Big Bang, so this is all I could write for my Queen.
Rukia week 2024 Day 2: ❆ Fashion Brand
Title: By Desing (WIP)
Rated T
“You are the spitting image of your sister! Hisana would be proud!”
Rukia gave them a small smile, bowing her head. She was the perfect picture of gratefulness and humility. She wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her late sister's legacy, after all.
Except it had been Rukia the one that was obsessed with design and fashion and photography. It had been her stealing her mother's magazines and cutting out the beautiful models for her super secret scrapbook. She had been the one to take photography classes and sewing classes and beat out that pretentious Ishida Uryuu for the top spot at Tokyo International School of Design (a rivalry that eventually blossomed into a partnership when she started walking his Fashion Week shows).
But Hisana was the one with the looks. The soft eyes and small lips, long legs, and beatific smile made for the perfect model. It was like the sun chased her. Everyone just naturally wanted to be around her. She hated it though. She hated having her picture taken and being the center of attention in that way. Unfortunately, a few bad financial decisions and subsequent death of their parents at the hands of a drunk driver, left the sisters in ruins and forced them to find jobs wherever they could get them. So Rukia took the pictures whilst Hisana modeled, until an agency got a hold of her and made her into a star. Hisana’s stardom was bright but ephemeral. The president of the agency, Byakuya Kuchiki, fell for her head over heels and gave her his name after less than a year of dating. Their wedding was elegant and grand. Rukia designed Hisana’s dress and cleaned it in silence when Hisana coughed blood onto it. Six months later Hisana died, taking the sun with her.
Whatever veil that covered Rukia seemed to have lifted after Hisana’s passing. Everyone had eyes for her as they desperately tried to get back some of Hisana Kuchiki’s magic. But Rukia had none of that. She was not warm and calm like the ocean waters during the rising sun. She was cold and tempestuous like the water during a full moon. Her eyes were dark and hard, her voice too deep. The designers and photographers would overlook Rukia searching for Hisana where they could, and she allowed it. A part of her still yearned for the childhood dreams of high-fashion and runways, so she took the gigs and walked the shows as Hisana’s little sister. She even took Byakuya’s last name as his sister in his life-long quest to give Hisana everything she ever asked for. Now she walked as Rukia Kuchiki, Hisana’s shadow.
During the height of Fashion Week in Paris, Rukia had once again caught the attention of the fashion world as she walked Uryuu Ishida’s show once more. This time he had brought on a new photographer – an up and coming prodigy named Ichigo Kurosaki. Dark eyes and bright hair, his leather wearing, cigarette smoking bad boy reputation preceded him. He was quick with his camera, capturing the perfect moment in an instant. Apparently he and Uryuu went to school together, which he brought up as he introduced Ichigo to Rukia. She couldn’t help but bristle under his intense stare. His eyes moved with her, following her every step. It would’ve bothered her a lot more if she wasn’t so used to being stared at. Although he didn’t just stare. He observed her. His eyes were on her whenever they were close, making the hairs on her nape stand. He rarely smiled but was never mean or cold. He maneuvered her like priceless marble, like glass. When she modeled for him, he barely even directed her. She would just stand before him and the flashes would go off, his smoky whisky eyes following her. Ichigo’s large hands cupped her chin gently, moving her face slightly from side to side, studying her profile. His fingers moved her hair away from her face, fingertips ghosting the length of her neck. If he wasn’t so close she would’ve gasped, instead she swallowed, trying to keep as steady as possible as Ichigo worked. Finally turning to look directly into her already dilated eyes, Ichigo grinned.
“I’d hate to lose those eyes behind hair.”
Heat blanketed her face, rendering her speechless until he returned to his initial position and continued taking pictures. Rukia took a deep, calming breath and smiled, her voice taking the saccharine note it usually did during these things.
“Of course. I do have my sister's eyes after all.”
“You look nothing like your sister,” Ichigo scoffed, not a note of humor in his tone. Rukia felt the blood rush from her face, leaving her cold and shaking. What did he mean by that? Everyone said she looked like her sister, that’s why she was always getting booked. Did he see something wrong with her? Could he see what others didn’t - that she was indeed not her sister - not as soft, not as bright, not as beautiful. Was that why he looked at her like that? The boning of her dress constricted her lungs, the lights were suddenly too bright. Her breath was coming up ragged and harsh, making her feel lightheaded. A warm hand grabbed onto her elbow, grounding her. Ichigo was in front of her again, this time his eyes filled with concern. He directed everyone to take five and to dim the lights, then guided her away from prying eyes into her dressing room. Once inside, Rukia immediately loosened her dress, allowing air to fill her lungs freely. Ichigo pressed a cold bottle of water into her hand, startling her to his presence. She was very used to getting dressed in the open and in public places, but today modesty decided to show its face. She gathered the front of her dress to her chest.
“Are you okay?” Ichigo asked softly, his voice low. Chugging the water, Rukia nodded, gasping at the feeling of the cool water refreshing her heated body. She wasn’t sure how long they stood there with only the sound of her breathing filling the room. Her head was swimming with thoughts, all negative, about her past and her sister and all the things that could’ve been and weren’t. Hot tears threatened to spill over, but she fought them back, unwilling to allow this man to see her cry. But there he stood, not taking his eyes off of her, apparent worry radiating out of him and not a drip of annoyance or judgment. That alone almost made her break.
After what felt like hours (it had been more like 5 minutes. The crew decided to take their lunch break), Ichigo shifted, moving closer. His hands hovered close, as if they wanted desperately to touch her.
“Rukia,” the sound of her name in his voice gave her goosebumps and brought her out of her thoughts. She took a steading breath.
“I’m sorry I don’t look like her,” she whispered, her voice hoarse. Ichigo frowned.
“What a dumb thing to apologize for,” he replied, head tilted. The frown was still there, now accompanied by a small grin. Now Rukia was frowning.
“I don’t understand.”
“What is there to understand? I don’t think you look like your sister, is all. I mean, yeah she was beautiful but you…you’re…”
Weaker? Shorter? Colder?
“Stronger.”
“Huh?” Was all she could muster, too taken aback by his response, “What do you mean?”
Sighing, Ichigo got closer, taking her chin in his hands. Rukia didn’t think her eyes could get any wider as he moved her face slowly from side to side, studying her profile just like earlier.
“Your profile is much stronger. You have rounder cheeks which makes you look more youthful. Your lips are fuller,” his eyes dropped to her lips, which she couldn’t help making into a pout. The look in his eyes was making her nervous, “and your eyes.”
“Everyone says we have the same eyes,” she muttered. Ichigo scoffed.
“Everyone is stupid. Anyone with working eyes can tell they’re very different. I like yours better,” he grinned at her again, making her blush. She blew air out her mouth in frustration.
“Do you always say what’s on your mind?”
“Yes. Do you want to know what I’m thinking right now?” He tilted her head closer, the distance between them shorter. Rukia shook her head.
“Show me.”
Without hesitation, Ichigo closed the gap between them with a searing kiss, leaving her breathless. Her heart had never felt this light and for the first time, she saw herself, her true self, in the eyes of the man who loved her for her and her alone.
Warm weather and sunny skies are ahead: bring your parasol and join us as we celebrate IchiRuki Week from May 20 - 26!
Participation:
Choose one prompt or use both for each day. On day 4, make anything you'd like! For day 7, finish that WIP that's been languishing in your files for a year (or two, or three, or... well, you get the idea).
Post your submission to Twitter or tumblr using the #IchiRukiWeek2024 tag.
Add fics to the AO3 collection here.
Text version of prompts:
Day 1: Soulmates / Royalty
Day 2: Enemies to lovers / Road Trip
Day 3: Fake Relationships / Domesticity
Day 4: Free space!
Day 5: Sunshine vs. Grumpy / Fairytale Retellings
Day 6: Arranged marriage / There was only one bed
Day 7: Finish that WIP!
See some familiar faces? We are so excited to celebrate IchiRuki's beautiful relationship with everyone once again! ☺️ Please stop by our team's socials on Twitter and give them some love:
Ok so I'm just sitting in bed bored out of my mind and I decided that I'm gonna write some IR headcanon (Is that the proper term for this?) about their kids 'cause it's been rattling in my brain for a long time.
Anyways, when it comes to IchiRuki kids, I've always imagined them having twins. Twin girls, to be exact. They have the typical eye/hair color combo people give IR kids- one has orange hair like her dad but the purple eyes of her mother while the other one has raven black hair and bright amber eyes like her dad. They have their hair in long ponytails, Sailor Moon style (without the little buns), and the signature Kuchiki bang across their face. I haven't thought of their names 'cause that's too complicated, but I would like to think they would call them Hisana and Masaki, although I don't know how common it is in Japanese culture to call children after a loved one that passed away. Hisana would be the one with the light hair and dark eyes. Masaki would be the one with dark hair and light eyes.
Hisana would be a Kuchiki, so she would go by Kuchiki Hisana since she would be chosen as the heir to the Kuchiki clan. Ichigo was *not* happy about it but he couldn't really argue with an entire clan, especially after Rukia decided to concede. Hisana would attend etiquette classes and have a tutor teaching her the clan's history and what it meant to be head of the clan, so she grew up to be very reserved and proper, all lady-like and whatnot. She spends a lot of time with her uncle Byakuya who dotes on her inmensly. Byakuya also likes having the twins close because he's kind of wary of what their abilities are going to develop to be. He senses a darkness coming from Hisana that seems to be restrained thanks to her clan training. Ichigo is also aware since Zangetsu keeps pestering him about it cryptically. But he's not going to scare his daughter. He trusts that she will be able to handle it.
Kurosaki Masaki is her father's daughter. She's brash and stubborn and has an infinite reserve of energy. She's very social and has interacted with almost every captain and vice-captain in the Court, with the 10th being her favorite place to loiter since Matsumoto spoils her with sweets and stories. Masaki also likes hanging out at the 11th a little too much which does not make Rukia very happy, especially after she returns with her robes filthy and her shoes almost destroyed. When she learned her shikai's name, it was so chaotic that she almost burned one of the barracks in the 13th down. She hasn't been allowed to release it since. Like her mother, Masaki loves climbing trees as high as she can to get the best vantage point. Rukia has noticed Masaki's ability to manipulate the reishi around her in a way that feels eerily familiar, but she's never shown any signs of having any Quincy-like abilities.
Regarding their shikai, I imagine Hisana having a water-based zanpakuto and Masaki having a fire-based one (kinda on the nose given their personalities but hey, whatevs). I also think that Masaki would have access to Quincy powers (thanks grandma!) and Hisana would be a Visored. She got some of Zangetsu's energy and a little baby hollow formed and she is vicious. Unlike Zangetsu though, she's very quiet. She only peaks out whenever she senses anyone Hisana loves to be in danger. When she does peak out though, it's not pretty. I think it would be cool if the girls' powers were sun and moon based 'cause, you know. I'm terrible at coming up with names for stuff so idk.
I also think a lot about their uniforms. Since there are some shinigami who wear different versions of their shihakusho, I think the girls would have their own styles as well. Mainly the bottoms. Masaki would have a cute pleated skirt and knee-high white boots in the same material as Byakuya and Rukia's garments. She would also have gloves like Rukia's that would go all the way up her arm, so the sleeves of her robes would be a little shorter.
Masaki's robes would be a little more fitted, giving a more ninja-like appearance, since she moves around a lot. She would have shorts and booties. She has one fingerless glove on her right hand which is her sword arm. When she uses her shikai she swipes her sword on her glove to activate it, like a match being lit. Omg can someone draw them pleeeeeeeease....
I've also thought of IshiHime's baby. A cute ginger boy with round, freckly cheeks and glasses. He's extremely smart like his parents but he's also an absolute nerd. He's socially awkward, stutters a little, and has a hard time with life in general, but that's because his brain is trying to reconcile the fact that he's a little bit of a time lord. Yeah, he can bend time and space and pretty much destroy their reality as they know it if he would just figure out how to use it. He doesn't know how to though, so he keeps ripping holes in space unknowingly which causes many shenanigans. The girls are very protective of him but unfortunately, he spends a lot of time alone since he lives in the human world, which means he gets in a lot of trouble alone. The girls find all kinds of ways to go into the human world to save him from himself. The parentals are unaware of all this because the kids are terrified of telling them, but a sudden rip in the universe that opens to Hell may be reason enough to spill the beans.
Ok, ok, I'm cooking now lmao.
I don't have a fully fleshed story for them. Maybe I should just write little stories here and there for them, kinda build their lore.
One story I think about a lot is the first time Hisana's hollow made her appearance. It's also when Masaki loses her long locks, hehe.
So, it happens in one of their excursions to the human world. They usually sneak into the Kuchiki estate and use Byakuya's seinkamon. IshiHime baby (I don't have a name lol. I thought maybe Ryuki 颯希, or I saw the name Osuke 王祐. Any Japanese speakers in the chat?) was ripping holes as he did whenever he got super anxious and a bunch of hollows came through. He has an okay handle on his Quincy powers but it wasn't enough to handle that amount of hollows. The girls rushed to his help, slicing and dicing as the shunpo'd around the monsters. Masaki was still unsure about her shikai and if she should use it seeing as how it was still so volatile. Her hesitancy and distraction caused her to get swiped by a hollow. Hisana rushed to her help, the water from her shikai dancing around her. She was a little bruised and battered but she managed to push the hollow away from her sister. IsH baby found that he could call forth a shield with a pin his mom had given him in a chain around his neck, which helped to save Hisana from a hollow fully landing a blow. The shield didn't last, but was enough for Hisana to finish the hollow off. Exhausted, she fell back, breathing heavily. Masaki rushed to her sister, concerned for her well-being. Unbeknownst to the sisters, a menos-level hollow appeared. It wrapped one of its long claws around Masaki's hair and swiped down, cutting her long tresses. Time slowed down as the black hair flew around them, swept around them by the wind. They barely had time to register what happened before the menos swiped at Masaki again, catching her by the ribs and flinging her away. Hisana lay there, eyes wide open and breath caught in her chest at the image of her sister's hair being sliced off and her body getting hit by the menos. A burning sensation traveled up and down her body, causing her to shiver. Anger roiled hot through her veins, her pupils contracting until they reduced to slits. The rain started to pelt the ground. The menos roared loudly, closing in on Hisana. Before it could close down on her, she was gone. The rain then started to move in a circle around the hollow, surrounding its head in a bubble. Hisana stood behind it, her eyes devoid of the usual azure richness and her pupils just catlike slits. She swung her sword down and the bubble surrounding the hollow moved in, creating so much pressure that its head burst. Its body disintegrated into the air. IsH baby walked up to her slowly, calling her name. He gasped when Hisana turned and he saw her eyes. Before she could do anything else, her eyes turned back to normal and she fainted.
Some time later Hisana woke up in a room she didn't recognize. After a few seconds of gathering herself, she heard the voices of several people whom she recognized as her parents and the Ishida's. She could recognize her dad's angry voice and her mom's rational one. Mrs. Ishida sounded as if she'd been crying. Sitting up, Hisana found a girl with face-framing short hair peeking through the door. It took her a few seconds to recognize her sister. Masaki shushed her and pointed at the door, mouthing that the parents were upset. The door suddenly slid open, causing Masaki to fall on her but. At the door stood Ichigo, full-blown scowl and every bit as menacing as the rumors said he was. Masaki scooted back next to Hisana. Noticing his raven-haired daughter, his face softened. She looked exactly like Rukia did when she came back after those 17 months. Only that she had his eyes, which were shimmering with unshed tears. Hisana was silently hiccuping next to her. She was the crybaby of the two and definitely a daddy's girl. Ichigo sighed knowing damn well he was powerless against his girls. He kneeled before them and held out his arms, which they both jumped into, almost knocking him back. Hisana started to full-on wail while Masaki silently cried on her dad's shoulder. Ichigo explained that they weren't in any trouble, but that they did need to explain what happened. Rukia then walked in, taking Masaki in her arms where she started to cry in earnest because she was a mommy's girl. Rukia ran her fingers through her daughter's short hair and chuckled, telling her she looked just like her when she was younger. This cheered Masaki up a little. Hisana was inconsolable, hiccuping through her words as she blamed herself for getting her sister hurt. Masaki tried telling her that it wasn't her fault and that she was okay but to no avail. It wasn't until the Ishida's came in and baby boy said that actually, it was his fault. And that's how they found out that baby boy was out here playing with time and space.
Woof! Look at me writing! Who would've thought! I need to write more about these babies because I've had them in my mind for too long. Ok, enough of this, I need to go to bed lol.
Adding to this, I think I found some better names for the twins. Of course, like any good IchiRuki, the kids will have sun-moon-dark-light-themed names, duh! Lmao!
Anyways, here are some names I like:
Himari 陽: means "sun, sunlight, positive, daytime."
Arisa 光桜 : 光 means "light, radiance." 桜 means "cherry blossom." Radiant cherry blossom? I thought that would be like a cute ode to ByaHisa
Miyuki 美雪: 美 means "beauty, beautiful, pretty." 雪 means "snow." I meeeeaaan, this one is kind of a given, no?
Mizuki 美月: 美 means "beauty, beautiful, pretty." 月 means "moon, month." This one is also a good one.
There's so many options, but I think I like these the most. Maybe once I'm done with the IR Big Bang fic I'll dive more into my IR twins OC's.
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