Chapter 4: Comfort
Shiro watched out of the corner of an eye as Ichigo sat quietly at Renji's side, watching over the redhead, as he had from the time of his friend's injury. The Shiba heir remained partially turned away from him and leaned against the wall, his golden brown eyes blinking now and then as he kept watch. Shiro leaned closer to Tetsuya, resting his head on Tetsuya's pillow and breathing a few whispers into his lover's ear.
"Tetsuya, my love, I think that we are going to have to get out of here," he intoned softly, "I know Byakuya-sama is doing everything he can to keep you safe, but with what happened to Renji-san, I wonder if he really can do that. I won't lose you! I would die inside without you, Tetsuya! I want so much for us to safely welcome our child into the world, but if these awful people who attacked you reach you again, I fear for both of you! I know of a safe place...a place no one knows about, where you can heal and I can watch over you. We only need a moment to escape."
He watched Ichigo carefully, choosing a moment when he yawned and rubbed his hands over his face to silently slide open the window near where he sat at Tetsuya's bedside. Then, he waited calmly, his body relaxed and alert, until the door opened and a healer entered the room to take the patients' vital signs. The young man moved to Tetsuya's side first, leaning over him to conduct his brief examination. As he turned and joined Ichigo at Renji's bedside, Shiro slid back Tetsuya's blankets and scooped his semi-conscious lover into his arms. He launched himself through the window and flash stepped down to the ground, taking advantage of the fact that it was night to cover his movements. Dashing into a dark alley, he looked back up at the window and breathed a sigh of relief at having escaped without being seen. He immediately opened a senkaimon, and as a commotion flared up in the room they had exited, he disappeared into the precipice world and fled. Swift flash steps carried them through the darkness and he whispered soft reassurances to Tetsuya as he ran.
"Just be calm, my love," he panted, "We will be in a safe place and able to rest and allow you to heal soon."
Tetsuya mumbled a sleepy, incoherent reply and settled against the Hiromatsu heir's shoulder, burrowing his face into Shiro's dark hair. Shiro angled towards an exit, pausing to listen in the darkness and pleased at finding that they seemed not to have been followed.
"I will keep you safe, Tetsuya," he promised, "No matter what happens, I won't let you be hurt again. My heart aches at having not been there to protect you when you needed me. You are just so strong, I never imagined that in the wilderness, where my Tetsuya is perfectly at ease, and so close to home, that anyone would ever try to hurt you, or that if they did, they would be such terrible foes that would nearly destroy you. I don't know what I would do if I lost you. I love you so much!"
He flash stepped through the exit and into the living world, emerging onto a quiet, moonlit street. He carried Tetsuya a short distance, to a small cottage that overlooked a lovely lake and produced a key, then slipped inside.
He carried Tetsuya into the master bedroom and laid him in bed, kissing him warmly on the mouth and admonishing him to rest. Then, he quickly set a barrier to conceal their presence before returning to Tetsuya's side and lying down beside him.
"We will be safe enough for tonight so that we can rest. I set an array of trip lines and sensors. In the morning, I will have to start figuring out what to do. Because hiding will not be enough. We have to find out who tried to kill you and Renji-san, and exactly why. Until we know these things, we cannot stop this monster, and we cannot make the way safe for us to return home."
He leaned over, grinning, and nibbled gently on Tetsuya's soft earlobe.
"Although, given how much I love to get my Tetsuya alone, I may not be in a hurry to let you go home again."
His handsome face quickly sobered again.
"All levity aside, I don't ever want you to be hurt again. It is agony to see you like this, to be so helpless to do anything for you really. Still, just know that I will be here watching over you. I love you, my sweet Tetsuya. I will never know love that is sweeter."
"Sh-shiro-sama?" Tetsuya whispered, his eyes opening into slits and trying to focus on the room he was in, "Shiro-sama...wh-where are we?"
"We are in a safe place, my love. Rest quietly now. You will need your strength."
"Byakuya-sama?"
"Shh, he will come soon. Rest, Tetsuya.
Tetsuya nuzzled more deeply into his embrace, slowly giving himself over to sleep again.
Who could have done this? Shiro wondered, gazing sadly at his beautiful fiancè, Who could have done something like this to the man I love?
XXXXXXXXXX
"What is it? What has happened?" Byakuya demanded, flash stepping into the hospital room and moving quickly to where Ichigo stood by Renji's bed, speaking animatedly with the security guards that had rushed into the room.
Before the Shiba heir could answer, Byakuya's eye fell onto the empty bed on the other side of the room and his breath froze in his chest.
"Tetsuya!" he whispered, "Ichigo, where is Tetsuya? Where is my cousin?"
"I swear. I only turned my head for a moment while the healer was examining Renji!" Ichigo exclaimed, "I don't know how it happened so fast. No one came into the room through the door, and I know that the window was closed when you and Rukia left. Only Renji, Tetsuya, Shiro and me were in the room."
"And that means that..."
"My brother took him, didn't he?" said a male voice from the doorway.
"Hisashi," Ichigo mused, frowning and shaking his head, "I don't know. I just...turned for a moment with the healer as he was checking on Renji and the next thing we both knew, they were gone! I didn't even hear a flash step or sense a change in the reiatsu around us!"
"That is not so surprising as our family in general, and my brother and I in particular have mastered a number of the ways of the Onmitsukido. But, I can tell you that I sensed the opening of our family senkaimon in a time frame consistent with Tetsuya's and my brother's disappearance."
"This does not bode well," Byakuya said darkly, "Even if we accept that Shiro, himself, is not one of Tetsuya's attackers, those two are out there all alone, with Tetsuya injured and not able to assist Shiro in their protection. This was very reckless!"
"But you don't really think that Shiro was involved in the attack still, do you, Byakuya?" Ichigo asked.
"It doesn't matter if he was or was not," Byakuya concluded.
"He has taken a member of the Kuchiki family from his relatives, without Tetsuya even being able to give his consent," Hisashi added, "It only adds to the crimes that my brother has already committed in luring and impregnating Tetsuya out of wedlock. This is becoming very serious."
"But I've seen Shiro with Tetsuya," Ichigo objected, "I've watched them for hours. You can't tell me that guy isn't in love with Tetsuya. And I think he just doesn't think Tetsuya can be protected here. I have to say that I'm kind of in agreement with that. Renji's already been hurt while he was protecting Tetsuya. Whoever is doing this is pretty damned determined. But you aren't going to get to the bottom of what's going on by going after Shiro. While you're distracted with persecuting him, that person who attacked Tetsuya and Renji is still out there!"
"That is exactly why I need you to help me find my brother!" Hisashi said stridently, "Shiba Ichigo, I do not want to think poorly of Shiro, any more than you do, but his recklessness is having worrisome consequences and it is bringing our respective clans into dangerous conflict."
"I'm not leaving Renji to go off on some hunt to track down Shiro," the Shiba heir said firmly, "In my opinion, Tetsuya's in better hands with Shiro than he was here!"
"That is only your more naive, youthful perspective," Hisashi suggested.
"I agree," said Byakuya, frowning, "While I do have more confidence now in Shiro's feelings for my cousin, they are now alone and Tetsuya cannot defend himself if their enemy does find them."
"If we find him, then we can offer them better protection," asserted Hisashi.
"But it seems like all you've done is get on him about how his actions are reflecting on the clan," Ichigo observed, "Now you say you want to find him to help him? Aren't you just going to drag him back here and make him face charges for taking Tetsuya?"
"I won't lie and say that there won't eventually be consequences for my brother's actions," answered the Hiromatsu leader, "but right now, my concern is to make sure that my brother's recklessness does not end up in Tetsuya and him both being killed by whoever is after them. Please, Ichigo, won't you help me to find them? We could...we could have your friend, Renji, moved to the living world. He could stay with Urahara Kisuke, where he would be better protected than here. And you would have faster access to Inoue Orihime if your friend needs additional healing."
"Huh," Ichigo sighed, "You do kind of have a point about Karakura Town being safer for Renji than here. Kisuke's not going to let anyone touch a person who's under his protection. What do you think, Byakuya?"
The Kuchiki leader considered the question quietly for a moment.
"I agree that it would be advantageous to have Renji moved to Karakura Town for further recovery. We still do not know who is behind these attacks, but they have already breached the defenses here. I do not think they will do so with Urahara Kisuke watching over Renji."
"We already know that my brother took Tetsuya into the living world anyway," said Hisashi, "We could use Urahara Kisuke's shop as a base from which we could conduct our search, while also protecting your friend."
"I think Hisashi has a point," Byakuya said solemnly, "Given the trouble that Shiro is in with both of our clans, it is better if we are the ones to find him. The situation could become dangerous if the wrong people find them first. Even if they are from our clans, they might not have Tetsuya's and Shiro's best interests at heart."
"I guess you're right about that," Ichigo agreed, looking down at Renji's calm sleeping face, "I am worried about Tetsuya. He's my friend too. I just don't want Renji put in more danger because I'm off trying to track down those two."
"Renji couldn't have better protection than Urahara Kisuke," Byakuya affirmed.
"And taking him to Urahara's shop will allow all of us to look for Shiro and Tetsuya," added Hisashi.
"Right," Ichigo sighed, reaching over to squeeze Renji's hand, "So, Buddy, you ready to get carted off to Kisuke's for awhile?"
Renji stirred sluggishly and turned one cinnamon colored eye on the Shiba heir.
"W'th'fuck'r you talking about?" Renji muttered dazedly, "I hate having to stay with that bastard. He'll have me workin' for him for a year t'make up for the trouble. I'm fine here."
"Shut up, asshole," Ichigo said affectionately, "You'll be safer there and we kinda have to go there because we need to find Tetsuya."
"T-tetsuya?" the redhead mumbled, "Sh-shiro took off out th'window with'im."
"Ah," Hisashi sighed, his face falling, "Then, there is no question that my brother did abduct Tetsuya. Byakuya, I will, of course, apologize for my brother's brashness and offer to take on the burden of responsibility for the outcome of his actions."
"I understand that Shiro is a young man, and that he will sometimes act without thinking. But I do not think that he means to do Tetsuya any harm. I only want to find them so that I can protect my cousin from whoever the real culprit is."
"Then, we have the same goals in mind," agreed Hisashi, "Come, then, we need to get Renji to Karakura Town and begin our search."
The Kuchiki clan leader exited the room to make the arrangements while Hisashi and Ichigo remained in Renji's hospital room, waiting.
"You and Renji seem close," Hisashi commented, glancing down at the dozing redhead, I understand you met a little while back, when Kuchiki Rukia was involved in that fiasco that Aizen Sousuke caused, although with the outbreak of the quincy war, you must have grown closer."
"Yeah, Renji and I reached bankai around the same time, "And learning that I was part of the Shiba clan really changed things once things calmed down and we had time to process. Renji's been great while I was settling into life at Shiba Manor. We train together a lot."
"Ah, from your familiarity, I wondered if maybe there was more than that even between you. My apologies if that seems a bit rude. I don't mean to be."
Neither of the two noticed as one of Renji's eye opened slightly to observe them, then closed again.
"Naw, it's okay. There's nothing like that between Renji and me. We're just both learning and growing stronger together. We're tight, but he's not interested in me that way."
"Hmmm, an interesting choice of words," Hisashi said, gazing thoughtfully at the Shiba heir, "It would seem that you could be interested."
"Well," Ichigo said blushing, "we do argue like an old married couple sometimes. But I would never do anything to make him feel uncomfortable."
"I see," Hisashi replied, closing his eyes for a moment, then opening them again and fixing them on Ichigo, "In any case, I hope you will forgive me for being so insistent about going after my brother, but I am very concerned about the relations between our clan and the Kuchiki clan."
"Well, Byakuya doesn't seem to be all that interested in fighting with you. It seems like he's actually being pretty diplomatic."
"Perhaps," Hisashi agreed, "but while that may be true, the clan leaders' perspectives are not the only ones that determine the status of relations between our clans. The elders of either council can also either facilitate or disrupt our negotiations."
"Yeah," Ichigo said, shaking his head, "I am finding that there's a lot to clan relations that I'm having to learn."
"Do you think it would help to talk about it while we are in Karakura Town? After all, you are a budding clan leader to be and I already lead a clan. Perhaps it would be helpful to share ideas."
"Yeah, sure," Ichigo said amiably, "I usually only hear about our own elders' perspectives. It might be good to hear about things from someone else's sometimes."
"Very well, then. When we have time amidst caring for Abarai Renji and searching for my brother, we can certainly exchange ideas. I look forward to that," Hisashi said, looking up at the doorway as Byakuya returned.
Yeah, I'll bet you'd like that, Renji mused inwardly, Just what's up with this guy? Is he trying to put the moves on Ichigo? What's his story anyway? Something tells me not to trust this guy. I wish I could move, but whatever that fucking healer gave me is knocking me for a few loops.
Damn!
I want to tell him.
He should be careful.
"Hey Byakuya," Ichigo greeted the other noble, "How did things go? Did you get a message to Kisuke? Can he help us out?"
"Yes," the Kuchiki leader confirmed, "The healer said that he gave Renji a sedative a short time ago, and so he should be fine with being transported. We should go now, before word might leak out about where we are going and what our plans are."
"You're worried we're being watched?" Ichigo queried.
"We are definitely being watched," Byakuya corrected him, "We only do not know how closely. We must be extremely cautious."
"I agree," said Hisashi, "I think we should leave immediately."
"Urahara Kisuke expressed the same opinion," Byakuya replied, "and I think he is correct in his thinking. We do not want this enemy to be able to anticipate us. We'll need to try to trip him up."
"How're we going to do that?" asked Ichigo.
"I do not know yet," Byakuya admitted, "That is something we will discuss upon reaching Karakura Town. But we must go now."
Two healers entered the room, carrying a stretcher, onto which they carefully loaded the apparently sleeping redhead. they waited as Hisashi opened a clan senkaimon, then led the group into the precipice world.
Almost immediately, the shinigamis' ears were assaulted with a loud, roaring sound.
"Kami, the cleaner!" Hisashi cried, grabbing Ichigo's hand and pulling him into a run, "Hurry, get moving!"
Byakuya pulled Renji off of the stretcher and threw him hastily over a strong shoulder, then moved forward in blazing flash steps. The healers dropped the stretcher and fled as well, while Hisashi and Ichigo ran together. They stayed just ahead of the rumbling monstrosity as they honed in on the exit.
"We're not gonna make it!" Ichigo shouted as the cleaner moved closer.
"Wait!" Hisashi called out urgently, pulling Ichigo along as he blasted open a doorway and dragged the Shiba heir through.
"What the...YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" howled Ichigo as the two tumbled through the air and then crashed down into water.
They surfaced a moment later, coughing and sputtering. Hisashi grabbed at the front of the Shiba heir's shihakusho and propelled him toward the barely visible shore. Forced to save their breath for swimming, the two exchanged no words, but swam, side-by-side and after several tense minutes, dragged themselves onto the shore, where they sat, panting and coughing, looking back at the water and waiting for the others to emerge.
"Do you think they made it in?" Ichigo asked worriedly.
"I don't know," Hisashi answered, frowning, "I don't sense them, but there is a lot of distortion here. We should dry off and find shelter before it gets dark."
"Shouldn't we find a way out?" Ichigo objected, "Kisuke..."
"Weren't you paying attention?" Hisashi asked, "The door slammed behind us. Ichigo, do you know what that means?"
"Eh...that we're locked in?"
"Dimension doors like that one are usually locked because there is something that is being kept inside here."
"What? Then, why the hell'd you bring us in here?"
"Because facing something dangerous seemed better than dying," the Hiromatsu leader countered.
"Right," Ichigo sighed, shaking his head, "Sorry, I just...don't want anything bad to happen to Renji."
"I understand," said Hisashi, "I can see that you love him more than you were ready to admit earlier."
"I never said that I...!"
"Come, we must make a defensible shelter," Hisashi said, cutting him off.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
Hisashi started to move away from the water while Ichigo looked back, scanning the surface for any sign of a disturbance. Seeing nothing, he shook his head again in frustration and followed the Hiromatsu heir into the trees.