Chapter 1
He awoke slowly from a nightmare. One drenched in the color red and the never ending scene of him killing his friends. His dad. His sweet little sisters.
Covered in a slight sheen of sweat, he eased his way upright. There was no way that he was going to sleep now. Not when his nightmare bled into reality. His hands brushing against the soft cover of the futon. And his body screamed in protest to any sudden movement he made. It was still dark. He couldn't see. A cool breeze flowed through the room from an unseen source. Reaching his hand upward towards his eyes, he felt bandages that covered his eyes.
Flexing his hand, he panicked because Zangetsu was not in his hand. Flinging his hands out, he made contact with the smooth wooden floor. It wasn't there. His panic to have his blade away from him overruled his pain as he scrambled to his feet. Stumbling and swaying as he lurched around the room with his hands outstretched feeling for Zangetsu. As he swung his left hand away from himself, the back of his hand made contact with the blade.
Freezing in place, he searched for the hilt of the sealed blade. It was leaning against the nearby wall. Two voices rose to the front of his mind. Zangetsu. He was relieved to hear them. Releasing a grateful sigh, the pain returned full blast. The last of the fear and adrenaline fading away. He swayed but remained standing. He slipped Zangetsu back on his back. Both spirits were in a panic as they felt his pain.
Shiro urged him to keep moving and that they needed to get out of there. That was so he could heal his king with his regeneration powers without arousing suspicion from the people here. Old Man told him to go too. To leave this place because we don't know who is here. Who could be a potential enemy. But they told him repeatedly that they were there for him. Always there.
Reassured from his spirits, he combed through the room to find the door. Finally finding it, he quietly slipped the sliding door open, expecting someone to notice him. It was dead quiet. All he could hear was crickets and the voices of his zanpaktou. It must have been night time.
They urged him to move cautiously. Stepping out of the room he, quietly closed the door again. He moved to the right with his hand brushing lightly against the nearest wall. His bare feet softly tapping against the wood. The pain becoming only a dull painful ache all over. He allowed his thoughts to wander.
Thinking about where he should go once he got away, his hip unexpectedly slammed into the sharp corner of a hallway table. Bursts of pain shot down his leg and up his side. Giving a gasp in surprise and pain, he lurched around the table, knocking off a porcelain vase in the process. His legs gave out from underneath him, and he leaned heavily against the table to prevent from falling.
Shouting was heard behind him, muffled because of the walls. Roused by the sound of shattering porcelain. They were probably house occupants or guards. This was going to be harder than he thought. His spirits urged him to keep moving. Trying to take a step forward, his feet slipped in the puddle of vase water, sending him crashing onto the floor. Flowers, water and shards in every direction. His hands being cut open on the sharp porcelain shards of glass. Struggling to lift himself off the floor, he slipped again in his haste as he heard voices coming closer. Dazed from his forehead hitting the floor, he waited for the dizziness to pass. Zangetsu begging him to calm down, he tried again, and was able to get upright, cutting open the soles of his feet .
Grimacing from pain that wracked his body, he leaned against the wall for support as he trudged farther and farther away from the voices. Moving around the corner, he felt the handle of another sliding door. Grasping the handle and just opening the door wide enough to slip through, he closed it again. Panting softly from the exertion in his battered body, the cry of a child broke the quietness of the ever dark room.
Snapping his head to look in the direction of the cry, he moved toward the child.
"Stop right there! Don't you dare come any closer!" A young male voice cut through the cries of the other child. Raising his hands in a placating gesture, blood fell from the cuts on his hands onto the floor. The boy in front of him gave a gasp of surprise and horror. Finding his voice, the boy shouted again. "Murderer! Have you come to murder us!? My father!? "
He froze at that first word. The word rang over and over in his head. Memories surged for like an unending tide. Zangetsu struggled to stop the torrent of memories. Hiding his head in his hands, he stumbled backwards and hit the wall. It was all too much to handle for him. A sob tore free from his chest. Shiro took over and caused him to blackout. His body crumpling to the floor at the foot of the wall.
He awoke to the cry of his little sister. Something was wrong. Snatching the knife stored underneath his pillow, he stealthily slipped out of the futon, only to come nearly face to face with a tall stranger in his room. It was too dark to see his face clearly, but enough moonlight shone through a crack in a sliding door, that lead into his favorite part of the gardens, to illuminate the male from the shoulders down. Back peddling, he braced himself in front of the door that connected his room to his little sister's. The intruder took a step step towards them. His big brother instincts kicked in and he shouted in his most commanding voice.
"Stop right there! Don't you dare come any closer!" He noticed the large blade strapped to the intruder's back, then watched as his hands came up in a peaceful gesture. The sight that greeted him was not one that he could forget easily. Blood dripped from the intruder's hands and onto the wood floor. Rage overcame him. "Murderer! Have you come to murder us!? My father!?" The intruder froze then began shaking and hid his face in his bloodied palms. The male stumbled backwards until he hit the sand-colored wall of the room. He let out a soft sob. Once there he stood there for a moment, then crumpled to the floor as if someone had cut the strings to a puppet. Staying firmly where he was with the intruder in his sights, he called for the guards. The heavy thundering of running feet on the wooden floor could be hisr outside his room
His father burst into his room into a panic, and froze at what he saw.
He was worried. No, he was terrified. He had seen the knocked over vase. The blood that mixed in with it. Bloodied foot and handprints stained the floor and wall, leading away from the scene. A trail of blood that led closer and closer to his children's rooms. He had started going faster and faster, following the obvious trail of the intruder.
What he heard intensified his terror. His daughter crying and his son calling for the guards. Shunpoing ahead of the guards following him, he wrenched open the door of his son's room
He froze at the scene in his only son's room. The intruder that happened to raise the alarm was the boy he had saved just the night before. He was lying deathly still on the floor by the wall near the door. His son standing by the door connecting the rooms of his two children, held a knife in his hand. A knife that glinted in the moonlight that filtered in through the door to the gardens.
"Get the clan healer." He ordered one of the guards. Rushing over to his son, he removed the knife from his white knuckled grip, and embraced him. "Shin, are you okay?" He started to look his son over for any injury. "Were you hurt?" Shin shook his head. He sighed mentally in relief.
"No father, I was only startled. Who is that man?" Shin asked as he tried to get a peek over his father's shoulder. The pieces fell in place as the whole picture formed what had happened. He pulled away from his son, and looked him straight in the eye.
"I'm not going to lie to you Shin. That boy over there," He gestured to the figure on the floor surrounded by guards, the head doctor and his assistants, "was severely hurt, and left for dead on the estate. I could not in good consciousness leave him there to die. He was probably scared of you, as you were of him."
"But what about all of the blood on his hands. He must have killed someone." He gave a sad smile at his son's distrustfulness and shook his head. He could see how his son might have thought that way.
"That was his own blood. He had accidently knocked over a vase that was on a table in the hallway, slipped and cut himself on the shards." Shin looked ashamed that he had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
"I'm sorry father." He chuckled at his son and ruffled his dark black hair. Shin scowled and swatted his father's hand away childishly and attempted to fix his mop of hair.
"There is nothing for you to be sorry about. It is me who should be sorry, for not telling you about our guest." He held out his hand to his son. "Now, why don't we all sleep in my room tonight? Are you okay with that?" Shin nodded his head and grasped his father's large hand. His hand still quivering in fear and adrenaline. Opening the door to his daughter's room, he spotted her with the servant that cared for her during the day. A young girl, that had recently replaced her deceased mother. She gave a bow to him. Her brown hair also out of place as she had hurried to care for his daughter. His daughter quietly sleeping in her arms.
"Thank you Ran, I can take Kameko from you. She will sleep with me tonight." Giving him a nod of assent, she lightly walked over and placed the toddler in his arms. Kameko stirred in her sleep, but did not wake up. Ran bowed again.
"Please do not hesitate to call me if there is something that you need, my Lord." He awkwardly bowed to her. How she bowed with his daughter in her arms was beyond him. Must be a girl thing.
"Thank you Ran. You may go back to sleep." She nodded and left the room. Turning back to Shin's room, he saw that the boy had been put on a stretcher. Placing Kameko in Shin's arms, he looked at his son.
"Take Kameko and go to my room. I will be there shortly after I am assured that our guest is well taken cared for." Shin nodded and left the room. Walking closer, he could see that the boy was terribly pale. Streaks of blood adorned his hair and face from his bloodied hands. How that had happened was a mystery. Many of his bandages were stained with red. Including the ones he had just received tonight. The clan doctor look at him with a deadly seriousness in his eyes.
"My Lord, this boy will not make it if you do not call for the fourth division captain. He will be able to fix these wounds better than I." He frowned. That was not a good thing to be hearing from a clan healer.
"I don't like that man." The doctor looked at him desperately. His gray hair tousled from being awoken in the middle of the night and red bloodshot eyes.
"My Lord, I know how you feel, but this young man needs medical attention. Proper medical attention." He sighed and gave in. This boy needed it, and he couldn't just leave him. Another look at his pale face renewed what he thought that was right.
"Very well. Send for Captain Kirinji." The doctor nodded and ordered a nearby guard to bring one of the clan's own hell butterflies. Ordering for the boy to be moved back to his guest room, the guards snapped to attention and marched to the room. Following, he watched by the door as the doctor settled the boy back down on the futon with the help of his assistants. The boy's face twitched at the slight discomfort of his hurt body being moved. One of the assistants covered him with the red futon cover. Another had brought back a warm bowl of water and some rags, and began gently removing the drying blood from his hair and face. The clan healer nodded his approval.
He dismissed the guards that stood on ceremony in the four corners of the room and two more standing outside on either side of the open sliding door. Now it was just him, the clan healer and his assistants and the boy he had taken in. Giving a great deep sigh, he thought how much trouble he was going to be in with Kirinji. The man was a friend of his and he would be very angry that he did not call immediately for his help. He could already feel the pain from the kick that he was bound to give him. He was old enough to deal with problems by himself and not be babied. He was a clan leader for kami-sama's sake. This led his thoughts on the age of the injured boy in the room. Looking at him, he couldn't be more than 18 years old, but he could be wrong. Souls aged a lot more slowly than those in the Human World. He could easily be as old as himself.
The healer approached him. His hands gripped tightly in front of him as he looked stubbornly at him.
"My Lord, you need to get some rest. I will handle Captain Kirinji." He shook his head at the healer. His assistants briskly leaving while they can, and muttering soft goodnights to him and the healer. He gave them a quick nod while keeping his eye on the healer.
"Hiroshi-san I will not argue with you on this. I will stay here until Kirinji has helped the boy. You have been here as healer for a long time, serving this family and I am grateful for that. I also listen to whatever medical advice you give me because I respect your talent as a healer so much." Hiroshi rolled his eyes and shook his own head.
"Not like you make good on that advice I tell you for your own well being." He gave a chuckle at the healer.
"I listen, but don't do as you advise. I…" A strong kick to his backside cut him off and sent him face planting into the floor.
"You should do as you are advised when it comes to your health." The healer gave him a cursory glance then bowed to the man standing in the doorway. His black hair pointed forward in a pompadour style with pointed side burns.
His captain haori fluttering in the soft breeze from the open door into the garden. He scowled and with a burst of Shunpo, appeared in front of the door and slammed it shut.
"You idiot. The patient will get sick if you expose him to the night air. And why didn't you summon me earlier Akihiko?" Kirinji crossed his arms over his chest. He sat on his back side and scratched the back of his head. His forehead sporting a bright red mark.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to disturb your work and I thought that Hiroshi-san would be able to fix him." Kirinji huffed in anger, then looked to the boy laying in the futon. His bright orange hair caught his attention. Long orange hair with a silver streak in it. Then he noticed the bandages and moved to look at him better. Removing the futon cover, he pulled back the top of the yukata a bit and saw that he was heavily bandaged in blood soaked bandages. He was shocked that this boy was even alive. Replacing the yukata and futon cover, he stood up and grabbed both the healer and Akihiko by their elbows and steered them over and out the door.
Looking at Akihiko, he drew up to his full height and glared down at him.
"You will tell how this came to be in the morning. Send me your most trusted assistant to help look after the boy and get the supplies that I will need. Both of you go to sleep. I will handle this." With that Kirinji slammed the door shut and turned to stare at the injured male in the room.
"Damn… It's going to be a long night."
To those who have supported us so far. Thank you very much. Here is the next chapter for all of you. Enjoy. Let us know what you think. Any comments are welcomed.
- The Crew
P.S. Bleach belongs Kubo Tite, but the plot and other characters belong to us.
