万象一切灰燼と為せ

Title: Bear Witness
Recipient: Starrie_Wolf @ trickortreatex
Character: Kisuke, Ichigo
Canon: Manga
Rating: T
Wordcount: 617

Kisuke watches as the cumulation of all his plans bear fruit. It is unexpectedly awful. He cannot feel the awesome power that clashes above him, but he can see it as clear as day. Every strike that Ichigo makes is done with a devastating kind of finality and inner peace. He lives in contrast to Aizen's howling denial as the hōgyoku mutates his soul further.

For a moment, Kiskue thinks that his kidō will be unnecessary. That Ichigo will succeed where the Goteijūsantai has not. Aizen is a shattered thing on the ground, injured so badly that even the hōgyoku cannot heal him fast enough. Ichigo is shedding reiatsu as his powers begin to desert him, but he walks with the surety of a man who is at peace with his decision.

Kisuke could live with that, he thinks. He is not proud of what he's done to shape Ichigo's destiny, not after having seen the kindness and loyalty that runs soul-deep within him. But he could let his other plans fall to the wayside should Ichigo make the killing blow.

It is not to be.

Ichigo's reiatsu drops like a stone, his long black hair turning into ash and flaking off in the wind. He falls to his knees as his strength leaves him and Kisuke bows his head in silent regret.

It doesn't take long for the kidō to activate. Kisuke can feel Aizen again as the hōgyoku deserts him. It has been shown a higher level of power and no longer recognizes Aizen as his master.

He steps onto the scene with the air of a puppetmaster, responding to Aizen's frustrated denial by rote. He gives just enough of his attention to keep Aizen focused on him instead of the man who remains on his knees a bare meter away.

Ichigo looks away when Aizen is sealed.

Kisuke does not. If nothing else he will bear witness.

Silence reigns for a long moment as Ichigo staggers back to his feet.

"Kurosaki-san--" Kisuke begins to break the silence. He has never feared to walk where gods have tread.

"I forgive you," Ichigo says.

Kisuke blinks at Ichigo's back in surprise. "Ah, Kurosaki-san," Kisuke begins again. His voice has taken on an edge of delicate care.

"I forgive you," Ichigo says again and turns to look at him. There is something heartbreakingly sad in his eyes.

Kisuke feels the withered thing he calls a heart crack open and bleed. This... is not what he wanted.

Ichigo looks up to the sky. The wind ruffles the shaggy hair at his neck and a shiver runs up his spine. "I wish you had told me," Ichigo says suddenly. "But I suppose that would be like wishing that water wasn't wet." He takes a step forward and places a hand at Kisuke's neck.

Kisuke lets it happen. It hurts something within him when he can feel the fine tremors that race up his arm.

"Promise me you'll keep them safe." Ichigo's eyes are hard and searching. There is no question as to who he is referring to.

"Of course," Kisuke says. He feels more helpless than when he realized he had sent his fukutaicho into certain death.

Ichigo closes his eyes in relief. "Thanks, geta-bōshi."

Kisuke staggers as Ichigo turns into deadweight, his body seizing as the last of his reiatsu leaves him. He is now nothing but a human soul separated from his body and the longer Kisuke flounders like an idiot, the more danger he is in.

He hefts Ichigo's soul into his arms and shunpos in the direction of the Shōten. He cannot afford to feel sorry for himself when he carries such a precious burden.

Title: Artificial Heat
Recipient: kazesuke @ shipoween
Character: Shūhei, Kensei
Canon: Manga
Rating: M
Wordcount: 629

Shūhei doesn't think much of it when a building in front of him explodes outward with a cloud of glitter. He's in the narrow alley that separates the 11th and 12th divisions because it's the quickest way to return to the 9th. It is emphatically also the most dangerous alley to be in, because the two divisions do not get along.

Shūhei decides that discretion is the best part of valor and shunpos through the cloud of glitter after hearing the enraged shriek of Kurotsuchi-taicho and the delighted laughter of Kusajishi-fukutaicho. Falling on either of their badsides would not go well for him.

The glitter itches intensely for a few minutes but it fades into the background as he returns to the 9th as quickly as he can.

The shoji door rattles in the frame as he slams it behind him, drawing Kensei-taicho's attention as he looks up from a stack of papwerwork.

"Hisagi? I wasn't expecting you back for another hour." He stands up and stretches in a way that has Shūhei focusing in on the muscles in his throat.

Shūhei doesn't understand why he's so hot all of a sudden.

"Hey, Shūhei. Are you alright?"

Shūhei blinks and finds that somehow Kensei has gotten close enough to stare directly into his eyes. It's unexpectedly arresting. Shūhei manages to tear his gaze away to look at the ceiling. "I'm fine, taicho." His voice comes out rougher than he intended.

Kensei snorts. "Yeah, like that's convincing." He raises a hand grab Shūhei's chin and tilt his head back to meet his gaze. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Shūhei says. "Well, nothing I did, anyways. I'm pretty sure Kusajishi-fukutaicho is bored and taking it out on the 12th again."

"Better them than us," Kensei says. He doesn't remove his fingers from Shūhei's face. "What did she do?" he asks with morbid curiosity.

"Blow up a building, I think."

"Huh," Kensei says. His thumb trails a line over the skin below Shūhei's mouth.

Heat pricks at Shūhei's skin but there's something about it that seems artificial. "Taicho--"

"Hm?"

Shūhei tries to articulate what doesn't feel quite right about this situation, but the words slip away from him when Kensei fits his mouth against his own.

He was clearly wrong. This feels perfect. A cumulation of everything he ever wanted but could never ask for. Shūhei presses back into the kiss with a fervor.

Pleasure rips up his spine like a firecracker and there is a disorienting tangle of limbs that leaves him on his back with only the thin fabric of Kensei's haori separating him from the floor.

"Please," Shūhei says. He wants everything Kensei is willing to give him.

With an inarticulate growl, Kensei does. He drives himself into Shūhei's body with thrusts that rattle his bones and Shūhei can only beg for more.

Minutes or hours later, Shūhei has a pattern of fingertips bruised into his hips and a necklace of kisses around his throat. There is still a faint crackle of artificial heat in his veins but it has quieted enough to let him think.

He... had probably shunpoed right into one of Kurotsuchi-taicho's experiments. Admittedly, that had been a very stupid thing to do, even if he had wanted to leave the area as quickly as possible.

But he can't be that upset about it. His body is still sparking with the aftershocks of pleasure and his head is pillowed against Kensei's chest, his heart beating beneath his ear.

Shūhei will probably have to admit that he accidentally drugged them both with some experimental chemical, but he's not really worried about it. They've been headed here for a long time. If this is what pushed them over the edge, Shūhei might have to get Kusajishi-fukutaicho a damn fruit basket.

I'm trying to write my letter ahead of time this year instead of forgetting it until the last minute. Expect frequent edits as the tag set continues to grow. I'm going to jump right in with prompts and likes/dislikes, but take the characters where they lead you. I'm sure I will love any art or fic you come up with.

Likes:

family, friends-that-are-family, ships, ladies, crossovers, halloween themed, dubious and non-consent (please not the classic yaoi "no-no-no, oh wait yes" though), body appreciation, exploring dark "what if" stories, ghosts, enthusiastic consent, time travel, het/slash/femslash/poly, possession, sex pollen

Dislikes:

complete (human/coffeeshop/etc) aus, first or second person pov, a/b/o universes, genderswap/sexswap, issuefic, fusions, explicit/detailed gore, scat/watersports, possessive jealousy, awful communication, spanking

( Bleach )

( One Piece )

( Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon )

( Katekyō Hitman Reborn! )