Angelito
By Spunky0ne
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I think every OC has a sort of framing story. For my OC, Tetsuya, that story was Blue Eyes, Silent Tears, and for the cruel, but very complex Orochi, it seems to be Scales. Shima-taicho31 wrote a summary of Kurushimi Shima's past and I was haunted by that until I had to work it into a more comprehensive story for Kuri, Hideaki and Tetsuya. So, this is really that work. I often play with characters, having them meet and fall in love in many different ways, but sometimes there is a special way that story comes out. This feels like that kind of story. Thanks to Shima-taicho31 for being such a sweet friend and a big inspiration. To her and to her OC, Kurushimi, this story is lovingly dedicated.
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After losing his young husband, Hideaki, during the birth of their stillborn first child, Shima Kurushimi wants nothing to do with the surrogate the elders have chosen to bear his child. But when Kuchiki Tetsuya nearly dies acting as his surrogate and drops into a coma, he sees a vision that leaves him dangerously haunted. Unable to convince anyone that the vision he saw could be true, Tetsuya sets out on his own to try to find the young man everyone has long believed to be dead. Is what he is seeing real? Or is Tetsuya just dreaming? Kurushimi/Hideaki, Kurushimi/Tetsuya, Byakuya/Ichigo…yaoi, mpreg, Romance/Angst
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Prologue: Storm
Shima Hideaki felt a sharp pain radiate through his midsection and rolled over in his bed, reaching for his husband. His hands only found empty bedding and he sighed as he remembered.
Kuri is on a mission with his division. He should be here by morning. I am glad. I don't know if the baby will wait.
He listened to the heavy pounding of the rain outside.
I hope, wherever you are, you are warm, my love.
He made a low sound of pain and panted softly through another sharp twinge.
It's been like this for a few days, just twinges, but the spirit chamber hasn't opened.
A footstep sounded in the doorway.
"Are you all right, Hideaki-sama?" his attendant asked, peeking into the room.
Hideaki nodded gamely.
"I am just having pains again, Miki-chan," he confessed softly, "but they're not any worse than they were."
"Just the same, maybe I'd better bring Aderia-san. She said to wake her if anything happened."
"W-well, nothing is really happening," Hideaki sighed, "That is the problem."
He smiled down at his belly, rubbing gently.
"So, are you going to come out and join us?" he asked the swollen baby bump, "Or are you determined that you won't arrive until Kuri-kuri comes home? It's okay if you want to wait. I want him to be here too!"
"Would you like some tea, Hideaki-sama?" Miki asked.
"Oh…I don't know if I can."
"But I will bring Aderia-san, just to be sure you are all right."
As Miki left the room, a large, wet, heavily bundled man entered. Despite his advanced stage of pregnancy, Hideaki was across the room in a moment, hugging the soaked intruder tightly.
"Kuri, you're back!" he exclaimed happily.
Kuri answered him with a deep, penetrating kiss, then began to shed the soaked layers of his clothing.
"Where else would I be when my lovely wife is about to bless our family with our firstborn?" he asked, smirking down at Hideaki's sweet, youthful face, "But you should be in bed, sleeping."
"I was trying to sleep," Hideaki explained, rubbing his belly as Kuri bent to kiss his pronounced baby bump, "but this little one was too excited for you to come home."
"You were waiting for papa?" Kuri asked, patting the baby bump, "What a good boy. Well, I'm here now. You can let your mamà sleep now, eh?"
Hideaki started to laugh, then he made a more urgent sound of pain and began to pant softly again.
"Are you all right?" Kuri asked, looking up worriedly as Aderia entered the bedroom, "Deripie, he is having pains. This last one was very sharp."
"Let me have a look," Aderia said, helping Hideaki back into bed, then leaning over him as Kuri sat on his other side on the bed, holding his hand.
Aderia's palms ran slowly over the large baby bump, then she checked the young man's vital signs as he panted harder and made another sound of discomfort. Miki appeared in the doorway, bearing a tray with tea, ice chips and water. He set the tray at Hideaki's bedside, watching anxiously as Aderia finished her examination, then coaxed Hideaki into accepting a few sips of the tea. Kuri gave her a distressed look as she hesitated before speaking.
"What's wrong?" Hideaki asked, echoing his husband's concern, "There is something wrong. I can see it in your eyes, Aderia-san."
"It will be fine," Aderia assured him, "but we will need to deliver the baby now. His reiatsu has weakened and he is not faring so well. But we will have him out in a few minutes and can infuse him to help him build his strength. Just relax now. I will get started."
Kuri curled an arm around Hideaki, continuing to hold his hand, and kissing him gently as Aderia focused on the baby bump and sent her reiatsu into the area, making it glow brightly. Hideaki's face broke out in a heavy sweat and his breathing quickened until he felt waves of intense dizziness pass over him.
"You will be all right," Kuri whispered in his ear, stealing worried glances at his sister as she worked, "Breathe slowly, love. Breathe slowly."
"K-kuri…" Hideaki whispered, his eyelids fluttering and the grip of his hand lightening.
"Deripie…" Kuri said warningly.
Aderia gave him a stricken look.
"Something is not right," she whispered, "They are both weakening now. I am infusing them, but…"
"Stay with me," Kuri said urgently, turning to face Hideaki, who struggled for breath as Aderia coaxed out the baby's reiatsu.
The three stared in dismay as the bright golden cluster quivered for a moment, then began to break apart and dissipate. At the same time, Hideaki collapsed against his husband's shoulder.
"Hideaki!" Kuri gasped, holding the young man tightly against him, "Hideaki, stay with me! Love, you have to breathe!"
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Chapter 1: Eyes That Will Not Meet
(Twenty years later…,)
Shima Aderia walked out through the kitchen doors, into the rustic gardens of Shima adobe, raising a hand to keep the sun out of her eyes as she sought the slender form of her mother, who knelt in front of a row of seedling plants, carefully weeding and watering. Shima Magdelina reached up with one hand, under the rim of her wide brimmed had to brush away the sweat that had begun to accumulate.
"Mamà," Aderia called to her, "He has arrived."
Magdelina's pretty, dark eyes took on a troubled look, and she wiped her hands on her apron.
"Did Kuri come out to meet him?" she asked.
"No, Mamà," Aderia reported, "I tried to convince him, but he won't even look the poor thing in the face before. And what a face he has, Mamà, like an angel!"
Magdelina let out a frustrated breath.
"I have let this go on for too long. Ever since the war ended and the elders insisted on him providing children, he has refused to marry. He would only finally agree do this. Is he taking it all right?"
"He is trying to be brave, but I can tell he is anxious. Who would not be?"
Magdelina sighed softly.
"I will go and speak to Kuri. Maybe you can keep the young man calm until we arrive."
She shook her head unhappily.
"It is times like these that I miss my Aseshi the most. He would have known how to talk to Kuri…to convince him this is just not right. Making a child without love…"
"But Mamà, you know why," Aderia said softly, "It broke our Kuri inside when he lost Hideaki and the baby. He still cries every night when he tries to sleep. He can't even drink away the pain."
"He forgets that I have lost a child too," Magdelina said, frowning, "You and Kuri had an older brother."
Aderia's dark eyes softened.
I think every day about Ezume," she commented, "It is good he was able to give us our pretty Lupita before he passed."
"Yes," Magdelina said half-heartedly, "But it haunts me that we never found a sign of him to bury him properly. I know in my heart he is gone, it is just…"
"It is painful living without closure," Aderia acknowledged, "We all feel that."
Magdelina let out a steadying breath.
"Well, we had best get this done. Give me a moment to speak to your brother while you comfort the surrogate."
"Of course," Aderia agreed, turning back into the house.
She walked back along the wooden walkway to a sitting room where the young man waited, alongside his attendant.
"Tetsuya-san, Koji-san," Aderia greeted them, as the two young men stood, "It will just be a moment. My mother is having a word with my brother before it begins."
The three sat down together.
"I am surprised that Byakuya-san would allow this," Aderia ventured, "I have heard that you are close to him?"
"I am his bodyguard," Tetsuya explained, "and I am in charge of house security. I think Byakuya-sama would not have agreed to this, and in the past, the elders wouldn't have included me in the surrogate program, but…"
"But they are well aware of how your plans saved many lives in the war, and we have heard how hard you fought to protect all of them as they waited in safety," Aderia said with an edge of contempt, "I suppose if the taichous had returned more quickly from the royal realm, Byakuya-san would have put a stop to this. Angelito, do you want us to try to delay it until he gets back?"
Tetsuya looked quietly down at his hands, which rested politely in his lap.
"They are insistent that this must be done now. All of the clans are marrying off their young people and forcing others into surrogacy. I don't mind having a child for someone else, I suppose, though I am sad I will not be allowed to be involved after. The elders just don't think a half blood is worthy of a clan leader and taichou, although I have proven my ability. They just want to bind that power to a person of pure blood."
"Well," Aderia said kindly, "just because those old goats make a rule and my stupid brother is so wrapped up in his pain he can't see doesn't mean that you should have to suffer. I will be with you every step of your pregnancy, and I will be sure to invite you over plenty, once the baby is born."
Tetsuya gave her a pleased smile.
"Arigatou, Aderia-san. You are very kind."
Aderia slipped a hand into Tetsuya's.
"Don't get the wrong idea about Kuri. He is not a cruel man, and he is not going to hurt you. He just still feels terrible pain over losing his first husband and child. I think once you have the baby, he will look at you more closely, and one never knows. If he has a brain, Tetsuya-san, my brother will fall in love with you. And maybe, that is what he is most afraid of."
"He isn't alone in that," Tetsuya said softly, "I lost my husband and first child too."
Aderia leaned forward and kissed Tetsuya on the cheek.
"Poor thing," she said sadly, "but maybe you and Kuri are each what the other needs."
Tetsuya started to answer, but stiffened and went silent as Magdelina appeared in the doorway, wearing an angry expression. At the sight of Tetsuya, her face changed to a look of surprise.
"Angelito, you are everything my Aderia said you were," she said, moving forward and taking Tetsuya's hands in hers.
She kissed him on the cheek.
"I spoke to my son, but he is beside himself that the elders would not let him out of this. Kuri is not meaning to be rude to you, and he will not hurt you, mijo. But he can't bring himself to look at you."
"I understand," Tetsuya said quietly, "I'm not afraid. I hope it is easier for him to not look at me."
"Come this way then," Aderia said, leading Tetsuya and Koji out of the sitting room.
They walked to a bedroom a short distance down the hallway and Tetsuya and Koji entered the dressing area, where the attendant removed all but his master's white yukata. Tetsuya laid down in the bed, resting calmly as Aderia gently restrained his hands and placed a blindfold over his pretty sapphire eyes.
"I am sorry for this," she apologized again.
"It's all right," Tetsuya assured her, "I told you I'm not afraid."
But as much as he was able to say the words, Tetsuya's heart quickened as the footsteps of the three sounded, and they left him alone in the room. Tetsuya wasn't sure how many minutes passed before another set of footsteps sounded. He could feel the man's hesitancy in each move as he approached the bed, then came to a stop. Tetsuya waited silently, remembering the training for the surrogates, and that he wasn't to do anything to upset the man who would be breeding him.
A little, anxious breath escaped him as the bed moved and his breeder's warm, masculine scent touched his senses. And even though he didn't mean to react, he remembered having seen the Shima leader a few times, and he knew Shima Kurushimi was a handsome man with lovely turquoise eyes and dark caramel colored skin. His heart beat faster and he was glad for the restraints that kept him from grabbing onto Kuri as the elder man paused for a moment, as though to gather himself, then touched Tetsuya's pale thigh to warn him they were about to begin.
Despite the man's purported resistance to the forced coupling, Kuri's hands were compellingly gentle and thorough in preparing him, and when he had steeled himself and had begun his entry, even though Tetsuya had resolved not to make a sound, he couldn't hold back a little sigh of cautious submission.
He is not a lover, Tetsuya dutifully reminded himself as his body was carefully penetrated, The blindfold and restraints are meant to keep us from bonding. It's all right. It's all right. Kurushimi-sama is not a cruel man. I have known cruelty, and there isn't any of that in his touch at all.
What I feel coming from Kurushimi-sama…is fear. It is a kind of fear I know all too well.
I wish I could tell him that it will be all right. Maybe Aderia-san is right and he will feel better once the baby is born. Poor Kurushimi-sama. He must have loved Hideaki-sama very much to be so sad over him, even twenty years later.
Tetsuya longed to move, to speak, to do something as Kuri's movements made his heart pound and his loins ache longingly. But he held still, biting at his lips to keep from letting anything else escape as Kuri stiffened for a moment, then breathed harder and shuddered as he began his release. And as much as Tetsuya tried to hold back, he gasped at the intensity of the heat that seemed to envelop his whole body. He was sure that he must be blushing all over as his own body betrayed his efforts and he climaxed almost violently. He felt Kuri stiffen reflexively in reaction, then the Shima leader quickly withdrew and exited the bed, only turning back for a moment to close Tetsuya's yukata before wordlessly leaving him.
This is not cruelty, Tetsuya reminded himself, Kurushimi-sama is sad. I could feel his sadness while he did this. I hope that this baby can make him smile again. He is in so much pain.
Tetsuya forced a smile as Koji's step sounded and his attendant shattered the restraints and removed his blindfold. Aderia and Magdelina entered the room as Koji helped him out of the bed then quickly cleaned away the damp evidence of what had happened, and dressed him.
"Thank you, angelito," Magdelina said gratefully, "I am sorry for my son's behavior."
"There isn't anything to be sorry for," Tetsuya assured her, "Kurushimi-sama was very gentle. He didn't hurt me at all."
"You say that," Magdelina chided him affectionately, "but I am an older woman and know better than you. And if you are sad, you can come to Aderia and to me. Don't cry alone."
"I will be all right, Magdelina-sama," Tetsuya assured her, "Byakuya-sama is coming home soon."
"Ah," Magdelina sighed, "he is going to have a fit, I suppose, when he knows what those old men did behind his back. But enough of that. Are you hungry? The least we can do is to feed you properly before you go."
"I'm not really hungry, but thank you," Tetsuya said gratefully, "I want to go home and rest in my own room, I think."
Tetsuya and Koji took their leave of the two women and walked back out to the paddock, where Tetsuya's tall black stallion waited for them. The two mounted and set off down the trail, heading back for Kuchiki Manor as Kuri's damp, tormented eyes watched from within one of the rooms.