DISCLAIMER: See first chapter/drabble.
O.o 12 reviews in one day! That's an unbelievable new personal record for me. (is still in shock) In response to the reviews I got…
angels-of-the-silence: Ehehehe, I'm so glad you liked it! Honestly, I was nervous about how it would turn out at the beginning. Thank you for your support!
Syneiam: Yeah, I know; the thought itself is near-impossible. XD
SoDanielle: Don't we Rukia fans all wish that? Ah, but those ridiculous bunnies and bears can grow on you after some time…
Lunacat13: (beams)
Alucius: (bows) I was aiming for that.
Lori: (nudge) You know they're growing on ya. :P And thank you very much for the compliment!
O, YKW: Yay! (hugs back)
Drunksonic: (scratches head in embarrassment)
Biscotti: Excessive praise, but I'll take it anyway. :P Arigatou!
Adam Epp: Er… the plotbunny was high on sugar…? I swear the idea came out of nowhere…
Crimson Arrow: I'm ignoring your "request"…
Kyadytim: Well, about that… I kind of got tired of constantly using the word "sketchbook", so…
intercostalspace: I will do my best not to disappoint you.
Wow, that was actually exhausting… Maybe I shouldn't make it a common practice. ;; Anyway, on with the drabblefic!
Title: That Which Tastes Sweetest
Spoilers: None
Words: 552
Tagline: She knows it is forbidden, but that is not why she loves him.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She knows it's wrong. This… this indescribable thing between them is sin in its purest form on so many levels that she would go dizzy before she can finish counting them all. He is himself a physical manifestation of the greatest blasphemy there is of the tenacious balance that holds their worlds together. His very existence is a taboo. To love him, to even feel anything close to affection for him is sacrilege of the greatest degree.
And yet, knowing all these things, she still chose to plunge headfirst into this fate from which there was no turning back.
She is very familiar with the term "forbidden fruit", and finds it incredibly funny that it should be applied to him, of all people. After all, his namesake is a fruit, as much as he fervently protests every time she mentions it. (She doesn't find him complaining, however, when she uses that strawberry-flavored lip gloss Inoue helped her pick out.) The very idea of a "them" existing is frowned upon by so many people. Soul Society's laws, Nii-sama's quiet disapproval, the Kuchiki elder's displeasure, Renji's violent protests, Yamamoto-sou-taichou's orders… There are too many laws and too many people that disallow a relationship between a human and a shinigami, much less between him and her.
But in the end, it doesn't matter how many rules threaten to seal away her freedom, because he'll break them all for her.
He has, after all, already done the impossible for her.
Actually, when she thinks about it, the age-old saying really can't quite be applied to what she feels for him. The undecipherable emotions, the unwavering loyalty she has for him are not rooted in the fact that to desire him would be an act of defiance to all that she once held important and precious to her heart. (They still are those things, but not more so than him.)
It is, she believes, the way he makes her feel so, so… alive. When she's with him, she doesn't need to act, to put on the mask she's grown so accustomed to wearing that sometimes it scares her how much of herself she shows him. But she can trust him, because he is the same as her in this case. How he behaves when he's with her is so utterly different compared to how he is to the rest of the world that it's like two sides of a coin. When they're together, the façades fall away. It's as simple, as complicated as that.
Perhaps in its own way, this unveiling of their true selves is forbidden in itself, for by exchanging their truths they are also giving each other near-complete control of themselves.
The way he murmurs her name with something akin to reverence, the way he looks at her like he can see into her very soul, the way he touches her that leaves trails of fire on her skin yet sends shivers through her slight frame, they way he kisses her until all the only thing that exists in the world is them…
The way he makes her feel so vulnerable and defenseless yet so safe and protected at the same time when she's with him.
This, she thinks to herself, is why she loves him.
After all, rules are made to be broken.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In case you haven't figured it out, the title is a reference to the old saying, "Forbidden fruit tastes sweetest," which is the same saying Rukia is referring to in the story. Sorry this one's so short; I'll try to make it longer next time.