Author's note: I made it to Japan! I am exhausted and struggling and all those other good things- but I bring you a new chapter on time! This chapter is the heaviest one in this entire novella tbh. Please proceed with caution and read the trigger warnings if you are sensitive to any of the topics listed below. All I have to say is- poor Byakuya :( don't forget to subscribe, review, etc. Every time one of you comments an angel gets their wings LOL.
Chapter 11 Content Warnings: homophobia, verbal assault (use of slurs), bullying, racism, sexual harassment (borderline assault, please be aware) against a minor, violence against a minor
Disclaimer: Bleach and its characters are the intellectual property of Kubo Tite. I do not own Bleach or its characters.
The young noble was pushed to his knees, marrying his clothes with the grass and mud below him. He coughed into his hands, looking with fright at the blood he had spurred up from his mouth into his hands. The blood from his battered and bruised nose trailed down from his philtrum and into his lips. The tangy taste of copper stung the back of his palate, making him hack again.
"P-Please, stop," he croaked, using his slender arms to block any more attacks from the tall caucasian boys who towered above him.
"Hey, he speaks English." A blonde boy chuckled, kicking up more sludge and flinging it onto the boy below.
Another one of the bullies grabbed Byakuya's arm, prying it aside before he snatched his chin into his grubby hands. "Why do you look like a stupid little girl? What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing." Byakuya tried to pull himself away, only to be struck again by the same hand holding him. He fell back into the dirt below, his face pressed to the ground.
"Queer. Looks like a homo. Walks like a homo. Smells like a homo," one of the boys mocked, placing a boot onto the side of Byakuya's face.
The young Japanese boy could only sniffle and choke on his fear. He awaited the impact of the other's boot on his already aching skull. In his head, he begged for his father.
"We should teach this fucker a lesson," chimed a boy from behind. "Humiliate the shit outta him. Maybe then he'll stop fucking hitting on us or something."
"Perfect." The ashy-haired boy who stood on top of him removed the boot. "I've got an idea."
The snickering teen's hands went to the zipper of his own pants. Byakuya tried to crawl away as his eyes filled with pure terror.
"Oh, calm down, fag, I ain't gonna fuck you." The boy's improper English was impossible for the Japanese boy below him to translate. With a sneer, the teen pulled his penis through his fly and began urinating on the boy below him.
Byakuya tried to flee but was held down by the other boys that came forward from the back. He screamed, cursed, and then sobbed as the stream of hot liquid soaked his clothes and face. He could only then close his eyes and hope for it to end. He dissociated from himself, imagining his mother's warm embrace from childhood. If only she were there to protect him now. His mind then wandered to the crimson-haired boy he had left behind, the one who he thought of every aching hour of every wretched day. Renji.
When the bullies were satisfied, they released him, but not before landing a final kick to his ribcage. Another one spit on him. "Stay away from us from here on out, or we'll kill you. Fucking Chinese freak."
Byakuya curled in on himself, shivering and shaking alone in the mud. He aggressively wiped his face in disgust, croaking out in absolute revulsion at the feeling he was experiencing as the dirt, blood, and piss mixed on his face. He wanted to escape his body. He wanted to disappear.
"What the hell is going on here?" One of the guards stood above the slender boy, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "You look like shit."
Byakuya opened his cracked and bloodied lips, but no words came out.
"Do you understand me?" The guard knelt down, speaking in a condescendingly slow and loud voice. "What. Happened. Here?"
The boy still couldn't manage to speak. Panic and distress were the only things he could express.
"Alright, let's go." The man above him hoisted Byakuya up, wrinkling his nose when he caught a whiff of the urine-soaked boy. "God. Let's wash you off."
Inside the dark and musty walls of the reformatory school, Byakuya was stripped down naked. They weren't allowed to take showers alone; bad things tended to happen when the delinquent boys were left alone.
The guard who had brought him inside instructed Byakuya to stand facing the wall to be washed down. He stood there, naked and vulnerable, shivering. The pressure from the hose hit his knees, almost making him collapse. The water was bitter cold.
"I-It's cold," the young boy managed, but his voice was eaten up by the loudness of the hose.
"Turn around now," the guard commanded, and Byakuya reluctantly complied.
The freezing water sprayed against his chest and front. Byakuya found his mind disappearing again. Inside his inner-self, his consciousness was quiet and controlled. He found solace in that version of himself. The version of himself with authority.
After he had been beaten by the stream of frigid water, he dressed again in the paper-thin pajamas supplied by the reformatory. He was then locked back up inside his room as per the nightly routine. Inside the empty concrete walls, the young Byakuya used his black and blue hands to write a letter. When he finished, he carefully folded the paper and placed it in a secret box he kept under his bed. The dozens of letters he kept were all marked with the same phrase on the outside, To Renji.
"I hope you have learned your lesson, Byakuya." Ginrei Kuchiki used this phrase to welcome back Byakuya to the manor a year later. "I hope spending all that time with those delinquents taught you what it means to be a noble. Or would you rather stay with them?"
"No, grandfather. I learned my lesson." The young boy was bowing on the floor at his grandfather's feet, forehead pressed into the tatami.
"Excellent." Ginrei motioned for the Kuchiki housekeepers to bring in the young boy's bags from outside. "Oh, please search Byakuya's bags before bringing them to his room. I do not wish him to keep anything dirty from that place."
Byakuya bit his lower lip, scowling into the tatami below. The housekeepers unzipped and rummaged through all his bags, throwing away most of his filthy clothes before one of their maids found them.
"Kuchiki-sama. A collection of letters. What should we do with them?" The maid bowed deeply, presenting the head of the house with a box of letters.
Byakuya's grandfather examined the box of love letters marked with the Rukongai boy's name. Then, he gazed down at his grandson, who was still bowing to the floor.
"Hand them over to me."
Byakuya's throat burned with the cries he could no longer release. He didn't dare lift his head as he heard his grandfather ruffling through the box of love letters and confessions addressed to Renji.
"Dear Renji," the head of the house began to read aloud to Byakuya's horror, "I haven't stopped thinking of you every day. You were the only one there for me after my father died. I can help but reminisce on all the summers we spent together laughing. You are the only thing giving me hope to survive this hell."
His grandfather paused then, crumpling up the letter before throwing it at his grandson. "Do you want me to send you back?"
"No, no, please." The boy groveled on the floor with terror in his voice. "Please don't. I want to be here. I will do anything to stay."
"Then I demand you burn these heinous letters." Ginrei overturned the box, letting the letters fall across the floor in front of the boy. "I will also appoint a guard to watch over you to ensure you do not step back into those disgusting slums. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, sir." Byakuya just barely managed to keep the tremble out of his tone.
Outside the manor, one of the housekeepers lit a bonfire. Byakuya gazed into the flames before him as dark thoughts danced through his brain. He didn't even want to exist anymore.
"Young lord?" One of the maids broke his train of thought. "We should hurry up, don't you think?"
"Sure," the young Kuchiki replied with a deadpan expression. He didn't flinch as he dropped the letters in his arms into the fire.
He watched as the flames quickly consumed the edges of the paper, consecutively destroying a year of his documented torture. The fire reflected in the pools of his mercury eyes, making him look sinister.
The maid watched on with a concerned frown. "Young lord, we should take you to your room to rest now."
Byakuya stared unblinkingly into the blaze, bordering on the edge of a trance. He didn't so much as breathe. He looked as if his next move might be to throw himself in after the letters.
One of the housekeepers gently grasped the young boy's arm. "There, there. Let's get you to bed."
Byakuya didn't put up a fight as he allowed himself to be dragged off to his room. He remained dissociative as the maids dressed him and prepared him for bed. Once he was tucked into the bed, one of the older housekeepers started acting strangely. She glanced around nervously before leaning in close to Byakuya.
"Young lord, take this." In her hand was one of the letters.
The pale boy perked up a bit. "Natsuko-san, where– why?"
"I hate to see you in so much pain. Please just take this." She hurriedly forced the letter into the young lord's hand.
Byakuya shook his head. "You will be fired. Exiled. Arrested."
"Then please do not make my arrest in vain. I could only manage to hide one letter. My apologies, young lord." She bowed as a plea for forgiveness.
"Please don't. It is I who should be bowing to you."
"Never, Byakuya-sama." Natsuko smiled, and her crow's feet wrinkled around the edge of her eyes. "Oh, and one more thing. Please don't give up. This house and this world need you."
Byakuya's eyes shimmered in the dim light of the bedroom. "Do they really?"
Natsuko reached out for the young boy's face, stroking his cheek gently before fixing his hair. "I remember; I was here the day you were born. You should've seen the joy on your parent's faces. They had been trying for so long to have a child. You are a miracle. Don't forget that."
A single tear broke free and slid down Byakuya's cheek before the housekeeper delicately wiped it away. "You are the one who will change this family. I am sure of it."
The dark-haired boy clutched the note close to his chest, trying to avoid more tears in the process. "Thank you."
"Hush, you should rest now."
He nodded, carefully hiding the letter underneath his pillow before settling down.
"Goodnight, Etsuko." He had noticeably dropped the formalities. The faintest inkling of a smile graced his lips.
"Goodnight, Byakuya." She quickly kissed the top of his hair before she left the room, closing the door shut gently behind her.
Etsuko was fired two weeks later.
Byakuya was able to hide the letter and keep it. He would never forget her sacrifice to save him from the depravity of his own mind.
