Silver Moonwolf Part 2: The Cage
By Spunky0ne
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(Years after the end of the war with the quincies, Byakuya and Renji's son, Kisho, disappears under mysterious circumstances. But even as he finds himself imprisoned by the Seireitei's most wicked traitor, Kisho discovers that he is not Aizen's only hostage…yaoi, mpreg…Renji/Byakuya, Grimmjow/Ichigo Kisho/Tetsuya)
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Prologue: Rain
Thick drops of rain tumbled down from the sullen sky, beginning the solemn task of washing away the splashes of blood that painted broken columns, scattered weapons, fallen bodies and even the Seireitei ground, itself. Shivering, thin columns of smoke crept upward only to face increasing pressure to dissipate and fall back to earth. On the edges of the battlefield where the quincy king laid motionless, dribbles of rain mixing with mud and blood as they swirled down his collapsed form, a heavily injured man crawled slowly along the ground.
My illusions should give me time to escape, but I must get out of the Seireitei quickly if I don't want to be recaptured.
He tried to lift himself, only to suffer a shock of nearly debilitating pain.
There is no way I will let myself be taken back to Muken. I may have worked with the shinigamis because Ywach was the greater threat, but I will not let them imprison me again!
One bleeding hand sought the cracked and broken hogyoku where a few small fragments were still fused with his torn chest.
I need to return to Las Noches where I may find the tools I need to restore it. I would simply take Inoue Orihime, but she has not returned from the royal realm.
He heard footsteps, then a youthful male voice.
"Renji!" the dark-haired shinigami called urgently, "Kurosaki-san! Hello? Can anyone hear me?"
I have barely enough power to cast another illusion.
He managed to overtake the other man's senses just in time as the young soldier reached him and looked down at him through wide, scared eyes.
"Renji!" he gasped.
"R-Rikichi," Aizen groaned in Renji's voice, "Quick, I got cut up pretty bad."
"Right!" Rikichi answered, dropping onto his knees at Aizen's side.
He extended his hands over the traitor, showing no sign that he thought anything was amiss.
"Do you know where Kurosaki Ichigo is?" Rikichi asked.
"Eh…I'm n-not sure," Aizen panted, feigning weakness and fading consciousness, "Once the blood stops here, you can go find him."
"I'll go and look for him once you're stabilized," the shinigami assured him.
He stole a wary glance at Ywach's mangled body and shuddered.
"What's the matter, kid?" Aizen asked, continuing to use Renji's voice, "He's dead. He can't hurt anyone anymore."
"Yeah," Rikichi agreed, shivering as he poured more healing energy into Aizen's gaping wounds, "maybe he can't hurt us now, but…so many of us are dead…or injured so badly."
"We'll pick up the pieces."
"Yeah, we will."
Aizen sighed in annoyance as more footsteps sounded.
I would like to have received more healing before trying to leave, but I suppose it can't be helped. This is enough.
"Are you feeling better, Renji?" Rikichi asked, looking down into his eyes.
"Ichigo!" Renji's voice called out from behind the surprised shinigami.
Rikichi's brown eyes registered confusion for a moment, but before he could call out, Aizen thrust his sword through the young man's chest, dropping him onto the ground in an explosion of blood.
"Thank you, Yuki Rikichi," Aizen said solemnly, his brown eyes glinting as he invoked his hypnotic power, "That wound shouldn't be fatal if treated soon, and in the meantime, you can take my place in the prison. I am sure that eventually, someone will realize that you are not really me, but by then, I will be long gone."
The traitor dragged himself to his feet and fled moments before Renji and Uryuu appeared in the distance.
"Hey," Uryuu shouted, "there's someone over there!"
The two men hurried to where Rikichi laid, unconscious and bleeding profusely.
"Damn," Renji snapped, kneeling at his subordinate's side, "it's him. It's Aizen."
He glanced at Uryuu.
"Hard to believe he got so fucked up and that orb isn't healing him like it was before."
"Yeah," Uryuu agreed, "that is strange. Look, something shattered the hogyoku. He's not protected by it anymore. Still, he's too dangerous. We need to be sure he's not able to trick us with his illusions."
"We need to heal him enough so he won't die first," Renji said, shaking his head, "You're better at healing than I am. Can you help him at all?"
"I'd kinda rather kill the guy after all he did to us," Uryuu complained.
"Me too," Renji agreed, "but…he did take a blow for me that would've killed me for sure…though I know it was for his own reasons. Anyway, can you help him?"
"Yeah, I can help him," the quincy said reassuringly, "but…did you notice, Renji?"
"Huh?" the redhead mused, studying the injured shinigami in front of them more closely.
"These wounds…they are fresh. Very fresh. I'd say we just missed seeing his attacker."
Renji's frown deepened.
"Quincies trying to escape the area?" he inquired.
Uryuu shook his head firmly.
"No quincy made this wound. This man's attacker…was a shinigami."
"Huh," Renji mused, "looks like someone not as nice as we are tried to give the bastard the death he deserves, but it's not gonna happen on my watch."
As Uryuu began the healing, Renji knelt beside him to assist.
"Aizen Sousuke, you son of a bitch, you are goin' back to Muken, where you belong!"
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(9 years later)
Renji slipped out of his shihakusho and stepped into the closet where he picked out a handsome burgundy yukata and returned to the dressing area to put it on. He had barely begun, when he heard a warm, chiding male voice that managed to somehow sound polite and respectful, even while scolding him.
"Renji-sama, you know you are supposed to let me dress you when you come home!"
Renji chuckled and handed the yukata to his piqued attendant.
"Sorry Torio, I thought you'd be busy with the master of the house," he answered, trying not to fidget as the other man's hands wrangled the clothing onto his lanky body, "Where is Byakuya anyway?"
"He is relaxing on the walkway, outside the garden doors," the attendant reported, "He enjoys watching the rain fall."
"Right. When it rains, he can't go out moongazing," the redhead concluded, "but the rain does sound soothing when it falls."
Torio glanced in the direction of the garden, his eyes softening.
"Byakuya-sama said to me once after his return from the desert that he craves the sound of the rain because when he hears it and feels its touch on his face, he knows for sure that he is home."
"Right," Renji agreed, his expression darkening at the reminder of his husband's abduction and long imprisonment in Aizen's fortress.
Noting the change in his mood, Torio backpedaled swiftly.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Renji-sama! I didn't mean to…!"
"Take it easy," Renji reassured the anxious attendant, "Don't worry about it. We're here at home, safe and sound…and that miserable bastard is locked up in Muken, wasting away there, paying for his crimes."
"It is a relief to know that he is gone, and that Byakuya-sama and young Kisho-sama and Emiko-chan are safe," Torio said gratefully.
"Yeah, I sleep a lot better, knowing that freak isn't coming back out of there. We had to work together to put Ywach down, but even that will never make up for half of what Aizen did, not just to everyone in the Gotei 13, but to Byakuya, Kisho and me especially."
"Well, we would not have gotten Byakuya-sama and the children back if not for you and Rukia-chan," Torio said, smiling warmly, "Not only did you bring our master back from the desert, you brought him back when he was so lost in the aftermath as well."
Renji sighed and stepped back slightly as Torio finished tying the belt at his waist.
"Yeah, he did come back, but I think there's always gonna be a part of him that will be a little bit broken because of what Aizen put him through. I'm just glad the bastard is where he can't get at us again. I can't believe we had to take the chance of him escaping, relying on him like that in the war. I guess we needed the extra power, but things coulda gone so wrong."
"Let's just be glad they didn't," Torio sighed, bowing as he finished his task, "Have a good evening, Renji-sama."
"You too," the redhead answered, taking his leave and heading out into the gardens, where Byakuya knelt at the edge of the walkway, dressed in a lovely navy yukata that was decorated with a spray of pink cherry blossoms over the left shoulder and across the back.
Renji sat down beside him and his cinnamon-colored eyes followed his husband's quiet gaze out into the darkness.
"Hey, how was your day?" the redhead asked, offering Byakuya a tender kiss on the cheek before sinking into his smiling mouth for a longer, more passionate exchange, "I heard you ran into some pretty tough hollows today."
Byakuya turned a smoky eye on his lover and let out a soft, dismissive breath.
"I did not even break a sweat."
Byakuya's dark eyes blinked slowly.
"You don't need to worry about me, Renji."
"Hey, I always worry about you," the redhead countered, slipping a hand into his, "That's my job…if not as your lieutenant, then as your husband."
"You shouldn't still be my lieutenant," Byakuya chided him, leaning into his warm, muscular shoulder, "You earned your haori, Renji."
"Yeah well, I also went renegade and broke pretty much all of the Gotei's rules, trying to get you back from Aizen. I think they went easy on me, just reducing my rank and putting us back where we were. We make a great team."
"We do," Byakuya agreed, resting his head against Renji as the redhead kissed his forehead.
The two were silent for a moment, looking out at the sky a lightning flashed in the distance and the rain began to come down harder.
"Renji, I've been thinking about something."
"Hmm?"
"I want us to have another child."
Renji's breath caught and he turned his head to meet his lover's calm, serious eyes. Byakuya gave him a questioning look and the redhead smiled.
"You don't think Kisho and Emiko are enough trouble?" he chuckled, "Not saying I don't want more kids too. I'd love'em. I just…wanna be sure that's what you want, you know?"
Byakuya nodded, returning his smile.
"It is what I want," he assured Renji, "Kisho was a surprise, though we did get to share the time up to his birth. Still, Aizen stole much of the childhood he would have had with us. And when I became pregnant with Emiko, he used that beastly machine to shorten my gestation, so we could not enjoy the anticipation of her birth as we normally would have. The last nine years have been quiet and peaceful. The elders are supportive of Kisho and will soon officially name him heir, now that he is of age. Emiko has proven more than capable in her training and plans to seek a place in the military soon."
Renji arched an eyebrow in surprise.
"She told you that?" he asked, frowning, "When I ask, she doesn't tell me a damned thing. Why does she always feel fine talking to you about this stuff?"
Byakuya gave him a patient smile.
"Perhaps because she knew you would balk at her choice of a division," he suggested.
The redhead rolled his eyes and groaned.
"Really?" he complained, "She wants to go to the fourth, right?"
"She is a talented healer."
"Yeah, and she could beat up every one of those little wimps without drawing her sword," Renji argued, "Do you know how many hours we've all spent working on fighting skills with her?"
"I do," Byakua answered, smirking, "and those skills will serve her well out on the battlefield. I think we know from the quincy war, if we did not already know. Even healers can be attacked when doing their work in dangerous areas. There is no reason to think that Emiko's training was a waste. Think of it as assurance that she can take care of herself."
"Huh," Renji huffed, "This from the guy who held Rukia back to protect her."
"I have learned from that mistake," Byakuya said firmly, "I think we should support Emiko in her decision."
"So, she's gonna be off to her division and Kisho's gonna be joining ours. You feeling like the nest is going to be empty and you don't like that?" the redhead teased.
Byakuya's dark eyes narrowed warningly and Renji laughed and took him off his guard by sweeping him into strong, welcoming arms.
"I was kidding," he snickered, "If you want more kids, let's go make'em now!"
"I did not mean we had to…"
"Hey," Renji laughed as he carried his flustered partner into their bedroom and laid him down on the bed, "you don't get to tease me with promises of sex and making babies together, then say we should wait for later. We're making another kid right now."
"Ah," Byakuya sighed, relaxing under the redhead's hands as Renji slowly undressed him, "well if you are so determined."
"You should know by now that determination is what I'm all about," Renji said, settling between his husband's soft, milky thighs.
"That hadn't escaped my notice."
Renji's hot mouth latched onto his and the redhead's feisty tongue thrust inside to stroke and caress every inch as he slid dampened fingers down to begin a slow preparation. Byakuya's hips tilted to meet the penetrating digits and he groaned contentedly as they sank inside him, thrusting and stretching, then pushing in deeply, seeking the sensitive nerves farther down.
"Renji!"
The redhead's grinning mouth broke away to lavish biting kisses along the side of his partner's pale throat, then he nibbled his way along a fine collar bone.
"You're so fuckin' beautiful! I'll have a million babies with you," Renji promised.
"J-just one more will be s-sufficient," Byakuya laughed.
The sound of his husband laughing seemed to light a fire in Renji's handsome, amorous eyes and he slid his fingers out of the Kuchiki leader's bottom, then shifted and brought the head of his thick erection to Byakuya's slicked entrance. He pushed in slowly, watching the eruption of desire and sexual need play out over his partner's usually stoic features. The sight made him abandon caution and he began thrusting, hard and fast as Byakuya's bottom rose and his lover's voice rose in louder, heated moans. The sound only increased the redhead's ardor until he was tearing at the bedding, drowning them both in rapturous kisses and pounding so hard into Byakuya's strong body that he felt as though they were both going to break. Red reiatsu roared around them and was swiftly met with the pink fire of his husband's power.
This…is heaven, Renji mused as their pleasure peaked and he released in long, scathing spurts into Byakuya's writhing body, When we're like this…
…I can almost forget how close we came to losing it all…
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Grimmjow made a sound of discontent as he picked up a flutter of reiatsu that seemed to drift in from the direction of the ruins of Las Noches. He turned ice blue eyes on the ragged tower in the distance, extending his senses.
I wonder if someone moved in there. Not that it hasn't been picked over and everything of value removed.
Although…maybe the locked recesses in the officers' section haven't been breached. Aizen and that snake, Gin, put some horrific traps on them. There's also the bastard's secret bathing room if it hasn't been destroyed.
I'd kinda like a warm bath…or even a cold one.
He employed his sonido, swiftly crossing the dark, quiet sands. He slowed as he closed in on the abandoned fortress, scowling at the memories that came with being near that place again.
Aizen kept the area lit with his illusions, but that illusion faded when he was defeated. Now, Las Noches is mostly just bare bones sticking up out of the sand in the darkness. I do miss the conveniences, but Aizen's war and the war with the quincies seems to have broken the backs of any real leaders here. Harribel governs, though I don't know why. Hueco Mundo is just a dead place for dead things.
Maybe I should take Urahara up on his offer to work in the living world. I'm tired of this shitty place. I can go to the ruins and see about cleaning up there, and looking for something useful to give to him.
An image popped into the former Espada's mind of a certain ginger-haired shinigami who he was also likely to encounter on any foray to Kisuke's shop.
He still hasn't given me the fight I wanted.
Grimmjow paused as he reached the fortress courtyard and he peered into the darkness, listening carefully before proceeding.
It sounds and feels empty.
Even so, the former Sexta Espada kept to the shadows as he made his entrance. Nothing moved as he passed through the entry and corridor, stepping over and around piles of debris and stark, white bones that laid everywhere. He paused at the shattered doors leading into the throne room, peeking in and baring his teeth at the sight of the cracked and broken marble floor. The great white throne had been blasted apart, as reviled as the wicked man who had rested on it. Nothing in the room was worth saving, so Grimmjow turned his back and walked away.
He moved on to an ascending stairway passing by the abandoned security check point at the top. The doors to the large suites that the highly ranked Espadas had inhabited had all been torn off the hinges and the contents of the rooms plundered. Aizen and Gin's rooms had been likewise assaulted, but the presence of numerous bloodied corpses in the two rooms indicated that there might be some hope that the hidden rooms further in might be untouched. He didn't dare try to disarm the traps himself, but knew well what Kisuke would pay for the information, so he carefully studied and recorded information about the traps to use in their negotiations.
Noting the time when he was done, he shoved the notes and drawings into his clothing and headed out of the officers' suites. He descended the stairs and found the smaller entrance that led to a hidden alcove. Smirking, Grimmjow entered the code for Aizen's private bath, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that, not only had the lovely atrium bath not been plundered, it seemed to be in full working order.
If the rest of Las Noches was dead, this room couldn't have looked more alive, still lit with false sunlight and awash in bright colors. Green grass and perfectly maintained flower beds lined stone walkways that led to several soaking pools and two large waterfalls that the fallen king had used as showers.
Damn, I should have come here sooner!
He took a step towards the pools, forgetting for a moment that there still might be a need for caution, but nothing could have prepared the former Espada for what he heard next, emanating from somewhere behind him.
"Hello Grimmjow."
The blue-haired hollow's breath caught and he spun around, his heart pounding and his blue eyes rounding. To his surprise, he appeared to still be alone in the room.
An old illusion meant to scare intruders?
But…I heard my name.
Spooked, he headed for the door.
He had nearly reached it when some kind of sharp weapon impaled him from behind. Reflexes honed from years of struggling to survive, kicked in and he slid off the end of his unseen attacker's blade and opened a garganta.
"Now, you know you're not going to get very far," Aizen's voice chided him.
But he ran anyway, staggering wildly, forcing his failing body to burn whatever was left on sonido.
I have to get to Urahara!
I wonder if anyone knows.
He crashed to the ground, time and again, and he knew very well what would happen if he didn't reach the exit point before he lost consciousness. His mind dizzy from loss of blood, he couldn't be sure he was even moving in the right direction of that the exit point he threw himself into was the right one. He crashed down onto sand, wondering briefly if he had gotten turned around and was right back in Hueco Mundo. But as he finally began to pass out, the voice that reached him brought an instant smile to his blood drenched lips.
"Grimmjow! What the hell happened to you!"
His ice blue eyes looked into Ichigo's golden brown ones for a moment and he struggled to make his voice work.
"K-Kuro…saki…"
"Hang on! Tessai's gonna bring Orihime. You'll be okay."
"H-hah…you still…owe me that fight."
"What're you…?" Ichigo began, watching in horror as the former Espada twitched and went limp in his arms, "Grimmjow! Hey…wake up! Grimmjow!"
