Chapter 14: Demons
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(My thanks going out to Sophia87871661 (Thanks so much!), PrivateCaller (Willl do!), Willow (More is coming soon!), Picklez80 (No, you're the best!), TehWonderer (It's Kenny's birthday month, so this should get multiple updates!), Winterheart2000 (You've got it!), PleiadesWolf (Ooh, you're paying attention! And smart too!), TMP3475 (Oh, I think Kenny might interfere with that demon's plans...), Sariniste (Yup, and more excitement to come! Sorry about the long wait. But since it's Kenny's birthday month and he's a major character here, there will be more updates on this one.), Hisuiryuu (Aww, don't worry! Kenny and Ichigo aren't about to let anyone do in their families. I wouldn't want to be a demon named Adauchi right now! lol), SesshomaruFreak (I also enjoy well drafted OCs that fit well into the Bleach world. Balanced characters that are strong, but have some sensible weakness and characters that have good backstory interest me. Oddly enough, I created Tetsuya for Bearers of the New King as a character who was going to die. But the response from readers was so intense, I couldn't go through with it and he ended up growing into a well rounded character. I also love Shima-taicho31's Kuri and family because they bring something new and different to the storyscape, so I use them frequently too. It gives stories fresh flavors.), Yukino76 (You are most welcome!), and MsKurumi (Oh, Kenny will have a word with stubborn Bya after a really intense battle with Adauchi. Ah, and Ichigo will have to make a quick decision about what to do as far as the royal realm...) Happy reading! Love to all, Spunky)
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Ichigo's eyes narrowed and he glared at Aizen meaningfully.
"You don't think I'm really stupid enough to just give you a free pass into the royal realm," he snapped angrily, "After everyone fought so hard to keep you out of there? You want me to just let you waltz right in? And besides, what makes you think that you could? You don't have your powers right now, so you can't use an illusion to try to pass through."
"I don't expect any shinigami power would fool the protections on the archive," Aizen theorized, "although Squad Zero and Central 46 seemed spooked enough that they threw me back in Muken, even knowing my transcendent powers were gone."
"Yeah, that took me by surprise too," Ichigo admitted reluctantly, "cause I'd heard that the reason you were kept in Muken is because they couldn't stop your heart, so there was no way to execute you."
"That is the accepted criteria," Aizen agreed, "It is curious that they chose to place me back there, even in my normal shinigami state. Almost as if they were so spooked by me that their fears overcame their reasoning."
"I can kinda understand that," Ichigo said, giving the Daishima heir a little smile, "I was scared of you."
"I have that effect on people, mostly because I am unpredictable to most. Only very sharp minds, like Urahara Kisuke's, for example, can hope to anticipate me. You are somewhat unpredictable, yourself. Who would have thought that you would allow yourself to be used to make children with a devil like me. I understand the reasons you chose to do that now, but it still leaves me curious about you."
"Let's not get off the subject," Ichigo said sternly, "I'm not letting you into the royal realm."
"Let me ask you something," Aizen said smoothly, "What makes you think that in my present weakened form and lacking royal blood, that I could enter the royal realm? I mean, if you think that the only way I could get in is with a trick, then what trick do you think I have up my sleeve?"
Ichigo paused, thinking for a moment, then he took a steadying breath.
"I don't know," he confessed more softly, "It's just this weird feeling I have. I don't know why I have it. I just feel in my heart that there's something about you. You were able to defy a lot of other rules. And plus…"
Ichigo trailed off, shaking his head and frowning. Aizen moved closer and curled an arm around him.
"And what?" he asked patiently.
Ichigo closed his eyes against the flicker in his chest and stomach at just the thought of admitting what he felt sure was driving his fear.
"When…when we were in that room, you know, the one where we…"
"Where we made the children?" Aizen supplied.
"Yeah," Ichigo answered, blushing at the memory of their spirited coitus, "when we were in there, it was like…that presence knew you and accepted you without thought."
"I am the Daishima heir."
"Yeah," Ichigo agreed, "you are. Thing is, even when Byakuya explained to us what that meant, it felt like it wasn't the whole story. In fact, he as much as admitted it wasn't the whole story. He called the Daishima clan a secret clan. That means that there was a lot other clans didn't know about them. They were involved in the process of choosing the new king."
"Yes," Aizen agreed, "they were. I was thinking about that. It makes sense that the process was kept secret, but…it follows that there must be a way that the information could be passed on in a case where something like our situation happened, where there was no one left alive to tell the story."
Aizen paused, thinking carefully.
"You remember the voice that spoke to us?" he asked.
"Yeah, I do."
"That voice had to come from somewhere. And since the Daishima clan was involved in the process of choosing the new king, I wondered if that voice could have been the voice of the prism."
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"What's the matter, Kenpachi?" the demon in front of the eleventh division taichou teased, "You aren't attacking. Why are you hesitating? I thought you loved fighting."
"I do," the big man answered, looking down at his sword, "and Nozarashi here is aching to taste your blood. He said something interesting too."
"Oh? What was that?"
Kenpachi grinned.
"Why don't you try cutting me with your claws and find out?" he urged the grinning demon.
"A delectable challenge," the demon laughed, "Doesn't what I said before concern you at all? Or do you lack the brainpower to understand that if you kill me, you will also kill Byakuya and your child?"
"Oh, there's nothing wrong with my ears or my head," Kenpachi answered, raising his blade and tilting it slightly.
"You have an actual plan, then?" the demon inquired, looking amused, "I can't see how attacking me can work in your favor. Please, educate me."
"I have every intention of doing that," Kenpachi growled, his reiatsu glowing around him, "See, I'll even tell you before I slice you up, because I figure after will be too late, right?"
The demon glowered at him and gave no reply.
"See, you're a demon."
"I am aware of that," Adauchi said dryly, "Please don't bore me with the obvious. Get to the point."
"You want the point," Kenpachi drawled, "I'm getting to that."
"Well, hurry. I have things to do."
"Things to do?" Kenpachi repeated, "You mean, like dying? Cause, you're about to die. You just don't know it yet."
"And how are you, a shinigami, going to kill me?" the demon asked condescendingly.
"I'm not gonna be a shinigami in a minute," Kenpachi explained.
"Ah," the demon mused, "You mean, you're going to use your bankai. I have seen it."
"Then, you know."
"It gives you a demon form," Adauchi acknowledged, "I begin to see."
"Yeah," Kenpachi said, nodding, "See, I figure that demons are kinda like pack creatures."
"Hmm, barbaric, but it makes a sort of sense."
"You put reiatsu in Byakuya and the baby that marks them like they're yours."
"They are mine," Adauchi said in a warning tone.
"Maybe for now," Kenpachi agreed, "But, what you told me suggests there are rules. Rules that even you have to follow. If you mark them, they belong to you. But…it follows under pack law that if I defeat you in battle, then what belonged to you, belongs to me, right?"
Adauchi gave him a derisive look.
"That is something you are never going to know, because you are going to die before you can learn it!"
"I don't think so," Kenpachi snarled, his eyes glowing and his sword rising.
"What? No first slash to draw some blood before you get serious?"
"You threatened my mate and my kid," Kenpachi roared, his reiatsu exploding around him, "I'm gonna fucking destroy you!"
"You…!"
"BANKAI!"
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Ichigo looked back at Aizen's face carefully, searching for signs of deception.
"You really think that could have been the voice of the prism?" he mused, "But Byakuya said that the regent has the prism. How could it speak to you if…?"
"You are familiar with Kuchiki Tetsuya's attachment to his stallion, Arashi, ne?" Aizen asked.
"Uh, yeah," Ichigo confirmed, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck thoughtfully, "He told me about it."
"And you know that he can exchange thoughts with Arashi, even at great distances. In fact, very little is known to disrupt their connection to the point where they cannot communicate with each other."
"Yeah, that's true," Ichigo affirmed, "but I also know that Arashi is a part of Tetsuya. They're parts of one soul that separated because Tetsuya's body was too weakened by the torments of the noble's prison to house the power that he wields. That's how Kisuke explained it, anyway."
"That's all right," Aizen said, nodding, "because if you think about what the king's prism is, then it makes sense that it might be able to communicate with the Daishima heirs, who was most intimately connected to the choosing of the king."
Ichigo frowned.
"But if that's all true, then why hasn't anyone asked the prism to talk to you about identifying a new king?" he asked, "They don't trust you, so I guess that could be it. Maybe they are banking on one of these kids you're having to be…"
"A better choice than me," Aizen finished, "however…"
He broke off as a tapping sounded on their chamber door.
"Come in," Ichigo answered.
The door opened and Kuchiki Tetsuya entered the room, followed by Shima Kurushimi. The Shima leader gave Aizen a wary glance, but remained silent.
"Ichigo-sama," Tetsuya said solemnly, "I came to inform you that Urahara Kisuke has sent several texts he found that made mention of the Daishima family."
"Oh, thanks," Ichigo replied, accepting the books, "Is there any word on Byakuya?"
Tetsuya's face fell.
"Not yet," he said sadly, "He is keeping Byakuya-sama under a powerful sleep kido and he is guarded carefully while Kisuke continues to try to help him. He was able to isolate and remove the demon reiatsu, but my cousin's own reiatsu was changed by it, so…there are complications."
"You think that Kuchiki taichou will become a demon," Aizen concluded.
"That is Urahara-san's estimation," Tetsuya confessed, lowering his eyes, "He is consulting all of the sources available to him, but…"
"But again," Aizen said, frowning, "they are forgetting the obvious."
"And that is?" Tetsuya asked, looking at Aizen with a darkly curious expression.
"The spirit demons are creatures of the royal realm. If you want to have any hope of curing Byakuya completely, then it is there that we must look for answers."
"Squad Zero has already refused all of us entrance into the royal realm," Tetsuya said anxiously, "They said that there is nothing they can add to what we already know."
Tetsuya paused, his hands clenching. Kuri laid a hand on his fiance's shoulder.
"Tetsu-hana…" he said warningly.
"They as much as said that they think we should just kill Byakuya-sama now!"
"The bastardos would just rather let him die than to let us in to look for that cure!" Kuri snapped.
"I get that for the protection of the king, we're not supposed to go in there," Ichigo said in a low, furious tone, "but I don't get how they can think of just throwing away the leader of the greatest of the clans! That's bullshit!"
"They are afraid of something," Aizen deduced, "They are terrified of the idea of letting any of us in. Why, I wonder? What are they hiding?"
"I don't know what they're hiding," Tetsuya said, his reiatsu darkening, "but I will not stand by and let my cousin die!"
"But, what can you do, Tetsu-hana?" Kuri asked sadly, "Byakurai is the only one of your family who can open that door. Unless he dies or…"
"Or unless he is replaced by a vote of the elder's council," Tetsuya said determinedly.
"What are you thinking, Kuchiki Tetsuya?" Aizen asked.
"I am thinking that I can go before the council to be granted interim leadership. Assuming that we may need to euthanize our leader, and that he is incapacitated, it falls within the rules for an approved family member to be granted interim leadership."
Kuri's eyes widened.
"Is that allowed?" Ichigo asked.
"It is," Kuri assured him, "But it is risky, is it not, Tetsu-hana?" the Shima leader posited, "After all, if the elders agree that an interim leader is needed, but you fail to be approved, then another could be approved instead of you. You know that your devil cousins, Orochi and Sasune are both in line for something like that…"
"And you know that Byakuya-sama still has enough influence on the elders that the majority will respect his wishes as set in his contingency plans. I can do this."
"I think Tetsuya is right," Aizen said firmly, "He should go and try to win approval to lead. That will allow him to enter through the interior door and gain access to the king's library. I am certain that the answers we all need are there. You should go now, and I would strongly suggest that you take Shima Kurushimi with you as protection. Someone may have thought of this. You have already been targeted once, Tetsuya."
"He is right," Kuri agreed.
"But…Kuri and I were the only ones here, standing guard," Tetsuya objected, "I do not feel comfortable entrusting your safety to anyone else on the regular house staff. The hatred over Aizen Sousuke's past crimes runs deep."
"Understandably," Aizen acknowledged.
"I can take care of Sousuke," Ichigo assured the other two men, "You two should go and see the council. We're safe in here. Nothing's gonna happen to us."
"Come," Kuri urged Tetsuya, "You know he is right. They are safe in the archive and Byakurai needs us."
"Very well," Tetsuya said, meeting Ichigo's eyes meaningfully, "Be careful, Ichigo. I know just how determined these enemies are to end the Daishima line. Do not leave the archive, not for any reason."
"We won't," Ichigo promised.
Aizen and Ichigo watched silently as the other two men left, then Ichigo turned to his darker mate, studying him carefully.
"You really wanted them to leave," he observed, "but I don't think it had as much to do with Tetsuya becoming interim leader as you being up to something. What're you up to?"
Aizen gave him a charismatic smile.
"Nothing escapes you," he said appreciatively, curving a warm palm around Ichigo's blushing cheek, "Yes, I wanted them to leave. I think that you and I should try, while they are gone, to pass through that doorway."
"And what exactly makes you think we can?" Ichigo countered.
"I honestly don't know," Aizen admitted, "but it will not hurt anything if we attempt this, ne? If we can't get in, then we wait for the others as planned, but if we can, then we can find the information on the demons and on the Daishima family that is crucial right now. What do you think, Ichigo?
Ichigo closed his eyes, breathing slowly and considering their options.
"Well," he said, after some thought, "I still think we won't be able to get in, but you know, it's bugging me that Squad Zero and Central 46 are acting so weird about this. There's also a wacko out to kill you and we have no idea why they're going to these lengths. I think you're right that the answers are in there and the longer we wait, the more danger we're all in. So, yeah, let's give it a try."
Aizen's lips curled into a devilish smile and he followed Ichigo out of the bedroom, through the archive and to the golden door at the very back. Ichigo took a steadying breath.
"Go on," he urged Aizen, "Give it a try."
Aizen studied him for a moment and shook his head gently. Ichigo looked back at him questioningly.
"I thought…?"
"Together," Aizen said, extending a hand, "Now, Ichigo."
His heart in his throat, Ichigo extended a hand and together the two men touched their palms to the golden door. For a moment, the archive went silent and the men breathless. Then, their eyes rounded in surprise as golden light flared around them and the door to the royal realm opened.