Chapter 2: Ruins
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So great was the devastation of that one moment of decision, that I lay in darkness and unaware as my life turned upside down and I was torn loose from it. I woke from the nightmare, reaching for you blindly, but how could I find you when I, myself, was lost?
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Renji sat quietly alongside Orihime, Kisuke and Yoruichi as Orihime focused her power and worked at slowly rejecting the near fatal wound in Byakuya's chest. The four looked up as the bedroom door opened and a white-faced Rukia walked in, followed by a deeply concerned Ichigo Kurosaki. Renji knew things were really bad when Rukia didn't even ask what had happened. She dropped down beside him and simply collapsed against him sobbing softly into his shoulder. Ichigo frowned down at him.
"Renji," he said, looking at the heartbroken girl, "What happened? I tried to get Rukia to explain, but she can't even talk about it. She just keeps crying and saying 'They killed him.' She felt it even before we got your message."
Yoruichi looked up at the substitute shinigami.
"Rukia is very close to Byakuya. I felt something as well, but I wasn't sure what had happened until Renji arrived."
"What did happen?" Ichigo asked Renji, "Who attacked him? Who'd even be strong enough to do this kind of damage to him?"
Renji shook his head, his eyes furious.
"It was the damned Kuchiki elders," he said bitterly, "I don't know why they did it exactly. All I know was that the captain and I were training together…and I had just beaten him for the first time. We were both pretty stunned by that…and we'd been…getting closer over time, you know? We didn't mean for anything to happen, but we were both so swept up in the moment. One thing led to another…and…well…you can figure out what happened. After…he seemed really unnerved…and Captain doesn't get rattled like that. But he was telling me we had to leave the Seireitei. So we headed for the Rukongai. But just before the gate, we were surrounded by the elders. The head elder, his cousin Satoshi, launched into some speech about how he'd broken the rules twice already by bringing Hisana and Rukia into the household…and he said something about a vow Captain made before the council…"
"I think I can shed some light on that," said Yoruichi, "Byakuya and I started training together sometimes after Aizen's betrayal. And during one of those training sessions, he told me about how after Rukia was admitted into the family, the elders gathered and told him that they would not tolerate any more commoners being brought into the family. Byakuya said that after suffering through losing Hisana…and feeling guilty over bringing dishonor to his family through his disobedience, he made a vow of obedience before the council…one with serious consequences if he was to transgress."
"But he didn't take me into the family!" Renji objected, "Sure, we started a closer relationship, but I did so knowing what they expected of him. I knew that eventually he would have to marry a noble lady and have kids, but…but that didn't matter to me. I just wanted to be with him."
"He obviously felt the same," said Yoruichi, "because he did this, knowing that the elders would come after him."
Kisuke bit his lips, thinking.
"Renji…what happened when they stopped you at the gate? What did they do to him?"
Renji swallowed hard and took a steadying breath.
"They surrounded us…and said he had broken the rules…and that he knew the consequences. They surrounded him…and touched him with their hands, and he collapsed. Then, while he was on his knees from that, his cousin gave him a killing blow. There were four of the bastards holding me…and I couldn't get free in time to stop them! The guards at the gate couldn't do anything because of the clan's royal privilege. They didn't come back until the elders left us."
"But you say the elders placed their hands on him and did something?" Kisuke asked, "Did they say anything about that?"
Renji blinked and thought carefully.
"Y-yeah…yeah…that Satoshi. He said something. He ah, said that they were taking back what their bloodline had given him."
Kisuke's eyes flicked upward to meet Yoruichi's and he leaned forward, palcing his hands on the unconscious captain and focusing intently. After a moment, he looked up at Yoruichi and nodded solemnly.
"What?" said Renji, reading their expressions, "Kisuke, what's happening? What did they do?"
Yoruichi met his eyes solemnly.
"The Kuchiki clan is the greatest of the four great noble houses. And because that is so, there has to be a careful balance between the leader and the elders. They had to have the means in place to remove a corrupted leader. But in removing the leader, they sought to retain the leader's power so that it could be added to the power of the leader named to replace him. They do this by placing a crest within the body of each clan member. The crest is bonded to each clan member's spirit centers, so that if a leader is corrupted and has to be killed, the power of the leader is protected through the removal of the crest. This steals the power, shuts down the spirit centers and places the stolen power inside some sort of item that is then worn by the new leader. What that means, is that the leader they choose to replace Byakuya will have his or her own power and zanpakutou…and they will also have Byakuya's power…and the stolen connection to Senbonzakura."
Renji, Rukia and Ichigo's eyes widened.
"They can do that?" Renji whispered in horror, "I thought no one could use another's zanpakutou!"
"In most cases, they can't," Yoruichi explained, "but the crest actually removes the part of the soul that makes the leader a shinigami…so now…for all intents and purposes, Byakuya is human."
"What?" Ichigo said incredulously, "He's…human?"
"Wait," said Renji, "Can't Orihime just reject the damage to his spirit centers?"
"She can do that," Kisuke said quietly, "but it won't matter since the part of him that controls them and all of the reiatsu they use is now stored in some artifact that the Kuchiki elders have."
"S-so what do we do?" whispered Rukia, "How do we help him?"
Kisuke gazed down at Byakuya for several long minutes, thinking.
"All we can do for now is damage control. Until the elders choose the next leader, we won't know what artifact they stored his power in. We have to have that for Orihime to reject the removal of his powers. And you can bet that the elders will not make it easy for us to gain access to it. It will be worn at all times by the new leader to augment his or her own powers…and…in addition to fighting that person, we may end up fighting Senbonzakura as well."
He went quiet for a moment, then looked up at the others.
"We can't let the elders know he survived," he said with finality, "We have to make them believe he is dead."
"How?" Rukia asked.
"He has to disappear," Kisuke explained, "It won't be awfully hard with his reiatsu gone. It's just a matter of proceeding from this point as though he didn't make it."
"And how will we do that?" asked Renji.
Kisuke exchanged glances with Yoruichi.
"We have to keep this quiet. Now…the guards saw you leave with him, Renji. You'll need to return and to give the head captain an official accounting of his death. No one will be able to sense the truth…except if Senbonzakura comes close to him…which means that we will have to conceal him somewhere. I have plenty of possible places. I will send you, Rukia and him to one of them."
"But why does Rukia…?" Renji began.
"Because the elders will likely have a nasty surprise in store for her if she returns to the Seirietei," said Yoruichi," Remember that they did not want to lose Byakuya, but felt forced to act as they did because of his love for commoners…Hisana, Rukia and you, Renji. You have to leave as well."
"But…that means the sixth division will lose…"
"I know," said Yoruichi, "but if you stay, the Kuchiki clan is likely to declare an unspoken war on the two of you. They may try to have you both killed. To them, it is a matter of honor."
"Honor…" Renji spat, "They call it honor to kill a guy for following his heart and falling in love…just because that love doesn't meet with their approval?"
"Well…" said Kisuke, "They may be out in left field, but right now, they hold all of the cards. They have Byakuya's power, in addition to the power of the twelve of them. We will have to figure out a way to overcome that power…"
He turned his head to look at Byakuya.
"But for right now, we'll focus on keeping him safe."
Orihime sighed softly and the glow from her healing power faded.
"I've healed his wounds and rejected the damage to his spirit centers, but he still needs a lot of rest. I think he will sleep for a long time."
Kisuke nodded.
"Why don't you two sit with him for a while?" he said.
Rukia and Renji nodded.
"Ichigo and Yoruichi…I'll need to talk to you about how we're going to protect him. Orihime, go into the next room and get some sleep. We might need you again…"
Rukia rested her weight against Renji as the others left them alone with Byakuya. For a long time, neither spoke. They sat in silence, watching the slow rise and fall of the noble's chest as he slept.
"Rukia," said Renji, after several long minutes of silence, "Do you hate me for this?"
Rukia looked up at him.
"Hate you?" she asked, frowning, "Why would I hate you? The elders did this, Renji."
"I know," the redhead said, looking down at the sleeping captain, "but they wouldn't have done it if we hadn't been together. He was resistant at first…I guess because he knew, but he didn't know how to tell me something like that. I wish he had. I wish I'd known. I never would have set this off if I'd known. I would have held back…because I wouldn't have wanted something like this to happen to him."
"It isn't your fault, Renji," Rukia said firmly, "You didn't know. And I know from living among them, how awful they can really be. They care so much about the protection of their power over the other clans that they will harm their own to see their needs met. And this isn't the only bad thing they've done to Nii-sama. From the time he was a boy and was named heir, they haven't let up on him. They did all that they could to see he was raised the way they wanted. And Nii-sama didn't want to dishonor his family, so he has always tried to work with them. He got very good at working around them, but this was beyond his means to control."
"Well," said Renji sadly, "I'm still sorry. No matter what you say, the truth of it is, I overstepped a boundary with him and because of that, he could have died. His powers are gone and when he wakes up, he has to cope with the fact that his life has pretty much been destroyed. I just never even imagined that happening to him."
"Me either," said Rukia, blinking away a fresh bout of tears, "Nii-sama has always been so strong. I can't imagine him staying like this. He's going to be devastated, Renji."
Renji sighed deeply and nodded in agreement. The two fell silent again and remained at the unconscious noble's side until the light outside the window began to fade and Tessai entered the room.
"You two should go and eat," he said, sitting down next to Byakuya, "I will stay with him."
"Go ahead," Renji told Rukia, "I'm not hungry. I'll stay here."
Tessai frowned and shook his head, but said nothing.
"I'll bring you something," Rukia said, kissing him on the cheek and turning to go, "You may as well come along with me, Tessai. Renji wouldn't be pried away with a crowbar. He is devoted to his captain."
Shaking his head again, Tessai followed Rukia out of the room.
Renji sat at the noble's side, watching as the sky darkened and the moon and stars appeared. It was beautiful to watch, but it made him feel sad inside to think that if things had been normal, Byakuya would have probably been going for his evening walk under those stars and that pretty moon. Instead, he was lying unconscious and facing the possibility that he would never be able to even return to the Seireitei…and he might not survive if the Kuchiki elders knew he had lived.
I'm sorry, Byakuya. I've made a complete mess of things. All I ever wanted was to stand at your side as your equal…to feel worthy of your respect. At first, I wanted to beat you down, but that was before I really knew you. You're so much different than what I thought before…not at all what you seemed to be…But now, I've ruined everything. In wanting to conquer you, I destroyed the one I always held myself up to, to measure my worth. It's like I've lost all sense of both of us now. As powerful as I am, my power is useless because I can't figure out a way to restore you. But I will promise you this, Captain. I will protect you with my life…and I will not stop until you have your powers back and you beat the living hell out of each of those bastards who hurt you! You made me stronger than I ever thought I could be. Now, I'll use every bit of that strength on your behalf…until you are strong again.
He blinked away hot tears and looked out the window, trying to focus on the stars and what he knew about the constellations, anything to distract himself as he waited for the pale, quiet body to move, for his captain's lovely eyes to open and meet his…for Byakuya to say something.
I wonder if you'll hate me for this…
He lowered and closed his eyes, slipping a hand into the noble's and squeezing it gently. He was surprised to feel soft movement.
"Captain?" he whispered, studying the frowning lips and troubled face.
Byakuya moaned softly and moved restlessly.
"Easy Captain," Renji said softly, "Just rest, okay?"
Byakuya's eyes fluttered open and narrowed. He sat up quickly, looking around blankly.
"Where am I?" he asked in a trembling voice.
"You're at Kisuke's shop," Renji said, his voice catching as Byakuya turned his head to look at him.
He felt a chill inside at the lack of any hint of recognition or acknowledgement. A moment later, he realized that Byakuya couldn't sense him. Sighing sadly, he took out a gigai and slipped into it.
"There," he said, "You can see me now, right?"
Byakuya backed away from him, trying to gain his feet, but wobbling unsteadily and dropping back to his knees.
"Where did you come from?" he gasped.
"Captain…it's just a gigai. Look, I know you're a little confused, but don't worry. Kisuke said you're going to be all right, now. And I promise…we'll get your powers back. So just lie down, okay?"
"What are you talking about?" Byakuya said, frowning, "Who is Kisuke? Where is this place?"
"Captain?" Renji said uncertainly, "Captain…you…do know me, right?"
Byakuya stared at him in surprise.
"No…I've never seen you before. Who are you? And why did you bring me here? Tell me what's happening!"
"Y-you…you don't remember?" Renji asked, dumbfounded.
"No…I…I…"
The noble looked around the room, then back at Renji. He staggered to his feet and looked out the window, then caught sight of his face reflected in the mirror on the dresser. His eyes took on a desperate, confused look. Renji rose and carefully approached him, then stood, looking at their reflection in the mirror. Byakuya touched his own face, staring incomprehensibly.
"I don't remember…anything…" he whispered.