Chapter 10: What is Left of My Heart
(This chapter was requested by several readers, including my good buddy, Irritated Bookworm, whose birthday gift was delayed by my health issues. Not to worry! I have this and more chapters coming your way. So, happy belated birthday and I hope it was a fun one! Love, Spunky)
His handsome face set in a grim expression and his golden-brown eyes intense, Ichigo flash stepped swiftly across town, his heart pounding at the urgency he had heard in Kisuke's voice communicated through a hell butterfly.
Tetsuya's situation is critical. I hope that we don't have to deal with him hollowfying, but if we do, it isn't going to be like it was with you. I need you to get here as quickly as you can. Tetsuya's life, as well as Byakuya and Renji's are all on the line. You may be the only one who can stop this. Hurry, Ichigo!
The Shiba heir's fists clenched and he forced himself to flash step faster.
"I'm coming," Ichigo panted, "I won't let you guys down!"
The rain that had been falling steadily all day, began to come down harder, leaking into Ichigo's eyes and onto his face as he made his way towards Urahara's shop. He ran out of the park and up the long street, not slowing at all as he rounded a final corner and reached the shop, still at a run. Tessai had the door open and he was through it without a word. He didn't stop until he burst through the door that led into the room where Tetsuya was being healed. He skidded to a stop, staring at the unreal scene that met his eyes.
Byakuya and Renji laid on mats on the floor, looking to be unconscious and surrounded by Orihime's protective shield. Small reiatsu lines tethered the two shielded men to Tetsuya, who laid in the bed with Orihime's healing oval over him and both the human girl and the shopkeeper at his side.
"It's not working!" Orihime exclaimed, blinking back tears as Tetsuya's back arched and white wispy bits of floating bone swirled around his troubled sleeping face, "I can't reject it quickly enough!"
"It's okay," Kisuke said bracingly, "I knew it wouldn't work entirely, but you held it back long enough."
He turned his head and met the Shiba heir's eyes gratefully.
"Thanks for coming."
"What's wrong with Tetsuya?" Ichigo asked, wide-eyed, "Why is he hollowfying?"
"You know he married the Yukishima clan leader?"
"Yeah, I was there for the wedding," Ichigo affirmed, frowning, "Tetsuya seemed fine with the marriage. He said he was perfectly happy, even though the marriage was arranged."
"Well, looks like there was some real trouble in paradise," Kisuke said, his voice low and angry, "From what Byakuya and Renji told me, the guy was only a prince on the surface. Byakuya found out that Takehiko was having Koji beaten and was using some pretty nasty BDSM on his new clan wife. Byakuya started an inquiry, but things got ugly before Tetsuya could be extracted. Takehiko fired a blast at Arashi and Tetsuya as Arashi tried to help Tetsuya escape. The horse came down and Tetsuya was badly injured."
"B-but Tetsuya's never been injured just falling," Ichigo objected.
"He was wearing a limiter that his husband told the council's liaison was there because he was pregnant and needed a restriction on the flow of powerful reiatsu in his body."
"But you don't buy that?"
"No way. And even if I did, when I examined Tetsuya, it was clear that bastard was in the middle of torturing him when Arashi busted in to save him."
"So, what do you need from me?" Ichigo asked, "Looks like you and Orihime aren't able to hold him back from hollowfying."
He glanced over at Byakuya and Renji.
"What's up with them? Are they okay?"
"They're fine," Kisuke assured him, "At least, they're fine for now. But if we don't stop Tetsuya from hollowfying, we could lose them too. I have their inner worlds connected to Tetsuya's."
"What?" Ichigo exclaimed, "I never heard of doing that before."
"Well, it's not exactly in the shinigami manual...and you'd best not mention it to anyone. It's from my The Shit's Hitting the Fan, So the Hell With the Rules playbook."
"All right, I get it. So, what do you want me to do?" the Shiba heir asked.
"I need you to hollowfy, and I mean full hollow."
"Full hollow? Is it really that bad?"
"Yeah. I need you to go full hollow and to suppress the formation of his mask. Orihime's rejecting his hollowfication, but can't keep up. If you slow the process, then we may be able to turn him around."
"You don't sound too sure," Ichigo said worriedly.
"Well, I'm not," the shopkeeper confessed, "But I don't have any better ideas, so we're gonna go with this."
"All right. I'll do what I can," Ichigo promised.
Ichigo closed his eyes and focused, then touched a hand to his face and breathed in deeply. As he did, his golden-brown eyes went more golden and a bone mask formed under his hand. A hollow growl escaped him as he forced himself further into hollow form, so that bone crawled all over his body and his ginger hair lengthened. Long, pointed horns emerged from the top of his head and his growl rose to a shrieking roar. Where she knelt at Tetsuya's side, Orihime shuddered at the sight of the furious hollow.
"Ichigo," she whispered anxiously.
"It's okay," Kisuke assured her, "It's not like it was before. He's got complete control of the hollow now. He's working for us. Just...it doesn't mean he's not dangerous. It just means he probably won't attack us...at least, not while he's focused on Tetsuya. Let's work quickly. It's not good for Ichigo to remain in that form for long."
"Okay!" Orihime said, frowning in determination.
Her power burned a deeper golden, pulsating brightly around Tetsuya as his mouth opened and an echoing shriek escaped. Ichigo moved closer, his dangerous golden eyes fixed on Tetsuya's where they had also started to change. He extended a hand and his hollow shriek sounded, shattering the forming bone and making Tetsuya writhe in agony.
"Urahara-san!" Orihime cried.
"It's all right!" the shopkeeper assured her, turning his head aside slightly to hide his uncertainty, "At least, I think it is..."
A sharp, cracking sounded over Byakuya and Renji and Orihime's protective shielding broke apart.
"Oh no!"
Fierce white light swelled around the two and flowed across the room and into Tetsuya's struggling body.
"It's all right," Kisuke assured her with more confidence, "They are regaining control. Their reiatsu is working to calm his now. They couldn't do that before because Tetsuya was just too out of control."
Ichigo growled, glaring down at the young man in the bed as the golden color that had started to overtake his eyes shimmered, then gradually began to recede. Their normal, pretty sapphire color began to return, and Tetsuya shuddered and moaned softly. Kisuke touched his face gently and looked into his clearing eyes.
"Tetsuya, you're gonna be okay, but I need to make you sleep for a while so that your body can recover more fully."
Tetsuya's lips parted and his voice was barely audible above the swirls of ambient power around them.
"M-my...baby?" he whispered.
Kisuke invoked a powerful sleep kido and motioned for Ichigo to withdraw his power. The Shiba heir reached up and broke off one of the long horns on his head, making the heavy bone around his body crack loudly and fall away. Slowly, his hair that had lengthened with the form, shortened again and the golden color in his eyes darkened to their more normal golden brown. He panted softly as he calmed and he looked down at Tetsuya with deeply saddened eyes.
"Kisuke," he said solemnly, "why didn't you answer him?"
The shopkeeper sighed.
"He's in too delicate a state to be told anything right now. It was for the best. We're gonna have to deal with that after we save his life."
"Yeah..." Ichigo whispered, looking even more unhappy.
"He'll be okay. He's got Byakuya looking out for him. And Byakuya's going to bring him around. It's a hard knock, but Tetsuya's tougher than he looks. All of that time in Itamigiri, he held himself together. He may lose it at first, but he'll be all right, given time. The hard part was holding his body together. Takehiko almost killed him."
Ichigo's eyes flashed aggressively.
"Maybe someone needs to go and remind him why you don't beat up on your own family," he growled angrily.
"Take it easy, strawberry," the shopkeeper said affectionately, slipping an arm around the younger man and offering him a warm kiss, "I'm sure Byakuya's not going to let this thing go. Renji's pretty pissed too. Takehiko's not going to be getting away with anything. In addition to the wrath of the Kuchiki family, he's going to face the inquiry, and I have documented in full, every scratch on that young man. Believe me, he's..."
Kisuke broke off as raised voices sounded in the hallway and then the bedroom door opened.
"Boss, I tried to stop them, but..." Tessai began.
Kisuke scowled and Ichigo's eyes went deadly as the two spotted the man they had been speaking about, who was now flanked by an elder of the Noble's General Council.
"What's this all about, gentlemen?" the shopkeeper asked in a low, warning voice, "Why are you annoying my staff and trespassing in my home?"
"I am here for my wife," Takehiko replied, glaring at the two, "Kuchiki Byakuya, Abarai Renji, Kuchiki Koji and Kuchiki Arashi are guilty of trespassing on my property and causing his grave injury!"
"What?" Ichigo objected, "You're out of your mind! Byakuya and the others were only there to come for Tetsuya when you were torturing him! How the hell is it their fault that you hit Arashi and Tetsuya when you attacked them?"
"Takehiko-dono has explained to a special emergency council that he was shocked and confused when Tetsuya-san's horse broke into the manor and tried to attack Takehiko-dono," the elder said calmly, "He produced witnesses who claimed that Takehiko-dono and his wife were engaged in intimate contact, when the stallion broke in and caused Tetsuya-san's injury, himself."
"That is pure and utter bullshit!" Ichigo yelled, "There is no way that happened."
He moved forward aggressively, blocking the way to Tetsuya.
"Now, Shiba Ichigo," the elder said sternly, "You have no right to stand in our way. As Tetsuya-san's husband, Takehiko-dono has every right to be at his clan wife's side during this emergency. The inquiry will take place after Tetsuya-san is stabilized and the heir's condition is known."
"I'll tell you what the heir's condition is!" Kisuke hissed furiously, "The heir is dead, thanks to this twisted freak."
Takehiko's eyes widened and deep pain overtook his features.
"Our child is...?"
"The baby died," Kisuke repeated coldly.
"M-my...child...?" Tetsuya's voice whispered, making Kisuke whip around in surprise.
The men stared in silence as Tetsuya's blue eyes overflowed with tears and a shaky sob escaped his battered form.
"N-no!"
Before anyone could move, Takehiko flash stepped to Tetsuya's side and knelt next to him, taking a ghostly pale hand in his and kissing the younger man's forehead. He ran his fingers through the clipped strands of his wife's shortened hair, his eyes tragically sad and his voice soft and caring.
"Tetsuya, I am so sorry," he breathed shakily, "I swear to you that I was not trying to hurt you or our child. Your stallion burst through the wall and I was surprised and confused. That is all, I give you my word! It's going to be all right. I will take care of you. I am going to have you returned home..."
"Tetsuya's not in any shape to be moved," Kisuke insisted, "If you try to move him, then he is going to die. He needs to remain here until he is stabilized."
The elder with Takehiko looked from Tetsuya to the two shinigamis he was kido-bound to.
"Urahara Kisuke," he said sternly, "what are you doing to these men? What is this? You are..."
"Please, Masahiro-dono," Takehiko pleaded softly, "I am sure that Urahara-san was only doing everything he could to heal my wife. I know his methods might have been unsavory, but the alternative was to lose Tetsuya...and I cannot bear that!"
"What the hell?" Ichigo objected, "You're the reason that Tetsuya is like this! How can you act like this is everyone else's fault? Like you actually care about him? You really are insane, you know that?"
"I am very much in love with my wife," Takehiko insisted, "And I am devatated by his injury. Please, Shiba-san, you must please respect the situation and leave so that Tetsuya can rest and recover."
"N-no!" Tetsuya managed in a trembling voice, "Please don't go, Ichigo! If you go, he will..."
"Shh, it is all right," Takehiko soothed the younger man, "You've been badly hurt. You must rest, Tetsuya."
"G-get away from me!" Tetsuya cried, pushing him away, "Y-you'll kill us!"
"You heard him. Get away from him!" Ichigo demanded, "You have no right to be here after what you've done."
"To the contrary," the elder said firmly, "Takehiko-dono has been convicted of no crime in regards to his wife. As I said, the council is investigating and a decision will be made on Tetsuya-san's custody."
"You're not taking him back!" Ichigo yelled, his reiatsu swelling around him, "Byakuya wouldn't let you if he was awake. He and Tetsuya are my friends and I'm not going to let you railroad them!"
"Shiba Ichigo," Masahiro continued, "You are not a leader, nor a voting member of council. Council rules are that Takehiko-dono retains custody of his wife unless there is compelling reason to revoke it."
"You don't call him blasting Tetsuya off his stallion and killing their baby compelling reason?" Ichigo cried, "What the hell do you call it then?"
"Takehiko-dono has made a statement to the council that he mistakenly took that action, not realizing why the stallion had broken in. He destroyed a wall of Yukishima Manor and is as much responsible for Tetsuya-san's injury as Takehiko-dono. I will concede that it would not be advisable to move Tetsuya-san until he is fully stabilized, but when he is, he will be moved to a neutral site to receive care and wait for the council's final decision on the matter."
"You'll move him over my dead body!" Ichigo shouted.
"Please, gentlemen," Takehiko pleaded, touching Tetsuya's teary face gently, "You are upsetting Tetsuya. You must be quiet."
"Urahara-san, Shiba-san," Masahiro said respectfully, "We will refrain from further argument. I will return to the council and report on the matter...although I think I will be vague about your methods of healing this young man. You are, by the will of the council, to allow Takehiko-dono to remain at Tetsuya san's side and will not further distress Tetsuya-san while he recovers from this tragedy."
"Fine," Kisuke said unhappily, "but he's not to interfere with my treatment of Tetsuya in any way. The kid's barely alive and he's been traumatized all over again, seeing his attacker and learning while he's like this that he lost his child."
"I will respect your wishes not to interfere with Tetsuya's healing," Takehiko said solemnly, "but I will not be forced from his side."
"I don't like this," Ichigo sighed, "but if Kisuke thinks it's best for Tetsuya, then I'll let it go for now. Just don't try anything. Tetsuya's friends are here and we're going to be watching you twenty-four, seven. You're not taking him back. He's staying right here."
"I have given my agreement not to move my wife until he is stabilized," Takehiko said quietly, "Now, if you will please leave."
"No way," Ichigo said firmly, "I'll be quiet, but I'm not going anywhere."
"I must return to give my report," said Masahiro, "I will return with sentries to make sure that Tetsuya-san's custody is not interfered with."
"That's not really necessary," Kisuke said, shaking his head.
"Oh, with the heightened emotions between the Kuchiki and Yukishima clans, I think we must proceed very cautiously," the elder insisted, "As I said, I will be back."
Kisuke and Ichigo frowned as Tessai followed the elder out of the room. The two moved away from where the Yukishima leader knelt, still holding Tetsuya's hand and speaking softly into the injured man's ear.
"I don't like this at all," Kisuke confessed, "But...we can't go doing anything stupid. We can't move Tetsuya right now, so we're pretty much stuck with letting the psychopath stay here. As soon as I can detach Byakuya and Renji from Tetsuya, I'm going to move them to another room to let them recover. I don't want them seeing that guy's with Tetsuya. I want you to gather our friends and make sure that someone is in the room with those two at all times. Takehiko's working the system pretty hard to get Tetsuya back. We don't want to push him and make him do something that could cause Tetsuya to die. We're in a holding pattern for now. But don't worry, we'll get Tetsuya out of this...somehow. We're not gonna leave him with that guy...no way."
Across the room, Takehiko stroked Tetsuya's pale face and hair and continued to speak softly to him.
"Don't worry. You'll recover and we will go home soon. We just need to go home, Tetsuya. Once we are there, no one will interfere anymore and we will make our own decisions. I know they want you to hate me for what happened, but I also know you. You will forgive me, Tetsuya. You must forgive me. Tetsuya, please, will you forgive me? I love you. I love you so much and I never wanted this to happen to us!"
Tetsuya gave no answer, but only gazed straight ahead, his expression lost and his sapphire eyes dry, but distant.
"Tetsuya," Takehiko pleaded, "my love, why are you doing this? Won't you please forgive me? Tetsuya...can you hear me at all? Please...please answer me!"