Chapter 2: Falling
Kurotsuchi Taichou watched closely as his seventh seat stepped into the life chamber, looking back nervously as the door closed behind him. The masked Taichou grinned and his fingers moved quickly over the keyboard in front of him, tapping furiously as he set the parameters for the experiment.
"Very well, then," he said finally to the uncertain youth within the chamber, "Let us begin. I am going to run a few tests and I want you to tell me how you feel as the conditions around you change. You may want to sit down."
The youth nodded and sat on the examination table as the lights around him dimmed and began to pulse softly.
"I feel…uh…kind of warm?" he said with a nervous tremor in his voice, "and…uh…my skin is tingling."
Kurotsuchi nodded and made several quick adjustments.
"How about now?" he asked, still tapping keys.
"I…feel…kind of…dizzy, sir."
"Lie down," Kurotsuchi said in a bored voice.
The youth fell back and seemed to lose awareness.
Nia's voice rose up warningly from a console nearby.
"Sir, the form is showing a heavy sensitivity to spiritual pressure."
"That is what the life chamber is for. It is supposed to offset the spirit energy and emulate the conditions of the living world."
"Well…then it's not doing that well enough. The form is becoming unstable."
"Damn it!" Kurotsuchi said tapping the console keys harder and faster, "How about now?"
"Sir," called Tadashi from another console, "he's becoming agitated!"
Kurotsuchi glanced into the chamber and frowned as the seventh seat jumped up from the examination table and ran to the door.
"Let me out of here! Let me out!" he cried, pounding the door with his fists.
"Do quiet down and get back on the examination table at once!" Kurotsuchi ordered, "I'll reverse the process if you will just hold still."
His fingers tapped madly on the keys and the lights flashed in the room. The seventh seat's young face flushed, then twisted into a look of blind terror. He screamed and dropped to the floor, howling in agony. The masked taichou's fingers flew over the keys, but it was too late. The young man fell to the floor, moaning and writhing in agony as the taichou and his staff looked on. Nia turned and buried her face in her brother's shihakushou, sobbing silently, knowing that such a display would only earn her a reprimand.
"Damn!" yelled Kurotsuchi, slamming his fists down on the keyboard and watching in disgust as the seventh seat twitched softly, several more times and then fell still, "I thought I had it figured out. Well…that was a waste of time…damned thing! No wonder it was discarded. It would be brilliant if it actually worked!"
He rose and left the room, leaving the others staring after him. Nemu turned and followed him out of the room. Slowly, the other staff members rose and left their places. Tadashi covered his sister's eyes as they edged past the room that held the seventh seat's body. He turned of the lights as they passed out of the room.
Some time later, a slender, hooded form slipped into the room and sat down at the keyboard. A slim hand placed a small disk in the drive and the graceful fingers swiftly moved over the keys, finding and downloading the information. It wouldn't take long…not long at all. And when everything was in place, the human form would come in very, very handy.
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Byakuya placed a tender kiss on Renji's lips and gently pulled free of him. He still had a few more things to do before the captain's meeting later in the day, so although he wished he could offer his vice captain more in the way of comfort, he slipped away, releasing the redhead's fingers reluctantly and slowly dressed in the half-light of early morning.
He left the captain's quarters and moved back out into the darkened office, lighting candles on his desk, then moving to the door to go out and collect the morning paper. He opened it to scan the headlines and froze, staring at the picture on the front page. The large picture that dominated the page showed Takashi, rising up in front of Byakuya, his zanpakuto flaring and his eyes blazing. It had to have been taken just a moment before…
Byakuya swallowed hard at the memory and let the paper fall. He rubbed his hands over his face slowly, then bent to collect the fallen paper. He looked past the picture to the story beneath it and another sharp bolt of surprise and rage passed through him.
"Devotion…how much is too much? Are our troops being brainwashed into thinking their lives are worth less than others…or just worthless?"
He released his breath in a sharp hiss and his reiatsu flared. He clamped down on in quickly so as not to wake Renji and shot out the door, flash stepping to the news building. He climbed the steps two by two and flew inside, sweeping past the stunned secretary and bursting into the chief administrator's office. The man looked up in surprise, then seeing who it was, sat back and gave him a knowing look.
"I imagine I know why you have come, Captain," he said calmly.
"I have seen some heartless acts in my time, but this kind of cruelty is shocking," Byakuya said, his reiatsu flaring until the man before him cringed, "Do you have any idea how something like this will affect Takashi's family? What were you thinking? And the story? Brainwashing? Obsessive devotion? Do you even understand what you're accusing me of?"
He clamped down on his reiatsu, allowing the administrator to take a short breath and respond.
"Captain Kuchiki…personally, I'm surprised you even know his name. You are well known for leaving the training of your troops to your vice captain…and we all know how Renji Abarai serves under you…"
"How dare you!" Byakuya snapped, his reiatsu rising dangerously.
The administrator rose out of his seat and took a step back, his eyes flaring with strain.
"Stand down, Captain," the man gasped, backing away.
With an effort, Byakuya brought his reiatsu back under control.
"My relationship with Renji is no one's business. It takes place outside of work hours and in privacy. It is not for you or anyone else to invade that privacy. Neither is it acceptable to print such photographs without having obtained permission from the military."
"They are freelance photos, taken by a bystander…"
"We were in Hueco Mundo! What bystander would it be? A hollow on your payroll? I believe it! You might well be a hollow yourself! You certainly are heartless. That you would take advantage of that family's pain is reprehensible!"
"That your vice captain would encourage such blind, mindless sacrifice, all for his love of his captain-lover is…"
Byakuya surged forward and took hold of the front of the man's shirt, pulling him close.
"Do not dare speak of Renji Abarai or any member of my squad in such a manner!"
"Why, Captain? Are there others you are fucking? Perhaps the one who threw himself in front of you?"
Byakuya would have killed the man then and there, but the door to the office banged against the wall and a security team entered the room. They stared at the two men warily.
"Captain," the head of security said solemnly, "I will have to ask you to leave the premises."
Byakuya glared at the chief administrator.
"You had best make sure that you stay within the boundaries," he said in a low, dangerous voice, "or you will face penalties for your actions."
He released the man, turned and swept out of the building. The head of security turned to the chief administrator.
"I'm sorry, sir," he said quietly, "We will make sure he doesn't come in here again."
"Arigato," he said in a relieved tone, "Captain Kuchiki is quite hot-headed these days. It must be his redheaded playmate…Anyway, just…see that he does not come in here like that again."
"Hai," the head of security said, turning away with the security detail.
The chief administrator watched them leave, then turned back to the papers on his desk. He felt the approach of another, but did not raise his eyes as a slender, hooded figure stepped into the room and sat down. He reached into his cloak and withdrew his camera. The administrator moved slowly from picture to picture, studying each carefully.
"As I said earlier," he told the other, "I am always interested in the work of one with your skill."
He thought for a moment.
"I want to hire you…strictly cash off the books. I want you to follow him. I want more like these…full of passion, emotion. I want pictures of him and those close to him…at work, social events and anything illicit you can catch. Captain Kuchiki is going to be sorry he messed with me. I'll make him sorry."
The hooded soul reaper chuckled softly and extended a slim hand. The administrator accepted it and kept the camera, while the other rose and slipped away, unnoticed by any but the administrator.
He reached out with his reiatsu to make sure the captain was gone from the area and sensed his reiatsu back in the direction of the Sixth Division. He slipped quietly down several alleyways and into a small dark building. He walked up the darkened stairs and into the room at the top.
This was the only room he allowed light to enter. He needed it to see his work…proudly displayed on the walls. Without the keenest of eyes, it was hard to tell which photos were genuine and which he had retouched. Each photo centered on the Squad Six Captain…capturing him from every imaginable angle and in a myriad of settings. His favorite showed the captain with his shikai in the midst of release, his face placid and deadly. Another showed him with his head bowed, hands raised to remove his kenseiken. Another captured him kissing what appeared to be the journalist himself, but was actually a retouched photo of the captain kissing Renji Abarai. He scanned the array with heated eyes and moved to the bed, falling onto it and staring at the calm gray eyes and flowing black hair as his hand slipped beneath his clothes. He imagined the silken voice sounding in his ear, the scent of sakura around them and the touch of heated lips on his. His head dropped back on his pillow and he imagined the captain leaning over him, smirking down at him as he took him roughly, mercilessly.
He moaned softly and panted that sweet name, picturing the face, the eyes, feeling those hands on his body. He imagined the hot mouth blazing a trail of kisses down his body, taking him into that pretty mouth and devouring it and the hot seed that erupted from it.
He stroked himself, imagining what it would be like to restrain him and force himself into that sweet tightness that only Renji Abarai was lucky enough to enjoy. His breath shortened as he neared release. He stared at the pictures on the ceiling above him and moaned his name loudly, the hot fluid pulsing into his hand.
"Byakuya…Byakuya…Byakuya…"
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"I can't believe those fuckers!" Renji raged, his reiatsu flaring wildly enough to feel like fire on his captain's skin, "That they would put that on the front page! What the family must think!"
"I went to see them as soon as it was late enough. Unfortunately, they had already seen it. I think they understood that the military had nothing to do with the photo and did not give permission for it to be used. But as it was a freelance photographer…"
"Fuck that!" Renji snapped, "You and I both know that's a load of shit, Byakuya! Sorry…Captain…You know that was not done by a simple bystander! What fucking bystander shows up in Hueco Mundo and snaps pictures while someone is being killed before their eyes? Who fucking does that?"
Byakuya shook his head and sighed.
"And that article…what they said about you…about me?" Renji went on, his eyes beginning to tear, "What fucking gives them the right to say things like that?"
"Renji, stop."
"Stop? Captain, they said I set Takashi up to be killed for you…like…like I got off on seeing him throw his life away! And they said those things about us and Rikichi! The kid can't even look me in the eyes!"
"I spoke to Rikichi. He doesn't blame us and he is handling it, Renji. But you, on the other hand, have got to get yourself more firmly under control…"
His words disappeared in a flurry of surprise as he was suddenly forced back against the wall and Renji faced him nose to nose, his eyes deadly.
"Control? You want to talk to me about control? Fuck control, Captain! Control isn't going to stop this! It isn't going to undo the damage. Now you tell me how the fuck I'm supposed to worry about control!"
He stood, panting with fury, his eyes locked on Byakuya's, his hands tightly gripping his captain's shoulders, almost as though he was hanging on for dear life. Byakuya stared, waiting quietly as the anger began to drain away. As it fell away, a tired look came into the vice captain's eyes and a shiver of resignation went through him.
Byakuya reached up and caught his face in the palm of one hand, bringing him close for a gentle kiss. Renji leaned into the kiss, pushing him back against the wall and pressing his body against the strong, reassuring form of his captain.
A carefully positioned camera captured the kiss and the others that followed. It captured the image of the two sinking to their knees and the surrender to passion that followed as the red haired vice captain stripped his captain and took him right there on the office floor…the brown eyes shattered and furious at the same time. All the while, Byakuya looked up at him warmly and offered comfort only he could give Renji. And when the fight went out of him and he collapsed onto the strong, muscular chest, crying out as though he had been burned, Byakuya held him tightly and spoke quietly in his ear, telling him gently...
"You are right, Renji…They had no right to do that, to display his picture like that…to say what they said, especially about you. Don't let them do this to you…Don't let them inside your head. You know they're just trying to get attention. They will use anyone."
He took the tear-stained face in his hands and kissed Renji again and again. Gradually, Renji sighed and his body relaxed against Byakuya's.
"I'm sorry," he said, so softly that Byakuya could barely hear, "I shouldn't get like this…"
"Shh," Byakuya whispered, "It's okay. Just…we should move this to the captain's quarters."
Renji nodded and they climbed to their feet, picking up their clothing and retreating down the hallway. Outside, the camera peeked through the small space in the curtains and snapped shot after shot.
The hooded photographer sat for some time after, studying each picture. The more innocuous shots would be sold to pay for his room and board, but the others were for his enjoyment only.