Chapter 5: Seduction in Blue
Byakuya stood, gazing out his office window, watching as the light slowly faded and stars winked into view.
What am I to do?
How do I hold on to this last bit of you?
You and grandfather were the only ones who understood the weight upon my heart. You never looked at me through the eyes that the others did. I was your child first and that was the most important thing. I could have had a less comely face, could have failed to inherit your gifts for singing and composition, and you still would have looked on me with those same loving eyes. I really believed that when Sousuke looked at me, he viewed me the same way.
Sousuke's hands touched me in the way such hands caress something fine and fragile. His words enveloped my heart with warmth and they made those other harsher voices leave my mind so that I felt myself able to breathe again. As wicked as he could be, he was so gentle with me that I ignored the inward warnings of my own mind. Yes, I defied my own instincts and trusted him with everything. I let him overwhelm me. I let him discover all of me.
Or nearly all.
I must have known, somehow. Even deluding myself, I must have known to protect that one last secret. I wonder now. Will I be able to keep it hidden? Given the path things are taking, could that, too, be in danger of being revealed. I would die and take that secret with me, but the family knows. And without me here to protect that last secret, who knows what they would do.
I have no choice but to remain, to shield him, to protect him.
"Hey, Boss," said Renji, startling Byakuya out of his reverie, "Have you seen Tetsuya-san?"
"Tetsuya?" the CEO repeated, frowning, "I was under the impression that he was with you. He said that you had a date tonight."
"We did," Renji confirmed, "But I ran late at my other job. I called to tell him I'd be here in a half hour and he said he'd wait for me. I showed up and he wasn't here. I checked out the places he usually goes for tea and he wasn't there. He's not running an errand for you?"
"No," Byakuya answered, his frown deepening, "We only just adjourned the board meeting and Tetsuya was not here when we came out. I assumed that he had gone with you."
Byakuya picked up the phone and called the manor.
"Tsutomu," he addressed the head of house security, "Has Tetsuya arrived at home yet?"
Byakuya's steel gray eyes darkened dangerously at the answer.
"Thank you. Call me immediately as soon as he arrives."
He slammed down the phone angrily.
"Damn it! If this is..."
"If this is what?" Renji asked, his eyes widening, "Boss, you think that...that Aizen Sousuke might have done something to him?"
"I don't know," Byakuya replied, his expression going deadly, "But if he did, he will pay dearly for it!"
XXXXXXXXXX
Tetsuya stirred softly, blinking and yawning, then sitting up and looking around questioningly.
"Wh-where is this?" he whispered, looking down at his yukata-clad body, then around the darkened room he laid in, "What happened?"
He shivered, catching the scent he remembered from when he had met the blue haired vocalist from Espada.
"Grimmjow-san?" he breathed tremulously.
He slipped out of the bed and looked around for his clothes. Finding them neatly folded in the bathroom, he put them back on and walked to the bedroom door. It opened suddenly, startling him. Tetsuya stepped back, his eyes rounding.
"What happened?" he demanded, "How did I get here? How did I get undressed? Did you...do something to me?"
"What?" Grimmjow asked, looking mystified, "Oh! Shit, you don't remember? Damn, you must think the worst of me. Tetsuya-san, it's all right. Nothing happened. I mean, you passed out at the coffee shop and I brought you here and had my physician check you out. He said you were just exhausted and dehydrated and he told me to let you rest. I did undress you because that suit you were wearing looked too uncomfortable, but then I just put you in bed. Nothing happened, really. Don't worry about it."
Tetsuya swallowed hard and his face paled.
"What is it?" asked Grimmjow, "What's wrong? You feel sick again?"
"N-no," Tetsuya said brusquely, "But I need to go home now. Thank you, Grimmjow-san. Gomen nasai, I must go immediately."
"Sure, okay. If you're sure," Grimmjow said, shaking his head, "But at least let my driver take you home, okay?"
"No, thank you," Tetsuya answered hastily, running towards the door, "I just...I have to...Byakuya-sama is going to be furious!"
Grimmjow smirked as the younger man dashed out the door, carelessly letting it slam shut behind him.
"Go ahead, sweetheart," he laughed softly, "You'll be back."
Tetsuya paused, looking carefully out the front doors of the building before dashing out and seeking the shadows. He knew better than to return to the company headquarters, but fled for home, slowing as he approached the manor and keeping to the shadows to avoid the eyes of the house guards. He angled towards the barn and paddock area, and crept in through a break in the fence, then waited until the house guard in the area was turned away to use the smaller door to slip into the barn. He ran into Arashi's stall, shaking all over and his heart pounding as he waited for a sign that he had been seen. Tears burned in his eyes as he considered how angry Byakuya would be, all of the questions he would be asked.
How am I supposed to answer? I don't know what happened! Grimmjow-san said that nothing happened, and my body does not feel like anything was done to me. But how can I know for sure? I was unconscious in his apartment for several hours! He could have...oh gods, he could have done any number of horrid things!
What do I do?
What am I supposed to do?
I don't know what to do!
He dropped down onto his knees next to Arashi, where the stallion knelt in a pile of clean straw, and leaned against him, closing his eyes and trying desperately to think.
XXXXXXXXXX
Aizen Sousuke looked up, wearing a curious expression as loud voices sounded outside his office, then the door was kicked open and neatly off the hinges. Byakuya burst through the doorway, rounding on the other man, his steely eyes blazing.
"Where is he? What have you done with him?" Byakuya demanded, "I know this is no coincidence. You wanted him to work for you, but you have gone too far, Sousuke!"
"What are you talking about? Do you mean that you have lost track of your cousin?" he asked calmly, waving off the security guards that were approaching the enraged Kuchiki CEO.
"As though you weren't perfectly aware!" Byakuya seethed, "Tell me where he is, Sousuke. Tell me now!"
"I am afraid I can't tell you anything, Byakuya," Aizen said smirking, "I have no idea where your cousin is, and nothing at all to do with his disappearance. I am still attempting to negotiate with Kuchiki Company. I wouldn't need to resort to abduction as long as we are still talking. Surely you know that."
"I know that you are capable of anything. You are willing to stoop a lot lower than just abduction and I swear to you, I will destroy you if you hurt Tetsuya!"
"I told you. I had nothing to do with your cousin's disappearance. I will happily add my resources to yours in helping to find him. I am sorry that..."
"You bastard, I don't want you to come near this. Just stay out of this and away from my family!"
Byakuya turned on his heel, storming out the broken door and leaving Aizen gazing amorously after him.
"Ah, it is good to see the return of those more passionate spirits. But I wonder..."
"What was that?" asked Grimmjow, frowning and stepping over the broken pieces of the office door and making the glass crunch under his feet as he entered the office, "He looked seriously pissed off."
Aizen turned an appraising eye on the vocalist.
"Byakuya was concerned because it seems that Kuchiki Tetsuya has gone missing," he said, smirking, "Tell me, Grimmjow, would you know anything about that?"
"Maybe I do and maybe I don't. Why're you asking?" Grimmjow said, shrugging.
"Well," Aizen said, looking down at the papers in front of him, "If you were involved in some way, I would hope that you were cautious so that Byakuya would have no reason to suspect you, and that there was some payoff for us to compensate me for the broken door my office just sustained."
"Heh, how does this hit you, Boss?" Grimmjow said, dropping a small package on Aizen's desk.
Aizen's lips curved upward as he picked up the package and opened it, withdrawing a small set of portraits. He caught his breath softly, first at the beauty of the young man pictured naked in the photos, some alone and some with Grimmjow, then at one picture in particular.
"Oh...I see. These...especially this one...just exquisite, Grimmjow. But, hmmm, with Byakuya knowing that he was missing. I am not sure yet how we can use them."
"Pretty easy to figure out," Grimmjow laughed, "Just tell the little cupcake about them, but don't tell anyone else. We pressure him. He caves and does the duet to keep this quiet, ne?"
"Oh, you are brutal, aren't you?" Aizen chuckled, "However, I think that to avoid having to take the Kuchiki family head on, we need to be careful about this. Leave these with me and don't do anything yet. I want to see what happens next. Did you free Tetsuya yet?"
"Yeah. He woke up and started freaking out, so I played dumb and convinced him he'd passed out from exhaustion or some shit, and I had brought him home to let him sleep it off."
"Good, except for the fact that Byakuya will know we were involved."
"If Pretty-san tells him, that is."
"Ah," said Aizen, raising an eyebrow, "I can see how Tetsuya might hesitate to share, considering. We need to find out if they know where he was. Byakuya didn't know yet, so I think we have to wait until Tetsuya reappears and tells his story. Depending on what he says, we will make our next move accordingly. I have to say, although this had the potential to go terribly wrong, it just might work in our favor after all, Grimmjow. But please do not abduct anyone else for now. We don't want so much suspicion cast on us that we can't move when the time comes. Subtlety, Grimmjow..."
"Right," grunted the blue haired man, dropping into a chair.
The two men looked up as Aizen's phone rang. Aizen picked it up and immediately broke into a crafty smile.
"Hmmm, interesting. Keep an eye on things. Let me know what happens."
"What was that?" Grimmjow asked, sitting up straighter.
"Things are about to get interesting indeed," Aizen said, resting his chin on his palm, "Tetsuya didn't go back to the company building. He went home and slipped past the guards, so he wouldn't be seen."
"Heheh, sounds like he's not too eager to let his cousin know what happened," chuckled Grimmjow.
"So it seems. Go on, then and keep close to the situation. I will give this some thought and be in touch. But as I said, no more moves until I give the order."
"Right, I've got it," Grimmjow said, heading for the door.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Tetsuya," a voice said, bringing the young man suddenly out of sleep.
He inhaled sharply in surprise, startled at the sudden waking. Then, he realized that he had fallen asleep in Arashi's stall and felt his face redden.
"Tetsuya, are you all right?"
"Eh, oh...yes. Gomen nasai, I...I wasn't feeling so well and I came home."
"But no one saw you arrive," Byakuya said, frowning, "And why are you here?"
"Yeah," said Renji, appearing at Byakuya's side, "I thought we had a date. I told you I was on the way."
"I...ah, I know that," Tetsuya said, sitting up and rubbing his hands over his face.
He thought swiftly.
"It is just that...well..."
"You overheard the board squabbling and you became upset about it, didn't you?" Byakuya said, frowning.
"Ah..."
"Tetsuya, I told you not to let them get to you," Byakuya chided him, "They do not have any right to look down on you, so ignore them. I know that it is a weight on you, but I have been where you are, and I know that the only way to beat them is to ignore what they say. Focus instead on me. Focus on our project. Don't let those people distract you from what we are accomplishing."
"He's right," said Renji, "You know those old farts don't know what they're babbling about. If it was left up to them, they would have already driven the company into the ground. Now, come on. There's still time to go have some dinner and see a movie or something."
"Actually," Tetsuya said, more softly, "I still feel unwell. I am tired. Sorry, Renji-san, I was looking forward to going out, but we will have to go another time."
"I think that is best," said Byakuya, giving Renji a look of dismissal.
"Eh, okay," Renji said, his brown eyes taking on a hurt look, "I'll uh...I'll see you tomorrow. Get some sleep, okay? Maybe we can go out after work or something."
"Of course," Tetsuya said, suddenly feeling guilty at having hurt his friend's feelings, "Renji, I would love to go out after work tomorrow. And I really am sorry about tonight. I just...got overwhelmed by everything."
"Ah, that's okay," said the redhead, recovering some of his better humor, "Don't worry about it. I'll look forward to tomorrow, then."
Tetsuya lowered his eyes as Renji turned out of the barn, leaving Tetsuya alone with Byakuya. The elder Kuchiki gazed down at his cousin's bowed head for a moment, then sat down next to him.
"They really got to you, didn't they?" he asked, softly, "Believe me, I understand how that feels, Tetsuya."
"I know that you do, Byakuya-sama," Tetsuya assured him, "I was just...I overreacted. I am sorry."
"Stop apologizing. It is all right. There is a lot of weight being set upon your shoulders. You will have times when it becomes too much. I just wish that you would have come to me, Tetsuya. That is why I am here. I know I am CEO of the company, but I have always tried to be someone you could turn to..."
"You are!" Tetsuya exclaimed, "Please don't think this means anything like that. I really didn't mean it that way. I just needed to be alone...to work things out on my own. I need to be able to do that. I can't always be depending on other people to help me deal with everything."
"But you shouldn't try to handle everything alone."
"I won't. I told you I'm sorry. Please, Byakuya-sama, can we just let it go? I am...really very tired and tomorrow is going to be a long day."
Byakuya gazed at him quietly fro a moment, then nodded in acceptance.
"You are right. Go on, watashi no itoko. Get some rest. I will see you in the morning."
XXXXXXXXXX
Curious and deeply appreciative eyes looked down at the small array of portraits on the desk and Aizen's lips smiled deviously.
"You are very careless, quite stupid sometimes, but you do have your moments, Grimmjow," he said to his absent subordinate, "These are extraordinary...especially this."
He stared closely at the picture, admiring the sexually charged moment captured with Grimmjow poised over Tetsuya's naked body, his eyes hazy with lust as he moved in to kiss the flesh of the other man's exposed throat. He admired the way the fingers of one hand were laced together with Grimmjow's and his arm was thrown carelessly over his partially turned face, leaving a porcelain cheek, a bit of his nose and his sensuous lips exposed and captured in an expression of near torment.
"Beautiful," Aizen whispered, "Inspiring. I wonder..."
He thought deeply, his lips quirking as he perused his options. Then, he picked up the phone and pressed several buttons.
"Sir?" said a male voice on the other end.
"Send Gin up here, will you?"
He looked back down at the picture and his smile widened devilishly.
"I have a project for him. Tell him...it involves the art for the cover of Espada's upcoming release. Tell him to come now. I'm feeling quite inspired."