Shunsui ached as he pulled at the restraining kido chains holding him tightly to the wall. Whatever that man was it was like nothing he had come up against before. It was unimaginable power. He'd fought off every attack Shunsui had thrown at him and had brushed off Nanao's kido like it was a softly thrown snowball. He glanced over at the woman lying wrapped in restraining kido on the other side of the room and willed her to wake up. He had to assume Nanano was alive or the man wouldn't have even bothered to take her, but not being able to reach her did nothing to alleviate his fears. Nor did he want to think about what the man planned to do to her. He'd burned a pregnant woman alive with no signs of pity or mercy. Shunsui harshly shoved the thought out of his mind. He couldn't even think about Kiyoko or the child without wanting to throw up and equally kill the man in a horrible way. As the only one of those he could possibly achieve right now was being sick he forced his mind to focus on the immediate problems. He'd have time to grieve when this was over.
Shunsui had fought the man for a matter of minutes and had known instantly he was outclassed. Being one of the strongest Taichos in the Gotei 13, it had been a surreal experience to feel someone so beyond his ability. He'd apparently held his own enough to impress the man though, since he'd been slammed down in a holding kido and told he'd be kept around for a while. When the man had gone towards Nanao's prone form at the edge of the clearing Shunsui had felt his soul wrench at the thought of him killing her, but kept his silence. The man obviously had issues with the Kyouraku's, and he wasn't about to make Nanao's position anymore precarious by admitting he cared for her. He'd not been able to contain the sigh of relief when the man had merely looked at her, bound her, and tossed her over his shoulder.
Shunsui strained at the kido holding him again and hissed when one of the chains rubbed through an open wound on his arm. The man had used a kido to drag him back through the woods to an old fashioned house, which they were now chained up in. Settling back down in the chains, Shunsui tried to focus quietly and follow the lines of the kido to find a weak link. He was good at kido but it'd never been his forte. He really wished Nanao would wake up so he could confirm, first if she was all right, and then second see if she'd have any better luck with these chains.
Finding no weak link in the chains, he instead started trying to discover if the power was running in waves, pulses, or a steady flow as it would change the way he tried to counter it. It was a trick he'd actually learned from Nanao last year. He grinned to himself at the memory and let it distract him for a moment.
They'd been arguing over a mission, which was supposed to be fukutaicho level that he'd gone behind her back to get handed over to the 6th so that she wouldn't have to participate. Nanao, being Nanao, had of course discovered the switch and had rained down hell on his head that evening when she'd come over to his house. He'd defended himself with the fact that all the research on the hollow the mission was set up to take out said it depended heavily on spikes, claws and its scales, all of which were extremely resistant to reiatsu attacks, translating to a close battle with heavy sword work and not a mission for his kido wielding Nanao-chan. Nanao had argued that the creature's scales wouldn't stop a good kido binding and after it was bound she could dispatch it at her leisure with her zanpaktou. Shunsui had shrugged and said most kido bindings could be broken with enough force, which had caused Nanao to scoff and say not one of her's. He'd dared her to prove it and had found himself chained up in his bed, which Nanao said was for his comfort as he'd be there for a while, for the next three hours while Nanao sipped tea and read on a chair in the corner. She'd finally raised that notorious eyebrow and asked him if he was willing to give up because she was getting bored. He'd stubbornly said he was almost there, which was a complete lie as he hadn't even managed to figure out what spell this particular binding was derived from, let alone begun to figure out how to undo it.
Nanao had simply laughed and set her book down. He'd been comforted that at least his current dilemma had tempered her anger. That was until she'd gotten that dangerous little smile and said she was glad he was almost free since she was in the mood for some fun and it'd be tough on him if he wasn't allowed to grab or touch. He never had managed to break the spell and she'd tortured him in the most delicious ways possible.
She'd finally unraveled the spell for him after she'd made him beg for release in more than one way and admit that he had no hope of ever managing the spell on his own. He'd shown his gratitude into the early hours of the morning and teased her about kido often after that hoping for a repeat. The next day though she'd taken a more practical approach to teaching him how to analyze and break high level kido bindings, which hadn't been quite as fun, but was overall useful. Unfortunately it was currently failing him completely.
A groan from the other side of the room had him giving up his struggle and focusing on Nanao as she blinked and started to shift.
"Nanao?" he called, leaving the chan suffix off just in case the man was near. He could only assume the further removed she was from the Kyouraku family the safer she was.
"Shun?" she asked blurrily trying to focus her eyes where she'd heard his voice.
"I'm here. Take your time," Shunsui answered sounding calmer than he felt.
"What happened?" she asked starting to wiggle in her bindings.
"That man is ridiculously strong," Shunsui said and would have shrugged if the chains didn't prevent it.
Nanao snorted. "I got that part. Why is he pissed off at you?"
"I have no clue," Shunsui answered honestly. "I've never seen him before in my life." Nanao undulated her body in a way that distracted him momentarily and then the chains restraining her slipped off into a pile on the floor beneath her and she stood up and stretched.
"Please tell me you can get these off as easily," he said.
Nanao moved over to his side and placed her hands on the binding concentrating. "These are completely different," she said frowning. "Mine were complex, but standard enough. These are kido like I've never seen before. It's actually quite magnificent work."
"Just get them off," he ordered, not in the mood for one of her kido lectures. Just like getting Jyuushiro going about his gardening, Nanao could ramble on forever about an interesting incantation.
"I don't know that I can," she answered seriously. "This spell took more skill to create then I've ever encountered. It must have taken years to master." Shunsui grunted as she did something to the spell and it twisted uncomfortably tight for a minute before falling back into its previous position.
"Then you need to go," he said firmly. "Get out of here while you can and get help."
"I'm not leaving you," she said fiercely. "You saw what that man did. I'm not leaving you here with him. Maybe something more like this." She wrapped her small hand around one of the restricting chains and closed her eyes.
"I would not try that," the man's voice said from the doorway, startling them both. "It will interact badly with the 6th layer and probably only serve the purpose of charring his flesh." The man stepped more fully into the room and appraised them both. "On second thought, continue."
"Don't come any closer," Nanao growled and a kido crackled around her fingers.
The man stared at her calmly and then shunpoed forward at a pace to match any Taicho. He grabbed her hand and her spell went out like a flame doused with water. "Twenty years," he said pressing Nanao back against the wall. Shunsui struggled in his bindings again desperate to get the man away from her.
"What?" Nanao asked trying to pull her hand free.
"It took twenty years to perfect that binding," he answered coolly, as if he wasn't holding on to a struggling woman. "I was curious to see if you could break it. It only took you about five seconds to slip out of your own bindings, which was remarkable. I was hopeful for a moment."
"You wanted me to break it?" Nanao asked confused.
"Your technique was interesting in the clearing. I nearly did not see it coming, shoving that much energy through space to a focal point. I've seen special displacement done before, but not in the form of attack or with so much accuracy on a moving body. In fact, I did not believe it could be used for offense since it takes so much energy and concentration. The skill to use it on a moving opponent is almost unfathomable. And yet, your reiatsu level does not match the ability. How did you manage it? Your zanpakutou, perhaps?"
"What do you want from us?" Nanao demanded, but Shunsui noticed her nervous glance in his direction and sighed internally. So the man was right, and she'd still been keeping secrets after all.
"I want him dead," the man said nodding at Shunsui. "And I have not decided what I want from you yet. What are you to him? A whore, as that other man accused?"
"I am no one's whore," Nanao said indignantly, finally managing to pull her hand free of the man.
"She's my fukutaicho," Shunsui piped in. "She's here because she had a duty to follow her taicho, nothing more."
"Fukutaicho?" the man asked frowning. "They are allowing women to be fukutaicho in the King's forces?"
"The King's forces?" Nanao asked surprised.
"We're a part of the Gotei 13," Shunsui corrected watching the man closely. He showed no signs of recognition. "Who are you?"
"My name is Kyouraku Daiki," the man said turning those blue eyes on him. "And you are no descendent of mine."
"That isn't possible," Shunsui stated in shock. "You died thousands of years ago."
"Stasis spells do wonders," Daiki said not looking away from a glaring Nanao. "I'm the last of the true Kyouraku line. Whatever you are is a mongrel child of that traitorous King and my cheating wife, and I will not stop until the lie that has tarnished the Kyouraku name has been eradicated."
"And this is how you planned on wiping us out?" Shunsui asked genuinely confused. "Waiting for us to get curious and pop through this portal for you to kill us one by one? And why make the youngest son the key? None of this makes any sense."
"I am not here by choice, you imbecile," Daiki snarled and the chains around Shunsui tightened and rasped through his wounds. He hissed and Nanao started towards him only to have Daiki grab her burned hand and squeeze as hard as he could. Nanao let out a shocked little cry of pain and was driven to her knees as he applied more force.
"Leave her alone," Shunsui wheezed out. "She's got nothing to do with this."
"Do you not get it yet, woman?" Daiki demanded not letting up on the pressure as Nanao struggled to kick him through her agony. "There is nothing you can do for him. I have been here for thousands of years with nothing more to do than practice and refine my skills. Neither of you can match me. Intrigue me for a minute or two, yes, but match me, never. I can destroy you or repair you as I see fit." Then his hand lit up with kido and Nanao screamed.
Shunsui threw himself against the binding not caring that it was harming him more than it was doing anything to release the chains. All he could see was Kiyoko and the baby burning and knew he could not bear seeing it happen to anyone else, let alone Nanao. Then her screaming stopped, and for the first time in his life he was relieved to hear her weeping if only to know she was still alive. He wanted to cry out to her and ask if she was all right, but he quickly realized one of the chains had tightened around his throat and he couldn't seem to draw in any air.
"Not yet," Daiki said waving a hand and the chains on Shunsui relaxed their hold. "Your death is mine."
"What did you do to her?" Shunsui gasped regaining air and trying to see her better around the man's legs. Nanao was curled in on herself, with her burned hand held protectively close to her body.
"I healed her," Daiki said flatly, reaching down and wrenching her injured hand forward, half dragging Nanao along for Shunsui to see. The hand was perfect again. There was absolutely nothing to indicate that there had ever been any damage. He'd never even seen the 4th capable of healing like that. They'd told Nanao there would probably be scarring they could never fully remove even though she'd have full use of the hand. The man was a monster in terms of power and skill. "Given this kind of healing should be done slowly over the course of weeks. Done so quickly it must have been incredibly painful," Daiki commented as he jerked Nanao forward again. She seemed to be in a pain-induced daze, and Daiki dumped her at Shunsui's side where she curled back into a protective ball and let out a small little moan. "You see the situation now? You do not have any hope of defeating me. Your death is at my leisure." That said the man turned and walked away. Shunsui heard a door shut somewhere within the house and turned his attention back to Nanao.
"Nanao-chan?" he coaxed quietly, not caring anymore if the man heard. "Are you alright?" She just gave a sniffle and curled closer to his side. "Nanao," he repeated trying to get her to say something. The last thing he wanted was for her to go into shock. "I need you to tell me something. I'll make it an order if I have to."
"I'm ok," she said with tears in her voice. "Kami, that hurt. I've never felt anything like it. It still hurts, like it's still on fire and I can't make it stop."
She whimpered and Shunsui would have given just about anything to get loose of the binding and help her somehow, even if it was just holding her. "Can you work a numbing kido at all?"
He felt her reiatsu flare a bit as she tried and then sputter and regain its normal levels. "I can't," she muttered. She tried again with the same results.
"Nanao-chan, you can," he encouraged. "You need to block out the pain for a moment and do it. I know you can." He felt her try again and didn't want to think about how much pain she must be in to make it impossible for her to focus on an incantation. "One more time," he pushed.
He felt her reiatsu pulse again and tried to press his own against her's in support, but of course couldn't get anything past the bindings. This time the levels held and he felt her body relax next to him as the pain dampening kido started to take effect. Her kido balanced out even more and she sighed as she finished the spell.
"Better?" he asked wishing he could reach out and touch her.
"Yes," she mumbled. "Shunsui, how is it even possible that he can have that much power? And it feels all wrong. Even the kido chain on me, it was standard stuff, but something felt off about it."
"It's probably because if he's telling the truth he learned his kido thousands of years ago. It's why the way he speaks sounds strange too."
"What does he want with us?" she asked.
"Me, he wants to kill," Shunsui said honestly. "You, I'm not sure yet, but I think it'd be best if you stay indifferent to me. He'll be kinder to you if he thinks I'm just your responsibility."
Nanao snorted at she uncurled a bit and blinked up at him. The pain, kido casting, and dizzying effects of the pain-reducing spell left her eyes a bit unfocused and she sat up next to him and leaned back into his side heavily. "You are my responsibility," she stated simply.
"Over a hundred years and I still haven't managed to get it through your head that that should be the opposite way around," he said smiling down at the top of her head, which was now resting against his shoulder. "Seriously, Nanao, he might be kinder if he thinks you don't care for me beyond being your taicho."
"You aren't my taicho," she said tiredly. "And there isn't any point in pretending I don't care for you. I did that for years and the entire Seireitei had a betting pool of when we'd get together. I'm obviously not very good at it."
He smiled and leaned his head against hers. "Nanao, get some rest and then maybe with your skill and my power levels we can break this binding."
"We should try now," she said shifting next to him. "While that man is gone."
"Nanao, he wouldn't have left you unbound if he thought we had any real chance of getting away," Shunsui said with a sigh. "Rest, we'll try later."
"You said no one has ever come back from here," she said.
"Yes, well no one had Nanao-chan with them," he answered trying to sound more cheerful than he felt. "We'll be fine, but I need you well rested and functional. I'll wake you up in a little while." He felt her relax more into him and in a few minutes heard her breathing even out in her sleep. Shunsui closed his eyes and leaned his head back trying to figure out the kido binding again, although he had little hope of breaking it. They weren't alone for long, which was what Shunsui had half expected anyway, although he had hoped the man had left.
"Is she your whore then?" Daiki asked from the doorway.
"No," Shunsui said not bothering to lift his head or open his eyes. "She's not a whore at all."
"Nor your fukutaicho," Daiki stated.
"She was for a very long time," Shunsui answered honestly assuming he'd listened to their whole conversation.
"And then she became your lover?" Daiki asked. "Or perhaps a second wife? The other woman was carrying your child was she not?"
"She was," Shunsui said tensing and trying not to think of Kiyoko in the center of those flames. He shoved his rage away and tried to focus. "Nanao was my girlfriend for awhile. We broke up."
"Girlfriend?" Daiki asked and Shunsui could hear the confusion in his voice. "Broke up?"
Shunsui lifted his head and looked at the man. He had legitimate confusion on his face and Shunsui sighed when he realized the problem. "Right, you probably aren't familiar with those terms. We were courting, but she decided to stop when Kiyoko got pregnant. Nanao doesn't deserve to be hurt just because you want to wipe out my family. She has nothing to do with it."
"Do you love her?" Daiki asked.
"What's the right answer?" Shunsui questioned watching him closely. "If I say yes do you kill her? For no reason other than she had the wrong man fall in love with her? And if I say no, do you kill her just to prove that I'm lying?"
"If you say no, I will kill her," Daiki said looking at Nanao dispassionately. "If you do not love her she means nothing. If you do love her, then she retains my interest."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Shunsui asked, wanting to move in front of her and stop Daiki from staring at her like that.
"Do you know what it is like to have the woman you love taken from you? Turned from you? Bearing children that are not yours?" Daiki questioned.
Shunsui felt his heart stop and the panic swell. "I didn't do that to you. The man who did that to you is long since dead, and I can't help the family I was born into. Hell, I've wanted to change the family I come from more times than I can tell you. I've hated everything that's had to do with the Kyouraku name, but I don't care if you have to take that out on me. Just leave her out of it. She doesn't deserve to suffer for other people's mistakes. She's just a kid."
"I see nothing childish about her," Daiki said with a leer down at the woman at his side.
"Just let her go," Shunsui tried again, struggling to keep his tone even. He desperately searched the binding for any weakness. Even if he couldn't beat the man, he'd die trying before he'd let the bastard lay one finger on Nanao. He really couldn't contemplate a worse fate for her after she'd managed to finally get free of a father that treated her like an object, than to be handed to another man that would do the same.
"Let her go where?" Daiki asked with a cold laugh. "You really are not putting this together are you? There is nowhere to go. Even if I released you both this moment, you are just as trapped as I am. You think I chose this fate? I knew that faithless King was planning something for me all those years ago. Knew he wanted my wife, but the bastard could not bear the thought of losing his biggest line of defense by simply killing me either. I was his most powerful warrior. Do you know what he was plotting? To trap me here like a caged hunting hawk, only to be released on his enemies and then quietly tucked back away when I was no longer convenient. But I discovered the plot, not soon enough to stop, but to change it at the last moment. I bound it, bound the gate, bound this dimension to the blood of his sons by my wife."
"It goes to the youngest son though," Shunsui said confused and happy to have Daiki's crazed attention on anything besides Nanao. Her breathing had shifted and he knew she was awake at his side. He could only hope she didn't do anything rash before he could figure out a course of action.
"Does it?" Daiki asked surprised.
"Didn't you know?" he questioned.
"I have taken very little time to converse with the filth that has come through that gate," Daiki said calmly. "The only way the binding would have played out in that way is if that adulterous bitch's first born son was actually mine, and that would mean –" the man trailed off and Shunsui shoved at part of the kido binding that felt different from the rest. It held and he cursed internally. "The oldest? Did he live? Is there a true Kyouraku line?"
Shunsui shook his head and saw the bloom of hope die on the man's face. "He fell from his horse, I think," Shunsui answered. "He died."
"So any Kyouraku left is the filth I believed them to be," Daiki said darkly. His gaze went back to Nanao and he took a step forward.
"If the King knew you wouldn't help him, that you were a danger and had linked the gate to the bloodline to force them to come to you if they wanted you, why would you assume they'd send anyone through at all?" Shunsui asked to distract him. "You couldn't have been that useful as a weapon if you were just as likely to turn on them. Even if they could try to bribe you with freedom eventually if you played nice."
The man strode over to a door on the opposite side of the room and threw it open. Inside was a simple pedestal and a beautifully wrought mirror resting on top. Shunsui's eyes widened in surprise.
"Recognize it do you?" the man asked smirking proudly.
"Only from paintings," Shunsui admitted. "Is that really the mirror from the imperial regalia? How could that be missing and no one know?"
"Oh they know I stole it, but do you really think they would admit to the public that particular loss of face? The regalia are a symbol of the Spirit King's divinity and confirms his legitimacy as paramount ruler of the land. I stole it from its resting place right before they shoved me into this cage. If they want it they can come and get it," Daikai said dangerously. "I may not have been able to stop this entrapment, but they will come one by one and I will rid my family name of its false descendents."
"The royal family may know it's here," Shunsui said angrily, "But the Kyouraku line has no clue. We just know there is some sort of treasure or weapon. We haven't been interested in coming to find it in centuries. My being here is the fault of a greedy idiot and nothing to do with me. We don't want anything from you. If you kill me it won't change anything. It's too late for this plan to work. Do you know how many cousins and nieces and nephews I have? The name is already sullied and changed, and there is no way that every one of your descendents in name will come here to be slaughtered. You've already lost. We mean nothing."
"It is all I have," Daiki flared back. "If I could escape this trap, I would hunt you one by one, but I can not so I will stay here and pick you off as I can."
"Let us help you," Shunsui offered. "Get you out of here. Thousands of years have gone by, you could have a life, move on. You can expose what the King and your wife did to you, and we'll change our family name if it appeases you."
"Move on?" Daiki asked and Shunsui suddenly realized he'd played the wrong card. The man had been trapped here for centuries with only his obsession to drive him. What had he been thinking? "Fine," Daiki said and Shunsui tensed. Nanao sensed it and readied at his side. "I will move on when you do," Daiki said casually. "Show me how easy it is to forgive."
Then Daiki reached forward and grabbed Nanao by the arm. She went twisting and hissing like an angry cat. Shunsui could tell she was still in need of rest, but she fired off attacks as best she could. Daiki shrugged them off like they were flies.
"She was willing," Shunsui yelled raging against his restraints and wishing desperately for his swords. "The difference is your wife was willing to go to the King's bed. This isn't Nanao's fault."
Nanao gave up on the kido attacks and instead jerked her arm back as hard as she could, causing Daiki's restraining hand to follow. She bit down ferociously on his wrist and Daiki released her with a yell, and then just as quickly backhanded her with his uninjured hand. Nanao went reeling back, but kept her feet under her. Shunsui tried to calm down and focus on the kido restraining him as the man paced towards her and she moved back.
Daiki shunpoed and tried to force Nanao back into the corner, but she evaded him with a speed Shunsui hadn't known she had. Perhaps Kuchiki had actually taught her something after all. Daiki gave chase and Nanao moved quickly, shoving a low lying table into his path and causing the man to go sprawling. He was up just as fast and reaching for her again. Nanao ducked under his hands and came up against him with a vicious shoulder jab to the chest that shoved the air out of him. Then she twisted and landed a crushing roundhouse kick to his head. Daiki fired a kido at her and she rolled into a dodge, which Daiki had expected and moved quickly to grab her as she came out of the roll. She twisted painfully and as he moved to intercept her and lock her down to the floor, she brought her knee up hard and nailed him in the groin. Shunsui winced and promised himself when they got out of there he'd buy Soi Fon something nice for taking on Nanao's hand to hand training. Maybe he could talk Yoruichi into taking the woman out in the living world for a day. Nanao rolled out from under Daiki as he groaned and threw a kido at him and another violent kick to the head before bolting to Shunsui's side.
She slammed her reiatsu down the lines of his restraints and Shunsui could feel her desperately trying to figure it out. "Any weird chinks?"
"Not that I've felt," he said. "Nanao-chan, you need to knock him out."
"With what?" she demanded and he glanced around the sparse room and once again wished for their swords. "I threw a sleeping spell at him, but he'll probably just brush it off like he has all the others. We have to get you out of here. Now shut up and let me concentrate."
There was silence for a few moments beside Daiki's groans. Nanao muttered to herself and pressed Shunsui forward to get a better look behind him. Her hands flitted along his back and then traced around to his abdomen. She flooded power in that spot and Shunsui felt the kido around him burn. He kept his face as neutral as possible knowing if he flinched she'd give up too quickly and try something else. The heat let up and she narrowed here eyes. "I'm going to try something," she said seriously. "It might hurt a little."
"Do it," he said meeting her eyes. He could see Daiki moving jerkily in the periphery of his vision and Nanao raised her hand to the chains again. The heat was intense as it moved through the kido like a whip. Shunsui gritted his teeth as she forced more power through it and the links got hotter against his skin. Daiki moved behind them and Nanao pushed harder. "Nanao," he cried in warning as Daiki made his way over. Suddenly cold as strong as any of Hitsugaya's attacks ripped around him and he felt something shatter.
Nanao was wrenched back from him by a hand on her shoulder and slammed down with a kido so hard Shunsui could tell she was having trouble breathing through it. Whatever she had done hadn't completely broken the binding restraining him, but it had sure as hell weakened it. Daiki reached down his hand and put it on Nanao's neck sending a kido that blazed like lightning through her body. She screamed and then fell limp. Shunsui threw all of his considerable force at what remained of the kido binding and felt it tear at him in protest. He growled against it and finally felt it rip and slide around him.
There was no time for finesse. He lunged forward and tackled Daiki off of her. He felt Daiki's fist connect with his stomach and rolled with the punch. It was lucky he did since Daiki had laced a kido through the hit. They both rolled to their feet and glared at each other from across the room. Shunsui was comforted to find he'd managed to come up on the correct side of things and Nanao's prone form lay at his back. He sent his reiatsu seeking for hers and found her unconscious but alive. Relieved he turned back to his opponent.
Daiki was staring at Nanao, and Shunsui stepped to the left to block his line of sight. "It was clever what she did," Daiki commented thoughtfully. "Heating it up and then cooling it off so rapidly that it would shatter portions of the spell. I did not even think to protect against that."
"Nanao-chan is a very intelligent girl," Shunsui agreed, internally debating his next move. He didn't have the power to overwhelm Daiki, especially not without his swords.
"She could be better," Daiki said casually. "That will come with time, and if there is one thing I have it is an eternity of time."
"Just release us and we'll find a way out of here," Shunsui said. "Then you'll have the opportunity to hunt all of the Kyourakus down."
"You would give me the opportunity to hunt down your entire family for the off chance you could keep this one woman safe?"
"She doesn't have anything to do with this," Shunsui said not mentioning that he was sure the Gotei 13 would be able to put the bastard down once they crossed dimensions. "She shouldn't be punished for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's my family you have the issue with."
"It is a moot point," the man said his blue eyes flashing. "This dimension can not be broken. Do you not think I have tried? In which case, I will be killing you slowly and the woman is mine. Take solace in the fact that she will live."
Shunsui slammed a kido blast into the man's chest and Daiki flipped head over heels backwards slamming into the wall. "Stay away from her."
Daiki grinned and started firing off blasts as well. "You are levels above the last fake Kyouraku that came here," he said easily. "It is never fun if it is too easy." Kido burned as it was thrown back and forth between them and for a moment Shunsui thought he had the upper hand till he noticed the last fireball was aimed not at him, but straight at Nanao. Shunsui lunged in front of her and threw up a hasty shield protecting them both. The spell split around the shield and wrapped around him, forcing him to roll to put out the flames. Then he got back to his feet only to be hit in the back with an overpowering restraint.
"I have had quite a bit of time to develop helpful kido spells," Daiki said as Shunsui struggled against the spell. "I wonder if you will be able to break this one without her." Daiki kicked him hard in the stomach and Shunsui let out a woof of air. He watched helplessly as Daiki strolled back over to Nanao and picked up her limp form and walked out of the room without another word.
Shunsui would never forgive himself if anything happened to her. The image of Kiyoko going up in flames pressed against his mind again and he ruthlessly shoved it back. Thinking of it would help nothing. He calmed his mind as best he could and started trying to work through the kido. He could almost hear Nanao's lecturing tone of voice goading him along. Perhaps he should have paid more attention to what she was saying all those times and less attention to what her hands and lips were doing. He'd just have to get creative. After all creativity had always been one of his strong points.
A/N: Faster update this time! Also because I know it's been a long time, if you wanted a refresher on this blood line thing, Shunsui tells Nanao about it back in the second half of Ch. 4. Thanks for sticking with me :) I'll also have an unrelated one-shot out soon.