Chapter 12:
After finishing his rounds, Hisagi returned to Byakuya's office to deliver the blood packet he swiped from the sickbay along with what he overheard. Renji greeted him at the door but did not let him in. As devoted as they both were to Byakuya at this point, there was also some competition among the servants for who could best serve him.
"I can take that," Renji said with his hand out.
Hisagi did not comply, refusing to even show him the blood packet. "I can deliver it to him."
Renji smirked snidely. "Between the two of us, which is more privileged?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I am his Lieutenant. It's my job."
"He gave me the assignment."
"And you performed well. Now I get to deliver him what he wants."
"I see no reason why I can't see my mission through."
"Your mission was to get the blood."
"Which includes me giving it to him. Ergo, I should be the one to give it to him myself."
Renji glared at him. "Give it to me."
"It's my job to give it to him."
"Give it to me."
"I'll be the one to do it."
Renji reached for Hisagi who turned away. Renji tried to feel around for the transfusion bag with both hands but Hisagi kept moving. Renji climbed onto his back, reaching over Hisagi's shoulders in what looked like a very awkward piggyback.
"Just get in here," came Byakuya's annoyed tone.
The two stopped immediately and hurried inside.
The office was dark, every window blocked with blinds and whatever could be stacked in front of the windows for an added layer of darkness. The yellow light emanating through the blinds cast an eerie glow over the potted plants and books gathered on the windowsill allowing the Soul Reapers to navigate the room while keeping Byakuya shrouded in shadow.
Awake by this hour, Byakuya was feeling hungry and did not care who gave him blood or how.
Standing up from the couch, Byakuya faced the two Soul Reapers with his hand extended. Hisagi obediently handed over the blood packet and watched as Byakuya bit through the plastic and began to drink, sucking noisily.
He waited until Byakuya finished to speak about an important matter. "Sir, the nurses in the sickbay have noticed that several transfusion bags are missing. They want to increase security. I'm concerned it will be harder to obtain what you need, sir."
Unlike Renji, Hisagi did not refer to Byakuya as 'master' though he perceived him as such. It was a minor difference Byakuya had already taken notice of and wondered if this had to do with the individual themselves or the amount of blood taken from them. It was something he was curious about but never bothered to ask.
"Master, I would be more than happy to provide you with all the blood you need," Renji said, stepping forward. He had been told not the call Byakuya 'master' while others were present but only did this in front of Hisagi, first because Byakuya never corrected him, and second, because he wanted to demonstrate just how far above Hisagi he was in terms of rank.
"Not necessary," Byakuya answered. "I need you in top shape to complete the work for today."
Renji did not say anything further.
Still hungry, Byakuya pointed. "Hisagi. My snack will come from you today. Step forward."
Hisagi shot Renji a smirk as he walked closer to Byakuya. Hisagi shut his eyes in preparation for what was to come. He felt Byakuya's breath on his neck followed by the sharp pain of his fangs. Then the warm gush of blood pouring from the wound. Byakuya sucked on his neck like a straw, Hisagi enjoying every minute of it.
He expected Byakuya to take longer with his meal but pulled away after only a short time.
Byakuya was licking his lips but not to gather the blood clinging to his mouth. He was tasting, trying to identify a strange flavor.
"Is something the matter, sir?"
Byakuya was frowning. "Your blood tastes different today."
Hisagi hesitated, deducing from his expression that it was not a pleasing taste. His blood had been palatable before, leading him to wonder what changed.
"What have you eaten today?" Byakuya asked him.
"I had my usual breakfast and just a little while ago I had some fried rice Rangiku gave me. It was leftover from the Lieutenant's meeting I missed today."
"Fried rice? What was in it?"
"The usual stuff and some shrimp. But…" Hisagi remembered the tingly sensation in his mouth. "It did have extra garlic in it."
"Garlic?" Byakuya was starting to suspect that garlic and him didn't get along. If he was a vampire, he would detest the stuff.
Becoming a vampire didn't bestow upon him the knowledge, so many things he had to discover on his own. With vampires being as popular as they were, he already had some knowledge of what to expect, such as no reflection and being averse to garlic. However, he didn't realize that it could affect the blood he drank. Perhaps he only noticed because of the sheer amount of it.
He doubted it would kill him but was certain that if he took any more of Hisagi's blood with so much garlic in his system that it would make him sick.
"I don't care for garlic," he told Hisagi. "Try to cut it out of your diet."
Hisagi felt horrible. Making a mistake was bad enough, as was displeasing Byakuya, but potentially doing him harm was something he could not accept.
Frantic, Hisagi threw himself to the ground in a kowtow and begged Byakuya's forgiveness, forehead scrapping the floor. "Please forgive me, Byakuya, sir! I had no idea. It's inexcusable, I know, but I am deeply sorry all the same. I beg of you, please forgive me!"
"Get up," Byakuya said in a bored tone. "It's fine. No real harm done. I doubt it will do anything to me. If I were to eat garlic, that would be another story. Getting it from your blood is very minor."
Hisagi lifted his head. "Thank you, sir."
"As for the blood packs from the sickbay are concerned…" Byakuya put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Taking more right now would be dangerous. Of course, even if we wait a while, they might not lower their guard. If they are increasing their security of the blood, it will make getting it, either now or in the future, more difficult."
"What should we do?" Renji asked. "If you are unwilling to feed off of us so as not to impede our work, then where should we get the blood you need?"
Byakuya smirked. "There are a number of different ways. I could always go to the sickbay myself and feign illness in order to get a transfusion. It will not be hard."
"But if you do it too much, they'll suspect there's something going on," said Hisagi. "I know if I feign illness too often, no one believes me and those who do will believe I have a major illness and want to treat me. What if they do you harm, thinking you're sick when you're not?"
The Captain did not seem overly concerned. He scoffed and gave a little smirk. "Doing it once or twice will be fine as long as I do so when I truly need it. Snacking isn't worth it."
"But you need blood every day. What will we do?"
The smirk never left Byakuya's face. "If the staff wish to keep blood under lock and key, that's fine. The simplest solution is to get one of the nurses on our side. Then they'll want to supply me with all the blood I need. Understand?"
"A nurse?"
"Anyone from Squad 4 will do. Just the one, though. I do not wish to call attention to myself by gathering more than necessary."
Neither man questioned him, trusting him to come up with the best solution. Whatever he decided, that's what they would do.
Hitsugaya welcomed Rangiku back to the office, asking how the Lieutenant's meeting went.
"It was fine, but a couple people didn't show up. Both Hisagi and Renji." Rangiku flopped down on the couch and opened a magazine before continuing. "His Captain even came looking for him at the meeting."
"Byakuya did?"
"No, Kensei. He was looking for Hisagi. Says he hasn't been showing up lately. Pfft. Didn't show up to the meeting either. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for the Captain to have his Lieutenant not show up for work, leaving him to do it all."
Hitsugaya pointed his gaze squarely on her loafing on the couch. "Yeah," he said flatly and left it at that.
"I did give Hisagi some leftovers after the meeting when I ran into him. Kensei made this really nice shrimp fried rice but it was so garlicy. I might have kept it for myself to eat if it hadn't been for that."
Hitsugaya was intrigued. "Did he eat it?"
"I don't know. I guess. Maybe." She turned the page of her magazine. "I left before I could see what he did with it. I imagine he did. Ate it, I mean."
It didn't take long for Hitsugaya to grow concerned. The intention was to keep Byakuya away from other people so he wouldn't bite them. What if Hisagi ate the garlic saturated food and was then fed upon by Byakuya? Would that be enough to poison him? He wanted to stop Byakuya, not kill him.
Worried, Hitsugaya got up and left his office, intent on finding out their condition.
No longer tired, Byakuya was able to walk around with ease as long as it was indoors. After ingesting Hisagi's blood, his stomach started to feel a little upset. He was making his way over to Squad 4 when he suddenly felt weak.
The garlic blood must have been affecting him. He needed to settle his stomach and restore his strength. The only way he knew how to do that was to drink more blood. After feeding, he always felt a rush or renewed energy and strength. He was certain blood had healing properties for him.
He began to eye the people around him, hungrily. There were too many people in the hall and every person he passed was traveling with a partner or two. He would be unable to strike any one of them unnoticed.
The longer he waited for the perfect prey, the hungrier he became. He wasn't sure he could make it to Squad 4 without snacking.
Before long, Byakuya found himself alone in the long corridor. If he pushed himself, he could reach the next Division and go from there.
Just as he was contemplating this, he saw Kira walking his way with an armful of papers. He looked tired and annoyed.
Hunger may have been clouding his judgement but Byakuya had a feeling he could feed off of Kira without him noticing, just as he had Renji.
"Lieutenant Kira," Byakuya spoke as calmly as he could, trying to mask the hunger in his voice.
Kira flinched, too distracted to notice Byakuya until he called out to him. "Oh, Captain Kuchiki. Good afternoon, sir."
Byakuya approached. "You look busy."
"Yeah, well…" Kira adjusted the papers in his arms. "Meeting or no, I'm still expected to get my work done. These papers don't deliver themselves."
"Those papers look heavy."
"Y-yeah… they…" Kira wasn't sure what it was, but Byakuya's voice had changed slightly. It sounded deeper; more rhythmic. A strange seductive undertone he had not heard before. "I was just on my way to the archives to…"
"Never mind that," Byakuya said gently, coming closer to him.
To maintain the distance between them, Kira backed up into the wall. With nowhere to go, Byakuya was able to catch up to him in an instant and stand toe-to-toe with him. He braced himself against the wall behind Kira's back with his arm and started to lean closer to him.
Kira didn't feel threatened but was certainly intimidated. Byakuya had never stood so close to him before and in such a flirtatious way. He was being so dominating yet comforting.
Kira peered over Byakuya's arm to see if there was a path he could use to escape. That was when Byakuya spoke to him again.
"Look at me," he said.
His commanding voice was enough to pull Kira's gaze up towards his face. It was difficult for Kira to look him in the eyes, finding this whole situation uncomfortable. He didn't know if he felt uncomfortable because it was unusual behavior for Byakuya to display or because Kira actually liked it.
"Kira…"
That seductive hiss drew Kira's eyes upward and locked with Byakuya's. Once he saw them, he found he could not look away.
"Those papers look awfully heavy," Byakuya told him.
Kira began to lose strength in his arms. He let them fall to his sides and the papers spilled onto the floor around their legs. Kira's limbs felt so heavy all of a sudden.
"You look so sleepy. You should rest for a bit."
He felt strange, but good strange. His whole body was going numb. Listening to Byakuya was very relaxing. He wanted to go to sleep. His eyes were very heavy. His mind was blank.
Byakuya watched as Kira's eyelids began to flutter and his head slumped to one side, falling asleep on his feet. He wasn't fully asleep but dozing was just as good.
Easy prey.
Byakuya moved in for a bite. Kira's neck looked so soft and inviting. He wondered what his blood would taste like.
Just as he was about to bite down on Kira's exposed neck, Byakuya heard a voice from down the hall.
"Kira, don't leave papers on the ground like this! Pick them up!"
Hissing, Byakuya swiftly fled down the hall and out of sight. He would have to find his meal elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the one who had shouted was Hitsugaya. As soon as he saw Byakuya with Kira, he knew what was going on and had to intervene. Smelling no blood, he knew he wasn't too late.
Without Byakuya's arm to help support him, Kira began to slide down the wall and sat where he was.
Hitsugaya crouched in front of Kira and began calling him. He tapped his cheek with his fingers to rouse him. "Kira. Hey, Kira. Come on, Kira, wake up."
He was out of it but after some prodding, Kira finally came around, rubbing his head in confusion. "I… I don't know what happened to me. I was just fine then I suddenly got really sleepy. I don't know what happened after that."
"Are you ok?" Hitsugaya asked, looking for any signs of Byakuya's newfound sorcery. Kira appeared to be alright.
"Wasn't Byakuya here a second ago or did I just dream that?"
"Kira," Hitsugaya said firmly. "I need you to stay away from Byakuya. Is that clear?"
"What? Why?" Now more alert, Kira was baffled by the request.
Coming up with something on the spot, Hitsugaya told him, "He hasn't been himself lately and a bunch of people are concerned whatever he had might be contagious, so it might be best if you stayed away from him. Besides, with Rukia's coronation coming up, he's been pretty stressed out trying to prepare for it."
Kira nodded slowly. "Makes sense."
"Try not to get near him, ok?"
"Alright."
Hitsugaya looked down the hall but couldn't detect Byakuya anywhere.
He was successful this time but worried he couldn't protect everyone from Byakuya.
The hunger was not subsiding and Byakuya knew the unease in his stomach could only be resolved by consuming more blood. In an effort to heal his stomachache, he continued on his way to Squad 4, stopping off at the sickbay.
He could have convinced a nurse to do his bidding, but his mind was on other things right now. Specifically, getting blood as quickly as possible and without being noticed. Finding a lone nurse was too much trouble and he didn't want to put forth the effort necessary to sway a small group. This led him to one place.
In the back of a windowless room was a metal closet filled with transfusion bags, red and gorged with blood. He slipped inside easily and went over to the metal doors. There was a new lock on it but it gave him little trouble. He took the heavy lock in his hand and squeezed it in his fist, breaking it instantly. Pieces of metal fell to the floor like cookie crumbs and he pulled open the door, breaking the second lock inside which was no more than a small latch.
Drool began to ooze between Byakuya's lips as he marveled at the wide assortment of blood packets, each displaying information on their sides like candy wrappers. He grabbed several labeled 'AB' and ripped them open with his teeth. After those were empty, he grabbed the next couple bags displaying 'Type B' on their side then he moved on to 'O', drinking until satisfied.
By the end of his feast, Byakuya had polished off a total of eight transfusion bags which now lay around his feet like discarded potato chip bags. He gathered the evidence and disposed of them in a trash receptacle where he also found used gloves and needles. Confident no one would look through the container, Byakuya left the room, storage doors closed but the broken lock still on the floor in front of it.
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