Chapter 2: The Jewel
The sound of soft voices filled the chamber of the Kuchiki elders as the men and women of the council settled into the their seats and waited for the arrival of the head elder. Kuchiki Arisu took the seat next to a man with shoulder length graying hair and powerful black eyes, whose eldest son sat at his right shoulder.
"Congratulations, Isas," the lady elder said with a little edge of sarcasm, "though it's a pity that you are only receiving an elevation to regency. It's so odd how Tetsuya disappeared the same day that Byakuya was killed…"
"Isn't it?" Isas agreed, his cold eyes revealing nothing, "Tragic."
Arisu arched a fine eyebrow, her jade colored eyes narrowing.
"I see you've brought your favorite son. Good to see you, Orochi."
Orochi gazed back at her in silence, only giving a short nod, then turning his eyes to the chamber entry, where the head elder was arriving.
Kuchiki Nori strode forward, his gait smooth despite his many years and his light blue eyes calm and slightly sad. He crossed the room and took a seat at the head of the large council table. His eyes scanned the group of twelve elders, some accompanied by subfamily heirs and all attended by servants who waited quietly in the gallery.
"Welcome," he greeted the others, making the whispers in the room go silent, "this meeting is called to order. Fumio, will you read the agenda?"
A middle aged man with short cropped black hair and solemn brown eyes stood and began to read from a page he held in his hand.
"This special council is called to declare an end to the waiting period and to name Kuchiki Isas as family regent. Before we begin, the council will finish their interrogation of Kuchiki Koji in the matter of Tetsuya's disappearance. You will recall that he testified in the last meeting that he was not with Tetsuya at the time of his disappearance and that he has had no contact with Tetsuya since then. The council calls Kuchiki Koji."
The council doors opened to admit a pair of family guards, who led a young man with black hair and downcast emerald eyes into the chamber. The guards led Koji to a small podium set short of the council meeting table, then removed the kido bonds from his wrists before stepping back and taking up a position behind him. Koji turned reddened eyes on the waiting elders. Nori met his gaze apologetically.
"Are you all right, my boy?" he asked kindly, "You look distressed. Did something happen?"
"No sir, I am fine," Koji lied, keeping his eyes lowered, "Please continue."
Nori nodded hesitantly.
"Very well. You testified at the last council meeting that you were not with Tetsuya when he disappeared, and that Tetsuya has not contacted you since?"
"Yes sir," Koji answered softly.
"Will you tell the council where you were?" Nori inquired, "as our understanding is that Byakuya left orders for Tetsuya to be constantly attended."
"He and I were walking to the waterfall on the west side of the estate," Koji recounted, "Tetsuya-san seemed out of sorts. It is…w-was…always difficult for him when Byakuya-sama would leave. Tetsuya-san said he was cold, and he asked me to return to the main house to bring him a cloak."
"And how long were you away from him?" asked Nori.
"It is a five minute walk from the area where we were on the trail to the house, then it took me perhaps ten minutes to reach the waterfall," Koji reported.
"And what did you find when you arrived there?"
Koji paused, his hands trembling where they clasped together in front of him.
"I found no sign of him, sir," he said in a quavering voice, "He was with Arashi, but neither he nor Arashi were at the waterfall, and I could find no signs of them anywhere on the trail. They seemed to have vanished into thin air!"
"Is that right?" Isas said, standing and glaring at the attendant, "Are you sure this is all you remember?"
"Yes, I've told you already," Koji insisted, his eyes filling with tears, "I have no idea where Tetsuya-san went and he has not contacted me!"
"Hmm," Isas said, glancing at Orochi for a moment, "And you expect us to take you at your word, do you?"
Koji gazed back at the subfamily leader in silence.
"Tell me something," Isas went on, "Are you in the habit of lying for your master?"
Koji paled.
"I…I don't know what you mean."
"Oh, I think you do," Isas said sedately, "Did you not lie to my son prior to Tetsuya's disappearance, when Orochi requested a meeting with Tetsuya to discuss the main family's protection?"
Koji stiffened.
"I…"
"It's fine. We already know. You did lie to my son about that."
"I must obey the will of my master," Koji answered in a shaking voice.
"Even if he wills that you should lie?" asked Isas.
Behind him, Orochi's lips curved into a cruel smile.
"S-sir, I…"
"It is clear that we can't be sure if Tetsuya might have told you something and sworn you to secrecy. As grave a matter as this is, I see no recourse, but to continue your incarceration in the family detainment center. I believe the penalty for withholding information in a case like this is ten to twenty years. I move that we incarcerate you for twenty years, as this is regarding the disappearance of a concubine carrying the Kuchiki heir."
Nori frowned, but held back from commenting.
"All in favor of assessing the maximum penalty," he said solemnly, "Opposed?"
His eyes saddened more as they met Koji's.
"Kuchiki Koji, it is the will of the majority of the council that you return to the detainment center, where you will remain incarcerated for twenty years, less the six months that you have already served."
Tears flowed down the young man's face, but he remained quiet and cooperative as his hands were bound and he was led away. In the gallery, Koji's two brothers watched in dismay.
"What can we do, Torio?" the younger brother asked anxiously.
"I can do nothing," Torio answered, watching as the council turned its attention to the swearing in of the new family regent, "I am forced to serve Isas and they will probably assign you to serve Orochi."
Akio made a sound of disgust.
"They are horrible," he confided, "Torio, please, we have to escape."
"Shh, we will probably be watched. We can't be accused of anything because Byakuya-sama was away at the time of his death, but we still have to be careful."
Torio's body shook slightly as Isas recited the acceptance pledge for leadership and moved to the head of the table to sit with Nori.
"They've shown with what they are doing to our brother. They are hateful people, and they will stop at nothing."
"All the more reason for us to free Koji and get out of here!" Akio insisted, "And before you say no, please listen. I think I have an idea."
XXXXXXXXXX
Soft footsteps sounded outside the door of a white walled room at the Tokyo West Rehabilitation Center. A nurse entered the room, carrying a medical chart and holding a cup containing a pill meant for the young man within the room.
"Good morning, Tama-san," said the nurse, smiling sweetly at the sleepily blinking, sapphire-eyed man who looked up at her from the hospital bed, "You look well today."
She handed him the cup containing the pill and poured a glass of water for him. The young man remained silent, but gave her a look of gratitude.
"That should take care of some of those nagging aches and pains, ne?" the nurse said kindly, "Tama-san, are you ready to get up and move around?"
The blue-eyed man nodded and accepted the dark haired, matronly woman's assistance in climbing out of bed and rising onto his unsteady legs. He rested a hand on the bed, gathering himself, then he very slowly lightened his grip until all of the weight was on his legs. They still shook slightly, but he crossed the floor in careful steps, moving out into the hallway, with the nurse at his side, chatting gaily as they made a small circuit around the building.
"You're doing much, much better, Tama-san," the nurse praised him, "Considering the troubling head injury you had, you are making a grand recovery. But Doctor Furudo is still uncertain as to why you are still not speaking to us. I mean, we all love the strong, silent type, Tama-san, dear, but I know I for one, would love to hear the sweet voice that goes with that angelic face of yours."
Tama gave her a gentle smile and continued to walk with her towards the front door of the facility.
"I think we'll go outside today," the nurse went on, leading him out the entrance doors, "The garden is lovely with everything in bloom...so many flowers and the birds singing for us. Oh, and the koi pond is done and we have some really big koi in there now."
Tama's smile widened at the sight of the beautiful garden, and he managed to traverse the entire trail alongside the nurse before turning back towards the rehabilitation center.
"Keiko-san," said a male voice issuing from behind them, "could you please look this over and give me an approval?"
"Oh, of course," said the nurse, "Wait here for a moment, Tama-san," she said, leaving the young man beside the koi pond.
Tama knelt at the side of the pond and gazed down into the water, confused at his reflection, which didn't match the dreams he always had about himself. Although his blue eyes were correct, he was sure that his hair had been darker, that his features had been more finely carved and that his lower abdomen had borne a rounded area. He knew well that the name they called him was one that his nurse had made up to match his bright, gemlike eyes, but he couldn't understand the rest. He blinked slowly, watching the fish for a time, then looking up to watch the sakura petals float down on the breeze. His eyes narrowed and he caught his breath softly as the face and voice of another man entered his mind.
"I love you. I will come back to you. You are always in my heart, Tetsuya, and that is a protection that remains with us, even when we are apart."
Tetsuya, he thought, looking down at his reflection again, Is that my name? It felt like my name when spoken by the raven-haired man from my dreams. But I just don't know.
He was distracted out of his thoughts by a flicker of movement in the brush and the intense feeling of being watched. He returned to looking into the water, but used his peripheral vision to watch the bushes. For several moments, everything seemed silent and still, but then the branches of the nearest bush moved and he heard the soft huffing of a large creature's breathing. Tama inhaled sharply in surprise when a black, equine face poked through and looked at him through bright blue eyes like his own.
What a beautiful horse...
He continued to study the beast out of the corner of an eye as the horse moved cautiously about the brush, then stopped a few feet away, looking at him intently. Tama slowly raised his eyes and met the horse's, and froze there, with the two of them staring at each other.
Tetsuya, whispered a wispy voice in his head.
The young man came to his feet, gasping in surprise at the sound.
What was that? he thought, his eyes still glued to the horse.
He heard the voice again, but couldn't make out the words. The only thing clear to him was the name that the voice had called him.
Is it that the horse is somehow speaking into my mind? Am I hearing things?
He stiffened as the voice sounded in his mind again.
Tetsuya!
He strained to understand the words that followed, but had made no progress, when the nurse's footsteps approached him, and he turned his head to greet her. He was sure that she would say something about the tall black horse, but as she arrived, she only continued her chatter and started to take him by the arm to lead him back to the rehabilitation center.
"Sorry to leave you alone Tama-san. But we'll just...T-tama-san, is something wrong?"
He had stopped moving and was staring at the tall, black horse when it occurred to him.
She does not see him? He is right in front of us and she does not see him? How can this be? Is he really there at all?
He quivered as the wispy voice spoke to him again.
Tetsuya! Master!
"Oh, Tama-san, was the walking a bit too much this time? I am sorry if I pushed you too hard. Come with me. I will give you a nice long back and leg rub. I'll set you right again. I promise I will."
Why can't she see you? Tama wondered.
This time, the voice in his head said something more he could hear clearly.
She is human and we are not. We are...
"Come along now, sweet Tama-san," said the nurse, turning him away, "I'll give you that rubdown and then we'll have lunch."
Another brief flash of memory assaulted him as he walked back towards the center with the nurse.
Easy now...I will give you a good rubdown and a well-earned treat after. That was impressive work, Arashi.
"A-arashi!" Tama gasped suddenly, startling the nurse.
"Tama-san!" she said excitedly, "Tama-san, you spoke! That is good, Tama-san! Are you remembering someone you know?"
Sweat broke out on his forehead and his body trembled with effort as he tried to make his voice sound again. Keiko waited patiently, holding his hand and offering gentle words of encouragement, but finally Tama let out a shaky breath and looked down at the ground. Keiko placed a warm palm on his face and looked calmly into his confused eyes.
"This is progress, Tama-san," she said firmly, "Come inside and rest. I am sure that whatever you remembered, you will get it to come out eventually. I will tell your counselor about this. I am sure he will be able to help you remember more."
Weary from the effort and his mind beginning to fog from the pain reliever he had been given, Tama sighed softly and accepted her arm around him as she guided him back into the building.
XXXXXXXXXX
Rukia sighed sadly and shook her head, watching as the hell butterfly flickered in front of them and disappeared. She looked around the bedroom, which oddly hadn't changed much from the time that she and Ichigo had met.
He's older now, but he's still that same boy I met…stubborn and determined to protect the people he cares about. And even though everyone knows now about him being the Shiba family heir, he still hangs on to this part of himself…the human part. He's a person with so much power and ability, but he hasn't let it go to his head.
"So, you say that no one has seen your cousin, Tetsuya, in the last six months?" Ichigo asked, "And there are no clues about where he might have gone or what happened to him?"
"It's hard to be sure of anything," Rukia said, shaking her head sadly, "Ichigo, you know the mess that was left after the war. Tetsuya's evacuation plan saved our clan from the great losses that the others suffered, but we lost a lot of fighters, and the other clans lost a lot of everyone. The devastation was like that of the war a thousand years ago, when the breeder males were made."
Ichigo looked at Rukia more intently.
"The breeder males?" he repeated curiously, "Are you talking about people like Tetsuya? Men who could have children?"
"Yes," Rukia answered matter-of-factly, "Ichigo, you know that although human males are made of material…cells, spirits are made of spirit particles, and spirit particles can be manipulated."
"You mean, something like how I shape the power I use when I take shinigami form?" Ichigo surmised.
"Yes, like that," Rukia affirmed, "It's more difficult with our bodies, because the spirit particles are densely packed and strongly bonded, but you've seen how some shinigamis even have powers that cause their bodies to transform in some ways. After the first quincy war, there was a lot of concern that the noble families were in decline and needed to expand their numbers. There were more males than females, so scientist of the time sought a way to cause a change in the men's bodies to allow them to carry children. They were able to accomplish this, and the first breeder males were made. They helped to repopulate the clans."
Ichigo frowned.
"But if they did something important like that, how come I never heard about them or met one in all of the time I was in Soul Society."
Rukia gave him a troubled look.
"After the first children of the breeder males came of age, it was realized that some of the males were born naturally able to give birth. There were some who feared that the natural laws had been broken and internal fighting caused a backlash against the ones who had done the most to help the noble clans. The breeder males were the target of hatred and many died when secret groups formed that worked behind the scenes to erase them from existence. Many were kidnapped and taken to secret illegal prisons, where they were tortured and killed. The ones who survived, hid the presence of the ability in their families. But even so, most of the breeder males did not survive. Tetsuya is one of a very few breeder males who have been identified and successfully protected…at least, until now."
She moved to the window, looking out at the quiet morning streets below.
"Ichigo," she went on, "since the end of the war, concern has again been building and the noble leaders are under pressure by some who feel that we should return to more traditional ways. I guess it's natural after a crisis to try to figure out how to build a stronger society, and some of them have just decided that the problem was that the noble families were made weaker by allowing too much mixed blood to invade the noble families. Some of the families started bringing back old restrictions against mixed bloods like Tetsuya, and although our clan didn't go so far, there was a lot of infighting. Byakuya tried to ease tensions by saying that he would accept an arranged marriage, as long as he would be allowed to secretly continue his relationship with Tetsuya, but then Tetsuya became pregnant with Byakuya's baby."
"I'll bet that went over well," Ichigo mused, frowning, "Excuse me for saying so, but there are some real assholes in that clan, Byakuya excepted."
"There are assholes in every family," Rukia said, scowling, "Most of the elders agreed that Tetsuya must be acknowledged, but the council could not collect enough votes to support their marriage. Tetsuya urged Byakuya to think about the best interests of the clan and to soothe them by allowing him to take Tetsuya as a concubine. For his part, Byakuya would never be forced to marry anyone else and his child would inherit leadership, but Tetsuya would not be raised to the status of a clan wife. No one was completely happy, least of all Byakuya, but he agreed to it, just to keep peace in the family. But even with that agreement, there were some who continued to work against my brother. Byakuya was worried that someone would hurt Tetsuya and the baby, so he prepared Tetsuya for that. This is why we don't know if Tetsuya left and concealed himself, or if he was kidnapped or killed. If he died, there was no flare of his spirit energy to indicate a fight, which means that the reiatsu around him was manipulated if there was a fight."
Ichigo considered the facts and looked back at Rukia questioningly.
"So, what can we do if no one's seen or heard from Tetsuya in such a long time. Would he have had the kid by now if he was alive?"
"He should have…unless…"
"Unless what?" Ichigo asked, the curious look in his eyes intensifying.
"W-well, think about it. If Byakuya told you to protect Tetsuya, he probably told Tetsuya to come to you. If he tried to and didn't arrive, he may still be here, but concealed. When a pregnant male comes to the living world, he will wear a special gigai, because male humans don't have babies."
"Right," Ichigo agreed.
"The gigai suppresses the appearance of pregnancy and some special gigais put the pregnancy in harmless stasis so that a birth will not occur suddenly while the shinigami is in the living world. I don't know exactly which gigai Tetsuya had, but…it was probably provided by Kisuke, so we could begin by asking him if he can remember. He also puts a trace on his gigais, so he knows where they are. If Tetsuya was here and wearing his gigai, we might be able to track him down that way."
Rukia's frown deepened and she shook her head in dismay.
"I don't know why I didn't think of that. I just…when he disappeared, I was assuming it was in Soul Society. But after hearing the message Byakuya left for you…"
"Why don't we go over and talk to Kisuke?" Ichigo suggested, "Right now, it sounds like he's not just our best lead, he's our only lead."
"Right," Rukia agreed, heading for the window, "Let's go."
Ichigo gave her a rueful smile.
"Okay," he agreed, "but can I get dressed first?"