Chapter 10: In a World Turned Upside Down
Renji woke suddenly and found himself wound tightly around Byakuya's shivering and dangerously feverish form. His eyes remained slitted even when he woke, and he took short, panting breaths. A quick examination revealed that his abdomen appeared swollen and painful.
"Taichou," said Renji with forced calm, "Don't worry about anything. I'm going to get you out of here. You need healing, but I can't heal this. Maybe we can make a run for the living world…send a hell butterfly to Urahara Kisuke…"
"There isn't time…" Byakuya moaned, "I feel it. Renji…Renji, you have to take me to Las Noches…"
"What? Las Noches! You're delirious, right? Taichou…you can't go there! He'll have us tortured…killed."
"I'm dying anyway," whispered Byakuya, "and…the healers in the Seireitei don't know how to stop it. If they did, they wouldn't still be under quarantine. I want you to…take me close…and leave me. I will…go there…alone."
Renji shook his head firmly.
"I'm not leaving you…especially not there. Taichou…Byakuya…we can't…"
"Understand…even if they allow us to enter the Seireitei, and even if I live long enough to reach the fourth division…they…don't know how to stop it. The one at the fortress may reveal it…if we go to them. We can learn if there is a cure…and we can take it back with us…"
"So…" Renji said, haltingly, "You want to go and see if we can get you healed and escape with knowledge of the cure. Taichou, that's crazy. We'll never…"
He was interrupted by the arrival of a hell butterfly.
"Ah…" Renji sighed, "Maybe our troubles are over. Maybe they've found a cure…"
Kuchiki Taichou, we regret to inform you that two members of the Kuchiki Council of Elders have succumbed to the effects of the parasitic hollow. Numerous other family are infected. Kuchiki Rukia has been hospitalized and placed in suspended animation to preserve her life. All Squad Six seated officers have been affected, as well as nearly half of the unseated members. Nearly half of the population of the Seireitei is infected and deaths are in the thousands. They are leveling off, due to the use of suspended animation to preserve them…however, unless a cure is found, the thousands in these chambers will die as well. We are not able to locate the hollow, as it continues to jump from shinigami to shinigami and all infected have either died or been suspended. In addition, the hollow has left hatchlings in some bodies…allowing young parasitic hollows to be born. We have traced the hollow's origin back to Kuchiki Byakuya…and we suspect that it used Abarai Renji to sustain it until it abandoned him for Kuchiki Taichou's strong reiatsu. Soutaichou has issued an order for the return of Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Byakuya to the senkaimon for transfer to the fourth division. A medical team is standing by for your arrival.
"Taichou, did you hear that? They're going to open the sankaimon for…Taichou?" Renji called frantically, lifting the unconscious noble into his arms.
"Damn! He's too pale…too…kami, what do I do? He's dying in my arms!"
He carried Byakuya out of the cave and looked first at the shinigami base, far off in the distance. He glanced back at the much nearer Las Noches. He turned toward the shinigami base, but couldn't force himself to move. He looked back at Las Noches.
"You're right," he said softly, "You aren't going to survive the trip back."
He turned and flash stepped towards Las Noches, his heart in his throat, and wondering at what point he would be sensed. He closed in on the fortress and heard an alarm sound. Guards ran out and took up positions outside, holding their weapons ready and preparing for battle. Renji stopped a respectful distance away and dropped to his knees, still holding Byakuya in his arms.
"Well Taichou," Renji said in quivering voice, "Now we'll see if you were right…or if we are both dead…"
The hollow guards moved in and one stepped forward.
"Why have you come?" it said in a raspy voice, "Begone with you."
"Fuck…" Renji muttered, "The one time we want them to be interested and…"
"Didn't you hear me, begone, shinigami!" the hollow said, kicking sand at them.
"I want to talk to Aizen Sousuke!" demanded Renji, "You tell him that Kuchiki Byakuya is dying and needs medical attention. He'll let us in!"
"Shut up, shinigami!" snapped the creature, "We will decide who sees the master. Now, leave!"
"Damn it!" yelled Renji, drawing Zabimaru, "If you don't get the fuck out of the way, I'll destroy you!"
He raised his weapon.
"Ban kai! Hihio Zabimaru."
He turned the skeletal snake on the fortress door and sent it soaring forward. Hollows scattered in all directions, trying desperately to get out of the way.
"Hikotsu Taihou!"
Byakuya moaned and stirred where he held the noble against him. His eyes opened as the skeletal snake crashed through the fortress doors. Renji lifted him and flash stepped forward.
"A-abarai," gasped the noble, shaking visibly, "What in kami's name are you doing?"
Renji grinned.
"What you said…I'm getting us into Las Noches. The guards didn't want to let us in. I was going over their heads. Got a problem with that?"
"Baka! This is not what I had in mind! You were supposed to bring me to Las Noches for treatment, not blast the place to bits!" Byakuya hissed.
"Huh!" huffed the redhead, "Well, then, you need to improve your communication skills…and not pass out before clarifying!"
"I'll be surprised if Aizen doesn't just vaporize you on sight!"
"Shh," Renji said, holding him close and stepping the flaming wreckage of the entry doors, "Not now…I have to concentrate."
Renji strode forward, through the swirl of smoke, dust and haze and into the entry room. As the air cleared around him, Renji swallowed hard at the sight of rows of Arrancars lining the great stairway in front of him and pouring in from the sides. He was somewhat relieved to feel Byakuya falling still and unconscious in his arms. If he had made a fatal error, he didn't want the noble to suffer the consequences.
He let his eyes scan the room and felt a sharp chill run through him. At the top and center of the stairs, three armed shinigamis stood side-by-side, looking down at Renji. As the redhead met Aizen Sousuke's eyes directly, two thoughts struck him. The first was that he looked extremely curious…and the second was that he looked oddly amused at the destructive intrusion.
"Well…Abarai Renji," he said in that deceptively soft and gentle tone, "How nice of you to drop in and visit us. I see you have been making yourself known to the guards. Tell me, what brings you?"
He caught sight of Byakuya, held tight in Renji's arms and his eyes grew even more curious.
Good…if he's curious, he'll at least pause before he kills us…
"I see," Aizen went on, flash stepping past his forces and appearing in front of Renji, "Your taichou…he is ill? Or is he injured?"
Renji swallowed hard, unable to fully accept that he was close enough to Aizen to touch him, to look into the eyes of the man who nearly everyone in the Seireitei wanted to kill…to feel the man's breath disturb the hairs on his skin.
"Renji?" Aizen queried, "You came here so he might be healed?"
"Ah…" Renji said, shaking himself out of his reverie, "Y-yes…Taichou has been attacked by a…parasitic hollow. He couldn't have survived the trip home."
He held himself still, forcing his body to calm and looked the traitor in the eyes.
"I don't give a damn what you do to me, but do not let my Taichou die," he said in a surprisingly calm voice.
Aizen gazed at him, then looked down at the unconscious man in his arms. He gave Renji a chillingly sweet smile.
"It never ceases to amaze me," he said softly, "the dedication of our fukutaichous. Even one such as you, who came to this one hating him…now you show your true colors."
"Hey!" Renji objected, "How in the hell did you know…?"
"That's not important just now," Aizen said softly, "Come…and bring your taichou to the infirmary. I believe that Gin can help you."
Renji turned to follow the enemy leader up the stairs and down the hallway, wondering if things had just gotten better or worse…
They reached the infirmary quickly and Renji reluctantly allowed Gin to take Byakuya from his arms. The silver haired shinigami carefully set the noble on the examination table and began removing his clothing. Renji bit back his objection at the move, realizing first that it was necessary and secondly, that two Arrancars had placed themselves on either side of him. Tousen had disappeared with most of the other guards, but Aizen remained near Renji, his eyes watching Gin and the unconscious taichou intently.
"How did Byakuya become infected?" Aizen asked.
Renji sighed.
"I disappeared in the desert here two years ago and the hollow made use of me…draining off my power and living on it…until Byakuya found me. We didn't know it could pass from person to person so quietly and without being noticed like that," the redhead explained.
"Well," said Gin in an amused voice, "you two really bought yourselves some trouble this time, didn't you? This is a very advanced infection. In fact, you are correct in having assumed that Byakuya would not have survived the trip home."
"Great…" muttered Renji, "they can write that on my gravestone, right?"
Gin laughed softly and Aizen's eyes glinted briefly.
"Why, Renji, you came to us under a sign of truce…if we overlook the destruction of our entry doors…so why would you think that we would not offer you safety here?"
"Ah," said Renji nervously, "maybe the fact that you tried to murder your own fukutaichou…and that you nearly cut me in half has something to do with it…"
Aizen's lips twitched softly.
"Well, I don't know if it will ease your mind any, but I promise you that no harm will come to you or Byakuya while your taichou is being healed…and it is possible that if you answer our questions that we will let you go as soon as Byakuya's condition has been resolved…one way or the other. So relax if you are able. We won't attack you."
"Terrific…" Renji sighed, "forgive me if I have trouble thanking you properly, but I'm just a little skeptical, if you know what I mean!"
"Of course," smiled Aizen.
"Abarai," said Gin, leaning over Byakuya, "Has he been weak and complaining of stomach pain?"
"Hai," Renji said, nodding, "He has been that way almost from the moment we returned from Hueco Mundo."
Gin's eyes rose sharply.
"You've been to the Seireitei with him like this?" he asked, eying Renji, then glancing at Aizen.
"Well, yeah. They don't make us stay in this wasteland all of the time. We are allowed to go home sometimes!"
"Yes, yes…and was he hospitalized? Examined there?"
"Uh, yeah…it's SOP after serving time here. Everyone is checked out. Besides, he and Rikichi had been injured here, so they needed to be checked out anyway."
Gin nodded and went back to work on the noble. He placed a hand on Byakuya's forehead and deepened his sleep.
"This particular hollow gave us some trouble not so long ago," Gin explained, "but as we have advanced knowledge of the hollows and our methods of research haven't the strictures of those in the Seireitei, your taichou may actually live. The difficulty is that this hollow takes on several forms and is very good at hiding. Even the infected often has no clue what he or she is carrying to others. And it reproduces quickly and spreads like wildfire. I imagine that if the Seireitei has not suffered an outbreak yet, it will soon…and with Byakuya and you both here…and the originating pair, they can do nothing to stop it."
"Originating pair?" queried Renji.
"Originating pair…yes," Gin repeated, "You see, this hollow chooses a powerful victim and attaches itself, feeding on blood and reiatsu, gaining strength. When its strength and power peak, it looks for a powerful body in which to begin the spread of its bretheren. It enters the organism and progresses most slowly in that one…and its effects are weakest in that one. While there, it enters a hidden 'cocoon' state, in which it is not detectable, which is why no one realized it was there when Byakuya was examined before. As the original organism, the first infected…Byakuya, in this case…progresses, the hollow's larvae form inside and the hollow slips out and into another body. Each time it infects another, the effect is faster…but as the speed increases, so does the hollow's visibility. But it is a race against time…because once the original patient is overcome, there is no cure. The only way to stop this infection is to develop an antitoxin that will render all who use it to make them immune. Luckily for Byakuya, even the most advanced cases can be cured, so long as the patient is still alive. I will, however, have to put him in a state of suspension while I procure the antitoxin. We wouldn't want the larvae to erupt from his body and kill him…"
"Shit…" muttered Renji, looking sick to his stomach, "He was that close…"
"Hai," said Gin, smiling a bit coldly at the redhead, "but you see, we've stopped it in time. And in a few hours, I will be able to dose the two of you with the antitoxin and it will be safe for you to go home."
"Yes," said Aizen, "That is good news, ne? Now…to my next question. What is the state of this infection in the Seireitei?"
Renji felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He took a breath.
"I'm not sure," he said carefully, "We have been on deep reconnaissance in a restricted zone and could not risk communication. I have no idea how things are there…but I would like for Byakuya and myself to be released as soon as possible to make sure there is no outbreak there."
Aizen smirked.
"I see," he said softly.
He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again and gazed searchingly at the redhead.
"Abarai Renji," he said, in that same soft tone, "at what point did you decide that I am some kind of fool?"
Renji's blood turned cold in his veins.
"What makes you think that I would believe a lie like that, when the truth is so obvious? Renji, I know the direction you came from…and thus, the area you were in. I know the areas the Gotei 13 would consider so dangerous. None is close to that place. You did not lose contact with the Seireitei…and maybe you didn't come here because it was closer. They are infected, aren't they…dying…and now we have the original pair that are their only hope of cure!"