Chapter 4: The Blessing and Curse of Gifts

"I love him."

Ichigo and Byakuya stared in surprise as the redhead went silent, letting out a long, ragged breath and bowing his head again. He said nothing more, but remained on his knees, looking down at the grass in front of him. Ichigo's head turned slightly and he met Byakuya's stunned eyes meaningfully.

"What are you thinking?" the substitute asked, his voice oddly gentle and lacking the edge of accusation it often did, "Do you feel the same as he does?"

Byakuya blinked slowly and his wary eyes traveled to touch on Renji again before returning to Ichigo's.

"I'm asking, because if you don't, you need to not hurt him by pushing him away too hard."

"I know that," Byakuya hissed softly.

He paused, taking a steadying breath that only seemed to unsettle him more.

"Not that I have any intention of hurting Renji."

"No?" Ichigo mused, a little smirk touching his lips, "Then, you like him too?"

Byakuya started to bristle, but stopped himself from responding angrily.

"Do you know that you have the most annoying tendency to spout your thoughts without considering for a moment that it might not be either necessary or appropriate?" he chided the younger man.

A huge grin overtook the ginger-haired man's handsome face and he stifled a laugh.

"You do like him too," he mused, looking completely pleased with himself and earning a fiery look of disapproval from the fuming noble.

Ichigo gave him a gentle shove in Renji's direction.

"So, go and tell him!"

Ichigo made a startled sound of surprise as Byakuya's hand wrapped around his wrist and he was dragged forward.

"Wh-what? Byakuya!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Tetsuya sat cross legged at a low wooden table with Juushiro beside him and Kisuke relaxing on the other side. He kept his eyes lowered and his attention focused on a cup of hot green tea that rested gently in his hands. A slim tendril of steam drifted up to brush against the little flush on his skin as the two elder men laughed and chatted casually.

I wonder if it was a mistake to come here with them, he mused silently, They're so comfortable, talking together, but I feel like I'm intruding.

"I heard you'd been assigned to the team trying to figure out a way to separate Aizen from the hogyoku," Juushiro noted.

"Yeah, not like I know a way to do that yet. Truth is, I'm not about to hand anyone the way to remove it intact."

"I think that would be a dangerous thing in anyone's hands."

"Yes, I think you're right, there, Juushiro."

Tetsuya closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in the familiar scent of the tea and taking a little sip. He lost track of the other men's conversation, just drifting on the pleasant, happy sounds of their voices.

"How are Jinta and Ururu?"

"Aw, they're doin' fine. They miss Renji, though."

"Is that right?" Juushiro chuckled.

"Uh-huh, they really like teasing him."

"It's just good that he's going to be all right."

"It's good that all of them are gonna be okay. I was worried about Byakuya and Kenpachi. Man, were they a mess when they got back from Hueco Mundo."

"It seems the Kuchiki elders didn't miss that either," Juushiro sighed, "They lost no time starting up on poor Byakuya to take a wife or at least make a child soon if he was going to be so reckless."

Kisuke's eyes narrowed as he took a swallow of sake.

"Do they ever let up on the poor guy?" he snickered, "I wonder who they were trying to throw at him this time."

Tetsuya's felt an instant burning on his cheeks and tilted his face further downward.

"I'll bet there's someone here who knows all about that, isn't there?" Kisuke said, smirking and glancing at Tetsuya's bowed head.

"Stop," Juushiro complained, "Look, you're making our friend uncomfortable, "Maybe we should just change the subject."

"Oh, I dunno," Kisuke said in a playful tone, "I mean, we've got Byakuya-bo's right hand here with us. Maybe a little sake will loosen his tongue and we can learn all of the Kuchiki secrets."

Tetsuya bristled and flinched visibly.

"As though I would, first, stoop to drinking recklessly when I've told you that I don't drink at all," he said in a low, quiet voice, "and secondly, I would never betray my cousin's confidence."

The younger man's breath caught as he realized that the other two men looked startled by his sudden outburst. His face blushed even more brightly and he scrambled to his feet, starting towards the door as he mouthed a quick apology.

"Gomen nasai, Urahara-san, Ukitake-taicho, I…"

He froze as he tried to pass by Kisuke to reach the private room's door and the shopkeeper's hand wrapped lightly around his wrist. Tetsuya barely heard Kisuke's words as the elder man apologized and asked him to stay. Instead, the touch on his wrist sparked a flare of heat that seemed to envelop his slender body instantly.

What is this?

Is this…?

"Tetsuya, are you all right?" Juushiro's voice called, cutting through the blanket of haze that had dropped over the younger man's mind.

Tetsuya reeled as he felt his reiatsu swell and pulsate. He blinked and stared in shock and dismay as he realized that the reiatsu of the other men was pulsing in perfect cadence with his. Kisuke's eyes narrowed and focused on Tetsuya as a dim thought radiated in Tetsuya's fevered mind.

My body…feels so weak.

I know this feeling. I haven't felt it before, but it was described in one of the few written records of the breeder males.

After a bitter war that brought the noble families to the brink of destruction, a brilliant scientist developed a way to increase the number of births to offset the losses. With so few females, it became the task of very young males, just crossing over into adulthood to allow themselves to be altered to mature reiatsu in their abdomens. This was used to blend the reiatsu of other males and to form the soul of a child. When fully matured, the reiatsu was able to pass through the weakened abdominal wall and once emerged, it became the fully developed body of a child. Thus, were the breeder males able to mitigate what would have been a disaster.

"Tetsuya?"

"Tetsu-chan, are you all right?"

Part of the ritual for determining the proper vessel to carry the reiatsu was to test the resonance of the pair in question with the breeder chosen to carry the child. A strong resonance would bring on immediate changes in the young breeder's body, and he would go into a heat cycle.

Tetsuya felt himself being caught as he started to collapse. He was dimly aware of the intensity of the eyes of the men who leaned over him, calling his name and patting his face to bring him out of his reverie. A strange warmth spread over him and he wondered if he hadn't taken a sip of the sake that Urahara had poured for him earlier, but he was relatively sure he hadn't even touched the cup.

The elders were careful to keep a limiter on their chosen breeders, because once in heat, the breeder and their partner or partners would be overwhelmed with the urgent need to mate.

"Juushiro, do you, ah…feel a little…?"

"What is this? What's happening?" Juushiro mused, swaying a little, "Maybe we should…"

Tetsuya managed to snap a quick privacy shield into place as he watched the other men's eyes glaze over and their faces flushed.

They can't help it.

A breeder male in full heat and the strong connection of deep resonance is overwhelming.

He might have been afraid of what was about to happen, but as he blinked and looked again at his two companions' eyes, he saw no dark intent or heavy emotion. Instead, they looked at him as though completely enchanted and their gentle hands undressed him slowly.

And Tetsuya found the touch of their hands and the caress of their eyes tender and adoring.

There is light around my body and my reiatsu teases theirs shamelessly.

With the brightness and the touches came a warm feeling of well-being, an assuredness that the other men's souls were not aggressive towards him, but were protective, as though he needn't worry for himself with them nearby.

Tetsuya swallowed hard, unable to close his eyes as the table was gently pushed away and he was spread out on the comfortable pillows with his two mates still leaned over him and admiring with hands and eyes. They had stopped speaking aloud, but he could hear their intermittent thoughts as their touches brightened the reiatsu still flaring around him and he felt a strange flutter in his abdomen.

They are going to…?

Are they…?

He was sure he should have been terrified.

After the horrors of Itamigiri, after having my body punished so harshly for not being of pure blood, I should cringe at their touch, but that is not what I feel at all. Juushiro's hands are so comforting, and Kisuke's eyes are nothing like the ones of the Itamigiri scientists who came to perform those illegal experiments on us prisoners.

This…is wholly different.

I…

…I feel…

He lifted himself off of the pillows, looking up into Juushiro's beautifully shining eyes and let himself be pulled onto the thirteenth division taicho's lap, pressing his lips to Juushiro's and not flinching at all as Kisuke moved in behind him, first caressing his sides, then his bare bottom as he dampened his fingers in his mouth and began an unhurried preparation.

Juushiro fell back onto the pillows, pulling Tetsuya down on top of him. The slighter shinigami thrashed and moaned as Kisuke's fingers worked to loosen and relax the tissues at his slicked entrance. Tetsuya lifted his body slightly as the shopkeeper's fingers slid out of him and he positioned himself over Juushiro's thick, flushed erection. He pressed down slowly, soothed by Kisuke's calming hands and little, biting kisses on his face and throat. He felt the shopkeeper's hand press on his back and lowered himself onto Juushiro's chest, meeting the white-haired taicho for a bout of open mouthed kisses as Kisuke carefully loosened the stretched tissues more before working his own length inside Tetsuya.

For just a moment, the three laid still, their bodies fully engaged and their hearts and reiatsu swelling with warmth at their powerful connection. Then, Tetsuya gave a little, hungry whimper and the other two men smiled and began to move.

I never knew anything like this, Tetsuya mused dazedly, this all over feeling of connection to them. To a man who has long been my mentor and to this man who I didn't even know, one who terrified me because I unfairly equated him with the ones who hurt me before. That is the miracle of resonance. It was meant to be an assurance to the breeders that their commitment to the clans was appreciated and fully supported by the ones mated with them.

It is heartbreaking that later…that trust was permanently shattered and the breeder males were hunted and killed. A few survived, and that is why I have this…gift.

Tetsuya was distracted away from the deep plundering of his body for a thought.

Byakuya must have felt this too, when he, Renji and Ichigo were together. Yes. He, too, is a breeder male. We never knew. There was no way to know until he met his resonants and they lowered their guard with alcohol enough that their instincts came to the fore.

How will I tell him?

The thought was stolen away as Tetsuya felt a bite on the back of his neck and one on his throat, near his shoulder. He angled his body to encourage the other men's alternating thrusts, his heart tickled at the passionate sounds they were all making. He looked down at Juushiro's radiantly smiling face, then peeked over his shoulder, only to be met with the shopkeeper's voracious lips and mouth.

I used to think that sex was a form of violence, the very nature of invading another person's body being an exertion of one will over another. I see now that it was only because I was raped and my perception twisted. In the face of being this way with the two men who were fated to breed with me, I know that all of this was meant to happen. Even though we didn't know, even though this happened so spontaneously and Kisuke and I barely knew each other, we feel our connection and we will be able to embrace it.

This is the life altering connection that was created to ensure the future of the noble clans!

Tetsuya's thoughts fell away as Juushiro's hands clenched at his hips and the white-haired taicho groaned and shuddered, unleashing his essence forcefully and setting off a like reaction in Kisuke's still undulating form. Intense heat filled the younger man inside and he opened his heart wide to accept all that was offered. His back arched and he unleashed himself with abandon, his seed spilling out onto Juushiro's belly as he collapsed onto the elder man's heaving chest. He managed a quick word of warning as drowsiness stole away his strength and he began to drift off.

We will mate in cycles now, and I doubt very much if we want to do that here in a public restaurant, even in a private and shielded room.

Oh kami…I hope that barrier I set was enough.

He felt himself being lifted and carried somewhere else, then he was laid down on pillows that huffed out little hints of Juushiro's pleasant scent. Tetsuya sank down into blissful sleep, already aching all over for their next joining.

XXXXXXXXXX

Renji still had his head bowed over Hisana's grave, his thoughts in such a whirl that he didn't hear the soft approaching footsteps. He reached out to touch just his fingertips to the tips of soft grass covering the grave. He always just felt so... inadequate when comparing himself to the noble, and last night had only made that clearer. He took a shuddering breath and swiped at his face with his free hand.

"I know someone like me's not nearly good enough for him, but...well, you probably felt the same way, didn't you? You came from Inuzuri too."

He heard someone clear their throat practically right behind him and whirled to see Byakuya and Ichigo standing there.

"Shit."

I think my face has gotta be as red as my fucking hair right now.

His captain answered quietly, dark eyes giving no hint of what Renji should expect. He held his breath as Byakuya addressed him.

"Abarai, you should know that wasn't ever true of Hisana, and it isn't true of you, either. You are far more than your low, rough upbringing in the Rukon."

Completely missing the message, Renji bowed low in dogeza, his forehead on his hands.

"I'm so sorry, Taicho!" he exclaimed penitently, "I didn't...I'd never want to dishonor you in any way. J-just…ignore what I said…eh…if you heard, I mean."

Not hearing any reply, he peeked up at the noble cautiously, then he looked away, wincing.

Of course he heard. How could he not hear?

Damn it!

"Renji."

"Huh?" the redhead yelped, moving his head to meet the noble's solemn eyes again, "Sorry, what is it, Taicho?"

"Stand up."

"Stand up?" Renji repeated anxiously, making no move to comply.

"Yes, that is what I said. Do I need to repeat myself?"

"Erm, no sir!" the redhead responded, lifting himself to his feet, but keeping his face in a grimace and his eyes lowered.

"Look at me when you speak to me, Abarai," the noble said firmly.

Renji's body relaxed only slightly and his eyes cautiously met his taicho's.

"No sir," he said in a calmer tone.

Byakuya exchanged glances with Ichigo, then gave his subordinate a nod of affirmation.

"This is much more appropriate," he said approvingly, "Now, to address what you said before, while it is true that both you and Hisana had doubts about your own worth, it is also true that there was never any need for you to think of yourself as lesser. Can you look me in the eyes and tell me that a lowly dog could have, not only survived the rigors of a childhood in Inuzuri, but could have also helped Rukia to thrive and grow as well? Truly, that is not the essence of a mere dog, it is the essence of a proud and strong wolf."

"He's right," Ichigo added, looking into Renji's startled cinnamon colored eyes, "cause it's not where you're born or what family you're in that matters. It's who you are and what you do that makes the difference."

"That is wise advice," said Byakuya, giving Ichigo a look of approval, "Now, given what happened last night, I think that the three of us need to speak about the implications as we move forward."

"Heh," Ichigo chuckled good naturedly, "I think that you and Renji can work that out on your own. You don't need me butting in and causing trouble."

"Huh," Renji grunted agnostically, his cocky smirk returning as he crossed his arms and shook his head, "Not that I disagree that you're usually butting in and causing trouble, but you know, you were there too last night."

"I know where I was," Ichigo huffed stubbornly, "and I'm fine with what happened. I'm fine with keeping my mouth shut too, so that you two can be together, now that you've confessed how you feel. Look, what happened last night was great, I'm not saying it wasn't, but it's clear that the two of you had feelings for each other before, and you have them now. All I'm doing is saying that it's fine and I'm giving you room to do what you want. I don't want to be in the way."

He paused, noting the contemplative look that Byakuya was suddenly giving him.

"What?" he mused, "Don't the two of you want to be together?"

"It is interesting," the noble offered, "that you were so quick to notice that there were embers burning between Renji and me, but…you also miss entirely that we had every opportunity to light that flame on our own. That it did not come to life until last night when you were there is no mistake. Now, if you will join us, the three of us need to talk."