Chapter 7: Ruins
"You don't need to be so careful with me, Renji," Tetsuya whispered, tilting his head slightly to offer his lover better access to the lovely, pale skin of his throat, "I've been fully healed. I am not going to break."
"I know that," Renji whispered back, keeping his movements slow as he licked indulgently at the soft flesh, "If what you've already been through didn't kill you, then me loving you isn't going to. But that's not why I'm going slow."
"Oh?"
"No," Renji answered, letting his fingers play in the soft black waves of Tetsuya's tumbled hair, "I'm going slow so I can thank kami for everything good that came back into my life when we found you alive."
"Renji!" Tetsuya whispered, tears coming to the corners of his widened sapphire eyes.
He froze at the intensity in the hardened red-brown eyes that glared meaningfully down into his.
"I missed everything about you, Tetsuya...your big blue eyes, the way your hair flutters when we're out in the wind, these lips that are so much softer than mine, the way you hold on to me while we kiss. I missed the way ol' Fleabag would jolt us when we'd ride him, and I'd always have to hold on to you...cause I love having my arms around you. I missed how your voice sounds, whether we're just walking in the gardens sharing stories, sharing a slow dance down at the dance club and you whisper in my ear, or how it sounds when we're making love and you give that little sigh you always do before you climax. I missed everything about you and I made a promise to myself that if the gods ever heard my prayers and brought you back to me, I would never, ever let you get away from me again! And I won't. I promise, Tetsuya, I won't. I'm going to marry you and you're never gonna leave me again!"
Renji suddenly released Tetsuya and rolled to his feet. The blue-eyed noble looked up at him in surprise as he hastily tied his yukata closed, then extended a hand and took hold of Tetsuya's.
"Renji, what are you...?"
"Come on!" Renji said, pulling him out of the bed and fastening the tie at his waist, "Byakuya's still your leader, ne?"
"W-well, yes, of course," Tetsuya confirmed, "But..."
"Then, he can marry us. Come on!"
"B-but Renji, I don't..."
"What?" the redhead asked, smirking, "You don't wanna marry me? After all I went through to find you again? You're gonna turn me down?"
"No!" Tetsuya insisted, stifling a laugh, "But we're minutes from leaving for Kuchiki Manor. I'm sure Byakuya and the others are far too busy to just drop everything and marry us."
"Will you be quiet and come with me?" Renji chuckled, dragging the younger Kuchiki out the bedroom door.
They passed through the quiet hallway and heard the sound of soft voices in the kitchen. Renji gave a knowing grin and tugged Tetsuya into the kitchen entrance. The two stopped in the doorway as the men at the table looked up at them.
"Renji? Tetsuya?" Urahara said, looking surprised, "I thought you two would be resting. We're going to be leaving soon."
"Yeah, I know that," Renji said, nodding, "But there's something I need to talk to Captain...erm, Byakuya about...and it can't wait."
Byakuya's dark eyes met Renji's curiously.
"What is it, Abarai? Is Tetsuya all right? He wasn't hurt worse than..."
"No, no, Tetsuya and I are both fine," Renji assured him, "But the thing is, I want to marry your cousin. I want to marry Tetsuya, right now! I know there are rules about getting the leader's permission and having a clan elder perform the ceremony, but that works because you told me before the leader is considered an elder, and..."
"Renji," Byakuya said, stopping the redhead mid-sentence.
"Aw, please don't tell me that me being a commoner is gonna be a problem or something," Renji pleaded.
"No, of course not," Byakuya managed, his eyes clouding, "You have more than been a protector of the clan, and Tetsuya is a half-blood, so the clan wouldn't concern itself with who he chose to marry."
"Then, it's settled. You can marry us, right? You're the clan leader."
"Yes, I am. I mean, I was. But we are..."
"You're what?" Renji asked, looking confused, "Byakuya..."
Byakuya stood and glanced back at the others seated at the table, then walked to Renji and took his former vice captain's hand in his.
"Renji," he said quietly, "You are a fine protector and a true friend to the Kuchiki family. You are more than worthy of my cousin's hand. But...I cannot marry you."
"Why not?" Renji asked, giving him a bewildered look, "Do I have to ask someone else too? I don't understand. I just want to marry Tetsuya. And you said you approve, so what's the problem?"
"The problem is that the noble clans were given all of their powers and rights by the king," Byakuya explained, "When Reio fell, those rights were revoked and Ywach ordered the noble families to be executed. You must understand, that means that there are no more clans, no more leaders, just like there are no more captains, no more Gotei 13."
There was a moment of perfect silence, then anger flared suddenly in Renji's eyes and he gave the surprised noble a look of challenge.
"Bullshit!" he exclaimed, glaring into Byakuya's widened eyes.
He jabbed a finger in Aizen's direction.
"The blood in that guy's veins says that there's still a rightful king to fight for and the fact that you are standing in front of me tells me that Ywach hasn't killed all of the nobles! You're talking like it's all over, but we're all still fighting here! What the hell is wrong with you, Captain? Are you still blind? Cause you're not seeing what you need to be seeing!"
He paused, his heart pounding madly and his face flushing with emotion as he caught sight of the way the others were looking at them.
"I know you were hurt, Byakuya. We all were hurt. We all got humiliated by that fucking lowlife turned king! But the captain I served didn't teach me to just give in when we lost a battle, and the clan leader who yanked Tetsuya out of the noble's prison as a mere teenager did not teach him to throw in the towel just because we all got fucking dragged through the mud!"
"Renji, stop!" Tetsuya gasped, his face going pale, "Don't speak to him like that! How dare you...?"
"No, Tetsuya," Aizen said quietly, coming to his feet and moving to Byakuya's side, "I think he needs to hear this. Let Renji say what he needs to say."
Renji paused for a moment, his hand still in the stricken noble's and mingled anger and sadness colliding in his heaving chest.
"Byakuya," he said finally, forcing down his blazing reiatsu with an effort, "when you and I met, I wasn't your friend. I didn't even like you. No, worse, I hated you because of who you are. I was trash from the Rukongai, who couldn't offer my friend, Rukia, anything, but you were a noble, a leader. You could give her everything I wanted to. Yeah, I hated you for that! And in my head, I thought that you weren't really anything more than a man, a really powerful man. And if I could beat you, then that would prove you weren't better than me."
"Renji..."
"Shut up and listen, will you!" the redhead shouted, "I worked my ass off, going to anyone and everyone who would teach me anything! I took a place near you so that I could learn from you, all for the purpose of beating you. And when Rukia was sentenced to death, I threw everything I had at you and you just about shredded me. But then something happened that changed everything."
Byakuya froze as Renji's hand slipped beneath his yukata and untied something that had been carefully wound around his waist. The Kuchiki heir's breath left him completely as the redhead withdrew the pale, bloodstained scarf that had preceded the more silvery ginpaku kazahana no uzuginu. Byakuya stared, entranced as Renji took a steadying breath and continued.
"You laid this over me after our battle, and you and I both know what you were saying to me. It was a sign of respect. And it meant everything to me. After that day, I put this around my waist and I wore it every day...every day while you continued to mentor me, every day while you got after me and told me to have more pride in myself, every day as I got stronger and stronger. I didn't hate you anymore, even though you were still a noble prince and you were still more powerful than me. None of that mattered because that day, you didn't look at me like I was a Rukongai dog. You were proud of what I'd done and you wanted to see me get stronger, as much as I wanted to be stronger. When you looked at me that day, you looked at me with the eyes of a friend and comrade. Everything changed then. I wasn't your enemy and you weren't that untouchable noble brat I thought you were. I really became your vice captain at heart that day, and after that, nothing was more important to me than your protection."
"Yes," Byakuya managed softly, "since that time, you have been my protector and my friend."
"That's why you need to listen to me," Renji said urgently, turning over the hand he held and laying the soft scarf over Byakuya's pale palm, "Think about this...and think hard, because it really matters. Do you remember watching me fall into that pool of my own blood?"
"Renji..." Byakuya whispered, holding his breath and closing his eyes.
"I remember everything about that day. I can still feel every slash on my skin and I can smell the blood. And I'll bet that there's a day like that you remember, isn't there? That day when everything fell apart..."
"Renji, that is enough," Byakuya warned him, anger coming into his voice.
"No," Aizen said firmly, slipping an arm around his waist from behind and capturing the hand that tried to return the silken scarf to Renji's possession, "It is not enough by half. Finish what you were saying, Renji."
"Let go of me!" Byakuya snapped.
"Let go of him!" Rukia shouted, coming to her feet.
"Whoa, hold on," Kisuke soothed her, coaxing her back into her chair, "I know it looks bad, but I think he's trying to help."
"Go on, Renji," Aizen urged the redhead.
Renji took a breath and released it in a long sigh.
"Byakuya, we all have a day when we think we're hitting bottom, when it seems like things can't get any worse and we think it can't possibly get any better. For me, it was the day you almost killed me. For you, it was the day that the evacuation compound was attacked and you were forced by the elders to leave them behind."
Byakuya's dark eyes lifted very slightly, just meeting Renji's as he continued.
"You fell into the deepest, darkest hole in the Rukongai and you lost everything. You were forced to do unthinkable things, just to survive. But there was something still there. It's the reason why your kin forced you to leave them. It's what helped you survive and it's what's going to give you back what you lost."
"And what is that?" Byakuya asked in low, defeated voice.
"Just like I didn't die on my worst day, you didn't die on your worst day. And just like I found the pride inside myself to pick myself up and go on, there's still that pride in you, as a son of the greatest of the noble clans that's screaming at you to get up and move on. There is still a king for fight for. Kisuke says that there are survivors of your clan out there, waiting for you to come back to them. And the other captains of the Gotei? Some of them are still out there raising hell and fighting. All you're missing is what I saw in you that made me love you, even when I hated you. Do you know what that is?"
Byakuya stared back at him silently, the word on the tip of his tongue, but not daring to be spoken.
"It's what makes you strong," Renji said, reaching up with one rough hand and placing it on Byakuya's very pale face, "It's not the strength itself, but something inside you that finds your strength, even when you don't think there's any left. It's what made you save Rukia in the end, what made you come back from near death when As Nodt almost killed you, and it's what's going to give you the strength to stand in front of your family with those eyes that say you are their leader."
"Resolve," Byakuya whispered, his eyes darkening until the grey seemed almost black.
"Yeah," Renji agreed, giving the noble a more friendly smile, "Everyone of us in this room had to find it to stay alive to reach this point. And that's what you need to have if you want us to win this thing. We can fight our hardest, but we don't have a chance if you've already given up. We need you to win. But we need you to believe we can."
"But how can I, after everything that's happened?" Byakuya asked softly, lowering his eyes again, "The quincy king hunts me, the Gotei and Seireitei are in ruins and my family is scattered and in hiding. What makes you think that me going back to them is going to change anything when I couldn't save them before?"
"What made a mere human boy from the living world think he could defy the powers of Soul Society and save your sister?" Aizen breathed into his ear, "What made Renji think that a mere monkey could ever touch the moon? What is it that preserved you when Ywach sent his soldiers to every corner of the three worlds hunting you? We have all we need to win, but Renji is right. If you are to play your part, then you need to believe we can win."
"I am trying, Sousuke!" Byakuya said insistently, "I will keep trying."
"That is all that we ask of you," Aizen answered, kissing the shell of an ear, "Now, why don't you marry those two?"
"No," Renji said, retracting his extended hand and glancing back at Tetsuya for a moment, "Tetsuya and I will wait until you're ready. When you can look at me like you did on the day of our battle, I'll know it's time."
"Very well, Abarai," Byakuya sighed, "And thank you. Sousuke was right. I needed to hear what you had to say. And if you still believe so strongly in me, I will do everything I can, so as not to disappoint you."
"Then you'll be fine...Captain Kuchiki."
Byakuya looked back at him quietly, swallowing the instant objection the words conjured.
Renji is right.
Even if Ywach has defeated the Gotei 13, some of the captains still live and fight. And even though Ywach has beaten us down, the sons of the noble houses survive and can still fight him.
We haven't lost.
"I think we should go," Byakuya said finally, "We should leave now."
"Well," Kisuke said, smiling, "we're all ready. If no one's got an objection, let's do it."
The group left the kitchen and made their way down into the underground training area, where Tessai, Jinta and Ururu waited near an opened senkaimon.
"Be careful, Mr. Kisuke!" Ururu pleaded, hugging the shopkeeper, "And please find Ichigo. I hope he's all right."
"I'll find Ichigo," Kisuke promised, "Don't you worry."
"But she's right. You should be careful, Boss," Tessai added, taking Kisuke's hand warmly, "I wish I could go with you."
"I wish you could too. But you have to keep this place safe, whatever happens. Survivors need a safe haven. We may need this one again, so it's got to be protected."
"Of course. I'll keep it safe, Boss."
"Thanks."
The group gathered in front of the senkaimon, Kisuke and Rukia at the front, followed by Aizen, who held an arm around Byakuya as they walked, and trailed by Tetsuya and Renji.
"Say goodbye to the oblivion, folks," the shopkeeper said, stepping into the precipice world, "And remember, out here, the only protection we have is Aizen's transcendent power. If we lose that, we've lost it all."
"Cheery, isn't he?" Renji commented, stealing a kiss and nudging Tetsuya into the dangai.
The six proceeded quietly through the darkness, the soft scrape of their feet barely audible. Occasional sounds of water dripping and echoes of footsteps reached them, but they moved forward without challenge. They emerged several hours later into a small meadow at the base of a tall, splashing waterfall. At the sight of it, Byakuya sucked in an unsteady breath and went still.
"Sousuke, this is on estate grounds!" he exclaimed.
"It's so odd," Tetsuya mused, "It's just like it was."
"We are a short walk form the manor," Kisuke explained, "It was safer, I thought, to not just open the senkaimon and drop into what might be a guarded area."
"Probably wise," Aizen observed.
The group moved past the lake at the base of the falls and ascended a set of switchbacks that led to a weed choked forest trail.
"This leads back to the manor," Byakuya informed them, moving to the front of the group.
They continued through the forest, marveling at how the birdsong around them made everything seem so peaceful, despite all that had happened. Occasional shouts and soft rumbles in the distance warned them that the fighting was still going on nearby.
They emerged out of the forest and reached a shattered wooden gate, where Byakuya froze like a statue, staring in at what had been Kuchiki Manor and the most famed and lovely gardens of the Seireitei.
Only the charred bones of the buildings stood, dotting the blackened ground. Not a blade of grass grew where the ground had been overturned and scorched in the fighting and plundering. Broken concrete littered the area where the koi ponds had been and dead sakura and plum trees were scattered all around.
Byakuya's dark eyes closed for a moment against the sight.
"It's horrible!" Tetsuya whispered, a tear running down his face as Renji wrapped a bracing arm around him.
"I can't believe this," Rukia said numbly.
"Ywach was determined to destroy the noble clans, the servants and protectors of the former king," Byakuya said solemnly.
He took a step away from Aizen, then turned back to look into his eyes.
"He was wrong to think we would lay down and die," the Kuchiki heir added, taking another step forward and dropping onto his knees.
"Uh, Byakuya," Kisuke said anxiously, "You're not going to..."
The shopkeeper stiffened as a soft flare of power coalesced around Byakuya's extended hands.
"Okay, he is going to..." he amended himself, "Sousuke...?"
"I won't let it be sensed," Aizen promised, watching raptly as the ground began to rumble and pink reiatsu swelled around the kneeling Kuchiki heir.
"Ywach only needs a hint that Byakuya's alive and here and we will really be in trouble!" Kisuke insisted.
"Be quiet," Aizen said, smirking, "I told you, Ywach won't sense him."
The rumbling increased to ground shaking and the turned earth began to right itself. White light flashed and the burnt ground was healed and restored to the deep black soil that had been there before. Small shoots of grass erupted from the ground and the tendrils of growing flowers emerged at their edges. The dead trees crumbled, and in each of their places, new saplings rose up out of the ground and slowly blossomed. Within minutes, the dead gardens had been transformed, and the only reminder of the holocaust that had taken place were the broken bones of the old buildings.
Byakuya loosed a soft sigh and rose, his dark eyes looking out over the restored gardens.
"I am sorry," he apologized, "I know it was risky..."
"But," Aizen said, returning to his side and curling an arm around him, "It needed to be done. Come now, we should move to the archive, where it will be safer."
Byakuya led them across the newly regrown grass to one of the collapsed and blackened areas of the old buildings. He paused and extended a hand and the image of a sakura blossom appeared on the back of his hand. In front of him, the air seemed to shimmer and a large oaken door appeared and swung open.
Byakuya stepped through the doorway with the others in his wake and move into the archive.
The others stared at the huge and richly decorated interior, the endless rows of books and lovely displays of artifacts the family had been given for protection.
"This archive was entrusted to our family," Byakuya said softly, "by the first incarnation of the soul king, who took the first Kuchiki as his consort. The Kuchiki family was charged with the possession and protection of the history of the realms."
He started to say more, but paused and stared as a footstep sounded ahead of them and a tall, aged man appeared.
"Head Elder Nori!" Tetsuya gasped in disbelief, grabbing Renji tightly.
The old man approached Byakuya and stood, gazing into the Kuchiki heir's widened eyes.
"Nori," Byakuya whispered.
"It is you!" the old man breathed in a sigh of relief, "You're alive! You've come back!"
"I am here," Byakuya assured him, "But...?"
The Kuchiki leader watched in stunned silence as flash steps sounded and the rows and recesses of the huge archive began to swell with more people.
"I told them not to appear until we are sure," the elder explained, "We are supposed to be safe here, but nothing can be certain in times like these."
He looked back at the gathered clan members and then turned back to face Byakuya.
"We were able to save two hundred and fifty-six of our brothers and sisters," Nori informed them, "And when we arrived in the archive, we found something else."
The sea of bodies parted and the elder led the group into one of the recesses, where a ginger-haired man laid unconscious in a bed.
"Ichigo!" Kisuke exclaimed, flash stepping forward, "How in kami's name did he get in here?"
"We don't know," Nori confessed, "We found him lying on the archive floor and unconscious, as you see him. He is alive, but we can't wake him...but he was carrying this."
Nori reached into his robes and withdrew a large, faceted prism.
"I'll be damned!" Kisuke whispered, his face going white, "The king's prism!"
