Chapter 10: Inner Storm
(A request by Willow. I really enjoyed going back to this one. I'd forgotten I left it in a pretty exciting place. Hope you like it! Love Spunky)
"Listen to you, sounding so full of yourself!" Re-kuhime berated the bristling samurai spirit, pressing harder and forcing him back a step, "So eager are you to force my master into submission, you have foolishly opened yourself up to defeat. Sadly, this is something you would never have done in Byakuya's hands. You know this, Senbonzakura!"
"What I know is that you have never been able to defeat my power!" Sen hissed, raising his reiatsu and regaining the ground he had lost, "As much as my master trained Tetsuya, himself, and guided the two of you to the heights of your power, my power has always, and still exceeds yours, as you are about to be painfully reminded!"
"We'll see who gets the painful reminder!" the pixie spirit scoffed, "What appears to have escaped you is that, by returning my master to our inner world, you relieved him of the seal holding back his powers. For, while his physical body is still restrained and powerless, his mind that traveled here is not thus encumbered by the physical seal. He can fight."
"That doesn't matter!" Senbonzakura seethed, "I knew that would be the way it was and I didn't care, because even fighting together, you cannot defeat me."
"Arrogant one," Tetsuya chided him, smiling as Re-kuhime's body shimmered and returned to sword form in his hand, "Byakuya warned you about your recklessness, and now it is going to cost you!"
"Scatter!" Senbonzakura shouted, sending his blade into shikai as scores of copies of Tetsuya appeared all across the meadow they stood in.
He made a sound of triumph as pink petals covered the landscape, crashing into the images and swiftly destroying them. The petals swept the meadow clean, leaving the samurai standing alone.
"Where are you?" he demanded furiously, "Stop hiding and come out and fight me, you cowards!"
"Fool, we are not afraid to face you," Tetsuya's voice chided the spirit, echoing all around Sen as copies of the noble emerged from out of the long grasses and from within the nearby lake, "You made a grave mistake by challenging us here, Senbonzakura."
"So...are you going to kill me? Your own leader's zanpakutou? Really, Tetsuya? What if, as you dream, my master survives? If you kill me, you will only drag him down too."
"Then, I shall bear the weight of both of your deaths on my soul forever!" Tetsuya exclaimed, surging out from within a cluster of waterforms and attacking from within the samurai's safe zone, "You forget, I know all of your secrets, Senbonzakura. I will not be defeated by you."
"It doesn't matter what you know. I am stronger than you. You can't overcome the difference between us with a little bit of knowledge."
Their words gave way to a hard barrage of swift strikes, blazing flash steps and fiery kido blasts. Senbonzakura's petals swirled madly around them, catching Tetsuya several times as he hastily moved between waterforms.
"You see. You are not fast enough to leave one form and go to the next before my petals strike you twice. If I have to, I will bleed you dry, one drop at a time! But I think I won't wait that long. Bankai!"
"Bankai!" Tetsuya cried, shifting away as his waterform was destroyed, "Koori no Bakuha, Re-kuhime!"
A blinding storm of petal blades rose up and was immediately met with an equally furious sea of ice blades. The two collided over the meadow, the ice exploding into mist as it was destroyed and floating over the area, impeding their view.
"Another mistake, Senbonzakura," Tetsuya said somberly, "You have allowed the mist to rise over our battlefield. And it not only impedes our view of each other, it allows me to refresh my waterforms more rapidly, as well as beginning to coat your blades in ice."
"You think I don't know that?" the samurai snapped, "I was only building up to my next release, "Senkei!"
Tetsuya watched in dismay as the thousand swords closed in around them.
"As you see," Sen explained, regaining some composure as he gained the upper hand, "As we are enclosed in this fighting space, your mist can no longer obscure things. Your waterforms cannot hide you and even if you cover my sword in ice, I have a thousand more I can use at will. Give up now, Tetsuya, before I am forced to kill you. You know that you have never once beaten my senkei. You never have and you never will."
"Perhaps you are right," Tetsuya admitted calmly, "But you forget that when I faced you in this arena, you were always wielded by my cousin. And he said, himself, that it was as much strategy as power that I was having trouble defeating. You do not have his higher intelligence guiding you, so I may yet prevail, despite being at a disadvantage."
"How dare you insult my intelligence, you foul little half-blood! I can think circles around you!"
"You should be glad that my cousin cannot hear you say such things," Tetsuya responded, frowning disapprovingly, "What do you think he would say if he heard you lowering yourself to that level. Mixed blood may run in my veins, but it only reminds me to remain humble even as I grow more powerful, whereas you have become too full of yourself. Byakuya would be dismayed at your poor conduct."
"Well, he's not here! And that being the case, he won't object when I destroy you!"
Tetsuya flash stepped wildly, absorbing several blistering strikes, then launching a flurry of kido supported strikes and kicks that forced Senbonzakura back several steps. The samurai snarled and fired several rounds of kido, missing a number of times before scoring a glancing blow. Off balance, Tetsuya went down under another blazing attack and barely flash stepped to safety as Sen's blade came down for a finishing blow.
"You see?" the spirit seethed, renewing his attack with additional fury, "You can talk all you want, but I am stronger than you. I am wearing you down and in a heartbeat, I am going to kill you!"
"And what good am I to your new master if you kill me before I confess anything?" Tetsuya asked pointedly, "Wasn't it your goal to force me to talk to you about the archive? If you kill me, how will you then get your information? Have you become so distracted trying to bring me down that you have forgotten that you were sent to interrogate me?"
"I have forgotten nothing!" the spirit hissed, slashing at Tetsuya and catching his shoulder as he flash stepped away, "I will pry the words from your dead lips if I have to."
"Such venom coming from someone who has ever been our friend," Tetsuya observed, "Were you always so hateful, Senbonzakura, or could it be that it is your new master's vile behavior that comes through you. Don't you remember? Byakuya has always been a person who respected all life, who was tolerant of difference and would never...never lower himself to such horrid behavior as you are. It is hard to fathom that any part of him could be so hateful. You used to be challenging, yes, but you always fought with honor. I took pride in being allowed to test my strength against you."
"I haven't forgotten this," Sen assured him, pausing and watching as Tetsuya stood, panting and shaking slightly in front of him, "I don't take joy in hurting you. Just tell me what my master requires and I will plead with him to spare your life."
"I can't do that," Tetsuya said sadly, "I could never betray the intent of my lord, my cousin...my best friend. If I must die because of that, still my loyalty to him demands that I say nothing. Do you remember how loyal you were to him, Senbonzakura? You told me how much you treasured your connection with him, how you would do anything to protect him. Are you protecting him now? Or are you just desperate to stay alive however you can?"
"Shut up! You don't know anything!" the samurai shouted, surging forward and forcing Tetsuya back against the wall of the enclosure.
Tetsuya screamed in pain as he touched the bladed wall, collapsing onto his knees and gasping as the samurai closed in on him, raising his sword threateningly.
"Now, tell me what I want to know or I will show you the true meaning of suffering! Tell me how to open that door!"
Tetsuya's eyes rounded as the samurai cornered him and brought the tip of his sword to his throat.
"You have lost, once again, though I commend you for trying. You may be foolish, but you are brave. Not many would face me as you have."
He froze as Tetsuya's lips suddenly curved upward. The pink light of the swords around them flickered oddly and the swords began to shake softly.
"What is this?" the samurai demanded, "What the hell are you doing, you bastard?"
His voice rose into a howl of dismay as the pink swords were engulfed in bright white ice, then exploded and broke apart.
XXXXXXXXXX
Byakuya shivered as low, urgent voices sounded around him and Orihime's gentle scent touched his senses. He felt throbs of her power sink into his ailing body and relaxed, simply allowing the power to flow through him. Very slowly, the dizziness and cold seemed to retreat and his eyes cleared. He found himself looking up into Orihime's worried expression as the healing continued.
"You're going to be all right," the girl assured him, earning a brief nod from him in return.
Byakuya remained quiet and his body relaxed as Orihime finished her work and left. A short time later, Renji returned to the room carrying a tray of food.
"Oh, I don't know if I can," Byakuya said uncertainly.
"Well, you need to," the redhead said firmly, "Your shinigami body would have survived not eating for a long time, but you're human now and you have to eat."
"I understand," Byakuya sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, then fixing them on Renji again, "I just don't know how I'll manage it while feeling so horrid."
"I'll help you, okay?" Renji said bracingly, "We'll just take a bite at a time, whatever you can handle."
"Very well."
Byakuya's stomach quailed, but he managed to take several bites of the savory food before shaking his head wearily and refusing any more.
"I am sorry, Renji. I just...can't."
"It's okay. We'll try again in a little while."
He leaned over the noble, carefully studying him, then sat back and sighed worriedly.
"Your out of balance again, sheesh...kid's never full, is he?"
"So, he must take after you?" Byakuya teased, managing a sly smirk.
"Hey, you!" Renji objected, "You shouldn't get cheeky with the guy who's helping you have this kid, you know!"
"Or what? What could you possibly do to me that hasn't been done already?" the noble said, shaking his head, "I feel like I can't be afraid anymore because the worst has already happened and somehow I'm still breathing."
"And you're gonna keep right on breathing," Renji reassured him, joining him in the bed and curling his strong body around Byakuya's shakier one, "You're going to keep on breathing and you're going to get your powers back. Rukia and Ichigo will come back soon with your cousin and we'll have what we need to stand up to your bastard cousin, Satoshi and those freaking elders. We'll go back and beat the living daylights out of them and in no time at all, you'll be home and sleeping in your own bed."
"And will you be there too, Renji?" Byakuya asked softly, "Will you be lying next to me and holding me like you are now, even when I'm strong again?"
"You sure you want me to be?" Renji asked in a quaking voice, "I mean, they shit bricks and almost killed you because we were together that once. You really want to tempt fate all over again, even once we're out of this?"
"We won't be out of this until my powers are returned and I am given leave to be with you. They will have a powerful heir as they wanted and I will do my best to lead them well. But I won't be controlled by them. I won't, Renji."
"Good. I won't either," the redhead said, seeking his lips and sinking warmly into his mouth.
XXXXXXXXXX
"What are you doing, you fool!" Rukia hissed, dragging Ichigo down behind the barrier that concealed them, "They almost saw you!"
"I was trying to get a look to figure out the best way to get in."
"I can tell you that without looking," Rukia said dryly, "You should have thought of that before risking exposing us."
"Sorry, geez!" the shinigami substitute sighed, rolling his eyes, "Why are you in such a crappy mood?"
"Do you need to ask?" Rukia inquired irritably, "Byakuya is suffering, and he's dying Ichigo. Every moment it takes us is another he doesn't have to lose."
"I know," Ichigo said sympathetically, slipping an arm around her, "And we're going to find Tetsuya and get back to him quickly. So, how about telling me how we're going to get in?"
That window over there will take us directly into the holding cells. We have to time our entry carefully to escape the eyes of the guards out here, then the ones inside. I can sense their positions and tell you when to move. Come on. Let's get closer."
The two remained in a crouch and slipped almost silently across the darkened grounds. They ducked down hastily as two sentries passed by, then scuttled to the brick wall of the compound, stopping to look around before Rukia stood and worked at the small window for a few minutes, then made a sound of triumph and opened it. They flinched as the window squeaked and Rukia froze, peeking cautiously inside to make sure the sound hadn't attracted any attention. She ducked as the sentries passed their position again, then scurried through the opened window and watching the corridor carefully as Ichigo followed.
They proceeded wordlessly down the quiet hallway, slowing as they approached the guard station and ducking into an office as the inside sentries passed, talking softly. Waiting a few moments, they listened for the sound of anyone else, then frowned in frustration as they realized someone was still at the guard station desk.
"Damn!" Ichigo breathed, "How're we gonna get past that guy without making any noise?"
"And more important, even if we get in, how will we get back out again, once we find my cousin?"
"One thing at a time," Ichigo said, smiling to lighten the mood, "We'll think of something."
"We need a little distraction," Rukia suggested, something to get him to leave for a minute."
She bit her lip gently, looking around until she spotted a mop that had been leaned up against the wall in the next room. A flicker of kido made the mop fall to the floor and brought the guard to his feet. He strode down the corridor, pausing at the room across from them and looking inside. While his back was turned, the two swept silently past him and into the cellblock.
"Whew! I thought he was gonna turn around and see us!" Ichigo whispered, "Good going, though. Your kido's getting to be as good as Byakuya's."
"Thanks, but save it for later. We need to find Tetsuya!"
They rushed down the line of cells, checking each and finding nothing. They had almost reached the end of the hall when Ichigo made a soft hiss and grabbed Rukia's hand. He pointed wordlessly into one of the cells and Rukia's eyes rounded.
Tetsuya laid on his stomach with his wrists bound above his head, his upper body bared and several petal blades floating threateningly over him. At his side, Senbonzakura had manifested, but sat, staring blankly, while Tetsuya laid in front of him, wearing the same distant expression.
"What the hell?" Ichigo mused, "What's going on here?"
"I don't know," Rukia whispered back.
She moved closer, staring and frowning. As she reached the two, she waved a hand in front of Sen's masked face, but the samurai remained frozen.
"What's wrong with them?" she whispered.
"I don't know, but we have to get Tetsuya and get out of here," Ichigo insisted, "Hurry, Rukia. We don't know when they're going to come out of this."
"What should we do about my brother's zanpakutou?" Rukia asked softly.
"Take a good look," Ichigo answered, frowning, "He was torturing Tetsuya. I don't think he's in his right mind. And even if we take him with us, he'll just fight us and go back to his inner world to escape us."
"I think you're right," Rukia agreed, "We'll just free Tetsuya for now, but we should report this to Kisuke as soon as we get back. Something really weird is going on here."
She reached down and shattered the bonds on Tetsuya's bleeding wrists, then Ichigo lifted the senseless noble into his arms and the two looked back down the hallway.
They waited until the guard at the desk was distracted by an incoming hell butterfly, then flash stepped past him and slipped out the way they had entered, pausing until the outer sentries had passed, then fleeing into a hastily opened senkaimon.
"That was pretty good work, Kuchiki," Ichigo said appreciatively.
"Must be my Inuzuri roots," she suggested, "We got really good at sneaking around. I just hope that we are able to wake Tetsuya and get his help with my brother. Byakuya's not doing well, Ichigo. We need to do something."
"We will," Ichigo promised, holding Tetsuya against him, enjoying the tickle of soft, raven hair against his cheek and the gentle scent of sakura that surrounded him, "Tetsuya's going to be fine now and we'll find a way to help Byakuya. We will, Rukia!"