"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars." -Kahlil Gibran

Chapter Ten: Elucidation

Kin led Renji back to the large laboratory in which he and Tatsuki had been captured days before. Renji, whose arms had been bound tightly behind his back, was pushed up against a wall and untied, only to have both his arms and legs shackled to the wall.

"Abarai-fukutaicho," said Raiden, entering the room without even glancing up. "I'm glad to see you're awake. I was beginning to grow concerned. The Sealing Stone's effects are often more damaging to those with more Reiryoku."

"You've found a means to take away Reiryoku," said Renji, hoping Raiden would offer more information about the weapon.

"Good guess," said Raiden, obliging, "although not entirely correct. The Stone temporarily removes Reiryoku, but it also restores it." He looked up from the pile of notes he had spread out on one of the tables and smiled at Renji. "The Stone was a serendipitous discovery I made while working on the problem of hollowfication with Aizen-taicho a few years ago. I never planned to use it, of course."

"You seemed to have changed your mind," observed Renji, raising an eyebrow.

"Only out of necessity," laughed Raiden, cynically. "I assumed I would be accompanying Aizen to Hueco Mundo. Apparently, he had other thoughts." Raiden held up a small instrument which looked a little like a compass, aiming it at Renji and then motioning to a man who sat at a table in the far corner of the room.

"Kazumi," said Raiden, "we will try your protocol today. Perhaps the results will be better with a different subject." The man in the corner sat up and walked over to Raiden. He was tall, muscular, with light brown hair and deep blue eyes. Renji figured he couldn't be more than nineteen or twenty, although he exuded the confidence of a much older, more experienced man.

"Raiden-sama," said Kazumi, taking the small instrument from Raiden, "perhaps the two shinigami could be persuaded to work with us in our efforts."

"In your dreams," said Renji, derisively.

"You see, Kazumi, there are some things that never change," said Raiden. "You are naïve if you believe that shinigami could ever want what we want. They are far too self-interested to grasp the larger picture. The only use for this one will be to assist us in refining the Stone."

"Refining it?" asked Renji, as he watched Raiden and Kazumi continue to move about the laboratory.

"The Stone's effects are temporary," said Raiden, as he scribbled something down on a piece of paper, picked up another instrument and made an adjustment to it. "My goal is to render the process permanent."

"Permanent? What do you intend to accomplish by making the Stone's effect permanent?" asked Renji.

"Of course, you already know the answer, don't you? Still, I'm happy to explain it to you while I prepare the experiment," said Raiden, smiling again. He clearly relished explaining his work to others.

"Shinigami have controlled the Soul Society for millennia. And yet, life for most souls here is miserable, pathetic. I intend to build a new society, where no soul can lord over another based solely upon the strength of their Reiryoku. I believed Aizen would create such a society," Raiden continued, his expression darkening with barely suppressed anger. "I was wrong to put my faith in a shinigami."

"We are ready, Raiden-sama," said Kazumi, handing Raiden a clipboard with several sheets of paper attached to it. "Here is the protocol." Raiden nodded and turned to Renji.

"I hope you have enjoyed our little discussion, Abarai-fukutaicho," said Raiden, smiling again. "It will be of little help to you or the Seireitei, however. You will not leave this place alive. In the meantime, I have need of your help."

"My help?" asked Renji, curious.

"Yes," answered Raiden. "You see, I have encountered very few test subjects with even half as much spirit energy as you. I intend to take full advantage of your gifts, as well as your companion's, before I kill you both. That is, unless you die during the experiment itself." And, with that pronouncement, Raiden pulled the leather cord from underneath his clothing, revealing the stone which he had used to subdue Renji and Tatsuki. He glanced briefly at the clipboard, then took the stone in his hand and looked at Renji.

Renji felt a strange warmth spread over his body. It was a pleasant feeling, a familiar one, as well. "He's giving me back my Reiryoku," thought Renji, as he felt the strength return to his arms and legs. The dizziness was gone as well. Emboldened, Renji struggled against his bonds, trying to pull the shackles from the wall behind him. They would not budge.

Raiden fingered the stone again, and Renji felt a wave of dizziness come over him. He was ready this time, willing himself to remain conscious. "Excellent, Abarai-fukutaicho!" exclaimed Raiden. "You are far stronger than I gave you credit. We will make much faster progress if we do not have to wait for you to regain consciousness each time I repeat the protocol."

Kazumi picked up the compass-like device and held it up in front of Renji, jotting down notes as he did so. He nodded to Raiden, who again raised the Stone and looked at Renji. This time, Renji felt a slight burning sensation in his fingertips as his Reiryoku returned. His head began to pound painfully and he closed his eyes. This process was repeated three more times and each time, Renji found himself fighting harder and harder to stay alert. It was after Raiden had restored Renji's Reiryoku for the fourth time that Renji saw it: a large, furry creature with a snake head at the tip of its tail.

"Zabimaru," thought Renji, trying to focus his eyes on the zanpakuto spirit. "Took you long enough."

"You are not fighting," said Zabimaru, looking at Renji with scorn. "Why then do you call me?"

"I need your strength for a different kind of battle," said Renji, as the spirit paced in front of where Renji stood, unseen by anyone else.

"A battle without a zanpakuto?"

"Yes," answered Renji.

"They seek to harm me, as well," said Zabimaru, walking around Raiden, evaluating him as he did so.

"They want to destroy us both," said Renji.

"Then I will win this battle," replied Zabimaru, head high. "Neither of us will die here."

*********************************

It had been hours since Renji was taken away. "What did Kazumi mean by 'other plans' for us?" wondered Tatsuki, sitting on the bed, waiting. The knowledge that Raiden had abducted souls from the Rukongai for experimentation had her fearing for Renji's safety. "If they don't bring him back soon, I'll find him myself," she thought, "with or without my shinigami powers."

The glass sitting on the table caught her eye, and she walked over and picked it up. She emptied the glass and then bent down and hit it against the stone floor. The glass shattered into a number of pieces, several of which were large enough to use as makeshift weapons. She placed these in the pocket of her shihakushou and then picked up the rest of the shards and hid them underneath the bed. As she did so, she heard a key turn in the door lock, and she quickly stood up, blocking the table.

Two men entered the room, while a third guarded the doorway. One of the men carried something over his shoulder: a body. He tossed it down onto the bed, nodded to the other two men, and all three turned and left, locking the door behind them. "Renji," said Tatsuki, moving to the bed. If was then she realized that she could feel him again. "He's alive," she thought with relief, "and my powers are returning."

She unfolded his body, which had been dumped unceremoniously on the bed, leaving his arms and legs bent at awkward angles. His breathing was ragged and, although she could see no physical wounds on his body, he was clearly very weak. "What have they done to him?" She placed her hands on his face, hoping that some of her healing ability had returned, as well. She knew her healing technique, even at its best, could not completely heal him, but she hoped that it might help him to regain consciousness.

Ten minutes later, exhausted from her attempt to heal Renji, Tatsuki sat on the bed with her back against the wall, and lifted his head gently into her lap. His long red hair, freed from the high ponytail, fell about his face, and she found herself running her hands through it without thinking. It felt soft, silky, and it smelled of him, musky and masculine. She inhaled deeply. Hours passed as she sat there, watching him breathe. Finally, she fell asleep and, for the first time in nearly five years, she did not dream about the Rukongai or Kazumi. She awoke, hours later, having sensed a change in his reiatsu. She looked down at his face. His eyes were open, watching her.

"You okay?" she asked, her relief plain.

"Fine," he said, his voice weak, barely above a whisper.

"You look terrible, Renji," she said.

"It's tough being a lab rat, but I'm enjoying the attention I'm getting now," he said, grinning.

"What did they do to you?" she asked, her tone serious.

"They're trying to use the Sealing Stone to permanently remove Reiryoku. Raiden wants to use it on the Seireitei. He thought it would be fun to try his little toy out on someone with stronger spiritual energy."

She looked at him and sighed. It couldn't wait any longer; she needed to tell him the truth. "Renji, there's something you need to know." He looked at her with mild surprise; revelations were not her strong suit, he knew.

She was silent for a moment and looked away. Then, finding the strength to continue, she said, "Someone I used to know from the Rukongai…he's part of this. Kazumi. He came to see me when we were first captured."

"He's the reason you were crying, before, isn't he?" asked Renji. Tatsuki nodded. She could have stopped there – she knew he would not press her for details - but she felt he deserved to hear the entire story. It was a story she had never before shared.

"When I first arrived in the Soul Society," she said, "I felt compelled to find someone. I don't really understand it, but it was like the memories from my prior life were driving me to seek out this person."

Renji had heard about similar cases, all involving souls with stronger spirit energy. "Who was she looking for?" he wondered. "Ichigo? Me?"

"After a few weeks, though, I forgot who I was looking for," Tatsuki continued. "By then, all of the souls I had arrived with had already found places to live and new families. They had no room for me. I wandered around for months, alone, sleeping on the streets. That's when I found Kazumi. He was living by himself, too.

"Every night, he had horrible nightmares, and I would hold him until he fell asleep." Tatsuki closed her eyes briefly, and in her mind's eye, she could see Kazumi's face, wet with tears. "He wouldn't tell me what he dreamed about, although I guessed it had something to do with his life before the Soul Society." She sighed.

"We both had strong spirit energy," she said. "We used to practice some of the moves we'd heard about, pretending we were shinigami. A shinigami patrolling the Rukongai saw us practicing. He told me I should apply to the Academy, and I did..." Her voice trailed off as the pain of the memory returned. "I did everything I could to make sure Kazumi had a place to live, that he was fed and taken care of, and that he would have friends to play with when I was gone. I came back to the Rukongai every free day I had. He planned to apply for the Academy, and I was happy that we'd be together again." Tatsuki looked away, and her eyes filled with tears. "It wasn't enough."

"One day, I came home from the Academy and he was gone. I looked everywhere for him, but he wasn't in the Rukongai. Now I know where he went…" She looked down at Renji, his head still resting in her lap. He reached up and wiped a tear from her face.

"So you decided it was better not to feel anything than to feel the pain again," he said. He knew the feeling well. It had been the same for him when he lost his mother.

Her tears began to fall unimpeded, and she took his hand in hers. She no longer cared if he saw her cry; she could not stop the tears. Renji considered telling her that he had met Kazumi, that Kazumi appeared to be Raiden's second-in-command, and that he doubted there was much either of them could do to save Kazumi from himself. "What good will telling her do?" he thought, as he watched her cry. Instead, he said, "I'll be here, when you're ready, Tatsuki," and squeezed her hand with all the strength he could muster. They sat there in silence until Renji, weak and exhausted, fell asleep. Tatsuki watched him sleep for an hour or more, and then lay down next to him on the small bed. Soon she, too, fell asleep.

A few hours later, there was a soft knock on the door and Tatsuki jumped up out of the bed. Renji struggled to pull himself up to a sitting position. Kazumi stood in the doorway, Tatsuki's zanpakuto in his hand. He handed it to her.

"Why are you giving me this, Kazumi?" she asked, startled.

"You must leave here," he said. "Both of you. I do not want your deaths on my hands."