Chapter 3: Submission
Even sightless and after only a few days, Byakuya walked easily from one end of the small house to the other, tidying the rooms, dusting and cleaning, then gathering and washing the dishes, before quietly preparing Aizen Sousuke's afternoon meal and depositing it at the table where his master sat studying at his computer and watching the noble out of the corner of an eye.
It is amazing, almost disturbing to see how swiftly Byakuya the proud noble warrior became shy, submissive Bya, my slave. Only days after I reconstructed him, surrounded him in illusions and made him my own, he moves as easily within his new reality as he moved within his prior one. It only goes to prove Byakuya's level of resilience.
He has also proven to be as crushingly lovely as a weak menial as he ever was when glowing in power and reigning over the Kuchiki clan...although, I find I miss his higher spirits. Perhaps as we associate more and he gains confidence, his more spirited nature will begin to return. In the meantime, I am charmed by how he does the simplest things.
"Bya, why don't you join me for meals?" he asked suddenly, watching closely as Byakuya paused for a moment, considering.
"It would be a waste of food, as I have no powers and do not require sustenance at this time."
"But sharing meals is a way of bonding socially," Aizen explained patiently, "It isn't just about ingesting food. It gives people an opportunity to connect and share with each other."
"And what would I have to offer you in the way of sharing?" Byakuya asked matter-of-factly, "As you, yourself, explained to me, I am a servant. My only task for all of the time I can remember has been serving you. I don't think my master would be interested in hearing about the dishes I washed, the meals I made him or the flowers I planted today."
"You planted flowers?" Aizen asked, frowning, "I haven't allowed you outside. I told you that it was still too dangerous for you to go there. Did you disobey me, Bya?"
"Of course not," Byakuya answered calmly, "You must have noticed the sunroom."
"Yes, I've also noticed you like to spend time there."
"There were planters, soil and seeds stored in the garage. I was able to sense the differences in the seeds, then the reiatsu of the ink to tell the colors. And although I cannot see colors now, for some reason, I remember what they looked like. I placed soil in the planters and grew flowers in pleasant patterns that should seem soothing when you relax within the room."
Aizen's head tilted slightly and his eyes became curious.
"You say you grew flowers?" he repeated, "When did you plant the seeds?"
"A few hours ago," Bya answered.
"And they are grown into flowers already?" Aizen mused, "How is that possible?"
Byakuya hesitated for a moment.
"Bya?"
"It seems that I have some ability to affect their growth?"
"But you have no powers. I have confirmed that. And even if you did, I had to place the limiter on you so that if they did return, you would be protected from their full weight until you had recovered and your body was strong enough."
Bya shifted anxiously, his insides quivering and his heart pounding as he sensed he had overstepped a boundary.
"I am sorry, Aizen-sama," he said, bowing his head penitently, "I did not mean to anger you by doing something wrong. I only thought to soothe you after your hard work. I meant no harm."
"Of course not," Aizen agreed, easing the swell of his reiatsu as Bya brushed the reactive sweat away from his flushed face, "You, after all, are not a defiant person, though you have, up until your injury, tended to have stronger spirits."
"Are you disappointed in me?" Bya asked calmly, "I will try to improve. If Aizen-sama will only tell me what it is that I need to do..."
Aizen smiled.
"Why don't you show me the flowers you planted?" he suggested.
"I..."
"What's wrong, Bya?"
"I thought that me planting the flowers angered you, Aizen-sama. Your reiatsu is suffocating when you are agitated."
"Oh, I won't be agitated," Aizen assured him, "now that I know you weren't disobeying me. I am curious now to see what ability you have that does not appear to use reiatsu flow. Come, let's go to the sunroom."
Given no other choice, Byakuya followed as Aizen walked out of his study and down the hallway. They passed through the living area and walked out the sliding doors into the spacious and cool glass-sided room that overlooked the rest of the neighborhood and the lake a the bottom of the hill they were on. Aizen stopped suddenly in the doorway, immediately enchanted by the lovely array of bright flowers and lush green plants.
"Why Bya," he mused almost reverently, "this is delightful. Not only is the design beautiful, it seems perfected to my own tastes. Is that on purpose?"
"Well, I did hold an impression of you in my head while I was crafting," Bya explained, "I do not know how I knew what to do..."
"This is an innate ability," Aizen reasoned, "I never knew you had this ability. I wonder if you knew. Living in the lower Rukongai, your ability would have been lifesaving. It is perhaps why you and your mother survived as long as you did there."
At the mention of his mother, Byakuya's expression saddened. Aizen's fingers touched his face and caressed it gently, sending a little shiver through Bya's slender body.
"Come now, don't get mired in the sad things, Bya. You have made something beautiful."
"I no longer know what beauty looks like," Bya said softly, "Everything is in shades of grey. I don't see color anymore or the complexities of depth. I still remember them because I lost my vision recently, but with time, the memory of them will perhaps fade."
"Don't be so glum," Aizen chuckled, "You will get better. I told you. I believe your vision and your memory will return."
If I allow it...
"Of course, Aizen-sama," Byakuya answered.
"Now, since you have been so kind to use your ability to make me comfortable, I would like to use the room as you intended, to be soothed. Will you help me get comfortable?"
He smiled at the way Bya's skin paled at the suggestion of what was coming.
"Yes, Aizen-sama."
Aizen sat down in a chair and looked up at Bya, waiting and enjoying the momentary hesitation before Byakuya's knees bent and he placed himself at his master's feet.
"With Aizen-sama's permission."
"Of course, Bya," Aizen answered, smirking.
He gave a slightly agitated inhale as the slender hands touched his thighs and he parted them easily, watching as his servant's hands moved the clothing out of the way and lowered himself to begin pleasuring Aizen.
Aizen's gaze intensified and his brown eyes hazed over. He breathed in deeply, taking in the lovely scents of the flowers and plants in the room, enjoying the coolness and freshness of the air and reveling in the sensuous enjoyment Bya was offering him.
Even with everything taken away, this man shines brightly. He is quite more than I realized.
And he found that fact deeply arousing.
He ran his fingers through the silken strands of Bya's raven hair, encouraging him, then, feeling his passions growing, he halted his servant's efforts and brought them both to their feet. Bya swayed slightly and his blind eyes reflected uncertainty.
"Did I do something wrong?" he asked cautiously.
"No, actually," Aizen said, breathing in and out more quickly as flickers of arousal teased him everywhere at once, "It is just that you have excited me, Bya. I have not asked you for sexual intercourse since we arrived, but your teasing has worn down my ability to resist you. I must ask you to come to bed with me and sate my craving for you."
He could see that the words made Bya shake visibly.
"Don't worry, I will be gentle with you. Come."
Given little choice but to obey, Byakuya followed him back to the bedroom, where Aizen stopped him and slowly undressed him. He turned Bya so that he stood behind his servant, with his arms embracing the slighter man and exploring him.
"Should I not be pleasuring you?" Bya asked.
"You will need to be relaxed when I join with you or it may cause you more pain," Aizen reasoned.
"Of course."
Bya stood silently, unmoving in Aizen's possessive embrace as his master's hands explored and teased his sensitive areas. The servant's breathing slowed and he did relax, but there seemed to be no reaction in his private areas.
"Bya, why don't you respond to me?" he asked, "I am touching you. Don't you feel my touch?"
"I feel your hands and they are pleasant," Bya answered, "I don't know why I cannot seem to react as you expect."
"That is troubling," Aizen sighed, but we can figure that out later.
He laid down on his back on the bed and touched Bya's hand.
"Please continue," he invited the servant.
Bya climbed onto the bed and lowered himself between Aizen's thighs offering him the requested stimulation.
Aizen's eyes went hazy and blinked slowly as he sank into the enchanting sensation, feeling the perfection that was Kuchiki Byakuya, even as he worked so hard at being a good servant.
But sadly, a servant is what he always was, isn't it?
The realization took some of the amusement out of seeing the noble lower himself.
I hate to admit it, but I do love the pride that Byakuya takes in himself...or that he took in himself and everything he was. He still has that pride, which shows in his dedication to every task, even the most common ones.
He really is a person of some genuine substance.
He has to have been miserable living as he did, among those stuffy, ridiculous old men who couldn't possibly appreciate him. But he didn't reveal himself to them like this, I suppose. They would have eaten him alive.
The thought brought anger, which made his reiatsu swell warningly. Bya paused and panted softly with discomfort.
"My apologies," Aizen said, reaching down to caress his cheek, then sitting up and coaxing the lovely man down onto his belly.
He felt stronger twinges of arousal as he looked down and admired the way Bya's long silken black hair spilled down onto the pale skin of his back and over his shoulders. He managed to still look beautiful, even regal, as Aizen carefully applied lubricant to his fingers, then took his time preparing the noble for their first full joining.
Bya's head turned to the side and he shivered a few times at the invasive feel of his master's hands, but he kept himself under rigorous control as Aizen worked at preparing him.
"You are still resisting," Aizen noted calmly, "Relax, please, Bya."
His body did relax, but it seemed his mind also detached. And although he fully planned to work at breaking down the man's obvious barriers, his own body was feeling a more pressing need. So he set his issues aside and turned his attention to enjoying the simplicity of what was being offered. He joined their bodies slowly, closing his eyes as he took possession of his servant. He pressed up warmly against Bya's sweating back and nibbled at the blushing flesh of neck and shoulder as he waited for the slighter man to adjust. Bya panted fitfully, but remained calm and pliant, even as Aizen reached his breaking point and began to move.
Aizen's powerful hips guided their motions and he groaned at the heat and pressure that enveloped him. His own eyes seemed to go blind as he lost himself in the pleasant sensations, writhing against Bya's soft back and feeling his pleasure mount until it seemed to surround him on all sides. He moved with more urgency and felt Bya quiver, but he made no move to resist and continued to work with his master's growingly insistent motions as Aizen approached climax, then finally groaned again and shuddered in release.
Byakuya made a soft sound of pain and fear at the sudden swell of heat and pressure. He buried his face in the crook of an arm to hide his reaction from his enthralled master as Aizen fully enjoyed his yielded body.
He rested his blushing face on the cool pillow as the elder man stretched out along his back and caressed him gently.
"Are you still with me, Bya?" Aizen asked, nibbling sleepily at his earlobe.
"Yes, Aizen-sama," Bya answered, keeping his voice calmer than he felt.
But as soon as Aizen slept, he fled the room and escaped to the quiet, cool sunroom, where he breathed in the sweetness of the flowers and let the strangely insistent tears run down his face. He knew there was some shame in letting his emotions overwhelm him, and he wasn't quite sure why they had.
I know Aizen-sama was disappointed in me for not reacting to him, but I felt no affection coming from him. He does things that people do when they are in a love relationship, but there is no love in them. And for some reason, I cannot react to him while he does not love me.
I don't know why I long for him to love me.
I am a mere servant. I am supposed to simply provide as he asks...not to complicate things with my emotions. Why is that so difficult for me to do?
He pondered the question as the weariness in his body from the long day and the anxiety of being taken and used by his master gradually overtook him. He laid down on the cool, smooth brick floor, letting more tears leak out as he was frustrated by not being able to enjoy the sight of the moon and stars he knew were in the sky, of their reflection in the quiet, dark lake. He wondered exactly where he had seen them before his blindness and caught a faint internal memory of lovely gardens and koi ponds.
Bya's breath caught and a silent sob jolted him. Then, a warm hand touched his shoulder and he bolted onto into a crouch, sensing the man that had entered the room and who was now, he sensed, watching closely.
"Bya," Aizen said, a strange edge of concern in his voice, "why did you leave? You look upset about something. Did I hurt you?"
Bya bit his lip and carefully worked to get his riled emotions under control. He felt Aizen's hand slip under his chin and the weight of those commanding brown eyes gazing down into his sightless ones.
"Bya?"
"I am fine," he lied, "I was just...overly warm."
"That's not true," Aizen said firmly, "You've been crying. Why?"
"I don't know," Bya answered more honestly, "I don't know anything. I don't feel connected to anything."
Aizen moved closer, frowning as he studied his servant more closely. His heart flickered strangely in his chest as he sensed an even further weakening of Bya's already weakened body.
"You are beginning to fade," he mused disbelievingly, "Why is this happening? I healed your wounds. I stabilized you. You were fine for the last several days, even getting stronger. What happened?"
"I don't know," Bya sighed wearily, "but it doesn't matter to you. Servants who die are easily replaced, aren't they, Aizen-sama?"
Aizen's frown deepened and his brown eyes darkened. He placed his hands on Byakuya's comely face and glared down at him.
"Not loyal and trusted ones like you," he replied, brushing the hair away from Bya's dark, blind eyes and bending slightly to kiss his damp cheek, "I thought you understood that. You are special to me, Bya...very special. I want you to recover and survive. I don't want to watch you fade into nothing."
"Why?" Bya asked more insistently, "Why does a simple slave matter at all to someone like you?"
"Do you really not know?" Aizen asked quietly, "I am surprised, you being so perceptive about most things."
"What are you telling me?" Bya asked in a confused tone, "I don't understand why you say I am a slave, but you seem surprised when I act like one. Please tell me why that is, Aizen-sama!"
The reason is because I believe I am falling in love with you," Aizen said, surprising himself with the sudden, unexpected admission.
Byakuya gave him a stunned look.
"You...are falling in love...with me? But...we never kiss on the mouth and we don't look into each other's eyes when we are together sexually."
"Yes, that is the truth," Aizen admitted, "And yet, even having taken those careful precautions to resist you, I am falling for you anyway."
"But...that's not possible," Byakuya whispered, shaking his head in confusion.
But his confusion disappeared into a shower of beautiful colors as Aizen leaned towards him and crashed their lips heatedly together.
