Chapter 3: The Strength Within
"Taichou?"
"Hmmm?"
"Um…What's the mission?"
"Hmmm?" said Byakuya, frowning as he continued to work at Renji's healing.
"The mission for Soutaichou?"
"Oh," said the noble, "Soutaichou said that by all rights he should force us to 'return to that hellhole to find what we left behind.'"
"Huh?"
"I came to retrieve my haori."
"You came to…find your haori?" Renji mused, sitting up and earning a stern glare from the noble, "You're shitting me, ne?"
"I wouldn't put it in such vulgar terms," said the noble, "I simply decided that, considering Soutaichou's passionate outburst over that cheap piece of cloth, it was best to placate his strong desire to see it again."
"And it had absolutely nothing to do with me, of course…" Renji said skeptically.
"It was my desire to locate you, as my mission allowed, of course…and to attempt to talk some sense into you. Truly, what possessed you to leave like that? Did you give any consideration at all to what you were doing, Abarai? To the consequences?"
Renji sighed, feeling oddly warmed by the light touches of the noble's hands on his aching body and the gentle throb of healing reiatsu flowing from Byakuya into his tattered form. He studied the noble for a moment, sensing something strangely familiar, but at the same time unfamiliar.
"To be honest?" Renji said, looking at Byakuya more closely, "I did think about those things for like a second or two. I knew I'd probably die here…and if I didn't, then if I ever went back, I'd be court-martialed. And if you ever caught up with me, you'd make sure I paid twice what was due…"
He trailed off as Byakuya's dark gray eyes fixed on him.
"What?" he asked, frowning, "Did I say something wrong?"
"I was entertaining the notion that it seemed interesting to me how in considering your actions, you focused on how your leaving would affect you. However, since you seem to have forgotten, I'll make it my task to remind you that there are others who would pay the consequences as well if you died…or were court-martialed and sent to the maggot's nest."
Guilt erupted onto Renji's face and he closed his eyes against the realization.
"Shit…" he muttered, "That's why you came…and why you didn't kill me on sight. You're talking about Rukia, right?"
He gave a frustrated sigh and shook his head.
"Rukia doesn't need me, Taichou. I don't even think she's speaking to me right now."
Byakuya's eyes narrowed and Renji felt a chill pass through him.
"I was speaking about my sister, in part, but she is not the only one I am referring to," the noble said, leaning closer to examine a particularly deep cut, "Did you forget that our squad has only recently returned from a war in which our forces were essentially neutralized and we were forced to rely on a banished taichou and a human to bring down our enemy? How do you imagine that the members of our squad feel about our leadership now, Renji?"
"Shit…" muttered the redhead, "Is it that bad? I didn't even notice. Sorry, Taichou, I shouldn't have let myself become so distracted…"
"You also did not appear to notice Rikichi, whom you have been training personally to qualify for a seat in the next round of promotions. Of course, he looks up to you, and wouldn't say anything, especially having noticed how out of sorts you were."
"You're right," Renji said, his voice lowering in defeat, "I was being selfish. Again, I am sorry, Taichou."
"It is not me who you should be apologizing to, Renji. I am your superior officer and I will discipline you…privately of course, so that I will not have to go to the effort of searching for an equally qualified fukutaichou to replace you. But…"
"Fine…" Renji sighed, "I'll go back and apologize to Rukia and Rikichi, and I'll help you to bolster confidence in our squad."
"You will do no such thing."
"What?" Renji said, looking confused again.
"What good do you think it will do for me to return to the Seireitei with you 'heeling' at my side like a defeated puppy and offering apologies? It will not solve anything. As I see it, Renji, the only course of action I have, right now, is to take the meandering wreck I see in front of me and to find a way to turn it back into the fukutaichou I possessed before all of this happened."
"But Taichou, don't you get it?" Renji asked, clenching his teeth, "I don't want to be that guy anymore! I'm sick to death of being a pathetic dog, always nipping at your heels. But it's not like I have a lot of choice. I have watched you closely for years, learned every move you make, learned a shitload of new skills, and I've improved my bankai since we fought. But that didn't change a fucking thing when we came to Hueco Mundo! Sure, I had a lot of ideas and made some impressive moves, but I didn't beat anyone…just shit fighters that didn't even have a sword release! I had to have my ass saved by everyone else, and then get myself put back together, just to get knocked on my ass again. Now you tell me why the fuck I should want to go back to being that guy!"
"I think the answer is obvious," the noble said sedately, "And you, of all people should see it. But since you are choosing not to, I shall spell it out for you. I would rather have a dog who watches me every moment, who works until he can barely stand trying to get stronger, and who takes every beating as another step towards becoming stronger…and never gives up, to a sniveling, weeping fool who runs recklessly to bring about his own death!"
The noble's words cracked through Renji's mind like a bolt of lightning. His eyes flared and his hand reached for his zanpakuto.
"Bastard!" he hissed, tearing the weapon from its sheath.
Almost faster than the eye could see, Byakuya leapt to his feet and aimed a kick at the oncoming redhead. Renji used his hands to absorb the shock and avoided injury, but was forced out of the cage as it suddenly shattered around them. He rolled to his feet and held his weapon ready, his eye reading Byakuya's flash step and instantly blocking his senka. Before he could speak, the noble loosed a flurry of lightning fast sword slashes, interspersed with blazing fast hakudo strikes and kicks. Renji blocked and absorbed the moves but found himself quickly giving ground as his taichou continued the relentless assault.
"Don't just stand there and let me hit you!" hissed Byakuya, "Evade."
"What?" cried Renji, flash stepping out of the reach of his slashing sword, "I can't move that fast! You know…"
"Then I will knock you unconscious and when you wake up, we will try it again," the noble said, sheathing and removing his sword.
He let the weapon drop to the sand, then flash stepped at Renji, loosing a heavy barrage of strikes and kicks. The redhead dodged the first few, then took a glancing blow and was thrown off balance. Before he could recover, Byakuya's foot struck him in the midsection, throwing him off his feet. He rolled to his feet, already sensing the incoming attack and struck the noble, throwing his body off balance and kicking at him, then flash stepping after him and attacking. Byakuya blocked the incoming strike, and the two men moved into a dizzying array of strikes and kicks. Again, Renji dodged the first several strikes, then was struck by a well-placed kick that threw him ass over teakettle across the dark sands. The redhead crashed to the ground and wanted to stay there, but moved as he sensed Byakuya's body coming in with another assault. The exchange that followed mirrored the first, but Renji gave an annoyed growl noting that he was giving too much ground again. He stepped back and heard an odd click.
"Oh fuck…" he muttered, as he realized what the sound was.
He flash stepped away as a kido blast erupted from the sand.
"What the hell?" he yelled, "When the hell did you have time to lay traps?"
"You had best stand firmer," said the noble in a low, warning voice, "If you continue to allow me to move you so far, those charges will knock you out. If you do not evade my moves, then I will knock you out."
"Yeah, and knowing my luck, I'll just do something stupid and knock myself out," groaned the redhead, "Look, Taichou, please, can we have a scenario in which I don't get knocked out?"
"If you do not want to get knocked unconscious, I suggest you knock me out first," the noble said, frowning.
"Right," Renji said, rolling his eyes as Byakuya flash stepped towards him.
He barely evaded the strike and flash stepped away, but the noble was back at him in a flash step, and continued to strike at him from every imaginable angle at faster and faster speeds. He wanted to drop down on the sand, to just tell Byakuya that he was aware enough of how ridiculously awful his skills were, but something in his taichou's behavior warned him that he didn't dare stop. So, he stayed on his feet until he just couldn't block the noble anymore.
Byakuya took him off his feet and he crashed down into the sand and remained there, panting and shaking as Byakuya landed lightly next to him. He had the momentary solace of seeing that the noble was breathing hard too, then Byakuya's foot connected with him and sent him plunging into darkness.
"Perhaps you should just give him a finishing blow," suggested the cloaked man, flash stepping in as Renji lost consciousness.
"Reset the kido charges," Byakuya said shortly, lifting Renji and holding him over a shoulder, "And stand guard after that. Nothing is to interfere with our training."
He bent to pick up Senbonzakura, then carried Renji into the cave and raised a new reiatsu cage to protect them. He laid the redhead down on the ground, then dug around in his pack until he found a small jar of healing salve he had gotten from Kisuke. He carefully removed Renji's clothes and examined him from head to toe for injuries. A touch of the salve made each wound disappear instantly. When all of his wounds were gone, the noble leaned over him, laying his hands on the redhead's chest and quickly restoring his depleted reiatsu. He finished the infusion, then remained on his knees, looking down at his unconscious fukutaichou's perfectly tanned and beautifully tattooed body. He had seen Renji without clothes on a few occasions at the hot springs, but had never seen the lovely patterns up so close before. Renji stirred and Byakuya felt a flush rising on his cheeks. He quickly dressed the redhead in a sleeping yukata and turned away.
He withdrew two cups from the pack, and then a bag of restorative tea. He filled the cups with water, then added the tea and warmed it with a kido spell. He returned to Renji's side and leaned over him again. Noting that the redhead remained asleep, he contemplated for a moment, then quietly opened the redhead's yukata again. He focused deeply, then raised his reiatsu until the cage they were inside rumbled with the power. He placed a hand on Renji's bared chest, then slowly located each of his spirit centers and fed them a small amount of his own life force. It was an outlawed method, deemed unsafe because the donor might mistakenly give too much and deplete himself. Byakuya carefully managed the amount he yielded, then stopped and gave the redhead a final infusion of normal reiatsu. When he was finished, he stole one more long look at his fukutaichou's beautifully sculpted and decorated body, then closed his yukata again and laid down to rest to allow his life force to begin to restore itself.
That will quicken his flash step and his evasive movements. And hopefully, when he is able to keep up with me longer, his own confidence will keep him performing at that improved rate, even after the effect of the life force infusion wears off.
He turned his head so that he could see where the moonlight fell across Renji's sleeping face, then looked past him to the stars and crescent moon outside. His eyes blinked slowly, several times before he dropped off to sleep.
XXXXXXXXXX
Renji awoke several hours later and found Byakuya in a deep sleep next to him. He sat up and stretched experimentally, expecting that after several rounds of hakudo attacks and being knocked unconscious, he should at least hurt somewhere. But to his surprise, he felt no pain. If anything, he felt better than he had before. He looked around briefly and spotted the salve and tea beside Byakuya's pack. But even then, it struck him as odd that the noble would have taken the time to heal and restore him so thoroughly.
It's probably because of where we are, he thought to himself, There are roaming mobs of hollows all over the place. We could be attacked at any time…
He was distracted out of his thoughts by the sounds of a battle going on nearby. He looked out of the cage and through the front of the cave that Byakuya had placed the reiatsu cage in. A lone form stood on the sands outside their camp, blasting a large group of hollows with repeated rounds of kido.
"Shit," Renji muttered, "I wonder who that is…"
He watched for a moment longer and spotted a stronger group of Arrancars approaching. He left Byakuya sleeping and slipped back into his shihakushou, then passed through the cage's shielding and moved into the rocks near the cloaked fighter. Hollows had nearly surrounded him, even as he loosed huge blasts of kido and moved quickly enough to avoid their slashing claws. Renji climbed silently to the top of the rocks and slipped his sword free of its sheath.
"Roar, Zabimaru!" he cried sending the blade into shikai and raking the horde of hollows on one side of the fighter.
The cloaked man peeked back at him from beneath the dark hood, then flash stepped away as the hollows turned their attention on Renji.
"Nice…" he muttered, shaking his head, "Bankai, hihio Zabimaru."
The skeletal snake roared to life and curled around him, blocking a blast of incoming ceros. As the blasts gave way to the sounds of the hollows closing in, the redhead sent the skeletal snake flying forward.
"Hikotsu taihou!" he shouted, loosing the full strength of his bankai.
Renji stared in astonishment as his bankai flared brighter than it ever had before. It swallowed up the group of hollows completely and left the sand scorched.
"Damn," he breathed, "What was that?"
"That was a glimpse of your true potential," Byakuya's voice said quietly from behind him, "You and Zabimaru have advanced in power. Now more things are possible."
He stopped speaking and turned to look out into the darkness as fresh howls and grating cries rose up around them. Instantly, Byakuya's weapon appeared in his hand and the two attacked the incoming hollows.
I cannot release my zanpakuto or use kido, Byakuya realized, It hasn't been long enough since the life force infusion.
He flash stepped forward, slicing into the group of hollows and taking out several of the weaker ones, then evaded several sets of slashing claws and a blaze of oncoming ceros. He felt the swell of Renji's reiatsu and watched out of the corner of his eye as the skeletal snake pounded the hollows, destroying whole groups at a time, recoiling and loosing itself on them again. His eye strayed to Renji's tall form, where he stood on a small rise, his eyes blazing with power and his skeletal snake destroying everything in its path.
Beautiful…
"You need to pay better attention, shinigami!" said an Arrancar, who had used his sonido to move in on Byakuya's blind side.
The noble caught his breath as the Arrancar released a cero at point blank range. His eyes widened, knowing that in his reduced state, he couldn't move fast enough. At the last moment, the skeletal snake curled around him, locking him safely away from the hollow's attack. He heard a hard exchange of kido and cero, then the skeletal snake uncurled and shot after the retreating horde.
"That oughta teach them a thing or two," Renji said, grinning.
He turned his head to look at Byakuya.
"Something wrong with your flash step, Taichou?" he asked softly, "That Arrancar almost fried you."
"No," Byakuya answered, "I was seeing if you had regained an awareness of the others around you. Fortunately, it looks as though you have."
Renji followed as Byakuya turned and walked through the barrier into the reiatsu cage.
"Why did you go out there alone?" Byakuya asked as they moved inside and knelt on the ground inside the cage, "We were safe enough within the reiatsu cage."
"There was…someone out there, getting attacked…some guy wearing a cloak. I didn't get a good look at him. They were attacking him and I went out to give him a hand."
"A perfect stranger? In enemy territory?" Byakuya asked.
"Hey…he was being attacked."
"That is his job," said Byakuya, pouring water into cups for their tea.
"What?" asked Renji, frowning.
"That man is our sentry…our bodyguard while we train. It will give us time to rest between training sessions and he can train with you when I am otherwise engaged."
"Oh…he came with you?"
"Yes, just ignore him…unless he attacks you."
"Then what do I do?"
Byakuya shrugged and sent a shock of kido into the teacups.
"Kill him…if you can."
XXXXXXXXXX
Tetsuya sat quietly in a chair beside one that Kisuke occupied, his sapphire colored eyes fixed on the monitor in front of them, even as the two worked at the meal that had been set nearby. He bit his lip gently, frowning at the sight of the cloaked and hooded person accompanying his cousin. Noting his unease, Kisuke smiled and tilted his head slightly, following the younger man's gaze.
"You worried about Byakuya-bo?" he asked conversationally, "You don't need to be. He's in good hands. I made sure of that."
Tetsuya's eyes remained fixed on the screen and Kisuke chuckled at the intensity of his radiating reiatsu.
"C'mon now, you're not really that worried about him, are you? Someone like you, who's with him so much of the time? You know how strong he is."
"I do," Tetsuya said quietly, "however, I am curious at him choosing…that type of protector over me."
Kisuke gave the younger man a curious look.
"Byakuya did say that you should be ready to go if he calls for you. I can have you there very quickly if he needs help."
"I am sure you're right, but…"
"And I'm equally sure," Kisuke said matter-of-factly, "that Byakuya felt it was enough to risk himself to pull Renji back from the edge of the cliff he was walking on."
"I understand he accepted Arashi's presence because if Arashi is injured badly enough, he will just return to my inner world, but to place his safety in the hands of…"
"Hey," Kisuke said bracingly, laying a supportive hand on Tetsuya's arm.
He broke off as he felt the younger man flinch and shudder softly.
"Tetsuya, did I…hurt you?" he asked, frowning.
"Ah, no," Tetsuya answered in a flustered tone, "Suminmasen. I…I'm not accustomed to…ah…"
"I made you feel uncomfortable then? I'm sorry," Kisuke apologized.
"Oh, it's nothing," Tetsuya assured him, turning his head slightly away as though studying the tray of food and tea, "I'm just used to being near Byakuya-sama, but not seen, so this is…different."
"Well," the shopkeeper said, grinning charmingly, "I'm flattered you'd stay visible for me, then."
"I…I had to because I was told to…" Tetsuya stammered, blinking in confusion as the elder man whipped out a fan and opened it in front of his smiling face.
"I'm not used to people being so bold with me, but I'd be happy to go out on another date with you, since you brought it up."
"N-no, I didn't!"
"I didn't know Byakuya hung out with such a lovely and seductive cousin!"
"Urahara-san, I…"
"Hey, call me Kisuke," the shopkeeper laughed playfully, "now that we're dating."
"But we're not!" Tetsuya objected, flushing more brightly.
"Oh, you were teasing me, then?"
Tetsuya stared back at him, dumbfounded and Kisuke finally relented, taking on a gentler expression.
"Gomen, I like to kid around sometimes," he said, closing the fan and slipping it back into his clothing, "but seriously, would you consider going out with me, Tetsuya? I've gotta be honest, you've charmed the heck outta me in just the last few minutes here."
Tetsuya swallowed hard, meeting Kisuke's twinkling eyes shyly.
"You…really wish to…?"
"Yeah," the shopkeeper said with sincerity, "Will you go out with me sometime, Tetsuya?"
The younger man started to answer, then paused, stiffening, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword as a group of hollows moved in to attack Byakuya's encampment and the hooded figure jumped out from the shadows to defend the ones within.
"I don't like this," Tetsuya said uneasily, "I don't trust him."
"That's okay," Kisuke reassured him, giving him a warm, sympathetic smile, "Trust me when I tell you that your cousin is in good hands. I promise, Tetsuya. Byakuya and Renji are gonna be fine…well…unless they kill each other out there."
"Urahara-san…!"
"I thought I said you should call me Kisuke."
Tetsuya gave him a perplexed look and Kisuke laughed and nodded in the direction of the monitor as Renji emerged from the encampment and joined the hooded man in defeating the attacking hollows.
"See? They're doing fine."
Another little laugh escaped Kisuke at the skeptical look Tetsuya gave him and he poured the two of them fresh cups of tea.
"C'mon now. We don't want the tea to get cold."
