#rukiichi

After Masaki died and Isshin retired, Karakura town saw eight years of no heroes (and thankfully, no akuma... though Isshin did think that was really fishy. What the hell was Hawkmoth up to?)

Until one day, a mysterious white yuki-onna looking creature shows up in front of a dejected Rukia and claims that ‘you gotta take up the mantle of Chat Noir’.

Now, Rukia was nine when Ladybug and Chat Noir disappeared (the public don’t know that Ladybug died and Chat Noir retired), so she grew up hearing about their heroics -- they were her childhood idols, as they were for many other kids her age, and she’s always felt inadequate as just herself-- so when Shirayuki prompts her with ‘quick! don’t you want to save people?’ she jumps at the chance

Shirayuki leads her to a house that Rukia’s never been to before, and it’s being demolished by some monstrous white skeleton-fish-face thing

and oh shit, there’s some old man lying bleeding and unconscious on the ground, and two little girls caught up in the whole mess, she’s gotta do something-

and she jumps right into the fray and starts fighting

Meanwhile, Ichigo (on his way home from soccer) is also confronted by some old dark flying chibi dude spouting mysterious bullshit about ‘the cycle of fates’ and ‘you have the power’ and ‘this is your sacred duty’, blah blah blah, and he thinks he’s going fucking crazy because no-one in their right minds sees little floating men in broad daylight

And through all of Zangetsu’s bullshit he hears two things: ‘you have been chosen’ and ‘the next Ladybug’ and his response is oh hell no

Because unlike every other kid his age, Ichigo hates those two heroes with a passion.

Because where the fuck were they when his mother died?

His mother died in an akuma attack, and it was their job to stop things like this from happening. His mother was the ONLY casualty of an akuma attack in the past, well, EVER, and he can’t fucking let that slide, why did it have to be his mother, where the hell WERE THEY-- 

(obviously in this AU ichigo was not with his mother when she died.)

so no, Zangetsu can go shove it, he’s not gonna be Ladybug, take the offer to someone else who gives a damn--

And then he hears Yuzu scream.

So he runs to where he hears her and finds his house in pieces, his father unconscious in a pool of blood, Karin with a broken leg, Yuzu held in the claws of a monstrously huge akuma and some girl-- Chat Noir?!-- leaning knocked out against a telephone pole

and he yells ‘YUZU!’ and runs right at the akuma but it doesn’t even look at him twice, one sweep of its tail and Ichigo is knocked into the nearest brick wall, he’s winded, his chest hurts, and fuck there’s nothing he can do but watch Yuzu get eaten by that thing-- 

unless. 

‘Fuck it, old man, fine! I’ll be your goddamn Ladybug! Just help me save my family--’ 

And there’s a blinding pink light enveloping him, for some reason his mouth and vocal cords are forming the words ‘Zangetsu! Transform me!’ (he later DIES at how fucking cheesy and shoujo-magical-girl-transformation it all is), and when he opens his eyes again his ears are fucking pierced (’WHAT?! What the HELL, OLD MAN, this wasn’t part of the contra-- oh whatever, they already think I’m a delinquent anyway, what will a few piercings do’) and he’s decked out in red latex. All of this goes into his repression box for him to be embarrassed about later, but for now he’s gotta kick some akuma butt

Which he does. Spectacularly. Zangetsu is hella impressed at how well he manages to do for someone with such little battle experience

Until he fucks up and is right on the verge of being cleaved in half.

And then Chat Noir jumps in front of him.

Chat Noir jumps in front of him!!!!

What the hell, what the hell, why would this girl do this for him, he’s never seen her before in his life, he’s nothing to her, and she’s much smaller and more delicate than him to boot, she didn’t need to sacrifice her life for him-- 

He doesn’t realise he’s yelling all this at her until he finds himself kneeling in a pool of her blood, trying to keep her conscious, asking her why, why, WHY-- 

She cracks an eye open (bluer than the sea, bluer than the sky at twilight,  bluer than the violets that his friend Tatsuki keeps in her garden) and between her shallow breaths she manages to get out ‘that’s what heroes do, isn’t it?’ 

he’s speechless for a while, but when she coughs violently and spits up blood, keeling over onto the ground, he stands up again, violence in his eyes, a fire in his heart, fuck this akuma and fuck Hawkmoth or whatever the hell his name was, and most of all fuck himself for thinking this was only about him when everyone around him was trying to keep his miserable skin alive. He’s gonna save everyone. He’s gonna make sure this akuma rots in fucking hell

and Zangetsu mutters ‘now that’s a fighting expression’ and tells him about ‘Lucky Charm’ 

Which Ichigo uses without a trace of irony or embarrassment... just... oh my god can you imagine Kurosaki Ichigo with his most serious pissed off fighting expression being surrounded by pink hearts as he shouts ‘lucky charm’ 

anyway, he lucky charms the HELL out of the akuma and when it’s purified, it turns out to be a petty thief who was targeting the Kurosaki house for robbing until Hawkmoth got to him

after all this, Ichigo-Ladybug turns to survey the wreckage of the house and his family, and -- oh shit that Chat Noir girl is not in good shape, shit shit shit she’s gonna die he needs to call an ambulance right now, and even then it was liable to be too late, this is his fault this is all his fault--

and Zangetsu’s like ‘chill bro we got this’ 

and Ichigo learns about the amazing move that is ‘Miraculous Ladybug’ 

no injuries! no property damage! no awkward explanations about gas explosions and a truck being driven into his house!

(lmao, i love orihime, can’t wait till i can show her in this AU tbh i have it all thought out)

his entire family comes to and stares at him in awe--.... well, ok, Yuzu stares at him with stars in her eyes (‘OMG! It’s Ladybug! Wait, has ladybug always been a guy?’), Karin is side-eyeing the SHIT out of him (.... ‘that Ladybug looks suspiciously like my brother, who is conveniently absent right now), and Isshin is pretending to be a huge idiot while secretly incredibly proud of his son

and!!! holy crap!!! that Chat Noir girl who just a second ago was bleeding all over his front steps is now standing up! The massive gash in her stomach is gone! She’s grinning at him! This ‘Miraculous Ladybug’ move is a fucking miracle! wtf! 

Rukia, meanwhile, is feeling giddy from being brought back from the brink of death and is all hyped up from the adrenaline still rushing through her veins, she’s a hero, she’s a hero, she’s THE Chat Noir, and there’s Ladybug in front of her, they’re gonna be partners like the previous duo and save people and protect the town-- 

and before she can think twice about what she’s doing (a luxury she hasn’t had in a long, long time) she’s sidling up to her new partner in heroics with her best cheshire cat grin and saying ‘looks like I’ve got you to thank for my life, handsome boy’

and honestly she stops short straight after she says that and yells at herself internally, ‘wtf was that, where the HELL did that come from, hANDSOME BOY?!?!?! What on earth was she thinking--’

 Except said handsome boy reacts by blushing beet-red and spluttering things like ‘wha-- I-- thanks-- maybe? I mean-- that’s not what’s relevant here!-- you saved me too--’

.... and it’s just so very amusing

so amusing, in fact, that she just might make a habit of it

so she replies ‘I guess we’re even then, partner?’ and raises her fist to him

which he meets with his own fist, rather hesitantly

and looking at each other, watching the other’s face split into identical grins of victory, they say quietly ‘mission accomplished’.

.... and then after that both of their miraculous items beep and their kwamis warn them that their transformations are about to run out. both of them bolt the hell out of there, Ichigo because he does NOT want his family finding out he willingly donned red latex and Rukia because that moment was PERFECT (despite grievous bodily harm and near-death experience) and she doesn’t want to ruin it by turning back into just plain, unspecial Rukia

and that was the story of their first akuma together

Jesus christ i might as well make this into fanfic?!?!?! I have enough material!?! what the hell I never wanted any of this but i’m in too deep now?! jfc

anyway, more to come on: where their friends all fit into this AU, Hawkmoth-Aizen and his dastardly scheme, Urahara and Yoruichi as ‘Fuu’, the other miraculous holders, etc etc