Chapter 11: Deeper Wounds
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(Thanks to everyone still reviewing despite the site's failure to fix the posting problem. These things usually work themselves out in a few days, but it might be helpful if any of you who don't mind send a note to support to encourage them to fix the problem. The more people who say something, the quicker they tend to address the problem. Anyway, I can't do shout outs until reviews post to my account, so I'll just say again, how much I appreciate everyone who is reading, fave-ing, following and reviewing! You guys are the best! This chapter is a little bit shorter, but is packed with important stuff. The characters are not yet able to fully respond to the sudden return of Byakuya and Ichigo, because there is healing and assessment going on. Lots of emotional stuff is ahead in the next few chapters. Enjoy this one! I will have another chapter for you soon. Love, Spunky)
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Ryuuken accepted two cups of hot tea from Tessai and carried them carefully down into the underground training area below Urahara Kisuke's shop, where he found Kurosaki Isshin standing near the glowing senkaimon and gazing into it, his eyes uncharacteristically brooding. Isshin accepted the tea with a silent nod of gratitude and sipped at it absently as he continued to watch and wait.
"They will be all right," Uryu's father said calmly, "We all sensed Renji's power and that they were in the precipice world."
"We also all sensed Kuchiki Tetsuya's death," Isshin said in a low, weary voice, "It's true I want my son back, but it shouldn't be at the cost of his friend's life. I don't think Ichigo would want that either. We've just exchanged one tragedy for another."
He sighed and glanced over to where Orihime stood beside Kisuke, waiting for the rescue group to arrive.
"You don't know that," Ryuuken reminded him, "As long as they have…s-something of him, Orihime can revive him."
"Yeah," Isshin said uncertainly, "I guess."
"Have you been able to feel Ichigo's reiatsu?"
"Not yet. It's going to be weak, you know, because if he had his powers, he would have come back sooner or at least let us know he had survived."
"The lower reiatsu could just be because of the pregnancy that Tetsuya informed us about," Ryuuken offered.
Isshin shook his head and rubbed his hands over his face.
"I think we both know that if Ichigo's been with Aizen all of this time, he's going to have some problems. You don't need to bullshit me to make me feel better. I am grateful he's coming back alive. You know the hell me and the girls went through when his death was reported."
"Did you tell Yuzu and Karin yet?"
"Naw, I don't want to say anything until they're back and we see how they are. You heard Kisuke. This is going to be messy."
"Here they come!" Kisuke warned the others.
A moment later, Ikazuchi galloped through the senkaimon and into the underground area, carrying Renji and what looked to be Byakuya, wearing Tetsuya's clothing. On their heels, Tsuna's brown mount arrived, carrying Tsuna and a battered, but fierce looking Uryu. Chad ran through next, carrying Ichigo, and Yakkaigoto trotted in on his heels, bearing Rukia and a young man dressed in servant's clothes on his back. Kisuke's grey eyes met Renji's questioningly as the redhead slid down and helped Ryuuken lead Byakuya to a treatment bed that had been prepared within a triage tent.
"You guys all right?" he asked anxiously, "Anyone hurt badly? Besides, Tetsuya, I mean. We felt his reiatsu disappear. Did you…bring him back?"
He read the look of guilt and sadness in Renji's eyes.
"No?" he inquired.
"No," Renji said dejectedly, "There was an explosion and we were all fucking running for our lives. The rest of us barely made it out. We have some cuts and lots of burns, that's all. But Taichou and Ichigo are pretty messed up on the inside, I think. On the way back, Ichigo was talking like he thought his dad and sisters were dead and Taichou could barely hold on to me, he was so exhausted. Aizen really worked him over, I guess."
"The Kuchiki elders have probably sensed Tetsuya's death by now," Rukia said, looking around, "If they've sensed my brother's return, they should already be here."
"I put a barrier around the shop and grounds here," Kisuke explained, "I think Byakuya's going to need a little time to gather himself before we push him into all of that."
"I think you're right," Rukia agreed.
"So, what happens now?" Chad asked, watching as Isshin wrapped an arm around Ichigo and laid him on a treatment bed beside Byakuya's.
Byakuya's head turned sluggishly and he slipped a hand into Ichigo's.
"We're gonna heal any external damage first," Kisuke explained as he bent over the barely coherent noble, "Then, we'll clean'em up and do a full scan."
He met Byakuya's hazy eyes and squeezed the hand that wasn't holding on to Ichigo's.
"Byakuya-san, I am going to need to sedate you for just a little while to keep you comfortable while we look you over. Is that okay with you?"
Byakuya nodded.
"Do not separate us," he said, tightening his hold on Ichigo's hand, "He has been under Aizen's illusions for an extended time and is confused. My touch seems to ground him."
"Okay, we'll keep you together," the shopkeeper promised, "Tessai, will you get an IV in here?"
"Sure thing, Boss."
Ichigo gazed up at Isshin's frowning face as his father prepared an IV.
"D-dad?" Ichigo said in a shaky voice, "Are you…are you really there?"
"I'm here, son," Isshin answered, his own voice shaking slightly, "Orihime, can you focus on keeping the baby's reiatsu stable while I take care of Ichigo?"
"I will," Orihime agreed, positioning herself near her friend's rounded belly.
Her hands trembled as they pushed back Ichigo's yukata, baring the area, then pressed lightly on the place just above the spirit chamber.
She smiled as her fingertips registered the strong presence of the baby's reiatsu.
"Hi there," she whispered to the baby, "I'm Orihime. Ichigo and I are good friends. I'm going to take care of you."
Her smile brightened as she felt the reiatsu beneath her fingers vibrate slightly in response to her soft words and gentle touch.
"I'm having a baby too," she whispered, "You'll be born a while before my baby, but I bet you'll be good friends like Ichigo and I are."
Ichigo shifted restlessly, blinking and staring at Isshin.
"Dad?" he mumbled, reaching out to touch his father's worried looking face, "Are you really there?"
"Yeah, I told you that, son. I'm here."
"Yuzu? Karin? Are they…they're…n-not really dead?" he asked, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes, "Damn! I don't wanna wake up if I'm dreaming."
"You aren't dreaming," Isshin assured him.
"How do I know?" Ichigo asked in a small sounding sob, "Everything for so long has been one lie after another! Wh-where's Byakuya? Is he all right?"
"Byakuya's fine," Isshin said reassuringly, "He's right next to you, see?"
He gently turned Ichigo's head so that his eyes came to rest on his sleeping lover.
"He just can't talk to you because we had to put him under to heal him completely. But, he's still holding your hand. Do you feel that?"
"Yeah," Ichigo answered, shivering and turning his head back to look at his father, "It's the only thing I can really trust, you know? Byakuya broke the illusion that was controlling us. He…"
"He's keeping you here with us," Isshin acknowledged, "Just trust him, okay? I know it seems like the rest of us are a little unreal after what you've been through, but you'll be okay. Now, I'm gonna need to make you sleep while we scan and clear your body of Aizen's reiatsu. You all right with that?"
"Y-yeah, okay," Ichigo managed, shivering harder, "J-just…don't take Byakuya away."
"We won't," Isshin promised, "Where you go, he goes."
"Th-thanks, Dad," Ichigo whispered, closing his eyes as the sedative began to relax him into sleep.
"I have a lot of Aizen's reiatsu echoes here in Byakuya's body," Ryuuken said unhappily, "His mind has been probed unmercifully. He's lucky not to have had a complete mental collapse."
"That's Aizen for you," Isshin said dryly, "What a bastard…"
"I wonder what he was looking for," Kisuke mused, "It doesn't bode well that he had pretty much unlimited access to whatever Byakuya knew. Byakuya's the recorder of Seireitei history, and keeper of the largest and most diverse archive in Soul Society."
"Well, we are going to have to save asking him about what Aizen wanted until he recovers," Ryuuken said firmly, "He is teetering on the brink of insanity as it is. Any more mental pressure and there won't be anything in there for him to remember."
"We'll fix him up," Kisuke said, an edge of worry in his voice, "Let's just work on that."
Across the room, Jinta and Ururu worked at healing Rukia, Toshi and Tsuna.
"You look a little shaken up," Rukia said to Tsuna, "Did Aizen hurt you when you were distracting him? Thanks for that, by the way. I would have been in real trouble if not for you."
"He didn't hurt me," Tsuna assured her, "It's just that…my shikai acted strangely when I used it on him."
Rukia frowned thoughtfully.
"Strange how?" she asked, "What happened?"
Tsuna brushed several errant strands of thick brown hair away from her troubled eyes.
"My shikai causes the target to relive an illusion of something in his or her past. It fools the senses so that the target feels as though really there. It provides a distraction in which I can attack, shift position quickly or escape an attacker. Usually, I also can see the illusion, so I can time my movements strategically."
"But this time, something was different?" Rukia asked.
"Yes," Tsuna confirmed, "The illusion felt different. It felt real to me also. Usually, I can feel that it is just a reflection of the event. This time, it was as though it was happening to me too. I felt an odd resonance inside."
"Maybe it's because your power is an illusion power like Aizen's," Rukia suggested, "Two like powers can sometimes conflict with each other."
"Maybe that's it," Tsuna said, sounding less than convinced.
"Well," Rukia said, looking over at the beds where Ichigo and Byakuya laid, "we should just be glad this is over for now."
"Is it?" Tsuna inquired softly, "Aizen said that he still needed your brother for something. That means that he could try to abduct him again. We have already lost Tetsuya-sama. I wonder what the cost will be if this continues."
"Don't worry about that," Rukia said bracingly, placing a hand on the other young woman's forearm, "Remember that Aizen abducted Nii-sama and Ichigo in the chaos of the end of the quincy war, when we couldn't mount a proper defense. Things are different now. We know more about Aizen's powers than we did before, and we can protect my brother and Ichigo in ways that we couldn't while things were such a mess. It will be all right, Tsuna-san."
"I suppose," Tsuna said, her eyes sad as her thoughts returned to Tetsuya.
Rukia read her downcast expression and sighed, lowering her eyes.
"I understand you are upset over my cousin's death," she said somberly, "I am too. He was a good person, who had already endured too much."
Tsuna nodded, her voice catching as she replied.
"You didn't know him as a child. He was small and frightened easily. Naoki-chan and I were sure that he would not survive. We looked out for him, but life was very hard. He proved to be stronger than we knew…and seeing him so strong and leading the Kuchiki clan? It made me feel so very proud. Few survived the prisons, and none went on to do what he did. He was an example to all of us…"
"Yes," Rukia agreed sadly, "he truly was. I know that losing him is as hard for you as it is for us, who were his new family, but it is comforting to know that Tetsuya died honorably, and protecting the person who did the most to make him the strong person he became."
"That is something," Tsuna said, closing her eyes against the burning in them.
"It is something," Rukia agreed, a tear leaking onto her face.
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"You told me before that you have many secrets, Kuchiki Tetsuya," Aizen said, setting Tetsuya's naked body in gentle, but sturdy restraints and using a kido spell to keep him from regaining consciousness, "While you don't have nearly as many as you might have thought, you still have many I want to explore. I know now that you are the son of Kuchiki Takao and Kiko of the Rukongai, that you were born in the prison where your parents were incarcerated, and where they died. I know that Byakuya led the raid that freed you, and that when you were in peril, a spirit steed emerged from your body and protected you. I have extracted from Byakuya the workings of your powers and the nature of your connection with Arashi. I will tell you something that Byakuya knows, but that he did not tell you. You are not a normal shinigami. From the beginning, you have had within you, the potential for great power. And when you stood in front of the hougyoku and attempted to seal us away again, instead of killing you, the hougyoku embraced that potential in you, and it opened the pathway to you becoming even stronger. Now that you have come to me, we will take those next steps together. We will walk the trail that leads to our future, joined because we are alike now."
He smiled, imagining the response such a statement would have earned from Byakuya's more impetuous cousin.
"You might point out your relative purity, and judging from what I extracted from Byakuya, yes, you are more pure, but we both bear the weight and power of the hougyoku. I have to say, I was rather lonely in carrying that weight alone. I know this isn't a path you would have chosen, but you seem to be a person able to adjust and evolve so that you can survive. I think you should know that just because the orbs grant us immortality, it isn't a guarantee that we will not die. As much as we might have found a way to thwart death…death is an insidious stalker. There are many working to undo the power of the hougyoku. Even in our transcendence, we must be cautious. I will certainly be cautious with you. You are truly unique."
Aizen's hands slid over the expanses of lovely, white flesh and his eyes watched the monitors that scanned and relayed to him every detail about the body laid in front of him.
"Ah, good, the shock from the explosion did not damage your spirit centers, so we needn't wait before beginning to awaken your transcendent powers. I am curious to see what they are. I am sure that they will be impressive. But what form they will take exactly? That is one of those elusive secrets that only time and training will reveal."
Aizen's palm touched Tetsuya's forehead, and he closed his eyes and sensed the disturbing dreams that made Tetsuya frown and twitch softly in his deep sleep.
"I know you will not be pleased to wake and find yourself here. Perhaps you will wish that the hougyoku had simply killed you, but that would be too simple a fate for one as complex and shaded as you, Kuchiki Tetsuya. You are meant for more than a useless sacrifice. I say useless because you could not protect Byakuya from me if it was my desire to really kill him. Luckily, all I wanted was to probe his mind further. But…given that I know now that you have spent almost as much time in the Kuchiki family archive, perusing the tomes there, I can instead find the information I need by accessing your memories. The hougyoku that was placed in you will make you less vulnerable to the pressures of that exchange. Still, I will proceed with extreme caution. You are one of a kind…one to be evaluated with care not to damage any part. After all, as my counterpart, you will be ascending with me. Yes, our fates are entwined now. There is no denying that. But…what will it take to convince you to accept your new place? We shall see…"
Aizen's hands move to the restraints and loosened them, then he laid his hand on Tetsuya's cheek and slowly lifted away the kido that had prevented him from waking.
"Tetsuya," he said quietly, "open your eyes."
Tetsuya's eyes moved beneath his closed eyelids and a discomfited moan escaped him.
"I have attempted to relieve any pain you might feel, but do you need a pain block?"
"N-no," Tetsuya managed, forcing his sapphire eyes open and trying in vain to make the jumble of blurred images resolve into something he could comprehend, "I am n-not in pain."
"Good, I am glad to hear that."
"Where am I?" Tetsuya whispered dazedly, "I don't know how I got here. Who are you?"
Tetsuya blinked and squinted, gradually bringing Aizen's smirking face into focus, then inhaling sharply as he sat up and cringed away, raising his reiatsu defensively.
"You don't need to do that," Aizen said, watching him, but making no move to stop him, "You are not in restraints and your powers are intact. I have done nothing but assess your condition and restore your reiatsu."
"How do I know what you've done to me?" Tetsuya demanded, "You could have hypnotized me and everything you tell me could be a lie!"
"It could be," Aizen agreed, "but it is not. Tetsuya, I have been anxious to meet you."
"You wanted to meet me?" Tetsuya repeated, his expression one of confusion, "How do you even know me? I mean, I know that you were probing my cousin's mind for information about me. What I don't know is how you learned of me, and why a simple half-blood shinigami would be of interest to you."
"You are not a regular shinigami," Aizen corrected him, "I think you have always suspected this. And unless I miss my guess, I think that you have been noticing lately that something odd was happening. I would be willing to bet that you have heard an odd voice in your mind that is not the voice of your stallion, and you have seen visions that you cannot understand or explain."
Tetsuya stared back at Aizen wordlessly.
"The answers," Aizen said softly, placing his fingertips on the hougyoku embedded in his own chest, "are right here."
He moved his fingers to touch the hougyoku that had fused itself to Tetsuya's body and watched as the young man's blue eyes found the orb, then rounded in obvious distress.
"And here..."
"What is this?" Tetsuya gasped in horror and dismay, "Aizen Sousuke, what have you done to me?"