Chapter 6: Falling

Byakuya jumped awake as he felt the bed move. A sharp gasp escaped him, then he felt Renji's arms around him.

"Hey…" Renji said, bringing a hand to his face, "you're kinda jumpy this morning. You should go back to sleep for a while longer. You'll feel better."

He kissed Byakuya warmly, then stood.

"I'm going to the office. There's some kind of problem I've gotta solve…some reports that I have to locate and send out. I'll be back in an hour or two. There's tea for you by the bed. Try to take it easy, okay? You almost jumped out of your skin when I sat down."

Byakuya nodded wordlessly and picked up the teacup. He sipped at it, then dropped back onto the pillows and dozed off again.

He woke a short time later, feeling the odd sensation of being watched. He reached over and sipped at the tea again, trying to push away the nagging feeling. His mind drifted back to the night before…the photographer's face in the mirror…

He reached over and picked up the tea again. He finished the rest of it and slowly stood. There was an odd feeling sweeping over him…a strange dizziness. He took a few slow breaths and stepped over to the dressing area. He studied his reflection in the mirror, then the mirror itself. He wasn't sure what he was looking for. He just felt a sense of something being off. Not finding anything unusual, he reached for his shihakushou.

His eye caught motion in the mirror and he turned to look at it. He caught his breath sharply.

He saw Shuji's reflection again.

He started to turn, but another wave of dizziness passed over him. A pair of arms wrapped around him as his legs collapsed beneath him and he felt himself being lifted and carried. He was set back on the bed and lowered gently onto the pillows. He tried to move, but his body refused to respond.

"N-no…Let go…" he moaned.

"Shh," a soft voice said, "relax…"

He tried to see who it was who had caught him and carried him to bed. But his vision was oddly distorted and the voice sounded muddled and distant. There were hands on him…untying the belt at his waist, pushing back the soft material. Sharp flashes of light blinded him.

"Renji…" he moaned thickly.

A hot mouth fastened on his and he felt a probing tongue force itself between his lips and into his mouth. The strange flashes of light continued, burning his eyes, removing what sight he had left as the tongue stroked his relentlessly. Strange hands touched his face and stroked him beneath the chin. He moaned in protest as they slid down his body, touching everywhere. Fingers slid into his hair and the mouth forced itself more firmly to his. The touches grew more and more intimate.

Dizziness swept through him again and someone settled onto the bed beside him. The bed moved again and he could feel a body settle onto his. The mouth left his and traveled slowly down his face and throat, then hands and mouth fell onto his chest, exploring the area hungrily.

"S-stop…" he gasped.

But the hands and mouth kept moving downward and when he gained enough control to push at them, one palm rose to his face and sent a shock of power through him, catapulting him into darkness.

Shuji hissed softly in discontent as Byakuya's body went limp beneath his. He hadn't intended for the captain to lose consciousness completely. It meant that Byakuya's body would not respond to his touches any more. He groaned at the hard throbbing in his loins, but knew better than to actually take Byakuya. There would be too much evidence left behind. Instead, he rubbed his hardened member against the captain's, intensifying the pressure until he was near climax. He grabbed a small towel he had brought along and used it to capture his release, then he carefully cleaned away every trace of his presence there.

He was thankful for the training he had done in covert operations. He knew about a variety of drugs and their exact effects and duration. He knew how to set up reflective mirrors and relays to produce effects like the one he had created in Byakuya's mirror. He knew how to erase reiatsu and physical traces and to leave a scene so clean that no one would know he had ever been there. He chuckled softly, knowing that when Byakuya Kuchiki woke, he wasn't going to know what happened or who did it. He wouldn't even be certain that anything had happened.

And now Shuji had a taste of him…and photographs and video to remind him…and they were real this time. There was no need for him to fake this…

"Perfect," he whispered, leaning over to kiss Byakuya, "you are the most beautiful shinigami I've ever seen, touched…kissed, Byakuya. And if I have my way, the next time we won't have to stop before the main event. I was clumsy and put too much force into the kido…otherwise, you would have enjoyed it more. Too bad you won't remember this. It was fun, Byakuya!"

He checked the room carefully to see that all traces of his passing had been removed, then slipped into the bushes outside the door and worked his way back to his own room.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Byakuya?"

Renji's voice broke through the fog in his mind, but still seemed far away. He moaned and turned in the direction of the sound and felt his lover's hands touch his face. He flinched involuntarily.

"Hey, what was that? Why did you pull away from me?" Renji said, sounding closer, "Byakuya, are you all right?"

He sat up and was immediately sorry as a wave of nausea swept through him. He clenched his abdomen and leaned forward. Renji wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Take it easy for a minute. I'll get you some tea."

He shook his head and was struck by another wave of nausea.

"No…I…want you to stay," he said drowsily.

"Renji rubbed his back, gazing at him worriedly.

"What's going on? First of all, you never sleep this late and secondly, you are as white as a ghost! What happened while I was gone?"

Byakuya blinked to clear his eyes.

"I…was sleeping."

"Yeah," said Renji, furrowing his brow, "I can see that. But it's almost noon, Byakuya."

"When did you leave?" he asked sleepily.

"Hours ago," Renji answered, studying him carefully, "I would have been back sooner, but I had some trouble finding the reports that needed to be sent out. Sorry. But it doesn't look like you were awake enough to miss me."

"I guess not," Byakuya yawned.

"You should go have a shower. I'll make some tea and be back when you're done, okay?"

He started to rise, but was stopped by a warm hand that took hold of his arm.

"Renji…" he said uncertainly, "I…"

He was interrupted by the arrival of a hell butterfly.

"Ah hell! Not another one!" Renji moaned, "Damn things won't leave me alone today!"

Vice Captain Abarai, the twelfth division is asking for our living world postings so that they can coordinate their activities with the presence of some of our squad specialists when they are assigned to the living world.

Renji groaned.

"Damn it! They know I don't finish postings this much ahead of time!"

"I'm always telling you that you should," Byakuya said, smirking, "perhaps you'll listen next time."

"Well, nice to see you're acting more like yourself, I guess!" Renji huffed, "All right, I have to go back to work now, honey. I'll try not to be too late for dinner."

He leaned over and kissed Byakuya.

"You going to be okay, now?" he asked in a more serious tone.

Byakuya nodded.

"I'm fine, Renji. I'm just not used to having so much free time. I'll just get dressed and go for a long walk. That will clear my head."

"Okay," Renji said, grinning, "just don't talk to strangers and be back before dark!"

He gave the noble another quick kiss.

"Stay out of trouble," he laughed.

"Abarai, who exactly do you think you're speaking to?" Byakuya said, looking annoyed.

Renji just laughed again and flash stepped away, leaving a less than amused Byakuya frowning and shaking his head in annoyance.

He stepped into the dressing area and quickly dressed in a comfortable kimono. He made a point of facing away from the mirror as he dressed and made a mental note to have the mirror removed. He didn't really need it in the dressing area anyway.

He had just finished dressing when a hell butterfly fluttered into the room and landed on his extended finger. He recognized the voice immediately.

Captain Kuchiki, I need to speak to you on a matter of greatest urgency. This is in regards to my brother Takashi and how his death is affecting his twin, Tadashi. I do not wish for publicity any more than you do, so I would ask that you meet me in the lower level of the research building at the twelfth division. I prefer that you come alone. The less people who are involved, the better things will be.

Byakuya considered the message carefully. To comply with Nia's request, he would be forced to disobey the direct order of the head captain. But he had already held himself away from the family of the fallen shinigami for too long. The girl had promised discretion…had in fact, been eager to avoid attention. If it was done quietly, no one need know he had met with her. And he knew in his heart that he really needed to go. Despite the head captain's good intentions, Byakuya knew that it had been wrong for him to avoid Takashi's family for this long. He should have argued the point with the head captain…should have done something much, much sooner.

He whispered a reply to the hell butterfly and looked around. There appeared to be no one nearby who was aware of him. He turned quickly and flash stepped away. He flash stepped at top speed, eager to avoid attention

When he reached the twelfth division, he slipped to the back of the building and slipped in through the lower entrance.

He didn't notice the hooded form that followed him inside.

XXXXXXXXXX

Byakuya blinked and strained his eyes slightly, trying to adjust to the general darkness of the lower level of the research building. In truth, he despised the twelfth division all together, but he supposed that despite the dark nature of many of the inventions that came out of this place, the twelfth did offer some things of great usefulness…but at what cost? There were always disturbing accidents…and some things that happened were not accidents. He shivered softly. He would have been happier if they could have met somewhere else, anywhere else! But he was already in the building…and the area he was in appeared to be deserted. He stepped into the large inventor's room and waited for his eyes to adjust.

"Captain Kuchiki," Nia's voice said.

He looked around. The girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Nia?" he said softly.

"I need to make certain that we have privacy," she said softly, Step into the isolation booth across the room."

He crossed the room, reaching out with his reiatsu and sensing her nearby. But he couldn't seem to locate her exact position. He stepped forward into the isolation booth. He looked around inside and found himself alone. He felt a sudden twinge of warning. He flash stepped toward the door, reaching it just as it slammed shut, locking him in.

"Nia?" he said more forcefully, "Nia, what is happening?"

A red light began to pulse within the room and Byakuya felt his spiritual pressure drain away. A feeling of weakness passed over him and he dropped to his knees on the floor.

"What are you doing?" he gasped.

A hooded form stepped out of the darkness. Byakuya stared as a slim hand rose up and pulled the hood away. He gasped in surprise as the face of Tadashi appeared.

"Where is Nia?" Byakuya asked, "What happened to her?"

Tadashi laughed.

"She was never here. I used a voice modulator…handy little tool. You see, I had to bring you here so that my dear sister could warn you that I had gone off the deep end! I lured you here so that I could get you to confess to what you did, so that you could apologize…so that you could begin to atone."

"Tadashi…"

"Shut up!" screamed the young man, "My brother was a kind, gentle shinigami who was completely devoted to you. He did anything and everything to please his captain…anything and everything. But that wasn't enough for you, was it? It wasn't enough to know that he loved you and would have done anything you asked. You probably enjoyed it. Kami knows the things you asked him to do!"

"Tadashi, I never…"

"Don't lie to me!" the young man screamed.

The red light in the room pulsed harder and brighter and Byakuya felt the weight of spiritual pressure pushing down on him. He found it was getting hard to breathe and felt dampness rising on his skin.

"I am not stupid. I know you're lying! I read the article and I saw the picture!"

"It was a fake," Byakuya gasped, "That never happened!"

"Wrong! You must think I'm a fool! But I know, Captain Kuchiki…I know that if you were telling the truth…if you were innocent…you would have come to us."

"Tadashi, I never abused Takashi's trust. I swear it!" Byakuya insisted.

"Perhaps," the young man said, appearing to regain his composure, "but perhaps not. I guess there's only one thing to do. There's a chance that you may be innocent…so I will give you a chance to escape my vengeance. We are going to play a game, Captain. You will be made over into a human. You will be set down in Karakura Town. I will come in search of you. If I find you before you escape the human form, I will kill you. If you manage to evade me, you can try to return to your shinigami form…but I warn you…This human form is experimental. It does not respond well to large amounts of spirit energy. It is volatile and subject to failure. And the process by which you might regain your form is complicated. There is a chance you will return…just like there is a chance you are innocent. But it isn't much of a chance…just so you know."

"Tadashi!"

"No more words, Captain," the youth said softly, "My brother died for you. Now you will die for being the death of him. And he will be avenged."

The red light in the room flared and pulsed more strongly around Byakuya. He gasped harder as he felt the spiritual pressure rise around him. The light slowly became blinding and the heat in the small room became unbearable. Byakuya felt a sensation like he was being slowly suffocated. He strained against it, trying to work his way back to the door of the isolation chamber, but the weight became too much. He collapsed near the door, unable to move under the crushing weight of the spiritual pressure. Tadashi's voice echoed strangely in his mind.

"Hang on Captain…" he said ominously, "You're about to take a fall!"

He felt a sensation like the floor had dropped out beneath him and then he was falling through the blackness.

Tadashi watched as Byakuya's body shimmered and then disappeared into the precipice world. It would take only a few minutes for it to arrive in the world of the living. After that, the game would begin. Tadashi slipped his zanpakutou into the belt at his waist and turned off all of the equipment. He slipped into the shadows and disappeared from the room. A few minutes later, Shuji pulled the hood away from his face and peeked out from behind a stack of boxes. Seeing no one was there, he opened a door into the living world. As he passed through, he reached out with his senses, trying to locate any sign of the captain. He sensed a soft flutter that he thought could be from Byakuya and flash stepped toward it.

It led him to a small park, where a group of people were gathered. They leaned over an unconscious man, speaking in hushed, urgent tones. An ambulance arrived and paramedics burst out and rushed to the fallen man's side. Shuji moved closer and smiled as the man's face was revealed. He stepped forward.

"Byakuya!" he called frantically, trying to push past the paramedics. One of them grabbed his arm.

"Do you know him?" the man asked.

"Of course I know him!" he snapped, "What happened to him?"

"He's unconscious," the paramedic said, leaning over him, "We'll need to take him to the hospital for observation and treatment."

"Can I come with you?" Shuji asked.

"Well," said the paramedic, "Since you know him and we need to know who he is, I guess you should come along."

Shuji smiled and followed the paramedic as they loaded Byakuya into the waiting ambulance.