The Tales of Lilies: Lily of the Guardian
A/N: Sorry I'm late! Believe it or not, I've finished it a few days ago, but got no chance to upload it. My bro came back home again and as usual, took over the computer… But it's here now!
Full Summary:
Once upon a time, a Lily showed up in the world of the living, ordered by the gods and goddesses in the sky. The Lily's task was to be the guardian of the Earth and the worlds that surrounded it, for a certain evil would destroy them for one purpose…
Warnings: Mild cursing, violence, OOC, OCs, fantasy, AU, yaoi (boy x boy love), fluffiness!
"Speaking"
Thought/dream/flashback
Enjoy!
Chapter 10: Sparks Fly between Two
After arriving at the Real World, the Soul Society team immediately went to the battle field on the sky. Indeed, there were many hollows and powerful menos here. The ones called arrancar. There were hundreds of Gillian—the lowest rank arrancar, some Adjuchas—the higher rank, and a few animal-like Vasto Lorde—the highest rank known by the Soul Society. The shinigami there were having trouble with the Adjuchas and Vasto Lorde primarily and a few new shinigami were having trouble with the Gillian and their cero*. The 4th squad members immediately shunpo'ed to the nearest wounded shinigami and started healing the wounds effectively.
The officers that the captains assigned for this were ordered to aid the rest of the battle wounded shinigami too and fight the hollows.
"We must go and help too." Toushiro merely said and unsheathed his zanpakutou. Seeing the act, Byakuya and Soi Fon unsheated the sword also, along with Renji who nodded his head.
"Sit upon the frozen heaven, Hyourinmaru!"
"Scatter, Senbonzakura."
"Sting all enemies to death, suzumebachi!"
"Howl, Zabimaru!"
The four shinigami commanded their zanpakutou to change to the shikai* mode, allowing greater critical hit on the enemies. Soi Fon sprang into action first, killing the smaller hollows very fast. Toushiro defeated the hollows by making hundreds of huge icebergs around their bodies; they cracked, and disappear within the tiny pieces of ice shards. Byakuya however, use his more effective senbonzakura to kill almost all the weaker hollows. The tiny cherry blossom-like blades cut through the hollows bodies in huge amount with just one swing of the hilt. Renji extended his Zabimaru that killed tens of Gillian.
Renji felt like his zabimaru's power's was being held back by something, because usually, zabimaru could cut off the hollows with no problems, but now, it seemed to be heavier than before and it didn't extended as much as it used to. Renji got rid of the thought, however, feeling that the situation he was in was much more dangerous than he would like it to be.
They finally got rid of the weaker hollows and began to focus on the arrancars.
They fight for what it seemed like hours, but the Gillian kept on coming, along with another wave of the weaker hollows.
"This battle has no end, isn't it!" Renji shouted. He was panting very heavily, he was sweating cold sweat and looked as pale as a ghost.
By then Byakuya remembered what Retsu had said. Renji shouldn't be doing this stuff! He should be just doing the less risky stuff. He was such an idiot! He didn't even tell Renji to not over-exert himself back in the mansion. Darn it…
"Renji…"
"Yes, taicho?" Panted Renji. He was on the edge of falling down the ground bellow if Byakuya didn't hold him in place.
"Don't push yourself too hard…" Byakuya said.
"It's alright taicho, I'm… fine…" he breathed.
Of course he was not fine. He was anything but fine! That stubborn cute innocent little… what? No! Stop it, we are in the middle of a battle. Focus!
"You're anything but fine, Renji. Go. Rest." Byakuya ordered. He didn't mean it to be that way, but he couldn't help it. He wasn't going to be all soft and kind to Renji where there were Soi Fon and Toushiro, along with the other shinigami right? That would be an utter embarrassment, though he didn't see any embarrassment from the thought of caring for Renji.
"I won't! I won't, alright! I want to help things here! You must understand taicho! People will start thinking that I'm a wimp if I just go down there and rest, while you all fighting to sweat and death!" Renji protested, all in while snapping Byakuya off his train of thought. Byakuya looked at Renji impassively and still insisted him to go and rest. Renji, once again, refused to cooperate.
"You can help aid the wounded shinigami down there. It's helping too. Renji, Unohana taicho said you must NOT fight or do anything that would reduce your reiatsu or making you tired. You're still weak, you must understand. If you keep on doing this, you will just be a burden to us. You never want to be a burden, yes?"
Renji went silent. His taicho was right. He was being stubborn again and made people around him burdened. Renji almost sobbed, but he kept it hidden, he didn't want to become a bigger burden to the others and his taicho. Especially his taicho.
"You're right, taicho… I… I'm sorry. I… will go down now… P-promise me you won't be hurt…!"
Byakuya smiled which made Renji blushed. Even on this kind of time… "I promise. Now go down there and help the 4th squad."
Renji nodded and went to the ground.
Renji made his way to the 4th squad team, all the while looking on the sky, seeing his taicho and the other captains fight again so many hollows, no one knew when they would give up. Renji had a concerned look on his face. Sure his taicho looked fine and dominating the battle area to himself, but seeing the number of those monsters…. made Renji worried over him too much. No, he must trust his taicho. He had promised to go back unhurt after all, and he knew his taicho was not one to break a promise like that.
Renji asked one of the 4th squad healer of what could he do to help. Renji began to help the wounded shinigami. He bandaged the injured arms, torsos, legs, covering infected wounds with disinfectant, and more. He became really busy that he started to let go of the battle above him. But he hoped that it would end soon.
Speaking of battle, where were Ichigo and his friends? Usually they always showed up right at the beginning of the battle, but Renji didn't see any orange hair at all.
After he thought of that, suddenly, the carrot top appeared on the sky, along with Rukia. Sado, Uryuu, and Orihime were on the ground, just in front of Renji.
"Inoue, help the aid team!" yelled Ichigo while unsheathing his Zangetsu, didn't notice Renji at all.
"Don't be such a noise, Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Why you…!"
"Alright, Kurosaki-kun!" yelled Orihime back, getting Ichigo's attention away from Byakuya and nodded.
"Okay! I will hel…" Orihime trailed off. She saw Renji when she turned around and jumped to him.
"Waaaa! You're so beautiful! What's your name, there?" she asked, grasping Renji's hands in hers. Her eyes widen in expectation and her nose flaring, eager like a dog.
Renji blinked and blushed, realizing that Orihime just mistaken him for someone else.
"Inoue! It's me, Renji! Abarai Renji!" Renji explained while frantically pointing his index finger at his chest. Orihime blinked at that and started giggling.
"W-why are you giggling like a mad doll?" Renji asked scared of the girl's giggle for some reason.
"B-because… Y-you said that… you, you're Abarai-kun!" Orihime said between giggles and pants.
"But I AM Renji! See, this is my zanpakutou! Zabimaru! Want me to show you?"
"S-sure, Abarai…kun!" Orihime laughed hard. Of course she didn't believe the beautiful lady was a brute like Renji! Well, sure they have the same red head, and the voice was slightly similar, but that couldn't be.
"Howl, Zabimaru!" Renji yelled. Zabimaru transformed into its shikai form, proving that he was indeed Renji. Orihime gasped at that. Renji sheathed back his sword, feeling a little tired over the demonstration.
"You really are Abarai-kun! But… You are so beautiful, what happen to you?" asked Orihime.
"I… I don't know… It's not on my control…" Renji sighed. He was being fully honest actually, he didn't know what was happening to him and why did he felt so weak and easily tired. He was bound to find out though; he couldn't just let it be without knowing what would happen to his body and himself.
Orihime looked at him strangely. Why would he be so sad? He looked so beautiful, but he disliked it. What a weird girl-wannabe guy. If it was her, she would be very happy and confident; she always wanted to have a good waist-long hair after all. Well, not like she wanted to be a man, but still.
"Okay, then… Uh, I'll help with the medic team, okay? You look tired, please just rest for a while. I'm sure Kurosaki-kun, Kuchiki-san, and the captains can win the battle up there." Orihime finally said.
On the other side, Uryuu and Sado were fighting the smaller hollow close to the 4th squad, guarding them.
"Darn, when will they give up!" shouted Uryuu, pissed at the fact that he was tired of shooting millions of arrows already. His hands began to cramp, and his arms were shaking because he had no time to rest them without being hit by a hollow.
Sado grunted beside him while blowing his El Directo to a straight line of hollow. He looked up and saw the same fate befell the ones up there.
Toushiro was panting, sweat trailing down his face. He had a grim look on his face when he rubbed the sweat off with his sleeve and jumped to the next round of battle. Byakuya was jumping from sides to sides gracefully, dodging the Adjuchas attacks. Though his face was stoic, there was a gleam of exhaustion on his eyes, and the fact that he had almost lost his balance twice confirmed the matter. Soi Fon was no better. The quick reflex that required for he suzumebachi was slowing down due to a slight cramp on her right arms which reflexes were overused. Sado turned his head to Ichigo. He was still fighting with full energy; swinging his zangetsu from a group of hollows to another with ease. He used his getsuga tenshou on a group of Gillian and two more on a dozens of Adjuchas. He too, however, had the slight tiredness on his face that had a permanent scowl on it. Rukia was the worst, thought she didn't look like she would faint; she was the one that sweated the most. Well, she wasn't like any others there. Like, she was the weakest among those up there, so her energy must be draining out of her body faster than the others.
Sado turned his gaze to the enemies on the ground again and began blowing and punching the hollows that made him left his nice bed in an early morning of summer. He would be in peace this summer.
The battle went on until hours, when the hollows number began to subside and almost all the shinigami had been healed. Ichigo and Co. seemed to haven't notice Renji—except Orihime. But when the battle wore down and Ichigo, Rukia and the captains jumped back down, all the attention was on Renji that being held by his taicho. Apparently, he had fainted.
"Byakuya, who is she?" asked Ichigo who wiped the sweat on his forehead. The hollows had finally disappeared completely. A good sign, but not for long. They would be back in a few days, or even hours.
"She, as you would refer him to, is my fukutaicho, Kurosaki Ichigo." Byakuya said impassively. Ichigo twitched. After a few second of calming himself, he finally noticed that his friends were gaping, except for Orihime. He blinked. His brain began to process the explanation Byakuya just gave him and after a couple of moments, finally, it clicked, he guessed.
"What! You mean you replaced Renji? What kind of—Oomph! Ishida! Why did you do that for, you glasses boy!"
"It's you who are being stupid, Kurosaki! She is a he that called Abarai Renji, you dumbass! Use your brain!"
"I already use it! And whaddya mean that this girl is… Renji?" Ichigo finally trailed off. His brain worked faster than ever and—"WHAAAAT! You mean this… this feminine… girl is… Renji?"
"Don't be so loud, Kurosaki Ichigo. Are you that fool, you took so long to process the fact that she is indeed Renji."
"'S not my fault he was too beautiful to be called a man!" Ichigo snapped without realizing what he said. There was silence for a while.
"K-kurosaki! I don't know you swing that way!" Uryuu exclaimed while pointed his index finger accusingly at Ichigo, face red with embarrassment. Orihime blushed faintly while shouting the same thing but in her own unique way. Sado was just Sado, eyes widen in surprise but did nothing to voiced out his shock. Byakuya was still in his stoic expression, while inside, he felt some kind of fury after he heard what Ichigo said.
"Ishida, you idiot! Of course not! It's just a fact! You can kill me if you didn't think he was a girl at first too!"
"Well, I… did, but…" Uryuu stuttered.
"What? Can't answer it, can you, nerd boy!"
"What! You stupid brainless delinquent!"
"I'm not! At least not anymore, you glasses boy!"
"Enough!" Byakuya yelled.
…
All eyes were on him, but Byakuya didn't care. He stood up and carried Renji bridal style.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?"
"Anywhere, really. Just faraway from this messy battlefield." Byakuya replied.
"You can't just carry him around, you idiot!" Byakuya stopped at that. "At least let him rest in Urahara's!"
"Preferably." Byakuya agreed. He immediately shunpo'ed to the said place, leaving behind Ichigo and the others.
"That stupid prick!" Ichigo shouted and shunpo'ed as well, Rukia, Toushiro and Soi Fon.
"Ah, please wait for us!" Orihime cried and ran along with Uryuu and Sado who grunted.
"Ah, what a surprise! What brings you here in such a lovely day, Kuchiki taicho?" Kisuke smiled, his paper fan hid his grinning mouth. He looked down Byakuya's chest to see a very beautiful person that looked just like Renji.
"Oh, who is this lovely lady?" Kisuke walked closer to Byakuya, his eyes were on him, his chest, exactly, where a person sleeping peacefully there. Byakuya turned to the side, blocking Kisuke's view of the red hair in his arms.
"Ohh, quite possessive, there. Maybe your lover, Kuchiki taicho?" Kisuke smirked teasingly. Suddenly, Ichigo came out of nowhere and began shouting strings of curses.
"Watch your mouth, kurosaki Ichigo. It is not my fault you are so slow. Besides, what concern do you have over my subordinate? I am capable of taking care of him myself. I merely need a shelter for him to rest and recover."
"But Renji is my friend too! I have all rights to be concerned about him! I know that he just recovered from a coma too, all the more reason for me to be worrying over him! And look at him! H practically looks as vulnerable and frail as a flower! YOU need to be careful when you are taking care of him! Now, it's my turn, hand him over!" Ichigo ordered, reaching his hands for Byakuya to hand over Renji to him.
Byakuya, however, looked at him ridiculously.
"What, now you're acting deaf?"
"No, boy, I merely digesting what foolish demand you told me. Boy, you must know that Renji is my subordinate and I have taken him under my wings. I should be the one to take care of him and not you nor anyone else. Especially not you." Byakuya stated.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!"
"It meant what it meant, foolish boy."
"What did you just—"
"Please stop it you two, don't want to wake the poor thing up, now do you?"
Two pairs of death glare were sent to the hat and clog figure that put his hands up defensively.
"Anyway, did you just say that the person is a 'he'? He is Abarai-kun?" Kisuke asked, slightly changing the subject.
"So what if he is?" Ichigo said, annoyed with both Kisuke and Byakuya. Especially the brunette. Renji was his friend too! And he sure did care about the red haired shinigami! Thinking of the thought that Renji was in Byakuya's arms right now pissed him off so much.
Suddenly Kisuke broke the thought. "Just asking, Kurosaki-san. Well, what are you waiting? Come in!"
"Put him there." Kisuke instructed, pointing his fan at a futon in one of the guest room. Byakuya walked in the room and put Renji gently there.
Kisuke left the room, saying that he would be in the 'meeting room' if Byakuya needed anything. Ichigo was still standing outside the door, scowling as always.
Byakuya sighed. Unconscious, but already messing with his mind. What a creature he was, the red hair. He was able to toy his heart, even that Kurosaki boy, he noticed. Kurosaki Ichigo was taking a liking to Renji, and he didn't like the idea one bit. Sure the boy looked capable of protecting Renji, and as he quote," I protect those who are important to me!" and Byakuya trusted those words to the very core. He knew Ichigo could protect Renji, but the very thought of getting Renji protected by another person but him concerned Byakuya. It was like as if he got himself a… rival. As ridiculous as it sounded, it was true. Ichigo was acting as his rival, and he sure would be a tough opponent to deal with.
Byakuya sighed again. It was starting to sound like a love triangle. But it was not 'love' to begin with. Right?
Right.
Byakuya wasn't even sure of himself anymore. He began to not trust his very words, coming from his mind. All just because of the now unconscious red hair.
Byakuya then realized that Ichigo was still there, standing. He decided that Renji would be out for a while, so he stood up and turned around. He saw Ichigo's scowling face directed to him and then shifted to Renji, and shifted back to him again.
"What do you want, boy?" Byakuya asked with his cold gaze on the orange top.
Ichigo 'che'ed and said," Nothing."
In the living room, where Kisuke and the other captains plus Rukia were sitting at, Orihime, Uryuu, and Sado, finally came.
"Where is Kurosaki?" Uryuu asked. This time, Toushiro was the one to looked up from his tea and said," In the left guest room with Kuchiki and Abarai. It's best for you to not go there right now."
"Yes, there is… a little conflict going on there." Kisuke added and then sipped his tea with a content sigh. The trio on that stood on the doorway blinked.
"Maybe just a peek." Orihime said. The other shrugged. The trio went to the said guest room quietly.
On a corner, they poked their head out of the wall on the opposite direction, their body completely hidden by the wall on the previous hallway before the corner's end.
What Toushiro and Kisuke said were true, they shouldn't be there. There was a conflict going on in the guest room.
There, the saw Ichigo and Byakuya, some kind of sparks were between the two.
The question was…
What happened between them?
0O0
Yay, done! And I'm so sorry; I'm not good with the fighting scene.
Byakuya: It doesn't matter to me. What matters most is… Why you make him my rival? Why you make a rival at all? Now the absoluteness for me to conquer Renji for myself ruined!
Lil : That's the whole point, Byakkun! Don't you know that every twist in a story make it better?
Byakuya: No, and I demand you to change it.
Lil : It had been uploaded; there is nothing you can do.
Byakuya: I can delete it.
Lil : Oh no you don't! If you dare, I'll make Kon your rival in the next chapter!
Byakuya: *Twitches* Sneaky little fool.
Ichigo : Meh! Like I wanna be your rival, stoic bastard!
Byakuya: Why you… Very well, I'll win this competition for sure, and gain back MY Renji.
Ichigo : Like hell I'll let you!
Lil : Well, folks, let's just let them be. It would turn up just some bruises.
Review!