Chapter 11: Fallen Angels

Renji saw Arashi charge after the ones who had attacked the king's procession and started to follow, but was stayed by a firm hand that caught him by the shoulder.

"Taichou, what…?"

He broke off, staring as he realized that the central square had gone quiet, and all eyes were now focused on the tall, brown-eyed shinigami who stood beside the king, his sword drawn, his hood thrown back and his brown hair fluttering in the breeze. Realizing that the threat had been abated, Aizen looked down at the king.

"Your majesty, are you all right?" he asked softly.

Yasahiro nodded and rose.

"Shouldn't we go after Tetsuya?" Renji asked Byakuya.

The noble shook his head.

"We are not just Gotei 13, but hogosha, Renji. The Kishu are following my cousin, as is our division. We must remain here to guard his majesty, and to keep the peace. There is a great tension in the ones around us."

"Yeah," Renji agreed, "You're right. This could get ugly if we're not careful."

The two officers returned to the king's side as Aizen stepped down from the pavilion and turned back to offer the king his hand. Yasahiro accepted his hand and stepped down from the pavilion, then walked with Aizen to the podium. Murmurs that had risen while they walked to the podium fell silent again as the ones gathered took in the odd sight of their king being attended by none other than Aizen Sousuke…traitor, and a man who had threatened before to kill the king and take over leadership of the three worlds.

"Welcome," Yasahiro said in a calm, serious tone, "and my thanks to the Royal Guard, my Hogosha, and the officers of the Gotei 13 for their assistance in protecting me. I am certain that all of you have many questions…many of them regarding the man beside me. Let me first confirm that this man is Aizen Sousuke, former taichou of the fifth division, and one who betrayed the Gotei 13 in an attempt to overthrow the former king."

"My lord," said Soutaichou, "we witnessed that Aizen Sousuke died when he and the former king killed each other. How is it that he now stands beside you?"

Yasahiro nodded in agreement.

"The Aizen Sousuke you remember, did come into the spirit dimension. He did kill the royal family and the king, but there was something that no one, not even Aizen Sousuke knew. What no one realized, was that the old king had been corrupted."

A tremor went through the crowd.

"When the former king was made through the rebirth ritual, the first attempt failed and the consort chosen to carry the king died. Another interim king and consort were chosen, but their connection was not so strong, and as a result, the king they produced was corrupted. After the king's coronation, he realized that a creature known as a 'light being' was born into the shinigami world. Light beings are creatures sent into the three worlds to correct imbalances that could harm our worlds. Seeing that a light being had been released, the king wrongfully assumed that this light being had been sent to kill him. The actions he took to avoid that fate turned Aizen Sousuke down the path to becoming the traitor you knew. The corrupted king manipulated events in Sousuke's life to turn him in that dark direction, to twist him into wickedness…and finally, to tease him with the knowledge of how to create the hougyoku. Nevertheless, this light being, even corrupted as he was, found a way to complete his mission. Having been denied his proper choices, Aizen Sousuke became the monster you knew. He broke into the spirit dimension and slaughtered the royal family. As he fought with the king, the corrupted monarch killed him. But this broke one of our fundamental laws…No king may slay a light being. As Aizen Sousuke died, so did the corrupted king."

"And how was Aizen revived?" asked Soutaichou, "How is it that he is here, and attending you?"

"Because he is a light being, upon his death, he was drawn into the King's Prism…and recently, as Kuchiki Byakuya, Kuchiki Tetsuya and Abarai Renji battled the evil that the former king left behind, Aizen Sousuke's spirit was reborn. In the end, he completed his mission. He killed the corrupted king's evil, hollow form and restored balance to our worlds. He no longer hates his king, nor does he desire to harm anyone. His spirit has been cleansed, and by Royal Order, he is pardoned of all of his crimes."

The king turned to the silent shinigami who stood beside him. He nodded briefly and Aizen stepped forward.

"I am deeply grateful to my lord for freeing me. And I am regretful of the choices I made while under the influence of the corrupted king. As I do not wish to compound the pain I have caused, I will return with his majesty to the spirit dimension. I only wanted a chance to offer a heartfelt apology to those I hurt. I will understand if you cannot forgive me, but I must ask for your forgiveness, just the same."

"Aizen taichou…" said a soft, feminine voice near the podium.

Aizen's eyes widened as Momo stepped away from her division and approached the podium. He gazed down into her wide eyes, his voice inexplicably stopped as he remembered how she had looked as he ran his sword through her. He swallowed the sick feeling inside and took a short breath.

"Momo," he said in a barely audible voice.

She moved closer, and as he stood frozen, she wrapped her arms around him and leaned against him.

"I am sorry," he whispered in her ear, "I wish I had never hurt you."

"LET HER GO!" cried a youthful, male voice, "DON'T YOU DARE PUT YOUR HANDS ON HER!"

A flash step sounded and Hitsugaya taichou appeared a few feet away, holding Hinamori tightly against him. Aizen's brown eyes met Toshiro's icy gaze and he nodded in acknowledgement. Behind Hitsugaya, Hisagi Shuuhei and Izuru Kira stepped into view.

"What about our taichous?" said Kira, "The ones you twisted and used? The ones you killed? I was there! I saw what you did to your trusting followers!"

"This man committed multiple acts of murder!" added Hisagi, "He turned us against each other! How are we supposed to forget that he lied? Used? Manipulated? Killed to get what he wanted?"

Aizen met their eyes squarely.

"I do not think that you should forget," he said quietly, "and I will not ask you to tolerate my presence among you, except as is demanded by my royal duties. I protect his majesty now. It is what I will dedicate myself to, to make amends for what I did in my former life."

"I would admonish any who might consider acting against this man," said Yasahiro, "He is under my protection, and he is not to be harmed in any way. Whatever crimes he committed in his former life, he has shown courage and resolve in protecting me when my life was threatened. No one is to harm my protector. Remember too, that as a light being, he is here to maintain the balance of our worlds. If you harm him, you will also disrupt that balance."

Hitsugaya's eyes still blazed, but he said nothing more. He held onto Momo and backed away from Aizen, nudging Hisagi and Kira away as well. Aizen stepped back and remained at the king's side as he continued his address. And when it was finished, he joined Byakuya and Renji in front of the king's pavilion.

"You three must go," Yasahiro told them, "I sense that Tetsuya Tenba has fallen. His life in grave danger. You must find him before his attackers do."

"Y-you mean, the ones who attacked you?" asked Renji.

"I was not their target," said the king with certainty, "Tetsuya was."

"How do you know?" asked Renji.

"As Tenba no Kishu," whispered Byakuya, "it was his sworn duty to go after them. They knew he would be the fastest responder, and as soon as he left with them, they obscured the reiatsu trail. I can sense it."

"We're going to have a hard time finding him!" exclaimed Renji.

"Then we'd best move quickly."

"Where's Aizen?" said Renji, looking around.

But giving the matter a second more thought, he found that he knew.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tetsuya woke feeling oddly warm and protected, despite the fact that he lay at the bottom of the lake he had fallen into. He felt Re-kuhime's hands touching him, enabling him to continue breathing, despite being under the water, and providing soft light around him to help him see. Movement caused instant agony to his back and legs, his head pounded and his eyes refused to focus properly. He knew that while it was probably safer for him to remain hidden in the water if his enemies were still about, Arashi was likely injured as well…injured and alone, somewhere nearby.

Re-kuhime surfaced and took a mouthful of air, then dove down to him again. Tetsuya forced out the water he had taken in, and accepted the breath his zanpakutou offered him. The air in his lungs revived him somewhat, and he was able to rise towards the surface. He was careful to surface quietly, and he looked around, reaching out with his senses to target his enemies. He sensed them a goodly distance away, but working in a search pattern…one that would bring them in his direction all too soon.

"Arashi," he whispered as he dragged his broken body onto the shore.

He tried to climb to his feet, but fell immediately. His head spun madly and he rested on the bank of the lake for several minutes before trying to move again.

Master, I would heal you, but I had to put all of my energy to use to keep you from dying!

"Not to worry," the noble panted softly, "I will be all right."

You can't even stand! And they are moving closer!

"Can you sense Arashi?" Tetsuya asked, shifting uncomfortably.

Ahead and to the right. He concealed himself in the heavy brush there. But his reiatsu is as diminished as yours, Master.

"It's all right. Once we are together…"

He lifted himself enough to crawl forward and moved onto the rough grass, grateful that the coming darkness would help conceal the water, blood and reiatsu trail he left on the ground. His body shivered uncontrollably as cold air encountered his wet clothes and skin. As he crawled towards the brush, he called the warhorse's name softly again. A chill went through him at the lack of any response.

Tetsuya reached the brush and pushed it aside, ignoring the thorns that tore at his hands and clothes. He spotted the Pegasus, collapsed on the ground ahead of him and crawled forward, his body shaking with effort.

"Arashi?" he called again, a sob in his voice.

To his relief, the Pegasus stirred and raised his head, nickering weakly. Then, he groaned and his head dropped down again. Tetsuya crawled to his head and forced himself onto his knees. Pain shot through his back and midsection and he bit back a cry as he leaned forward, placing his weight on his hands and lowering his head. A soft muzzle tickled his cheek and Arashi blew warm breath onto him, then turned his head and stretched out his long neck, nipping at his wing.

"It hurts, ne?" Tetsuya said softly, "Don't worry. I'll take care of you."

Ignoring his own pain, he ran his hands down the stallion's legs one by one, feeling carefully for broken bones. He heard Re-kuhime hiss softly as healing light flared around his hands, but realizing that Tetsuya was not going to be able to walk, she kept silent as he worked at healing his mount. The noble knew as he healed Arashi, that the Pegasus would need a period of rest to recover enough to carry him. And even though he mended the broken bones, it would still hurt for several days.

Arashi groaned and flipped his wing out of Tetsuya's hands, nipping at him.

"Easy," the noble said soothingly, "You know I'm trying to help you. Be calm, my friend. We'll be out of this and home again before you know it."

Dizziness swept over Tetsuya and he collapsed against Arashi's side. Re-kuhime manifested long enough to carefully lift him onto the stallion's back, and held him there as Arashi stood. She was forced to fade away as Tetsuya's failing body demanded more reiatsu to sustain him.

Arashi turned his head and reached back to nudge the unconscious noble with his nose, then gaining no response, lifted his wings and wrapped them around Tetsuya, holding him in place. He stood quietly as darkness fell, and moved away in slow, silent steps as he sensed the two strong hollows who had attacked them.

Gin and Tousen examined the area carefully and quickly found the place where Tetsuya had crawled out of the water.

"He can't have gotten far," hissed Gin, "His reiatsu was as weak as a kitten's."

"It depends on whether the Pegasus was injured."

"You saw him fall. There is no way he wasn't hurt. Come on."

They followed the faint reiatsu trail into the brush and looked around.

"They were here minutes ago," said Gin.

"Shh," warned Tousen, "There is a search party. It's time for us to abandon this."

"Oh, but I soooo wanted the pleasure of turning sweet Tetsuya into a hollow!" complained Gin.

"We have a plan in place for this circumstance," said Tousen firmly, "There is no need to risk getting stopped now. We'll use the two nobles to trap them. And by the time we're finished with Kuchiki Tetsuya, he'll wish we had killed him."

"And with him out of the way, we'll have no trouble luring Sousuke in," said Gin, smiling widely, "He'll be aching for revenge, ne?"

"He'll come to us easily," agreed Tousen.

"But we don't want to take him too quickly," Gin reminded him, "We want to take our time and tease him a bit before we end this. That man used and betrayed us…killed us! He is not going to walk away from this!"

"No," said Tousen in a low voice, "Both of them are going to die!"

XXXXXXXXXX

The house guards opened the front gate to Kuchiki Manor and Byakuya and Renji passed through. They found Yasahiro waiting for them, with Aizen standing next to him.

"I know you wished to continue the search," Yasahiro was saying, "but it isn't safe to be stumbling around in the darkness where he was attacked, and the search party that checked in said they found signs that he had left the area."

"What do you mean, left the area?" asked Byakuya, "Was Tetsuya riding? Walking? How did they leave?"

"There were signs that Tetsuya crawled into some bushes and remained there for a short time. Then, the signs of him and the Pegasus disappear."

"That's not such a surprise," said Renji, "Hotaka sensei taught them to hide their passage."

"It means they were worried about someone finding them," added Byakuya, "But who?"

He thought carefully for a moment, then summoned a hell butterfly.

"What are you doing?" asked Renji.

"I'm going to check up and see what our new council members are up to. I haven't seen them about today."

"You think they could be involved in this?"

"I know it is no coincidence that they strong-armed their way onto the council now," Byakuya replied, "But what they're planning is not so clear. I need to do some probing to find out. I will call a meeting to discuss what happened to…"

He broke off as the back gate creaked open and a tattered and bloodied Arashi limped into the gardens with his head hanging.

"Arashi!" hissed Aizen, flash stepping to the Pegasus.

As he reached the stallion, Arashi uncurled his wings, revealing the battered body of Tetsuya lying across his back. He took another unsteady step and slowly dropped to his knees. Aizen lifted Tetsuya from the stallion's back as Arashi knelt on the grass, tossing his head, nipping at his wing and groaning.

"Tetsuya," Aizen called softly.

The noble's eyes fluttered softly, but didn't open.

"S-sou…suke…" he mouthed breathlessly.

"What happened?"

"Ambushed…h-hollows. Th-they were…h-hollows…w-waiting for…us."

"Did you recognize any of them?" asked Byakuya as Aizen knelt on the grass, holding Tetsuya in his arms. Tetsuya's lips moved, but nothing more came out. He shifted uncomfortably and moaned, then lost consciousness.

Yasahiro moved to the noble's side and sent healing energy flowing into the injured shinigami as house healers gathered around Arashi and began to heal him.

"Hollows," Renji mused, "Byakuya, who would be working with hollows to take out your cousin?"

"I don't know," said the noble, slipping a hand into his cousin's and gazing down at Tetsuya's bruised and dirty face, "But I will find out!"

Aizen didn't speak, but continued to hold the stricken noble against him, his eyes blazing and his reiatsu burning hotly beneath his skin.