Chapter 10: Tea and Cookies
"Are you all right?" Miki asked, his calm, brown eyes looking down into Kisho's as the Shihoin prince's eyes slowly opened and tried to focus.
"Wh-where is Rikichi?" he asked quickly, remembering that he had been holding the unconscious youth close to him when…
"He is resting over there," Miki said, indicating a second bed in the room.
Kisho turned his head and spotted Rikichi in the bed and started to get up. Instantly, strong hands caught him and pushed him back down. He found himself looking up into Renji's red-brown eyes.
"Abarai fukutaichou?" he mused, "I didn't see you there. Where is Kuchiki taichou?"
"Lie back down, kid," said Renji, frowning at him, "You're still healing. Don't worry about Rikichi. He's going to be fine. He just took a really bad knock on the head and is going to be out for a while longer is all. Kuchiki taichou had to return to Soul Society after bringing you here. He had to meet with our team in the Rukongai. They made some kind of discovery about the missing boys."
Kisho caught his breath sharply, remembering.
"Go ahead," said the man to Rikichi, as the youth positioned himself in front of the fallen Shihoin prince, "Loose another useless spell. You probably aren't him, but to be sure, I have to kill all five. Your three missing friends are all dead. I had them slaughtered, and you will die too."
"Why?" Rikichi asked, his voice shaking, "Why did you kill them? Did you kill Tadao too? Why are you doing this?"
"What is it?" asked Renji, "You okay?"
Kisho's eyes darkened and grew troubled.
"Th-there was a shinigami with the hollows that attacked us," he explained, "He said some things to Rikichi. He said that he had those boys killed!"
"What?" Miki gasped, tears coming to his eyes, "N-nao, Shig and Yuu are…?"
Renji lowered his eyes and nodded.
"We don't know the full details, but…the report that came back was that the place of death had been sensed. Odd thing was, though they were kidnapped separately, they were killed together, by someone who obviously knew what he was doing. What we need to know, is why?"
Kisho frowned and strained his mind, thinking. His head ached fiercely and sweat beads formed on his forehead as he struggled to remember. Finally, something came back to him.
"That man," he said, putting a hand to his head, "The one that was with the hollows said something to Rikichi about an heir."
"What?" Renji asked, his eyes growing intense, "An heir? What else did he say?"
"I…I'm not really sure," said Kisho, furrowing his brow and wincing at the pain that flashed in his head, "I was kind of out of it at the time. That guy hit me with a kido blast and I fell. Luckily, Rikichi kept him from getting to me while I recovered. It almost shocked the fur off my leopard form when he fired that high level kido spell. I didn't know Rikichi was that powerful."
"H-high level kido spell?" mused Renji, "Which one?"
"Hado #63."
"What?" Renji demanded, "I didn't even know the kid knew that spell, and at his level, he had no business using it in battle! He's damned lucky it didn't blow up in his face and kill all of you!"
"Well," said Kisho, giving the unconscious youth an appreciative glance, "If he hadn't bent the rules and used it, I think we would have died before Kuchiki taichou arrived."
"Huh," huffed the redhead, "You almost got your asses fried anyway. You would have if Taichou hadn't shown up when he did. What were you two thinking, going to that old prison?"
"Well," said Kisho, his golden eyes sparking aggressively, "I think we were thinking that we needed to find a place where the hollows wouldn't find us. After being attacked at the sixth division and at Kuchiki Manor, where you and your taichou sent us, you will have to excuse us for having to get creative about where we chose to conceal ourselves."
"All right. Sheesh, don't get your fur in a frizz, cat boy…"
"Oh," said Kisho, glowering, "That's good, coming from you. You're a fukutaichou and your kido still blows up in your face. You should worry less about what spells Rikichi uses in battle and learn to use a few yourself!"
"Why you little…" Renji began, his reiatsu flaring around him, "I'll show you kido! I'll burn your little princely ass!"
"Hey…guys," said Miki, placatingly, "Did you forget, Rikichi's still healing? Keep it down, okay?"
"Wh-what's going on?" Rikichi said, rubbing his bandaged head and trying to sit up.
Kisho flash stepped to his side and eased him back down onto the pillows.
"Hey," he said, smiling gently, "You shouldn't be up and around yet. Lie down, okay?"
"What was all of the yelling about?" Rikichi asked, touching the bandage on his head and wincing.
Kisho smiled.
"Aw, nothing really," he said, ignoring the scathing look Renji gave him, "How are you feeling?"
"Like someone used my head for target practice," Rikichi chuckled, relaxing against the pillows.
"Do you remember what happened at the old prison?" asked Renji.
"Give him a break," Kisho said, frowning, "He just came to. Let him take a breath or two before you start interrogating him."
Renji's red brown eyes flared in annoyance.
"No one is interrogating anyone," he snapped, "But in case it went over your head, someone wants these two kids dead. According to what came back from our investigative team, they've already killed Rikichi and Miki's three friends."
He paused for a moment, seeing the intense distressed look on Rikichi's face. Miki's eyes dampened and he slipped a sympathetic hand into the distraught shinigami's. Kisho's golden eyes took on a soft, threatening glow and his body shimmered warningly.
"Hey, back off," he said, placing himself between Renji and Rikichi, "He's got enough to deal with without you making things worse! I know you have questions, but…"
"It's okay, Kisho," Rikichi said, sitting up higher and rubbing his eyes to clear them, "Renji is my superior officer. He's supposed to ask questions. And besides that, he's trying to help."
Kisho's frown deepened.
"But you shouldn't let him talk to you like that," the Shihoin prince insisted.
"Kisho," Rikichi said quietly, "I told you. Renji is my superior. If he wants answers, it's my job to give him answers. I know you think differently, because you're from a noble family, but I'm from the Rukongai. I'm used to the way people treat me."
Kisho put a hand on the other youth's arm and met his eyes squarely.
"This isn't about you being a peasant," he said, "It doesn't matter whether you're a peasant or a prince, those guys are your friends, and he…"
"I know, but…"
"No, he's right," said Renji, his expression softening, "I do have questions, but you've been through a lot."
"Don't worry about it," said Rikichi, "I'll do my best to answer your questions. It's still kind of fuzzy, but I do remember."
"Okay," said Renji, nodding, "Just tell me what you can…anything you remember."
"I didn't know the guy who was with the hollows, but he did say that he was looking for the five of us, and he killed our three friends because one of us was…"
He stopped for a moment, furrowing his brow.
"It's hard to remember because I was focused on the incantation for a kido spell, but I remember him saying that it was about an heir."
"An heir?" said Renji, "An heir to what?"
"I don't know," said Rikichi, "I don't have any idea what he was talking about. I really don't. We're all orphans. If one of us is the heir they're looking for, then we don't know anything about it…ne Miki?"
"He's right," said Miki, "I don't know anything about it…and I never heard any of the others talk about any such thing either."
"But if he was talking about an heir, then it means that one of you five must have come from a rich family of the upper Rukongai, or maybe one of the noble families. That brings us back to Tadao. He may have been the person you remember, the one who saved all of you from bad situations and watched over you…or he may have been a kidnapper, who stole the heir and was concealing him for all of this time."
Miki and Rikichi shook their heads firmly.
"There is no way that the man that we all knew was a kidnapper," Rikichi said with certainty, "Anyone who ever met Tadao would know that he wasn't the kind of person who would kidnap a child and keep him from his family. He's a good person, Renji. We are very close to him."
"But he never told you anything about his past?" Renji asked, "And you didn't think that was odd?"
"We come from the Rukongai," Miki said, shaking his head, "If a person doesn't talk about his past, people just figure he likes his privacy and it's not their business to ask."
"When he was with us, he would just tell us stories, teach us about gardening, survival skills, astronomy, things like that. He was well educated," added Rikichi, "And he was protective of all of the kids in the orphanage…not just us."
"Okay…" said Renji, "It's not a lot, but we'll just have to work with what we have. I'm going to go and report this to Kuchiki taichou in the Rukongai. You kids are to stay here with Kisuke. He and Yoruichi are more than a match for most shinigamis and hollows. You'll be safe here. And there's something that I'll ask Kisuke to do. I will have him test your blood and reiatsu. If either of you is the heir of a noble clan, then we're going to find out about it. Then from there, we should be able to figure out who's trying to kill you…and why."
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"What were you able to learn?" Byakuya asked the sixth division third seat, who was standing beside the open trench, where traces of the missing youths had been discovered.
"There were three different hollows," the third seat reported, "It seems that each was sent to collect one of these three boys. They met here and killed the boys, one by one, then devoured them. That we were able to find any sign of them is surprising. This was a well-planned operation."
"But it doesn't explain why someone is trying so hard to kill those last two boys…or why any of these boys were targeted. But if I read this right, these hollows were trained assassins. So, they did the killing, but they are not the ones who wanted the boys dead. It has to be him…that shinigami I saw at the old prison…cloaked, hooded and his reiatsu masked, I could not recognize him. But I know it must be him."
"Sir?" queried the third seat.
"Finish up here," Byakuya said quietly, "Then proceed to the ruins of Itamigiri. I was a full report of anything you find there. There are the bodies of the two hollows I killed, and I want you to scour the cellblock in case the shinigami who was with them left any kind of sign!"
"Hai, Kuchiki taichou," said the third seat, bowing briefly.
Byakuya watched as the man returned to his work, then flash stepped away, moving in the direction of the old prison.
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"I'm sorry, Abarai fukutaichou, but you just missed Kuchiki taichou, and I don't know where he went. He ordered us to examine the area around the old prison, Itamigiri, when we finish here. He may come to see us there, or he may have gone back to the division, or perhaps Kuchiki Manor."
"Thanks," Renji said, nodding, "Carry on, then."
He walked away from the crime scene, slowly making his way back towards the Seireitei. His mind turned in circles, poring over the clues, but not finding any answers.
"Abarai Renji," said Noa's voice, startling him, "So, they found the missing boys? And from what I see in your eyes, I imagine that the news is not good."
Renji looked up at the woman sympathetically. He shook his head gently.
"I'm…really sorry. I know that you raised all of them."
He looked around the orphanage grounds briefly, then back at Noa.
"It looks like they had a wonderful home with you and Michio," he said softly.
"Oh," said Noa, her eyes sad and weary, "It isn't so much. But there is a lot of love here."
Renji smiled sadly.
"They were really lucky to have you," he said meeting the old woman's eyes.
Noa sighed.
"I can still see the boys, out there in the yard, running and playing, stubbing toes and scraping knees, scaring me half to death when they would ride Arashi, though he was a good horse, always so gentle with all of the children."
"You had a horse?" Renji asked, "I don't see a stable. Where did you keep him?"
"Oh," said Noa, smiling, "Arashi wasn't mine. He was Tadao's mount. He told me that Arashi was one of the wild spirit steeds, but that one day when he was hurt very badly and alone in the forest, Arashi appeared and somehow healed him, then refused to leave him. It was the closest I saw our Tadao get to anyone. Poor lad. If he had come to us as a child, he would have been like these we cared for, just another lost child. He was young, a mere teen, when he first brought them, and we offered him a place to stay, but he very politely refused. He was used to taking care of himself, he said. Still, there was always a sadness about him, and sometimes, when I would show him kindness, he betrayed a longing, like he really wanted to stay, but that, for some reason, he felt that he couldn't. But he watched over the children, always, especially those five boys."
The old woman wiped a tear away from her eye.
"Like I said before," said Renji, placing a hand on the old woman's shoulder, "They were really lucky to have had you. It's a good thing you're doing here."
He started to turn away but Noa's voice stopped him.
"Abarai fukutaichou, are Miki and Rikichi all right?" she asked softly.
"Yeah," Renji answered, "They are alive and we are protecting them."
He looked into Noa's eyes meaningfully.
"We won't let anything bad happen to them. I promise."
"Thank you, Abarai fukutaichou."
"Ah, you're welcome. No problem. And call me Renji."
"Very well, Renji. Michio and I appreciate you looking after our boys. And we thought it was wonderful when our Rikichi was taken into the sixth division. We know he had a long way to go as a shinigami, but you really made a difference in his life when you encouraged him. He was just a sweet, gentle lost soul before that. Alone and quiet. He seemed lonely, even though he had the other four his age. But after the day you came through town, he seemed to find his direction. He trained hard, and we were very proud when he was placed in your division."
"Well," said Renji, "He seems to improve every day. I don't know if he told you, but he was promoted to twelfth seat."
"He mentioned that at the party," Noa said, smiling, "He also told us how you had been helping him train."
"Well…erm…" Renji stammered, "I guess, considering I encouraged him to become a shinigami, I felt like I should help him along."
"You are a good friend."
Renji chuckled.
"Hardly," he answered, "I push him hard and I'm on his case all of the time. I may be okay as his superior officer, but I'm a crappy friend. But he seems to really be connecting with Shihoin Kisho."
"The prince that was with them during the attack?" said Noa, "I noticed a real spark between them. There was something between them that seemed to shine a little brighter than a simple friendship. Call me an old fool if you want, but I have the feeling that our Rikichi and this princeling are falling in love."
Renji gave a hearty laugh.
"Don't tell Taichou that," he mused, "I think he's had his fill of that little brat. It would drive him crazy to have Kisho hanging around the sixth division, fawning all over Rikichi."
"And you agree?" asked Noa, smirking.
"Well, Kisho is a bit of a smartass," Renji said, shaking his head, "but from what I've seen, he's quickly becoming the best friend Rikichi has…and since they've been around each other, Rikichi is taking some serious strides forward as a shinigami. Yeah, they are good for each other. I don't know about the rest of us though!"
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"You know," said Rikichi as Kisho set a cup of tea in his hands, "you don't have to fetch tea and food for me all of the time like this. You are a prince, after all. Kuchiki taichou just asked you to help look out for me not to be my personal servant."
Kisho smiled, and Rikichi felt an odd tickle inside.
"I happen to like taking care of you. And I'm not doing it for your taichou," he said, narrowing his eyes, "I'm doing it because you're my friend…and prince or peasant, that's what friends do, ne?"
Rikichi couldn't stop the smile that lit his slightly flushed face.
"Yes, it is," he agreed, "And you are a good friend, Kisho. With what's going on, I'm really grateful to have your friendship, though it would be nicer to have the friendship without the danger."
"I have to agree," said Kisho, watching as Rikichi sipped at his tea, then, blinked and caught his breath.
A pleased look appeared on the Shihoin prince's face.
"You…like it?" he asked, sounding oddly shy, compared to his usual brash self, "I made it myself. Kisuke told me how, because he was kind of busy, so…"
"It's…good," said Rikichi, his eyes watering slightly as he swallowed it.
He took a sip of water, then contemplated the cookies on the tray.
"I made those too," said Kisho, "Try one."
Rikichi's smile quivered slightly, but he took a cookie and bit into it gently. To his surprise, it was perfect, and more than made up for the shockingly bitter tea.
"This is great, Kisho," he said, devouring the cookie and reaching for another, "You are pretty good for someone who just started learning."
"Well, actually, Miki helped me a bit with the cookies, but the tea was all me."
Rikichi bit his lip to keep himself from laughing, and his tearing eyes twinkled.
"This was really great, Kisho," he said, picking up the tea and drinking deeply, "Arigato."
"You're welcome," said Kisho, reaching over to brush cookie crumbs off of Rikichi's yukata.
He spotted a crumb stuck to the brown-eyed youth's lips and leaned forward to brush it away. He felt a hard jolt inside as his fingers made contact with Rikichi's lips, then realized that the other youth had frozen like a startled deer. Kisho's golden eyes fixed on Rikichi's, reading his expression carefully, then he leaned forward very slowly, slipping his arms around Rikichi and burying his face beneath the other youth's chin. He felt Rikichi's body stiffen for a moment, then relax against him. Rikichi's heart quickened as Kisho's breath warmed the skin of his throat, sending a light, fluttery feeling all through him. He placed his arms gently around the other boy, moving his head slightly so that their cheeks rubbed against each other. Then, maddeningly slowly, Kisho lifted his chin and let his lips brush Rikichi's throat, slide up, over his jaw, then paused, looking into Rikichi's brown eyes, with their lips a bare inch shy of each other. His eyes drifted shut and he closed the distance.
Rikichi's body shivered for a moment as their lips met, then Kisho felt the lovely warmth of his return kiss. Their lips separated for a moment, then met again, still very lightly. Kisho opened his eyes again and watched as Rikichi's opened. They leaned towards each other again, with their eyes open and locked as they kissed again. Kisho's lips parted, and he ran his tongue along Rikichi's lips, coaxing a sweet sigh from the other boy and teasing his lips into parting. His tongue slipped into Rikichi's mouth and sought the other boy's tea-warmed tongue. He slid his tongue gently along Rikichi's and felt another jolt inside as Rikichi's tongue curled around his. They parted slowly, looking into each other's eyes, both uncertain what to say. Finally, Kisho smiled and let out a shaky breath.
"Baka!" he scolded Rikichi, "That tea was horrible!"