Chapter 21: Lights
Tetsuya felt his stomach lurch ominously and scrambled out of bed and into the bathroom. He emptied his stomach, then breathed slowly and closed his eyes against the dizzy feeling that passed over him. He heard the door to his room open and climbed slowly to his feet. He left the bathroom and smiled briefly at Kisuke, who had arrived, bearing a tray with food and tea on it.
"You all right?" he asked the too pale noble.
Tetsuya nodded.
"I'll be fine."
"I'll make you some ginger tea," the shopkeeper offered, "That should help a bit."
"Thanks," said the weary noble, grateful for the show of kindness.
He sat down in the bed, leaning back against the pillows and finding, to his surprise, that he was actually hungry, despite having felt awful only moments before. He forced himself to eat slowly and savored the ginger tea as well, once Kisuke returned with it. The shopkeeper sat down beside the bed, taking bites of his own breakfast as he regarded Tetsuya's somber expression.
"Well," he said, giving the noble a friendly smile, "You'll be glad to know that the scans I did confirmed that you have told me the truth, as you know it. So, unless Aizen messed with your head, what you say is what happened. I also know, for a fact, that, despite having gotten into bed with a complete maniac, you, yourself are perfectly sane and coherent."
"That's good to know," commented Tetsuya, "I would hate to be out of my mind and not know it."
"Cute," said Kisuke, looking amused, "but...there's more. And some of it is pretty strange."
"What is strange?" asked the noble, "What did you find?"
"Tetsuya-san, has anyone ever done a full scan of your body? I mean...on the level of the one I did."
"Actually, no," said the noble, "I have been examined by healers before, but they have never needed to do deep scans. I have always been in good health."
"So...I can't really determine the when or the why of it, but..."
"Urahara-san, what are you saying?"
"I am saying that, although on the surface, you look like a normal shinigami, beneath that pretty surface, you are not shinigami, human or hollow. In fact, I can't nail down what, exactly, you are. Your body's physiology is just...nuts."
"I don't understand," said Tetsuya, frowning.
"Well," said the shopkeeper, "It's no wonder you said that you could easily hear the hougyoku's voice. Your body is hardwired like a huge receptor. It pulls in and amplifies whatever is close to it. I'm sure that if I ask, you'll tell me that you are very perceptive of other people's feelings, that you always seem to know what folks will say before they say it, and that if there's something in the air, you are among the first, if not the first to sense it."
"Yes, I have always been rather sensitive of others' emotions and thoughts."
"Tetsuya-san," Kisuke went on, "Healers are chosen for the fourth division based on their ability to connect with the essence of a shinigami, as well as the soul beneath it. Were you allowed to enter the military, you would have been born fukutaichou to taichou class, because where most shinigamis have to learn these things, they are built into you."
"So...does this have anything to do with why the hougyoku could not affect me?"
"I think it must," theorized Kisuke, "but it's going to take a little longer for me to figure out just how it's all connected. Problem is, we can't stay in any one place for too long, because we have the Secret Mobile Corps tracking us. Staying in one place for too long is asking for trouble. We're going to have to move...and that means that my research is going to take longer."
"I'll do whatever I have to," Tetsuya promised, "I just want to understand how I can destroy that awful thing and free Sousuke. I know he hurt people who are close to us, but much of his actions have been controlled by the hougyoku. It has been manipulating everyone around it to get what it wants. I have to find a way to stop it."
"We will," Kisuke promised, "But why don't you finish eating and then stretch your legs a bit afterwards? I'll gather what we'll need to bring along and we'll be out of here before lunchtime."
Tetsuya nodded briefly and continued to eat as Kisuke took his leave of him. The noble finished eating and indulged in a long, hot shower, then dressed in street clothes that Kisuke provided and walked out into the safe house's large backyard. He walked around the garden path, enjoying the scents of grass and flowers, and the open feeling after having spent so much time indoors.
I almost forgot what the fresh air was like, being locked up in Las Noches for so long. It is lovely here...but...I miss you, Sousuke.
He felt a swell of sadness, thinking of him being bound and locked away, only able to look at the walls of his cell, and waiting patiently for Tetsuya to take the steps needed to free him.
I will get you out of there, Sousuke.
He thought back to the one thing about Las Noches that he genuinely missed.
Aizen's hand touched his thigh and he yielded without hesitation. The other man's hot, swollen length slid down his, making his heart pound and his hands tighten reflexively. And where he had been anxious before, now his body remained relaxed, composed, accepting. He moaned into the mouth that continued the sweet assault on his and shivered as the wet head of the other man's arousal touched his entrance, then in slow, breathtaking thrusts pushed inside him. Aizen paused and looked down at Tetsuya's lovely, flushed face, smiling at the swift rise and fall of his breathing.
"You are beautiful, Tetsuya," he whispered against the noble's lips.
His arms wrapped around Aizen's body and his hips thrust upward. He closed his eyes against the threat of tears and felt something breathtaking rising up inside him. A strong hand wrapped around his aching length and pleasured him as the hard thrusting of their hips continued. Aizen's body shifted again and penetrated him deeply, finding the sensitive place he had touched before with his fingers and making the pleasure explode through Tetsuya's shaking form. And he couldn't stop the sounds that erupted out of him, the hard, sweet screams of pleasure that gripped him and held him tightly. His body seized with the powerful sensation and hot seed erupted onto their sweating flesh. And just when he started to catch himself, Aizen's body went rigid atop his, and Tetsuya cried out again as intense heat flooded him inside. The other man's body collapsed onto his and his mouth found Tetsuya's again. They exchanged a softer flurry of warm, finishing kisses and went quiet, resting peacefully in each other's arms.
"No one ever desired me," he whispered, "No one ever made me feel beautiful...not ever. But you did that for me. I'll never forget the way that felt. And I'll never stop until we can be together again. I want to feel your hands touch me, hear your voice in my ear, feel your breath on my skin. I want to feel your heat burn like fire inside me and see the way your lips smile as we lie together, enjoying the afterglow. But I have so far to go before I find my way back to you. I ache for you, Sousuke. I worry for our child and our future. There are so many obstacles. It is hard to be brave and keep believing I'll find the way. But I have to...for you, for me, and for this little one inside me. That is why I won't lose hope. That is why I will not fail you."
He walked quietly around the garden again, letting the fresh air, lovely sights and the soft touches of falling petals on his skin calm him inside. And as he started back inside, he felt new hope growing.
But as quickly as it formed, the voices he heard made it disappear again as they rose up from inside the house.
"I don't know what you guys are talking about," said Kisuke, "There's no one here but me, enjoying a little peace and quiet."
"And conducting research," said a female voice he recognized as the taichou of the second division, "We know he's got to be here. Tell us where he is!"
Tetsuya quietly called Re-kuhime to his hand as footsteps pounded through the house and more voices sounded. He quickly opened a senkaimon, remembering and obeying Kisuke's stern directive.
"Now, if they show up unexpected, you use whatever powers you have and you disappear. Don't worry about me. As long as they don't catch you and me together, they have nothing to use against me. Even if they find the research I'm working on, if you aren't there, they can assume nothing."
"But where do I go?" he asked, "Who will help me?"
"Go to Kuchiki Manor and use this to enter the archive."
He placed a silver charm on a chain around the noble's neck. Tetsuya gazed down at it, his eyes grateful.
"Byakuya-sama?"
"Yeah, he left it here for you. So if all hell breaks loose, that's where you will go. And once you get there, wait for us to come to you. Do not...I repeat...do not leave the archive, once you enter it. We'll come to you as soon as the coast is clear.
"I understand."
"Thank you, Cousin," he whispered, his fingers touching the charm as he entered the senkaimon.
He passed silently into the precipice world and headed for the exit into the manor. Several times, voices or soft, echoing footsteps sent him into small alcoves, or turned him down other passageways, but he saw no one as he made his way through the darkness. As he walked, he began to hear the softer voices he had heard before, and he slowed to listen more intently.
Kuchiki Tetsuya? Have you come back for us? Come to us. We need each other now.
"Who are you?" he asked softly, flinching as his voice echoed in the tunnel.
We need each other, the voices insisted, Come this way and we will help you!
"I am being followed," he answered, "I need to escape to Kuchiki Manor."
Come to us! Take us with you. We can help you!
"What can you do?" he asked, following the voices into a corridor that opened up before him, "How can you help me?"
He saw a light ahead of him, and nearly panicked, thinking the cleaner had somehow approached him. But as he moved forward, he caught his breath in surprise. A large cave opened up in front of him, and he stepped into it, staring.
All around him, floated bright, teardrop shaped lights. And as he entered the chamber, he could hear them still calling to him. He stared at the lovely points of light raptly, pausing in the middle of the room to admire them.
"You are beautiful," he told them, "But...why did you call to me?"
We need you...and you need us, the voices whispered, Take us with you!
"I don't know how," he said, his eyes searching the chamber, "I don't have any way to carry you."
A chill went through the noble at their answer.
Let us in!
He backed away, seeking the entrance to the chamber, but made a sound of dismay as the lights left their places and began to swirl in the air around him. Tetsuya shrank back in terror, searching desperately for the entrance, but finding himself more and more blinded by the tiny lights.
"No, stop!" he cried, backing away, "I can't..."
Let us in!
"No! No, stop!"
We need you!
Tetsuya couldn't see anymore, but felt a rock wall against his back and stopped. He felt tiny, odd shocks on the surface of his skin as the lights reached him and began to pass through him.
"What are you doing?" he screamed, wrapping his arms around his midsection and sinking to his knees, "Stop! Please, stop!"
He felt them crawling through him and centering on the reiatsu chamber inside him.
"No!" he sobbed, "Don't hurt my baby!"
Sleep...
He struggled, but could not fend off the wave of exhaustion that passed over him. He fell forward onto his hands and knees, tears running down his face and his arms and legs shaking dangerously.
Sleep, the voices whispered more gently, We won't hurt your baby. Sleep.
"But...the c-cleaner will..."
You are safe with us.
Tetsuya's eyes glazed over and he collapsed onto the cave floor, his mind spiraling away into the darkness. Reiatsu exploded around him, making his body glow brightly for several minutes, then slowly fading. In a matter of minutes, the chamber was dark again. Tetsuya rested, senseless and unaware, on the cave floor as the sound of the cleaner rose up, came close, then paused and moved away again. Alarms sounded in the distance, and the echoing sound of pounding feet and quick, anxious voices filled the room, but did not wake him.
Finally, the footsteps stopped outside the room. One person entered the chamber on catlike feet and approached Tetsuya slowly. A slim, female form bent and checked the collapsed shinigami's body for signs of life, then quickly sealed away his powers and bound his wrists with a kido spell. A large, burly shinigami stepped forward and lifted Tetsuya over his shoulder.
"Is this him?" said the man carrying Tetsuya, "He doesn't look scary."
"Maybe not," agreed Soi Fon, "but he has broken our laws and helped our enemy. He will face the penalty for his crimes. Come on. Bring him and let's go, before the cleaner comes back this way again."
The big man followed Soi Fon out of the chamber and the two flash stepped back to where the rest of the searchers had gathered. The second division motioned for one of her subordinates to approach her.
"Go to Kuchiki Manor and inform Kuchiki taichou that we have apprehended his cousin. He asked to be informed when Kuchiki Tetsuya was found."
"Hai, Taichou!"
She watched as the messenger disappeared, then ordered the rest of her unit to return to the division headquarters. She and her burly fukutaichou continued on to Central 46, then carried Tetsuya inside and took him to the prison infirmary.
"See that he comes to no harm," said Soi Fon, sternly, "He may have broken the law, but he has his right to defend himself against the charges, just like anyone else."
"We will treat any injuries we find and make him comfortable for the night," said the healer, "He can be transferred to a holding cell in the morning, assuming he is well enough."
Soi Fon nodded, then took her leave of the healers and flash stepped away. A few minutes later, the door opened and Byakuya stepped into the room.
"Kuchiki taichou," said one of the healers, "We were told that you would be here to see him. He is unconscious at the moment, but other than that, we can find no serious injuries."
"Do you know what happened to him?" asked the noble.
"Only that he was found collapsed in a chamber in the precipice world. He is lucky that he didn't get eaten by the cleaner!"
"Yes," agreed the noble, "Now, if you have no further need to tend my cousin, I will remain with him."
"Of course, Kuchiki taichou," said the healer.
Byakuya waited as the healers filed out, then slipped a hand into his cousin's and called his name gently. Tetsuya's eyes remained closed and he breathed in and out steadily.
"I am here now," the clan leader assured him, "I am going to make sure that nothing bad happens to you. The charges are serious, but Kisuke is preparing some things to assist in your defense. Don't worry. You are not alone."
Byakuya's lips curved upward as he felt Tetsuya stir and then a gentle squeeze of his hand.
It will be all right now, Tetsuya tried to reassure himself, Byakuya-sama is here. It will be all right...