Chapter 2: The Nightmare We Share
"Hermano," Aderia inquired as she leaned first over Byakuya, carefully scanning his body, then connecting briefly with his mind, and followed by doing the same with Orochi, who laid, also unconscious, in the bed next to Byakuya's, "we are being swamped with this and the other injuries. Do you mind giving Tetsuya-san another infusion and trying to see if you can wake him?"
"Have you figured out why he is still unconscious?" Kuri asked in a concerned tone, "It seems strange, considering how little damage was done to him."
"Unfortunately, because we have to focus so much on Byakuya-san and his cousin, we haven't had time to work on that. Why don't you see if you can sense anything?"
Kuri chuckled softly and shook his head.
"If you don't know what's keeping him unconscious, I doubt I will be able to figure it out either, but I will give it a try. It is certainly no trouble to spend more time with the lovely Tetsu-hana."
Aderia gave him a warning scowl.
"You be a gentleman with him!" she snapped, shaking a finger at her brother, "Poor Angelito has been through something terrible. He doesn't need you teasing him."
"I won't tease him, Hermana," Kuri laughed turning away and saying the next words under his breath, "It's hard to tease someone who's unconscious, but I might just be tempted to steal a kiss..."
He walked into the next room and sat down at Tetsuya's bedside, pausing to look down at the younger man's beautiful sleeping face.
"I would love to wake up next to that every day," he whispered, nudging the unconscious man gently, "Come, Tetsu-hana, you need to wake up and come back to us. Open your eyes. You have your family and friends worried. I know you don't want that."
He caught a breath of a flowery scent, mingled with a touch of fine leather and felt a sinful inward twinge.
He is beautiful in the way my Hideaki was...slim and pretty as any woman, but male. Such a perfect blending of masculinity and beauty.
He heard footsteps outside of the room and moved his hands to begin the necessary infusion.
His lips look so soft and his hair is probably like silk. I can't think of anything more pleasant than kissing those sweet lips and seeing more of that pale skin.
He licked his lips and looked around to make sure they were alone, then opened Tetsuya's yukata, baring him completely.
"¡Dios mío!" Kuri whispered, breaking out in a sweat at the breath of his sweet scent, the soft glow of white flesh, pert, pink nipples, fine bones and a little trail of even finer black hairs that led down to Tetsuya's serenely pink genitals, "Kyrie eleison, you are killing me, Tetsu-hana!" (Kuri slips into using a latin phrase for 'Lord have mercy' which is used in traditional Catholic mass services.)
Voices in the hallway, outside the doorway made him move quickly to cover Tetsuya's exposed nether region, but left him still bared down to his navel as Kuri's hands touched his chest and abdomen gently to begin the infusion. Tetsuya flinched and groaned at the touch of the reiatsu, but his eyes remained closed.
"Does that hurt, Tetsu-hana?" Kuri asked, not expecting an answer, but feeling another sympathetic twinge.
He paused and closed his eyes, scanning the younger man's spirit centers carefully. He sucked in a surprised breath and halted the infusion immediately.
What is this?" he whispered, examining Tetsuya's spirit centers again, "Something shocked your spirit centers?"
He closed Tetsuya's yukata and left the room, moving back into the room where Byakuya and Orochi were being treated. Aderia looked up as he entered.
"Is our Angelito all right?" she asked quickly.
"He is sleeping comfortably," Kuri confirmed, "but I looked more closely and found his spirit centers have been shocked. They are painful when anything passes through them, even for healing. He moved and showed signs of pain when I tried to infuse him."
"Ah," Aderia said, nodding, "He probably was either stricken by a powerful attack or that power Kuchiki Isas described may have done it. You will need to seal all but his spirit core so that the centers can heal. And only infuse him after. Be sure you give him a pain block before the infusion or it will still hurt near his spirit core."
"I will," Kuri answered, turning back and heading to Tetsuya's side again.
He leaned over Tetsuya and sensed each power center, then set a protective seal to prevent the passage of reiatsu through them. When he reached the young man's spirit core, he set a pain block, then shielded it without sealing it before sitting back and sighing in relief at the more contented look on Tetsuya's sleeping face.
"That feels better, doesn't it?" he said, smiling and touching Tetsuya's face lightly.
As his palm curved around Tetsuya's porcelain cheek, a flicker of blue light appeared suddenly, sinking deeply into Kuri's surprised eyes. He felt a strange tugging, then his vision went blank and he felt a sensation like falling. He crashed down into cold water and sputtered as he scrabbled swiftly for the edge of what appeared to be a large lake. He looked around, blinking and trying to make sense of what had happened, only finding himself more mystified as he examined the dark, moonlit night, the clear field of bright stars over a wide open expanse of lovely meadows.
"What is this?" he whispered, turning back to face the lake he had fallen into.
A glint of light caught his eye and he had a quick glimpse of a pixie-like creature, dressed in shades of blue. She made eye contact for a moment, tilting her head slightly and studying him briefly before she flitted away.
"Odd..." he mused, shaking his head.
His eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness and he looked around again and spotted two collapsed forms a short distance away. He moved closer and recognized Tetsuya at once and found that the other lump was a pretty black Arabian stallion that appeared to be sleeping as well.
"I see," Kuri whispered, "You've pulled me into your inner world, Tetsu-hana. I am flattered, of course, at the honor, but why did you do that?"
He walked to where Tetsuya laid, a slow smile spreading across his face as he realized the young man was delightfully naked and fully revealed in the moonlight.
"Are you trying to tease me?" Kuri chuckled softly, "You are not all angel, then. You have a little of the devil in you too?"
He knelt at Tetsuya's side and reached down to pat his face, then caught his breath in surprise as something whizzed by his head, making him duck.
"How dare you touch my master!" the little blue pixie accused him, her reiatsu flaring around her, "You pervert! Get away from him! How did you get in here?"
Kuri straightened slightly and frowned.
"You mean that you did not give me permission to enter here?" he asked, "Then, how did I enter?"
"You're asking me?" the furious pixie fumed, "I wouldn't give permission for you to come in and lay hands on my master. I don't know how you got in, but you are getting out now!"
"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" Kuri shouted, batting at the pixie as she shot around him, firing little bolts of stinging reiatsu at him, "I didn't come here to do anything wrong. I was healing him!"
"You call that healing?" the pixie demanded angrily, "I saw you were touching him all over!"
"I was sealing his spirit centers because something shocked them," Kuri explained, "But can you tell me, do you know what did this?"
"Like I'd tell you anything, you lecherous beast!" the pixie sneered, darting around him and firing more stinging bursts of reiatsu.
"Stop it! I'm trying to help," Kuri objected, ducking and leaning close to Tetsuya, "I just want to know why he is still unconscious. Was this your power that did this to him, or did the hollow do this?"
"You want him to get well faster, right?" Kuri reasoned with her, "I want him to wake up and feel better quickly too."
"Why? So you can maul him when he is awake too?"
"I'm not mauling anyone!" Kuri snapped, "I do think he is beautiful. Who would not? But that's not the important thing now. If I want to help Tetsu-hana, I need to know if he did this himself or if a hollow did it?"
"And I told you, I am not telling you anything!" the pixie exclaimed, raising her power threateningly, then extending a hand in his direction, "Get out of here now, or I will attack you, Intruder!"
Kuri shook his head and sighed, then climbed to his feet, facing her and raising his own reiatsu warningly.
"You are a feisty zanpakutou," he complimented her, "I see Tetsu-hana is quite powerful, my lady. But...I am a taichou, and without Tetsu-hana's power, you cannot hope to harm me. Strike me if you want. I am not leaving until you tell me how Tetsu-hana came to be this way."
He stood perfectly still as the pixie's power roared around her and blazed in his direction, striking his shielding so hard it cracked, then shattered. Kuri watched with stunned eyes as it fell and the pixie hissed furiously and darted away.
"Interesting," he whispered, "a focused power exceeding that of a bankai. Luckily, it was not at full power because of Tetsu-hana's unconsciousness or I might have been a little fried."
He knelt at Tetsuya's side again and touched his face gently, trying to rouse him.
"Tetsu-hana," he called softly, "You need to wake up."
Tetsuya's eyelids moved sluggishly and opened, dazzling Kuri into silence with their enchanting sapphire hue.
"Who...are you?" Tetsuya managed weakly.
"I am, Kuri-kuri," he introduced himself, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Tetsu-hana."
"T-tetsuya."
"Of course. But can you tell me, Tetsu-hana..."
"Tetsuya."
"Right. Can you tell me how you managed to shock your spirit centers?"
"I...I can't," Tetsuya whispered shakily, his eyes blinking wearily, "But...Byakuya-sama knows."
"It was you then?"
"Byakuya-sama knows," Tetsuya repeated, closing his eyes and dropping off again.
"You are as stubborn as your lady zanpakutou," Kuri said appreciatively, "But it seems you will be all right. I will just go and let you rest. Sleep well, Tetsu-hana."
XXXXXXXXXX
Byakuya slowly became aware again and found himself dressed in a torn uniform and staggering through what appeared to be a maze of icy, cold tunnels. He conjured a kido light and looked around in every direction, but couldn't seem to make heads or tails of his situation.
Am I really awake, he wondered, or is this a dream?
He stumbled forward, trying as he moved to remember what had happened the last he could recall.
I remember entering Hueco Mundo with the delegation, and we fell under attack. I was hit with something and I couldn't move. I was dragged...somewhere, but I don't remember what happened? What happened there? Where am I now? Is this still Hueco Mundo?
He inhaled in surprise as a loud hiss sounded and something black and dangerously fast darted past him.
What was that?
He held out the kido light, searching around him, but could find no sign of whatever had just passed by him. With no real options, he moved forward, listening carefully to the sound of drips of water falling and striking the rocks around him. He turned a corner and heard the hissing again, then felt a sharp sting on his arm and staggered back, rubbing his arm, his reiatsu rising and the hissing sounded again.
"Stop!" he warned his attacker, "You aren't going to be able to hurt me. I won't let you."
"Why are you hhhheeerrreee?" the creature hissed, "Thisssssssss is my home!"
"I didn't choose to come here," he replied, looking around and trying to focus on the creature's voice to find its direction, "I woke up here. Who are you?"
"Hah!" the creature spat, flashing past him and leaving a long cut on his other arm, "I ask the questions here! Who are you?"
"I don't answer to you, serpent," Byakuya said in a low, deadly tone.
"You don't anssswer to me," the creature repeated, "but you will fffall to me!"
"Not in this lifetime!" Byakuya seethed, raising his reiatsu and calling his power to bear.
The next time the hissing sounded, a swell of bright pink petal blades lashed at the attacking creature, making it curl in the air and turn aside without touching him. The petal blades followed it down a winding tunnel and Byakuya left them pursuing as he brightened his kido and took a closer look around him. He started to move forward, then froze and called his power to bear again as a dark shadow emerged from another tunnel and paused, glaring at him.
"Orochi?" he mused, frowning, "what are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" his cousin asked, scowling, "I should be asking you that. This is my inner world!"
"Your inner world?" Byakuya mused, "I don't understand..."
"I just found my way back here. Something strange has happened. Come, I will show you."
Byakuya observed his cousin warily for a moment, then fell in beside him.
"You were injured," Orochi commented, "How?"
"I believe it was your zanpakutou," Byakuya said dryly, "It moved too quickly for me to see, but I warned it off."
"He is watching," Orochi said, blinking slowly, "It is good I stopped him or he might have poisoned you. As it was, he didn't use his venom. He was playing with you."
"Playing," Byakuya repeated, studying the deep slashes on his arms, "You will want to teach him to play more nicely."
"Kurohebe is not one to be taken lightly. Even I don't completely control him. He is a dominating zanpakutou and really only bonded with me because he sensed my ability and approved."
"Which likely explains why you never joined the Gotei," Byakuya said dryly, "They don't at all approve of feral zanpakutous."
"No," Orochi agreed, "Father was convinced they would kill Kurohebe, so he trained him himself and forbade me ever joining the Gotei 13. Instead, he is grooming me to take his place on the council when he passes."
Orochi paused as they reached a crossroads in the tunnel.
"This way," he said, turning them to the right, where they spotted a brightening at the end of the tunnel.
Byakuya remained close at his cousin's side as they passed through the last of the tunnels and exited, both sensing that Kurohebe's narrowed eyes were still watching them closely. As they emerged into the light, Byakuya made a sound of surprise and stopped in his tracks.
"What is this?" he demanded, looking back at the tunnels behind them.
The two men pondered the way the tunnels seemed to crash into the lighter gardens, looking as though two pictures had been melted together.
"Are these gardens...your inner world?" Orochi asked, indicating the area they stood in, outside the tunnels.
"Yes," Byakuya answered, "but how has your inner world encroached on mine? I've never heard of anything like this happening. It's shocking enough we were able to enter each others' inner worlds, but to have our inner worlds touching?"
"Not just touching, but they look like they've collided violently," Orochi observed.
"We must be unconscious," Byakuya concluded, "We need to go back and figure out what is going on here."
"If we can get back," Orochi said unhappily, "Whatever forced our worlds together may also be holding us captive here."
"There is only one way to find out," Byakuya said, closing his eyes and focusing on his physical body. He sensed Orochi nearby and doing the same. The two experienced a shock of numbing reiatsu and came awake together, sitting up in their respective beds in the Shima infirmary and startling Aderia and Ogano, where they sat beside the beds, examining the two.
""¡Dios mío!" Aderia gasped, staring at the two, then blanching that the strange feel of the reiatsu around them, "What in all that is unholy, has happened to you!"