Chapter 9: Spirit and Fire

A/N Time: This was so much fun to write. Spunky's masterful at plotting and pacing. Please review we feed on them.

A/N Spunky: Time is a dream to work with! She's got me shipping Yo/Soi now. :P

Tetsuya melted into the trees, employing a waterform and drawing his reiatsu in carefully to conceal himself as he felt the continued reaching of the prisoner's spiritual pressure. Sweat broke out on his forehead and he felt twinges of burning in his spirit centers, a warning that the strain of pregnancy on a body already weakened by long years of abuse was taking its toll.

I can't reach Arashi's mind.

It was a chilling thought in an already harrowing moment.

If I can't sense Arashi's presence, I will not be able to bring him to me from outside the locked dimension. It suggests that the precipice world is causing a distortion in the very essence of 'existence' here, since Arashi is a part of me, and I should be able to reach every part of myself. But Arashi's existence as a soul apart from my own began the day that my strong desire to survive, to fight, outstripped the limits of my damaged body and he burst free.

At this moment, it is as though a curtain has been drawn between us that we cannot open as long as the door between this dimension and our own is closed. I have to survive on my own until…

A cold shaft of uncertainty touched his insides as he pondered what had been crossing his mind, the momentary warmth of trust in the man he loved so passionately.

But I don't think he knows the entirety of my connection to Arashi. Although Kisuke evinces an insatiable curiosity about anything that presents a mystery, his preoccupation with seducing me and at the same time, fending off my attempts to understand and comfort him has left him with incomplete knowledge of my abilities and my weaknesses. He understands how my powers work, in other words, but he does not yet know that Arashi's presence is crucial to managing the duress that my powers put on my body. Arashi absorbs much of that, but in his absence and with my body growing more unstable as the baby's reiatsu matures, I expect I will be sensed.

As the prisoner's presence loomed closer, a thought occurred.

The greatest advantage I possess is that my natural abilities that are not related to reiatsu usage should be unaffected by the instability. This person may be able to sense me, but as long as I can breathe underwater and he can't, I can keep distance between us, which will give my rescuers time to reach me.

He didn't consider for a moment that Kisuke would not realize where he'd been sent or that his lover would fail to send someone. It simply wasn't in the realm of possibility.

Tetsuya's eyes closed and his breathing slowed as he sensed the presence of bodies of water around him and honed in on a large lake nearby. There was plenty of time to reach it as his pursuer seemed unsure of his direction. Praying that his luck in that arena would hold out, he moved cautiously in the direction of the lake, sending out little distracting flickers of his presence to different areas to continue to confuse the other. He reached the water without incident and slid gratefully into its depths, breathing in the cool liquid and relaxing as he made himself one with it. Even when he felt the presence of the prisoner on the shore of the lake, he remained quietly confident.

I know you're here.

Tetsuya's breath caught and a chill shot down his spine as the voice sounded in his mind as clearly as one of Arashi's thoughts.

He has a mental ability.

It was an unsettling thought, but as long as he remained in the water…

I know what you're thinking, the voice went on, a slight hissing around the sound that further unsettled him, Your ability is water based, which is why you're hiding in the water. You must be thinking that as long as the water separates us, you are safe.

Tetsuya found himself holding his breath and frozen as though surrounded in his own ice.

You are wrong.

One moment, he was frozen in the water and the next, he found himself naked and lying on his back on a hard surface, shuddering as the cold hands of a faceless scientist examined his thin, useless body, then the man turned away to prepare a syringe.

No, the half noble reminded himself firmly, this opponent has a mental ability. I don't know how he's doing it, but he's affecting my mind, using my own past against me. I just have to…

But whatever thoughts or intent he had disappeared as the scientist turned back and looked down at him as the man's face was slowly revealed.

Kisuke?

"Don't take this personally," the shopkeeper said, smirking down at him, "You know, sometimes we have to make sacrifices in the name of science. You're going to die, Tetsuya, but it's a small price to pay for what we'll learn."

"No, don't! You'll hurt the baby!" Tetsuya gasped, blinking in confusion and straining against the bonds on his wrists and ankles.

"The baby?" Kisuke repeated in a cold, passionless tone he'd heard too many times in his years within the prison, "You mean, the baby I didn't want?"

"No!"

The shopkeeper's eyes glinted and he loomed over Tetsuya, bringing the syringe to his unprotected arm.

"It was fun, but it needs to end."

"Kisuke, no!" Tetsuya sobbed, "This isn't you! Don't do this!"

Another hard sob escaped him as he felt the sting of the injection, and all through his neglected body, his blood began to burn. The sting increased and then became unbearable as it was joined by a terrifying blend of his pursuer's laughter and the hard, cold laughter of his lover.

"Sorry kid. I did warn you that I was no good for you. Too bad you didn't listen."

The poison loosed into his arm began to burn through the veins it had invaded, burning them away and slowly melting Tetsuya's body from the inside out. He couldn't think anymore, couldn't reason, couldn't do anything but loose the pure horror in a blinding torrent of mental and physical screams.

And even worse than the loss of control was the feeling as though his tormentor had a hand wrapped around his throat and the crazed eyes that filled with happiness as the prisoner drew in Tetsuya's pain, feeding contentedly for as long as consciousness remained, then leaving him, senseless, still floating aimlessly in the water as he turned away, honing in on the others he sensed had entered the dimension.

XXXXXXXXXX

Byakuya sat quietly at Renji's bedside, one hand holding his unconscious spouse's and his dark eyes focused on the Karakura shopkeeper as Kisuke held a small reiatsu scanning device over the redhead's body for several minutes before pausing to read the results and letting out a worried sigh.

"Damn, still not balancing."

He ran his hands over his face and let out another heavy breath, thinking. Across from him, Byakuya raised Renji's limp hand to his lips and kissed his husband's fingertips tenderly. The rough fingers twitched slightly in reaction and Renji released a shuddering groan.

"Tetsuya warned us from the beginning that even though the use of the breeder ability allows a male soul to carry the reiatsu of a child, our bodies were not intended for this. It is an induced mutation of certain receptors and structures within the soul that allow the spirit chamber to form and to collect the reiatsu and genetic markers of the parents," Byakuya said softly.

"And throughout the pregnancy," Kisuke continued, "balances need to be maintained. Tetsuya's waterforms were perfectly suited to harmonizing with Renji's body and the baby's to keep their reiatsus in check, but it looks like the spirit chamber, in this case, formed too close to Renji's spirit core. The pressure on the spirit core increased over time until it began to affect his autonomic systems."

Byakuya's frown deepened.

"But wouldn't the pressure be relieved by the loss of the child? When the baby's reiatsu faded…"

"The pressure on Renji's spirit core would have been relieved," the shopkeeper affirmed, "but it happened suddenly, like a pendulum swinging in reverse. It produced a shock to Renji's systems and now everything is in chaos in his body. It'd take Tetsuya a few goddamned minutes to harmonize with Renji's systems to calm everything…if he was here. Since he's not, about the only thing I can think of that is going to work is to have Orihime just reject the state he's in and restore him to the way he was before he was pregnant. For now, he's breathing and he's got a heartbeat. All we can do is maintain that until Orihime gets here. Then…"

The two exchanged wordless glances for a moment and Kisuke sighed wearily.

"Well, you get the picture."

"I do," Byakuya affirmed.

The noble lowered his gaze to study Renji's face briefly before looking back at the shopkeeper.

"Will you explain to me now why Tetsuya never returned home? What happened to my cousin? Where is he now?"

Kisuke drew in a shaky breath.

"Tetsuya was getting ready to go back to Soul Society," he explained.

Byakuya nodded."Arashi relayed to us that Tetsuya was in emotional distress and that he had to return to your laboratory to retrieve the reports on the research you had completed for me."

"It was my fault he was upset," the shopkeeper confessed, his voice shaking slightly, "We'd had a disagreement and we decided it was best for us to have a little time apart to think things through."

Kisuke met Byakuya's eyes directly.

"We were gonna work it out."

"Hmm," the noble mused, "perhaps Tetsuya did not share your optimism about this. Did you make it clear to him that you…?"

"Clear as mud, I guess," Kisuke answered bitterly, "Anyway, while he was in the lab, Soi fon came in and saw him there. She was angry with me about…"

"The training module incident?" Byakuya inquired, tension rising in his voice, "The use of the TS-9?"

"That and a few other things. I don't think she planned for it to happen. She just boiled over at that moment and shoved him into the transportation device."

Byakuya's dark eyes widened and his breath caught.

"Where…?"

"The device was set to send a twelfth division prisoner to a locked dimension. Tetsuya arrived safely there, but…I didn't know that he'd been sent there. The prisoner was delivered to the locked dimension and from what I can tell, Tetsuya has hidden himself, but his presence has been sensed. We need to get to him before that maniac finds him!"

Byakuya closed his eyes against another choice, more lives in the balance, another question of loyalties. He thought for a long moment, Urahara was breathing too loud, the scanner hummed as he did another check as though the results would be different. Obnoxious as usual. Renji's ragged breathing provided a counterpoint in the cacophony simultaneously comforting—he was breathing—and bringing tears to Byakuya's eyes with the pain evident in each tortured sound.

As much as he cared for both men though Tetsuya was his bodyguard and could take care of himself, Renji was his partner, his to protect and while Renji was more than capable of taking care of himself normally, he was helpless right now. On the other hand, Tetsuya was without Arashi.

"No." He snapped his eyes open, fist clenched. He'd made his choice.

"What?" Urahara asked a nervous shake to his voice.

"Not you," Byakuya said realizing he have spoken aloud.

"Ah," Urahara gave him an odd scrutinizing look then shook his head smiling again. An unforgivable urge to beat the smile off his face rose in Byakuya.

Urahara stuck a small device to Renji's chest and sent a precisely controlled flow of his own reiatsu into it.

Finishing Urahara put the device away. Byakuya stopped pacing to ask if Renji's condition had changed, when the door opened and Ichigo stormed in with a breathless, red cheeked Orihime in tow.

"Ah Ichigo, excellent." Urahara beamed from under his hat.

Byakuya's hand twitched as the violent urges returned. Orihime rushed to Renji's side and closed her eyes.

"Wait!" Urahara cried.

She opened one eye and looked at him.

"I have to walk you through what to reject and what to avoid or you'll kill him."

She paled even further and Byakuya stiffened. He'd thought, perhaps naively, that Renji would be fine once Orihime arrived.

"For the moment just surround him with your reiatsu."

"What can I do?" Ichigo asked.

"Nothing." Byakuya didn't want the brash young man anywhere near Renji.

Ichigo glared but Urahara laughed. "You two are going to assist our svelte and buxom friends in getting Tetsuya back."

"Like hell." The others dropped what they were doing to stare at him, Ichigo with his jaw literally hanging open. All except Renji.

"You're no use here," Urahara said firmly. Byakuya gritted his teeth, he knew he couldn't do anything but that didn't make it easier and it didn't mean he was about to leave. "I'll make sure your love lives. Do the same for mine."

Byakuya stared for a moment, registered the pleading note in Urahara's voice, the way he clamped his mouth shut like he hadn't meant to say that. It was the truth beneath the words that decided for him. He nodded. "Consider it done."

Urahara turned on his heel, "To the transporter then."

"Urahara do—" Byakuya began as he followed Urahara down the hall. Maybe he'd judged the man and his intentions wrong?

"Try not to destroy it this time." Urahara gave a fake sounding laugh.

Byakuya nodded slightly but didn't continue the conversation, there'd be time for that later. For now he'd complete the mission and get back to Renji. If Renji was still alive.

Byakuya followed Urahara into the transporter room. A maniacal laugh came from the corner and Byakuya had his sword leveled at the intruder before seeing that it was Mayuri. He sheathed it, Ichigo did not do the same.

"Tsk tsk, he did tell you brutes not to destroy the equipment. It looks ready to fall apart as it is."

"What do you want, Mayuri?" Urahara snapped.

"Ah, only to lend some help." Mayuri put a mocking hand over his heart. "I left Kenpachi in the shop, I figured it was best to keep him away from the equipment until the last possible moment."

"He may be worse than Byakuya." Urahara smirked.

"Kenpachi isn't someone I desire on a rescue mission." Byakuya said fearing for his cousin getting caught in crossfire.

"Don't you know? You know you need a truly deranged fighter, to face down a sadist that preys on human weakness like Takumi." Faux sweetness dripped from Mayuri's voice.

"Takes one to know one," Ichigo snapped.

Mayuri blatantly ignored Ichigo, instead locking eyes with Urahara. "And we all know how very human Tetsuya Kuchiki is."

"We should hurry." Byakuya said tightly. They didn't have time to banter.

Urahara unfroze. "True." He yelled for Kenpachi as Byakuya and Ichigo stepped into the transporter. Kenpachi joined them a moment later.

"Wait." Mayuri commanded.

"What?" Kisuke paused, hands hovering over the controls.

"You need to know the prisoners abilities, no? I'm guessing you didn't read the transfer papers?" he directed the last at Urahara who lowered his eyes slightly. Byakuya made a note of that, he'd thought the man beyond shame.

"I thought so." Mayuri grinned ear to ear.

"Now is not the time to test my patience, I got you out of the nest, I can toss you back."

Mayuri stiffened eyes wide for a beat. "No, you can't."

Urahara smiled. A chill crept down Byakuya's spine and he touched Senbonzakura, Ichigo shivered slightly.

Even Mayuri took a step back and coughed. "As I was saying the prisoner—Takumi—his power is 'Ayumu' or walking dream. When he touches a target, he infuses a bit of his reiatsu in them, which allows him to see and use people and situations from their past to torture them."

Byakuya's heart seemed to stop, his lungs couldn't get enough air.

Urahara stood straighter and crossed his arms, the fingers of his right hand drumming against his bicep. "And your point is?"

Obvious, you self-absorbed narcissist, Byakuya thought and it was all he could do not to say it.

"My point is that Tetsuya will be particularly vulnerable."

Kenpachi laughed. "Don't worry I'll cut'im ta fucking ribbons if he lays a finger on yer' prettyboy."

Mayuri scoffed. "It isn't Takumi's hands you need to worry about, it's his twisted mind. Which is why I brought the inbred neanderthal in the first place, Takumi can't play with a brain if the would-be-victim doesn't have one to begin with."

Kenpachi frowned. "He can fight though, right?"

"In a manner of speaking," Mayuri replied.

"Is that all Mayuri, We must get going," Byakuya said, it was an effort to keep his voice level.

Mayuri nodded, Urahara flipped switches and turned dials with reckless speed, paused a moment then hit a final button. Byakuya's head swam as the dimensions shifted around him. He had only one disoriented moment to sense that he was being propelled at high speed into intense blackness, then his body crashed down unforgivingly onto solid ground.

That man hasn't changed a bit, not since we were younger.

When I get back…

Before he could finish the thought, his eyes cleared and he felt a sinking sensation as he found himself alone.

XXXXXXXXXX

Yoruichi put everything she had into flash-stepping toward the blazing white beacon that was Tetsuya's reiatsu. Kisuke was fragile and if Tetsuya died the guilt alone would have broken him, even if he didn't care about Tetsuya which he obviously did. She remembered picking up the pieces after the Hogyoku fiasco and did not wish to repeat it. Beyond that though she was doing this for her own future, to save her one slim chance of being able to have a kid with the women who she hoped to someday make a family with. If Soi fon didn't hate her when all of this was said and done.

Said woman ran at her side, looking straight ahead and focused on the mission. Soi fon's ability to block everything else out and do that was one of the things Yoruichi admired about the young captain. It reminded her of Kisuke.

"Down!" Soi fon slammed into her. Yoruichi hit the ground hard and kido flashed from Soi fon's hand as she lay protectively on Yoruichi before leaping up and spinning around. Yoruichi was on her feet in a second and they stood back to back, a few feet separating them so they could maneuver freely.

"Where is he?" Yoruichi asked.

"I don't know, I—" Black reiatsu flared up a moment before a figure dropped from the tree above them. Yoruichi rolled aside as Soi fon fired a kido at the attacker, but his attack on Yoruichi had been a feint and he dove on Soi fon as her kido hit the arm he'd thrown up to protect his face. He landed on Soi fon and punched her in the face. Yoruichi recovered and swept his legs, catching sight of Soi fon laying on her back staring glassy-eyed at the sky. Something was wrong. The attacker hit the ground and Yoruichi leaped back to ready a binding kido. The attacker lay there, shaking with hysterical laughter.

The trees near her were gone. Yoruichi rolled to dodge a kido. She was somehow in Soul Society, on the edge of the forest where she used to play tag with Kisuke and later Soi fon. She leaped over another kido, pain scorched her shoulder as she landed and a third kido burned it. Soi fon, stood in front of her, bloody and panting, throwing kido as she sob-screamed vitriol.

What was going on, this couldn't be happening, this had happened. Was it a dream, no, the pain was real and she would have woken up by now if it was. Was her other life a dream, she tried to remember specifics of it but could only come up with wisps and impressions. The yelling and kido weren't helping.

"You're abandoning me!"

"I don't have a choice." She blinked back tears and tried not to think about the family and friends she was abandoning along with fierce little Soi fon. She had to be strong, they'd be shamed if she stayed. Kisuke would likely be caught and executed if she didn't go or destroy himself out of guilt.

"Yeah, you did."

Yoruichi ducked another kido.

"You chose HIM."

"It isn't like that." Dodge. "You don't understand!" Dodge, dodge, jump.

She landed on a tree branch. "I was just…" She flipped off the branch, splinters scraped her back as it was destroyed by kido. "Protecting your honor."

"Protecting? Is that what you tell yourself? That you were protecting me when you stabbed me in the back and left me bleeding on the ground? You tell yourself it was for my sake that you abandoned me to a hundred years of burning alive with hatred, unable to trust anyone? That's love?" Soi fon shrieked.

Tears rolled freely down Yoruichi's face. It hadn't been like that. She'd been doing her best to protect everyone. And yet it was like that, the proof stood shrieking in front of her like a scorned banshee. Yoruichi fell to her knees weeping.

XXXXXXXXXX

Soi fon stood alone in an empty field, no wind stirred the grass and the air lay stale and suffocating. With nothing better to do she went forward. It was like wading through deep water but she pressed on. Yoruichi appeared in mid-air beside her, floating in lotus position.

"Yoruichi-sama! You're here, what's going on?"

Yoruichi threw back her head laughing. "You didn't seriously think someone so insignificant could ever mean anything to me, did you?" She asked with fake sympathy.

Soi fon gasped even though it just confirmed what she'd already known in her heart of hearts.

"If it makes you feel better you were a very fun toy, much better than Tetsuya in my opinion." Yoruichi chuckled again. "Still my amusement has worn thin. So like Tetsuya it's time to discard you for something new. Don't take offense I'm sure someone else will want to play with you for a few months."

Yoruichi faded laughing. Soi fon stared at the air where her former master had been, shaking violently and trying to form words that refused to come. Flames burst to life, spreading from her chest down her limbs. Pain seared her where the flames touched, agonizing and inescapable. At the same time, it was ecstasy.

She walked on, shadowy figures reached for her, but the flames burned them away before they could make contact. She smiled despite the pain, powerful, on top of the world, it was everything she'd ever wanted to be. The flames crawled down over her groin, tendrils flowed down either side of her labia, licking at her clit. She moaned, getting off on the pain and power.

Then she came upon Tetsuya. His kimono was mostly burned away, the skin underneath ravaged by old scars and fresh bleeding wounds alike. He clutched an infant to his chest.

"I only meant to help."

She snorted. The flames diminished and her burns throbbed as the ecstasy faded. "I don't care. You should have minded your own business."

"I'm sorry. But he never did anything to you." Tetsuya held the infant toward her for a moment then pulled it back against his chest.

'You did though, he was just collateral." The flames roared back in full force and she cried out as they blazed through all her most sensitive areas, replacing the pain of moments before.

Tetsuya reached out with healing kido on his hand, apparently misinterpreting her cry. As soon as he touched her, the flames shot from her body up his arm. He recoiled, screaming in pure pain as the flames engulfed him and the infant.

He looked at her from within the inferno, face a mask of pain and confusion while the infant wailed. "Why?"

She tilted her head back, gasping as her flames worked their magic and the pain was completely supplanted by base pleasure. "It makes. Me feel. Better."

"To make us suffer," he said simultaneously a question and conclusion.

"It makes the pain stop,"

"What hurts?" Byakuya asked in his clipped 'mission' tone.

She blinked up at his face. Cold amethyst eyes stared back, his arm outstretched as though he'd either just finished or was just about to cast, a kido.

"Wh-what the hell's going on?"

He took a step back. "You and Yoruichi were attacked. You said 'make the pain stop' so I repeat: What hurts?" The words were sharp with restrained anger.

Soi fon stopped and did a quick inventory of her body. She was drained, her muscles sore like she'd just finished extremely intense training. Her skin was raw and tingling like every inch of her was sunburned. Mentally it was as though she'd just woken from a terrible nightmare, but physically she was mostly okay.

"No. I'm fine, sorry." She rose. Her panties were uncomfortably wet and the skin under them was chafed raw like the rest of her with additional tingling from intense arousal. She looked around, she was still in the forest where she and Yoruichi had first been attacked. Yoruichi sat a few feet away wiping tears from her face.

Soi fon rushed to her. "What's wrong!"

"Nothing I'll be alright," Yoruichi said. She looked Soi fon in the eyes with a smile that screamed trying-to-be-brave, it made Soi fon's heart ache and her panties get a bit wetter. Yoruichi was so beautiful, before Soi fon knew what she was doing she started stroking the goddess hair.

Yoruichi's face crumpled and she buried her face in her hands with a sob. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Soi sauce."

Soi fon almost cried herself at the nickname from back when she was Yoruichi's attendant. "It's fine, I forgive you just please stop crying."

Yoruichi gave a wet chuckle, "Are you panicking?"

"No."

Yoruichi ruffled her hair and Soi fon melted into a puddle. "I'll…I'll be okay, just give me a sec."

Soi fon nodded, she could use a moment too. Byakuya had already dutifully moved away to give them space.

Soi fon walked away remaining alert for another attack. When she was safely alone she slid a hand into her waistband and panties and cast an ice kido Rukia had once shown her, albeit with a different use in mind. She sighed in relief as it eased the chafing and took the edge off her horniness. She hesitated then removed her hand and headed back to join the others.

XXXXXXXXXX

Urahara allowed himself a relieved little exhale when the dimensional sensor array indicated that all three had arrived in the correct dimension, though Ichigo and Ken had landed together some distance away from Byakuya and the girls. Byakuya's indicator started moving towards the women and Urahara pushed himself up from his chair and strode back to the infirmary. He had a job to do, several actually, he wasn't going to slow down enough to feel the exhaustion until he was done.

"Urahara," Mayuri called.

He didn't pause.

Mayuri grabbed his arm, "We need to talk."

"No time," he yanked his arm away. Regardless of the bravado he'd shown Byakuya, there was a good chance—sixty-three to eighty-two percent by his estimate—that they would kill Renji trying to save him.

"Running away again?" Mayuri asked as Urahara continued on his way.

"No!" God, he wished he could though. When he thought about Renji's pallid face his life in one of Urahara's hands, Gentle, beautiful Tetsu—NO. he couldn't think about that. Just keep moving and don't leave time for the fear, the grief.

"I can help you know," Mayuri said cheerfully as he followed. When Urahara didn't respond he continued. "I have these lovely new pills that erase specific memories."

"No." He wouldn't give up his memories of Tetsuya for anything, no matter how much it might end up hurting. The thought was an instinctive, visceral reaction but he knew it to be completely true and it terrified him. Uraraha opened the infirmary door and slammed it in Mayuri's face. Mayuri followed him in a moment later.

"Whyyy," Mayuri's voice turning wheedling and grated on Urahara's frayed nerves.

"Okay Orihime," he said a little too loud.

She looked up from her healing.

"This is a scan of Renji's spirit centers." He held up an image with 15 colored circles on it. He pointed to two grey ones. "These two are residue from the baby, you need to find them and reject them then we'll move to step two. I'll maintain his reiatsu and keep it balanced while you do it." I'll try at least. No there was no try, he had to fix this. It was his fault after all. He set the scan down and slid his hands into his pockets where they could tremor in private.

"So you're life support?" Orihime asked.

Mayuri snickered.

"Yep, must be Thursday." He turned serious again. "Don't go too fast the exertion this will require is comparable to distance running."

Orihime's jaw clenched and she nodded, her eyes full of determined fire. It was kind of adorable. He smiled, her optimism was contagious. For the first time since he'd learned about the prisoner being sent in with Tetsuya, he felt a spark of hope. His lips twitched and he closed burning eyes. Nope, none of that now.

They settled down to the work, it occurred to him that he shouldn't leave the others unattended if he could help it and he groaned. Damnit. "Mayuri would you watch the array?"

Mayuri perked up. "Of course." The door swung closed behind him as Urahara turned back to Renji.

He fed reiatsu into Renji and took some into himself by turns, maintaining Renji's balance. With his left hand he held the the scanner's handheld viewer and gave Orihime directions to each of the residual spirit centers.

Sweat beaded on his forehead and crawled down his back, he swallowed back the nausea of fluctuating reiatsu. A quick glance at Orihime told him she was struggling, swaying where she sat.

"Not much longer, kid. You got this."

She gave him a weak smile and he relayed the next instruction. Renji's energy dipped and Urahara fed more into him. He straightened, blinking as the lightheadedness and shakiness increased in a wave. He couldn't pass out. Failure wasn't an option today.

"Done?" Orihime's weak, voice was barely understandable amid panted breaths.

"One…Minute," he gasped, breathing hard himself. He blinked at the viewer, trying to stop seeing double, then despite his rush forced himself to double-check.

"Yeah, you got it kid," he panted.

Orihime broke her connection and half laid half fell onto her back. He waited, gritting his teeth as the snapback effect sent shockwaves up his arm and Renji's energy vacillated wildly. He rode it out give energy, take, no give. His mouth opened in a silent scream as the muscles in his arm spasmed from the rapid changes in energy. Then Renji leveled out. He gasped for breath and gagged but waited another two excruciating minutes to make sure Renji was stable. Finally he slid his own connection free, pushed himself away from Renji and stumbled to the wastebasket to throw-up.

When he was done he wiped his left sleeve across his mouth and rose not entirely sure his legs would support him. His entire body felt shaky and weak.

"Sorry about that, how are you doing?" he refused to acknowledge Mayuri's presence. What was he doing back here anyway?

"I could sleep for a month." Orihime groaned still laying on her back eyes closed.

Urahara made a non-committal noise and took a few shaky steps toward the door before pausing and closing his eyes as the nausea returned.

"Can I fetch you something?" Mayuri asked.

Urahara groaned and raised his head to risk a glance at the other scientist. To his surprise he didn't see a sadistic grin, instead Mayuri was frowning and would have almost seemed earnest if Urahara didn't know better.

He looked away again in thought then swallowed his pride. "Get Tessei and ask him to bring some water and ginger."

"Done." After the door shut behind Mayuri, Urahara sank to the floor.

Orihime slowly sat up, holding her head. "He doesn't look any better," She said after a moment.

Urahara shook his head. "That's to be expected. We haven't started on his spirit centers yet." He hoped he was telling the truth. For Byakuya's sake and the sake of whatever was left of his own conscience.

Orihime took a shaky breath as Tessai entered with two bottles of water in each hand and Mayuri in tow.

"Thanks." Orihime said as Tessai handed her bottles over along with a ginger root.

Tessai came over and handed Urahara his refreshments with a steady look of concern. Urahara thanked him and tried to convey the depth of his gratitude though he wouldn't say it aloud with Mayuri lurking like a malaria-carrying mosquito. Tessai had always been there for him, a lump for in his throat and he took a drink.

"What's the plan?" Orihime asked after they drank some and Urahara at least, felt slightly less dead.

"We rest and hydrate then round two."

Orihime' face crumpled a little. "I-I Don't think I can."

Welcome to my world. She looked like she was about to cry and if Urahara was honest he wasn't far off himself. Luckily, he was never honest. "We have to. Failure's not an option."

Her lips trembled but she pressed them together and nodded. "I know."

For all the good the break was doing his ravaged body it gave it time to think which was precisely what he'd been trying to avoid. Gentle Tetsuya scared, alone, facing who knew what tortures, was something he couldn't face right now. Especially as his mind supplied increasingly creative scenarios. He rose and began pacing, he didn't have the energy for it, but it was better than the alternative. His arm throbbed, round two was going to be unpleasant.

"Ready?" he asked when Orihime finished her water.

"No." Nevertheless, she put aside her half eaten root, stood and walked over to Renji.

Urahara joined her. "Okay first I have to scan him again and then—" A scream rang out like all the pain a person could ever feel had been concentrated into a spike and driven directly through his brain.

He clutched his head screaming and his knees buckled.

Tetsuya!