I DON'T OWN BLEACH
Beta work by Kaiken Collison; wooo your were super fast on this one! Thank you!
"The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone."Harriet Beecher Stowe
Magic Part2
Something lost, something found.
Byakuya is thoroughly punishing himself for his behavior with Ichigo. Despite it being two weeks ago, the memory of her tenderness lingers with him. He stole the knowledge from her, but he still feels its effects every evening when he retires to the solace of his room. His grandfather would scold him for covering it up. Ginrei-dono believes a real man faces his actions with dignity and pride. He is not proud of what happened between himself and Ichigo and he concealed it like a dirty little secret. That's not true, he hid it out of fear... a fear he hasn't experienced before."I wanted her." The urge to relive it is becoming stronger, he is feeling it more, and more as the days go by; the desire to see her, to touch her face. "Shouldn't the feeling dissipate instead of intensify?"
He hadn't planned on that generous reaction from her, or the desire stretching through his stomach for more of a taste of what she has to offer. Shrugging his mind out of the thought of her lips on the corner of his mouth, Byakuya continues to walk toward the practice area. Needing to clear his mind he activates his bankai and decides to train.
Maybe he can take it out on Renji? No, Renji hasn't been seen since Rukia's death. Byakuya has listed Renji as being on vacation but that will end in a couple of days. If his vice captain doesn't show up soon he will be forced to report him. That's something Byakuya doesn't want to do. He understands Renji's need to be away. The fiery outspoken red head was crazy about his sister. It's only natural that he take sometime to adjust to her vacancy.
After an hour of non-stop practice, Byakuya is covered in sweat and thirsty despite the cooling fall breeze blowing vigorously at the trees in the courtyard. He doesn't feel any better. "Her vibrancy hovers like Hisana's... that is not good for me." Coming to grips with Hisana's death many years before he searches for logical reasons he can't detach his emotions from a little thing like a kiss. "A chaste kiss... seductive in its inexperience. Could that have been her first? No, surely not."
His shower does nothing to soothe his restlessness, he continues through his pointless day now dreading the eventual trip home. Without Rukia's warm presence that place is empty. He keeps all the sorrow locked tighter than before his meeting with Ichigo.
Byakuya Kuchiki has many responsibilities to keep him distracted, busy, and not thinking of her hair brushing his cheek or what her touch might be like. "It's impossible to have these kinds of feelings for Ichigo Kurosaki of all people." Patting himself dry he almost drops the soft blue towel when he senses Ichigo's reiatsu for the first time in weeks. His reaction, is overwhelming. Need and curiosity. What a wretched man he is becoming. Grieving over Rukia has certainly clouded his judgment. "That woman is brash, and impulsive, and... so much trouble."
Quickly dressing he returns to his office and the solitary desk in the center of the room. Paperwork, finishing reports, cataloging the next few volumes of shinigami history. All these things should keep his mind from straying back to orange hair wafting sweet plum scents with a hint of lily of the valley past his nose. As he continues his day a hell butterfly floats in giving him a startling message.
"Abarai... you fool." Could this day get any worse?
~/~
Ichigo moves through the manor carefully keeping to the shadows. Thanks to Urahara-san's reiatsu blocking black cape wrapped around her shinigami uniform she quietly steps undetected toward the room Yoruichi-san said Byakuya sleeps in. Rehearsing what she will say to him the whole time, she prepares for a fight from him. Sliding open the door she is met instantly by familiar sword to her throat. "Byakuya, it's me Ichigo."
"It's midnight," he says coldly, his mind churning over and over with images of her lips, her hair, her compassionate touch. Reminding himself that she has no memory of the tiny kiss they shared, he calms himself with a silent breath and lowers his sword from her neck. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard about the murder and I want to tell you Renji didn't do it," she grumbles, watching him retreat back several feet. "Come on! You can't think he did!" Ichigo yells out from the outside step of his room. "Oi!" She is suddenly jerked inside his room and the door shut behind her.
"Lower your voice before you wake the entire household," he says, his voice laced with irritation. Why is she here? In his bedroom. In the middle of the night. "Where is Abarai?" he asks, releasing her and stepping far enough away to escape the sweet smell her perfume.
"What makes you think I know?" she pulls back the hood of the black robe getting a glimpse of the large empty room. He lives here? There is just a futon in the center of the floor. There isn't anything personal in here at all. Shouldn't he have stuff? Everyone has stuff. "He didn't kill that guy from the twelfth division."
"Then have him turn himself in to clear his name. Preferably at a decent hour and in my office." He points a finger at her, his eyes staring directly into hers. "This is a matter for Soul Society, not a part time shinigami."
Why did he do that? Why mention in a not so subtle way that she is once again only part something. Being a half-breed sucks in any world and the perfect Kuchiki just has to point it out to her. Half human, half shinigami, half whatever the hell she turns into when she is out of shinigami reiryoku. Hell that's actually thirds, right? Even better... She breaks the mold and manages to be a freak in every dimension. "I can't do that. You and I both know from experience Soul Society sucks at looking past all the bullshit and seeing the actual truth." Her arms wrap around the front of her chest, refusing to show him any fear. "It's impossible for Renji to have killed that third seat."
"You speak as if you can prove his innocence." He is very interested in her response. Ichigo has no sense of deception, she is incapable of lying directly. She can hide or misdirect the truth but not blatantly lie and be believable. Byakuya would know the difference. Over the past two weeks he has dug deep inside, reflecting on what it is about Ichigo that gives him such a reaction to her. He came up with one clear conclusion. "Ichigo..."
"Renji was with me."
"What did she just say?" Byakuya reacts calm once again, but his eyes are narrowing in irritation. "You and Abarai are sleeping together," he says, fighting the warm sensation heating up his stomach.
"What?" she looks at the ceiling trying to avoid his stern glare. "Well I'll just come back tomorrow-" Suddenly she feels like this is the last place she should be, alone, in the middle of the night.
"Do not move," he says seriously, lifting a hand to the wall next to her head and leaning closer to look directly in her panicking eyes. "Enough of this game, Ichigo. You are not having intimate relations with Abarai."
"Why is it so unbelievable!" What the hell is she saying! This is not the speech she rehearsed on the way here. Byakuya is turning everything around on her. How unfair! Her head swirls for a moment, her eyes focusing on his closed lips.
"I... saw you last night in her room."
"How unfair..."
Ichigo blinks trying to shake the odd familiar feeling in her head. His mouth, his skin, arms around her. Just pieces of images too fuzzy to make out. Some unspeakable feeling pressing on her chest, about Byakuya. "I'm confused..." she whispers as tears fall down her tan cheeks.
"Ichigo?" Byakuya watches her face contort as she cries silent thick tears. "Are you alright?"
"You did something to me..." Her eyes pop open suddenly, feeling his fingers on her wet face.
"I did," he answers, moving his hand away filled with a trembling sensation of the inside. "Five minutes of memories. I have no excuse other than my own selfishness."
"You stole my memories?" Ichigo's brows knit together. "Why! Why would you take something..." So many pictures jumbled like broken glass around her begin to slide into place. Whispered words flit through her mind, and then a touch sealed the fractures all in place. "We kissed."
"You kissed me," he corrects her, fighting the urge to reach out and touch her face again.
"Did it crush your pride so much to be touched by me that you had to steal it from me?" Ichigo is furious now. It hurts. It hurts so much that Byakuya would take that moment away from her. "Say it!" She curls up her fists, striking his chest. "Say it to my face. I wanna hear it!"
"You understand nothing about me."
"Like hell I don't! I'm the only one even tries to understand you!" She wraps her fingers around his blue sleeping robe tugging him lower. "Was your pride stained by my lips?"
"My pride is not stained. Your assumption is wrong," he says flatly, staring down at her flushed face.
"Then why?" Her rosy lips tremble seething with anger and horrible hurt. The memory is pleasant to her and the feeling of his body on hers gives her a safe sheltered sensation she isn't used to. Once again met with silence she cries out. "All your talk of principles and pride is meaningless if you are just a coward!"
"Enough!" he replies, raising his voice in a rare moment of fury. His hands reach down to her shoulders, his lips find hers quickly. The heat of their tempers blaze up intense passion between them. His mouth dominates, pressing to Ichigo's firmly. In his lips she will find her answer, and be damned with the consequences.
Ichigo is eclipsed by him, his thumbs stroking her cheeks, the cedar scent of him clouding her nose, the needy lips lightly sucking hers. It's overwhelming, she can only wrap an arm around his neck and press her back to the wall behind her to keep from falling down. She feels his hand pull her hair down, out of its thin clasp and a moment later his fingertips slide through her tangerine locks. It's so good she is almost powerless against his hard chest crushing her to the bedroom wall. Hearing a moan escape him she senses him start to pull away and something streak through her making her clutch at the thin fabric of his yukata. "If it ends..." She kisses him back moving her head toward him, savoring the wetness of his mouth against hers, determined to express her new found desire for him.
Slipping the control to her, his hands enjoy the silkiness of her hair. His heart is loud and bold with each tender graze of her soft lips. His eyes are shut, his head tilting down to give her free access to explore, but she is precious and innocent. Her hands merely holding his yukata make a longing grow inside him. "If she touches me..." He can't have that. It's ridiculous to even need it. Byakuya steps away turning his back to her, his head slowly rising up and his lips already cooling from her absence.
Ichigo's eyes flutter open. She gazes at him for a moment, her chest sucking in air and her heart pounding in her ears. His long straight back facing her speaks for Byakuya, and she slips out the door soundlessly. Making her way back to the place she belongs, her chaotic world absent of the dark haired noble with a new emptiness on her lips and in her heart. "I can't blame him for being scared anymore. Now I'm terrified."
It's late by the time she returns to her doorstep. Already back in her human body the evening is brisk and the thin navy jacket around her isn't enough to keep her warm. Could anything after feeling Byakuya's incredible warmth blanketing her? Doubtful... very doubtful.
"Well, if it isn't Ichi-go Kurosaki."
"Renji?" She walks around the corner of her house finding him stepping out of the shadows, his clothes a filthy and torn. "What the hell is happening? Soul Society thinks you killed some-"
"It's all bleeding out..." he says, lifting a red soaked hand up grabbing her chin. "staining everything with black."
"What is wrong with you?" Ichigo asks, ignoring the blood smearing her chin. "You don't sound like yourself."
"No Ichigo..." He shakes her head with his hand. "I'm finally free to be me. Thanks to this stuff I found in your dad's clinic." He pulls a syringe from his pocket with a wide grin. "It's called morphine. I feel fantastic."
"You broke into my father's clinic! That's my – Did you hurt my family?" Ichigo tries to grab her shinigami badge to pop out of her body when Renji snatches it away. "Renji, let's go to Urahara's and you can sleep it off," she adds trying to not show her worry and fear. "Try to get him to calm down," she tells herself, watching his erratic movements.
"You're in no position to order me around!" Renji yells back at her tossing the badge across the street.
"Renji! You asshole!" She puts out her hand to take the syringe. "Give me the rest of it. It's making you act stupid."
"No! You don't get to say that to me. You aren't her... you aren't Rukia." He pushes her against the building, his hand lifting up to the side of her face. "You ain't her..." He grabs at her cheek with his thumb, watching her wince. "you will never be her. You can't take her place."
"I don't want to take her place." Ichigo growls as the pain in her cheeks starts to sting. "I miss Rukia too Renji."
"No you don't get to miss her!" he screams with tears running down his face. "You don't even get to speak her name."
"Renji..." she mutters, her eyes growing wide as his fingertips pinch her mouth shut. If Renji were human she could handle herself, maybe... he is strung out on drugs. But versus a shinigami that's strung out on drugs? Ichigo is worried... she doesn't know what to do. "I can't hurt him. He is hurting himself enough to choke us both from the pain."
"I see everything so clearly now," he says, pulling out his sword with his free hand. "You have no chain of fate." The glint of the metal makes him see bright stars shinning around her tan face. "Urahara cut it, and it dissolved."
"So?" She doesn't get his question. Her brows furrows together as Renji taps the blade to her head.
"You don't get it Ichi." tilting his head up he has a nice laugh. Oh he feels so fucking great. "Answer me this..." He lifts the blade around so the hilt is point up. "What would happen if I use Konso on you Ichigo?"
"W-What?"
"If I press the end of my blade to your forehead. What would happen?" He leans over her with the hilt so close her eyelashes flutter against the tsuba. "You would die right? Go to Soul Society, and not remember a fucking thing. No family, no friends, nothing."
"No... That's not true!" Ichigo shakes her head, fighting against him. "I did that three years ago! I have gotten older. My hair even grows." She can't accept this. It's impossible her body isn't a gigai... It's her real one.
"It is! That is the silence surrounding you every fucking day!" Holding her in place, he brings the butt of his sword close to her forehead. "Let's put it to the test."
"No!" she fights against him feeling the panic rising in her stomach. "Don't do this!"
"Bakudo number sixty-one; Rikujōkōrō." Byakuya steps out of the shadows with a hand raised up. The yellow kidou crashing around Renji freezing him in place. He doesn't look at Ichigo yet, instead he motions for the men behind him to take Renji in custody. It's disturbing that this would happen, but not unexpected. Grief makes everyone react differently, but to attack Ichigo in her human body. "Abarai, you have assaulted Ichigo."
"Like you give a shit what I do to Ichigo," Renji growls, fighting at the kidou keeping him from his goal. Yes... he wants to see her suffer like Rukia did those long days in the tower. "Let me go! I want to see her die!" His captain hates this woman too. Everything she stands for is insulting to his pride as a shinigami. "I need to watch her die." His vision is blurry but he can still make out the pain in her face. So close! He can taste the anguish flowing out of her ringing in his head. The pressing calm he wants to feel is so close!
"Why...?" she looks at Renji as he fights the kidou with tears dripping down her blood-smeared face. "Arent we friends? Don't we-"
"It's your fault she is dead!"
"Enough of your drug induced delusions." Byakuya interrupts, taking the sword from Abarai and motioning for his men to take him away. Soon as the doors leading to Soul Society close, his eyes dart to Ichigo. Witnessing the entire conversation with Renji he fights the inclination to walk away. Ichigo is right, he is being a coward and that offends his pride. "What will she do if I don't turn away?"
Ichigo doesn't look up when he steps in front of her. His tall form towers over her, his hands relaxing at his sides. The white fabric of his haori rippling in the cool breeze draws her eyes slowly up. "Byakuya will hate me too. It's only a matter of time." Shame washes over her, her eyes fall to the cement walk she dropped to sit on and the small patch of grass he is standing on. The space between them might as well be miles to Ichigo. She holds no expectations of him. Byakuya always manages to follow the principles engrained in him and Ichigo sways with every wind threatening to steal her breath. "Renji blames me. I feel lost at how to fix it."
The wind picks up with a stiff cold gust blowing the orange hair around her face in the air. He gazes at her in the silence of the midnight hour watching her fight a battle with her emotions. Perhaps for the first time in his life he is really taking in how beautiful Ichigo really is. With her hair fluttering free in the wind, her heart struggling to make excuses for Abarai's hatred, she remains there embracing the feeling instead of blocking it out. Renji's bloody fingerprints are starting to dry against her tan skin. It bothers him. Only a half hour earlier Byakuya's hands were touching her face. His eyes narrow. "I need to see the damage Abarai did to the clinic. For my report," he adds with a hint of nervousness.
"Oh, right," she says standing up and avoiding eye contact with him. Opening the sliding door she steps inside and reaches for the light switch only to have her hand grabbed by his. She is lead to a sink where Byakuya turns on the faucet.
"Where are your towels?"
"Here." She points lifting a hand above her to the green cabinets.
The moon streaks through the vertical blinds swinging to a standstill casting silver over the small space between Byakuya and Ichigo. He still has her right hand in his as his other hand takes a white towel from the cabinet and holds it under the faucet. Releasing her he wrings the towel out and lifts a hand to her chin.
"W-W-" she stutters, figuring out what he is about to do. Blushing crimson her head begins to tilt down but his hand keeps her still. The towel is a warm against her skin, wiping away the grime, heating her cheeks, soothing her fears with a surprising tenderness. Her eyes slip shut as the warm cloth slides across her skin, removing the red tint, helping her calm return. With the calm comes the pain of what Renji has done. His words and actions stripping away her resolve so easily. "Why is he doing this?"
Byakuya watches her lips tremble. His eyes are filled the intense fragility of her current state. How surprising she is in this human body. Despite the blood now wiped away on the towel he can't help feel disdain that Renji touched something that he is growing an attachment for. He doesn't want to stop touching her. She feels good to be near. "You will not offend me by crying."
She sucks in a deep breath and looks at him with her glassy eyes large in shock. "How can I? When you are standing here hurting and willing to comfort me?" she squeaks out the words with a frown. "How selfish would that be?"
"Ichigo..." How can he make it through this without taking solace in her once again? Byakuya can't block out the mist of emotions seeping around him. It's too late to back away and do the prudent thing, especially with her looking up at him with that longing expression. Teetering on the precipice he takes a small step toward her, his hands are so empty. Images of his place in Soul Society flicker. Each picture adds weight to his limp hands at his sides. Ichigo's face is closer, her pink lips, her sweet scent; Byakuya wants to taste them again, to fill the vacancy with her. "I want..."
"Then do it," she answers quickly, expecting another explosive claiming of his mouth. Only this time Byakuya has something delicate and tender in mind as his lips graze hers. Ever so gently he leans over her, his hands finding the warmth he desires sliding around her waist and her neck.
Her eyes flutter shut, he is leading this kiss and clearly telling her so. She reacts quickly to him, her body humming with every squeeze of his fingers at her back, her pulse jumping as he lifts her up to sit on the counter behind her. The gap between them is filled and Ichigo is surrounded by him. Heat, strength, and shelter are the things she senses from him. "I never knew I even wanted to feel this way."
Ichigo's skin is hot against his lips. He slips down to her neck, his lips drawing on her flesh, his hands sliding into her hair to lightly tug. It's so good like this, with her body enticing him to explore. The scent of flowers float to his nose only feeding the desire in him to search for hidden places to caress. Just as his hand is about to slide under her shirt a hell butterfly floats over to him. Reluctantly pulling away, he lifts a fingertip up and listens to the message.
"What is it?" Ichigo asks noticing his eyes narrow a bit.
"You must come with me." He walks to the doorway, sliding it open and waits for her to follow.
"What is happening?"
"Renji has escaped, and until this is over you will not leave my side."
Ichigo opens her mouth to argue but the feel of his touch still lingers. "It's pointless to argue. I doubt anyone can say no to Byakuya once he makes up his mind." Hopping down from the counter, she gives him a light smile. "Let me find my badge. I can pop out of my body and leave it at Urahara's."
He watches her rummaging through the shrubs cursing a streak when her shirt gets tangled. He will see this through. No matter the consequences. Ichigo deserves that much.
"Found it!" she exclaims, walking over to Byakuya.
"I found something too, Ichigo."
Alright here is part 2! I hope you like it and look forward to the next part^^ Thank you for reading! I know you might be thinking... What is up with Renji but believe in me! You will see... Fuzzi