Chapter 33:

Knowing there was no way to do this without calling attention to themselves or Byakuya, Hitsugaya and his group decided to do whatever they could to keep anyone else from being bitten. If they couldn't verbally prevent the interaction from taking place, they would have to grab the person and carry them off.

"And if they ask what our problem is, what do we tell them?" asked Hisagi.

"That Byakuya's a vampire," said Shinji, though he was only half-kidding.

"And after they're done laughing at us?"

"We can tell them that Byakuya's dangerous," said Hitsugaya.

"They'll want to know why. If we make something up, they'll investigate and Byakuya will bite them and anyone investigating him anyway. Captain, there's no way this will work."

"There are other ways," said Hitsugaya.

It was getting late in the day and Byakuya was bound to start his nightly hunt for fresh blood. He didn't need to with so many servants at his fingertips, but he wanted to. Byakuya was doing this for sport, Hitsugaya realized. It wasn't just to gather numbers but because he wanted to.

Yumichika would help them during the day, insisting he get his beauty rest at night. Hitsugaya agreed, knowing he could use his Lieutenant after the sun went down. He didn't want to put her in danger, but she wasn't going to be near Byakuya. Her succubus ability only worked on the men, which left the women vulnerable. That was where the wolves came in.

They put their plan into action as soon as possible.

First, they had to make sure Byakuya couldn't leave his office. As long as he could still feed on the people in his Squad, he could create more minions without them knowing. If he could not leave, his servants would have to bring fresh food to him.

Hitsugaya waited until Byakuya returned to his office and dipped into his garlic supply to rub around the office door and walls. Byakuya wouldn't be able to tolerate the horrid smell and remain inside.

Shinji was skeptical but it actually worked. The pungent smell hit Byakuya like a wall and he refused to leave his office. He sent his minions out for him. Since none of them could see the garlic, there was nothing for them to remove so they could do nothing.

The servants didn't bring anyone new to the office, offering their master their own blood when he needed a snack.

In the evening, Rangiku did her part without even knowing. She walked through the barracks of Byakuya's Squad, her presence alone enough to seduce the men as they slept. The more they succumbed to her power, the more her succubus features showed. Her wings spread and her tail grew long and the horns on her forehead sprouted, nurtured by the attention she received in their dreams.

Come morning, Rangiku had returned to normal but all the men in Byakuya's Squad were dazed and distracted. They failed to follow simple orders and stared out the window to daydream. When they saw Rangiku walk by during the day, they followed her like lovestruck teens after their crush.

Shinji observed Renji bringing fresh meat to his master in the form of a woman from their own Squad. He nodded to Yumichika in a nearby tree before taking off to avoid hearing it. Yumichika sang a few notes to start an argument between the two and the woman stormed off in a huff, leaving Renji alone.

Later, Byakuya's servants all tried to fulfill their roles and ran into Yumichika's singing, causing them to fight amongst themselves. It was several minutes before they calmed down and only Ikkaku threw any punches.

Shinji knew this would only stall, not prevent, but they didn't want to go all-out at the gate. They had to reserve some of their methods for later.

Unfortunately, someone didn't give Shinji much of a choice.

Byakuya looked to Ichigo who stirred, finally waking up. Ichigo had slept all night without moving, making Byakuya curious about his condition.

Ichigo sat up slowly on the makeshift bed, looking around through half-lidded eyes. His gaze was still glazed and didn't seem very aware of anything that was going on.

"Ichigo," Byakuya called him and he slowly looked his way.

He looked half-asleep. When Byakuya waved a hand in front of his face, Ichigo didn't react.

Then Ichigo started to look around the room again in a fog. "… Where… am I..?" He looked slowly from one side to the next. "What am I… doing… here..?"

He was able to speak, but it was hard to assess Ichigo's condition based on how he was speaking.

Byakuya stood in front of Ichigo and Ichigo looked slowly up at him. Ichigo's sleepy gaze was rather cute. Byakuya placed his hand under Ichigo's chin to help guide his gaze up towards his face.

Ichigo blinked. "Byakuya..?" He blinked again, slowly. "What's going on? What am I..?"

"I see you recognize me." He teased Ichigo's chin with his fingertips but Ichigo did not react.

As he was about to speak, he heard a knock. "Big Brother?"

Byakuya rushed to the door, leaving Ichigo on the makeshift bed where he stared sleepily after him. Byakuya answered the door quickly and calmly. "Yes?"

"Sorry to bother you," said Rukia, "but I never brought Ichigo back to the World of the Living. I couldn't find him yesterday and I'm worried that…"

"Someone else must have brought him," Byakuya assured her.

"But when I spoke to…"

Something crashed through Byakuya's window and sunlight began to pour through the opening.

Hissing, Byakuya slammed the door in Rukia's face and tried to hide himself in the corner while holding it shut. He could hear Rukia trying to get in. "Big Brother, are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Byakuya called through clenched teeth. "Go outside and see what that was!" He had to get rid of her and that was the only thing coming to his mind.

Byakuya lurched from the door and tried to get to the other side of the room where there were more shadows and places to hide. Ichigo watched his efforts in a stupor. He made no reaction whatsoever, still unable to understand where he was and what was happening.

Outside, Shinji hid after throwing the rock through Byakuya's window. He knew it was probably foolish, but it was the only thing he could do from outside. He had his doubts about Byakuya turning Rukia into one of his minions but at this point he couldn't put it past him.

He hoped that by allowing sunlight into the room, it would be enough of a distraction to render Byakuya incapable of doing anything but hide. Until the window was fixed, he wouldn't be able to lure more people to him without people knowing.

Rukia came outside to look for the one responsible but didn't see Shinji and went to look around the corner. Seeing her head the opposite way, Shinji left the area, looking as nonchalant as possible.

Shinji stopped momentarily, a thought occurring to him. It was so obvious, he didn't understand why he didn't see it before.

"You want to prey on that?" Hitsugaya asked once Shinji brought it to his attention.

Shinji nodded. "Byakuya is too dangerous to target directly for the reasons we've been over multiple times. We also know that his minions will do anything to protect him, even admitting to something they didn't do. So why not use that to our advantage?"

Hitsugaya sat back in his chair. "But making the evidence look like they're responsible? I don't know…"

"Technically, it wouldn't be lying. They are the ones getting rid of the blood packs."

"It would be less risky and there's a good chance they'd admit to it in order to keep people off Byakuya's trail," reasoned Hitsugaya, thoughtfully. "But that's assuming they take the bait and do what we expect them to do. There's a chance they won't. What's also risky with this is that they might attack the one who confronts them instead of confess."

"That could be a problem, but all things considered, it's just as likely they will just say they did it instead of have the investigation go any further and put Byakuya at risk."

"These guys can be irrational," said Hitsugaya. "There's no guarantee they'll do what we want."

"I know. I'm just bringing it to your attention to decide if it's worth it," said Shinji. "This could be a good way to weaken Byakuya indirectly. We can't take him on with so many people at his command. If we can get that number down, it will be more manageable if there ends up being a fight."

"Then he'll go after others and make more slaves to replace them."

"He's already doing that when he doesn't have to. Captain Hitsugaya, the status of his minions is irrelevant. He's going to do it anyway."

"You're right," said Hitsugaya. It really didn't seem to matter. "But we have to do this in such a way they won't be harmed. After all, it isn't their fault. If they confess, they'll be repercussions. We have to make sure they won't be major ones. We also have to leave room for doubt just in case."

"Leave room for doubt?" Shinji cocked his head. "Not following. Do we want them to look guilty or not?"

"We do but don't want them to be imprisoned after they've returned to normal. We just need them to be held in a cell until this is over. Which means…"

"Reasonable doubt, I get it," finished Shinji. "Hm. That can be tricky, but I think we'll manage. Somehow."

With so many Captains on high alert and Squad 2 investigating, it was easy to snare someone's attention but not easy to pin the blame on someone in particular with the desired results. Shinji and Hitsugaya worked together to find a balance without telling the other two werewolves what they were doing.

Soi Fon was in a foul mood after yet another day of no results from her men. Not only that, but the blood locker had been broken into again and once again had to replace the guard. Because of this, as soon as she heard someone had information, she was eager to listen.

Shinji was the one to tell her his suspicions, which she was quick to disregard until some new details came to light.

Hitsugaya thought immobilizing Byakuya's Lieutenant was the priority but Shinji disagreed, saying that the members of the Stealth Force should be the first to indispose. As his spies and with the skills to do it, Shinji considered them to be more dangerous, but Hitsugaya claimed at they weren't much of a threat since they could smell them and knew where they were hiding most of the time. Hitsugaya wanted to target the ones with the most physical power first and with the most authority and information. Renji had the ability to do a lot in battle and in the building and would be the easiest in his opinion to target first. Shinji had his doubts but did as the alpha wolf wanted.

"Seems suspicious if you ask me," Shinji told Soi Fon, trying to plant the seeds of suspicion. "You guys found blood on paperwork belonging to Byakuya's office. It could have been from anything, but his office, of all places? Plus, Renji has been doing a lot of running around. Insisting on doing things for the Captain, even if that's not his department. Seems weird, if you ask me."

Soi Fon's eyes drifted to the side. "That is odd…"

"And what's Ikkaku doing there so often? I've been hearing a lot of complaints about him not being around his Division like he used to. What business does he have there at Kuchiki's? His Squad's also been getting in to a lot of fights for no reason. I don't know how Byakuya's office fits in to any of this, but if there was a fight of some sort, that could explain the blood you found."

"Hmm." Soi Fon was getting suspicious.

"I also wonder if someone planted those blood packs they found to frame someone. I can't prove it, but if you ask me, seems like someone running around and taking on odd jobs would have ample time to do it. Or someone who's not where he should be. Just saying."

Renji and Ikkaku were both strong and capable and easy to make suspects out of. Though Shinji couldn't prove anything and was only sharing his thoughts, it was enough to get Soi Fon's interest.

Renji saw Ichigo stir and alerted Byakuya at once.

While work was being done to replace the window in Byakuya's office, Byakuya instructed Renji to stay with him just in case he needed help. Ichigo went back to sleep soon after Byakuya hid in the shadows to escape the sun and hadn't moved since. The glass hadn't been replaced yet but Renji had covered the offending area with a tarp constructed out of bedding he stole from the sickbay with Ikkaku's help. This way, even without the glass, the sun couldn't get in. However, this did make it harder to have a conversation since people could hear what was going on through the open window, so they had to keep things short and quiet.

Thankfully, there wasn't much to discuss and Ichigo slept through most of it. Rukia hadn't returned and, thanks to the tarp, no one knew Ichigo was there. No one heard a peep out of the sleeping boy, making things even easier. Ichigo, however, was now waking up again and no one knew how he'd be this time.

Renji stood behind the couch, watching Ichigo sit up and rub his neck. He groaned, frowning in discomfort. "What the heck happened to me?"

He seemed a lot more lucid than before, but Renji had to be sure. "Are you alright, Ichigo? How do you feel? Do you need anything?"

Ichigo looked at Renji in confusion, knowing Renji had never been this concerned about him before. If he had ever shown concern for him, it was never like this. "Since when are you so caring and hospitable?"

He didn't actually care. He was only concerned because Byakuya was about his condition and gave him an order to make sure Ichigo was well.

"Did you need something to drink?" Renji asked, dodging the questions which annoyed Ichigo.

Ichigo rubbed his neck again. "I'm fine. My neck's just sore, that's all." Ichigo looked down at the bed constructed from two couches. "Why am I sleeping in here? What's going on?"

"You were just… tired," Renji told him. "Must have been a hard day at school yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Ichigo looked at the windows which were blocked and then to his watch which read a time earlier than he arrived at the Soul Society. Unless his watch was broken or someone was pulling a prank on him, he had slept all through the night and into the next day. "I fell asleep in here?"

Renji did not answer. Ichigo couldn't understand how such a thing could have happened but, considering how dark it was in the office, he probably dozed off sometime in the late afternoon. He remembered having a conversation with Byakuya but didn't remember falling asleep. He didn't remember being tired at all.

Ichigo started to crawl to the edge of the makeshift bed but Renji protested. "I have to get home. My sisters are probably wondering where I am."

"You do this often enough, I'm sure they're used to it by now."

"Shut up, Renji. And school. Crap, I'm late." Ichigo looked at his watch again. "I'm too late. Even if I left now, I'd never make it before dismissal."

"Yes, you will."

"I'm not going to school with only an hour left, Renji! It might as well be dismissal. I still have to change and get there… Ugh! I guess I'm not going to class today. Why did you let me sleep for so long?"

"You probably needed it," said Byakuya, walking over to the bed to observe Ichigo more closely.

Up until now, Ichigo seemed like his usual self. However, as soon as he heard Byakuya's voice and looked his way, Ichigo's demeanor changed.

Ichigo sat back down as soon as he saw him, in awe of Byakuya.

Something had changed and Ichigo was well aware of that. He had never looked upon Byakuya in such a way. Since when was Byakuya so stunning? So captivating? He didn't have the words. Just a feeling that went beyond all vocabulary and emotion.

"I see that you're feeling better," said Byakuya.

Ichigo stared blankly up at him with an open mouth.

Byakuya tilted his head slightly and smiled down at him. A smile that sent a tingle throughout Ichigo's body.

Ichigo no longer wanted to go home. For some reason, he felt he was home.

His sisters didn't matter to him anymore. School became a distant memory. His friends were unimportant. All he could ever want or need was standing right before him.

"Well, if you are feeling better, then…" Byakuya started to turn and Ichigo called out to him, stretching out his hand.

"B- Byakuya, wait..!" Ichigo hesitated, reacting without thinking. He pulled back slightly and suddenly became very shy. "I, um… Uh…" He looked away, embarrassed.

Byakuya turned and stood before him with a smirk. It seemed Ichigo was now under his control as well. He could manipulate him anyway he wanted.

But right now, all he wanted was another sample of his blood.

It was by far the tastiest of anyone or anything he had fed upon up until now. He wanted more.

Even though Ichigo had only just recovered and worried he shouldn't feed upon him again so soon, Byakuya wanted more. He had to. His human blood was too good to resist.

"Ichigo."

He looked up at Byakuya with innocent eyes.

Byakuya spread his arms, welcoming him. "Come here to me."

Ichigo crawled to the edge of the bed and lifted himself up onto his knees so his head was aligned with Byakuya's chest. Byakuya pulled him in and Ichigo rested his head against Byakuya's chest, content.

He sighed blissfully into Byakuya's embrace, shutting his eyes with a smile. "This is perfect. I don't know why, but I feel like I could stay here like this forever." Being held in Byakuya's arms like this was perfection.

Suddenly, Byakuya's fangs were in Ichigo's flesh.

The teen cried out and he tried to push Byakuya away, his protests muffled by Byakuya's arms. "Byakuya, stop! Wait! Stop!"

Byakuya began to drink, squeezing Ichigo's body like a juice box to get more of the delicious nectar inside. It was so good.

Ichigo started to whine, feeling his strength leave him. It was so rapid that his vision was failing him. His fingertips felt cold. He couldn't feel his legs and the room was spinning.

"Byakuya… please stop." The vampire was too strong. "Please… stop." The room began to fade and blur. "Please…" He didn't have anything left. "… don't stop…"

He was melting into Byakuya and it felt amazing.

His senses were failing him but he didn't care. His eyelids felt warm falling over his eyes. He felt cold but Byakuya was so warm. The dizziness stopped the moment he closed his eyes. Now he just felt tired.

Then he felt nothing at all.

Byakuya dropped Ichigo who fell on the bed without a sound. Byakuya had to force himself to stop once again otherwise he would have drained Ichigo completely.

Ichigo looked so pale on the bed, but Byakuya convinced himself Ichigo would be fine, like before.

He would be fine.