Chapter 4: Night of Angels
(Thanks to Yaoihime for her plot assistance on the chapter. Sorry to keep you waiting for this one. Enjoy! Love, Spunky)
Kisuke knelt on top of a rocky rise within the hidden training room beneath his candy shop, his head bowed slightly and his lips moving in a slow, methodical enchantment. A short distance away, Tessai worked quickly at another rise and in front of them, the group of fugitives waited with their hands ready on their weapons. None of those gathered needed to speak the facts that they all knew. They were being pursued already, and it wouldn't be long before their pursuers would find them if they didn't move quickly enough. Tetsuya leaned against his attendant, his breast heaving softly and his face and throat flushed. Koji held him protectively while Torio waited with his sword drawn. Beside them, Byakuya stood next to the elder, Nori, and his subordinate, Rikichi. The Kuchiki leader noticed the younger officer's flushed look and the intermittent, worried glances he gave Tetsuya.
Hmm, I noticed when I saw them together, how protective Rikichi seemed, even though he and Tetsuya did not know each other. And while Tetsuya rarely entrusts himself to anyone but Koji or me, Tetsuya reached for him.
I wonder…
He looked again and made a soft sound of realization as he noticed how Tetsuya's heat flares and Rikichi's reactions seemed deeply connected.
Ah…perhaps then, it is for the best not to impede them.
He met Rikichi's eyes for a moment, then glanced at his own attendant.
"Torio?"
"Sir?" the attendant answered.
"You will come with me."
"B-byakuya-sama?" Torio queried, glancing at Koji and Tetusya, then looking back at his leader with a confused expression, "It will take two of us to…"
"Rikichi, you will assist Koji in managing Tetsuya's heat."
"Ah…um, yes, of course, Kuchiki taicho."
Rikichi flinched and trembled as his taicho's reiatsu swelled warningly and Byakuya gazed down into his widened eyes intently.
"You are to let no harm befall my cousin," the noble ordered him, "I am placing Tetsuya's well-being directly in your hands, because I judge that you are best able to assist him in these circumstances."
A flicker of realization lit Tetsuya's distressed eyes and they locked on Byakuya's as the younger Kuchiki gave a little nod of understanding and acceptance.
"I swear to you, Kuchiki taicho," Rikichi promised, "I won't let anyone harm Tetsuya-san!"
"The Garganta is ready," Kisuke announced, looking down at the group as a bit of the sky opened up in a long tear, "Get going, quickly."
"Do not forget," Byakuya reminded Rikichi, "Tetsuya's life is now in your hands."
"I won't forget," Rikichi answered solemnly, "I will protect him with everything that's in me. You have my word!"
Byakuya watched silently as the others disappeared into the garganta, and a moment later, the opening snapped shut. A little sigh escaped the Kuchiki leader and he closed his eyes, breathing slowly, trying to focus his thoughts while Tessai prepared the senkaimon for them.
There is no time now for feeling emotional over all that has happened. Each step I take from this point must be measured carefully, for the future hangs on it. As much as I was ruled by my omega instincts before, with my senses regained, I must put every ounce of effort into protecting the growing child inside of me. I cannot think of anything else now.
He watched as the senkaimon opened, his dark eyes solemn and focused on the path ahead.
"Go now," Kisuke advised them, "Tessai and I will make sure that no one follows."
Byakuya turned back for a moment, meeting the shopkeeper's gaze warningly.
"Do not allow Abarai to find us either."
Kisuke nodded.
"I can't promise that he won't find you another way, but I won't give him any help."
"That is all I ask," the noble assured him, "Thank you for your assistance."
Kisuke nodded and sighed.
"Good luck."
He watched as the senkaimon slid shut and the underground training room was left quiet and still again.
"You look worried, Boss," Tessai observed, "I'm sure their plans will work."
"Yeah," the shopkeeper admitted, "But, I am still worried. As much as their plans can work, there's about a hundred or so things that could go wrong. I've planned for the ones I can anticipate. I just hope we aren't in for any bad surprises."
"Me too."
XXXXXXXXXX
No sooner had the three young men touched down in the cold, dark desert in Hueco Mundo, when Kuchiki Koji knelt and placed his open palms on the ground, his lips moving as he began the enchantment for the reiatsu concealing cage to protect them. Almost immediately, soft growls sounded nearby.
"Koji…" Tetsuya whispered warningly.
His attendant gave him a little, encouraging smile as he completed the enchantment. He started to follow Rikichi and Tetsuya through the small entry area to the inner part of the chamber, but Tetsuya turned back and laid a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"T-Tetsuya-san?" Koji queried, glancing anxiously at Rikichi, then back at Tetsuya again.
"I'm sure you haven't forgotten why it is that we usually need two attendants if I have an unexpected heat."
"Y-yes," Koji acknowledged, "When betas like Torio and I comfort you, we are sometimes less able to repress your reiatsu and it could…"
"Shatter the cage and expose us to the hollows," Tetsuya finished.
"But," the attendant objected, his eyes widening, "Rikichi-san…"
"He is an alpha, yes," Tetsuya agreed as Rikichi blushed furiously in reaction.
"You are going to allow him to mate with you?"
A little shiver passed through Tetsuya's slender body but he gave his worried attendant a little nod.
"I am. You saw Byakuya-sama's reaction to us."
"Yeah, but…"
"Koji," Tetsuya said softly, taking his attendant's hands in his and giving the young man a calmer look of deep affection, "I am so grateful for your friendship and protection, and I assure you, both Byakuya-sama and I have sensed the powerful resonance between Rikichi-san and me. That is why our cousin sent Rikichi-san and not your brother to help me. Torio could only calm and repress my reiatsu, but Rikichi-san can fully answer my needs right now. We cannot afford to have my reiatsu go out of control and shatter the cage. Orochi would be on us, even here, if that happened. This is the best way to ensure our safety. Please, set the seal on the room and protect us while we manage my heat."
Though still blushing furiously, Rikichi nodded and bowed respectfully in front of Koji.
"I give you my word, I would never hurt Tetsuya-san. I will take care of him."
Koji closed his eyes for a moment against the insistent little sting he felt in the dampening corners. He opened them again and returned the respectful bow the young officer had given him.
"And I will protect you both," he promised, "Go then."
Tetsuya and Rikichi passed into the main chamber as Tetsuya's now softly crying attendant set a privacy seal between them. Rikichi swallowed hard, quivering as the half-noble omega's sweet scent began to fill the small chamber. He turned to Tetsuya, who looked nearly as shaky as he felt.
"Are you…all right, Tetsuya-san? I mean, you were injured pretty badly before. Are you sure you wouldn't rather have Koji-san…?"
Tetsuya let out a soft, flustered breath.
"Have you…ever been with an omega, Rikichi-san?" he asked quietly.
"Erm…" Rikichi stammered, "N-no.
His head dipped and he wondered if he might just sink through the sandy floor.
"I've…never been with anyone," he confessed barely audibly, "I don't know why Kuchiki taicho sent me. When he asked me to protect you, I wasn't expecting…"
"My cousin sent you, because he sensed the strength of our resonance. You can feel it, can't you? My reiatsu calling out to yours? And do you feel the answering cry of your spirit energy?"
"B-but we barely know each other!" Rikichi cried, taking a step back, "How can you think of even letting me do something like…?"
Tetsuya remained carefully distanced, looking into his alpha's anxious eyes steadily.
"Tetsuya-san, you are…so much more already than I will ever be! An alpha is supposed to be strong…someone like Renji. Not like…me."
"You are strong," Tetsuya reassured him, taking a little step towards the sixth division officer, "You found me when I was in distress and your quick actions saved my life. I sensed something even then. Are you telling me that you didn't feel it, Rikichi-san? Do you feel it now?"
He moved in closer and Rikichi reeled as Tetsuya's sweet scent filled his senses, leaving his heart throbbing in his chest and his awakening hardness aching.
"A resonance this strong is a rare thing," Tetsuya went on, "An alpha can breed with any omega in heat, but the most fruitful and passionate unions are those between perfect resonants. This…is what perfect resonance feels like!"
He paused, close, but not touching, letting his scent draw the young officer in. Rikichi's chest moved as he breathed the omega's scent in more deeply, whimpering hungrily and shaking softly as he inched towards Tetsuya.
"We'll go slowly," Tetsuya reasoned, letting the other young man close the distance.
He folded easily into Rikichi's quaking arms as they wrapped around him and he tilted his head, allowing his alpha to press deeply into the juncture of neck and shoulder as heat swelled in his groin and he felt his member thickening.
"T-Tetsuya-s-san," he panted, pausing to run his tongue along the flesh omega's tender, pale throat, "I don't want to hurt you, but I f-feel…it's so…!"
"It's okay," Tetsuya whispered hotly in his ear, setting off a scathing flare of intense heat in Rikichi's awakened loins.
The young alpha, pushed forward, following Tetsuya to the sandy floor and meeting his parted lips for a flurry of frenzied kisses. His hands shook as they tugged at the pretty half-noble's clothing and Tetsuya's moved instantly to help him. The omega's hazy blue eyes locked on his and the touch of Rikichi's hand on his thigh seemed to fully ignite his oncoming heat.
"Rikichi-san!" he gasped, his voice echoing off the walls of the reiatsu chamber.
Rikichi lifted himself onto his knees, dragging Tetsuya onto his lap. He burrowed into the omega's shoulder again, biting and sucking, grinding his hips as Tetsuya writhed against him.
"Are…are you sure it won't hurt you too much when I put it in?" Rikichi asked worriedly.
He pulled back slightly, swallowing hard and looking down at the considerable knot that had formed on his hot, leaking penis. Tetsuya's eyes followed his and the alpha felt keenly the little shiver that went through him. Surprisingly, Tetsuya smiled at him and shook his head.
"It will be fine," he promised, "I'm…not so sensitive there. I can explain in more detail later, but…I…I need you, Rikichi! I feel like I'm burning up all over."
Rikichi swallowed hard again and nodded, shifting to accommodate his omega as Tetsuya positioned himself and began to sink slowly down onto his inflamed member. Fire seemed to ignite throughout the entirety of the alpha's body and it took every bit of strength he had to remain still. He panted harshly, moaning in some heated, chaotic mix of pleasure and pain, marveling at the hot tightness that wrapped around his tortured cock. Tetsuya hesitated as he encountered the thick knot, rotating his hips and lowering himself more carefully. A vicious thirst seemed to roar up into the alpha's throat and he groaned, unable to keep still anymore. He was sure he should have stopped, but control seemed to slip away from him and he fell forward as Tetsuya dropped onto his back. His hips moved of their own accord, forcing his penis the rest of the way into his omega's slicked bottom. Tetsuya's ragged cry of surrender only fanned the flames even more and he lost control completely, thrusting hard and fast as his biting mouth met one that was every bit as eager.
Rikichi might have felt guilty at his own lack of restraint if not for his omega's enthusiastic reactions. Feral sapphire eyes locked on his and clenching fingers dug into the flesh of the alpha's muscular shoulders. Tetsuya's dancing body arched upward to meet his partner's heavy, pounding thrusts and his erotic, guttural sounds of pleasure carried them both into an uncontrolled frenzy. For a moment, the darkness of their situation, the cold and blackness of Hueco Mundo, everything faded away, and all that the two locked figures could feel was the riled intensity of their spiritual connection. Their passions rose with their wild, unscripted movements into melting euphoria that carried them over and into the gripping shudders of mutual completion.
Expelling a ragged sigh, Rikichi collapsed onto Tetsuya's damp, heaving breast, burrowing into his shoulder, nudging him onto his side, then seeking the back of his neck. As Tetsuya's mind spun with the dregs of pleasure, his alpha sought the marking that had been made by his omega's former partner and he sank his teeth in, closing his eyes and sucking hard. The omega's body flinched and quivered for a moment, then a little sob of relief and happiness escaped him as their love bond formed.
The two dropped into a cycle of repeated matings, followed by periods of deep, restorative sleep that lasted until the hormones in Tetsuya's sated body calmed and his heat ended.
It wasn't until his senses fully returned to him that Tetsuya finally registered the lingering sting at the back of his neck and he reached up with shaky fingers and retrieved a small amount of blood from the area. He breathed in the scent, stealing a wary glance at his sleeping partner. Then, he moved to search Rikichi's body, feeling a heavy jolt of apprehension mingled with wonder.
When he claimed me in Itamigiri, Orochi bit me, but he never let me complete the other end of the connection by claiming him also. It would have been the same as declaring me his equal, and he could never do that.
Rikichi barely knows me, but while our minds and bodies were overtaken with heat, he bit me and…
Tetsuya's fingers brushed against the little marking on the back of his alpha's neck and his expression softened.
…he acknowledged me in the most striking way.
A little shiver passed through the omega's slender body and he turned to face the shielded entry to the reiatsu chamber they rested in.
Orochi will have sensed the destruction of our link, and he will instinctively know when he sees Rikichi again that he is the one who has become bonded with me. I have no illusions about what that monster will do.
The moment he knows, Orochi will hunt us down, and if we cannot stop him, he will kill us both. Rikichi first, while making me watch…and then, after making me his again, just so he can relish the moment of my passing, he will kill me.
There is no choice now.
We…will just have to make ourselves strong enough to defeat him!
XXXXXXXXXX
Kuchiki Nori stole a glance at Byakuya as they hurried through the dark chill of the precipice world, toward the relative safety of the Rukongai. Although the Kuchiki leader looked generally calm and unruffled, the aged man's eyes were quick to find hints of Byakuya's quiet distress. A flash of sadness in his eyes, an occasional tremor in his reiatsu and a tension in his movements as he led his attendant and the elder along the pathway. Although it might not have been the safest place to address the situation, he decided it was probably best to confront the issue while they were at least not in immediate danger.
"Are you all right, Byakuya?" he asked softly, "It's understandable that you wouldn't be, but…is there anything I can do?"
"I don't think anyone would be all right in this situation," Torio added, "If there is anything I can do, I'd like to help as well, Byakuya-sama."
Byakuya kept his gaze fixed on the pathway ahead of them.
"I will not claim to be without worry," he admitted softly, "and I will not lie and tell you that I am fine. Still, whether I am all right or not, we are being pursued, and until we can find a place where we are unlikely to be recognized, I think we cannot slow to address our discomfort."
The elder's blue eyes softened and grew increasingly troubled.
"It's hard to understand how we came to this," he reflected as they continued along the pathway, "While there have always been struggles between the more and less traditional elders, there has always been a sort of base level to the decorum of the rituals and the council chamber. That such a rebellion could take place is not just shocking, it is disturbing. I am…sorry that I was not able to assist you more capably."
Byakuya sighed.
"You were a close friend of my grandfather for centuries, and your support has been a great comfort during my leadership. You did your best to protect Tetsuya and me. I could ask for no more."
"Ah, I just wish I had the energy and spirited reiatsu I did in my younger days," Nori sighed, "although, I don't recall lack of energy or just feeling old until Ginrei left us to join the soul king's protectors."
Torio gave a little, amused chuckle.
"You never seem lacking in energy as far as I can tell, Nori-sama, and you did plenty to protect Koji and me while we were making our escape."
"Oh, that was nothing compared to how I was back in the day, young Torio," the elder laughed, "When I was your age, I was assigned to a town in the mid-Rukongai and I grew quite the reputation for being 'a bit too relaxed' for a member of the Kuchiki elite. Why, I had trouble for breakfast, lunch and dinner in those days and I don't recall feeling happy unless I was knee deep in hollows."
"Grandfather used to tell me stories about your adventures," Byakuya said, his melancholy easing slightly as he remembered.
"There were plenty of those," the elder sighed, reflecting, "I remember once running into trouble going up against a hollow whose power was pretty much the counter of mine. His abilities were also a match for my kido, so we were mostly just using brute strength, not my favorite way to fight, but I was doing my best. When out of nowhere, this fighter jumped in and beat the living daylights out of that beast. I had the wind still knocked out of me, so I was on the ground, catching my breath when the fighter pulled back their hood and I found myself face to face with the prettiest and most fierce girl you ever saw!"
"A girl?" Torio marveled.
"I remember Grandfather telling me about that, as well," Byakuya added, "He told me that…"
The Kuchiki leader broke off suddenly as voices sounded in a nearby corridor and all three ducked into a side passage as footsteps approached in the corridor they had been using.
"Are you sure this is the way they came after leaving Urahara's shop?" a male voice asked.
"I told you awhile back, the cleaner covered part of the trail, so it's harder to know exactly," Orochi's smooth, deep voice answered, "Tetsuya will not be with him because I sensed his heat. He'll have gone to somewhere in Hueco Mundo, where I won't be able to hone in on his exact location. Byakuya will try to slip away and meet Tetsuya later. He is skilled at hiding his reiatsu and will be hiding that of the others as well, but don't worry, we will find them."
There was a brief pause and the ones in the shadows felt the heavy throb of their relative's burning anger.
"Whatever stunts they pull, I promise…we will find them."