Chapter 14: A Day of Simplicity

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Hand in hand, we take a new path, one lit with sunlight and bright with colors. Sweet scents and happy sounds are all around us. Storm clouds gather nearby and turn in our direction, but we know that with their darkness, they bring renewal. We accept the darkness and cold, because it always leads us back to this contentment.

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Bya woke in the late hours of the night, shivering with cold and with a keen awareness that Emiko must be even colder. His breath billowed in the air as he took the blanket from his bed, left his bedroom, and took the blanket to lay over the girl. He was cautious not to wake her because he knew that she would refuse the gesture. He wrapped the edges carefully around her and left the room.

It was not possible to sleep, so he put on a second yukata that was more thin and threadbare than the first and was long enough so that the ends could be wrapped around his feet if he sat down and curled his legs under him. He walked out of the living area and through the classroom and, because inside and outside did not vary greatly in temperature, he sat down outside the schoolhouse, looking up at the moon.

"So cold," he whispered, "It's so cold…"

Not even thoughts of Renji could keep him warm.

He heard a cough and turned toward the sound, the dream shifting and dropping him down onto a walkway at Kuchiki Manor.

"Byakuya," called Hisana's voice, "Byakuya, where are you?"

He turned in the direction of her voice and rushed to the door.

"Hisana?" he called back.

His vision flickered fitfully and he shivered as the cold returned and he heard Emiko crying.

"What is happening? Where am I?"

He blinked several times and found himself back at the school in Inuzuri. Emiko cried louder and called his name.

"Bya!" she sobbed, "Bya!"

"Emiko?" he said, walking through her door.

The girl's bed was empty.

"Do you need help finding her?" asked a familiar male voice.

He turned towards the sound and inhaled sharply. Toru stood, holding the girl against him as Emiko struggled and cried.

"Let her go," Byakuya said, stepping forward.

"Huh," the brothel owner huffed, "What will you do if I don't? Wait…don't answer me, Bya. You don't have any powers. You have nothing at all, do you? Oh wait. There is always Captain Abarai, ne? You see, it is as I told you. You traded your body for his protection. So call him. Call your Renji, Bya."

Byakuya stared as Toru stepped aside and revealed a motionless body on the ground behind him.

"R-renji?" he gasped, running forward.

Toru released Emiko and pushed her behind him, then blocked Byakuya's access to the two.

"What are you doing?" Byakuya cried, "You said that you would help me! You helped me time and time again and said we were friends!"

"You know I wanted more," said Toru, moving forward and taking hold of him, "I always wanted more, but I held back, thinking that eventually, you would come to your senses. But you didn't do that, Bya. You continued to cling to that man until I had to kill him."

"Renji is…?"

"Dead. I killed him."

Byakuya's eyes flashed.

"You couldn't kill Renji!" he said angrily, "You couldn't kill a captain! You're not anywhere near powerful enough!"

Toru gave him a wicked smile.

"Renji Abarai was too much in love with you. His love for you made him lower his defenses and I killed him. And now, you and Emiko are alone. You have no captain to protect you, Bya."

"You can't have…"

"Focus, Bya," the brothel owner went on, "Renji is dead, but Emiko is very much alive. You do want to save her, don't you?"

He saw the trap in the man's words clearly, but could not escape it.

"What do you want in exchange for her?"

Toru moved in close and wrapped his icy arms around Bya.

"N-no!"

"You know what I want," he hissed, his body tightening and constricting around his captive's.

"No!"

"Bya?" said Renji's worried voice, "Bya, wake up!"

Byakuya jumped awake and tore free of Renji's arms before he realized where he was. He knelt on the bed, facing the surprised redhead, his heart racing and his chest heaving.

"Are you okay?" Renji asked, holding himself still, "It was a nightmare, ne?"

Byakuya nodded and released a steadying breath.

"I'm fine, really," he assured Renji as the red-haired captain moved closer and wrapped his arms around him.

Warm lips found his and red hair tickled his skin lightly as they exchanged several comforting kisses. Byakuya moved forward, spreading his thighs and settling onto Renji's lap, wrapping his legs around the redhead and making their awakening lengths touch.

"What was it about?" Renji asked between kisses.

"I was cold. It was winter and Emiko and I couldn't keep warm enough. And something bad happened. Something attacked us. I don't really remember much more."

"Well, it over," Renji whispered, kissing him and reaching down to encircle and caress him with a large, calloused hand, "You and Emiko are both fine."

"Something bad happened to you," Byakuya whispered, dropping his head onto Renji's shoulder and enjoying the motion of the redhead's hand on them.

"I'm not going to let anything bad happen," Renji assured him, brushing the hair off of his shoulder and nipping at the soft white flesh of his throat.

Byakuya sighed and moved his hips, deepening the pleasure of Renji's touches.

"I don't like feeling helpless…weak," he admitted, "and that place brings out all of my weaknesses until I can see nothing else."

Renji chuckled softly and kissed his frowning mouth until he couldn't help but kiss back with equal enthusiasm.

"Nothing about you is weak, Bya," he said, stopping to cup a hand around his cheek, "You know, I think I understand, though, why you feel that way. You see, when Captain Unohana examined you, she said that she was surprised to find that you have a full and very developed set of spirit centers."

"I…do?" Byakuya asked, blinking.

She could see them? But then, it is obvious that she is far more powerful than she appears to be. I just had no idea…but even with her power, she didn't recognize me.

"Yeah," said Renji, kissing him open-mouthed and sliding his hand down further his fingers seeking his lover's entrance and sliding inside him, "and I think that means that you really do have powers. You just can't use them right now. Something happened to you…that night when they found you in Inuzuri. Something or someone very powerful sealed your spirit centers. It was done in away that no shinigami could do it. Captain Unohana says that it may have been done in the spirit realm. And she doesn't know a way to restore them. But even so…it makes you a shinigami. And it means that there is hope that your spirit centers will be freed from the seal someday."

And if they are, it will be because of you…

Renji took a short breath.

"It also means that you belong here," Renji said, looking into his eyes, "…in the Seireitei. Bya, I'm going to ask you something, and I don't want you to answer right away. I know it is…fast. And I know that your instinct is not to depend on people. Before whatever happened to you, you were obviously a powerful person, so that feeling makes sense. I know how I would feel if something like that happened to me. But even so, you shouldn't make your own life harder by refusing to take comfort that offers itself to you. You and I have known each other for nearly a year. It's not like we haven't known all along where this was headed…and now that we've said the words, we should make things official. I want you to marry me. I want you and Emiko to come and live with me…here. And before you say that you don't want to depend on me…that you need do things on your own, realize that I'm not offering to save you. I'm offering you an equal partnership in life. Yes, you will depend on me for some things, but I will also depend on you. Each of us will contribute to the whole of our life together. And I'm not doing it to 'get you out of Inuzuri.' I'm offering this, because I love you and I sincerely want to share the rest of my life with you."

Byakuya kept his eyes locked on Renji's as he lifted his hips and slowly joined their bodies together, making a soft sound of discomfort and tightening his fingers on Renji's shoulders as his body calmed and relaxed. Renji fell silent, gazing back at him through hazy, affectionate red-brown eyes and wrapping one hand around Bya's soft bottom. Their lips devoured each other's as Byakuya rose and fell on Renji's heated length. The redhead's hips thrust upward and he moaned hungrily into his lover's open mouth, sucking in Byakuya's tongue and teasing it with his own.

"Bya," Renji whispered breathlessly, "I love you so much!"

Byakuya buried his face in the redhead's hair and throat, holding onto his shoulders tightly and closing his eyes as the pleasure slowly became overwhelmingly intense.

"I love you too," he whispered back.

Renji lowered him onto his back, kissing him ferociously and shaking his body with hard, grinding thrusts.

He's being less careful…being more himself. He was never so gentle as he was with Bya. I think he feared being too rough, but now he sees that he doesn't have to be. He can use his strength without fear of overwhelming me.

The redhead's mouth bit down harder and sucked on his flesh more deeply. His reiatsu flared, making a red glow rise around him. Byakuya ignored the feeling of suffocation that his body suffered, being in such close proximity to Renji's released strength.

Yes! Do not hold back. I want to feel the full strength of my lover!

He tore away from Renji and turned onto his hands and knees, gasping hard as Renji moved with him and took him roughly from behind. He raised his hips to meet the heavy thrust of Renji's hips and clenched his fingers in the riled sheets as the power flared hotly around them, licking painfully at his skin. A hard, passionate cry escaped him as the redhead's invading member found the center of pleasure inside him and struck it repeatedly until Byakuya's arms collapsed beneath him and he dropped heavily onto his stomach, hot seed erupting from his body in gripping, hard pulses.

Renji laid himself against Byakuya's back, lacing their fingers together and groaning in completion. Heat flared inside Byakuya and his head spun with the strain of bearing Renji's power being wrapped around him in such a way. His body hummed with life and pleasure so that he couldn't move, but he rested quietly beneath Renji, enjoying the touch of Renji's hot breath on his shoulder, the feeling of those strong fingers entangled with his, and the pleasure of their bodies still being joined as they slowly recovered.

"Yes," he breathed softly.

Renji caught his breath and his eyes widened. He started to pull away, but Byakuya tightened his fingers in Renji's, stopping him.. The redhead froze for a moment, then sighed happily and relaxed against Byakuya again. He pulled his lover's hair off of one pale shoulder and made a line of kisses up his throat to his ear.

"I'm going to assume," he whispered softly, "that you just agreed to marry me and to live with me here."

"You assume correctly," Byakuya whispered back.

Renji chuckled softly.

"I'm glad to see you've come to your senses," he said, licking his lover's earlobe.

"I have," Byakuya agreed, tilting his head to offer more flesh for the redhead's enjoyment, "but there is one condition."

"Hmmm…should I be worried?" Renji asked, attacking his throat with kisses.

"No," said Byakuya, sighing contentedly, "It is only that I want to continue teaching in Inuzuri."

Renji rested his face against Byakuya's for several minutes as he considered how to answer. Byakuya remained silent as well, waiting to see what Renji's response would be.

"It means a lot to you to help those kids, ne?" the redhead asked finally.

"Yes," Byakuya said softly, "I don't care about being paid. I just want to help them. They are all struggling so hard to stay alive. With the school in operation, they have a place to go where they can learn survival skills and things that will help them to find work later on, when they are old enough. And the ones who support the school also make sure that there is enough food for one good meal every day. Those things are important, Renji."

"Mhmm," the redhead agreed, "And I'm all for you doing that…but I have one condition of my own."

"Hmm?"

"When I'm not to occupied with my duties, I want to come and work with the kids on their kido skills."

Byakuya's lips spread into a lovely, unexpected smile.

"So you don't object to me staying on as a teacher there?" he asked, rubbing his cheek against Renji's.

"No, I have no objections. It's important work and it means something to you. So I am fine with it."

Renji lifted himself away and rolled onto his back, pulling Byakuya into his arms.

"So," said Byakuya, settling onto his shoulder, "When should we tell Emiko? When do you want to get married?"

He froze uncertainly as Renji caught his breath and squinted at him strangely.

"Renji…is everything all right?" Byakuya asked.

"Y-yeah," the redhead said, shaking his head, "It was nothing."

You are beginning to see me. The enchantment is weakening…

"And to answer your questions," Renji said, "the answer to both is the same. As soon as possible…"

His lips took Byakuya's hungrily.

"Today…now…"

"Now?" Byakuya whispered, hardly able to believe.

"Now," Renji affirmed, attacking his lips again, "Right now…"