Chapter 1: The Separation
(See, I didn't make you wait much at all for an end to the cliffie! The first few pages are actually the end of the last story carried over and the new story starts where the last left off. That makes the chapter short, but I will have another update soon. Hope you enjoy this! Love, Spunky)
Byakuya felt the bed move and lifted his head off his pillow, looking up as Renji climbed into bed next to him.
"Did she go back to sleep?" he asked drowsily.
"Yeah, she's fine," the redhead assured him, "A few lullabies and a knock over the head...you know, the usual."
"Ah..."
Renji snuggled close to the noble, slipping his hands underneath Byakuya's yukata and teasing his nipples as they kissed.
"Hey, Byakuya?"
"Hmmm?"
"Thanks for the birthday party today. It was a lot of fun."
"I'm glad you enjoyed that."
"I especially enjoyed the kimono you had made for me."
"That's good. I'm glad."
"But, uh...I was kinda wondering. There's something else I was sort of hoping that you would give me."
Byakuya's dark grey eyes fixed on him and blinked slowly. For a moment, the two said nothing and just gazed wordlessly into each other's eyes. Then, Renji felt a jolt the likes of which he never had as the noble gave a barely perceptible nod and slowly parted his thighs.
"R-really?" the redhead managed, swallowing hard, "Are you sure?"
"I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't sure," Byakuya said shortly, "But if you've changed your mind..."
"No way!" Renji shouted, then he bit his lip and looked around, "S-sorry, I mean no, I haven't changed my mind."
"Then, by all means, proceed."
Calm, radiant power flared beneath the calm surfaces of Byakuya's eyes, and his reiatsu burned painfully against Renji's skin as the redhead's fingers began a careful preparation.
It feels dangerous, just like he is, but I get it. It's like he's reminding me that he's not just any guy. He could kill me if he wanted to, so I'll always respect the honor of being with him. Thing is, he respects me too. That's what wasn't in my relationship with Masato.
Renji's thoughts derailed as a blush rose on Byakuya's face and throat and a look of desire came over him. He moved with Renji as the redhead completed the preparation and positioned himself to enter the noble.
"I love you," Renji whispered in his ear, causing a wonderful throb in Byakuya's belly, distracting him so that he hardly felt it when he was penetrated.
Hot! Renji thought, thrusting heedlessly, his mind spinning wildly as he felt Byakuya's body moving with his, He's so hot inside! I think I'll melt...
Renji didn't remember ever being with someone who endured so long before surrendering to the lovely jolts and throbs of orgasm. They seemed to writhe against each other forever, pleasure licking at their bodies like flames and bringing them to the edges of their sanity.
Renji looked one more time into Byakuya's more feral eyes. loving the loss of control, the ferocity of the man's reiatsu and the feeling like he just might be beginning to be incinerated. He thrust harder and faster, reeling in the beauty of the moment when Byakuya stiffened against him, then fell into the heavy, blinding shudders of release. Unable to hold back anymore, Renji surrendered to, moaning loudly and burying Byakuya's panting mouth in kisses, then both drifting off to sleep with their bodies still joined.
Renji sat bolt upright in the bed some time later as a woman's voice seemed to scream practically in his ear.
"What the fuck?"
He sat up, staring in disbelief at the naked, raven-haired woman in the bed with him and the man on the other side of her.
"No way!" Renji cried, looking from one to the other in dismay, "Not again!"
He looked at the man more closely, frowned, squinted, then made another sound of shock and disbelief.
"What the hell? What are you doing here?"
There was no mistaking the fully dressed, armored and masked samurai who sat in the bed, glaring back at him warningly.
"S-senbonzakura?" Renji mused, watching as the lovely, raven-haired woman turned to look at the samurai.
"What is this?" she whispered, "Renji, what in kami's name have you done to us?"
And while the redhead was still reeling, the woman's hand drew back, then slammed into Renji's face, throwing him off of the bed and onto the floor.
"Augh! What are you doing?" Renji cried, holding a hand to his blackened eye, "Are you crazy? Stop!"
He scrambled to his feet, backing away as the woman flew off the bed and threw herself at him again. Renji handled his defenses much more capably this time, using his size and weight, as well as his fighting ability to finally get hold of the woman's wrists and force her back against the wall. The woman looked back at him with mayhem in her eyes, hissing with fury as the redhead held her in place.
"Hey, knock it off!"
"How dare you speak to me that way!" the woman cried, "Let go of me now, Abarai!"
She twisted forcefully, nearly freeing herself enough to aim a hard kick at his privates, but the redhead shifted skillfully and, taking advantage of his captain's unfamiliarity with his now-feminine body, he locked her back against the wall.
"Have you forgotten who I am?" Byakuya snapped viciously, "Take your hands off of me or I will make you very much regret it!"
"Calm down and stop trying to hit me and I'll let you go all right?"
The woman snarled dangerously, but relaxed slightly.
Renji let her go and immediately felt the impact of a nasty, lightning fast strike to his groin. He doubled over, dropping to his knees at his transformed lover's feet.
"Don't you ever touch me without permission again!" Byakuya fumed.
"Ugh...I think me touching you is the worst of your problems right now, if you know what I mean," Renji managed, holding on to his injured privates.
"Don't you think I know that?" Byakuya asked, turning away and engaging a flash step to reach the closet as the bedroom door opened and Torio entered.
"Lord Byakuya, I..." he began, then froze, staring at the sight of the naked, dark haired woman, whose flash step failed, tripping her up and sending her crashing to the ground, "Oh!"
"My flash step!" Byakuya gasped, "I cannot...!"
The woman glared down at herself, forgetting for a moment that she was completely naked in front of now three men.
"I cannot flow any reiatsu!" she exclaimed.
"Like Wren," Renji remembered, "But that means..."
"I have my powers," Senbonzakura confirmed, "I am not weak like her."
"How dare you speak to me like that!" Byakuya reprimanded the zanpakutou spirit, "I am your master!"
Senbonzakura stood and crossed his arms.
"You are not my master anymore," he announced, "You have no powers, remember?"
"Hey!" Renji shouted, standing and flash stepping to the reeling noble.
"L-lord Byakuya?" Torio breathed helplessly, "What is happening here?"
"Okay, stop for a sec," Renji pleaded, "Don't freak out. Something strange seems to have happened and Byakuya's...erm...not himself right now. Torio, I think we'd better close that door and not let anyone in here to see him like this."
"V-very well," the attendant stammered, carefully averting his eyes as the raven-haired woman walked to the closet and donned a yukata.
"Torio," Byakuya said, assuming more calm, "I am sorry if you were surprised. Everything will be fine, I assure you."
"B-but how did you...get this way?" the shocked attendant asked, studying the transformed noble carefully.
"I am not sure," the noble confessed, "Renji and I went to sleep and when we woke, we were like this."
"We need to get Byakuya and Senbonzakura to Karakura Town without anyone seeing them," Renji suggested, "I don't think it would be good for everyone to know what happened."
"You are right," Byakuya affirmed, "Clan relations are a tricky matter. If only I had my powers, it wouldn't be so bad, but remember that our standing with the other clans is power-based, and other clans may challenge us if we suddenly lose some of our power."
"That's not good," Renji said, shaking his head, "But how do we get you out of here?"
Byakuya thought for a moment, then inhaled sharply.
"Tetsuya!"
"Your cousin?" Renji queried.
"Tetsuya wields waterforms, so we only need to have him use them to conceal us so that we can travel."
"You mean, after I go to Kisuke and get a mod soul so that you can even enter the precipice world," Renji corrected him.
"That's right."
"But once I get back, I'll take you and Senbonzakura to Kisuke and he'll get you guys back together."
"You must be joking," Senbonzakura said sternly, "There is no way that I will be bound to someone not worthy of me. You do what you want. I am leaving."
The samurai flash stepped to the garden doors.
"Senbonzakura!" Byakuya called after him.
"Hey, get back here!" yelled Renji.
The samurai glowered at them, then burst out the doors. Renji and Torio exchanged glances.
"I'll go after him," Torio offered, "That way, you can take care of getting Lord...erm...Lady...ah...Byakuya to Karakura Town."
"Thanks, Torio...and remember not to tell anyone!"
"I won't!" the attendant promised.
Renji turned back to the transformed noble, who stood in front of a full length mirror, looking at her comely reflection.
"I'll go and get that mod soul," Renji began.
"Renji, I do not think you should leave," the noble objected, "If someone sees me, then I don't know what the elders will do. I am only leader by virtue of my place in the family and my powers. If I lose my powers, then the elders will be forced to hand leadership over to my heir."
"You mean Wren?" Renji asked, frowning, "But, she's just a baby!"
"She would be given into the care of a guardian. I named Tetsuya as her guardian if anything should happen to me, because you and I are not yet married. I couldn't name you until we were."
"Well, it's a lucky thing you named him. At least we know he'll work with us."
"Yes. But what do we do?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe we'll have to have me do what you did and have sex with you and Senbonzakura both...although, I don't think he's gonna go along with that."
"Not likely," Byakuya agreed, "And I wonder if it will be as simple as that. We need Kisuke Urahara."
"I could send him a hell butterfly," Renji offered.
"What will you tell him?"
"I'll tell him you're sick and you really need him to come. I'll get him here. But while I'm gone, I'll get Tetsuya to come and stay with you, to protect you, all right?"
"All right," Byakuya agreed hesitantly.
Renji slipped out of the room and looked around the gardens.
"Hey, Tsutomu!" he called to the guard on garden detail, "Have you seen Tetsuya?"
"He is on rounds, Vice Captain Abarai, but he is on his way in."
"Good, when he gets here, can you send him to Lord Byakuya's room? Byakuya wants to talk to him. He says it's important."
"Of course, Vice Captain, I will relay the message to him at once."
"Thanks," Renji said, turning back into the room.
He found Byakuya, still in front of the mirror, wearing an unsettled expression.
"You all right?" he asked, standing just out of striking range of the noble.
"Do I look all right to you, Abarai?" Byakuya said reproachfully, "Of course I'm not all right."
"Look, I know what you are..."
"Do you?" Byakuya asked, "because when you split from Wren, although she appeared as a woman, you still retained a male form that had his powers. This..."
"I know. It's not good," Renji agreed, "But it'll be okay. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
"You are the one who did this to me," the noble reminded him, "Not that you could help it, but I should have been more cautious. I knew from Kisuke Urahara that there could be effects we wouldn't know unless we came across them by chance."
"Who knew letting me take you would do this?"
"Don't remind me of that, please!" Byakuya said stridently, "Let's just focus on getting me changed back."
"Only thing is, we need Senbonzakura for that, I'm sure. And we don't know where he was going. Does he even know his way around?"
"I don't know. I only hope that Torio is able to find him and convince him to come back. If he does not..."
"Don't think that way," Renji said, sliding his arms around the noble and hugging her tightly, then kissing her, "Byakuya..."
"You shouldn't be calling me that," Byakuya corrected him, "It isn't proper for me to use that now, and if I am discovered by anyone, I should go by a different name. Bya should be fine."
"What?" Renji mused, "You would have killed me for ever calling you that before."
"Well, things are different. Just...call me that. It's too disturbing to hear you refer to this like it's me."
"Well, woman's body or not, you're still Byakuya Kuchiki," Renji argued.
"Byakuya Kuchiki was a bankai wielding male captain, not a powerless female. I need a name that, at least, sounds feminine."
"All right, fine. Whatever you say. You're Bya. But it isn't going to be for long, all right? We'll get you and that damned stubborn samurai put back together in no time and then we'll get married...or hey, why not get married before the elders know anything?"
Byakuya gave the redhead a scathing look and then looked down at the ample breasts that adorned his chest.
"I don't think anyone is going to mistake me for a man, Renji. The elders will not marry us with me like this. They will allow you to stay at Kuchiki Manor, of course, because you are the heir's parent, but you will not be her official guardian. Tetsuya will be. We really must try to avoid the elders learning of this."
"Couldn't we use Tetsuya's waterform power somehow?"
"No. Unfortunately, all reiatsu abilities are blocked within the council chambers. It is a security feature. There is no way to hide it. But enough of that. I cannot think about that now. I think we should..."
He paused as Tetsuya tapped on the door, then opened it and stepped into the room. At the sight of the redhead and the raven-haired woman, he paused, frowning.
"Renji?" he queried, "Where is my cousin? Where is Lord Byakuya?"