Inside My World
By Spunky0ne
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The Kuchiki elders make a request of Aizen Sousuke to ease the passing of dying leader, Byakuya, in exchange for giving him Tetsuya's hand in marriage, which will free him from prison and place him in clan custody. Knowing that the hogyoku has begun to break down, Aizen accepts the deal, unaware of the terrible truth that his interactions with Byakuya will uncover. This story is an angsty romance containing yaoi with mpreg and featuring pairings of Aizen/Byakuya, Ichigo/Tetsuya, Renji/Rukia and Uryu/Orihime.
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Standing at the edge
of my world, I look down and
find my truth in you
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Chapter 1: Secrets Shared in the Dark
Tetsuya laid, quiet but awake, his slender body naked and still joined with his ginger-haired lover's. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly, listening to the rain falling outside the Shiba heir's bedroom and wondering how he could make himself say the words he knew he must.
I didn't come here with the intent of us making love. I came to tell him it's over. As much as I love Kurosaki Ichigo and as much as I know he loves me, I have to honor the wishes of the elders…and more importantly, I must see that my cousin and rescuer dies peacefully.
I owe him that.
The quincy boy and the human girl are working around the clock to see that he is comfortable and not in pain, but there is something weighing on his heart…something that only one man can ease. Aizen Sousuke's power will let him enter Byakuya-sama's inner world to calm him and to help him transition smoothly…and in exchange, a marriage to me will place the man in our clan's custody.
He will accept because he learned in the war that there was no other way that he would ever leave Muken. Even helping Ichigo to kill Ywach couldn't make Central 46 commute his sentence. He will have to have his reiatsu sealed close to his body so that he will not have the range to do the damage he could before, but he will still be dangerous.
I wonder if he will really help Byakuya-sama.
Tears came to Tetsuya's eyes and his heart ached so badly he employed a quick waterform to escape his lover's tight embrace, but as he began to shift away, Ichigo's brown eyes opened and looked into his. Tetsuya froze instantly, the waterform fading as Ichigo's hand curled around his wrist.
"Don't go."
Tetsuya swallowed hard, blinking back the tears as he took a steadying breath.
"I have to. Ichigo…"
He paused as his lover's fingertips touched his lips, stopping his words.
"I know," Ichigo confessed softly, pulling his fingers away and kissing the soft, frowning lips they had touched, "I was visiting Byakuya when you and Elder Nori were in the gardens talking. I heard everything, Tetsuya. I know the council is giving you to someone, someone who can help Byakuya die peacefully."
"Y-you know?" Tetsuya managed, confusion evident in his voice, "You knew and you still seduced me? Why would you do that? If anything, you should be angry. You should have thrown me out, Ichigo. Instead, you…?"
"I love you," Ichigo said, kissing him again, "and I know that you wouldn't be doing this if you had a way out. I still think we can find one, so I made love to you to give you hope."
"What kind of hope?" Tetsuya asked miserably, "I am to be given to the traitor of Soul Society, as long as he keeps his word to ease Byakuya-sama's passing. He is a cruel man, Ichigo. He is a horrible man. I…don't know what I will do."
"You'll be okay," Ichigo promised, running his fingers through Tetsuya's hair and curving a palm around his cheek, "and you won't leave me completely. We will still have something."
Tetsuya gazed at him questioningly.
Ichigo's fingertips touched the protection charm at Tetsuya's throat and Tetsuya was suddenly struck silent as it shimmered and broke apart.
"That charm was a fake. We made a baby tonight," Ichigo said, kissing him again, "Even though you have to leave me, we'll still be connected, Tetsuya."
Tetsuya gave him a look of dismay.
"You…? Ichigo-sama, you don't know how to manipulate a protection charm! How did you…?"
"I talked to Kuchiki Nori too," Ichigo confessed, "He told me that you were being given to Aizen and why. He also told me that if you are already carrying my child, your marriage to him can't be finalized until the baby is born. The baby we made tonight won't be sensed for a little while, so no one will know until later. You'll still have to marry Aizen, but it gives us time to make sure that Aizen keeps his word and actually helps Byakuya. The elders see it as a kind of insurance that can nullify the deal if he tries anything with Byakuya."
Tetsuya shook his head in disbelief.
"The elders involved in something like that?" he mused, "I wouldn't have thought it possible. But I am sure they understand what kind of man they are dealing with."
"They know what they are getting into, making this deal with him," Ichigo assured him, "They're doing this to make sure he doesn't hurt Byakuya instead of helping him. It's gonna be all right, Tetsuya. It'll be hard, losing each other as lovers, but we will always be friends…and now, we will have our baby too."
Tetsuya let out a shuddering sigh and fell against Ichigo's warm shoulder.
"I don't know if I can go through with this," he whispered, "and I don't know why you're not more upset. You seem too calm. You're usually so impetuous."
"I just know you didn't make this happen and I love you too much to make it worse for you. Besides, you and I know it's not likely that a guy like Aizen is going to stick to any rules he didn't make. He's going to play games. And when he does, the elders will send him right back where he came from."
"And what happens to my cousin in the meantime?" Tetsuya worried, "Ichigo, he is already suffering so much. The pain blocks can ease the physical pain, but the emotional pain from whatever is tormenting him can't be managed. And if Aizen doesn't do as the elders have asked, if he just makes the torment worse for his own pleasure…"
Tetsuya broke off, tears leaking down his face and sinking into the dark fabric of Ichigo's yukata.
"Shh," Ichigo breathed into his ear, kissing the tears from a damp cheek, "that's why we're going to watch them. See, I went to Kisuke, who has done some research on Aizen's power since Aizen's been in Muken. See, Kisuke thinks that he can make it so you can see into Byakuya's inner world. The bonds between you and Byakuya are really strong. He thinks he can use that so you can be in tune with what Byakuya is experiencing."
Tetsuya lifted his head from Ichigo's shoulder and wiped his eyes, sniffing.
"Did you tell this to Nori as well?"
Ichigo shifted slightly and Tetsuya's eyes widened with curiosity.
"What is it? Ichigo, what are you not telling me?"
Ichigo bit his lip gently, anxiety in his expression.
"You have to keep quiet about this," he said softly, "Tetsuya, no one can know."
"About what?" Tetsuya asked in a concerned tone, "Ichigo, what is going on?"
"Kisuke's been worried about something…ever since Byakuya was fatally injured in that last skirmish at the end of the quincy war."
Tetsuya stared back at him wordlessly.
"Look, he can't prove it yet. That's why Kisuke needs you and me. Tetsuya, he thinks it wasn't a quincy who injured Byakuya. He thinks it was one of the family."
Tetsuya's breath caught and his eyes registered disbelief.
"Ichigo, I investigated the scene, myself! And Byakuya-sama was conscious when we found him. If he was hurt by a family member, why wouldn't he have told me? And if it was a family conspiracy, why risk having Aizen learn of it? Why add the danger of having him in the family if they only have to let Byakuya-sama die?"
"I don't know," Ichigo said, shaking his head, "but we're gonna find out."
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Uryu entered Byakuya's bedroom, pausing in the doorway for a moment to watch as Orihime's brow furrowed in frustration and she continued to hold her power over the noble's sleeping form. Even in the softer light, he read the torment in her expression and saw the signs of strain.
"You should go and rest," he said quietly, "I can look after him for awhile."
"I'm okay, really," his wife assured him, "I'm just sad that I can't heal him enough so that he will live. I'm going to feel sad about that, whether I'm here or in our room, trying to sleep. Besides, if you're with him and I'm in our room, I won't sleep well anyway. I'll let you care for him for awhile, but I'm staying here."
Uryu smiled and knelt next to her at Byakuya's bedside. Orihime withdrew her power and Uryu invoked his own healing ability.
"Try to rest now," he encouraged her, "I'll keep him comfortable."
"Thank you," Orihime said sleepily, falling against his shoulder, "I know you will."
Uryu gazed down at Byakuya's sleeping face and kept his power wrapped all around the noble.
Kisuke is right. He has to be. Every time I use my power on Byakuya, I know. There might be quincy reiatsu in the wounds. The wounds might even have been made by a quincy. But that's not the end of the story. The surviving quincies had no reason to target Byakuya. He was one of the ones urging the new Central 46 council to open up talks between the shinigamis and the quincies. I don't know…but I think that the noble shinigami families had more motive to kill Byakuya than the quincies did. And even though I don't want to be their king, I don't want them blamed for something they didn't do. So, I'll go along with Kisuke's plan. We stay close to Byakuya, healing him, of course, but also protecting him. In that way, we'll be in a position to maybe learn what's going on here.
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The muffled sound of his cell door creaking brought Aizen Sousuke out of the dreamy haze he lived in. He waited quietly as footsteps indicated the approach of someone.
Light…
Careful and measured.
Unhurried.
One of the sages?
A judge?
"Aizen Sousuke," an old man's voice addressed him, "I know you can't move, but I am sure that you can use your reiatsu to answer me."
"Yes," Aizen answered, "Who might you be? Your voice sounds familiar. You are one of the Kuchiki elders?"
"I am," the old man said solemnly, "I am Kuchiki Nori, head of the Kuchiki elders."
"Ah, Nori. I remember you," Aizen answered, "We've met before at gatherings at Kuchiki Manor while I was a taichou."
"Yes," Nori confirmed, "I remember."
"So, what brings you, Kuchiki Nori? You are not one of the sages or a judge, and I have had no interactions with the Kuchiki family of an objectionable nature. Well, except for my use of Rukia in my plans. But she is a peasant, like me. I hardly think the Kuchiki elders minded nearly as much as Byakuya did when I used her and tried to have Gin kill her."
"This isn't about Kuchiki Rukia."
"I heard about her marriage to Abarai Renji," Aizen went on, "and how she became a taichou, herself, just before, what? Byakuya was injured? Has Byakuya recovered?"
"I am afraid that he has not," Nori informed him, "After months of treatments, we have not been able to stabilize him."
"Oh, I hope you are not going to ask me to heal him," Aizen chuckled, "Even if I could, I wouldn't."
He felt Nori's aged eyes watching him closely.
"I didn't expect that you would."
"Then, why are you here? Why did you come to me? Is this in some way about Byakuya's injury?"
"Byakuya was conscious when he was found, but he said nothing about his injury. He has since fallen into a coma and he is attended around the clock by trusted healers, including the human girl, Orihime. Nothing we have done works. Byakuya is slowly dying."
"And you think there is something I could and would do?" Aizen asked narrowing his eyes under the bonds, "If Orihime's power isn't enough, I don't know why you think mine would work any better. I will tell you now that if she can't save Byakuya, then no one can."
Nori cleared his throat softly.
"We do not expect you can save Byakuya," he said calmly.
"You don't want me to save him?" Aizen mused, "What do you want me to do? Kill him faster? That, I could do, but I don't think you would want to let me do that."
Aizen paused as he sensed something in front of him had changed. He felt the presence of something that radiated the soul king's reiatsu.
"What is that?" he asked, frowning under the bonds on his face, "What are you up to?"
This hell butterfly was near Byakuya when he was found. When asked, he said that it wouldn't speak to him. He wasn't sure why it sought him out. But it stayed with him until he became comatose, then it began to follow me. I felt that it wanted to speak to you. Your image appears in my mind whenever I look at it. I think this is meant for you, so I am delivering it. And I am also here to make a request of you."
"A request? What kind of request is that?"
"We know that you can't save Byakuya. But, he is in some kind of pain and he needs something. Urahara Kisuke has informed us that your power is the only one he knows of that can help us communicate with our leader before he dies. What we want is simple, and the reward for granting it is that you will be given a family member in marriage and allowed to live at Kuchiki Manor instead of in here."
"And what do you want me to tell Byakuya?"
"You don't have to tell him anything. Comfort him as he dies. Help him find internal peace that will end his anguish. Do this and we will grant you limited freedom, as long as you agree to allow your powers to remain sealed. I will leave you to give you time to think. When I return, I will need your answer. Think carefully, because you will have no other opportunities."
Nori turned and walked back the way he had come, leaving the glowing white hell butterfly hovering in front of Aizen's bound body.
"And what of you?" Aizen asked softly, "What words of wisdom do you have for me?"
Aizen Sousuke, said a voice that the bound man knew instantly was that of the soul king, by the time this reaches you, I will already be dead.
Aizen's lips curved downward in curiosity.
"But, the king isn't dead…is he?" he mused softly under his bindings, "Of course they wouldn't want me to know...if he was."
You are feeling by now that something within the hogyoku is changing, and I will tell you that it is because the hogyoku is beginning to break down. How do I know? I foresaw the making of the hogyoku by Urahara Kisuke and by you. I saw that the hogyoku would be bound to you. And I saw that it would begin to deteriorate as Kuchiki Byakuya began to die. You do not understand what you and Urahara Kisuke created. It was all my plan. I was the one who initiated Urahara's research that led both of you to making the hogyoku. I am the source of that knowledge, and I gave it Kisuke, knowing how it would be used. Know this, the hogyoku is not what you think. It is the manner in which my life is to be protected and reborn. Right now, Ywach's dead body sits on the throne. He killed me and Ichigo killed him. His power maintains that balance. This will not hold the balance properly, so all there is left is a continuous remaking of the false king. The shinigamis will content themselves with this. They do not say it, but they do not want me to be reborn. I have caused the unease in Byakuya's mind, and I know that Urahara Kisuke has his thoughts about Byakuya's situation. I urge you to take the deal that the Kuchiki elders make with you. The only way to see the hogyoku used as it was meant to be, is to bring it close to Kuchiki Byakuya and to interact with him.
I know you are wondering why I would ask this of the one who also wanted to kill me…and the answer is this.
The key to what we all want has always been in Byakuya, in me, and in you. Power is not gained without sacrifice. Remember that as you proceed. Tread carefully, Aizen Sousuke, nothing is as you have believed."