Chapter 10: Running

Renji opened his eyes and watched silently as Byakuya slept. His hands still clung to the redhead's body and his face rested against Renji's bare chest. Renji gently brushed the long black strands of hair away from his eyes and smiled at the peaceful expression on his face. Nightmares about finding Byakuya, bloodied and barely alive had plagued Renji's sleep, so he had finally given it up in favor of quietly watching Byakuya sleep and reassuring himself that now that he had his lover back in his arms, there was no way that he would lose him again.

But there were so many issues!

They didn't know how they would get Byakuya into his inner world, how they would help him battle Senbonzakura. Worse, they didn't know where Tadashi and Shuji were, so either could attempt to get to Byakuya again.

He glanced out the window, staring up into the blue sky and wishing they were back in the Seireitei…but Byakuya couldn't go to the Seireitei in this state. They might not be able to go home for a long time, he realized. And the longer it took, the more the chance that the human form would fail.

We Have to find a way to get Byakuya out of this human form before then!

He looked back at Byakuya and noticed that his dark gray eyes were open and observing him. He smiled and kissed the noble's forehead, eyelids and lips. Byakuya loosened his hold slightly and rubbed his face against the redhead's chest, settling more firmly against him.

"How are you feeling now?" Renji asked softly.

The gray eyes wavered with uncertainty.

"I feel very odd. I…know who I am…or was. I know who you are…and where we are, but I'm not so clear on exactly what happened," Byakuya explained.

"What do you remember?"

"I remember getting a hell butterfly that was supposed to have been from Nia. It asked me to meet her at the twelfth division."

"Why didn't you send for me?" Renji asked, his voice calm, but edged with concern, "Why did you go there alone?"

"She said that she wanted to talk. I had no idea that it wasn't her…or that Tadashi was so disturbed. I have to admit, I should have considered that my silence would have upset them…perhaps to the point of violence. I was just wrapped up in feeling guilty for letting this go so long without doing anything. But you are right, Renji. I should have had you meet me there."

"Well…what's done is done."

He looked into the dark eyes questioningly.

"Do you understand what happened to you?"

Byakuya shook his head.

"I know my powers are gone. I know that I am unable to bear the spirit energy around me. I cannot see shinigami unless they wear a gigai. I am powerless…and Senbonzakura is unable to speak to me."

"Nia said that Tadashi used an experimental process to transform you into a human. That's why your powers are gone."

"I think I remember parts of that…a red pulsing light, pain…falling. Then I woke up in a hospital. Shuji was there with the doctor, but he left when he realized that his spirit energy was harming me. He came back, though. When I found out that the doctors were planning to send me to the mental ward, I ran…but I ran headlong into Shuji."

He paused, swallowing hard and burrowing more deeply into Renji's arms.

"He took me to an apartment and locked me in a room, but I managed to get out of the room and I was trying to get away from him. I stumbled upon a room full of pictures…many of them with Shuji and me. Renji, I looked semi-conscious…posed. He came back and saw that I had found the pictures…"

Renji put his hands on Byakuya's face and looked into his eyes.

"Byakuya, I'm sorry…but I have to ask you…Did Shuji…hurt you? Did he…?"

Byakuya sighed softly and his eyes closed.

I know that…something happened at the manor, but I don't think that I was…that he was successful in what he tried to do. There would have been clearer signs…and the memories that are returning seem to support that."

"But what about here in the living world? Bya, did he try anything?" Renji asked, his reiatsu flaring.

"He tried," Byakuya admitted, "but I managed to escape the building…and I ran into a dance club…and I slipped out the back. I barely remember a voice and feeling a lot of pain, but the details of what happened are fuzzy."

"What happened is that Tadashi caught up with you. He thought to kill you. You're lucky that Orihime was able to heal you…but even though you've been healed, your human form is unstable. It could begin to fail at any time. Kisuke is trying to work out how to get you back into shinigami form, but it's going to take some time for that to happen."

He stroked the noble's back thoughtfully.

"You have to stay close to me. Shuji and Tadashi are still out there…and we don't want either one to reach you."

"So…will we stay here?"

Renji shook his head.

"Kisuke suggested a safe house near here. Your spirit energy is low enough that we should be able to spirit you out of here and keep you hidden. The hard part is making sure no one is watching. We don't want them to know you've left here until you are safely hidden."

Byakuya nodded.

"That makes sense."

He nuzzled beneath Renji's chin and closed his eyes again.

"Arigato…for finding me in time, Renji," Byakuya said softly, "I would have died alone in that alley if you hadn't come along when you did."

Renji smiled sadly.

"I just wish I could have found you a but sooner. Kami, when I saw you lying there, I thought you were already gone, Bya. It scared me to death!"

"I'm sorry that I frightened you…that I went to see Nia without sending for you…and I'm sorry that I didn't listen to myself when I had such negative feelings about Shuji. I've made so many mistakes in this, Renji. I feel so stupid. Why didn't I listen to myself? I knew I felt uneasy around Shuji. I should have had him watched."

"Byakuya," Renji said softly, "Don't do that. Don't blame yourself. Shuji is really fucked up. After you disappeared, we realized that he was gone too. We searched his room. Bya, you wouldn't believe the stuff we found in there! There were pictures of you…it looked like you were really out of it, like he must have drugged you. And I thought about how you were so groggy when I came back…He must have done it while I was at the office. If I'd been paying better attention…"

"Renji…don't…"

"We also found video of you and me making love, Bya. That creep was outside our bedroom recording everything! And when you saw his face in the mirror…that was a trick done with reflectors and relays. Once we found that, I went to the head captain and got clearance to search his apartment in the Seireitei. I found a room filled with pictures of you. He's one sick bastard. I saw that room…and…and I was ready to explode! Luckily, Yoruichi showed up to help track you."

Renji shivered softly.

"The whole time we were looking for you, I was going crazy thinking that he might have you…that he could hurt you…that he could…"

"I'm fine, Renji…well, not fine, but I escaped him."

Renji tightened his arms around Byakuya.

"And neither Tadashi or that sick creep are getting near you again! I am not leaving you for a minute!"

"Good," Byakuya said softly, "because I don't want you to go. I hate to admit it…but I am too weak in this form to be of any use at all. I can't function near my enemies, because I can't even see them unless they wear a gigai. And their power overwhelms me. And…Renji…This form makes my…emotions…unstable. I feel things…and I find that my body acts on them before I can stop myself. I'm trying to gain more control, but it is difficult. As a shinigami, I was carefully trained for years to control and conceal emotion, but this human form is not subject to what I know…or what I want to do. It just…reacts."

Renji couldn't stop the warm smile that touched his lips.

"Now you know what it's like to be me!" he laughed softly, "Don't worry about it. I won't hold it against you…and as soon as Kisuke is sure that the way is safe for us, we'll go to the safe house. Then it will just be you and me. You won't have to worry about being in control. You know you don't have to worry about that when you're just with me."

"I know that," Byakuya said, closing his eyes against the emotion that was rising up inside him, "but I'm not used to this. I don't know if I ever will be. I hate the feeling of fear running though me…of panic taking control of me. I hate feeling myself react and not being able to stop it. It eats away at me, Renji. It makes me sick inside."

"Don't do that to yourself," Renji said, stroking his hair, "You may remember being a shinigami, but you aren't one right now. You have to just accept who you are now."

"Renji…how can you love me now? I'm so weak…insignificant. I've been reduced to nothing. It's like the person you remember is gone…"
Renji took the noble's face in his hands and forced the weary gray eyes to meet his.

"Stop that, will you? You are still the man I love. You are everything to me. And nothing about you is weak or insignificant! Byakuya, all that's happening is that what you usually keep inside is coming out. You have no choice but to let yourself be seen. And I love who you are inside! I always have. You just have to learn a different kind of strength now. Instead of using your strength to hide your emotion, you have to have the strength to lower your pride and let yourself feel things, Bya. Trust me…it isn't so bad. You'll get used to it."

Byakuya released something dangerously close to a sarcastic laugh.

"Renji…pride notwithstanding, this is nearly intolerable…and I will never get used to it!" he said with conviction.

Renji laughed softly.

"See now, that's the shinigami I fell in love with!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Shuji worked his way quickly around the apartment and tried to remove all traces of Byakuya's reiatsu. He gathered his photographs and personal belongings together and prepared to leave. There was no question now that he would have to disppear. Byakuya would go back to Renji Abarai and he would be hunted. And it wasn't just Renji Abarai that he feared. Orochi Kuchiki was another concern. By leaving without finishing whatever plan the Kuchiki cousin had, he was sure to have angered the man. He was fortunate to have thought ahead. He had hidden money and he knew how to slink about quietly. He had done so for years.

He picked up his suitcase and portfolio and headed for the front door. He knew several good places to conceal himself while things cooled down. He would be fine.

Yes, he would be fine.

He was convinced of it.

He was absolutely sure of it until the door opened in front of him and Orochi Kuchiki stepped into the room. His eyes were cold and snakelike. They froze Shuji in his tracks.

"You are clumsy…and careless," his cold voice hissed, "I don't like clumsy, careless people. Those kind…could get me into all kinds of trouble, you see. I don't need trouble…and I no longer need you!"

Shuji had only one heart stopping moment of sheer terror, then he was falling.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Yoruichi walked slowly along the street, following Byakuya's reiatsu traces in reverse. She knew she was close now. The place he had been taken had to have been close by. She paused and read the signs again, picking up the reiatsu of the photographer. There were two trails of his reiatsu, indicating that he had gone back to the place where he came from. There were several apartment buildings ahead of her. She followed the reiatsu trail into one of them and slowly approached a first floor apartment that seemed to radiate the reiatsu she sought.

She walked up to the door and listened. Everything seemed quiet within…deathly still, in fact. She didn't feel any presences within. She carefully reached out and turned the door handle.

It was unlocked.

That fact made her wary. She slowly pushed the door open and looked inside. The entry was dark and silent. She moved inside and closed the door behind her. She felt the traces of Shuji's reiatsu and Byakuya's now. It was definitely the right place…but it looked like she was too late.

"Damn…he got away from us!" she muttered.

It made sense that the photographer would get spooked knowing that Byakuya had escaped him. He had probably fled as soon as he realized that Byakuya could not be caught. But being in a hurry, he might have overlooked something.

She moved into the kitchen area and found a pot of long cold tea…and nothing else of interest. She moved into the hallway and found the room that Byakuya had been concealed in. The traces were everywhere. She studied the room for several minutes, then moved back out into the hallway.

She felt a small touch of another reiatsu and paused. There was a familiarity to it. At first, she thought it was just more of Byakuya's, but this reiatsu was far stronger than what Byakuya was channeling at the moment. It was wielded by someone who knew what he or she was doing. The reiatsu was carefully manipulated to make it impossible for anyone to determine just who had left it…or how strong that person was. But the power of the person was displayed in the way he or she was able to cover the signs. Yoruichi sighed in frustration.

"So the creep wasn't working alone!" she muttered.

She thought she might have heard a sound outside the door, but wasn't sure that it hadn't floated over from another apartment. She slipped back out of the room and into the hallway, pausing to carefully sense the reiatsu around her.

She was getting a very dark feeling.

She moved to the next door and stood outside it for a moment, extending her senses into the room and trying to feel for any signs of danger. There was a tiny flutter of reiatsu, but it faded into nothing.

Taking a breath, she pushed open the door.

The scene was set up perfectly to masquerade as a suicide. Shuji hung naked from the light fixture in the middle of the room with pictures of Byakuya strewn all around. Clenched in his hand was a note. She didn't have to read it to know what it was, but she did anyway.

I am sorry for the trouble I caused. I love you, Byakuya. I only wanted to hold you in my arms. I would never have hurt you. I have loved you forever and even death will not stop that.

She had to admit that the one who set up the scene had thought of everything.