Chapter 10: Out of Blackness
(Ah, finally done! I've had so many things coming at me in RL, I've barely had time to write. But things are slowing finally and more chapters are coming. But this one is special. I was anxiously awaiting writing this. I hope it resonates. Thanks going out to Snowflowersister of Toshiro241 (Those two just can't stay out of trouble, can they?!), PlayMyPoisonousGame (Aww, well this chapter really worked my emotions too! Enjoy!), Picklez80 (Here you go!), Periwinkle (More is delivered!), Winterheart2000 (Yup, Ichigo is good at getting under Bya's skin, but he also has a pretty good sense about cutting through the BS!), Kyuumihaira (Just in time, here's MORE to spaz over! *grins wickedly*), Walkure (Yup, you had that right! These couples are pretty topsy turvy right now.), Shenigmatic (Yeah, you want emotion? This chapter is chock-full of it and then some! I had to break out the dark chocolate...always a sign of strong emotion.), SunlessNights (Oh, Ichigo isn't bad. He's just a very good looking and mouthy good guy!), Purple Light Snow (If you think that was good, wait until he learns about the baby!), Guest (Tet and Ichi are cute, but someone else may be on Ichi's horizon!), BunnyHopster26 (Aww, so glad I could cheer you! And here' more intrigue to send you into loops!) and NamineLily (Heh, it's not too late for that...) Enjoy the chapter! Love you, Spunky)
"You okay?" Ichigo asked Minori as the two left Byakuya and Tetsuya alone in the anteroom to talk, and started back towards the banquet hall, "You looked kinda rattled about leaving them alone."
"I must admit that I do not feel altogether good about leaving the two of them together," Minori admitted as he and Ichigo started back down the hallway, to the banquet room, "In addition to Tetsuya's condition being worrisome, the emotions between them are extremely volatile."
"You don't have to worry about them hurting each other. They're not like that."
"No," Minori agreed, "They would not ever mean to hurt each other. But lately they have done a great deal of damage to each other without meaning to. They are caught up in a dreadful situation. But then, being a clan heir, yourself, you are learning what it is like, ne?"
"Yeah," Ichigo agreed, smiling ruefully, "All too quickly, if you ask me. There's a lot about being noble that's really hard for me to understand, let alone put up with. Luckily for me, our clan isn't quite as stuffy. Probably because we've only recently regained our status. Still, sometimes I really miss being...I don't know...the way I was."
"I understand," Minori said, smiling, "I rather feel that way about being discovered to be a Breeder Male. Before, not being heir to my clan would have meant that I could have freedom in choosing my mate. As it is, I was forced to accept Byakuya's hand, even though neither of us really wants to marry the other."
"Aw, Byakuya's not so bad, though," Ichigo said bracingly, "Sometimes he acts like a jerk, but mostly, he doesn't really mean it. He's just real stiff about obeying the rules...at least on the surface. He rebels a lot in private, though."
"Yes," Minori agreed, his eyes troubled, "which is part of the reason that Tetsuya is on such shaky ground emotionally lately. Up to this point, he and Byakuya have proceeded under the belief that it was enough for them to 'rebel in private,' not thinking about what would happen when the elders chose a spouse for their clan leader."
"Ah," Ichigo said, his eyes growing sad, "Right. That's got to be painful, especially with Tetsuya living at the manor and working so closely with Byakuya."
"What is even harder is watching the two of them, who truly love each other, fall apart. I want to believe that true love exists, Ichigo. And that it is enough to come through anything, but..."
He paused for a moment, frowning and looking down at his hands.
"What is it?" Ichigo asked, looking at him questioningly.
"An oddity in the reiatsu around us. Do you not feel it?"
At that moment, the sound of a shouting voice floated in from the room beyond the door ahead of them.
"May I have your attention. This is a matter of security. Please proceed to the nearest exit and leave the building immediately."
"That's Soi Fon," Ichigo mused, "It sounds serious."
"Byakuya and Tetsuya...!" Minori exclaimed, turning back towards the anteroom.
A heavy rumble shook the building and a deafening roar shocked their ears. Ichigo wrapped an arm around Minori and crashed through a door, heading for the window in the room. They were halfway across the room when the walls exploded around them. Ichigo threw the two of them to the floor, taking cover under a small table as the room exploded around them and debris rained down onto their curled bodies.
XXXXXXXXXX
Tetsuya felt something warm drip onto his face and scented blood. Groaning with discomfort, he forced his eyes open slightly and found himself lying on his back, beneath his cousin's sprawled body, and looking up at Byakuya's partially turned head. The blood seeped out of a gash along the side of his head, and looked to be substantial.
"B-byakuya!" he gasped, panting harshly at the pain that wracked his trapped body as he tried to squirm free, "Byakuya!"
A sob of relief escaped the younger noble's trembling lips as Byakuya's eyelids fluttered, and he drew several slow, shaky breaths, then opened his eyes. Tetsuya quickly maneuvered his hands so that he could tear away a bit of his damaged kimono. He folded the small section of cloth and pressed it to the wound on Byakuya's head.
"Byakuya!" he whispered again.
"Was that...a...?"
"A reiatsu bomb," Tetsuya said, calming as his security training overtook his fear, "A powerful one. It seems to have had...kido disruptors, inflicting g-great damage and interfering with our powers."
"Which explains...why my shielding was so little protection," Byakuya acknowledged, "Are you all right?"
"I...I think so," Tetsuya said, shifting beneath his cousin's body, but falling still, his eyes widening at the sound of pain Byakuya emitted.
"Byakuya-sama!"
"It's all right," Byakuya panted softly, closing his eyes for a moment, then opening them and looking down into Tetsuya's, "I do not think anything is broken."
"Good," Tetsuya sighed, "That is a relief. But how will we get out? With the reiatsu around us in such disarray, we cannot use our powers. And as soon as the Onmitsukido arrive, they will likely lay a reiatsu inhibitor over the area so that they can rule out the presence of other bombs."
"Meaning that we will be without our powers and rescue will likely not come for awhile," Byakuya surmised.
Tetsuya paused for a moment, then brightened.
"Arashi!" he hissed softly.
Arashi, can you hear me? Tetsuya thought, picturing the stallion in his mind, There has been an explosion. Where are you?
Arashi's wispy voice sounded immediately in Tetsuya's mind.
I am outside the building. I was trying to connect with you, but your mind was still reacting to your situation, so you could not hear my thoughts, the stallion answered.
Do you think you can free us? Tetsuya asked.
I cannot reach you right now, Arashi answered worriedly, The Onmitsukido have lain the inhibitor and are searching for more incendiary devices. Master, they have already found a second device, and they fear there might be several more. It will be some time.
Byakuya is injured! Tetsuya informed the stallion, You must look through my eyes and inform the searchers where we are. Also, I want you to locate Minori-sama and Ichigo. They are likely in the hallway, outside the room we are in, or they are in a nearby room. I do not think that they had time to reach the banquet room.
And that is a good thing, Arashi informed him, The banquet hall took the brunt of the damage, and they are working to control the fires there, as well as searching for more bombs and digging out victims. There have been several deaths and many serious injuries, although, the Onmitsukido actually arrived a few moments before the blast and was evacuating when the bombs exploded.
Bombs? Tetsuya queried.
There were several that exploded. And there could be more that did not detonate. I will inform you when the Onmitsukido gives the 'All Clear' signal.
Very well.
I am honing in on your location now. I will be sure that the Onmitsukido knows, and I will begin looking for Minori-sama and Ichigo-sama.
Thank you, Arashi.
Tetsuya broke away from the link and opened his eyes, then he relayed the information he had exchanged with the stallion to his injured cousin.
"It will be a while before they can reach us," he concluded, "I cannot heal you in the usual way, but you cannot wait so long as we have to, so I will have to share a bit of my life force with you."
"Tetsuya, no..." Byakuya objected, wincing as Tetsuya checked under the bit of cloth he had pressed to Byakuya's head wound, and found that it was still bleeding.
"There is no choice," the younger man said, shaking his head slightly, "You know I am right. Just be still, now."
"Tetsuya..."
Byakuya went silent, his dark, troubled eyes focused on his cousin, and watching closely as his body began to glow a soft, lovely blue, and he touched his fingers to the bleeding wound. The bleeding stopped immediately as Tetsuya's yielded life force entered the wound and slowly eliminated it. He started to attempt further healing, but was stopped as Byakuya shook his head, frowning, and pulled away.
"That is enough," he said in a somewhat breathless voice, "Flowing life force can be used for small acts of healing, but you know it wears greatly on the body and is restored much more slowly than normal reiatsu. And you were already not well, Tetsuya."
"I know," Tetsuya said softly, his fingertips tracing the place where the gash had been, "But I cannot bear the thought of you hurting."
Sudden guilt flashed in Byakuya's dark eyes, then disappeared.
"How can you worry yourself about such a thing? Especially after what I did to you. Tetsuya, you should hate me. I am everything I reviled, everything I said that I wasn't. You should despise me for lying to you."
Tetsuya gave him a sad smile and brushed his lips against his cousin's tentatively.
"I know you," he whispered, "Our separation has hurt you every bit as much as me. The difference is that Byakuya-sama is stronger in heart than I am. He can tolerate great pain without crying, and he can do what he must, even though it tears at his heart. Even though I try, when I can control my tears, they come down as rain. Whether from the sky or from my eyes, I always cry. I am not strong like you."
"That is not true," Byakuya corrected him, touching his fingers to Tetsuya's lips to stop his words, "You are the stronger in heart, Tetsuya. You are the one paying the price for our rebellion."
He sighed regretfully, lowering his eyes.
"You remain true to yourself, through everything...suffering greatly but refusing to relinquish what you believe. You are nobler than all of us, denying yourself that place which should rightfully be yours...and not blaming me for turning my back on you as soon as duty dictated that I must."
"I do not blame you for that," Tetsuya whispered, tears rising in his eyes, "I have always understood that your place as our leader means that there are things you simply cannot do. But even knowing that, I could not resist being with you."
Tetsuya's cold hands captured his face, the shaking fingers caressing lightly and glowing again as resonant power circulated between them.
"It is not your fault that I am hurting so badly now. The hurt is there because I let myself love you with everything in me. There was no other way for me."
"But I encouraged you when I knew..."
"I knew the truth too," Tetsuya reminded him, a tear emerging from one wet, sapphire eye and rolling down his cheek, "But my impulse to love you was so great that I would do anything. I gave everything and I knew that when it ended, I would be left with nothing...empty and broken. But I chose to accept the cost, because it was better to have loved you and to have lost your love, than never to have known it. I am not sorry, and you should not be either!"
"Tetsuya!" Byakuya whispered, his face paling and the hands that captured his cousin's trembling softly.
"I love you, Byakuya-sama!" Tetsuya sobbed, his hands clenching his cousin's, "And I will always love you!"
"I love you too!" Byakuya responded, without hesitation, "I will never stop loving you, Tetsuya!"
The two men stared in surprise as the glow around their bodies intensified, and they felt their awareness fading.
"What is this?" Byakuya asked shakenly, "Is this the power of the resonance between us? And if it is, how could we defy something so strong?"
Their words disappeared into a storm of kisses as warm light flooded their trapped bodies. Tetsuya barely felt the hands that bared him, but gasped in surprise and helpless joy as his body was suddenly joined with Byakuya's. Their minds spinning with the feeling of deep connectedness, they moved together, removed, for the moment, from the place where their bodies laid amidst the rubble, and made one. And no doubt remained in either man's mind about what was between them. It was nothing less than perfection as they made love, even there in the wreckage of the Shiba council gathering hall. It was as though they had left reality altogether. Neither had any control as their bodies gave and received pleasure.
Finally, Tetsuya gave a hard gasp of completion, shuddering and closing his eyes tightly as Byakuya held him tightly and filled him with his hot release.
They laid quietly afterward, their bodies still joined and Byakuya's pale fingers gently caressing his cousin's hair and face.
"I do not understand this," the clan leader said softly, "I did not intend to let this happen. I think it is cruel for me to tease you with my affections this way when there is no future for us. I was resolved to let you go, even if that meant that you would become someone else's lover, Tetsuya. Yet I cannot bear to think of being with someone else, or to think of you being with someone else. And whether or not we want this to happen, we keep returning to this. It moves beyond our control and threatens to end in clan war. You know that if I dishonor Minori, even if he does not hate me for it, his family will declare war upon us. That would only end in many deaths and too much destruction. Tetsuya, I do not know what to do!"
Tetsuya bit gently as his lips, his wide blue eyes growing stormy and sad as he gazed up at his cousin.
"Then...I must leave the manor," he concluded, "If I am not there to tempt you, then you will not be taken from your intended path."
"Tetsuya, no."
"We cannot go on like this," Tetsuya whispered wearily, his eyes tearing again as he kissed Byakuya's lips softly and ran his fingers slowly through his elder cousin's riled hair, "It pushes us to the brink and threatens to destroy too much that we protect. And besides, I think my heart would break apart the night of your wedding, when you must lie down with Minori-sama. I do not hate him for being with you, nor you for doing what you must, but the very thought of you lying down together threatens to unhinge me."
Byakuya's lips tightened for a long moment, and he looked as though he would object, but finally, he sighed and let out a shaky breath.
"I suppose it is cruel to make you stay and be witness to that. But...where will you go? Will you go to Sadao and Mai? They are your adoptive family. They would welcome you home happily, I am sure. And you would see more of your sisters. You would still be close by."
Tetsuya swallowed hard and debated inwardly whether or not to be honest about his intentions.
If I tell him that I plan to leave for good, I will only rile things at a time when we cannot afford it. To set things in place and then break the news would be kinder. He will not have to agonize as I prepare the way for my leaving.
"That...does make sense," he replied cautiously, "But we can work all of that out later. For now, we should just focus on getting out of here. I am beginning to feel flickers of my powers. I think that they will raise the barrier soon."
"Most likely," Byakuya agreed, resting his face against Tetsuya's and tracing the lines of the younger man's body with his fingertips, "But while we wait, I want to fix you in my mind. This is the last time we will be together, and as much as it weighs on my heart, I want to remember what true love feels like."
"Me too," Tetsuya whispered, closing his eyes and holding on tightly.
They surrendered to their passions one last time, looking into each others' eyes and feeling the slow, gradual approach of their rescuers. Their release this time was as stormy and enthralling as a hurricane and left their hearts in tatters as they finally broke apart.
"I love you. I will always love you," Byakuya whispered, a rare tear leaking from one proud eye.
"You will always have my heart," Tetsuya promised, "No matter that we are parted from each other."
Outside the smoking ruins of the Shiba council hall, the sky clouded suddenly, and a steady rain began to fall.
XXXXXXXXXX
Minori felt his consciousness returning and sensed immediately that something was horridly wrong. His eyes flickered open and he found himself gazing up into Kurosaki Ichigo's worried eyes. Pain began to flare a moment later, and the young noble cried out in agony. Instantly, Ichigo's hands touched his face, soothing him.
"It's okay," he said, his voice shaking slightly, "I know it hurts, but you're going to be okay, all right?"
Minori knew full well that the other man was lying, but faced with what he sensed were devastating injuries, he couldn't bring himself to answer.
I am...dying?
"Hey," Ichigo said, touching his face again and seeking his eyes, "Hang in there. Help will be here soon."
Minori bit at his lips gently and met Ichigo's eyes squarely, gathering his nerve.
"You and I know that it won't be soon enough...not for me."
Ichigo started to object, but Minori shook his head slightly, and immediately regretted it as pain cracked through the area, making him pause and gasp for breath. He heard Ichigo speaking, but couldn't make sense of the words. He sensed that his life force was draining steadily away and forced himself to meet Ichigo's saddened eyes again.
"Don't worry," he panted softly, "I come from a family of h-healers. Death is ever a part of life. I am not afraid."
"Don't talk like that. You're not going to die," Ichigo said determinedly.
Minori found himself smiling. He reached up and clasped at Ichigo's hand, struggling for breath again.
"Th-thank you, Ichigo," he whispered gratefully, "I am...honored to be counted among your friends. To have you comfort me as I pass from life gives me peace. But...before I leave you, I must ask you to do something for me."
"I told you, you're not going to die," Ichigo said firmly.
"Please, Ichigo, I must make sure this is done. Two lives depend on it!"
"What?" Ichigo asked, frowning, "What do you mean? Who are we talking about? Whose lives are in danger?"
"T-tetsuya!" Minori gasped desperately.
"What? What's wrong with Tetsuya? I mean, I know he's been sick, but...?"
"Tetsuya is not sick," Minori confessed in a soft, shaking voice, "He is with child."
Ichigo stared at the younger man uncomprehendingly.
"Tetsuya is carrying B-byakuya's child!"
The ginger-haired youth continued to stare in surprise.
"Tetsuya is pregnant?"
"Yes!"
"But didn't Byakuya say earlier that Tetsuya couldn't have children? That is was too dangerous? Does Byakuya even know?"
"No," Minori sobbed, "I discovered the pregnancy when Tetsuya was injured protecting me. Had I allowed my clan to learn of this, then they would have made war on the Kuchiki clan and many lives would have ended as a result. Had I told Byakuya, he would have been required by law to reveal it to the Kuchiki elders, and they would have had Tetsuya jailed and executed. They know that if a man impregnates a Breeder Male, the two men are soul bonded and cannot mate with another unless one of them dies, breaking the bond. Even if Tetsuya was not targeted for execution, there are those within the family who would see that he died before his child ever drew breath. The hatred for Breeder Males and mixed blood is still very powerful with some clan members."
"And you didn't tell Tetsuya?"
"I c-couldn't! If he learned he was pregnant, he would have run away. He would have to if he wanted to survive to have Byakuya's child. So...I hid the pregnancy, even from Tetsuya, himself, and I pondered what to do as the child grew within him. I still do not know what to do. But I do know one thing. If I die now, then the Kuchiki clan will not be forced into a war. And Tetsuya and Byakuya will be freed to be together. They will still have to overcome the treachery of those who would target Tetsuya and the new heir, but they would be fighting the Kuchiki elders as well, because once born, an heir, even a mixed blood one, is protected by clan law."
"Yeah?" Ichigo said, squeezing his hand, "Well, then, they're gonna have to find another way, because as much as you think that everything will be better if you die, I don't happen to share that opinion. And being one of my friends, I'm not going to let you die anyway!"
Minori's smile warmed and he sniffed softly, a tear welling up from one earthy brown eye.
"Thank you for fighting so hard to keep me here," he whispered in a fading voice, "I wish that I could have lived long enough to have fallen in love. Because...if I had, I would have wanted that person I loved to be like you...strong, stubborn, loyal and bearing such a kind heart. You were there for Byakuya when he nearly died, and for Tetsuya as his heart was breaking...and now you have been there for me, in my last moments. I will forever remember your kindness, Kurosaki Ichigo!"
He couldn't hear Ichigo's voice anymore as his eyes closed and he felt as though he had begun a very long fall. But even as he felt his breaths stop and his heart slow, a warm hand took hold of his and held it firmly.
No way, Ichigo's voice whispered in his mind, Not while I live and breathe...
White light exploded around the young noble's shocked form, then flooded into him, holding him forcefully in Ichigo's strong, bracing arms.
You're staying with me.