Torture. It had been pure torture watching Namiko love him and torment herself over it. It had been torture restraining himself from loving her. And most of all, it had been torture forcing himself to love someone else he could not for his heart belonged to her. Byakuya Kuchiki didn't know when it happened, but by the time he realized that he loved Namiko, it was too late. If he had noticed sooner, he would have been able to save himself from all the turmoil. He would have been able to reject the arranged marriage between his noble family and the Kishins. But fate just had to be so cruel for him to realize his feelings in the middle of this whole predicament.
Somehow he had always known what Namiko felt for him. He wasn't surprised when he learnt about Namiko and her feelings, which probably meant that in some way or another he had expected this to happen and the fact that he wasn't repulsed or troubled by it meant that he felt the same way for her.
Rushing into the enemy's base was never like him, Byakuya Kuchiki never broke protocol and always abided by the rules. Whatever Central 46 or the Head Captain commanded, he sought his best to accomplish. He knew he was in for some scalding when he would decide to bring Namiko back alive. The orders to detain and kill her were blaring loudly in his head and he was ignoring it. So unlike him. Yet so much like her.
Namiko was a hot-headed reckless fool when it came to things she cared about. She had charged in to attack him when he wanted to execute Rukia after fighting Ichigo Kurosaki. She had done so many foolish things back in the days when she didn't know any better as well. It seemed that much of her remained the same ever since so long ago. Even though he knew that he had changed so much, it was comforting to know that Namiko had stayed the same.
Byakuya felt his lips curve into the barest of smiles at the thought. If she hadn't changed, it just meant that she didn't go to Koharu out of will, but rather she was running away from something deeper. Even though he didn't like that part about Namiko, he was glad that right now all Namiko was doing was bailing because the situation had gotten too complicated and difficult for her to bear. Namiko was a runner when things started to get tough; it had been so during Hisana's death and right now, she was just trying to get away from him because he had scared her. Although he was drunk, he knew exactly what he had done when he had sobered up. As perfect a being as he was, he had made a horrible mistake in a fit of anger and jealousy which he normally had control over in everything else other than when it came to Namiko.
Strangely enough, Byakuya Kuchiki found himself having the perfect control of emotions when it concerned everything else other than Namiko. Maybe it was because he had known her since so long ago that it was unnatural for him to act unlike himself when he was around her. But this was different. He didn't feel what he felt for Namiko when he was around Kazumi. It wasn't that Byakuya didn't know what he was feeling, if anything else, this feeling which made his heart grip and pulse race was so familiar that he wanted more than nothing to ignore it in light of his coming marriage.
As he raced through the hideout, he could hear the clash of blades nearing his position. Byakuya was sure that Koharu and Namiko were nearby. He opened the door in front of him, careful to check for traps that Koharu was insanely known for before he entered the hallway which led to the sounds of fighting. He couldn't tell if it was Namiko or someone else as the structure of the hideout was interfering with his ability to sense spiritual pressure.
Byakuya flash-stepped down the hallway and though his features remained schooled to serene, his felt his chest tightened a little.
Standing right in front of him was Namiko, Mizumi in hand and soaked in his division members' blood. Her expression was unreadable; through her eyes he could only see the endless pools of emptiness and sadness. Byakuya stared at her and watched as she raised her sword and faced him. As soon as he blinked, she disappeared before his eyes and he immediately reacted by flash stepping away. For once, he was thankful for his training under Yoruichi.
Byakuya analyzed her attacks and movements, she seemed a lot faster and she wasn't talking. Normally, even when she was angry, Namiko would rant and yell at him while she fought him. If she wasn't yelling then she probably wasn't Namiko. Furthermore it was extremely odd that she was using Mizumi to fight her kido expertise, Byakuya found it strange that she was using her unreleased Zanpaktou to fight him.
As their blades clashed, it hit Byakuya that she was being controlled by Koharu. Otherwise she wouldn't have been so foolish to kill his division members nor would she have been able to use her Zanpaktou in its unreleased form so well. It was the first time Byakuya was so unsure of his next step, if he did anything without thinking, he might hurt her and that was the last thing he ever wanted to do.
"So, you're here, Captain Byakuya Kuchiki." A voice with an undoubtedly mocking tone said.
Byakuya leaped back while Namiko appeared by Koharu's side. "Well it seems you have outsmarted me this time with your discovery of my spying devices." Koharu spoke calmly. "However, I still hold the trump card against you. As long as I have full control over this girl, you will never win this war." "Is that so? It appears that you are the arrogant one here. Your foolishness shall bring you to your grave. It is insignificant that you have full control over this girl, it will be us who will win this war." With that said, Byakuya Kuchiki moved behind Koharu and shot a Byakurai, causing Namiko to swirl around and use Mizumi to cut off the blast of kido.
"Bakudo 1: Sai."
Namiko instantly stopped in her tracks. The kido spell had shocked her body and her eyes were shut tightly.
"What are you doing? Break off the spell and kill him!" Koharu snapped. Namiko's hands started to shake and she looked like she was fighting to open her eyes. Apparently the kido spell had jolted her soul and she was fighting for control with Koharu's chip. She opened her mouth, her voice hoarse but audible, "Byakuya… You have to kill me. Othewi-se, he's.. he's going to use me to kill all of you. Please.. you have to.. I… I… love.." The shaking stopped and she broke free of the kido spell.
Byakuya's eyes widened fractionally at the realization of what she said and what she was about to say. There was no way he was going to kill her. He had already hurt her enough and he so desperately needed to tell her what he felt for her. He knew that if he let her die like this he would never be able to forgive himself.
"That will not happen again," Koharu promised, raising his remote. "What are you waiting for, kill him Namiko."
"Sorera o arainagasu, Midorizukami."
Byakuya gripped Senbonzakura a little tighter; this was not supposed to happen. If he was right before, then she wasn't able to use her spiritual power. Which also meant that she shouldn't have been able to use kido or her Zanpaktou no less. Was it his kido attack earlier that allowed her spiritual power to return? Either way it was going to be more difficult than he had thought.
Renji skidded across the hideout, trusting that everything was in place as he made his way to his captain. Stupid, stupid, stupid, Renji cursed at the two people he knew. They were all just so freaking stupid. Namiko was just stupid for bailing every time shit got real and Byakuya was just stupid for being and acting like a noble all the time. And above everything, they were both just so stupid for denying their emotions 70% of the time.
"Oh crap." Renji muttered as he reached another dead end. The hideout was a disgusting maze just like the previous one had been and all the dead ends were pissing him off. It wasn't that he lacked a sense of direction but because of the damn stupid structure, his senses was thrown off in many ways than one.
It had been difficult to fight the dude with a fire Zanpaktou earlier as Renji was unable to detect his presence every time the enemy disappeared elsewhere. Thankfully, Namiko's third seat was with him and both of them had taken the incredibly irritating enemy down.
Renji made a roundabout turn and flash stepped down the hallway from where he came from, making a mental note to never head down that way ever again. He needed to get to Namiko and his captain before Namiko decided to do something really stupid and get herself in horrible trouble which he would in turn have to listen to for the rest of his miserable life. Thinking back, Renji wasn't sure why he had such a troublesome friend. He was quite sure that if she wasn't related to his captain in anyway, he wouldn't have been friends with her. She was just like another Ichigo Kurosaki, powerful yet dumb and stupid at the same time.
As he made his way down to the other turn he had missed earlier, Renji spotted their familiar traitor a distance away. He was sure that she was heading for Koharu and Namiko as well. Smirking to himself, he followed his one-way free ticket to his friend down the road.
"Captain!" Renji called out as he entered the room. Taking a moment to analyze the situation, Renji gasped in disbelief as he witnessed his fifth and sixth seat lying limply on the ground in their own pool of blood. Then there was Namiko with her unleashed bankai summoning heaps of green water at his captain while he effortlessly blocked every attack with his own bankai. Kazumi Kishin was there as well, hanging behind so that she wouldn't get involved. Even though Renji and Byakuya both knew that she was the traitor, they didn't really seemed to care about her anymore especially since she wasn't particularly powerful or anything other than in social status.
"Are you alright Captain?" Renji asked as Namiko performed her Tekai Shimi (Big Splash).
Byakuya didn't answer and instead informed him of the circumstances, "She is being controlled by Uemura Koharu. Take him out."
"I'm on it, Captain. Back me up." Renji told him as he swung Zabimaru into action. At that very moment, Namiko sent her streams of green water at Renji. Byakuya however, swiftly controlled Senbonzakura to block off the attack and prevented it from hitting Renji. Without missing a beat, Renji threw Zabimaru into Shikai and directed it to Koharu. Koharu's eyes narrowed but he didn't so much as flinch. Instead, he took out the Yosono and activated the 'Earth Element' attack. A boulder formed in front of Koharu and it deflected Zabimaru away, causing it to crash to the side of the wall and taking Renji by surprise.
"I am the leader of Rukongai, why would you ever think that I would be unprepared to fight you? Surely you would guess that I would have some kind of protection one way or another?"
Renji just snorted as he continued to try to break the boulder that Koharu had formed. He was tempted to use Bankai but he was quite sure that three activated Bankais in the room would crush everyone outside with their spiritual pressure. He needed to do something, something that would require lesser spiritual power. He looked at Namiko and wondered why the hell she was using her bankai and yet fighting his captain with her sword. Sure, she was being controlled by Koharu but did it mean that the chip had the ability to boost her sword fighting techniques? Why wasn't she using -
Renji smirked. He had an idea now but whether it was going to work or blow up in his face was something he wasn't sure yet. "Hado 31: Shakkaho!" Renji chanted as he cast the kido twice; one flew towards the boulder and exploded, causing the boulder to breakup and the other exploded near him, grazing his skin a little. Now that he knew kido worked on Koharu's attacks, he wasn't as worried although his kido was shit but he could still pull off a decent spell without too much damage.
"Kazumi, don't just stand there, fend off your lieutenant for me. And yes, they already figured out so there's no point hiding." Koharu scoffed as he readied his Yosono.
"Oh I don't think so. I'm sure you know the difference in power between you and I. Unless you're damn stupid, you wouldn't want to fight me." Renji taunted as he launched his next Shakkaho. Kazumi instantly got on her feet, ignoring the comment and started returning spells of her own. The collision of the two spells resulted in a semi explosion. Taking advantage of the smoke, Renji fired a few more of his own before going in with Zabimaru.
He wasn't able to see what he hit, but Renji was sure that Zabimaru had connected with something or someone. Whether it was Kazumi or Koharu, if Zabimaru took out either of them it would spell good news for his side. The revolver returned back to Renji and as he ravished at the sight of blood on his Zanpaktou, Renji looked on and waited for the smoke to clear to see who he had landed the hit on.
To his horror, a distraught Namiko with a pained look in her eyes stood panting, blood dripping all over the floor and soaking her garments. The wound over her upper torso overflowing with fresh red blood.
So finals are over and I'm really super nervous about my results! I'm so sorry I took so long to update :( I'll be away in Hong Kong for the next few days and then I'll be in Medan for a mission trip for awhile so I wont be updating for quite a bit. The story is coming to a close really really soon so do look out for the next update which would tentatively be in late March or early April!
Please review so that I know what y'all think! ;)
