Chapter 17: Open Pathway
"You know, you have some serious explaining to do!" exclaimed Renji as he and Byakuya entered the noble's bedroom through the open garden doors, "What in kami's name was that? Because, I don't know about you, but to me, it looked like someone around here had regained his core power! You wanna tell me just when the hell that happened?"
Byakuya opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again as Kiyoshi, Tsuneo and Kisuke joined them in the room, closing the doors behind them, Kisuke setting a privacy shield in place around them. Byakuya's face registered a blend of gratitude and deep torment as he stepped forward and captured Kiyoshi's comely face in both hands, and gazed into his cousin's very proud blue eyes.
"Kiyoshi," he breathed, shaking his head slightly in disbelief, "That you would take such a risk...that you would..."
"I insisted," the younger man said, meeting Byakuya's widened eyes with resolve, "because we all know that the key to beating him is in having, not just the power to overcome Tenrai Keibatsu, but to have time to build up to the effective use of that power. What I did was necessary if we are to overcome Tsuyoshi."
"Whoa! Hold on!" exclaimed Renji, "What did he do?"
"Something very reckless," Byakuya said, embracing his younger cousin warmly, "But something that will enable me to battle my cousin for leadership of the clan."
"Kiyoshi had me remove his core power and fuse it with Byakuya's powerless body. Both processes are very risky, but the procedures were successful, and Byakuya now has Kiyoshi's rather impressive base power. And more than that, he can build on it through training so that it reaches his own level of output...basically meaning that, with training, we can fully restore him," explained Kisuke.
"You can do that?" Renji asked in a stunned voice, "But what about the kid? What happens to Kiyoshi?"
"Well," said Byakuya, pulling away from Kiyoshi slightly and looking down into his cousin's bright blue eyes, "assuming that I am successful in defeating Tsuyoshi and taking back Tenrai Keibatsu, I will be able to restore my cousin's powers, using one of that blade's abilitites. You see, in addition to being able to consume a shinigami's powers, Tenrai Keibatsu can also restore them."
"But first you have to win that battle."
"He will," Kiyoshi said firmly, "I know he will!"
"You've been without power for ten years, Byakuya," Kisuke added, "It was a shock to your body just to power up and run reiatsu through your spirit centers. Being able to channel combat level power is going to take some time and training."
"I wish that I could help you more, watashi no itoko," Kiyoshi went on, giving his cousin a tremulous smile, "but you have Renji, Ichigo...so many others who can..."
He broke off, shaking with emotion as Byakuya's arms embraced him more tightly.
"You are going to have to be very careful that Tsuyoshi does not learn what you did to help me...although, I am sure that he suspects already that someone must have yielded their core power to restore mine."
"I am going to watch over your cousin," Tsuneo assured the noble, "I will not let anything happen to him."
"Thank you," Byakuya said gratefully.
"Kiyoshi has the mod soul that I gave him to throw Tsuyoshi off," said Kisuke, "It will work as long as the guy doesn't get too close to you, where he'll be able to sense that something's not right."
"I promise, I will stay clear of our cousin," Kiyoshi promised.
"Now that the wedding is over," Kisuke went on, "Kiyoshi and Tsuneo are going back to Karakura Town with me, while you and Renji can start making trips to the living world to train in my underground training area, where Tsuyoshi won't be able to poke around and spy on you. Just...realize that we're going to be moving in baby steps here because if we put too much power through your body while you're adjusting and we run the risk of frying your spirit centers and making you lose your powers for good! We want to avoid that, so we'll do this slowly."
He glanced at Kiyoshi, who was still in Byakuya's protective embrace.
"We should go quickly now and leave from in here while your evil cousin is still preoccupied. We don't want to give him any reason to suspect what we've done, although he probably does anyway."
"That being the case," said Tsuneo, "wouldn't it be better for Kiyoshi to be somewhere away from Byakuya? The closer he is to his cousin, the more likely it is that Tsuyoshi will realize he is without powers."
"But away from us, he would be a sitting duck if he's found."
"But he is in much the same situation as Byakuya was before, ne?" queried Tsuneo, "His reiatsu is so low that he won't be detectable by his enemies."
"Are you suggesting that he should return to Inuzuri with you?" asked Byakuya, "Tsuyoshi already knows that you live there. He could easily find you."
"I wouldn't be taking him to Inuzuri," said the vendor, "I have a friend who owns a vacation home in the mid-Rukongai. It is set in a small valley, a rural area outside of town that would be safe enough. I was planning to take Kiko there. I could take Ronin there as well."
"No," Kisuke said, shaking his head, "You, Kiko and Kiyoshi might be able to hide out there safely, but Ronin is too easily detectable. And Tsuyoshi will definitely notice if he drops out of sight."
"I don't know that I'd be comfortable with them being out there all alone."
"But if we take other stronger shinigamis for protection, then they may reveal us to the enemy," said Kiyoshi, "I think that Tsuneo is right. We will be nearly undetectable and not in a place that Tsuyoshi would look for us. I should go with him to the Rukongai. There, I will be safe enough and not get in the way or burden you with having to look after me."
"Kiyoshi," Byakuya said reprovingly, "You are not burdening anyone! What you have done for me..."
"Was necessary," Kiyoshi finished, "Byakuya, you need to focus all of your attention on your training. And Tsuyoshi's eyes will be on you and everyone around you. You cannot divide your energies, worrying about keeping me out of trouble. I will be fine with Tsuneo. He does not have strong powers, but he uses what power he has very effectively, and he is very intelligent. He was able to help me to escape Tsuyoshi once already. I trust him, and you should trust him too."
Byakuya sighed and lowered his eyes, his expression troubled.
"It is...difficult to know what to do," he admitted, "I know that what you are saying is true, however, I fear for your safety."
Tsuneo stepped forward and met Byakuya's eyes meaningfully. Beside the noble, Renji's eyes narrowed and his lips tightened, but he said nothing.
"Byakuya, you and I have been friends for ten years. You trusted me all of that time, and I ask you to entrust this to me now. I give you my word, no harm will come to Kiyoshi while he is in my care. I will protect him as though he was my own family. I will not let you down."
Byakuya bit his lip gently, looking from his cousin's pale face to Tsuneo's determined one and back again. He glanced at Renji, flinching inwardly at the barely contained aggressiveness in his lover's red-brown eyes.
It is difficult for Renji to submerge his emotions about what happened between Tsuneo and me.
Perhaps...
Perhaps it is not just better for Kiyoshi to be away from us, where he will be protected from detection. It seems that it is also better not to have Renji constantly reminded of what happened before.
But if anything happens to them...
"Byakuya," said Kiyoshi, "I am content to entrust myself to Tsuneo. He has proven to be both loyal and resourceful. Let him do this. You need to focus on preparing for your battle with our cousin. This will be one less thing for you to worry about. I will be fine. I promise you, I will be."
Byakuya sighed softly in resignation and closed his eyes.
"Go on, then, Cousin. Just...be safe. Contact us immediately if you encounter any trouble."
Byakuya started to open a family senkaimon, then stopped himself.
"That is right," he said solemnly, "I am no longer clan leader. Tsuyoshi will know if you use our senkaimon."
"That's okay," Kisuke said, nodding, "I've got it. We'll use the Shihoin senkaimon. That's one family that will have no reason to share the information with your bastard cousin."
"You've got a point there," chuckled Renji, "Even when Byakuya was leader, the Kuchiki clan never got along so well with the Shihoin clan, ne?"
"No," sighed Byakuya, a soft jolt of nostalgia passing through him at the memory, "Still, although extremely annoying at times, they can be considered an ally."
"Good thing for us, eh?" laughed Kisuke, "All right, let's get these guys out of here and on their way."
"I will just need to collect Kiko," said Tsuneo, stepping outside.
He caught sight of his daughter talking and laughing with Ronin and two of Byakuya's attendants.
"Kiko?" he called, "Come here."
The girl gave a hasty farewell to her new friends and ran back to her father as Byakuya stepped out onto the walkway.
"Torio, Koji?" he called.
The two attendants flash stepped to him.
"Sir?" they answered, bowing.
"Come," he beckoned them.
They followed him into the room.
"I want the two of you to accompany our cousin and Tsuneo to the Rukongai. You are to protect them and to alert me immediately if there is any trouble. You are both able to mask your spiritual energy well enough to avoid detection."
"Yes, Master Byakuya," the two attendants said, bowing again.
"This will keep the two of you from being harmed as well," Byakuya said approvingly.
"But what about Akio?" asked Torio, "I don't want to leave him where Lord Tsuyoshi can hurt him.
"Akio will attend Ronin and me," Byakuya assured the attendant, "We will protect your younger brother. Do not worry."
"Thank you, Master Byakuya," Torio said gratefully, "That is a great weight off of our minds."
"I know that Tsuyoshi has been unbearably cruel to the three of you," acknowledged Byakuya, "And I will make sure that it does not happen again."
He and Renji stood, quietly watching as Kisuke opened the Shihoin senkaimon and let the five pass through. A shiver went through his body as the doorway closed between them. Renji registered his worried expression and slipped an arm around the noble.
"They're going to be okay," he said, reassuringly, "Tsuyoshi won't have any idea where to look for them. And they have your cousins to look after them. That means that Torio and Koji are safe too."
"Yes," Byakuya agreed hesitantly, "You are right."
Kisuke looked from the anxious noble to the red haired captain standing next to him.
"Well," he said, smiling, "I think it's time to leave the newlyweds to their wedding night. I will take Ronin and Akio with me to Karakura Town and I'll see you there in the morning. Get some good sleep after the...eh...festivities. You're going to need the energy!"
"Get outta here, will you?" laughed Renji, "I want to be alone with my new husband!"
Byakuya and Renji watched as the shopkeeper departed, and they were left alone in the bedroom.
Byakuya stood silently, his dark eyes distant and his mind replaying the past ten years. Renji read his expression and turned to meet him for a kiss of greeting.
"Hey, don't get lost in your head, okay? They're going to be all right. And so are you."
"How can you be so sure?" the noble asked, "You do realize what we are up against? Tsuyoshi's power would be a challenge if I had not lost my own. And I have so little time to bring myself up to that level..."
"Don't think about that right now," Renji said, kissing him until he went silent again, "It's our wedding night tonight. All I want to think about is lying down with you and making it official. You and I have waited a really long time for this."
"You are right," Byakuya whispered back, returning his kisses with rising passion, "I will not ruin the joy of this by worrying. I am...so grateful that we have this second chance, Renji. And I will do everything I can to make up for what happened before."
"What?" asked Renji, looking surprised, "What are you talking about? Byakuya, you didn't do anything wrong."
"I trusted the wrong person and we both paid dearly for that."
"No, you trusted someone to whom you had given years of brotherly love and camaraderie, and he spit in your face for that. Tsuyoshi is an ungrateful bastard who is going to be put in his place real soon. And you and I are going to have a lot of years to wrap ourselves up in each other and make all of this disappear into the past, okay?"
Byakuya nodded silently as Renji sought his mouth again for another bout of heavy, penetrating kisses.
"Kami, I've missed you so much!"
"But you had Shuuhei to fill that space," Byakuya said softly, "You had Ichigo and the others, ne?"
"Yeah, I did," Renji agreed, "And I was lucky to have them. But the thing with Shuuhei was over before it really began. There just couldn't be anyone for me, but you. And even though I thought you were gone, I couldn't stand being with someone else. It felt too wrong."
They went quiet for a time, walking to the bed, still exchanging kisses and slowly undressing each other. Renji wrapped his arms around the noble and kissed him again, then brought him gently down onto his back on the bed. To Byakuya's surprise, the redhead remained standing by the bed, gazing down at him with an expression that brought a flush to his pale flesh.
"Renji...?"
"I'm just looking at the most beautiful thing in the world," Renji whispered, "The most beautiful shinigami in Soul Society just married me and is having my baby. It doesn't get any better than that."
Byakuya stared back at him in silence, not knowing what to say in answer.
"I love you," Renji said, climbing onto the bed and coaxing the noble into his arms, "I love you with everything in me, and I'm never letting you get away from me again."
"And I will never leave you again," Byakuya promised, finally finding his voice again, "I love you too. And now that we are married, we are going to have everything that we were denied for all of those years."
Their words disappeared into a barrage of hard, desperate kisses. Renji's impatient hands prepared the noble hastily, and Byakuya's hands clenched, a sound of pain escaping him as their bodies roughly joined.
We are one in every way now, Byakuya mused, closing his eyes and letting his body move with the one atop it, And I will never be alone and powerless again. I never thought that I would be in this place again, with this man, and knowing such happiness. Whatever happens in that battle, we have this moment, these hours and these days. And because we are wiser, we will not waste another moment.
The caresses of the redhead's warm, rough hands, the taste of his kisses and the beautiful masculine scent of his body raked over Byakuya's senses, leaving him nearly in tears. He turned his head aside so that Renji wouldn't see, then caught his breath in surprise as a hand captured his face and the redhead's fingers brushed the tears away.
"You don't have to hide anything from me and you never have to apologize."
A shock went through him as he spotted tears on Renji's face too. He reached up with curious fingertips, capturing one and gazing at it for a moment, before falling into another haze of kisses.
I used to think that tears were a sign of weakness. But I am much wiser now. These tears we let fall onto each other are the surest sign of our love, that, despite everything, has found a way to survive.
Byakuya moaned feverishly as Renji's body began to move again, and his own met the redhead's, eagerly. Pleasure rose up like a roaring wave and seemed to swallow them whole, before throwing them back down again in a gasping, panting heap in each other's arms.
Nothing...
Nothing and no one will ever tear me from Renji Abarai's arms again!