Uryuu adjusted his tie one last time and glanced over, expecting to see Arisawa— Tatsuki, he needed to call her Tatsuki if they were to be believed as partners— in some sort of dress like he’d always seen women wearing in period shows and—
Froze.
Tatsuki smirked at him, hands on her hips and shoulders pulled back, showing off the tailored suit that fit her perfectly, accentuating her body just right to hint at her strength without fully revealing it. “Cat got your tongue?” she asked smugly as she stalked closer and began to circle him, eyeing his outfit up as she did. “You clean up pretty well yourself.”
“Ah— thank you?” Uryuu forced out, trying to keep the nerves from his voice; for everything he — they — had been through, Tatsuki’s scrutiny was… probably more nerve-wracking than anything else had ever been.
(What did she see when she stared at him like that?)
(Did she regret coming back in time with him?)
(Did she regret this ruse of being lovers?)
She chuckled and stepped closer, reaching up to adjust his collar then smoothing down his lapels, her hands warm-solid-comforting as they slid down his chest. “You’re over-thinking again,” she murmured as her hands settled on his hips. “We’ll be fine. It’s just a fancy dinner—”
“Just,” Uryuu groaned, already dreading the evening ahead. “Filled with more Quincy than I’ve ever seen before in my life, and heavens know how they’ll react to us if they discover that… that I’m Gemischt. Much less that you’re spiritually active too.”
Tatsuki pursed her lips and fixed him with a thoughtful look. “Do you truly think they’d mind?” she asked. “They seem to be much more reasonable than the ones we met before.”
“I’d rather not risk it,” Uryuu said firmly, then took an unsteady breath and stepped away from her, immediately missing the warmth of her hands on his waist. “We keep a lid on our reiatsu, keep an eye out for Kurotsuchi, and hope that no one questions us too closely.”
“I can do that,” Tatsuki agreed with a nod, then grinned at him and held out her arm. “Shall we get going then? It wouldn’t do to be late to the Rerugen mansion now would it?”
Uryuu eyed her arm, then gave her an amused look and asked, “Given the time period, isn’t it more accurate for me to be leading you?”
“Given what I’m wearing, do you really think I’m going to let you get away with that?”
Uryuu snorted but conceded the point, knowing better than to argue with Tatsuki after seeing her out-stubborn Kurosaki. He carefully settled at her side, hand tucked around her elbow, and murmured, “We are going to cause a stir,” in exasperation.
“Better they get distracted by this than question any slip-ups we have,” Tatsuki said with a wry smile, patting his hand lightly. “With luck, they’ll just attribute any strangeness with how untraditional I am. And attribute my untraditional habits with the delightfully vague background Urahara set up for us.”
“I can’t believe I ever agreed to this,” Uryuu groaned as he let Tatsuki lead him towards the door. “Why did I ever agree to this? Something is going to go wrong, I just know it, and with all those Quincy around I won’t be able to really do anything without giving myself away.”
Tatsuki hummed as she opened the door and stepped through, nudging it closed behind them. “Well, if it comes to that, then I suppose I’ll have to protect you, won’t I?” She smiled up at him, something teasing-heated-confident about her that made Uryuu’s mouth go dry and his stomach squirm. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure everything turns out just fine.”
“R-right,” he mumbled, tearing his gaze away from her and staring at the hallway before him and trying to shove aside the confusing tangle of emotions Tatsuki was invoking in him.
(He couldn’t afford the distraction.)
(He couldn’t.)
(But the thought of her fighting in that suit was…)
(Definitely something he would think about later.)
(Fuck, he was doomed.)
(One way or another, he wasn’t going to survive this dinner.)
alpharaposa replied to your post: hamelin-born replied to your post:I have so many...
I can see Kisuke searching for the bullet, going “Come on, there’s no exit wound, it’s got to be in here somewhere” while other people are staring and thinking, “Dude, you’re bleeding out, WTH is wrong with you?”
fffttt. He would, too. And Erich just. facepalms. exasperation overcoming terror for a moment. because really. REALLY. how is this his life.
alpharaposa replied to your post: Aaaaah, I forgot how weird my dreams can get when...
Dick, Tim, and Darien all just shrug at Uryuu. “Welcome to the family.”
Uryuu doesn’t understand this whole... thing, okay? He’s an adult, he has his life (mostly) together, he does his own thing, there haven’t been any world-ending threats in almost a DECADE, it’s great.
And now these costumed vigilantes are refusing to leave him alone? He’s getting invited to dinner?
There’s even a butler that greets him and shows him a room and asks about his favorite foods and offers him hot chocolate whenever one of the vigilantes drags him back to the mansion in the dead of night? What?
(Ichigo is just hyena cackling off to the side and thoroughly enjoying the show.)
alpharaposa replied to your post: alpharaposa replied to your post: ...
That does seem like it’d be awkward for Ichigo at times, inside Kaito’s head. He has to have a BIT more of a clue than the Kurosaki they’re both trying to keep alive now. Just how much blushing does he go through when moments like this come up? With only Shiro or Zangetsu to see (if they’re even paying attention).
So, Kaito’s Ichigo does know the level of focus that Kaito HAS on his alternate self -- he actually does call Kaito out on a small result of that, at one point, saying that it’s kinda creepy how well Kaito can read Kurosaki’s expressions. But at the same time he doesn’t really know the depths of it?
Like, if we’re going to be metaphorical about it, it’s like a lake. Ichigo can see how big and expansive it is, but he doesn’t know how DEEP it goes until things start to happen and Kaito starts to react. Honestly, Kaito isn’t even entirely conscious of what he’s doing? He’s just... all wound up in Saving Kurosaki and making sure what he went through doesn’t get repeated. And in the process he just... gets fixated on Kurosaki because the teen IS kind and Kaito doesn’t think he really deserves it anymore, but at the same time he /wants/ that attention, so....
It’s why Ichigo says:
(*I suppose I could see why he’d think it, too. Without knowing the full reason you’re here, it does look a bit like devotion.*)
in chapter 22. It “looks a bit like devotion”, because Ichigo is still mostly under the assumption that their focus is on the teens and making sure they survive so that the past isn’t repeated. Not “making sure Kurosaki is fine, which means the past CAN’T be repeated”.
It’s a tiny difference in focus (”prevent our outcome so they’ll be fine” vs “make sure they are (Kurosaki is) fine so our outcome never happens”), and I don’t think either of them are entirely aware of the shift, or when it happened.
As for blushing... hm.
I mean... when it finally becomes clear that Kaito IS devoted to Kurosaki, there’s probably some flailing and embarrassment and “W H A T” being thrown around, along with Ichigo trying to steer Kaito AWAY from that sort of thinking. So... a little bit here and there? Especially whenever Kaito accidentally slips into a “Kurosaki hung the stars and moon and I will murder anyone who says otherwise” mindset, which would usually occur at times when Kurosaki like... praises/congratulates/etc Kaito.
(It’s completely non-sexual, for the record. Just... a result of how Kaito grew up, and the trauma he went through. Uryuu has a much less extreme version, but it’s still there as well.)
(Ichigo, to his embarrassment and minor horror, realizes that he can put Kaito into the same mindset even /faster/ than Kurosaki can. He’s not sure he wants to acknowledge this, ever.)
(Again, it’s pretty damn lucky that Ichigo, no matter his reality, is a kind teenager who doesn’t like to take advantage of others.)
alpharaposa replied to your post: New project time! I’m starting back on some...
I regularly stitch plastic canvas, and in my frustrations on how few words you can fit on a sheet of plastic canvas, I am going to try embroidery next. I have purchased a handful of supplies and am very nervous even though I already know and use several stitches for this kind of thing.
Feeling nervous is pretty usual! You’re stepping outside of what you know and trying something new, and that’s always going to be a cause for nerves. Just remember to have fun and not stress over your first handful of results. Embroidery requires a steady hand, taught cloth, and lots of patience, so don’t worry about screwing up -- you’ll get there with practice!
alpharaposa replied to your post: DE, CH22: Ukitake’s POV pt1
Yeah, I love the denial from Kaito’s point of view. “Devoted? Who said anything about devoted?”
Kaito has absolutely wrapped part of his identity up in BOTH Ichigos, and at the same time he’s trying to deny that he’s DONE THAT. It leaves him in a really awkward, unbalanced position, wavering between trying to be ‘hands off’ and being so purely, wholly devoted to a person that he’ll literally do almost anything they ask without regard for himself.
(It’s a damn good thing Ichigo in all his incarnations is a kind, loyal teen, because honestly...)
And Kurosaki really doesn’t understand the full extent of how Kaito views him.
I mean, he sort of gets it? Especially after that talk he had with the other teens before the invasion, about loyalty and how Kaito views them, but... he thinks it’s more spread out amongst the teens. That they’re all about equal in Kaito’s eyes. Not that he’s the focus. And he doesn’t know the LENGTHS that Kaito will willingly and unhesitatingly go to for him.
(If he ever realizes it, Kurosaki will be APPALLED. He doesn’t want that sort of devotion or loyalty aimed at him. He wants friends, not... whatever Kaito is relegating himself to.)
