Chapter 25: Sakura Tenrai Rekka
All down the length of the council table, the lifeless elders sat in the chairs with their bodies pitched forward, their heads resting on the table and their dead eyes turned toward Byakuya. Their blood had pooled on the table and Byakuya's body rested in it.
"This," Aizen hissed, "is the price that you pay for your defiance and your infidelity, Byakuya. Because of what you did, you tied their hands. They would have sided with you and sent you, with their blessing, into Renji's arms. I couldn't allow that, so I came here and I killed them, one by one as they sat, unaware that I was in the room or that their brethren were dying all around them. And now, as you witnessed, I control the decisions that are handed down by this council. You will obey those decisions and you will do as I say from now on.
"Why would I do that?" Byakuya gasped in a choked whisper, "You have already taken their lives. What do you have left to use against me?"
Aizen laughed softly.
"Down the hallway is the daycare center," he said quietly, "and inside are the children of these dead men and women…and a few adults left to care for them. If you disobey me or defy me in any way…those young Kuchiki noble children will join the councilors in death…and in addition to losing mothers and fathers, these families will lose sons and daughters. It's your choice, Byakuya. So make your decision…and decide their fate…"
"How could you do this?" Byakuya whispered, "How could you come into this place and slaughter them like this…sitting unaware…no declaration of your intent…no reason given…or did you…tell them?"
"No," answered Aizen calmly, "I took them by stealth, "I didn't wish to waste time issuing a challenge. You put them in my path, and I simply removed them from it. They died well…honorably, taken so quickly that they made only small sounds of surprise."
"There is no honor in how you made them die," Byakuya said in a choked voice, "You have decimated the heart of the Kuchiki clan. These men and women were the strongest in our family, hand picked to lead us…"
"Yes, well, I did tell you that you would pay for what you did, Byakuya. I hope that you realize now the foolishness in thinking that you could thwart my plans for you. I had a plan in place that would have left these people alive, but you took away my ability to use that plan and this is the result."
His hands tightened on Byakuya painfully. The noble flinched, but tried to reach out with his mind to touch Renji's. He could feel the redhead's presence outside the door, but it seemed as though he could not hear the rage of thoughts sent in his direction. Aizen continued to speak as Byakuya reached out desperately for Renji's mind again and again.
"When I think of him touching you, it makes me want to kill him and you, Byakuya," Aizen said, his nails digging in to Byakuya's flesh, "When I think of his skin touching yours, his hands and mouth pleasuring you…it makes me lose my mind…"
His hands moved to loosen Byakuya's clothes. Sensing what was about to happen, Byakuya struggled, but Aizen held him tightly and kido ropes snaked their way around his body and held him in place.
"No one will ever touch you again, except for me. I defeated you. I claimed you as spoils of war…and you belong to me."
"Stop…don't do this…not here…not like this…Sousuke, please…"
"It's not like they can see, Byakuya," Aizen chided him, "They are dead…"
"Then let this place be left untarnished…please," Byakuya pleaded, tears streaming down his face, "Do not defile this place…not while they still lie here. Let us go into another room…and I will not offer resistance. Just…not here…like this…"
Aizen rested his body against the noble's back, his cheek resting lightly against Byakuya's and capturing the tears as they fell. He smiled at the sound of his voice breaking, the tremor of his body.
"Very well, then," he whispered, "As you have shown that you are committed to obedience, I will stop…for now."
He turned his head to look at the entry doors.
"I have to go for a while," he said, pulling away and releasing Byakuya's bonds.
Byakuya's legs gave way and he collapsed onto the floor at Aizen's feet.
"I am going to accompany Abarai Renji to the meeting with Soutaichou…"
"What are you going to do?" Byakuya asked, looking up at him, "Are you going to…"
"I won't harm Renji…yet. I am using him to strengthen the illusion that I am you, Byakuya."
"Why do you need to see Soutaichou?"
Aizen smiled.
"Because I am going to issue a challenge to his leadership. He has publicly acknowledged that his refusal to provide better protection during the attack on Las Noches five years ago, was the reason that you were taken. And now…with the unanimous support of the Kuchiki council of elders, you will challenge Soutaichou to duel to defend his right to remain Captain Commander. This is fully in concordance with the rules of the Gotei 13. It is your right, in this situation to offer a challenge to his leadership."
"I cannot defeat Soutaichou," Byakuya said , shaking his head, "I am not powerful enough…"
Aizen dropped to his knees in front of Byakuya and took the noble's face in his hands.
"Don't doubt yourself, Byakuya. I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't positive that you would win…"
"But…how? I don't wield a strong enough attack. I can't match his power! You are only setting me up to die. And if that was all you wanted, you would have killed me a long time ago."
"I would have," Aizen agreed in a deadly calm voice, "but I made a better plan. You remember, don't you?"
"Remember?" Byakuya whispered, dull images of training sessions he could barely remember, rising in his mind.
He stared at Aizen wordlessly.
"You do remember…don't you?"
He kissed Byakuya and whispered against his lips.
"Sakura Tenrai Rekka."
Byakuya felt an unbearable iciness beneath his skin.
"I can't wield that attack…It is…impossible…"
Aizen's smile widened.
"I am going to be Spirit King soon, my Byakuya…and with me, all things are possible. You will challenge him. You will kill him. And when you become Captain Commander in his stead, you will learn the location of the King's Key…"
"That is why?" Byakuya asked, looking into the quiet brown eyes, "That is why you set me up to fall to you in battle? Why you imprisoned me for five years? Why you trained me? Why you let them find me? Why you wanted control of the council?"
"I didn't actually plan to slaughter the elders," Aizen stated, "That was your fault. But yes, I did plan that I would use the most favored house of the king's nobles to bring him down…and to bring the noble houses down. But don't worry, my lover, you will still have a place of honor in my kingdom. After all, I wouldn't have been able to do this without you…"
He rose and started toward the door.
"You might want to clean up this place," he commented, looking back over his shoulder, "You will be sealed in this chamber until I return."
"No," whispered Byakuya, shaking his head and surging to his feet, "Sousuke, don't…"
"Stop," Aizen ordered him, "Remember the children. Focus, Byakuya. You have to protect the lives of those children. If you do not obey me and remain in this room, they will all die."
Byakuya stopped halfway to the door, watching in dismay as Renji appeared on the other side of the door and took Aizen's hand. Slowly, the door closed between them and Byakuya felt the seal fall into place. He swallowed hard, turning back and slowly approaching the council table. He began with the head councilor, checking him carefully for any signs of life. He found none. Holding back a sob, he closed the councilor's eyes and moved on to the next. The second councilor was dead as well, so he moved on to the third. As he leaned over Councilor Yoshinori, he heard a small sound. Catching his breath, he lifted his cousin's head and noted that although his throat had been cut, he had not been cut with the same precision as the others. He had bled, but not enough to kill him. Byakuya lifted his cousin out of the chair and carried him to a small anteroom. He set Yoshinori down on the floor and leaned over him, unable to summon healing power, because of the seal on his spirit energy, but carefully bandaging him and speaking to him in a soft voice.
"Yoshinori," he said softly, "please…I need you to wake. Can you hear me?"
There was no response, but Byakuya was bolstered by the light breathing, the soft pulse beneath his skin, and a very faint, unintelligible moan.
"Rest here," he told his cousin, "I will be back. I have to make sure that he doesn't know that you survived."
Byakuya went back to the council meeting room and carefully checked all of the others for signs of life. Finding none, he removed their bodies to a separate chamber, then carefully cleaned the blood from the table, chairs and floor, as Aizen had ordered him to do. He returned to Yoshinori and continued to try to wake him.
"Cousin," he whispered, his mind spinning with urgency, "Yoshinori, you must wake. I need you…"
The councilor stirred softly and moaned. Byakuya caught his breath and lifted his cousin, brushing the hair away from his eyes and meeting the other's blue eyes as they opened.
"B-byakuya-s-sama?" Yoshinori managed.
"Yoshinori," Byakuya said, touching his face, gently.
The councilor sat up and touched his bandaged throat with his fingertips, then winced and groaned.
"Yoshinori," Byakuya said desperately, "I need you to unseal my spirit energy so that I can heal you."
His cousin said nothing, but nodded and touched his hands to Byakuya's wrists, focusing his power. Light flared for a moment around their hands, then Byakuya felt the surge of his returning power. He removed the bandages from Yoshinori's throat and carefully healed the damage. The councilor sat quietly for the healing, but his blue eyes were intense. He waited until the healing was done and Byakuya offered him a cup of hot tea, then his expression became somber.
"Byakuya-sama, am I to assume that the elders were all attacked as I was?" he asked.
Byakuya lowered his eyes and nodded silently.
"And…"
"And you are the only survivor," Byakuya finished, touching his hand and meeting his eyes gently, "The other councilors died almost instantly. But your wound was slightly off the mark…and that allowed you to survive."
"I have to get you to safety, Byakuya-sama," Yoshinori said, starting to rise.
Byakuya caught his arm and held him back. Yoshinori dropped back onto his knees, gazing at Byakuya questioningly.
"I cannot leave this place. The seal on this building is surrounded in Aizen's illusion…and we cannot affect that. But you are not the target of the seal. He expected you to be dead, so he didn't include you under the enchantment. You can leave this room."
"I am not going to abandon you, Byakuya-sama," his cousin insisted.
"You must!" Byakuya exclaimed, "Yoshinori, down the hall, in the daycare, he has imprisoned the children of the councilors. You can free them. Free them and then find Abarai Renji and tell him that Aizen plans to use me to kill Soutaichou. He's going to force me into a battle…because if I defeat Soutaichou, I will be given knowledge of the location of the King's Key. He will then use his powers to compel me to give him the location, so that he can obtain the key and enter the spirit dimension! We have to stop him!"
"We will stop him, Byakuya-sama," his cousin said firmly, "I will go now and free the children…but then I will return here to you. I must protect you. It is my duty."
Byakuya shook his head.
"We have a greater duty to protect our king. And besides, I cannot leave this place until he releases me. I have to wait here until he returns for me."
"Then, as you have asked, I will tell Abarai Renji of your location and Aizen Sousuke's plans."
"Renji will find a way to reach me. He will help me to stop Aizen's plans. But you have to take responsibility for protecting the rest of the Kuchiki clan. Our family has just suffered a huge loss. And Aizen will not hesitate to wage war on our family again. Yoshinori, you need to move the families into hiding until this is over."
"I can get the families to safety, Byakuya-sama," Yoshinori promised, "but then I must return to you. You need me as the second interim council…to enable the two of us to make decisions for the clan until a new council is seated."
Byakuya sighed in frustration, but nodded.
"Admittedly, to make decisions for the clan will require the two of us. But when you return, you must stay out of sight. I don't want him to know that you survived."
"I won't allow him to see me and I will keep my reiatsu lowered until you call on me to assist you."
"Very well, then," Byakuya said, nodding, "But for now, you must go. Free the children who are trapped here and get the families to safety…then inform Abarai Renji what is happening and return to me."
Yoshinori nodded and moved to the door. As expected, the noble was able to pass through the seal on the room, and he disappeared, leaving Byakuya alone in the council meeting room.
Byakuya moved into the council washroom and removed his kenseiken, haori, gloves, and the ginpaku kazahana no uzuginu. Then, he removed the top of his uniform and washed the blood from his face, throat, arms and hands. He washed the blood from the shihakushou and dressed again, wearing only his shihakushou. He returned to the council chamber and stood quietly near the window, looking out at the tantalizingly close outdoors. He remained there, watching as the afternoon turned to dusk, moving only when he heard footsteps outside the council room doors. He turned and watched as Aizen Sousuke entered and looked around at the room.
"You did a good job of cleaning up," he commented quietly.
He flash stepped across the room and placed his arms around the noble.
"I presented your challenge to Soutaichou. You should have seen the faces of the other taichous. They all knew that you had the right to challenge him, but everyone was quite surprised when you did. And no one was more surprised to hear of your challenge than Abarai Renji."
"You didn't harm him?"
"No," Aizen assured him, "I still have uses for him. And I still have uses for you."
He took Byakuya's hand and turned toward the chamber door.
"There are some bedrooms upstairs," he said, gazing at the noble hungrily, "We shall make ourselves comfortable for the night."
He turned and started toward the door. Byakuya waited until his back was turned, then raised his reiatsu. Aizen turned in surprise.
"How…?"
He was unable to finish as a heavy kido blast erupted from Byakuya and took him off his feet.