Chapter 20: In the Spotlight
"You okay?" Renji asked, lacing his fingers into Tetsuya's, "You look kinda unsettled."
"It makes sense you would be," Grimmjow said from where he sat on Tetsuya's other side, "But don't worry about it. We've practiced everything to perfection."
"Oh," Tetsuya said nervously, "There is no such thing as perfection. Things happen sometimes..."
"Don't worry about it," Renji reassured him, "Grimmjow and I have been on stages plenty of times. Just focus on us and do like you did in practice."
"Just not like what you did at the end of our practice session," Grimmjow said, smirking, "Performances like that are meant for Red's eyes and mine only."
"Will you shut up!" Renji snapped, scowling, "I'm trying to settle him down!"
"Well, maybe what he needs isn't to be settled down. Maybe he needs to be riled up. I know I do!"
"Well, you're a head case," Renji said dryly.
"Shut the fuck up, asshole!" Grimmjow snapped aggressively.
"Why don't you make me?"
"Renji, Grimmjow, please stop!" Tetsuya pleaded, biting at his lips, "You're making it worse."
"See what you did?" Renji said accusingly,
"What I did? What about what you did, moron?"
"Guys!"
"What is going on in here?" Byakuya's low, stern voice asked suddenly, making Renji and Grimmjow go instantly silent.
Byakuya gave the two a look of reproach, then focused on his distressed son.
"Come, Tetsuya. You should begin warming up now. We will be arriving soon."
"Very well," Tetsuya said, abandoning his seat and following Byakuya into the next section of the jet.
He stood quietly next to where Byakuya sat down, waiting as he picked up a guitar and then moving into his preparatory vocal exercises, slowly warming up his voice. As Byakuya played and he ran through the familiar routine, his body calmed and his heart stopped pounding so fitfully. By the time the two had finished, he was feeling much more calm inside, and even found himself smiling as he took a seat across from Byakuya.
"This is so strange," he said softly, looking out of the window at the puffy, white clouds and blue sky, "At first, I was sure that I would never perform in front of an audience at all. And even once you paid what the board said that I owed and freed me, I was prepared for my first performance to be in opera. I never even dreamed..."
"Neither did I," Byakuya said softly, putting the guitar down.
Tetsuya knew better than to say a word, sensing that something important was about to be revealed to him.
"All of those years ago, I was much like you...young, lovely, talented and extremely naive. I was raised to expect that I would follow my father into opera, that I would continue his dreams. And I was always content to do that."
He went silent for a moment, looking out into the sky and remembering.
"But then, he came. He was a guest at Kuchiki Manor after one of my father's performances, and my father had me sing at that gathering, for the first time in public. Sousuke was very impressed, and he knew that even though my father had had some problems with illness that had made the company's future hard to forecast, that my coming into the business would strengthen the company, and that there was a great deal of money to be made. He offered to buy the company, then and there, for well over what it was worth. But he didn't want the interference of the board. Well, they were up in arms, and in the end, they halted the sale of the company and Sousuke left.
He began to...appear in places when I was alone. I was young, impressionable, and he was handsome, worldly and too charming for me to resist. He told me that I didn't have to confine myself to opera, that there was another world out there to explore in more popular music. It took some time for him to break down my barriers, but finally, I couldn't stop myself anymore. I agreed to record a demo, which I did. And after that, I gave in to him...and he learned about my...difference. I knew what kind of man he was. I worried that he was only using me. And when he went back and used that to try to force the board into a deal, everything went awry. I thought that it meant that he never loved me, that...he was just using me to steal the company away. And being in that situation, and also learning I was pregnant with his child, I didn't know what to do. I still don't know what I should have done. I gave in to my family's wishes and never performed. They always feared Sousuke would come back and learn of the baby. We concealed you with lies, Tetsuya, and that turned your life upside down. You grew up, thinking yourself an orphan, an outcast of the family, when truly, you are its greatest hope.
Just know this...It is going to be all right for you. When the curtain parts, you'll feel calm come over you and everything inside your mind will go still. And when you open your mouth and start to sing, everyone in that place will know without hesitation that you belong there. In front of cameras, on a stage, before an audience of whatever size. You were born for this, and this is what you need to be doing."
"This...even though it isn't opera?" Tetsuya asked, smiling and taking Byakuya's hands in his.
"This...whether it is opera or anything else. You are a born performer and I know how much you love to sing and dance. The family could keep the music out of your public life, but they couldn't keep it out of your soul, Tetsuya. You were meant for this."
Tetsuya bit his lip gently, carefully considering his words.
"You were meant for this too," he said, squeezing Byakuya's hands, "You have wanted to be on a stage all of your life and you should have been! But...it is not too late."
"Oh, Tetsuya, my time has come and gone. I am..."
"Beautiful," Aizen's voice said from behind the two, "And your voice is divine. Our son is right. And once I have secured the company, you are going to perform. I want you to have what I stole from you all of those years ago. The performances that your father wrote for you are meant to be seen and heard."
"But, you don't know how vicious they will be when they lose to you," Byakuya whispered, closing his eyes against the thought, "They will only make sure that I am thoroughly humiliated. They will reveal my condition, themselves...perhaps have me killed."
"I won't let that happen," Aizen promised, slipping an arm around him and feeding him a gentle kiss, "They won't see this coming. They don't know what is about to hit them. I will steal the two of you away as I should have done years ago, and both of you will be surrounded by everything you dreamed of and thought lost!"
"It sounds wonderful," said Tetsuya, smiling.
"As long as our luck holds," Byakuya added quietly, "We shall need to tread cautiously now. Tetsuya, mind very carefully that your face is never uncovered at the venue, and do not speak, except to perform."
"What about you?" Tetsuya asked, a note of worry in his voice, "Remember that if you are seen with Aizen Sousuke, it will cause suspicion."
"I have that covered," Aizen said, smiling meaningfully, "Tetsuya, why don't you go into the changing room at the back of the jet. Gin will be waiting to dress you for the performance. I will see to Byakuya and once we land, both of you will be carefully protected from discovery."
"How?" Tetsuya asked curiously.
"Go on, you will see."
Byakuya watched as Tetsuya left, then looked up at Aizen questioningly.
"Come with me," the brown-eyed man invited him, extending a hand.
Byakuya smiled and nodded, taking his hand and rising, then following him into a smaller compartment and taking his place in front of several mirrors. Aizen stood behind the raven haired man and very slowly undressed him, placing sensuous kisses along his neck and shoulder as Byakuya was slowly bared.
"Is this 'dressing,' or are you attempting to seduce me?" Byakuya asked sedately, meeting the other man's eyes in the mirror.
"I am afraid that seduction must wait until later," Aizen said, smirking, "Although, if you continue to tease me with those wanton eyes, my love, I may not be able to contain myself."
"When do you ever?" Byakuya mused, turning and pushing him back against the wall of the dressing room, then invading his mouth forcefully.
"Mmmm," but I must have neglected you last night, for you to still be so hungry for my affections."
"Hardly!" Byakuya chuckled, "I assure you, you were quite attentive."
"Ah, but I am afraid we can go no further with dressing you until you have been fed."
Byakuya's fingers joined his and undid his shirt, then bared him to the waist. Watching as Byakuya laid kisses along his collarbone, then began to slide down his torso, making a path of kisses downward, the brown-eyed man lazily removed the last impediments to his most sensitive areas, then guided his lover with a warm hand as Byakuya knelt in front of him and began to pleasure him.
Aizen's dark eyes narrowed, watching closely the gentle motion of his lover's pretty pink tongue and feather soft lips, enjoying the caress of the other man's slender, graceful fingers. His eyes would have closed altogether if he hadn't enjoyed so much the sight of the one he loved caught up happily in bringing him pleasure. And seeing Byakuya so content brought a deeper hunger for the man into his loins. His eyes darkened and filled with lust, and he coaxed Byakuya back onto his feet, turning the tables and trapping him roughly against the wall. Wanting brown eyes enslaved the widened gray, and Aizen's hand curved around Byakuya's naked body, sliding down his back, pausing to caress his rounded bottom as they kissed, then capturing a pale thigh and lifting it carefully to wrap around his waist. Still ravishing the raven-haired man's savory mouth, he shifted, positioning himself, then slowly entering the slighter man. He paused for a moment with their bodies joined, enchanted by the way his lover's head had come to rest on his shoulder and Byakuya's lovely eyes had gone misted and almost senseless.
"This is the kind of happiness I wanted to give to you before," he breathed into his lover's ear, teasing a moan from deep down into Byakuya's heaving chest as he began to move, "You will always know this contentedness, now that we are one. I will not let anyone take this away from us."
"S-sousuke!" Byakuya panted, biting fitfully at his lover's muscular shoulder, then snapping heatedly at his smiling lips.
"All of this time," Aizen went on, moving his hips and feeding his lovely spouse biting kisses, "I thought that I had ensnared you, Byakuya. I found you. I stalked and cornered you. And relentlessly, I made you my possession."
"I tried to run away," Byakuya whispered dazedly.
"But no matter the years that passed and the strength of the fortress you built around yourself..."
"You crashed through everything and reclaimed the heart that never truly left you. I may have dwelled within a fortress, but always I looked out and watched...and waited. I knew...I knew in my heart of hearts you would come back. I lived for and was, at the same time, terrified of the moment of your return."
"You were unwise to ever leave," Aizen breathed, glaring down into Byakuya's love-hazed eyes, "and I will never let you go again. These are the only arms that will ever hold you, these the only lips that will ravage yours. This body is the only one that will bring yours to completion and these eyes and ears the only ones that will ever witness the depths of our passions."
"You are right," Byakuya hissed, closing his eyes as climax began to overtake him, "I am hopelessly ensnared. There is no part of mind, body and very soul that has not been breached. I live and breathe our love now, Sousuke."
"But you are not the only one entangled," Aizen replied as the sweet shudders of orgasm claimed them, "As certainly as I have made you mine, you have conquered me. My world begins and ends with you...Byakuya. I will do whatever it takes to protect you and the child we made."
One hand slipped down to lightly caress Byakuya's slender abdomen.
"And...any future miracles we make together," he finished, sliding down the wall with his overcome lover as sweet satedness flooded their panting bodies.
Byakuya leaned against his shoulder heavily for a time, smiling as Aizen's lips gently teased the fine flesh of rosy lips, blushing cheeks and flushed throat.
"We should really get dressed," the Kuchiki CEO said finally, working his way free of Aizen's possessive arms and slowly standing.
Aizen rose and set his and slowly cleaned away the evidence of their lovemaking, then positioned Byakuya in front of the mirror and removed a beautiful mingled red and navy blue kimono from within a garment bag that had been hung in the room.
Byakuya admired it for a moment, then blinked in surprise.
"But...this is..."
"A woman's kimono, yes," Aizen affirmed, "As I told you, I will make it so that you may stand at my side while our son performs in public for the first time, and no one will have any idea who you are. Gin will finish the disguise with a few accessories and a little bit of makeup, but I wanted to dress you, myself."
Byakuya watched curiously as Aizen's hands set the lovely creation around his body, then fastened it in place.
"You see, you look stunning as a man or as a woman, Byakuya. Do be careful not to tease me anymore, I am not sure that I could hold back from tearing that kimono off and having my way with you again. You do love to tempt me, don't you?"
"Of course," Byakuya agreed, smirking, "It is the only time you lose a bit of control...and that fascinates me. That is why I cannot help but rile you."
"You like playing with dangerous things, my love. But rest assured now, this dangerous thing will never hurt you again. It will only break and destroy anyone who tries to steal away our happiness!"
"Oh, what lovely words!" Gin said, slipping into the room and joining them, "But come now, you two must cease your flirtations and let me finish with Byakuya's disguise before we land."
He looked the Kuchiki heir over and nodded his approval.
"You were right, Sousuke, this is perfect. It just needs a few finishing touches and our Byakuya-san will look every bit the enchanting vixen he is! Go on. I've finished with Tetsuya-chan, but he looked practically ready to hyperventilate. He is a very sweet young thing, isn't he! If he doesn't faint before taking the stage, then he'll have women and men alike panting after him."
"Maybe I should go to him," Byakuya said, frowning.
"No, you stay here and let Gin finish your disguise. I will see to our son."
"Ah, very well," Byakuya sighed, turning back to face the mirror.
Aizen left the room and walked several doors over to another large dressing room, where Tetsuya stood, silently looking at his reflection in the mirror. Aizen was stricken immediately with his progeny's beauty that echoed Byakuya's as well as the dark, determined expression that was one of his own.
"We are going to be landing in a few minutes," Aizen said quietly, meeting Tetsuya's eyes in the mirror, then watching as the young man turned to face him.
Indescribably beautiful, garbed in silken white, with touches that looked almost feathery, accented with iridescent sequins and carefully concealed beneath a silvery mask, he looked every bit the part of an angel. He looked silently into Aizen Sousuke's dark eyes, as though searching for the right words.
"Thank you," he said finally, "And not just for what you have done for me. Thank you for making Byakuya so happy. I know that things are going to be dangerous now, but whatever happens, I will have no regrets."
"And you should have none," Aizen said, smiling at him, "You are going to make them love you, Tetsuya. You were gifted with the same thing I saw in your mother, all of those years ago...the same high spirits, the same beauty, the same heart. But you have a stubbornness, a determination, that is more like mine. What stands in your way now will not stand for long. When you perform tonight, you will break apart everything those board members set in your path and you will make your place as a world class performer. You already know inside that you were meant to do this. The only thing left to do is to put your feet into motion and begin."
"I will," Tetsuya promised, "But...I have something I would ask of you."
"And that is?"
"Byakuya needs to find his place in this world too. He has a beautiful, unspoiled voice and he belongs on a stage. I think he still holds back because he is afraid the family will reveal his condition. He seems terrified of that."
"Yes," Aizen agreed, "But...I will make you a promise. I will make things safe for you and for him, and then I will see that he blossoms into the performer we know he is."
A smile rose on Tetsuya's lips and his blue eyes brightened.
"Again, I am grateful," he said, embracing his father and closing his eyes, "Thank you."
"You are welcome. Come now, we need to sit buckle ourselves in for the landing."
Tetsuya nodded briefly, taking a last look in the mirror, then he followed his father out of the dressing room.