A Thousand Pleasures
(Byakuya is forced to leave new love Renji just after their first kiss to act as consort to the king. But on the way, a King's Royal Assistant is assigned with instructing Byakuya on his majesty's 'preferences.' Little do our heroes know...someone is impersonating that assistant and planning a royal takeover! Aizen/Byakuya/Renji threesome!)
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Chapter 1: I Didn't Know He Was...
(Abarai Renji's musings)
It's a fact that no one in the whole damned Seireitei knows sixth division taichou, Kuchiki Byakuya better than I do. From the moment that gorgeous, petal wielding nightmare walked by me the day he stole Rukia away from me, I made it my business to know everything about the man.
Does that make me a stalker?
Yeah, probably. But even though he might not have deserved it for offering my best friend a place in his very rich noble home, he certainly did for alienating her from the moment she accepted, hurrying her off to the thirteenth division, and then trying to forget that she existed. And don't even get me started on him siding against her when she was brought up on charges that earned her a death sentence.
But then, I didn't know about those first things when I set out on my little vendetta to get stronger and go beat the ever-loving shit out of him. I have to admit, I was just extremely pissed about losing the one person who survived childhood in Inuzuri with me.
I could handle growing up on the streets...you know, freezing my ass off in the winter, having to go and soak in the polluted river at the end of town to escape the heat of summer, stealing clothes to cover my bare ass and food I usually gave to littler kids to keep them from starving. I could stomach pissing in the bushes, sleeping in boarded up, condemned buildings or curled up in caves...under a stairway (except I couldn't really sleep 'cause I'd snore and get the crap beaten out of me with a broom handle). I could resist the creepy brothel owners who promised chosen street kids a comfortable bed, easy life and an income, but who raped them, themselves and subjected them to the horrors of sexual slavery, locking them up, starving them if they didn't behave, working them too hard and setting them up with cruel, sadistic creeps who sometimes killed them with their perversions. I could take the horrible things people called us...'pigs,' 'rats,' 'refuse.' And those were just the nice words.
But Inuzuri was a walk in the park next to watching all of my friends but Rukia succumb to the dangers of street life, then having this absolutely stunning 'handsome prince' sweep into town and take her away too. Sure, she was alive. But having to watch her walk by, neither of us able to even look at each other, let alone exchange a single word? There's no closure in that. It's just fucking torture.
Why her?
Why my best friend?
Oh, shit...I guess I am too obvious, right?
Let's be honest here.
It isn't that he swept into town and stole away my best friend and the only one to survive the streets of Inuzuri with me. I'm a loyal, determined friend, but friendship? Honestly? I'd carry a grudge like that if someone hurt or killed my best friend, but Kuchiki Byakuya didn't do that! (Damn him...) Really he didn't do anything that should have riled me to the point of seeking bankai.
Anything, that is...except walk so close to me that I couldn't help but see that perfect skin of his close up, those frowning, sensuous lips just made for kissing. I couldn't help but shiver when the end of his expensive heirloom scarf brushed against my skin, screaming, "Here, Renji! Tie me up with this and fuck the living daylights out of me, PLEASE!" Then...he hit me with the finishing blow...that light, sweet scent of sakura that slipped inside my senses, giving me an instant, very painful hard on, and years of nightmares about being so close to burying myself in that beautiful, perfect body of his and never emerging, but always being stopped by something...or someone.
Yeah, I lied to myself as I made myself stronger. I told myself that it was so that I could beat him, prove myself and win Rukia back. But really, the honest truth is that nothing short of beating Kuchiki Byakuya to a bloody pulp was going to make the man notice I was alive.
So, I trained like a maniac, lying to myself the whole time. But that lie...and my heart, broke into pieces when he abandoned her and stood with her accusers during a time when any real brother would have supported and protected his sister. As much as I was secretly in love with Kuchiki Byakuya, I couldn't understand why he would do that.
And that, very quickly turned my adoration into pure hatred. I had reached manifestation by then, and was almost ready to astound him with that, when Rukia was brought in and sentenced to death. But his response to that pushed me over the edge and the rest of the way to achieving bankai.
Except that instead of wanting to fight my way into his heart, I wanted to destroy him. I put my best effort into doing that, trying to get past him to go and save Rukia, but my bankai was too new and he was too strong. He left me in a pool of blood with that pretty, expensive scarf laid over my wrecked body as a sign of his respect and appreciation for my determination and growing skill.
As soon as I could move again, I headed for Rukia, figuring that I could always take her brother on again later, but Rukia's life was in danger right then. I heard, on the way, that Ichigo had defeated him, but oddly, I felt a knot of worry for him...until the messenger also told me that my taichou was still alive and had walked away from the battle.
That was the first moment I remember ever really being worried about him getting hurt or killed. Before that, I wanted to do it myself...
Then, came the moment that cleared up everything for me...the moment that all of the lies I'd told myself fell apart and my heart broke all over again.
"Kill her, Gin."
"Well, if I must. Shoot to kill, Shinzou."
It seemed to take forever for that snake's sword to reach her...even though I know how fast his blade really is. It was just that my best friend was about to die, and there was no fucking way to get my ruined body off the ground to stop it.
Turned out, I didn't have to.
It was strange to me that I didn't sense his reiatsu right away, so there was no warning...just the sound of his flash step, then the shock that hit me as he landed and Gin's blade sank into his chest and cut through him. I'd never seen Kuchiki taichou take a hit like that. And as much as he was god awful powerful, he'd just been pummeled by Ichigo and hadn't been healed.
"T-tai...chou!"
Nobody even heard me.
But even though I couldn't move and even though I couldn't make him hear me, I could be honest with myself. I could admit that I hadn't originally wanted to hurt him at all. That first day when he walked by, yeah...I thought, Why her? But what was really in my heart was...Why not me?
He should have been my prince, my dream come true. I wasn't so pissed about him taking my friend away as that he chose her over me. It's stupid, I know. But it made sense to my twisted, crazy mind. So...finally admitting it to myself, I went to his room at the fourth, after being patched up. I went and I refused to leave, even when he wanted me to. From that moment on, I was honest with myself.
But not with him.
Things got better after that. Taichou, as I started to call him, called me to the manor after he was released...safer ground than the sixth, where he was my taichou and I'd turned against him.
"Renji, the reason I called you here today is because of something that you said as we battled. It has been in my mind and I feel it best to address it with you."
He looked down at the plate of sushi that the staff had brought out for our lunch, then he looked back at me.
"You said that I never troubled myself with what my subordinates were doing."
"Taichou, I..."
"You were right."
I swear, you could have knocked me over with a fucking feather. He looked up at me with those big, gray eyes...serious, serious and so damned pretty I wanted to grab him and kiss him right there.
"I had thought that I didn't need to trifle with others...that I was strong enough that I didn't need to be protected by people weaker than me. And being close to them was only an invitation to disaster if indeed they were likely to die on my behalf. I thought that distance was the only protection I needed. But that was wrong."
He paused again and I could see that he was searching for the right words. I felt something odd inside as he looked into my eyes. Taichou almost never does that, so when he does, it's almost painful.
"Renji, you are my fukutaichou. And a large number of fukutaichous perish in the line of duty. Part of the reason that I did not 'trouble myself' with you is that I concerned myself too much with how it would feel to invest in you and then watch you be lost, sacrificing yourself for me."
"You...?"
"I depended almost solely on my own strength instead of trying to build a strong team. But even as I did that, you did not. You cared about your own subordinates and you did train with them. You were in better touch with them, and when some were lost, you mourned them. You have acted more as their leader than I have, holding myself apart as I did."
"Well, Taichou, it is the fukutaichou who is supposed to train the..."
"Under the watchful eye of an invested taichou, yes."
I couldn't think of anything to say, so I just shut up and waited as he thought a bit more.
"Aizen's treachery was a horrible thing," he said, more quietly, "But it did open my eyes to my mistakes, and just as you told me that you are going to fix yours, I will address mine also."
"O-kay? How?"
"You are to arrive at the division on time in the morning, twice a week and we will train together before addressing any other duties."
"You are going to train with me?"
I was shocked. After what I'd done, I never would have expected he would do that.
"You look surprised. Why?"
"I don't know. I just...after everything..."
"Soutaichou has said that we are to realize our mistakes and we are to fix them. I will not punish you when I also transgressed. And punishment would be a waste of time considering the battles in our near future with Aizen."
He took a sip of tea, letting his words sink in.
"Additionally," he went on, "I will meet with you to discuss your choices for deployments, I will address the squad during morning training weekly and I will conduct regular drop ins on training of the rank and file. I want you to inform me of any problems you think I need to know about. I will leave it to your discretion to make those decisions about what needs to come to me."
I left the manor so stunned that I don't remember walking home. Although at first, I was worried that he was all talk, he really did change things after that. And we all got stronger.
The battles with Aizen beat us all down, and we trained even harder after that so that if he ever got out and threatened us again, we would be ready. We were in good shape going into our battles with the human fullbringers, even though I teased Taichou about getting cut up by such a lame opponent. Yeah, I was joking, but he didn't think it was so funny and took me out to kick my ass all around the training yard. He took me out to dinner afterward, though...something he had started to do because it was convenient, but was becoming more of a habit.
Then...just as I'd convinced myself that the ice around my prince's heart was beginning to melt, the Sternritter showed up and blew everything to hell. If I was scared when Gin cut him through the heart, I was ice cold terrified at what As Nodt did to him. I thought that he was dead for sure that time.
But he's fucking Kuchiki Byakuya.
He survived, though just barely. And we joined forces...working together, fighting alongside Rukia, the one we both wanted like hell to protect now. We tangled with those sons of a bitches in a final, winner-take-all battle and won it together. We got through the war and both came back alive. And now, our division has been rebuilt and everybody's healed. Things are back to normal and we're both sitting here. He's looking down at the papers on his desk and stealing glances at me now and then.
I think he knows what's in my head, and what I sense tells me that he's got some feelings of his own about that. I just don't know if I can stand to hear them. After everything we've been through to get here, I don't want to wreck things. But doing nothing will only make us likely to drift apart. And as we've learned, stalling when your life is built around wars is not a smart thing. Any day could be your last.
Any day...
"Renji?"
Oh my kami, when did he get up and cross the room?
"There's something I need to talk to you about."
With my luck, it's probably work related.
"I think that we both know what I'm going to say...so I won't say it."
What?
When did he sit down in that chair beside mine?
Why is he leaning forward?
Gods, that sakura scent is overwhelming me. I think he's got to see I've got a hard on the size of Mount...
Shit!
Is he going to...kiss me?
He...is...
Kuchiki fucking Byakuya is...kissing me!
His hair feels like the expensive silk he wears when he's not working and his lips are even softer and warmer than I'd dreamed. I'd always thought that he might be a little cold to the touch, but, oh...oh gods, he's so warm all over and pressing against me as this first incredible kiss just goes on and freaking on!
I think I'm dying.
He couldn't kill me with his sword, his kido or his bankai, so being the fucking badass he is, he's going to kill me with his soft lips, his hot tongue that's making mine a very devoted slave, his hands, his warm body...everyfuckingthing...
Oh...
Oh gods, please don't let this kiss end!
But everything ends, and this kiss follows that rule.
He pulls away from me, and it feels like I just lost my best friend all over again. I think I made a sound because he looks into my eyes questioning-like. Then, I see a flash of uncertainty...a breathless moment of waiting.
I realize a few seconds later that he's waiting for me to say something, to move, to do something. But it's like when I was lying on top of Soukyoku Hill all cut apart. Moving is a problem. Fuck, after that kiss, breathing is a problem. But my heart is racing so fast I feel dizzy. And in the end, I collapse onto his shoulder as much from dizziness as in answer.
"Renji?"
"Yes," I manage, "Fuck yes! That...was...amazing!"
"Then you...?"
"Yeah, I do."
He smiles at me and I'm sure I just came. My head spins, but we're kissing again and I am not missing that for the world.
We're forced to stop and look official as the door opens, and to our surprise, Kuchiki freaking Ginrei walks in with a royal escort.
"Grandfather," Byakuya says, smiling, but not as big as a moment ago, "Why are you here?"
"I am here on behalf of the king," the old man says in a serious tone, "You are to be congratulated. The new king, Yuudai, calls you to service...as his consort."
Consort?
Isn't that...?
Oh my kami...it is.
Fuck...what do we do now?