Chapter 3: Unremembered
Renji knelt on the bed behind his stricken taichou, his arms wrapped around Byakuya's slender body, holding him steady as he threw up repeatedly into the trash bin by the bed, until finally Renji was sure that there couldn't be anything left inside the man's stomach and he fell back against Renji, mumbling incoherently.
"Oi, sorry Taichou," he said, shaking his head, "I didn't mean to make things worse."
Because even as drunk as he was, Byakuya was making soft sounds of discomfort as the pain of his injuries and his lowered defenses collided. Frowning, Renji laid Byakuya on his side, propping him comfortably with pillows, then he examined the noble's battered body, sensing out the most painful of his injuries and quietly healing them.
I don't give a shit that fighting with Zaraki was out of line or that it breaks the rules. No one should be left in so much pain.
Byakuya's body relaxed under his hands and he seemed to drift off. Renji removed the tainted trash bin from the room and left to make tea. He returned to find Byakuya missing from the bed, but discovered him a moment later, collapsed on the bathroom floor. He lifted the man into his arms and returned him to the bed, noting briefly how much smaller and lighter he was than he looked when he was fully dressed and accessorized. He had removed the noble's haori and scarf before bringing him into his quarters, and now carefully removed the kenseiken from the black, silky hair, drawing a slightly sharpened breath at the impact of its touch on his hands, then removing the noble's gloves, and then his shihakushou top.
He paused, not quite able to ignore how perfect his skin was, or how it glowed softly from the moonlight streaming in through the window. It took him a while to manage to work the hakama off, and he felt a hot flush on his skin, leaning over his now nearly naked superior and hastily dressing him in a comfortable yukata from the closet. He adjusted the pillows more comfortably and sat in the moonlit room, sipping at his tea and looking out at the stars as Byakuya shifted uncomfortably and mumbled absently in his sleep. He seemed to be a little feverish, so the redhead washed his face with a cool cloth, then attempted to rouse him slightly to give him a pain reliever.
Byakuya's eyes blinked open and regarded him quietly, then he frowned and reached out a hand, first squinting and touching Renji's face, then moving suddenly to release his hair from the hair tie he wore.
"It's…you…" he sighed sleepily, "How? How…did you…f-find me?"
"Huh?" Renji muttered, smiling briefly and shaking his head.
He started to climb off of the bed, but found himself being brought down onto his back and held beneath Byakuya's body. The noble groaned and collapsed onto Renji's chest, then went still, drifting off again. Renji made sure he was asleep, then nudged him off of his body and started to climb out of bed.
"N-no…don't go…" mumbled Byakuya, taking hold of Renji's arm with a trembling hand, "How will I…find you again?"
"T-taichou?" Renji queried, looking down at the noble's troubled face, "I'm stayin' right here. I'm not going anywhere."
The dark eyes blinked and cleared slightly and his hand fell away.
"I am…sorry, Renji," he said softly, "I imagine I sounded odd."
Renji leaned over him, washing his face and smiling affectionately.
"I'm the one who's sorry," he said penitently, "I shouldn't have let you drink so much. You're really trashed, which is the last thing you need, considering."
"But you must think I've lost…my mind. And indeed, I cannot think straight. I look at you…and I keep remembering…"
"Remembering what, Taichou?" Renji asked.
"It was on my eighteenth birthday," Byakuya rambled on, "and we…Tetsuya and I, we were at Itamigiri."
"Itamigiri?"
"Yes. It is an old family prison, lost in the woods on the Kuchiki estate. It was used to imprison family members who trans…greshed. We were exploring the ruins."
"That sounds like fun," Renji commented.
"It was," said the noble, slurring the words, "Though Tetsuya and I were glad that it was no longer being used by the family. Did you know that my cousin would have been killed at birth for being a half-breed, back then…in the old days, the days of Itamigiri?"
"What? Really?" Renji asked, looking surprised, "I knew they didn't like peasants, but really!"
"It was awful," Byakuya drawled, "h-horrible, those days. I loved my cousin. I couldn't stand if he was hurt…or Rukia…or you."
"Me?" Renji said, grinning at the confession he knew the stoic taichou would not ever have made if not for having his tongue loosened with drink, "Aww, Taichou…"
"Anyway, we were exploring, and I don't really know what happened, but I…I seemed to lose awareness, and when I woke up, I was lying in a bed…and there was a boy there."
He reached up and touched Renji's hair gently.
"Do you know that's one reason I chose you?" Byakuya asked, gazing up at Renji through dizzy, clouded eyes.
"What? Because I looked like some kid who helped you when you passed out? That's kinda cute, Taichou."
"I am not cute," the noble said, frowning, "and anyway, he wasn't there to help me because I lost consciousness. We…we had sex."
Renji's eyes widened.
"You and some stranger…had sex?"
"I felt…like this, Renji. I felt heavy and lost, and so tired. But that boy was there and he told me that he was there because he was supposed to…we had sex. It was…my first time."
"You lost your virginity…with someone who looked like me, Taichou?" Renji asked, feeling an odd jolt inside as he remembered.
"I…I couldn't see his face. Just his red hair and his…tanned skin. He had…warm hands, like yours when you heal me. Th-that's why I chose you. You remind me of that day."
He fell still again, his head dropping onto Renji's shoulder as he drifted off. Renji held the passed out noble against him, his mind reeling.
Could it have been…him? Could my taichou be the one I was with that day? He was beautiful like Taichou and had his hair and eyes. His age seems right. His story seems…
"I wonder where it happened," he mused aloud.
"Inuzuri," Byakuya breathed in his sleep, "S-somehow, I ended up in Inuzuri."
"Inuzuri?"
"A…a brothel. But I…don't remember going there."
"Y-your cousin brought you?" Renji whispered, remembering seeing the stern looking youth on his way out of the brothel.
Byakuya's breast heaved softly and his hand found Renji's and held on.
"I…I heard him, outside the door. It would have…been a disgrace to be seen there, so I ran. I found Tetsuya. I never…told anyone. I was…afraid if they knew…"
He trailed off again, leaving Renji's head spinning in mad circles.
I had sex with Kuchiki Byakuya? We were each other's firsts? Kami…I don't…"
"It was fortunate that…he…that only I was virginal because when a clan leader shares his first time with another virgin, it produces the heir," Byakuya said, sending a hard shock through Renji.
But I didn't…
He thought back to the winter that followed…and how he had been so ill. It had gone away after a while, but then…
Then there was that night when I got so sick and Rukia and I thought I was dying. I left to go to see the town doctor, but…something happened on the way. I think I collapsed…or no…I met someone? I don't remember. I only remember waking up and Michi saying that someone had left me in front of the building. Shit…what if…?
He gazed down at Byakuya's sleeping face and tried to imagine the mask over his face. And it did seem that he very well could have been the one. And there were too many things about his story that fit.
It has to be, but it's just so…so unbelievable…Taichou? And me?
He was distracted out of his thoughts as Byakuya groaned and tried to get to his feet, then collapsed and had to be carried into the bathroom. Renji wrapped his arms around the noble, supporting him gently as he threw up, then fell back against Renji, moaning unhappily.
"Damn," sighed Renji, "I'm sorry, Taichou."
He couldn't be sorry, however, when he returned the noble to his bed and Byakuya regained enough awareness to insist that if Renji was responsible for getting him drunk, then he had an obligation to either see him through the night or kill him honorably.
It didn't take the grinning redhead long at all to decide which course to take…
As Byakuya sank quietly back down into oblivion, Renji curled up next to him on the bed admiring the noble's calm, sleeping face and breathing in the sweet, pleasant scent of sakura.
XXXXXXXXXX
Renji woke later than usual, not at all surprised that although he was usually an early riser, his taichou had overslept. He remained rested against the noble for a long last moment, enjoying the warmth and scent of his body, then reluctantly dragged himself away and left to make tea. When he returned, Byakuya was still sleeping soundly, but had rolled over into the warm spot Renji had left behind and was curled up around several pillows, with one positioned to block out the light that was seeping into the room through the window.
Chuckling sympathetically, Renji adjusted the curtain so that the light was blocked out, then returned to the bed and set the tea on the nightstand. He leaned over the noble and touched him lightly on the arm. To his surprise, the sleepy noble merely took hold of the offending appendage and pulled him onto the bed.
"Oof!" Renji said as he landed, somewhat gracelessly next to his slowly waking taichou.
"Abarai," Byakuya groaned in a soft, pained voice, "You'd better have a damned good reason for waking me at this time of night…"
"Um," Renji said, sitting up and brushing the hair out of his eyes, "Taichou…it's not nighttime anymore."
"Ungh," moaned the noble, lifting his head off the pillow, then letting it drop back and catching his breath at the pain the motion caused.
"Why don't you have some tea, Taichou?" Renji suggested.
"Get away from me, Renji," the noble growled, "or so help me, I will get up and slice you into pieces!"
"Come on, Taichou. You'll feel better once you have a few sips."
"I have a taichou's meeting."
"You missed it. I sent a hell butterfly and got a message back saying…well…not in so many words, but 'It serves you right.' I think he was talking about the fight with Zaraki taichou, not…"
"I know damned well what he was talking about, Abarai," Byakuya snapped, hurling a pillow at him, then making a sound of pain and collapsing again.
"You are one mean drunk, Taichou," Renji said, evading the marauding pillow, then sitting back down, "Now drink the tea, please? I made it just for you. It will help you feel better, I promise."
"Liar," the noble hissed, dragging himself into a seated position and groaning again, "That's what you said last night."
Byakuya realized what he had said and blushed furiously.
"About the sake," he added hastily.
"I know what you meant," Renji said, smiling and handing him the tea, "Come on, now. Drink it."
Byakuya sipped at the tea, then looked up sharply as Renji lifted a finger to his lips and shook his head warningly.
"I told you that you weren't to disobey Soutaichou's orders," the noble said sternly.
"Yeah, well, I got you more drunk than I meant to and you had more pain because of it, so you were really hurting more than Soutaichou said you should, ne?"
"Oh god, I must be dying," Byakuya groaned, "because that almost made sense…"
"Anyway, I just added a few herbs and a few drops of something Kisuke gave me when I got back from Hueco Mundo. He said it would speed up my recovery. I figured I owed it to you to share."
"How kind of you," The noble said dryly, "It almost makes up for you trying to kill me with sake."
"Not nice Taichou. Now, lie down for a little longer. I cleared your schedule and I have Rikichi helping me with things in the office."
"Oh, don't tell me that…"
"He's finished the new training schedule and did better on it than I would have. Look, if it doesn't involve hell butterflies, the kid is fine, Taichou. He's getting better every day. And hey, if you don't think he can do this stuff, then why did you choose him, anyway? You had other choices."
"I know."
"Then, just out of curiosity, why did you choose him?"
Byakuya sighed.
"I had a feeling about him."
"And?"
"And I still do. It just may take some time to learn exactly how he will grow."
"So you don't think it was a mistake?" Renji asked quietly.
"Not usually, no. Just…whenever a hell butterfly enters the room. Now, can I do anything else to cure you of your damned curiosity or are you going to leave me alone now?"
"You sound better, Taichou."
"Shut up and get out, Renji."
"A lot better. That stuff really works, eh Taichou?"
"Get out now, Renji."
"You look a lot better too."
"GET OUT!" Byakuya yelled, hurling pillows until Renji retreated.
He went back to the office and sat down at his desk just as a hell butterfly fluttered in and Rikichi charged after it.
"Hey, slow down, you're gonna scare him to death."
"S-sorry, Renji," Rikichi said, blushing, "I just didn't want him to get away."
"Yeah, well, they'll be less likely to flutter away from you if you calm your reiatsu, okay?"
"Y-yeah…sure, sorry."
"Did you finish the reports I assigned you?"
Rikichi nodded.
"They're on your desk."
Rikichi sat down in the chair next to the redhead as Renji read through the reports and signed off on each of them.
"Good," he said, nodding, "I'd better watch out or Kuchiki taichou will give you my seat, ne?"
"Oh!" said Rikichi, going wide-eyed at the suggestion, "I could never be as good…"
"I was kidding, Rikichi," Renji said, shaking his head, "Now go and get your zanpakutou and meet me in the training grounds."
"Wh-what?" said the youth, staring.
"You heard me," Renji said, glancing at him, then looking back down at his work, "Get your zanpakutou and get your ass out on the training grounds. Move."
Rikichi stared at him for a moment longer, then turned and flash stepped out of the room.