Renji watched as long fingered hands shaped a small tile of clay. Those fingers were intimately familiar and he swallowed as he risked a glance upward, catching a glimpse of thoughtful eyes behind simple glasses.

This is very awkward. Inwardly, he was cursing himself for mentioning this to Byakuya. But he hadn't felt right in holding back, and the truth was, several gods could infuse demon catching tiles. Cat was one of the best due to her protective instincts, but Spider was just as good. Her webs could catch and hold a demon as well as any fly.

After that, it had been a small step to admit he knew someone sealed to Spider. Aizen had accepted the designation with good grace, laughed and said it probably had something to do with the basket weaving he'd done as a boy. The Beast was highly skeptical that any basket weaving had ever taken place, but Renji had the sense not to mention it. Besides, there might be a remote chance it was true.

And pigs will be flying in formation tomorrow. The Beast said and Renji smiled.

"If they do, I'll be getting some hunting in." He whispered to his god, still watching Aizen work. It was a bit painful to be this close to the man and a wistful part of his spirit wanted to try for another child. The practical side of him wanted to throttle that wistfulness without mercy. He would be in exactly the same position he'd been in to start with, no family to support him and a man who didn't want him.

"Renji, I want to apologize for that night." Aizen suddenly said and Renji blinked. He hadn't expected the other man to bring it up. "I really shouldn't have done that. It was… a lapse of judgement." His voice dropped at the end and Renji thought he caught a hint of desire. Aizen suddenly met his eyes and Renji felt a shiver down his spine. It was a good shiver, though. The kind of shiver he felt when Byakuya looked at him.

"I didn't mind. It was a good first time." Renji said it lightly, trying to hide the fact that Aizen was affecting him. From the amused smile that flickered across the other man's face, he was failing.

"I'm pleased to hear that. Perhaps we can continue after you graduate. From what I hear, that won't take long." Aizen examined his handiwork and frowned, smoothing out an edge as Renji swallowed.

He sees a use for you. Stop thinking with your cock. The Beast said, annoyed, and Renji sighed to himself. He was probably right. Hm… but don't turn him down completely. Spider tends to destroy what she cannot control.

"Well, it will be years before I get my reading up to snuff!" Renji joked. "We can see about it then, eh?" A small smile flickered across Aizen's features and he nodded before looking at the tile.

"I believe this is ready to be fired." Renji looked at it and nodded. It was a fine representation of Spider and he could already feel a beginning blessing. There would be no problem attracting her attention to it.

"I can feel her in it already. Thank you Aizen." Renji said sincerely before carefully collecting the unfired tile. He would take it to the pottery works, and soon they would have a tile that could be delivered to Mayuri. And as soon as they found the demon, it would get a taste of Spider's venom.

It couldn't possibly come too soon.

Renji was in the middle of class when it happened.

Renji! There was a terrible glee in the Beast's voice and he almost dropped his pen. The demon has made a mistake! He took a forester sealed by Stag! Go to Byakuya at once!

"Uh, I'm in the middle of class." He muttered, glancing up at the scary woman. He'd only been put back into class a week ago and she had NOT been amused at how much of her poetry he'd forgotten. Only the fact that he'd still been reading had kept her from punishing him. "Can't it wait a half hour?"

NO! The Beast's roar made his eyes glaze. Taking his courage into his hands, he rose from his seat and bowed as she looked at him, affronted.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, my… uh, my god says I need to go to Lord Byakuya immediately to tell him something. Can I be excused?" Renji had to resist the urge to roll on his back and expose his throat as she glared at him scorchingly. He wasn't sure who he was more afraid of, the demon or her! At least he'd had the presence of mind to remember the Lord part, or she'd be upbraiding him about it already.

"Really. And what is it your god wants to tell Lord Byakuya?" She asked, crossing her arms, and Renji hesitated. "Renji!"

"Uh, the demon killed someone he shouldn't have and the gods know where he is." He said lamely. "Please, I really need to go." Every moment that passed would let the demon get further away… although Renji still thought a half-hour wouldn't have hurt things. Her scowl intensified but then she sighed.

"Go! But I will be assigning make-up work." She threatened. All the other students were studiously ignoring the little scene as Renji grabbed his books and made his way out of the room. But how to find Byakuya? Well, his division would be a likely place to start.

While he'd been injured and helping people make tiles and kachinas, Renji had gotten a much better overview of the divisions than he'd ever had before. He didn't quite understand how they were organized, and didn't much care, but physically he knew where to go. And the guards were so used to seeing him that no one challenged him. Or maybe it was the Beast, putting a little grease on the wheels of social interaction. Renji could sense his impatience.

Unfortunately, Byakuya wasn't in. But a helpful aide was willing to send a hell butterfly when Renji explained why he needed to see him. It didn't take long for Byakuya to arrive after that. Captain Zaraki was right behind him, grinning widely, and Renji thought he must have been there when the butterfly arrived.

"Can you give me the location on a map?" Byakuya said, ushering him into his office. Renji nodded and he pulled one out, unrolling it. Zaraki leaned over his shoulder as Renji and the Beast studied the map for a moment. It was the Beast who took his hand and slapped a finger onto the paper.

"Here." Byakuya didn't even blink at the growling tone in his voice, just examining the map intently.

"That's in the middle of nowhere. What the fuck is it doing up there?" Captain Zaraki complained and Renji could only shrug. He had no idea. It was Byakuya who traced a line from Renji's dot to another location.

"There is a demon lord contained here." He marked the locations with a red pen and rolled the map back up. "We will need to move on this immediately. Thank you, Renji. This will be very valuable."

"Can I come too?" He asked hopefully. Byakuya just shook his head while Zaraki sneered.

"A kid like you? Hah! You did good last time, but you're just a student. Wait until you graduate, kid!" Renji winced and shot a glance at Byakuya, but it was clear he agreed with the sentiment if not the tone.

"We'll take care of it, Renji. You and the Beast have given us very valuable information and I thank you. Please, return to your classes." He said and Renji sighed to himself before bowing and going on his way.

Hopefully the scary lady wouldn't hold this against him too much.

"I'm going to get that kid for my unit when he graduates." Byakuya resisted the urge to twitch in irritation. Zaraki was in the middle of getting on his last nerve.

"You will not. I'm taking him for my Division." He said immediately as Captain Zaraki laughed. It was unusual but not unheard of for there to be a fight over a brand new graduate, and unfortunately Renji seemed likely to start one. Mayuri wanted him for tiles and even Aizen seemed interested! Renji, of course, was completely oblivious. Byakuya thought he would do well under himself or Zaraki, but didn't think he was suited at all to Mayuri. Aizen… worried him. Very few people were taking the revelation that he was sealed to Spider seriously, but very few of them had spoken directly to the Beast. They didn't think it was real, or was just a strange way of using reiatsu. So they hadn't even begun to think about the implications.

Shooing away that errant thought, he resolved not to let Zaraki get under his skin. They had a great deal of work to do and not much time to do it. The demon and his human leader would reach the great beast long before they could, no matter how hard they tried. But if they hurried perhaps they could catch them there and seal the demon away. Turning to his lieutenants, he began issuing the orders to get his unit underway. Zaraki left to begin his own preparations.

It wouldn't be long, now.

Renji sighed to himself as he worked on his newest painting. The ginger and ant thing had really been a terrible idea and had finally ended up in the trash. Today he was trying to recapture the distant past and was distressed to find he couldn't really remember his mother's face. He wasn't even sure when it had happened, but the memories had faded. So instead of capturing their likenesses, he was trying to portray the essence of what the tribe had been like. His picture was of a young woman, sitting on a stump and cleaning an elkskin with a scraper. Her face was typical of the tribe, strong featured but beautiful, and her hair was the same shade as his own, pulled back into a thick braid.

He smiled as he worked, thinking about Yuchiro. The young noble had been sent back to classes, and he was getting plenty of help from awed classmates. He needed it, too. Renji had started giving him daily infusions again, although they had to arrange to meet somewhere private for it since neither one of them was taking combat classes at the moment. Yuchi had been a bit surprised that he wanted to continue, but the Beast said an eventual ban kai was possible. Apparently, it had once been very common. Of course, it had been common because anyone who couldn't achieve it usually died. But things had been harsh back then.

That reminded him of the reason things had been harsh, and he shuddered slightly to think of the demon. Without a ban kai, defeating such a thing was nearly impossible, and there had once been a lot of them. Stopping his painting to take a drink, he wished for a moment that he was with Byakuya and Zaraki. He wanted to see Zabriel sealed before his very eyes.

Be careful what you wish for. And you have a visitor. The Beast commented and Renji looked up, startled, as there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" He called and was shocked when Aizen stepped inside. He was carrying something wrapped in a piece of silk and had a genuinely puzzled look on his face. Renji jumped to his feet, giving him a small bow.

"Hello Renji. Ah, painting again?" Aizen smiled, moving so he could see the painting. Renji obligingly moved out of the way. "How beautiful. Strange… she seems quite familiar." Aizen regarded the painting thoughtfully for a moment before he suddenly chuckled. "Ah, she looks just like Yirin Yukichura. I wouldn't have thought you'd use her as a model, Renji."

"Huh?" Renji blinked then shook his head. "I didn't. She's just supposed to be one of my cousins. They all looked like that." He might not be able to remember individual faces anymore but he was sure he'd gotten the general look right. Aizen raised an eyebrow at that.

"Well, it is a startling resemblance. In any case, I have something for you." The puzzlement was back now, along with… dismay? Unhappiness? Renji couldn't be sure. Aizen offered him the bundle and Renji stared as he opened it. It was another Spider tile, and fully infused with a blessing. The last one hadn't been finished until he'd coaxed Spider to take it, but he knew he hadn't done a second. So Spider had worked directly through Aizen? "I'm not entirely sure why I made it. I just felt that it was necessary."

"It's already blessed." Renji said, awed. He bowed to Aizen, more deeply than before. Shaman to shaman. "Thank you. I don't know why Spider wants me to have this, but thank you." There was likely a reason.

"You are welcome." Aizen smiled, a touch stiffly, and departed. Renji thought the other man didn't like being an instrument of the gods. But Spider's manipulating had likely nagged him into submission.

That's very direct for Spider. She likely has a feel for things to come. The Beast commented and Renji nodded, wrapping up the tile again. I would suggest keeping that with you at all times.

"Hm, right." A quick check of the blessing showed him that it was identical to the earlier tile. There was no way it could be a trap of any kind, or the Beast would have noticed. And why would Spider try to trap him anyway? He was nothing to her. But that led to the conclusion that he would need it, and that meant… "Another demon? But how? We know Zabriel and Godongo are far outside the city." He mused and felt the Beast shrug.

I have no idea, but Spider is cleverer than me. She may even be cleverer than Aizen. Renji shuddered slightly. There was doubt of that? That was terrifying.

But there was really nothing a student could do about it and he went back to his painting. The future would reveal itself soon enough.

Godongo scowled as he regarded the circle of obelisks.

Freeing Zabriel's mother was not going to be a walk in the park. He and the demon had already cut through the bindings the shinigami had laid. It hadn't even been hard. Bindings were meant to keep things in, not keep things out, and Zabriel had even managed to drain off some reiatsu when they'd shattered them. But that left the old bindings, and those were completely a different story.

"Sometimes, simpler is better." He muttered to himself, still gazing over the obelisks. The modern protections had been elegant and well structured, but just a tad overdone. This stuff, on the other hand, was bedrock. There were dozens, maybe even hundreds of tiles buried in the ground. He and Zabriel had unearthed a few Leeches and Bears, not to mention Bees and what looked like some kind of fish thing with a lot of teeth. Godongo wasn't even trying to figure that out. But digging them all out would require damn near forever, and just removing any one piece did not do a damn thing.

Removing the obelisks would be a lot more effective, but it was also damn near impossible. A bit of tentative checking had found they were fused with the bedrock and draining immense amounts of reishi from the very fabric of Soul Society. Which meant they would be a nightmare to tear down. How had a primitive people using nothing but flint and obsidian managed to do something like this? He said that to Zabriel and the demon hissed.

"Strong! All strong, strong, strong. Many demons to eat the weak." He snarled and Godongo nodded. That made a great deal of sense. Soul Society had gotten weaker over time, not stronger, as improving conditions allowed the weak to survive. "What we do Godongo?" The demon asked almost pleadingly and Godongo scratched his cheek, thinking.

"Well, digging up these things is possible." He considered it for a moment. "But if we're going to do that we'll have to go back to my original ideas. It would take a small army of slaves to get the things out, and a real army to control them. Too noticeable, unless we've crushed the noble oppressors." Zabriel hissed unhappily. Now that he was at his mother, the demon could barely contain his impatience to free her. "The other option is to blow these things up. Any suggestions?" He asked. Zabriel probably wouldn't have any ideas, but it was always worth asking.

"Another explosion like last time?" He suggested hesitantly and Godongo frowned. It wasn't a bad suggestion, but…

"That wouldn't be big enough. Maybe if we –" Then he stopped, head whipping to the side as his heart seized up. "Shit!" He cursed as shinigami began flash stepping through the ruins. There were too many, far too many. They hadn't spotted the pair yet but it was just a matter of time.

How? How did they find us? The thought was artificially calm as Godongo reached for his sword. Of course. Zabriel fucked up and that bastard Renji and his fucking god told them! It was the only way, and it was too late to do a damn thing about it. But there was one thing. Zabriel hissed like a mad thing but Godongo grabbed his arm.

"Run Zabriel!" The demon reared back in surprise at the command but Godongo looked at his squarely. "I'll delay them while you get out. You're faster than me. Go!"

"Leave you? Godongo!" Zabriel seemed truly distressed by the thought and Godongo smiled. He appreciated the feeling, even if it wasn't useful right now.

"There's no choice. Get out!" He gave the demon a shove before stepping out and summoning his ban kai and nodded as he saw Zabriel sprinting away. The demon had his own version of flash step, so he might make it. He might not too but that was just the way it went. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the pretty shinigami he'd caught earlier, and he launched his first attack on him.

It might be futile, but Godongo was not going to go down without a fight.