Chapter 8: Damage Control

(A slightly late, but very happy birthday wishes for the lovely Dalia! I hope your special day was lots of fun and that this year brings good things for you. A shout out to my buddy, SesshomaruFreak for her help with the Kenny/Bya smexiness! Enjoy the chapter, love Spunky)

Squad 12 Captain's log entry 212022: As satisfying as it was to watch Captain Kuchiki's violent reaction to the discovery of his unexpected pregnancy, rather than killing each other, those two have instead become rather nauseatingly compatible. Although it's clear that Captain Kuchiki would much rather dive into a koi pond full of nails rather than have the barbarian captain touch him, he not only puts up with the brute's not so tender abdominal caresses, but also engages in horrific bouts of increasingly wicked fornication, complete with ungodly yowls that would probably give the stuffy elders of Byakuya's clan all the heart attacks they surely deserve.

I think that if I don't want to die of boredom or suffer bleeding from my eyes and ears, I will need to shift my focus to that bastard, Urahara. Hmm, I've been watching him as well, and given the young Kuchiki tart, Tetsuya's attractiveness to him, I may have to simply kidnap Tetsuya to gain access to whatever that foul former captain is finding in the Kuchiki archive.

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Tetsuya walked quietly down the length of an aisle of books, reading the labels carefully and selecting several that matched the list of titles he'd been given by the Karakura shopkeeper. He peeked through one of the openings in the tall bookshelves to study the man as Kisuke sat, bent over one open book and leaning over now and then to compare his notes with that text and another. He reached up to scratch his chin and examined the two books more intently before sitting back, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

Urahara-san has been nothing but polite, the shy half-noble mused, I can't say that he has done a single thing to earn my mistrust, but when I look at him and he looks back at me, I feel something so very odd. I have never felt comfortable with scientists. Still, this feeling I have with him cannot really be characterized as discomfort…nor is it entirely comfortable.

I feel…riled by him.

Tetsuya turned back to locate the last of the books on the list. He found it quickly and walked out to where Kisuke was now leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head, looking up at the archive ceiling, wearing an expression that looked both intent and exasperated.

"Is everything all right, Urahara-san?"

His breath caught as his sudden question seemed to startle the shopkeeper out of his reverie and his chair fell over, onto the floor with an echoing bang. As he hit the ground, his striped hat fell off, bounced and rolled away.

"Ow…"

"Urahara-san!" cried Tetsuya, dropping the books he'd collected and dashing to the other man's side as Kisuke sat up slowly, swaying unsteadily as he rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"Oh, that's okay," Kisuke laughed shakily, "I'm fine."

Tetsuya gave him a disapproving look.

"You are most certainly not fine," he chided the elder man, extending a slim hand over the part of Kisuke's head that had suffered the impact. Kisuke started to object, but he quieted instantly, his grey eyes blinking in surprise as cool blue reiatsu leaked out of Tetsuya's extended hand and flowed steadily into the area of the injury.

"You have a slight concussion," Tetsuya relayed as he worked, "I can heal it, but you may continue to feel dizzy and lightheaded for awhile after."

"N-no doubt," Kisuke mumbled, barely coherently as Tetsuya's light, sweet scent caused little flutters that tickled his insides.

What's goin' on here? I don't react to people like that.

He blinked a few more times and looked up at the delicate looking half-noble. Tetsuya noticed him looking and smiled back at him, blushing in response.

"You need to be more careful, Urahara-san," Tetsuya scolded him gently, "What were you thinking?"

"Heh, I was pretty caught up in the research," Kisuke chuckled good naturedly, "You startled me. That's all."

"I'm sorry," Tetsuya apologized.

"You don't have anything to apologize for, Tetsuya-chan…and I know I've told you a number of times to call me Kisuke."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tetsuya answered, blushing more brightly, "It's just you're older than me and…erm…"

He paused, biting his lip and furrowing his brow as Kisuke's head tilted and he arched an eyebrow.

"I mean…h-here in the family, I am supposed to refer to elders…"

"I see," Kisuke said, smirking, "But I'm not one of your stuffy elders."

"Oh, I know that," Tetsuya replied in a flustered tone, "I just…"

Tetsuya froze, staring breathlessly into the shopkeeper's eyes as Kisuke's hand touched his and the shopkeeper smiled at him charmingly.

"Please, call me Kisuke."

"Of course," Tetsuya managed, his heart skipping madly as the other man's fingers lifted to brush against a soft cheek, "Kisuke-san."

"Just…Kisuke."

Tetsuya took a steadying breath.

"Kisuke."

"That's better," the shopkeeper said, grinning brightly and reaching down to pick up his fallen hat, "I'd better put this back on. I don't usually let people see me without this…but…I don't think I mind being seen by you."

XXXXXXXXXX

Byakuya woke to throbs of nausea that made him exit his bed and swiftly flash step to the bathroom, where he dropped to his knees cringing at his own loud retching noises.

"Byakuya-sama?"

Torio…

…I suppose there's no being subtle or keeping a shred of dignity intact, at this point.

"Come in, Torio," he sighed raggedly, sitting back and leaning against the wall.

He let his eyes slide shut and made no comment as his attendant entered the bathroom and began to clean his face with a cool, wet cloth.

Wait, that is not Torio's hand.

"Ugh," he groaned, opening his eyes and looking up at Kenpachi's amused smirk, "You again…"

"You okay, princess?" the barbarian captain teased him.

"What have you done with my attendant?" Byakuya growled, his grey eyes narrowing.

Kenpachi laughed.

"That little cupcake can't do shit for you right now, and you know it. You're unbalanced…"

"If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black…"

"You need a belly rub and a good hard fuck and you know it."

"Go away," the noble said, running a hand over his forehead.

"Nah," Kenpachi chuckled, slipping an arm around him and helping him to his feet.

Byakuya gritted his teeth, but held back speaking until he'd been guided back to bed and tucked in. Kenpachi slid in behind him, wrapping warm arms around him and beginning the stabilizing infusion. He studied his annoyed partner's somber profile and decided it was best to at least make a try at civil conversation.

"So, you've got a meeting with your elders soon?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," the noble replied wearily, "and even more unfortunately, I need to figure out what, if anything, to say about this…"

He paused and looked wordlessly down at his abdomen, while Kenpachi gazed at him appraisingly.

"Whatsa matter?" the bigger man asked, smirking, "I could tell you were gonna say something rude, but you stopped. Why?"

Byakuya drew in a slow, troubled breath.

"I…suppose it would be wrong to take my frustrations out on an innocent child," he concluded.

"That's real polite of you, just wanting to insult me and not our kid. It's good you're not blaming him for being born…like he could help it."

Byakuya's dark grey eyes flicked upward to meet his.

"What makes you so sure that our child will be a boy?" the Kuchiki leader asked, arching an eyebrow.

Kenpachi shrugged.

"I suppose it could be a girl. I dunno. Maybe I just don't see anything that came from my seed as being beautiful…although mixed with you, the kid's at least got a sporting chance of being beautiful, right?"

Kenpachi paused, blinking and staring at the look of surprise that registered on Byakuya's comely face.

"What?" he asked, tilting his head to the side, "What's that look mean?"

Byakuya just gazed at him wordlessly, but the bigger man grinned more widely as he realized.

"You like it when I tell you how beautiful you are," he laughed.

"I do not!" Byakuya insisted, giving him a scathing look, "Perhaps I just…appreciate that you tend to speak the truth."

"That's not what you've said before," the bigger man mused, "Usually, hearing the truth just makes you mad."

"It does when you're being rude," the noble clarified, "however…it is refreshing to have someone not pressured to compliment me give me a real compliment."

"Hmm," Kenpachi rumbled, sending a warm vibration through Byakuya's body where it was still held in his embrace, "well, you're right that I meant it. You're fucking beautiful."

He planted a kiss at the soft juncture between Byakuya's neck and shoulder and loosed a little chuckle as the noble's head tilted to provide him more access. The barbarian captain's tongue snaked out, sliding along the pale flesh, tasting and teasing, bringing a pink flush to the area. He felt Byakuya shiver and release a soft, wanton breath. Kenpachi opened his mouth to speak, only to feel Byakuya's fingers press firmly against his lips, stopping him.

"Don't say anything," Byakuya whispered, keeping his head turned slightly away, "You have my permission to proceed. Just don't say anything."

"That's probably best," Kenpachi agreed, turning and pushing the noble down onto his back.

Large, rough hands slid down the edges of Byakuya's satin blue sleeping yukata, pushing the sides back to fully expose the noble's lovely and deceptively delicate looking body. Lust smoldered in the bigger man's eyes as his hands moved on to caress the expanse of pale flesh bared to him. He leaned down to taste his solemn comrade's ivory skin, groaning softly at the flavor. Licking the slender throat, Kenpachi heard a quietly hitched breath and grinned to himself, shifting to bring their bodies into closer contact. Byakuya swallowed as his body responded to the surprisingly tender touch of his barbaric companion.

"You like that, huh?" Kenpachi's voice rumbled in his ear.

The noble felt a sharp nip on his earlobe that seemed to travel all of the way down to his loins and a purely involuntary moan escaped him. As the sound left his lips, he blushed hotly, expecting Kenpachi to make some snide comment or to laugh at him for his desire for their coupling.

Neither happened.

Instead, a surprisingly gentle kiss captured his lips as the bigger man shifted between his slightly trembling legs. Byakuya felt the hard, leaking appendage nudge against his entrance as Kenpachi caught him by the thighs, spreading them wide and pushing them upward to expose him.

Byakuya blushed more darkly at the way he was positioned, but Kenpachi continued to kiss him as he pressed in with a low, drawn out groan of pleasure. Kenpachi shuddered as he sank into the tight heat, careful not to thrust too hard just yet. He mumbled dazedly against the noble's so soft lips.

"So fuckin' beautiful!"

Byakuya made a soft, little sounds that Kenpachi knew he didn't mean to make out loud.

"I know you're feeling good now," he growled, holding back carefully, "Tell me what you want."

Smoky grey eyes expressed flashes of arousal, but Kenpachi felt the man under him hesitate.

"What is it?" he whispered, kissing the noble's soft, frowning lips again, "Talk to me, Byakuya."

Byakuya drew a slow, shaky breath.

"I am…not used to verbalizing such…such impolite things," he admitted.

The noble's teeth gritted as the barbarian captain laughed.

"Well, princess, in case you haven't noticed, we're not out in public right now or in front of your stuffy elders. We're in bed, and I felt the barrier go up. We're alone. I can be real. You can be real."

Byakuya held back answering for a moment as he considered, then he looked into Kenpachi's green eyes and gave the most honest answer he could.

"I…can agree to share more openly with you, however, I will need your word that what happens in privacy will remain private."

"What? You worried I'll wanna tell the world how good it feels to…"

The bigger man paused, reading the swiftly rising disapproval in his partner's grey eyes.

"…to make love to the most beautiful shinigami in the three worlds?"

"It's well in line with your nature to want to brag about your…conquests."

"Well, we weren't fighting just now or yeah, I'd pretty much be bragging about what I was able to kill. You know, I'm not as smart as you, but I do know some things."

"It is not your intelligence I was questioning, Kenpachi," Byakuya chided him, "You are a smart and strategic fighter."

"I thought you said a was a barbarian…a primal ape."

Byakuya gave a shuddering sigh.

"I felt…disrespected."

"Look at me," Kenpachi urged him, kissing him more passionately and moving his hips slowly, "Do you feel disrespected right now?"

"N-no."

"That's because you know," Kenpachi went on, increasing the speed and depths of his thrusts until the noble was panting and moving with him, "I respect you as a fighter and as a lover."

"Kenpachi…"

Byakuya was sure he was blushing all over at the bared wantonness in his utterance, but his embarrassment couldn't withstand the erotic beauty of what followed. Kenpachi's feral eyes locked on his and he could feel the man's restraint and willingness to do as he was asked.

It does feel safe in his arms…at least as long as he is focused on our pleasure. And Kenpachi does not hold back when we make love. It does not feel right for me to hold back either.

"H-harder…"

Kenpachi answered with a barrage of quicker, deeper thrusts that swiftly brought Byakuya close to climax.

I want him to reach deeper, but this position isn't…

He pushed upward with one hip and as though he'd read Byakuya's mind, Kenpachi shifted and let his member slide out, helping to flip the noble onto his belly. Big hands wrapped around the Byakuya's white bottom, lifting it high off the bed and exposing his wet opening. But Byakuya felt nothing but bliss as the bigger man's thick cock plunged into him again and he unleashed the emotion in a loud, unrestrained moan that elicited a deeper growl from the depths of his lover's chest and a flurry of more vigorous thrusts. Teetering at the edges of completion, Byakuya moaned the bigger man's name a last time.

"Kenpachi!"

"I've got you, beautiful."

The barbarian captain loosed himself completely, pounding into that wonderful, tight heat until neither could hold back anymore and the two erupted into hard shudders and quaking moans of release. Kenpachi's weight came down on Byakuya's back and the noble sank down into the bed, panting hard and groaning delightedly as the beast on top of him bit down on the back of his neck as though feasting on him.

"You're fuckin' amazing," the bigger man sighed raggedly, "You good now?"

"Yes," Byakuya whispered back, turning his head aside to look at his lover through one smoky eye, "Thank you, Kenpachi."

"Heh, believe me, you're more'n welcome."

XXXXXXXXXX

Tetsuya sat alongside Kisuke at one of the desks in the archive, watching the shopkeeper out of the corner of one blue eye as he searched the reference materials he'd been given. The more glances he stole at the man, the more it registered that something, although Tetsuya could not guess what, was bothering him. Kisuke's brow furrowed as he read and he reached up to scratch the back of his neck, letting out little huffs of riled breaths.

"Is everything all right?" the curious half-noble asked finally, "But, I suppose it's not if you are so…unsettled."

"Yeah," the elder shinigami admitted ruefully, "I have to tell you, Tetsuya, this is kinda like tryin' to learn to work on cars by just reading a manual. It's frustrating as hell to try to imagine some of this."

Tetsuya paused, considering quietly for a moment, then he glanced down at his body and back at the other man again.

"Y-you mean that…it would be better for you to be able to look at a real breeder male while you read that?"

He bit his lip as he could see the little jolt that his words sent through the shopkeeper.

"I will admit that I'm hesitant to offer myself, but…"

Kisuke shook his head firmly.

"No, Tetsuya. I wasn't trying to…"

"I know," the sapphire-eyed half-noble assured him, "I didn't think you were meaning to overstep boundaries. I was going to say that while I am uncomfortable offering, I am devoted to my leader's well-being. I am as devoted to Byakuya-sama as you are to scientific study."

"That obsessed, huh?" Kisuke chuckled, earning a shy smile from Tetsuya.

"He saved my life and he set me free from the noble's prison. My will now is to protect him in whatever ways I can. If that means I must submit to an examination to further your efforts to help him, I will willingly submit."

Tetsuya blinked in surprise as the shopkeeper straightened and looked down into his eyes, reaching out to brush a few of the untamed strands of hair away from the younger man's eyes.

"I know what those bastards put you through in the prison," he sighed unhappily, "and I don't wanna hurt you by bringing that stuff back, Tetsuya. I know you're strong enough to endure it, but I don't want you to have to."

It was Kisuke's turn to be surprised as Tetsuya's luminous eyes flared with mingled anger and determination.

"Is protecting me so important to you that you would bind your own hands while you try to find the answers that my cousin needs you to find?" he asked sharply.

Kisuke opened his mouth, but closed it again quickly as Tetsuya stood and took the book from his hand, then led him to a sleeping area in one of the alcoves.

"Byakuya-sama rests here when he is up late, researching," the half-noble explained, "I believe this will do for our purposes. Do you want me to undress?"

Oh god, yes!

"Erm…yeah, if you could get down to your dressing yukata and lie down on your back."

Tetsuya complied readily, blushing more with lingering stubbornness than with embarrassment. Kisuke held the book in one hand and reached down with the other to release the tie at Tetsuya's waist, then he pushed back the edges of the fine material, revealing the pale, slim body beneath it. Tetsuya looked up at the archive ceiling and the shopkeeper avoided looking directly at his face as he read a little, then looked down at Tetsuya's naked body again.

This would be much easier if he wasn't so damned cute…and…if he didn't smell so sweet.

He looked back at the book, more to get his mind back on track, but a few of the lines on the page caught his attention.

"Resonance," he read, "is a key to heightening fertility in the breeder male, so all potential couples were tested for resonance using the following procedure."

He set the book down on the bed and leaned over Tetsuya.

"I'm gonna check our resonance," he explained quietly, "It's just to see how the process works."

"I understand," Tetsuya acknowledged.

Kisuke nodded and read aloud as he followed the directions.

"The partner to the breeder male would focus a tendril of his reiatsu into the breeder male's spirit core, a few inches under the navel," he said, running his fingers down from Tetsuya's navel to the indicated point, "then the resonance level could be read as weak if there was no or little reaction, moderate if there was some, but not pronounced reaction, strong if there was steady or powerful reaction, and if there was a glow that lit both bodies…"

"Kisuke!" Tetsuya yelped suddenly, making the shopkeeper blink and stare in surprise as he noticed the intense blue light around their bodies.

"Then…there is a true resonance," Kisuke whispered in a shocked voice.