C O L L A P S E

indie&selective Shinji Hirako. written by peeb. multi verse&ship. 18+ only.

[angelwitch-abracadabra]

Nobody hears a single word you say, but you keep on talkin' till your dying day.

- Led Zeppelin

[baiika]

@syncopxtc from here

Karin knows he's being hypocritical, but Shinji's the sacrificial sort. She wonders if he actually doesn't care or if it's an affectation to cope with years of utter fucking nonsense.

For now, it's prudent to move on. She has learned Shinji's advice is invaluable. "I'm not above beating it into someone." It's harder when you're a woman. You have to dig your nail into the ceiling hard to scratch it. "The bigger issue is the exhaustion of it, y'know?"

Despite her love affair with battle, Karin has come to learn that high-stress circumstances change people. Her temperament has become less choleric since her death and she likes that. Likes the person she has since become.

The idea she'll go back to her old ways because unbearable cunts make her is less than ideal.

[syncopxtc]

"I know, I know," he says, waving his hand sympathetically. "We've all been a whelp at one at one point er another, Kurosaki." Still feels weird addressing her. Like the name belongs to someone else, even though he knows it belongs to her just as much. "Just do me a favor n' run it by me if yer considerin' an ass-kickin', 'kay? We'll figure out if it's worth it."

He has a system for these things.

[lucxns]

{ @syncopxtc // from this.

her face shifts from something between a full-blown frown and half a pout. stomach ache? she felt fine?

and then she shifted up to greet him --

and roughly one pound of sour candy sank in her gut.

❝ -- why did no one warn me? ❞ it was a whine. no way to deny it. how did she eat the whole family sized bag while waiting for him? apparently daydreaming led to poor candy ingestion habits.

she looked at the bag like it had set out purposefully to poison her. ❝ throw that out! I'm not eating candy from that stupid shop in Karakura again!❞

[syncopxtc]

He bites his lip as he watches the recognition settle in. Poor thing.

"Thought ya knew!" he says, reaching for the bag, pinching it between his fingers like it's some sort of forensic evidence not to be tampered with. "Ya spent so much time in the world a' the livin', figured ya'd been through this before. I'll get ya some water." On his way to the decanter, he tosses the alarmingly empty bag into the trash. "I'm actually pretty excited--never dealt with sugar-high Rukia before. Can't wait t' find out what she's like."

[syncopxtc]

“Why can’t you be honest about what you’re feeling?”

"Ya'd think it'd be easier by now, huh?" He knows it's no good. Out of anyone, he should at least be able to be candid with her. Love of his life, sweet thing. "I'm sorry, it's just..." He shrugs because there is no excuse. "Some habits die hard, I guess. Ya get used t' keepin' it all bottled up n' then ya just never stop. Even when ya know it's okay."

[lucxns]

don't call me by my name. all of this is temporary. watch as I slip away for your sake.

INDEPENDENT & SELECTIVE KUCHIKI RUKIA FROM BLEACH //

WRITTEN BY C.

all of this is temporary...

[syncopxtc]

wishing they'd had the internet back in the day so he could have catfished sousuke

[syncopxtc]

momo; “What, you’ve never been here before?”

He forgets how old he must seem. How lived-in his body is, how storied. Maybe she thinks he's just so wise, he must have been everywhere, must have seen everything. But she's no fool. She just knows he's been around a long time. Nothing wise about managing, through sheer luck, not to die yet.

"Nah," he says, looking out across the steaming expanse. A secret little place, a hot spring gushing in the shadow of a dustry cliff face. Shrubbery grows all down the steep incline. He can hear birds chirping. "Must be a place where the cool kids hang out, this one."

He slips his bare foot out, dips his toes into the hot water.

"You gonna go in?"

[syncopxtc]

karin (mayhaps while in gobantai?); “Why do you let them talk to you like that?”

"Gotta pick yer battles," he tells her. "You, though." He points one long skinny finger at her. "You gotta not tolerate any shit, hear me? Ya haven't earned the station t' be...discernin' with the disrespect ya tolerate." She's young. New. A girl. She has to claw her way upwards by refusing to bow her head to anyone.

[baiika]

@syncopxtc from here

She chuckles while she remembers what it was like to carry Shinji. Momo doesn't qualify herself as a meathead, but she did feel buff being able to lift him, and at the time, wondered if Renji felt that way every day.

"I needa- I needa get my pipe out of my shirt," she wheezes. Momo thinks she wouldn't have such a hard time breathing if she didn't smoke like a meat pit; alas, her pipe is right on her broken rib. "Remind me to break every one of that cunt's ribs when we're back."

[syncopxtc]

He awkwardly stretches his arm from under her legs, gently smacking her hand away from the fold in her uniform.

"Yeah right, kid," Shinji says. "If the consequent pneumonia don't kill ya, Kotetsu-san will. Ain't they stretched thin enough over there already?" This is the sort of thing they can deal with in their own barracks. Just rest. Light duty for a few weeks. No fucking smoking. "Yikes, yer a terror," he tells her, though he's grinning fondly. "I'm gonna get ya somethin' for the pain." They are swiftly approaching safe haven. He can see the barracks from here. "Anythin' else hurt?"

[rpmemes-galore]

random questions … sentence starters

“Are you cold?”

“Where’d you put it?”

“You got this for me…?”

“Did you hear the news?”

“Do you believe in ghosts?”

“Did you seriously buy that?”

“How long ago did it happen?”

“Who do you have a crush on?”

“What are you doing out here?”

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Did you have anyone in mind?”

“Have there been any updates?”

“Do you want to go out with me?”

“What’s wrong? You don’t like it?”

“Did you make this? It’s beautiful!”

“You’re sticking to that story, huh?”

“Do you need something to drink?”

“I didn’t catch that, what’d you say?”

“Can I make you something to eat?”

“Why are you the way that you are?”

“You sound like a frog, are you sick?”

“How have you survived for so long?”

“Did you hear anything else about it?”

“What happened? This wasn’t like this.”

“You mind if I crash here for the night?”

“Do you want to just… get out of here?”

“Do you think I deserve to be forgiven?”

“What, you’ve never been here before?”

“Hold on, where’s this all coming from?”

“Does that sound like its getting closer?”

“Have you ever been to (place) before?”

“Why can’t you be honest with yourself?”

“Do you need somewhere to stay tonight?”

“I… I don’t understand, what’s happening?”

“Why do you let them talk to you like that?”

“Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?”

“Do you think people can earn forgiveness?”

“How long have you been dealing with this?”

“Why don’t you admit when you need help?”

“Why don’t you ever tell the truth, not ever?”

“Do you honestly expect me to believe that?”

“What makes you think I don’t care about you?”

“Why do you think you can get away with this?”

“How long have you been hiding this from me?”

“Who made you feel like you don’t deserve love?”

“Are you okay…? ‘Cause you don’t seem very okay.”

“Do you think you have feelings for (her/him/them)?”

“Why can’t you be honest about what you’re feeling?”

“What makes you think this is going to end well for you?”

“Seriously, you’re telling me you’ve never tried it before?”

“Do you think you’re better than everyone else, is that it?”

“Really? Do you really think that little of me that you think I’d do that?”

“Why would you do that? What made you think that was an okay thing to do?”

[syncopxtc]

she’s sprawled out on his floor, buried under a blanket and munching on some sour candies.

"Ya want a pillow, doll?" That can't be comfortable for her head. "N' somethin' for the killer tummy-ache yer about t' have?"

[baiika]

@syncopxtc from here

The gobantai temperment is famous. Nemu remembers hearing of Momo and Izuru's incarceration when the Ryoka invaded and how she went mad and tried killing two people. What Nemu witnessed on the training field was as accurate as rumor: how Momo flew into a rage and charged, how it took three people to hold her back.

It's weird to be addressed as a person. As a sweetheart. Nemu is complicit in evilness. Unblinking when Mayuri shaves and saws the crowns of their compatriots to probe their brains with electrodes. It makes her flush rosy.

Nemu isn't particularly attached to anyone. Even their seated officers change like socks. Eventually, enough faces pass, and they smear into something faceless. Their seventh seat is a small, meaningless price. God knows they would perish in far more horrific fashions in juuniibantai.

She nods. "I will compile a new settlement and present it and the... paraphernalia," because now their personage is lost to whatever vengeance Shinji has planned, "within the next twenty-four hours."

Mayuri snarls. "There should be additional discussion." He's unusually diplomatic. Under different circumstances, Nemu's nose would be caved in. She wonders if her father is scared of Shinji.

"I believe this is additional discussion," Nemu says.

[syncopxtc]

"You n' I ain't got nothin' to discuss about this," Shinji says to her. "But get me that officer, n' I'll be writing up a report. A thorough one." Maybe this low-ranking scrub will cave, give him some dirt. Something so vile even Mayuri can't get away with it. It's doubtful, but Shinji's angry, and knows there's no use drawing his sword just to be turned into some corrosive, toxic goo, or whatever it is Mayuri does to his enemies.

"Nemu-chan~" he says. He taps the closed folder. "This is good work, even though it's bullshit. You could go toe-to-toe with Hinamori when it comes to paperwork. Kurotsuchi-taichou, maybe you could spare your lieutenant for an hour or so? I need some...pointers."

He gives Mayuri a long, cold stare.

[dont-look-up]

She's everything. They're just Ken.

[syncopxtc]

Nemu; Nemu feels like sucking the nicotine off her fingers while the old men blather. Withdrawal makes her mean.

"Nemu," her father barks. She flinches and, for a split second, feels like ripping his motherfucking head off his shoulders and swinging it against the wall until it's a pulverized lump. "Present Hirako the report."

Her arms unfold and present a neat folder. They hurt an officer of gobantai in a joint exercise. Their seventh seat killed the poor man, ripping him in two and emptying his intestines onto the grass. Nemu compiled a written apology and restitutions in the thousands of kan from her wages. Her wages, because God forbid father dearest lift a finger to fix anything.

"We thank you for your kindness and understanding, and again, cannot apologize enough."

He stares down at the folder for a while. For all Mayuri's crimes, he at least has the decorum to not leave until he's dismissed by his fellow captain.

It's not the first time this has happened. It won't be the last. Death is their livelihood. But not like this. Shinji flicks his gaze up to Nemu, then lets it trail over to Mayuri as he flips open the folder. He's not sure what he expected, what manner of thing they could have provided that wouldn't be an insult. But somehow, this is the worst possible outcome.

"You don't gotta lie, Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou,” Shinji says. "N' we don't want yer money." He flips the folder closed again and leans back in his chair. He lazily points a finger, past her entirely, at her captain and father. "Funny how it's never yer guys," he says. "Or do they die a lil' more quietly? Less...public?"

He's not signing anything. Loathe though he is to follow the chain of command, it won't do him any good to make a scene. It probably won't to any good for him to follow the proper procedure, either, but he's--who knows why--got a sore spot for shinigami mutilating their colleagues.

He slides the folder across the desk, closer to Nemu, and then leans forward, his elbows on the desk.

"Tell ya what, sweetheart," he says, grinning a little, knowing it might make Mayuri's blood boil, "you bring me that Seventh seat of yours. Take yer money n' buy yerself somethin' nice." He looks past her again, at Mayuri. "N' tell yer boss some of us don't find him so scary."

Shinji is no stranger to being the subject of some horrible experiment. There's nothing Mayuri can do to him that could hurt worse than what he's already been through.

[hanabiira]

"Hm. Well, you know it's not really the stuff that matters anyways." She doesn't want to think much about it either. The risk makes it real enough already. "If you die I'll just go and find you in the real world."

[syncopxtc]

"D'aw..." He realizes then what that means, and that he would do the same: stop at nothing to make sure they're by each other's side in any plane of existence. Like some sort of fate they can control. He's never really gotten this far in the thought process. He always stops before it feels too real. "I don't think we gotta worry about it too much. You n' I are very hard to kill."

[syncopxtc]

Momo; I'm fine, only hurts when I breathe

//HIIIIIIIIIII WB PEEB

"Then shut up," he says. She'll waste those painful breaths on it. "I'm gonna pick ya up. I owe ya one, remember?" He kind of wishes the circumstances were similar; that she was unconscious like he had been, and won't instead be dizzy with the pain of a broken rib as he rushes her to safety. He slides an arm under her knees, and another around her back. "Won't be long, kiddo."

[hanabiira]

"He'll be crying on the inside, I'm sure." Is she smug? Of course. "That's not the only thing you left to him...right? What do I get when you die?"

[syncopxtc]

"Nah, he gets his fair share, don't worry. N' you get everythin' that hasn't been spoken for, n' that's all sentimental stuff. Specific to each loved one. You get my whole-ass estate. N' a lifetime a' missin' me." He tries not to think about it with any sincerity. It would hurt too much to consider, despite how much of a possibility it is in their line of work.