Undercover as lovers + time travel orihime/tatsuki/rukia

loveasunnyday

“What are three young ladies like yourself doing all the way out here?”

Tatsuki bites her lip and suppresses a flinch at the genial-caring-fake voice of the man who’d addressed them out of the blue; at her side, Orihime squeaks and pulls away, staring up at— at Aizen like a deer in headlights, fine tremors running through her limbs.

(Oh dear…)

(She hopes none of their reiatsu control slipped…)

“We just… we just wanted some time alone!” Rukia scrambles to explain from Tatsuki’s other side, her hand slipping over to clamp down on Tatsuki’s in a death-grip.

Aizen gives them a concerned-troubled-fake frown and adjusts his ridiculous glasses, looking every inch the kind-caring-good man that Rukia had told them he’d posed as for so many decades. “I understand your desire for, ah… privacy, but there’s been reports of a Hollow around here. Surely you’ve heard it?”

(She… maybe understands a bit more how the Shinigami were fooled for so long.)

(Aizen really is good at pretending to be something he’s not.)

Orihime gives her most air-headed titter of a laugh and presses into Tatsuki’s side. “It won’t go after us,” she insists breathlessly. “And besides! You’re here to get rid of it, aren’t you Shinigami-sama?”

Aizen’s frown etches fractionally deeper, and Tatsuki knows they’ve upset him somehow: whether that’s because they’re in his way, because they’ve upset one of his plans, or some other unknown reason, it’s still… pleasing.

(Maybe that creepy Hollow they killed last night was one of Aizen’s, and not just a standard opportunist.)

“Hollows do go after empowered souls more often than souls such as yourselves,” Aizen concedes, voice so gentle-kind-fake that it makes Tatsuki want to gag. “But they won’t hesitate to take a meal where they can find one. Please, return to your village, at least until I’ve managed to take care of the danger.”

Tatsuki hums and rises to her feet as gracefully as she can, smiling up at Aizen as she helps Orihime and Rukia to their feet after her. “Thank you, Shinigama-sama,” she says with a deep bow, doing her best to pretend the sort of awe-admiration-subservience that someone in her position should  be showing. “We’ll return to our village, I promise.”

“See that you do,” Aizen says as he turns away, clearly dismissing them from his thoughts.

Rukia delicately frees her hand from Tatsuki’s. Reaches up to fiddle with her hair. Turns her body slightly towards Aizen’s and—

Yanks her hairstick free. Grips it tight as her long hair tumbles free, reiatsu shimmering across the ornate piece, hairstick fading into sword, and she lunges—

Aizen jerks around, eyes wide and hand fumbling for his blade and—

Rukia stabs him, straight through his chest and out the other side.

Aizen blinks. Coughs. Presses one hand to his chest and stares in disbelief as Rukia bares her teeth in his face.

“This is for everyone you’ve killed, everyone you’ve betrayed,” she hisses, sharp-furious-deadly.

Blood runs down her blade as she yanks it free— as Aizen stumbles back— as she raises her blade and strikes—

Aizen’s body crumples to the ground, still and lifeless, as his severed head tumbles away. Blood stains the grass, soaking into the ground as his reiatsu begins to dim, begins to fade, proof that they’ve done it, that they’ve fixed the future and…

Tatsuki’s knees give way and she hits the ground with a thump, relief flooding her entire being as she stares blankly at Aizen’s body.

(They’ve done it.)

(They’ve done it.)

(So much grief averted, so much suffering avoided, so many deaths prevented…)

Rukia flicks her sword, scattering droplets of blood across the ground, then bends down to wipe the blade clean on Aizen’s kosode. She straightens with a huff and turns away, striding back towards Tatsuki, lips pursed and brows furrowed. “I didn’t expect that to work,” she admits, sending her blade a disbelieving look. “He always expected everything we tried, to the very last. But three young girls and he dropped his guard…?”

Orihime laughs, bright-high-hysterical, and drifts past Tatsuki, attention fixed on Aizen’s body as she slowly approaches it. “Three young ladies wanting to have a little private time together,” she corrects airily, then pauses on the edge of the bloodstained ground and reaches up to brush her fingers across her barrettes. Her fairies pop into existence, darting over to the body as Hime stares down at it and declares, “I reject.”

Motes of light drift up from Aizen’s body as it begins to fade, begins to be unmade, under Orihime’s power.

Soon enough, there will be nothing left: no body, no blood, no evidence.

The Shinigami will never know what happened to their beloved Lieutenant.

(The Shinigami will never know the bullet they’ve dodged.)

“This is well before he expected to have enemies,” Tatsuki tells them both as she grabs hold of Rukia’s kimono the minute the woman comes within reach, then tugs until Rukia huffs a laugh and settles down at her side. Tatsuki leans into Rukia’s side with a sigh of relief, and says, “Especially out here.”

Rukia hums and wraps an arm around Tatsuki’s waist, pulling her closer without a second thought. “We’ll need to move on soon enough. The Shinigami will send an investigation squad when Aizen doesn’t return in a day or two, depending on why he was sent out here. If he was even officially sent out here.” She frowns down at her blade, then casts a cautious, sideways glance at Tatsuki and says, “Though… I’m not entirely certain where—” She cuts off with a yelp as Tatsuki drives an elbow into her side.

“Stop being so self-effacing,” Tatsuki orders with a disappointed scowl learned from Ichigo. “Your past self should be around here somewhere, right? We might as well go find her and see how much of a badass we can teach her to be.”

Rukia ducks her head but can’t hide the brilliant blush that spreads across her cheeks.

Tatsuki kind of wants to kiss it.

“W-well, if you’re alright with it—” Rukia starts to say.

“I think it’s a brilliant idea!” Orihime declares as she turns away from the now-pristine ground, her fairies vanishing back into her barrettes. She blinks at the sight of Rukia’s bright red cheeks, then flashes a sly-warm-teasing smile at Tatsuki and says, “It’ll certainly be fun, won’t it.”

Tatsuki glowers at Orihime, knowing exactly where her friend’s mind has gone. And while it’s definitely not objectionable to her, there’s a big difference between pretending to be lovers and being lovers, and she’s… unsure how Rukia feels about the idea.

On the other hand…

On the other hand, they certainly have plenty of time to find out, don’t they?

A slow, pleased smile creeps across Tatsuki’s face and she leans further into Rukia’s side. “It certainly will, indeed.”

Wooing her Rukia and teaching a second, tiny Rukia to be a badass from the very start?

Yeah, she could do it.

It’d be fun.