Chapter 20: Serpents
Renji felt the buildup of reiatsu and turned to Rukia, Tadashi and Nia.
"Here it comes!" he shouted, "Brace yourselves!"
'It,' as it turned out was a huge black wave that rose up and rolled toward the shore. And within the waves, huge snakelike tendrils shot out and struck at them as the wave closed in.
"Kami, get up higher!" Renji called, "Ban kai, Hihio Zabimaru!"
The skeletal snake burst forth sweeping along the shore then wrapping around Renji and Rukia as the wave bore down on them. Tadashi and Nia rose into the air and sent kido blasts at the huge creature that was surging in on the black wave.
The water slammed into the shore, pounding the skeletal snake furiously. The sea creature's tendrils quaked and danced as flashes of reiatsu crashed down on them. The water swelled around the skeletal snake, then receded, leaving the sea creature and the skeletal snake face to face on the shore. The snake spun toward the other creature shrieking loud enough to shake the ground and sending pulses of heavy spiritual pressure in all directions.
"Hikotsu Taiho!"
Red fire blasted out of the mouth of the great snake and engulfed the sea serpent, lighting the huge creature's vast silhouette. The creature reared back, shrieking madly and drawing back its limbs, then striking at the snake over and over until the bony segments began to crack under the weight of the blows. Renji send the skeletal snake up into the air. As it rose away from them, the sea creature's limbs shot forward, seeking to wrap around them and crush the life out of them. The rush of green limbs suddenly disappeared into a sea of whiteness as Rukia's attack blasted the creature, freezing it in a column of ice. The ice column groaned and shattered. The sea creature was thrown to the ground and pelted with sharp icicles. When the frosty mist cleared, the creature was on the ground with the skeletal snake driving down from above. Fiery white reiatsu exploded around the two as they collided and exploded into a shower of sparks and dust.
"Get out of there!" Tadashi yelled down at Renji and Rukia.
Renji wrapped his arms around Rukia and rose into the air, following the path the others had taken onto the cliffs that jutted over the beach. Orochi reappeared on the beach and sent a blast of white fire at them, collapsing the ledge under their feet and sending them flying back into the air and father back onto the cliffs.
"You gutter rats can never match my power! So scatter and run or you will die!"
Renji recalled Zabimaru and re-gathered his power as Tadashi and Nia pounded Orochi with kido blasts and Rukia fired a volley of ice from her seething zanpakutou. Zabimaru exploded out of his raised weapon again and soared toward the enraged noble. Orochi fired a huge blast of kido that sent the snake off course. Renji hauled on the handle of his weapon and turned it to attack again. He flew down off of the cliff, following the skeletal snake with slashes of his sword and intermittently fired blasts of kido.
Orochi stared into the furious face of the enraged shinigami, surprised at the terrible strength of his attack.
"You dare to attack me, mongrel?" he snarled, "You are going to die!"
"Think again!" Renji yelled, "Hikotsu Taiho!"
The skeletal snake was nearly on top of the noble as it released its huge red blast. Orochi flash stepped and reappeared a short distance away, sending a blaze of kido flying toward the redhead. Remembering the blocking move Byakuya had taught him, Renji captured the incoming spirit energy and channeled it around his body, sending back in the direction of the noble and very nearly taking him off his feet. He shot forward, slashing and blocking and slashing again, forcing the noble back until a final hard thrust sent him to the sand, tumbling, rolling and coming to his knees as Renji's weapon came down.
To the redhead's surprise, the blow never landed. Instead, Zabimaru crashed down onto a lovely slender blade that brought tears to his eyes when he saw it. Orochi froze on his knees, looking up in disbelief at the man who stood, blocking the weapon that had been about to kill him.
"Byakuya!" Renji gasped in a strangled, passionate cry.
Byakuya let a smile reach the corner of his lips, then turned and regarded his kneeling cousin with cold, deadly eyes.
"Cousin?" Orochi stammered in surprise, waiting for Byakuya to turn and to deprive him of his life.
"You should have let me kill him," Renji said with disgust in his voice, "You know this bastard deserves it for what he did to you."
He took a step toward the still-kneeling noble.
"You fucking set him up to be raped by that slobbering maniac! You tried to force Tadashi to kill him and when that didn't work, you drove your blade through his fucking heart! You don't deserve to still be breathing, you scheming, arrogant, son of a bitch!"
"You cannot kill him," Byakuya said, very calmly, "because the clan would only seek your death for it. Whatever he has done, the clan elders must be the ones to judge his guilt or innocence. Renji…I cannot thank you enough for fighting to defend my honor, to defend my life. But I must ask you to stand down. I assure you that I will give the council a full report on what happened. They will know my cousin's part in this."
He turned to his cousin, glaring down at him icily as the others gathered and settled onto the sand behind him.
"Orochi," Byakuya said in a deadly voice, "It is best that you leave immediately. For if you do not, one of my friends may not be able to control his actions. Nor would I blame him for killing you after what you have done. Go and prepare to meet the council to explain your actions. And pray you have a reasonable explanation or our clan may find itself ordering its first execution."
With a nasty scowl, Orochi regained his feet and flash stepped away. There was a moment of silence, then Byakuya found himself on the receiving end of two extremely enthusiastic pairs of arms that took hold of him from either side.
"Brother!" cried Rukia happily, holding onto him tightly.
"Byakuya!" cried Renji, wrapping his arms around the startled noble and burying his face in the black, silken hair.
Byakuya hesitated for a moment, staring in amusement at their enthusiastic display, before gently squeezing Rukia's hand and rubbing his face affectionately against the top of his lover's head.
"Kami, it's good to see you, Byakuya!" Renji sighed, wiping happy tears from his eyes, "I didn't know if I would ever see you again!"
"Then you forgive me for pushing you away?" Byakuya asked, his eyes betraying more than a little bit of guilt.
"Hell, no!" exclaimed Renji, "But I can wait until we get home again before I make you pay for that!"
Rukia released Byakuya and approached Ichigo, who stood quietly near Tadashi and Nia, watching Byakuya and Renji with a smile on his face. He was startled when the young woman threw her arms around him and kissed him warmly on the cheek.
"Thank you, Ichigo!" she exclaimed, "Thanks to you, I have my brother back!"
Byakuya narrowed his eyes.
"Well, he was extremely helpful, so I am thankful…despite the fact that his hollow form nearly slaughtered me…"
"Aww, you're not going to hold that against me, are you?" grinned the young shinigami, "I may have come close, but hey…you're still alive!"
Renji reluctantly let go of Byakuya and approached Ichigo with deep gratitude in his eyes.
"Ichigo," he said, taking the substitute shinigami's hand, "thank you for making sure I didn't lose him. You've really proven to be a good friend…and I don't know how to thank you…"
Ichigo patted him on the back affectionately.
"Don't worry about it," he said, smiling, "You would have done the same for me, you know."
Renji met his eyes squarely.
"Yeah…I would. I'm glad you know that."
Renji turned back to face Byakuya, his eyes bright.
"So, Captain, are you ready to go home?" he asked.
Byakuya's lips curved into a small smile.
"Not just yet, Renji."
He turned to Tadashi and Nia, who stood nearby, looking at him uncertainly.
"Captain Kuchiki," Nia asked softly, "What will happen to Tadashi?"
Tadashi turned to his sister and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Nia…I broke quite a few laws," he said quietly, "I lured Captain Kuchiki to the twelfth division and I was the one who transformed him. I also attacked and nearly killed him. You must understand that these are capital crimes and I will most likely be executed."
He stepped toward Byakuya and held his sheathed zanpakutou out in front of him. Byakuya stared at the weapon for a long moment, sighing softly.
"Tadashi," he said, meeting the shinigami's eyes with sympathy, "You did commit serious crimes. However, you were misled into thinking I had dishonored your brother. You had no way of knowing that the charges were false. My own head captain had to suspend me while it was investigated. Why would I expect that you would know any better than him? In any case, I will approach the Kuchiki Elders and tell them how you protected me in the end…when you learned that I was not guilty. I shall convince them to treat your crimes as a clan matter and we will settle with them privately."
"You can do that?" Nia asked, wide-eyed.
"There are rules that give precedent for reducing Tadashi's sentence."
He paused for a moment, thinking.
"There is one thing more," he said, studying the two, "If the two of you are…displeased…with your assignment, I would like to offer you a place in the Sixth Division."
"B-but…Captain…why?" asked Tadashi, "After what I did…"
"You were defending your brother's honor," Byakuya said softly, "and I would honor his sacrifice by attempting to offer my assistance to those he loved."
"But…how could you ever trust me?"
Byakuya looked into Tadashi's eyes.
"I would have to believe that this experience would lead you to think more carefully before taking rash action. Even though your heart was in the right place, what you did was wrong."
"Sir," said Tadashi penitently, "I will do anything I can to atone."
Byakuya nodded.
"Once you are transferred to my squad, we will deal with that. But for now…go home. Comfort each other. You have been through a difficult time."
Tadashi and Nia bowed their heads and nodded, then walked slowly away.
"Okay," said Renji, "Are you ready to go home now?"
Byakuya shook his head softly.
"I have a couple of things I need to do first."
He smiled at Renji warmly.
"Will you come with me?"
"Uh…yeah, sure, Captain. Whatever you want…"
He turned and followed Byakuya away in a flash step.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Did you check on the patient in 312?" the head nurse asked her assistant.
"Yes…and the one in 302," the other answered.
The nurses at the station went suddenly silent as a very handsome and familiar looking man stepped up to the station, carrying a handful of lovely red roses.
"Mr. Kuchiki?" queried the head nurse, "What a surprise! We were worried when you left the way you did! How are you? You look…much better now!" she exclaimed, running her eyes over his slender form.
Byakuya handed a rose to each of the nurses.
"I am completely recovered," he told them as Renji looked on, "I wanted to come back and thank you for caring for me during my illness."
"Oh!" the head nurse sighed, blushing furiously, "Thank you, Mr. Kuchiki, but we were just doing our jobs…"
"Even so," he said, smiling, "I do appreciate your assistance. I have spoken to the chief of staff about the exemplary care I received while I was here."
The head nurse lowered her eyes.
"I don't know what to say…except thank you, Mr. Kuchiki. We are really glad to see that you are well again!"
They took their leave of the nurses and Byakuya turned toward the downtown club area.
"Where are we going now?" Renji asked curiously.
"One more errand," Byakuya said, flash stepping ahead.
Renji shook his head and followed his captain, muttering to himself. They reached the club area and slowed as they stepped onto the crowded street.
"Isn't this where…"
"Yes," Byakuya said, studying the nearby clubs and starting toward one of them.
"Why'd you want to come back here?" he asked, mystified.
"There is someone I need to thank…for assisting me in escaping Shuji."
Renji shook his head affirmatively.
"Okay…anyone who did something like that has my gratitude, too, Byakuya."
They walked into the club side-by-side and Byakuya's eyes briefly scanned the crowd on the dance floor. Across the room, a woman in a green dress with a long, beaded shawl looked over at Byakuya and smiled widely. Byakuya and Renji waded through the crowd of dancers until they stood in front of her.
"Well, stranger," she said, smiling, "It's good to see you escaped Creepy. What brings you back this way?"
Byakuya smiled.
"I wanted to thank you."
He motioned to Renji.
"I didn't have time to introduce myself before."
"I won't hold it against you!" the woman laughed warmly.
"I am Byakuya and this is my very close friend, Renji. It was Renji who I was trying to reach that night, and thanks to your help, we have found our way back to each other. I came back with Renji so that we could thank you."
She looked at the two appraisingly and nodded.
"You look very happy together," she said, smiling, "How about you two give me a nice slow dance and we'll call it even, okay?"
Renji chuckled softly.
"I think that's fair…right, friend?"
Byakuya bowed his head slightly in acquiescence.
A few moments later the lights in the club dimmed softly. The three joined hands and slowly moved out onto the dance floor.