Chapter 29: Nowhere to Run

"Where are we going, Orochi-sama?" Tetsuya asked, looking out the window at the falling rain, "And in such weather? Are you worried that they will come after us?"

"Of course they will come after us," Orochi said, following his gaze, "But do not worry, they will not find us. We are leaving."

"But where will we go that we cannot be found?" Tetsuya objected, "Couldn't they...?"

"I said, do not worry," Orochi said, taking him firmly by the arm, "Come now!"

Tetsuya flinched at the return of roughness to Orochi's hands, but moved with him, out the front door of the small cottage and to the edge of the water, where it had turned to ice and surrounded them. Orochi raised a hand and took aim on the ice.

"Hado number 33, Soukatsui!"

A heavy blast of kido erupted from his hand and slammed into the ice, shattering the barrier. But as it fell, it began to melt and swirl in a dangerous looking cyclone in front of them.

Tetsuya, come to me. Come away from that man! a feminine voice whispered into Tetsuya's frightened mind. He gasped softly and pressed harder against Orochi.

"What is it? What is wrong?" Orochi demanded.

"H-her voice!" Tetsuya said shakenly, "I hear her calling me into the water! Orochi-sama, do not let her..."

"Leave him alone, damn you!" raged Orochi, curling a protective arm around Tetsuya, "We are going past, whether you want us to or not. Now, move aside or be annihilated!"

I won't let you take him!

"Orochi-sama!" Tetsuya cried, terror rising in his eyes as the cyclone of water closed in on them, "Orochi-sama, look out!"

The black-eyed shinigami held on tightly to Tetsuya, raising a defensive shield that forced the water to bend around them. He launched himself forward, using his reiatsu to punch a hole in the errant water and ice swells in front of them. They came down on the far side of the water and Orochi laughed aloud.

"You see? Tetsuya doesn't want you in his life anymore. He doesn't need you. He has me to watch over him. Now, leave us alone or I really will destroy you!"

He pulled Tetsuya into a blaze of flash steps, leading him out of the protected glen and into the open meadows outside the boundaries of the nearest Rukongai city. Tetsuya moved easily with him, his heart aching at how hard his zanpakutou spirit had fought to get him away from his cousin.

But Orochi-sama was right that he protects me. Still, to say that I do not need my own power...it seems that he wants me to be weak. His roughness went away when I became weaker and gave him power over me. But...this also made Orochi-sama love me! He does love me, doesn't he?

He caught Orochi's eye as they fled the glen, and he wondered.

Do you really love me, Orochi-sama, or do you only love me when I am weaker than you?

He continued to wonder as they put distance between themselves and the cottage, and the rain around them faded away. Tetsuya frowned and slowed as images began to flicker in his mind.

"You are trash...refuse. And you are about to be thrown away."

"What is wrong with you?" Orochi demanded, "We have to move faster. Byakuya is after us. Hurry, Tetsuya!"

"I don't hate you," said the older youth, "I am just above you, you being half-breeds and all. But I am willing to approve your marriage...if..."

"If what?" asked Naoki warily.

"Hmmm," said Orochi, obviously enjoying himself, "Who is the bride?"

Naoki and Tetsuya looked at him blankly.

"The bride will have sex with me in front of the groom and then I will approve your marriage. So...who is the bride?"

Tetsuya's body stiffened as the memories continued to flare painfully in his mind.

"It was Orochi-san," Naoki said, his voice shaking, "He was very brutal."

The healer nodded sympathetically.

"He always is."

"Orochi-sama!" he called out desperately, "Orochi-sama, we must stop! Please!"

"What's wrong? Can't you flash step anymore? I thought that you were stronger than this. But you have been locked up in the cottage for a while. You just need to rebuild your stamina."

"N-no, it's not that!"

Orochi came to a stop, turning to face Tetsuya in the middle of a large, pretty meadow. Tears rose in Tetsuya's blue eyes as he met Orochi's.

"What is wrong with you?" Orochi demanded, slipping a hand under his chin and glaring down into his eyes.

"I am...remembering things now. I remember being in the prison...and you...hated me!"

"Don't be silly," Orochi said, shaking his head and letting one hand slide down to touch his sword, "You are merely confused. You know that you get that way sometimes. But you let me hold you, and the confusion goes away, does it not?"

"It does," Tetsuya admitted, "And I would have been happy to stay with Orochi-sama in the cottage, away from everything. But the truth is, you hate me! You look down on me."

Orochi's eyes darkened, but he carefully held back his anger and kissed Tetsuya's trembling lips.

"I don't hate you. I told you that I love you...when we were together before. Don't you remember?" Orochi asked.

"I do," whispered Tetsuya, closing his eyes as Orochi began his sword release, "But I also remember the horrible things you did and said to me. Orochi, how can you say you love me, when you did those things to me?"

"That was a long time ago. We moved past those things. And when I took you from Kuchiki Manor, I did so because it was Byakuya who hurt you. He rejected you for her...for that girl who you found. You asked me to take you away...to ease your pain. And I did that."

Orochi's fingers caressed Tetsuya's face gently.

"And even though I wasn't in love with you before. Even though I did hate you before, I lost my hatred of you when I saw how hurt you were by Byakuya's rejection. I became sorry that I ever hurt you. And I don't want to hurt you anymore. That is the truth, Tetsuya. I am sorry I lied to you. But, I am in love with you now, and when we arrive in the Rukongai, I will marry you. Byakuya can't marry you. He is married to someone else."

"I know that."

"Then, how can you think of going back?"

"I don't know," Tetsuya confessed, tears leaking down his face, "I just know that a man like you couldn't really love me. So, I am going back...to my parents...to my sisters...and to be Byakuya's bodyguard. I don't care if loves me or doesn't. He has never hurt me like you did! And he never will. Let go of me, Orochi! I want to go home!"

He flinched as Orochi's grip on him became painful, and his black eyes glinted dangerously.

"You listen to me, Tetsuya, and listen well. Whatever happened before doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you gave yourself to me willingly. You pleaded with me to take you away and that is why I did so. But, having done that, you cannot go back. You understand, you are mine now!"

Tetsuya's blue eyes rounded as a large black snake slithered out of the other man's zanpakutou and coiled in front of him. And staring at the hissing serpent, Tetsuya finally recalled...

"Orochi!"

"Your head is full of their lies and your heart is corrupted with them, but it is time for me to clear all of that confusion away."

"What are you doing?" Tetsuya demanded, "Let go of me now, Orochi! I have to get to Byakuya-sama quickly! He is in danger."

"You see? You are still terribly confused. You have been so misled, Tetsuya."

"What are you talking about? Why are you doing this? Do you want Byakuya-sama to die? Do you hate him too? Is that it?" Tetsuya asked shakenly.

"Yes, Byakuya, I do hate. Do you know why?"

Tetsuya said nothing, but held his gaze breathlessly.

"He took you away from me, Tetsuya. He took you into his household and fed you on lies until you saw him as the center of your world and you saw me as a wicked man. I saw him kissing you, Tetsuya."

"What business is that of yours?" Tetsuya demanded, "What Byakuya-sama and I do is not your concern!"

"But it is. He has done the unthinkable, Tetsuya. He has poisoned your half blooded mind with lies to make you think you are our equal while branding the truthful ones like me 'intolerant' for sticking to our convictions. Noble and commoner should not mix. And because of his lies, you love him and you hate me, don't you?"

"I do not hate you."

"Yes, you do. You hate me for being honest with you, because you wanted the lies. They were more comforting to you, so you accepted them and forced away the truth, Tetsuya."

"Stop!"

Orochi's lips sought Tetsuya's, freezing them there on the precipice as they met for a moment, then Tetsuya turned his head away and began to struggle.

"Let me go! Let me go, Orochi!"

"I know that the truth is a frightening thing for you now."

"Stop! Stop it!" Tetsuya cried, struggling as Orochi's lips sought his again.

"You could have accepted it more easily before, if they hadn't interfered. But there is no one to interfere now, Tetsuya. And...the time has come for me to clear away the things that confuse you, so that you can see clearly."

"Wh-what are you going to do?"

Orochi smiled.

"Miwaku, Doku no hanone."

Tetsuya watched, wide-eyed as the blade of Orochi's sword flashed, then broke away from the hilt, slowly resolving into the body of a snake. He struggled harder, too close to the precipice to use kido, but too tightly restrained to break free, as the snake slithered to them and wrapped around Tetsuya's leg.

"Stop it! Let me go, Orochi!" Tetsuya screamed furiously.

Still smiling, Orochi released him and watched as he tumbled to the ground and tried to pull the snake free.

"Utsuro," he said, moving closer and Tetsuya crawled away from him, still trying to free his leg from the coiled snake, "sakusei."

Tetsuya let out a frightened cry as the snake's fangs sank into his leg. He stared disbelievingly up into Orochi's eyes as numbness flooded his body.

"Let go of me!" Tetsuya screamed, tearing himself away from his cousin and backing away as the snake locked eyes with him and closed in.

Orochi's eyes became as deadly as his snake's, and his voice deepened ominously.

"It is no use, Tetsuya. You can't fight me. You belong to me and I will never let you go."

"You hate me! You told me that I am an abomination and the nobles and half-bloods don't belong together!"

"And they do not," Orochi agreed.

"Then, why are you doing this?" Tetsuya cried, "Orochi, if I am beneath you, then just let me go, and pretend I don't exist! If I am nothing, then ignore me! Don't do this again. I know that it is breaking my mind apart more and more every time! Let me go and forget this. Just...let me go home and I will do nothing to retaliate. I will admit to Byakuya-sama that I agreed to stay with you, and you will not be punished. Just..."

"I will not be punished," Orochi mused, "Tetsuya, I am already being punished right now."

"What?" Tetsuya whispered, paling as the snake prepared to strike him, "What are you talking about?"

"I am supposed to be above you. I am supposed to hate you. But you bewitch me. I look into your eyes, and when they look back at me with affection, I can't resist you. I know it is wrong, but you twist me into loving you, Tetsuya. My noble heart is tested and it fails to reject you. I can say the words and make myself hurt you, but I can't escape you. And so, I am not going to fight that impulse anymore. I will stay with you and shatter your mind as many times as it takes to make you forget about Byakuya! Your willfulness is the only thing standing between us, Tetsuya, but you are right. Your mind can't take much more of my snake's venom. You will break completely and then you will not fight me anymore. You will give in quietly and serve me for the rest of your life. But you will not be unhappy doing this. You will be accepting, once that other man is gone from your mind."

"No! You've gone mad! Let me go home, Orochi!" Tetsuya cried, backing away.

"Miwaku, Doku no Hanone."

"Don't do this!"

Tetsuya screamed as the snake reached him and began to slither up his leg.

"Orochi, stop!"

"Utsuro sakusei."

As the snake moved to bite down, another male voice sounded, and Tetsuya's heart froze.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

Pink light swirled around Tetsuya, and a swell of petal blades struck the snake, breaking it apart and setting Tetsuya free. Tetsuya's head turned and his eyes found Byakuya standing alongside Hisana, who was perched on his Arashi's back. Then, he spotted Sadao, flanked by Mai, Aratani and Kohana.

"Get away from my son!" Sadao said in a deadly voice, "He told you to let him go, Orochi."

Tetsuya started to flash step away, but inhaled in surprise as a flash step sounded and Orochi's arm wrapped around him possessively.

"You fools! He admitted that he gave himself to me willingly! He asked me to take him away! And once he did that, you lost all rights to demand him back. Tetsuya has been mine from the beginning, and I will not let you have him. He will stay with me, until he dies...even if I must kill him, myself!"

"Stop it! Let go!" Tetsuya screamed, struggling.

He froze as Orochi's weapon touched his throat.

"Do you want him to die, Byakuya?" Orochi asked quietly, "You can't have him back. One way or another, you are going to lose him. Let him go peacefully, or watch him fall. What is your choice, cousin?"

"My choice," Byakuya said, looking into Tetsuya's eyes lovingly, "is to free him from you, once again. Tetsuya never belonged to you, though you broke his will many times and forced him to obey you. Whatever I may or may not be able to offer him, I give him that which is most meaningful to him. Freedom. The power to choose his path. It has never been your right to dominate him, and you will not do that anymore!"

"And how will you take him back?" Orochi asked, his eyes glittering, "One step and my sword will kill him."

Byakuya gazed back at Orochi silently, then a moment later, two kido spells cracked in the air, behind Orochi, striking him from both sides at once and stunning him for an instant. Torio and Koji burst from within the long grasses behind their cousin and Koji's hand found Tetsuya's.

"Run!" he cried, pulling Tetsuya into motion as more binding spells crashed down on Orochi.

And like that time before, when he had broken from the prison and known safety was only a short distance away, Tetsuya ran. His eyes fixed on Byakuya and he let go of everything else in the effort to reach him. He was only steps away when he heard Orochi howl in fury, and a heavy, sudden blast of kido exploded in his and Koji's direction. Tetsuya wrapped an arm around the attendant's waist and took him to the ground, protectively. Byakuya's counterattack hissed over their heads and struck Orochi's, exploding just over them with such force that things began to go black and quiet all around the two. But even as the darkness closed in, Tetsuya felt Byakuya's arms lift and hold him tightly, soft, insistent kisses warming his numb lips and his beloved cousin's voice in his ear.

"It's all right. I have you now, Tetsuya. I promise you. I will make things right between us again. I promise."

The words bolstered Tetsuya's aching heart and sent new strength through his body, even as unconsciousness claimed him.

"B-byakuya," he whispered, "Thank you...for saving me again."