Chapter 23: Entangled
Shuji looped Byakuya's bound hands around his shoulders and brought the noble's head to rest against him. The half-conscious shinigami barely managed to keep his feet and leaned heavily against the hollow, blinking to clear his vision.
"Look up at the sky, Byakuya," Shuji said in a strangely gentle voice, "I know you love the moon and stars. I've chosen a place under the stars for your transformation."
"Shuji…"
"Shh, I know you're anxious about this, but I promise you, it won't be too painful and when you have been transformed, you will not have any regrets. Your regrets will die with your shinigami form."
"Shuji, why are you doing this?" Byakuya asked dazedly.
The hollow smiled warmly.
"Byakuya, this is what I was created to do. This is why I was brought into being. There is great satisfaction in becoming who we are meant to be, is there not? When you were young, you dreamed of being a captain. When I became self aware and I knew my directive, I dreamed of finding you, of bringing you here, of lying next to you under these very stars and binding myself to you."
He slipped his fingers into the noble's silken black hair.
"You gave my life a distinct purpose. Because of you, I have a reason for being here. I devoted everything to that purpose, to bringing the two of us to this place and time. It has not been easy, but I have enjoyed the challenge…and I will enjoy the completion of that directive."
"But," Byakuya said, his mind clearing somewhat, "Your directive is nothing but a cold order from a heartless man, Shuji. It is no great purpose…just a machination created by him to obtain a goal of his own. How can this fulfill you?"
Shuji smiled.
"You are naïve, aren't you? You think your purpose is more valid than mine, but have you ever thought about this, Byakuya? Have you ever really? You may have had the desire to become a captain, but it was programmed into you by your parents and loved ones. I had neither…but I had a creator…and the directive he placed in me is no less fulfilling than the one your family programmed into you. You see, we all respond to the desires of our forebears. My directive is as valid as yours, my reason for living is as real. And just as you let nothing come between you and becoming a captain, I will let nothing come between us tonight. You will die in my arms and I will make you over into another like me."
"Why do you desire another like yourself?"
Shuji looked surprised by the question.
"It is a part of my directive," he said, narrowing his eyes.
"But it's not just that, is it?" Byakuya went on, "You want another like you, because you desire completion and continuance…like other beings, you deem these things important. But to truly be a complete being, you must allow your own passions to overcome both instinctive and programmed choices. For my part, I may be a captain and clan leader by family directive. I may long for completion and continuance from instinct, but it is my own passions that have given me the greatest satisfaction, my love for Renji Abarai. I needed no directive, no instinct to find that…and that is what really made me feel the most alive. If you have never known true passion, Shuji, then you have never been alive."
"I do not need passion," Shuji said with a cold edge to his voice, "I am a hollow."
"Hollows are creatures of passion…" Byakuya objected, "They rise out of fear, anger, hatred, injustice, aching and brokenness. Passions cause the birth of a hollow, Shuji. But you would know this if you were something truly alive and not just Gin's puppet."
Shuji's eyes flashed and became deadly.
"I am not his puppet!" he said angrily, "That is why I escaped him. He was cold-hearted and hateful…and he had decided that I was imperfect and he would have destroyed me. So I escaped him and I followed my directive to you. I found you and I have taken you…and when you die and become like me, he will know I was worthy of the life he gave me."
"Shuji, you don't need to prove anything to him! His directive means less than nothing. I know what means something to you. It is more than any directive and more than base instinct"
The hollow stared at him in surprise.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
"It is in the photographs you took. When you photographed me, you were not thinking of my beauty or significance as a hollow. You loved me as you saw me. You desired me for who I am! You are only planning to change my nature, because of Gin's order…and the instinct for survival. But that isn't what you want, is it?"
Shuji stared at him in silence.
"That's why Gin decided to destroy you, isn't it…because you were imperfect for a hollow. Because you are part shinigami…part of you responds to desires of the heart. If you were truly a hollow, you would not have a heart…and if you did not have a heart, it could not be broken…by Gin's decision to destroy you…or mine to reject your love."
Shuji turned suddenly, breaking the bonds on Byakuya's wrists and sending him tumbling backwards onto the sand. He dove down onto the noble as he tried to gain his feet and pinned him roughly to the ground.
"He cannot destroy me…and you cannot reject me!" he hissed furiously.
Byakuya tore free and rolled to his feet. He backed away as Shuji advanced.
"You talk so gently, Byakuya, trying to trick me so that you can get away. But you won't escape. Your powers are sealed away and you cannot run fast enough to escape me. So let us end the useless talking. I want to show you something. I want to show you that despite all you say, you know nothing of my nature. I want to show you exactly what my nature is!"
Byakuya's eyes widened and he stepped back further as light shimmered around the hollow and he began to change. His body and legs thickened and he grew dangerously sharp talons on fingers and toes, and eight long, snakelike tendrils grew and extended from his sides.
"This is my true form, Byakuya," he said, his power flaring and glowing red, "and this will be your true form that you will use when you devour your prey."
One of the tendrils shot forward and buried itself in Byakuya's abdomen. Byakuya gasped and dropped to his knees, then grabbed the tendril and tried to pull it free. Shuji closed in and took hold of his hands, forcing them away and taking Byakuya to the ground. Another tendril thrust into the noble's body.
"This is how you will devour your prey, Byakuya. You will have eight tendrils…seven to draw the life from your victim and to infect the spirit centers so that once the victim dies, he is reborn as a sleeper hollow."
Another tendril sank into his body. Byakuya gasped sharply, still struggling to twist free. Shuji held him in a viselike grip and continued to pierce his body with the tendrils until all seven had attached themselves and Byakuya's movements began to weaken. The embedded tendrils began to glow a dark blood red and Byakuya felt blood and reiatsu beginning to flow from his body into the other. Shuji's hands released his and took hold of his face.
"You were right when you said that I loved you as a shinigami, Byakuya," the hollow said, gently tracing the noble's frighteningly pale lips, "but I desire you as one of my own kind as well. And once we share our hollow form, you will not resist me anymore. You will realize that we are meant to be together."
He leaned forward and kissed Byakuya gently on the lips.
"But there is one more thing I must do to make you take on your hollow form."
The last of the tendrils wrapped itself around Byakuya's body and then the tip came to rest over his heart.
"A hollow has no need of heart or life, so the last tendril will take both and cause you to transform. This is the final step, Byakuya. This is the step that will bring us together."
The tendril moved until it touched his skin. Held tightly and unable to move, Byakuya's body shuddered with revulsion. He turned his head away and closed his eyes.
"Look at me," Shuji said, taking hold of his face, "I want to see your face while I transform you. I want to see the hollow mask as it forms."
The hollow tightened his grip.
"Open your eyes!"
The sudden shattering screech of the skeletal snake shook the ground, disturbing the sand all around them. Shuji's head turned and while he was distracted, Byakuya took hold of the final tendril and held it away.
"Stop, Renji Abarai!" Shuji commanded, "You have already arrived too late!"
The tendril in Byaukya's hands twisted and Shuji placed his hands on the noble's throat and began to squeeze. The skeletal snake surged forward, taking Shuji in its teeth and ripping him free of the struggling noble. The tendrils still embedded in his body pulled apart as the skeletal snake tore Shuji away, and blood and reiatsu began to pour out onto the sand.
Nia flash stepped to the captain's side as Tadashi and Renji closed in on the hollow. She swiftly took hold of the writhing tendril ends and bound them tightly together, cutting off the outflow of blood and reiatsu. She leaned over Byakuya, healing what injuries she could, but carefully avoiding the still moving tendrils.
Renji and Tadashi flash stepped after the skeletal snake, pausing to watch as the beast sent Shuji crashing into the sand and pounded him with bony segments as the skeletal snake came apart. The two raced forward then, blades drawn, as Shuji dragged his bloodied form into a standing position.
"Fools! You think you can stop me?"
His body flared with red light and the damage began to heal itself. Renji and Tadashi attacked immediately, not wanting to give the creature time to fully heal.
"And even if you kill me," the hollow went on, cackling madly, "Byakuya is already infected. His spirit centers have been affected…and the tendrils in his body will tear it as they are removed, depriving him of life and setting the transformation into motion anyway!"
Renji slashed at Shuji, roaring with fury and dragging the serrated edge of Zabimaru across the hollow's torso. Blood exploded from his body and the hollow fell to his knees. Red light flared again as he began healing himself. As Tadashi brought his blade down, a kido shield rose around Shuji, stopping the attack. Renji and Tadashi saw the look of surprise on Shuji's face and realized that it hadn't come from him. They turned back and saw Nia flash stepping toward them.
"Nia!" cried Tadashi, "What are you doing?"
"Stop!" she called out, "You can't kill him! He will pull the tendrils free and Byakuya will die!"
She sent another bright flash of kido into the shield and within it, Shuji collapsed.
"We have to keep him alive and unconscious. If he wakes, he could pull the tendrils free and if he dies, they will automatically tear away."
"How the heck did you figure that out?" Renji asked, staring at her in confusion.
"The tendrils continued to move and draw blood and reiatsu even once they were torn," she explained, "He tried to tear them away…to kill Byakuya, but I managed to tie them off and hold them. We have to get them both to the twelfth division. The only one I know of who can deal with something like this is Captain Kurotsuchi."
"Like hell, I'm going to put him in that creep's hands!" Renji yelled, "It's that creep's fault that Byakuya ended up in that faulty human form! He may not have done the transformation, but he knew Kisuke ordered the technology destroyed and he just had to tinker around with it!"
"I know Captain Kurotsuchi is not a good man," said Nia, "but I don't know how else to help him."
"Renji…"
The redhead turned and flash stepped to Byakuya's side. He dropped to his knees in the sand next to him and took hold of his hand. Byakuya looked up into his eyes and Renji froze as the truth of the situation dawned on him. The stormy gray eyes stared back at him…but beneath the dark, familiar gray, the centers were beginning to glow red.
"Byakuya!" he gasped, lifting the noble so that he rested against the redhead, his chest heaving softly as he fought for breath.
"There is little time, Renji," Byakuya said in a choked voice, "Shuji has infected my spirit centers."
"We'll get you to Kisuke…" Renji began.
"No…" Byakuya moaned, "Gin…we need Ichimaru Gin. He created Shuji…and he is the only one who might reverse the damage."
"We can't go back to Las Noches!" Renji exclaimed, "Aizen will tear you to shreds this time! We just got away from that bastard! We can't go back there!"
"No…but you can…abduct Gin…"
"Wha…? You can't be serious!" Renji said, staring.
"Would you rather be forced to kill me, Renji? You know that if I die now, I will become a hollow. You cannot allow that to happen. You are required by our laws to kill me if I begin to transform. Our only choice is to find Gin and convince him to help!"
"That lying snake isn't going to help us! He'll only lie and kill you himself!"
"No, he won't," Byakuya said, looking into the redhead's eyes, "because you will bring him to the twelfth division…and threaten to turn him in if he fails to cure me."
"Better yet, I'll threaten to give the bastard to Kurotsuchi to experiment on!" Renji snapped, "Damn! I hate this!"
He turned to Nia.
"Can you get them to the twelfth?" he asked.
Nia nodded.
"I can open a senkaimon and get them there. What are you and Tadashi going to do?"
Renji grinned.
"We're going snake hunting!"
"You do realize how crazy this is!" Tadashi said, shaking his head in wonder.
"Yeah," Renji laughed, "Welcome to the Sixth. Crazy is how we roll here! Now, are you coming or would you rather go back and wait with Captain Kurotsuchi?"
"Are you kidding?" Tadashi said, matching Renji's grin.
He turned back to his sister, sobering somewhat.
"Nia, will you be all right?" he asked.
"Me?" she asked, her eyes glistening, "I'm not the crazy idiot about to charge into Las Noches and kidnap Ichimaru Gin. You're both crazy!"
She wiped her eyes and stepped forward to hug Tadashi.
"Takashi would be proud of us, I think," she said softly, "He too, would have gone to these lengths for his captain."
Tadashi nodded and kissed her cheek.
"And we shall do no less," he said softly in return.