Chapter 14: Red Rain
Orihime reached the top of the stairs and peered carefully down the hallway. She spotted the guarded iron door at the end of the hall and noticed several open doors between the posted guards and herself. She took a breath and walked boldly into the hallway, glancing in the open doors and selecting an empty office near the guards that she could pretend to clean. She felt the guards watching her as she entered the office and began to sweep the floor. She worked in the office for a time, before moving across the hall to another. She noticed the second time she appeared before them that they were still aware of her, but they seemed to have accepted her presence. This was confirmed when she heard them continue the conversation they had ceased with her arrival at the top of the stairs.
"I can't wait!" one said to the other, "I've got a date tonight…very hot."
"Wish I could say the same, but my wife might have a problem with that," the other complained.
"How much longer?" asked the first.
"Ten minutes. And they're doubling the guard after that. Some talk about someone trying to get in here. I don't know, though. I haven't heard a peep up here. Haven't seen anyone but that cutie from housekeeping. I wonder where they found her. If I wasn't married…"
"Like you'd let that stop you!"
"Shut up! That only happened once! I haven't even noticed another girl since…"
"Except for the hottie from housekeeping. You should go say hello to her."
"I said, shut up!"
Orihime sighed in frustration. Ten minutes was so little time! And after that, there would be guards inside too. That would make it pretty much impossible. Even these two were going to be difficult to get by.
"But Kuchiki taichou is depending on me. For some reason, he thought I could do this," she told herself firmly.
Had he known what she was about, Kuchiki Byakuya would have been dismayed at the broad interpretation of his words and surprised at the power in those words that managed to change the normally timid Inoue Orihime into the capable defender of justice who was working her way ever closer to his side. As it was, he was blissfully unaware…a gift to both his psyche and his pride, to be sure.
She considered her options carefully, then took another deep breath and stepped out into the hallway. As she left the room, she tripped and fell forward, landing in a heap in the middle of the hallway. She squealed sharply in pain and clutched her ankle.
"Ow!"
The reaction in the guards was instant. Both were at her side in a moment, falling all over each other to help her to her feet.
"Oh," she said, grimacing, "I think I need some ice!"
"I'll go get some from the kitchen," one of the guards offered.
He disappeared down the stairs, leaving her alone with the other. Painfully aware of the fact that she had only about four minutes left before the changing of the guard, Orihime thought quickly.
"Um…I dropped my bracelet in that room," she told the other guard, "Do you think you could get it for me?"
"No problem," he said, smiling widely.
He turned and stepped into the room and Orihime sent Tsubaki after him with little more than a thought. The fairy soared after the guard and a muffled cry sounded in the room. The door closed behind Tsubaki as he returned.
"Give me something difficult to do next time!" he scoffed, flitting about and pulling at her hair in annoyance.
Orihime squealed and swatted at him.
"Stop that!" she cried, "We have to save Kuchiki taichou before the guard changes!"
She turned toward the iron door and tried to open it. As expected, the door was locked. She ran back and dug through the unconscious guard's body until she found the key, then returned to the door and slipped the key into the lock. The lock released with a resounding click and Orihime opened the door. The room was dark inside, so she turned on the light, then stepped in, pulling the door closed behind her.
"Orihime!" said a surprised voice.
Orihime startled and gasped, then recovered slightly as Hanatorou appeared from behind a pillar.
"Everyone was worried about you!" Hanatorou exclaimed, "They thought you might have been captured."
"Oh…no, I wasn't captured," explained Orihime, "I just dressed as a servant and stayed out of sight. They didn't notice me at all!"
She stepped toward Kuchiki Byakuya. Hanatorou took her by the arm and pulled her back. Orihime stared as red mist rose out of the taichou's body and hovered in the air around him.
"Be careful!" Hanatorou warned her, "That mist is dangerous. Don't let it touch you. I was just trying to figure out how to get past it when you got here."
Orihime smiled.
"I think I know what to do. I can use my reject power."
She stepped forward and began to build up her spirit energy.
"I reject!" she cried.
There was a flare of light and an impact, but the red mist swelled dangerously and did not dissipate. Orihime stared at Hanatorou and the healer stared back in dismay. Footsteps sounded on the stairs outside the room. Orihime took a breath and thought carefully. She studied the mist for a moment, noticing how it seemed to rise out of six points on a circle around the unconscious taichou. Stepping forward again, she built up her spirit energy and this time, sent it through the six points on the circle. As she used her reject power again, one of the six points released with a sharp click. Voices sounded outside the door.
"Hurry!" Hanatorou said worriedly.
Orihime focused on the five remaining points and activated her reject power again. The second point released. The voices rose into shouts and a key clicked in the lock on the iron door. Orihime focused and rejected again and the third point released. Beneath the red mist, Kuchiki Byakuya stirred softly. She focused and rejected again as the lock on the door released. Another point was deactivated. The door began to open. Kuchiki Byakuya's eyes opened and blinked slowly. Orihime smiled down at him as she focused and rejected again, releasing the next point. Hanatorou stepped forward to meet the five guards who poured in through the door, weapons drawn.
"Wait!" he cried, holding his hands in plain view, someone released the seals and there is poisonous mist! Get back!"
The guards hesitated just long enough for Orihime to release the last point. As the red mist rose out of Byakuya's body and shimmered above him, the guards realized they had been tricked and moved forward. Hanatorou fell back. As the red mist faded away, Orihime and Hanatorou took hold of Byakuya and dragged him away from the door. Byakuya turned to Orihime, shaking his head to clear it. The guards closed in and more footsteps sounded outside the door.
"Inoue Orihime," he said softly, "I need you to release the seal on my spirit energy…quickly now!"
As the guards reached them, Orihime focused on Byakuya's wrists and rejected a last time. There was a flash of light that blinded everyone momentarily, giving Byakuya time to attack.
"Hado #31, Shakkahou!"
Red flame burst from his hands, sending the guards diving for cover. He released a volley of red fire around the room, pinning the guards down, then climbed to his feet. In front of them, the six Kuchiki Elders appeared one by one and faced Byakuya, raising their spirit energy until Hanatorou and Orihime fell to their knees, gasping. Byakuya stepped between them and the Elders, raising his own spirit energy. He spotted Senbonzakura off to one side of him, but dared not move away from the two he protected. He stared into the stern faces of the Kuchiki Elders.
"Byakuya," the head Elder said, stepping forward, "You cannot hope to escape us. The two who have come to your rescue are neutralized and we can combine our powers to defeat you. Don't force us to hurt you. Surrender."
"No," Byakuya said, "I have no intention of surrendering."
He knew a kido shield wouldn't be enough. He needed Senbonzakura. But…
The decision was made for him as the Elders released blasts of blue fire together. Byakuya started to raise a kido shield, but suddenly he realized the Orihime's shield had risen. He didn't wait to see if it would hold against the attack, but flash stepped to his weapon and took hold of it.
Orihime's shield took the hit, but shimmered fitfully, then shattered. Byakuya flash stepped back in front of them and released his weapon.
"Ban Kai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
To his dismay, six kido spells fired simultaneously, halting his release and sending glowing ropes that tried to wrap around him.
"I will ask you one last time to surrender," the head Elder said, "then we will be forced to attack you."
Byakuya twisted free of the crawling ropes and sent a heavy volley of red fire blasts around the room. When the dust cleared, the Elders stood unfazed. Byakuya's eyes widened and his breath released in a soft hiss.
"You see," the head Elder said sternly, "you cannot defeat us. And now you have put us in the position where we must attack you. We will kill you if we must, but Byakuya, we do not want that."
"No," Byakuya agreed softly, "You simply want to keep me unconscious because you cannot control me. And I would rather die than to allow that. Attack me then. I have nothing to lose."
"What about the two who helped you? Would you have them die for nothing?" the Elder asked quietly.
"I would have you let them leave," Byakuya said, holding his weapon ready, "There is nothing you would gain by harming them. Let them go."
The head Elder shook his head.
"They helped you to break free. They are co-conspirators. They will share in your fate. I will be generous now and allow you one more chance to surrender. What will you do, Kuchiki Byakuya?"
Byakuya never got the opportunity to answer. Before he could, the wall behind him exploded into splinters and Renji's skeletal snake burst into the room.
"Grab on!" ordered Byakuya.
Byakuya, Hanatorou and Orihime caught hold of the snake's head and were pulled back out through the hole where the wall used to be. As it retreated, the snake sent a huge blast of red flame into the room, forcing the Elders to shield and giving the three time to break free of the room.
The snake carried them down from the building and deposited them gently at Renji's side. Before they could even exchange a word of greeting, the Elders flash stepped into the space in front of them. They suddenly found themselves forced to shield as attacks rained down on them from all around.
Ichigo sent a blaze of spirit energy blasting through them, forcing the six Elders back against the building. Yoruichi's lightning flashed all around them. The air around them grew frosted and cold as Rukia's attack surrounded one of the Elders, trapping him in a column of ice. He broke free a moment later, shattering the ice and stepping forward to attack again. Uryu's sea of arrows flew at the Elders, sending them diving for cover. Chad's blaze of power struck one Elder squarely, sending him crashing to the ground, unconscious. The others closed around their fallen comrade as Renji's skeletal snake pounded them with red fire.
Byakuya raised Senbonzakura, preparing to release his zanpakutou, but as he gathered his spirit energy, a sick feeling of vertigo passed through him. He realized that his confinement within the red mist prison had drained him. He managed to activate his Ban Kai, but used it only to defend Hanatorou and Orihime as the battle raged around them.
Another Elder fell, pierced by several of Uryu's arrows…then another, sent tumbling by Ichigo's Ban Kai. Two of the remaining Elders drew the fire of the rescue force, while the head Elder turned, and with a glare, sent a huge blast of spirit energy directly at Byakuya.
He knew that because of his reduced power, even the petal shield of his Ban Kai would not be strong enough. He shoved Hanatorou and Orihime, sending them tumbling away, out of the line of fire as the attack descended on him. It had almost reached him when Renji's skeletal snake wrapped around him protectively.
But if the skeletal snake was protecting him, then…
A heavy blast shook the snake and the ground beneath Byakuya's feet. He heard a cry of pain and suddenly, the skeletal snake shattered. Byakuya gasped in dismay. His power bolstered by sudden desperation, he raised his Senkei around the head Elder and himself, shutting them off from the rest of the fighting. His eyes blazing with unrestrained fury, he called two of the pink swords to his hands and flash stepped forward. Bringing up his weapons, Byakuya threw himself onto the head Elder, the blinding speed of the attack taking the Elder by surprise. Byakuya buried Senbonzakura's blades deep in the Elder's body, then stared into his eyes and collapsed the Senkei, driving the rest of the swords through his body in one final fierce attack. The furious face before him twisted in pain and then the head Elder sank to his knees. As he fell, he gripped one of Senbonzakura's pink blades and sent a last fiery attack directly through the katana and into Byakuya's body. Senbonzakura shook violently and shattered in his hand. The attack tore through the noble, taking him off his feet and sending him forcefully to the ground. He caught a glimpse of red hair, drenched in blood, then everything seemed to go silent and surreal around him. He struggled madly to remain conscious, crawling to his hands and knees in a desperate attempt to reach his fukutaichou, but the darkness began to close in on him. He managed to cry out to Orihime…to bring her to Renji's side, then he leaned over the fallen fukutaichou, his head lowered and his chest heaving.
Renji wasn't breathing.
That shattering fact kept Byakuya from falling the rest of the way to the ground. His eyes met Orihime's guardedly as the fighting ceased and the others gathered around them. Hanatorou joined Orihime at Renji's side. The pained look on his face as he leaned over Renji told Byakuya all he needed to know. He turned to Orihime, his normally stoic eyes stricken.
"Inoue Orihime, I told you that the time would come in which you would be the only one who could help me. That time is now. Look at Hanatorou…he knows the truth of it. Abarai Renji is beyond his ability to heal. But you have a power that can heal him. Orihime, you have a power that can defy death."
He looked into her widened eyes, his expression softening in a way she had never witnessed before.
"I cannot lose Renji like this. Neither can I heal him. Orihime, please do not let Abarai Renji die."
Orihime nodded silently, her face pale, but her eyes focused and determined. She turned and leaned over Renji, the light of her power forming around him like a warm golden coverlet. Byakuya knelt silently beside her, his expression calm and intense, his eyes fastened on Renji's unmoving form. Across from them, Ichigo and Rukia dropped to their knees next to Renji. Ichigo's eyes settled first on his fallen friend, then rose to take in the bowed head of the noble. Byakuya did not look up and Ichigo startled slightly when he suddenly spoke.
"You were right, Ichigo," he admitted softly, "You were right from the beginning. I understood, both the power of the Elders and the path my fukutaichou would take to defend me. I am responsible for this."
Ichigo stared in silence for a long moment.
"Don't blame yourself," he said finally, drawing Byakuya's eyes to meet his, "Abarai Renji is stubborn…and even before he fought against you to protect Rukia, he admitted to me that he had stopped hating you. Even though he had to raise his sword to stop you, he didn't want to have to turn on you. He was forced to do that. After you saved Rukia, he forgave you for not defending her when she was sentenced to die. And even before you told him how you felt, he was already falling for you. What do you think made him stay with you in the healing center for all of that time?"
Byakuya blinked slowly as realization settled over him. And inside he felt almost foolish for not recognizing it before.
"Renji does what he wants," Ichigo went on, "You couldn't have stopped him from defending you, not even by turning your back on him."
Byakuya nodded in acceptance. His next words to Ichigo were delivered in a calm, composed tone.
"Arigato, Kurosaki Ichigo. I needed to hear that."
It was a difficult admission that he would have been loathe to make in front of Renji's friends before. But Kuchiki Byakuya was one who valued loyalty, both Renji's loyalty to him, and the others' loyalty to his red haired fukutaichou.
And that seemingly small gesture opened a pathway between the Gotei 13 taichou and the others that hadn't existed before. Even though he wouldn't allow himself to betray it to them, Kuchiki Byakuya had no choice but to be honest with himself. There was something there that hadn't been there before. He refused to define it, but he felt the warmth of it just the same.
Orihime leaned forward, intensifying her power. Beneath the golden light, Abarai Renji took a slow, deep breath and opened his eyes. They moved slowly from one person to the next until they found the calm dark eyes of Kuchiki Byakuya. And there they rested, smiling, tired and touched with golden light.
Orihime sat back slowly and the golden power around Renji faded. She turned to Byakuya, her eyes curious.
"So this is what you meant when you said you would need my help?" she asked, "I thought that…"
Byakuya's brow furrowed thoughtfully.
"It was one of a few possibilities. But Orihime, if you didn't know that, what was it that you thought I meant?"
Orihime's explanation of just how she had interpreted his words treated Kuchiki Byakuya to one of the most humbling moments of his life…and as he considered the myriad of ways her actions could have ended in disaster, he had to also count it as one of the most frightening. He was suddenly quite relieved to have been unconscious.
"Taichou," Renji said softly, bringing Byakuya's eyes back to his, "You're hurt."
Byakuya stared at him in calm amusement.
"You're worried about me?" he asked softly, "Abarai Renji, I am not the one who just nearly died. Lie still, now. You need to rest."