Chapter 2: Monsters
You look…troubled, Renji, and your reiatsu has an aggressive edge," Byakuya noted as the two approached a large, well-manicured estate near Kuchiki Manor, "not that I really blame you. Orochi and Isas have much the same effect on me."
Renji nodded in affirmation.
"It's just mostly what you told me about what that bastard, Orochi, did to Tetsuya," he admitted in a low, angry tone, "Don't worry, I won't go off and hit the guy unless he insults or attacks you, but…"
Renji's breath caught slightly at the little hint of an amused smile that touched his lover's lips for a moment.
"I'm flattered at your protectiveness," Byakuya said approvingly, "for both Tetsuya and me."
"Not that you can't take care of yourself. I just don't like the guy and if he gives me a reason, I am going to deck him."
"Well, thank you for your proper attempt at restraint…and if he asks for it, then I will, as they say, have your back if you do strike him."
Renji gave a little, sarcastic chuckle and rubbed his hands together.
"Gotcha, Taicho."
Renji sobered as they approached the entrance to the estate and were immediately met by a pair of house guards.
"Kuchiki-sama," one of the men said, bowing his head, "we were not told you were coming. Lord Isas is not at home presently, but Master Orochi will meet with you."
They led the two inside, where Orochi met them in the expensively decorated greeting room.
"Byakuya," the subfamily heir said, frowning, "Abarai fukutaicho, why are you here?"
"I will make this short, and I expect you to answer me honestly. I will know if you are trying to deceive me."
"I don't understand," Orochi answered, his brow furrowing, "Byakuya, what is going on? You just don't walk into our house and start making demands. I want you to…"
"Tetsuya is missing," Byakuya announced, watching the other man's expression carefully.
"What did you say?"
Byakuya looked into Orochi's black eyes.
"Tetsuya is missing," he repeated solemnly, "but…I can see that you do not know anything about that."
"Of course I don't…"
"Don't waste your words on me," Byakuya warned him, "I know not to listen. Just remember this, if you do learn anything about his location or what has happened to him and you do not pass that information along to me, you will be held responsible for whatever fate befalls him and the heir he carries."
"Oh, I see," Orochi huffed, his scowl deepening, "It would be some trouble for you and your Rukongai lover if he doesn't come back with your heir, ne?"
Renji stepped forward, but froze at the touch of Byakuya's hand on his wrist.
"A man who aids and abets the abductors, and/or killers of an heir or heir's bearer is subject to a death sentence. You know that," Byakuya warned his furious cousin, "If you learn anything about where Tetsuya is or what has befallen him, you will immediately report that information directly to me at Kuchiki Manor. Do you understand?"
Orochi glared back at Byakuya wordlessly, watching as the leader turned and exited the house without looking back. He waited as Byakuya and Renji disappeared, then left the entry and walked into his home office, where he sat down at his desk and rested his chin on one hand.
"What have you gotten yourself into?" he breathed softly, "You just can't keep yourself out of trouble…can you, little slave boy?"
He sat for a time, brooding as he recalled their past history.
It should have been easy to forget you, but it is like my father warned me. The noble blood in you makes you powerful and beautiful…and the wild Rukongai blood makes you alluring because it is forbidden fruit. It's not considered a crime anymore for me to desire you, but many still bear ill will towards the one who pollute and weaken our houses with mongrels like you.
You are an aberration.
You are a torment.
You still haunt me, Tetsuya.
In another place, another time, we would have been lovers, but this place, this time made our stars cross. And instead of love, all we know is obsession.
Orochi reached for a bottle of sake and filled the glass standing next to it. He drained it in a swallow, then filled it again and drank it only slightly more slowly. On the third glass, he took sips, thinking silently and breathing slowly.
There are some places to look, I suppose. I can think of a few. And I have plenty of resources. Byakuya knows that. I'm sure he also knows that my obsession with Tetsuya will make me unable to help myself. He knows that I will search for Tetsuya until he is found.
I will find him.
Even knowing Byakuya uses me, even knowing that finding Tetsuya will not make him mine again…I have no choice.
He drained his third glass and set it roughly down on the desk. His scowl deepened as the door to his office opened, but he bit back the harsh words he'd been about to unleash on his attendant as his father followed the attendant into the room. Isas observed his son and heir for a moment, then frowned disapprovingly.
"I see you have heard," he said in a warning tone.
"Tetsuya is missing."
"It is none of our concern," Isas said sternly.
Orochi said nothing, only looking back at his elder and subfamily leader sullenly.
"If Byakuya cannot keep track of his concubine, it is not our fault," Isas went on, "and whatever fate he finds, it is not our responsibility to interfere."
"You know something," Orochi accused him.
"I do not," Isas said shortly, "I am only reminding you of the need to act as an heir of our family should. You are not a boy anymore, Orochi. You are a grown man and an heir. That refuse you used in the prison is nothing to you now, and you will do nothing to either harm or help him."
Without waiting for an answer, Isas turned on his heel and left the room. Orochi poured another drink and drained his glass again, swaying slightly as he set the glass down.
"M-master Orochi…" his attendant said softly.
"Leave me."
The attendant's teeth clenched and his head bowed.
"I am s-sorry, Master Orochi, I am not allowed to leave you alone," he said anxiously.
Orochi glared at him petulantly for a moment, then dropped back into his chair and nodded at the bottle.
"You can't leave me," he sighed, "but no one said that you couldn't drink with me."
"Oh…ah, no sir. If I did…"
"I won't go anywhere, Seiji," Orochi assured him, "I don't want you beaten. Father knows that. It's why he made you watch me. Fine, you don't have to drink. Just…"
"Master Orochi has too many worries," the attendant said, lowering himself to his knees in front of the heir, "Let me comfort you?"
"Hmm," Orochi said, looking down at him and touching his wavy black hair.
When he does this, and I cannot see his face, he knows he reminds me of Tetsuya.
He spread his thighs, watching as his attendant's pale hands bared his genitals, and his warm mouth began their work. The alcohol and stimulation were almost enough to make him obedient to his father's wishes, but with an effort, he loosed his reiatsu and a single black snake slid out from one of his hands. The serpent took up a position beside him and focused its glowing red eyes on his attendant.
"Seiji," Orochi sighed, loosing himself into the man's mouth and at the same time, causing him to meet the serpent's hypnotizing gaze.
He stood and cleaned away the mess, then left his attendant under the spell of the snake as he slipped out of the house in snake form.
Don't worry. No one will know. Not even you will know that I was gone.
Orochi closed his eyes, sensing around him carefully before choosing a direction.
Now, which way have you gone, little slave boy?
XXXXXXXXXX
Tetsuya felt the close warmth of another body pressing close to his as he woke. The feeling was not the affectionate clutch of a lover, nor did it seem the possessive hold of a captor, rather this struck him as a mutually beneficial closeness, perhaps to ward off the chill that he felt around them. He kept his breathing slow and measured, and cracked his eyes open, and he found himself looking into a pair of blue eyes that his cousin and leader once warned him were the most dangerous eyes in all of Soul Society. The owner of those insidious orbs smiled at him, and Tetsuya shivered as he felt the chill around him seep into his chest.
"Ichimaru Gin?" he mused, staring, "But…aren't you supposed to be dead?"
"I think I'm more alive than you right now," Gin joked, patting Tetsuya's soft cheek and chuckling at the instant blush the move caused, "I can't use nothing but healing power in here, so I did my best to fix you up after what those animals out there did to you. Sorry about that, by the way."
Tetsuya blinked and gazed at him silently in confusion.
"Are you still a little groggy, Tetsuya-san?" Gin asked, as though asking about the weather.
"You don't sound very concerned, considering where we are and who seems to have captured us," Tetsuya observed, "But…why are you here?"
"Good question," Gin said, nodding approvingly, "So, I guess that beating you took didn't leave you too busted up to use your brain. That's good."
"But it doesn't answer my question," Tetsuya persisted, trying to sit up.
Immediately, his head started to go into a dizzying spin and he felt himself beginning to collapse again. To his surprise, he felt the silver-haired former taicho's arms anchoring him.
"What are you…?"
"Easy," Gin chided him, holding him as the dizziness slowly passed, "You're lucky to just be alive right now. You shouldn't be exerting yourself too much. And you don't want those assholes knowing you've got some strength back. They'd be more than happy to strap you down and have at you again."
He felt Tetsuya quiver and saw him swallow hard at the suggestion.
"Sorry. I suppose that's an uncomfortable subject for you. Being pretty used to abuse by now, I think it bothers me less."
"How long have you been here?" Tetsuya asked, "You were supposed to have died in the final battle in the war against Aizen. Rangiku-san retrieved your remains for burial after…"
"After Central 46 had me healed and hidden from everyone in Central 46, where that monstrous twelfth division taicho interrogated me endlessly for information I didn't have regarding the hogyoku and Aizen. They gave Ran a fake body to bury, a cheesily disguised reigai with my reiatsu. I guess she couldn't bear to look closely enough to realize, and they did fill the thing with my reiatsu to fool her."
"They faked your death," Tetsuya whispered, his heart pounding, "to interrogate you about the hogyoku and Aizen?"
"They want him dead, and they want the hogyoku," Gin explained, "They thought I must know something, though I don't know why, since if I did know something that could overcome the power he has, I certainly would have used it to kill him."
"For her," Tetsuya acknowledged, "for Rangiku, right?"
Gin gave him a surprised look.
"How do you know about that?" he asked curiously, "You make friends with her or something?"
Tetsuya took a steadying breath.
"I…found her…with your remains in her possession. She was crying. She seemed beside herself."
"Damn, I hate myself for that…but it really couldn't be helped."
"Because you hate to see her cry," Tetsuya concluded.
"You know me pretty well for someone who doesn't know me," Gin said, sitting back slightly, "You wanna tell me how you know so much, Tetsuya-san? About her? About me? You're a healer, ain'tcha?"
Tetsuya nodded.
"I am," he answered, "but I also protect Kuchiki Byakuya, my cousin and leader."
"Ah," Gin said, rubbing his chin, "that explains a lot…like how you know so much, and how you're a healer, but you have such well developed spirit centers."
He started to say more, then froze and stiffened as the outer doors to the cellblock opened and a guard entered. Gin shoved Tetsuya back down and huddled his body in front of Tetsuya's as the guard paused in front of their cell and looked in, then he scowled and went to the next cell, where a scuffle ensued and he dragged a prisoner out and tied him down to the interrogation table.
"Ya might wanna cover your ears, Tetsuya-san," Gin warned him, "and don't watch."
Tetsuya paled, but managed to keep his body calm as he covered his ears to quiet the sounds of the prisoner's screams of agony. Tears filled his eyes and his lips quivered, but to Gin's surprise, not a sound escaped him as the guard took his pleasure, then dragged the unconscious prisoner back to his cell. The two men breathed a sigh of relief as the guard left the cellblock, clanking the door shut behind him.
"Damned animals," Gin huffed in a disgusted tone.
He realized after a moment that Tetsuya hadn't answered and turned his head to find the noble looking at him curiously.
"What?"
"You protected me," Tetsuya answered, "Why?"
"I dunno," Gin mused, "We're both prisoners?"
"That's not why," Tetsuya pressed, "I know the kind of man you are."
"And you expected to be used as a shield?" Gin asked, "Cause you know that I'm a ruthless man, and a ruthless man is gonna use you, if not as a shield, then as a sword, right?"
Tetsuya started to speak, then paused and sucked in a surprised breath as Gin grinned and patted his face with a grimy, bruised hand.
"You're a pretty smart kid, Tetsuya-san," he laughed softly, "You figured out it was a compliment, cause if you were too weak, I woulda used you to save myself from that torture. Since I didn't, I was thinking you were strong enough that I could use you to help me escape. See, I'm ruthless, but I ain't stupid. If there's a gift in having had to play the part of Sou's little snaky subordinate all of that time, I did learn some serious survival skills."
"You must have to be still alive," Tetsuya commented softly.
He felt a little shiver pass through him as Gin stopped and looked more closely at him, then moved in until their faces were nearly touching and Tetsuya was blushing again.
"I would say the same about you, having survived a prison," Gin said, watching Tetsuya's strong reaction closely, "Itamigiri, was it?"
"You…?"
"I read your branding, on your shoulder," Gin confessed, "Never heard of the place."
"It was an illegal noble's prison," Tetsuya explained, "I was incarcerated there, along with my parents, back when marriage with commoners was severely punished."
"I was right," Gin observed, "You have to be strong if you survived that…or you had to have someone looking out for you."
He watched raptly as Tetsuya's face fell and his eyes grew haunted.
"Hmm," Gin mused, slipping a hand under Tetsuya's chin and raising it so their eyes met. He blinked at the curious look Tetsuya gave him, "What are you thinking?"
"I was thinking that it's odd, given what I know of you…that you are opening your eyes to look at me directly," Tetsuya confessed softly, "You are reputed to rarely show your eyes, and when you do…"
"It's dangerous," Gin chuckled, opening his eyes wider and gazing deeply into Tetsuya's widened sapphire orbs.
Tetsuya found himself unable to move, or even to breathe as Gin's face moved closer and the icy blue eyes seemed to squeeze all of the air out of his chest. Shock flooded him as the silver-haired man's lips smiled, then engaged his in a dizzyingly passionate kiss. Even more shocking was how he couldn't help but hold on more tightly to Gin and he had to fight his body as it throbbed with a desire to kiss the man back. Gin's mouth opened and his tongue stroked Tetsuya's trembling lips, then pushed slid in between them, invading his mouth and curling around his tongue. He was sure that he would lose consciousness as Gin's possessive tongue stroked his, then explored him mouth even more deeply. When the man suddenly broke away, Tetsuya simply collapsed onto the bed and Gin smiled down at him and winked.
"You like bad men, huh?" he laughed softly.
"No…"
"Liar," Gin accused him playfully, "I'd play with you some more, but we have work to do if we want to get outta here."
"I don't know how you think I can help you," Tetsuya reasoned, touching a cold hand to one flushed cheek to cool it, "I'm just as much a prisoner as you are."
"That's true, but lets just see what we have and we can figure out how it can open that locked door for us."
"I don't think that sleeping with the guards is going to get us out of here, since they can pretty much have what they want anyway," Tetsuya sighed.
"That wasn't what I was thinking," Gin snickered, "although, I bet a beauty like you could vamp one of these guys into helping us."
He shook his head at the anxious look Tetsuya gave him.
"Don't worry. Like I said, that wasn't what I was thinking. It's way too obvious. Now, tell me what innate powers you have."
Tetsuya started to object, then sucked in a surprised breath.
"Yes," Gin said approvingly, "We can't use our reiatsu based powers, but our zanpakuto powers come from our own innate abilities. The reiatsu based ones are useless while we wear these silver bands on our wrists, but we have some innate powers that the bands don't control. Me? I have my hypnotic gaze and my silver tongue."
He giggled infectiously at the flustered look Tetsuya gave him.
"You liked my tongue. I'm so flattered!" Gin gushed, making the younger man's blush return with full force, "You're so damned cute, Tetsuya-san, it's distracting!"
"I…I'm not…" Tetsuya stammered, ducking away as Gin tried to kiss him again, "Sh-shouldn't we be focusing on trying to escape?"
"I am trying to focus, but you are too adorable!" Gin complained, laughing.
"Gin-chan, s-stop!"
Gin paused, tilting his head at Tetsuya's exclamation.
"Gin-chan?" he repeated, taking hold of Tetsuya's chin and gazing down into his wide eyes, "That's a pretty affectionate name for someone you just met, isn't it?" he asked, looking amused, rather than affronted, "Are you tryin' to get me to kiss you again, Tetsu-chan?"
"I…no, I…!"
The two men stiffened and went silent, cringing back into the shadows of their cell as the cellblock door opened again and two guards wheeled in a heavily bound man on a gurney. Gin sucked in a stinging breath as light fell on the prisoner's face, then his blue eyes revealed a flash of hauntedness as they closed into slits again.
"Sousuke," he managed hoarsely.
"Are you all right, Gin-chan?" Tetsuya asked worriedly.
"I dunno," Gin said numbly, "All I know is that he's either gonna find a use for us, or he's gonna kill us."
"But he's restrained," Tetsuya reasoned.
"They took him outta Muken," Gin breathed in the barest whisper, "The fools don't know what they've done. There's no way he won't escape now. The question is…do we dare to help him?"