Chapter 21-
The time has come. Two captains opened the cell door and informed him it was time for his execution. Soi Fon and Shunsui handed Byakuya a pair of white pants and told him to change into them. It really has been a while since an execution by beheading has happened. Byakuya completely forgot he was required to change so as to not bloody much and 'disgrace' himself further.
Soon he was changed and his hair was tied for him into a formal, noble bun by Soi Fon, the long tips of the silky locks cascading to cover the bun and rest just short of the nape of his neck. He knew it was so as to not cut his hair when the blades severed his flesh. He sighed as they each flanked him and began to walk; he didn't understand why captains were escorting him instead of a part of the execution squad, so he asked. The answer was heartwarming in a way.
"We didn't want to disgrace you anymore by having lowly shinigami escort you." Shunsui answered and the rest of the walk to the execution site was in silence.
Though Byakuya couldn't help his heart sinking as he was lead to Sōkyoku Hill to a make shift platform of elegantly carved wood and plated metal. Well at least he would be leaving in style, he thought dryly. Senbonzakura was silent though the blade could be seen resting, sealed, in a holder next to the execution squad members. He sucked in a deep breath as he realized that he was here, at his death site. He was lead up to kneel on the platform; he glanced fleetingly at Senbonzakura but knew he was too weak to do anything even with his sword so near. All he could do was wait for the moment when he would be beheaded.
The pants he had changed into were comfortable at least, though they hung low enough to show the marks of Ichigo's and his mating, even the ones on the hips and shoulder since he had no shirt. Gathered at the base of the large platform were the remaining captains and lieutenants, who were not being held in cells at the moment. He was grateful that neither Rukia nor Renji would be there to see this, nor were any of the Visords, he didn't think he could handle it if he saw their sad faces just like the rest of those gathered, where they stood with very sad expressions. A group of the execution squad stood behind Byakuya at the ready with twin blades that haven't been seen in a quiet a while. The blessed and holy swords were forged and designed to allow a spiritual being to directly return to the cycle of rebirth, instead of waiting in the perpetual limbo some from Soul Society seemed to be ensnared in at times.
"Byakuya Kuchiki, the time is nearing. Do you have any last requests?" Sou-Taicho asked the noble quiet and sadly.
"I do. I request Ichigo be left alone in the World of the Living. He will be grief stricken; there is no reason to go after him especially for something he knew nothing about. Yamamoto-san swear to me he will be left alone, and do not do so just to help me feel at peace. I am peaceful enough." Byakuya's eyes met Sou-Taicho's and held them with a piercing gaze not even Yamamoto could lie to.
"Yes, Kuchiki- Taicho, I swear. The Gotei 13 will not pursue Ichigo Kurosaki." Yamamoto said with honesty.
"Thank you." Byakuya gave a loud sigh and glanced around at the people over the years he considered friends, gathered around. He felt compelled to help them feel at ease with the situation.
"I know you all would not be doing this if it were not for a grave reason. And even if I know not what that reason may be, I do not hold what has happened to me against any of you. I knew exactly what I was getting myself into when I decided to kindle a love between Ichigo and I. Though to contrary to belief we, Gotei 13, do learn from our wrong doings; and we did learn from Rukia's failed execution. So I will die with my pride and honor, I will pass with love in my heart, and thoughts of good times with my friends. I am proud to have served the Soul society. Thank you... my friends." Byakuya gave them all a rare, small smile.
Unohanna's lip was slightly trembling as she kept the tears at bay, she has seen this young man grow and even though she was heartless a one point in her life, her heart has softened. She cares for this young man everyone thought was emotionless, oh how wrong they had been, and here he was calling them friends. The Byakuya of before would have spoken no words, it is a testament of how much he has grown and changed. Isane, Nanao, and Rangiku- which was allowed to be present as long as she would not try to aid Byakuya- were all looking to the ground while tears pooled in their eyes.
They didn't know Byakuya, well at all, but they could see a good, honest man with love in his heart when they saw one. His words weighed with sincerity and it burned their hearts to know that a friend of theirs was going to hurt at the end of this. Soi Fon freely let tears run down her face silently as she watched Byakuya. Though they never publicly were in each other's presence the two normally stoic people had a friendship. The young girl going to him one day for advice of keeping up a mask early on when Yoruichi first left, while the other had let a small smirk pull at his lips and there was the start of an odd union of friends. The noble's heart swelled at the tears from his dear, secret friend. The rest of the group looked away with pained expressions; Juushiro's face buried into Shunsui's shoulder. Kenpachi having to hold Yachiru close, Shuhei holding Kira tightly as the blond looked away, Toshiro rubbed Rangiku's shoulder soothingly trying to calm her down.
"BYAKUYA!"
"Bya-nii!" twin voices yelled from behind the group of captains and lieutenants. The Gotei 13's high officer's attention turning behind them immediately, three people came into view quickly.
"Karin?" Toshiro asked confused as he saw the black haired girl stop just beside her twin.
"And Yuzu?" Shunsui asked at brown haired girl, assuming that's who it was from stories he had heard from Ichigo. The conclusion coming easy at seeing the other two Kurosaki siblings all three with the same determined yet anxious look to them.
"Ichigo," Byakuya breathed his mate's name. The relief was clear in his voice even if he had just said he was alright with the situation. He was ecstatic to see his mate there to rescue him and he was ready to jump into his arms and be taken home. Damn beta instincts.
"Kurosaki, do not interfere. Byakuya Kuchiki will be executed; it is for the sake of the world." Sou-Taicho's word betrayed his feelings.
"Which Kurosaki?"
"And which world?" the twins sneered at the Gotei 13. Though it wasn't in Yuzu's nature to get snappy and volatile, she was still a Kurosaki which meant her temper could be just as bad as the rest of her family.
"The hell with your world. It's those ignorant bastards down in their hall with a stick shoved up their asses forcing this. I know all about them and how they make all the shitty rules around here. I'll be damned if I let you kill my mate." Ichigo hissed, stepping forward pulling Zangetsu from his back. Karin and Yuzu did the same with their zanpakuto and stepping with their brother.
"So be it then. All captains and lieutenants present stop Ichigo Kurosaki, and his sisters. Execution squad, begin the ceremony."
The squad of executioners started the minute long ceremony, while the reluctant captains and lieutenants charged at the Kurosaki children. How they managed to move that quickly to an order they did not want to follow was beyond them. But they did slow their shunpo as to give the group time to form a counter attack.
"Ichi-nii we can hold them all for four seconds, but that's all the time you have before some slip away from us okay?" Karin told him quickly. He allowed the twins to move in front of him and readied the fastest shunpo he could, waiting to shift into Bankai until the last second for the fastest momentum possible.
"Thanks Karin, Yuzu." The twins looked back at him with smiles before they turned back around just in time to release their swords.
"Bankai, Repel those before you, and protect those behind *Ten no hogo shīrudo"
"Bankai, Attack for the shield who protects *Shīrudo- yō no kami no kōgeki"
Reiatsu swirled around the twins, their Bankai's activated. Karin stood with two deep blue colored long, thick whips curled around her feet; gold ribbons swirling within the blue like slithering snakes. The whips moved on their own and reared up behind Karin at the impending threat, not yet reacting, waiting for which command their master would give them. Yuzu was sitting atop a silver floating gelatin looking liquid, the thick mercury colored liquid moved in agitation in response to Yuzu's temperament. The slippery looking liquid ready to protect the siblings with a single thought from Yuzu.
The group of captains and lieutenants were taken by complete surprise that the two younger Kurosaki's had mastered Bankai but were too close to the small group to stop their charge and assess things. If they had they would have known to not get any closer.
"Ten no hogo shīrudo, tsutsumu*" The young girl's sweet voice rung out, moving her hand in mimicry of Byakuya's hand movements to control Senbonzakura, then closing it in a tight fist. The silver liquid shot out from underneath the girl, a small bit slipping away last to allow her to land safely on the ground, and the nearest warriors were caught in the large silver bubble.
The shinigami caught within the encasing liquid looked at it in varying levels of amazement. They found that it was hard to break out of if only one attempted; they knew this technique was not meant to harm those inside, but keep them in place and protect them from threat from the outside. They allowed themselves to stay there for as long as needed, but 4 seconds was all that was allowed to them according to the girls.
Unohanna, Toshiro, Juushiro, Nanao, and Rangiku managed to escape the sliver Bankai, only to be caught in blue, gold coiling whips.
"Shīrudo-yō no shime, no kōgeki*" One of the thick whips split into enough ends to wrap around each person at lightning speed and the other whip wrapped around them all holding them in a tight bunch.
"Karin!" Toshiro cried out in pain as the whip squeezed his body the more he struggled. The whips had python mentality, in the sense that the more one struggled against them the tighter they squeezed. They were beautiful and moved with a mind of their own, coiling and uncoiling just a bit as they could sense genuine pain in those they held. They knew their goal was to restrain, not harm. Those held could even feel the whips pulsing with life, though they imagined it was Karin's wild and strong reiatsu and zanpakuto causing the sensation.
"Ichi-nii, go!" Karin called, as the panicked Toshiro and Nanao struggled in the whips grip, the ends tightening tighter around them, trying to ignore Toshiro's pained voice.
Rangiku, Restu and Juushiro were all just fine; they let the whips support their body weight as they waited there patiently. They didn't struggle, seeing as they didn't want to follow the order in the first place and were content to wait for Karin to decide and release them.
"Bankai." And with that Ichigo shunpo'ed directly for Byakuya.
He almost reached him, almost. He even shifted his sword to be able to scoop Byakuya into his arms and retreat, when Sou-Taicho gripped the back of his shihakushō and Bankai kimono. The old man yanking back so hard that he ripped the top half of them clean off and tossed Ichigo back far enough to exchange blows.
Ichigo steadied himself and angrily charged Sou-Taicho at top speed; even the captain commander had to concentrate in order to follow the man's movements. With all his enormous reiatsu, he was practically invisible to lieutenants and only a blur to captains with his increased shunpo speed. The execution ceremony was half way finished, the executioners having to do elaborate moves with the swords, no one was paying attention to, while another man chanted. Blessing the passage of the soul into the cycle of rebirth and flicking a few drops of water from the Soul King's palace on the blades. In those very few seconds Ichigo and Sou-Taicho dealt each other serious blows, the captain commander's haori fell to the ground and a large gash appeared on his chest. A deep wound blossomed on Ichigo's thigh as Sou-Taicho swung his blade, not moving even into Shikai for fear of harming the young man.
But when Ichigo's blade cut a little too close to his throat, cutting away his beard, Sou-Taicho flared his reiatsu in anger. Did the child know how long he had grown and maintained his beard? Almost 500 years! The air suddenly turned dry with Yamamoto's reiatsu filling it, the area around him and Ichigo growing heated.
The captains had released themselves, as did the lieutenants, though Karin's and Yuzu's abilities weakened with the flare of enormous reiatsu from Sou-Taicho. They were watching now- seeing as the one they were supposed to keep at bay was already past them- and their jaws hung a bit at what they saw splayed neatly on bare, tan skin. Karin and Yuzu staring at their brother in wonder as they saw something very unique on his body.
Even the execution squad, who had finished their ceremony, had paused and were now staring at Ichigo. Ichigo looked around, because he had seen Sou-Taicho staring at him, and found everyone else gathered was doing the same. He was agitated and now he was the center of everyone's undivided attention, making him even more snappish.
"What the hell are you staring at?" The orangette bit out the harsh question and at the same time snapping the execution squad from the trace they had fallen into, the two men raised the 'blessed' swords and waited the last few seconds for the final words to be spoken.
"Ichigo, I finally got to see your mark." Byakuya gave him a joy filled smile even as death was hanging over his head. A tear slid down his milky pale cheek and even as he could feel the presence of the swords ready to bare down on his neck, joy overcame the sadness in his eyes. Ichigo looked down at his body quickly in confusion and saw what everyone was staring at.
Starting at the bottom of his right hip a trail about a hand width wide crossed over his abs, only to wrap around his back. It covered the lower part of his left side ribs and skimmed over the rest of his back to come back and wrap around the right side of his body, the trail turning thinner the higher along Ichigo's body it crept. The curvy trail continued its way over Ichigo's body, swirling onto the bottom part of his left pectoral, thinning out to about an inch thick now, curving along his left shoulder onto his neck and ending in a thin, pen sized writing, swirl just before disappearing into his hair line. The trail was comprised of what looked like a flurry of cherry blossoms.
The light having caught him just right and with all the high reiatsu in the air the mark looking like Senbonzakura danced on Ichigo's body, stating Byakuya's claim on Ichigo's body indefinitely. The peppered, reflective skin did Senbonzakura and Byakuya justice as the beauty of it caught everyone's breath. Ichigo looked back up to see Byakuya's bright smile even as the blades came down to be a few inches away from Byakuya's neck.
"NO!" Ichigo's cry was shrill in everyone's ears and he jerked his head down with the force of it, knowing he wouldn't make it to Byakuya in time to save him. With the blades less than five inches from his neck and Ichigo more than 100 yards away with Sou-Taicho in his path, his mind resigned itself to the death of his mate, and his mental state plummeting immediately. Everyone looking away from Byakuya's form on the makeshift altar.
Everything seemed to slow as the sound of blades piercing flesh was heard and the sickening sound of the slurp of blood. The following sound of a body hitting the ground had tears immediately spilling from a few pairs of eyes...
But Byakuya's pain filled screech had everyone looking back towards him, everyone but Ichigo. Both of the blades were embedded in each of Byakuya's shoulders. Blood ran in rivulets down his back and arms, pooling at his hands on the floor as he tried to steady himself. He wouldn't have screamed had he expected the blow, but tears teemed in his eyes, from relief and pain. Pain is good, pain means he is alive, and being alive mean he will be with Ichigo.
Two dark navy blue and gold whips wrapped tightly around the ankles of the two executioners, one lay on the floor while the other dangled in the air. They had been yanked just as the blades were coming down and everyone had turned away so instead of hitting the mark and slicing Byakuya's head clean off, they were now in his the flesh in between his shoulders. His lungs were most likely punctured but his heart was safe and it would take time for him to die by drowning in his own blood. Karin huffed her breath and adrenaline pumped through her veins, the bit of fear at not making it left her as she clearly saw Byakuya alive, in pain, but alive. She would make someone heal him if it was the last thing she did.
Though she wasn't the only one that acted, Yuzu had Ten no hogo shīrudo wrap around Byakuya's neck in an impenetrable shield to protect the man from beheading. Though the poor younger twin was weakened and on the verge of passing out, her shield would only have slowed the blades and cause Byakuya more pain and death as his neck would have been severed part way.
The Gotei 13 members looking at the owner of the whips and shield in shock and relief, Karin herself now almost exhausted from keeping Bankai up so long as was Yuzu, who was just about to collapse but managed to hold onto consciousness. Shunsui shunpo'ed to the falling girl and caught her before she hit the floor. But the moment of relief was short lived as they heard Ichigo's cry and his out of control reiatsu. He was transforming... no he was hollowfying, right before everyone's eyes. They all backed away, Toshiro shunpo'ing to Karin and picking her up in his grip, while Shunsui and the rest moved a good distance away from the verge of insane Ichigo.
The reiatsu even higher than what Aizen's had been- most likely higher than Sou-Taicho's-, as Ichigo's body turned into what looked like a lion's, so out of control not even turning into the Vasto-Lorde form he had been in when battling Ulquiorra.
Ah speaking of an Espada, suddenly a garganta ripped the air near the shinigami, the darkness of the portal obstructing anything on the other side from view before figures stepped through. The looks on all their faces obviously told everyone that they were furious and ready for a battle or just a plain *shinigami-slaughter.
"What in hell's name did you do to our Alpha?!" an all too familiar voice yelled out.
The shinigami looked at the small group of 9 and wondered what the Seireitei had been reduced to.
Count down: 15 chapters left
AN:So I didnt want to leave all you lovely readers hanging! I love you my lovely reviewers thank you! And mostly thank tderwes24 for compelling me to get this chapter out! My lovely beta as always thank you, XxYoukai-KaitouxX
Umm be happy you guys. I was going to pull a horrible trick on you guys, but the sexy Bleach men in my head told me not to. Where the bolder ...'s are, yeah I was either going to cut off the chapter there, or put 'The End of Byakuya Kuchiki: Part 1, on to the next'. So be happy XD So besides that please tell me what you thought of the chapter in a review! I would like to actually meet the 16 required for an early update this time! Translations below, and let me know what you think of the sword names and techniques too plz!
Translations:
Ten no hogo shīrudo = Shield of heavenly protection
Ten no hogo shīrudo, tsutsumu = Encase shield of heavenly protection
Shīrudo-yō no kami no kōgeki = Divine attacker for the shield
Shīrudo-yō no shime, no kōgeki = Strangle, divine attacker for the shield
Shinigami-slaughter- A term I made up! It's the same thing as manslaughter