Chapter 8: Traces

"You didn't eat very much, Byakuya," Shuji said quietly, "You're not going to feel better if you don't take care of yourself."

He stared hungrily as Byakuya pushed the fall of dark hair away from his left eye. Byakuya felt a soft shiver pass through him. There was something unsettling about the way that Shuji looked at him…but it wasn't as though the man had done anything wrong. In fact, he had been kind enough to provide Byakuya with a room, clothing and food so that he could avoid the doctors who had wanted to send him to the Psychology Ward. He hadn't demanded or even asked for anything in return…and he hadn't taken any specific action that would explain why Byakuya felt uncomfortable being alone with him.

"Here's some fresh tea," he said, handing him a teacup.

Byakuya froze for a moment as he accepted the cup. He remembered…

"Here you go, Captain."

A warm tanned hand placed the cup in his hands.

"Arigato, Renji."

"Byakuya, is…something wrong?" Shuji asked.

"No," he answered, turning over to face the window, "I'm just…weary."

Shuji smiled warmly.

"Well, get some rest, then," he said, moving to the door, "You will feel better in the morning, Byakuya. We can talk more then."

Shuji slipped out of the room. The door closed with a soft click. The sound made him curious. He waited until Shuji's footsteps had faded down the hallway, then slipped out, of bed. He stepped softly across the room and placed a hand on the door handle. The handle would not turn. Byakuya sighed in frustration, leaning against the locked door.

He had, it seemed, exchanged one kind of captivity for another.

He wondered if his state was better this way or if it had worsened…

XXXXXXXXXX

"Excuse me," Rukia said to the woman at the hospital information desk, "I was told that my brother was brought to this hospital and I wanted to know where I can find him."

The woman smiled and nodded.

"I can help you with that. What is your brother's name?" she asked.

"It's Byakuya, Byakuya Kuchiki," Rukia supplied.

The woman furrowed her brow as she studied the computer monitor in front of her. After a moment, her smile returned.

"Here he is," she said, looking up at Rukia, "Room 314. Just take the elevator there to the third floor and check in at the nurse's station there. They'll be glad to see you. They haven't been able to locate any family and they have some questions about him."

Rukia nodded.

"Arigato, we'll go on up, then."

Ichigo followed as Rukia walked to the elevator, chattering excitedly. I can't believe he's actually here," she told Ichigo as the elevator started to move, "Byakuya would never trust human doctors. It's very strange!"

"Yeah," Ichigo agreed, frowning, "It doesn't sound like your brother at all."

The doors opened and they stepped out. A few steps away, several nurses were gathered at the desk.

"Excuse me," Rukia said quietly, "I was told that my brother, Byakuya Kuchiki was here."

The nurses looked up at her in surprise.

"You're his sister?" one of them said, looking at her curiously.

"He was here," said the charge nurse, "He was brought in after he collapsed in a park near here. He didn't seem to have been injured, but he did lose consciousness. And when he woke, he seemed very confused and disoriented. He really couldn't tell us anything about himself."

"He was very quiet," another nurse added, "very polite…"

"Where is he now?" Rukia asked.

The charge nurse shook her head.

"He was in Room 314 at the end of the hall until about an hour ago. Then, we went in to check on him and he was gone."

"Do you mind if we check his room?" Rukia asked, "We'd like to see if perhaps he left anything behind."

The nurse nodded.

"Go ahead…right down that hallway."

Rukia and Ichigo moved quickly down the hallway and into the room. The bed was still unmade and a cup of now cold tea sat on the bedside table. The two shinigami extended their reiatsu, attempting to locate any sign of Byakuya's.

"He was here," Rukia said, "I sense his reiatsu…but Ichigo, it's very faint…too faint for him having been here only an hour ago. It should be much stronger than this!"

She walked slowly around the room.

"Another shinigami was in here with him," she said, looking around, "The reiatsu doesn't feel like any I know."

"Can you tell where Byakuya went?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah…he went out the door here."

"The door?" Ichigo asked, confused, "Rukia, he's a shinigami. If he didn't want to be seen, he could have slipped out the window. Hell, being that it's Byakuya, he could have walked through the wall or something!"

Rukia followed the faint trail out into the hallway and down past the nurse's station. They passed the desk and came to a stairwell. The stairwell took them back to the first floor, then the trail led out the front doors.

"Ichigo, he met someone here. The reiatsu feels like the shinigami from before. They left together and they went this way."

The two shinigami flash stepped along, following the weak traces of Byakuya's reiatsu through the twisting streets. Finally, they came to a bustling street that hosted a number of small shops and a nightclub. Rukia slowed and came to a halt.

"There are too many reiatsu traces around here," Rukia said, frowning, "I can't tell where he went from here.

XXXXXXXXXX

Renji kicked open the door of the bi-level apartment and burst inside. The inside of the entry room was dark, but Renji saw a shaft of light coming from upstairs. He flash stepped towards it, taking the stairs two by two. He reached the top of the stairs and burst into the upstairs room. His feet slid to a stop and Renji froze, staring in disbelief.

He had entered a small bedroom that was the only lighted room in the apartment. Photographs were everywhere. The walls and ceiling were covered with photographs…all featuring Byakuya. Most looked innocent enough, but as he studied them, a bolt of disgust went through him, making him feel nauseous and at the same time enraged.

There were pictures of Byakuya that would originally have included him…pictures of Byakuya kissing him, but his face and body had been removed and replaced with that of the photographer. Renji saw several photographs sitting on a nearby table and stepped toward it. Three photos caught his attention. The first was a picture of Byakuya and Renji, himself, half-dressed and very obviously making love on Byakuya's office floor. The second was the same photo edited to replace Renji with Takashi. Renji fought down a wave of nausea as he viewed the final photograph…the same picture…only edited so that Shuji replaced Renji. Renji picked up the photograph, his reiatsu flaring bright red with fury. His hand closed around the picture. The red light flared and the picture in his hand crumpled and darkened until it was black and practically melted.

He heard the sound of the front door of the apartment open and close, and then footsteps on the stairs. Renji bust out of the room, his hand on Zabimaru.

"Renji, stop!" a feminine voice shouted.

Renji froze.

"It's just me."

The woman's face came into view. Renji blinked.

"Yoruichi? How did you find me?" he asked, studying her in the darkness.

"I followed your reiatsu trail here. Did you find any sign of him?" she asked, looking around.

"Not here, no. But I did find something…"

Yoruichi followed him to the upstairs bedroom.

"This guy's a real freak," he said disgustedly, "He's obviously been photographing Byakuya for several years and doctoring a lot of the photos to include himself. On the table, I found the photo that was used in the newspaper…and I found the original. That sick fuck took pictures of Byakuya and me, then edited them to replace me with Takashi…then himself. I guess I should have expected something like this after we found the video of Byakuya and me in his room at the manor."

He shook his head in disgust.

"Yoruichi, if Byakuya is with this guy, then he is in a shitload of trouble!"

"Well," said Yoruichi, placing a hand on his shoulder, "from what I can tell, Byakuya left the manor alone…but this guy followed him. I came for you so that we could follow the trail to see where the two went."

Renji nodded.

"Well, let's not keep Byakuya waiting."

He followed Yoruichi at flash step speed back to the manor. They started in the bedroom and followed Byakuya's reiatsu out of the manor and down several streets.

"He was moving at shunpo speed," Yoruichi commented, "I think he did not want to be seen."

"It looks like he was heading for the twelfth division."

"Any particular reason Byakuya would want to secretly go there?" Yoruichi asked.

Renji shook his head.

"Byakuya hates the twelfth!"

He continued to consider the idea as they closed in on the twelfth. Suddenly Renji slid to a stop. Yoruichi stopped as well and turned to look at him.

"Yoruichi…I know why he was going there," Renji said with certainty in his voice, "The head captain ordered him not to have any contact with Takashi's family…and Takashi's brother and sister are both in the twelfth. That would explain why he came here…and why he wouldn't have wanted to be seen!"

He hesitated for a moment, thinking.

"But it's been kind of a long time since the order was given. Why disobey it now? Yoruichi…I'm thinking that…maybe they contacted him. Maybe he agreed to meet them here to talk about the article and picture in the paper."

"But it looks like more may have gone on than just talking. His reiatsu leads into the old research building. Renji, there are lots of good places in there for some kind of ambush!"

"But Byakuya's way stronger!" Renji objected.

"Stronger, yes…but stronger can get trumped by 'more prepared.' Come on. Let's follow the trail and see where it leads."

They moved forward into the dark research building. Renji felt a shiver of anxiety pass through him.

"Shuji followed him in here," Yoruichi said softly as she moved forward.

They followed the reiatsu into a large laboratory. Inside, they found a block of computers and an isolation room.

"Byakuya was in this chamber," Yoruichi said, studying it carefully, "but Renji, he never came out of it!"

"What?" Renji gasped in dismay, "What do you mean he never came out of it?"

"Something was done to him in this chamber, Renji…and then he was somehow transported out of here…I don't know how."

"I can tell you that," said a soft voice.

Yoruichi and Renji turned in surprise and found themselves facing Takashi's sister.

"Nia?" Renji said questioningly, "Nia, what happened to Byakuya? Where is he?"

Nia's face was lined with tears.

"I'll tell you," she said softly, "but you must promise me that you will not hurt Tadashi! He is hurt and angry…and he is planning to kill your captain!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Shuji!" Byakuya called out, "Shuji, open the door!"

He heard footsteps in the hallway and the lock released with a sharp click. Byakuya stepped back as the door opened. Shuji stepped into the room with an alarmed look on his face.

"Byakuya, what is it?" he asked quickly, "What's wrong?"

"You locked me in here!" Byakuya said, his heart pounding, "Why would you do that?"

Shuji studied Byakuya for a moment, then sighed softly.

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice that," he said softly, "I didn't want you to take it the wrong way. It's just that…Byakuya, you passed out…and you don't remember anything. I was so tired, because I spent hours out looking for you! I was worried that if I fell asleep, that you would run off again. I wasn't trying to hold you prisoner or anything…really! I just needed sleep, but I didn't want anything bad to happen to you. Do you understand, Byakuya?"

Byakuya studied the other's face. Shuji's face showed genuine concern, but every time Byakuya looked at him, fear crept into his heart.

"I want to leave now, Shuji," he said firmly.

"But…but where will you go?" Shuji asked worriedly, "Byakuya, you are ill and not in your right mind! You can't just wander off! Kami knows what would happen to you!"

"You can't force me to stay here," Byakuya said, panic rising in his voice, "I am leaving!"

He started to push past Shuji, but froze as the other's hand passed over a pendant at his throat and a heavy, weighted feeling sank down over Byakuya. It was as it had been at the hospital, a feeling like the air was being squeezed out of his lungs. Byakuya gasped and dropped to his knees, his chest heaving.

"Now look what you've done!" Shuji said reprovingly, "You've fretted yourself into a near faint. Now, let me help you back into bed, Byakuya. I told you. You need to rest."

He half dragged a reluctant Byakuya back to the bed. Byakuya continued to struggle for breath and the touch of Shuji's hands made his flesh crawl. He pushed Byakuya into the bed and settled the blankets over him.

"I'll go and make you some tea," Shuji said quietly, "I want you to stay here and rest."

His hand passed over the pendant again and the pressure in Byakuya's chest eased. Byakuya lay panting and shivering as though chilled to the core. The awful pressure was gone, but now all Byakuya could feel was coldness inside. There was something dangerous in Shuji's eyes. He felt it keenly. He didn't know how he knew, but Byakuya knew he had to escape this man.