Chapter 9:

With a cold compress to his head, Shinji listened to everything Hitsugaya had to say while Hisagi stood over the couch and nodded. Shinji wasn't sure if it was his condition or having to absorb all this information that made his head spin. It was not a feeling he was accustomed to, so he had to lay on the couch until the feelings subsided.

Hitsugaya finished explaining things and hung his head. "I don't understand," he said. "I didn't get a fever when I underwent the transformation and I don't think Hisagi did either. Did you?"

"I did feel a bit warm," admitted Hisagi, leaning over the couch. "But from what I read, wolves tend to have warmer body temperatures so it's probably not a fever at all. Our bodies are probably just warmer than that of a human or Soul Reaper now but if we're unaware of our condition, we'd probably mistake it for a mild fever."

"Why'd you have to do this to me again?" Shinji asked as he adjusted the cloth on his head.

"It was the only way I could save you from Byakuya. He was about to drink your blood and turn you into one of his vampire minions."

"There's no such thing as vampires," Shinji told him.

"That's rich coming from a freaking werewolf," Hisagi retorted, removing the compress from Shinji's forehead to look him in the eyes as he said this. "You're a real werewolf and he's a real vampire. Now that everyone's on the same page, what do we do?"

Shinji put the cloth back on his head, letting it slide over his eyes. "What I want to know is why this condition effects everyone differently. Why am I the only one freaking out?"

"You being a Vizard could be a factor," said Histugaya. "Or maybe I can handle it better since I've already been through it once. Hisagi was pretty upset when he figured out what it meant."

"I didn't run around like a crazy dog, but I did have some pretty strange dreams that kept me up at night. Maybe the onset of the werewolf bite affected me in that way. I don't get them now."

"Have you been able to keep control of yourself like I asked?" Hitsugaya gave Hisagi a pointed look.

"Yes." He paused. "Well… I think my Captain might be catching on that something's amiss. I've been absentmindedly chewing on furniture and rolling on the ground to get an itch on my back."

"Stop doing that stuff when other people are around."

"Well, I can't always help it. A lot of it is done absentmindedly, like I said. And like it's so easy for you, Captain. Like you've never slipped up."

"I can control myself better because I unleash my desires at an appropriate time and in private."

"Can we get back to me for a second, people?" Shinji asked, pointing at himself with both hands.

Hitsugaya touched his shoulder reassuringly. Though Shinji was calmer than he was before, he could sense that Shinji was still overwhelmed. Accepting that he was a werewolf now must have been difficult to process. "It's ok. We'll help you through it."

"Basically, just eat plenty of food so you don't freak out," advised Hisagi. "Wolves eat a lot so I guess that means we have to. Don't bite anyone, that's a given. And stay away from Byakuya as well as anyone he may have bitten."

"I'll show you how it's done tonight," said Hitsugaya. "Meet us in the forest behind the barracks and we'll begin your training. It's also a great way to blow off some steam so you don't change during the day. Stress can cause us to transform. And in our wolf forms, we can't talk, so it would be difficult to convince others that we're not a threat or a wild animal."

Shinji didn't seem to be listening, hung up on something they previously said. "So Kuchiki's a vampire, huh?" He sighed. "I guess that actually makes sense."

"Now it sinks in?" Hisagi commented, crossing his arms.

"When I was talking to him earlier, I started to space out when I looked him in the eye. I felt really weird and didn't know what was going on. I remember he was telling me to do something but I don't remember what it was. I just heard his voice and I could feel myself passing out. I resisted but… I still felt really out of it. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain and I snapped out of it."

"That was me," confessed Hitsugaya. "In my defense, I did tell you to stay away from him."

"You couldn't have slapped me or pinched me or something?"

"When I tried that with Ichigo, he didn't wake up fast enough. Byakuya still got to him. I wasn't going to make that mistake again." Hitsugaya looked at Shinji apologetically. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Shinji lifted the cloth from his head and turned sideways. "When did Kuchiki do this to Ichigo?"

"In a dream I had."

Shinji frowned. "You're basing what possibly occurs on a dream?"

"A lot of it is similar," he defended.

"But not everything. If it's already diverged in several ways, what makes you think your dream has any merit to what's going on? The similarities aren't enough. How do you know you had to bite me to wake me up? A simple pinch would have sufficed."

"I tried and you didn't respond," Hitsugaya told him. "I pulled and shook you and nothing. I didn't feel I had a choice. And I'm sorry. But don't worry. Akon knows the situation and is working on a cure for us."

"Since vampires are considered more dangerous than werewolves, he's gonna be working on that one first," added Hisagi.

"Vampire's the priority, I get that. But how dangerous could one vampire be? I mean, he drinks blood but he doesn't have to kill people to do that, right?"

Hitsugaya frowned. "Anyone he bites becomes loyal to him. Their loyalty can become a problem. If they deem anything to be a possible threat to him, they'll do everything they can to get rid of it. If someone is on the verge of discovering his secret and they know about it, they'll kill that person to silence them."

"That'll just draw more attention to them," said Shinji. "A murder will have anyone on high alert. Heck, when they've a shortage on certain supplies, there's an investigation. It's not like they'll get away with it."

"His minions won't consider that at the moment. A lot of their actions are spontaneous. They're driven to help Byakuya in any way that they can, no matter the cost. They're loyal to him alone. They'd turn against their own friends if it means pleasing Byakuya. He is their master and they live to serve him."

Shinji sighed. "Putting it like that, I can see several issues. Hmm. That also means we can't tell people about Byakuya being a vampire or we'll be putting everyone in danger. If we cage him, same issue. They'll try to bust him out, even if it means getting themselves arrested. It seems stupid, but actually, when you think about it, letting him roam free is probably best. That way, no one will suspect."

"Exactly. I didn't think so at first but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense," said Hitsugaya. "We've got to be smart about this and think it through. We can't act impulsively. We could be endangering ourselves and others."

Shinji faced the ceiling again, tucking his arms under his head for support. "The irony is that Kuchiki needs blood to live, so if we limit is blood supply, he'll die. Starving anybody will make them more desperate, so that's dangerous. Allowing him to feed off people for nourishment will create minions."

"And the more minions he has, the more powerful he'll become," said Hisagi.

"Which is why I'm trying to limit how many he makes. He can feed off the same person more than once, but the problem is that if he does it too frequently, they'll weaken and possibly die from blood-loss," said Hitsugaya. "I think it's best if he has just a small group to feed on. That way we're limiting how many slaves he accumulates and not starve him or harm those he's already fed upon."

Shinji glanced at Hitsugaya from the corner of his eye. "Just taking a stab here, but I'm guess none of those slaves are going to be the people you're closest to. Am I in the ballpark there?"

Hitsugaya didn't say anything.

"I am, aren't I? Well, makes sense. I wouldn't want my friends to suffer either. Kensei would hate being someone's slave, that's for sure. But saying we protect our own sounds kind of selfish, doesn't it?"

"But we should protect those who we hold dear, shouldn't we?" asked Hisagi, thinking of his friends and his crush. "I mean, I wouldn't feel right about allowing someone I'm close to becoming someone's food source."

"Yeah, but a noble man would say we're not the ones to judge someone's worth. Anybody we save would show our bias. And we can't guard everyone or he'd have no food. So how do we decide who he eats and who he doesn't? Protecting our friends and those who'd be riskiest would probably be best."

"What do you mean by riskiest?" Hisagi asked Shinji.

Shinji sat up on the couch. "People who would be dangerous as a slave. Strong Soul Reapers, for one. Can you imagine Kenpachi becoming Kuchiki's slave? Soul Reapers with some pull are also pretty bad. And Soul Reapers who are working on a cure, for another. All those guys should be off limits."

"You're right," said Hisagi. "We can't risk anyone in Squad 12 getting bit. Akon and who knows how many others are working on a cure. If they become Byakuya's salve…"

"They'll stop production and destroy the cure," finished Hitsugaya. "That's how it happened in my dream. "As soon as Akon got bitten, he got rid of the cure because Byakuya didn't want to change back. Even if that weren't the case, Akon might deem it harmful to his master which was why it had to be thrown out along with any information on how to make it."

"Why would he like being a vampire?" asked Shinji.

Hitsugaya shrugged. "Must be something about being a vampire that just clicks in his brain. Byakuya embraced being a vampire and decided against changing back. He knows what he's doing but just doesn't care. He renounces being a Soul Reaper and fully accepts himself as a vampire."

Shinji nodded. "Kind of like in those movies. Suddenly the guy who gets turned into a vampire turns against his friends and completely changes. Not sure why that is but makes for a good movie."

"And a bad situation for us and the Seireitei," said Hisagi. "We don't even know how many slaves Byakuya's already got."

"Renji's probably definite. I mean, they guy's Kuchiki's Lieutenant," said Shinji. "He's in that office all the time and would probably be easiest but the wisest move on Kuchiki's part. An infected Lieutenant can cover all your duties for you and have it not be suspicious, plus it would be hard to hide things from a guy you share an office with."

"And Ikkaku," said Hitsugaya. "He was recently taken to the sickbay for anemia. I think he's been bitten."

"That's two we know of so far," said Shinji, holding up his fingers. "You think that's enough to hold him for now? If he risks biting more people, it'd be hard for people not to catch on."

"His slaves might handle that for him," said Hisagi, worried.

"I'm also not sure how much a vampire has to eat," admitted Hitsugaya. "Depending on the requirement, two people might not be enough to satisfy him."

"Then what?" asked Hisagi. "More Soul Reapers?"

"That. Or… he'll go for an alternative."

Unable to get enough blood and too many people around for him to pick a new victim, Byakuya was forced to find alternate means. He was getting dizzy with hunger but managed to walk casually to the sickbay without drawing too much attention to himself. He slipped into a room unnoticed and immediately found what he was looking for.

A large metal closet along the wall drew his attention and he heaved the doors open. A marvelous assortment of blood packs greeted him in the cool closet, all lined up neatly and labeled. He grabbed the one closest to him and tore it open with his teeth and drank. He couldn't suppress the moan of delight as he sucked it down. It tasted so good! He drained that one and went for another.

Soon, he was grabbing fistfuls and puncturing the plastic with his fangs like a juice box and slurping them noisily. He was about to grab another when he heard a sound behind him.

A nurse heard something coming from the room and went in to investigate. She saw someone with a Captain's jacket hunched over the open doors of the blood storage closet and wondered for a moment if it could be her Captain when she noticed the number on the back was different.

"Hello?"

Byakuya stopped drinking, blood pack to his lips.

"Um, Captain Kuchiki? Is that you?"

She knew. She saw the number on his jacket.

"What are you doing in here?"

He turned around, blood pack still in his mouth. He stared at her and as he did, allowed the pack to drop from his lips, walking slowly towards her. She took a step back and called to him, a mixture of fear and worry in her voice. He stepped closer, slowly and ominously.

Finally, the nurse turned and made a hasty retreat for the door. Byakuya was upon her in an instant and covered her mouth with his hand, dragging her back inside. Once safely in the shadows, he bit her, her muffled shriek vibrating against his body.

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