Chapter 24: Where the Apple Falls
(Ah, finally, the last of the reworked chapters! The next chapter will be all new and shiny, just for all of you. And it will also be the beginning of the climax of the story. I have to catch up on AO3, where I've fallen behind on chapters, and then I will have a new one for both sites. Thanks so much to everyone reading and reviewing. Love, Spunky)
"I'm curious. Why did you bring me here?" asked Tetsuya, "I am aware you didn't tell Byakuya that you were checking me out of the hospital."
"No," said Aizen Sousuke, pouring his son a glass of water and handing to him, then pouring a glass of wine for himself, "I wanted to talk to you alone. There are some things we need to discuss and I am afraid that, as much as I love Byakuya, he would not handle them well. Still, sometimes unpleasant things can't be avoided. You understand that, don't you, Tetsuya?"
"What are you saying to me, Father?" Tetsuya asked, narrowing his eyes, "What do you think Byakuya would not handle well?"
Aizen sighed.
"You are our son...Byakuya's and mine," he explained, "Either one of those things would make your life difficult, but I think you are coming to understand that both of those things will make your life deadly."
"Yes," Tetsuya agreed hesitantly, "I think that has been established. So, what are you asking me to do?"
"I am asking you to take what measures you can to protect yourself," Aizen posited, "Tetsuya, you are about to debut in two very different worlds in a way that could well cause pandemonium in both of the worlds you occupy. As you do, you need to be prepared for all circumstances. I do not want any mysteriously loose bolts or unexpected failures of equipment to endanger you again. Neither do I want you to ever turn a corner and find yourself facing down a person wanting to kill you and holding a gun to your head."
"And you think that Byakuya wouldn't want me to be able to protect myself?" Tetsuya asked, "In case you aren't aware, I have been thoroughly trained in martial arts, including fighting people with weapons."
"As expected," Aizen assured him, "But there is every chance that you will find yourself in a position where martial arts training is not enough."
Tetsuya's eyes widened as his father withdrew a handgun from within his suit and handed it gently to the younger man.
"Ah," Tetsuya said, his heart pounding, "I see."
"You have been raised by Byakuya to a certain set of expectations," Aizen went on, "but you are not Byakuya's child alone. You are also my son, and with that comes a burden that will haunt your every step for the rest of your life."
Aizen smiled enigmatically.
"I want your life to last as long as possible, so I am going to see to your training in some...perhaps less than gentlemanly, but very necessary techniques. Do you understand?"
Tetsuya stared at the weapon he held poised between his fingertips and away from his body.
"I think I do."
"Very well," Aizen said, retrieving the weapon and turning it slightly, ""The first thing you need to know is never to point a gun, loaded or not, at anything you are not wanting to kill. Even if you have the safety on, you cannot be sure that you haven't made a mistake and something unfortunate could happen."
Tetsuya gazed back at him wordlessly, his heart still racing.
"As of right now, I have assigned a security team to educate you and Renji in weapons tactics...guns and knives specifically. Grimmjow has already been fully trained. Once that training has begun, you will carry a weapon everywhere you go. A small one that can be concealed in your costume while you are onstage and a larger one that you will possess when you leave home, every time you leave home. I am not saying these things lightly. I have confirmed that two of your relatives were behind at least one of the attacks on you."
"Two of my relatives?" Tetsuya repeated, "Who?"
"Orochi and Arisu," Aizen answered.
"But they hate each other!" Tetsuya objected, "They can't be...!"
"You are going to find that a lot of things aren't as expected," Aizen said solemnly, "And unless you wish to share in Kuchiki Soujun's fate, you must prepare yourself for every eventuality."
"I suppose I must," Tetsuya said, a troubled look in his sapphire eyes, "But what about Byakuya? He is going to be awfully upset, first at learning I defied doctor's orders and left the hospital, and now this. I don't know if I can do this, knowing how he is going to feel about it all."
"But you said you understand the necessity, ne?"
"Y-yes, but..."
"I want you to focus on your healing, your musical practice and your self-defense training. I will take care of Byakuya. As much as he will not like what I am doing, I believe I can bring him around to see things my way."
"There is a lot of love between you," Tetsuya observed, "but there is also a lot of misunderstanding. Please, Father, do try to smooth things over with him. I know he loves you very much. But Byakuya was beside himself at my injury. I don't know how much more he can handle."
"Byakuya is extremely strong," Aizen reminded him, "Tetsuya, you know this. He endured harsh criticism from the family over his relationship with me and my betrayal. Even worse, he suffered the loss of his father and bearing you but not being able to acknowledge you. Despite everything, he carried on and he raised you to be a fine and talented young man. You have a promising future, Tetsuya, but you have reached the point where Byakuya's more conservative guidance could be a liability. You need to recognize and accept that part of you that is more like me. For many years, you might have submerged it, but now that the truth is out and you know your full lineage, you must adjust."
Tetsuya went quiet for several long moments, biting his lip gently as he considered his father's words carefully. Aizen smiled at his reverie.
"You are contemplative, like Byakuya," he noted approvingly, "That is good. It means that you will not be hasty and rush into decisions, but will consider all sides carefully. But...you will also not hesitate to take action where it is needed."
"I do see the need for me to adjust, as you say," Tetsuya agreed, "but I want you to make Byakuya understand and I don't want you to hurt him."
"I don't know if I can promise that my next set of actions will not cause him pain," Aizen confessed, "I can only say that I have given this a great deal of thought and I cannot think of a way around it. People are out to end your life, Tetsuya, Byakuya's as well, and probably mine, if they are bold enough to think they can. These are real dangers of a kind that you have not faced before...but I have. I will bring you through these things, and I will protect Byakuya as I do that. I just need you to put your faith in me and do exactly as I say. I have many years of experience handling people more dangerous than these."
"You also have many years of experience deceiving and using people," Tetsuya reminded him quietly, "Don't think that because I see the logic in your words that I have forgotten that."
"Touchè," Aizen answered, smiling, "I admit that I have outwitted a lot of people and yes, used them. I have become a very rich man, but even I see that such actions do not happen without there being damage. I take full responsibility for damaging Byakuya, and given a second chance, I will protect our love, and our son, ruthlessly."
"But you shouldn't do these things without including him!" Tetsuya argued.
"And you think he would come around to seeing you trained like one of my henchmen?
"N-no," Tetsuya said, looking flustered, "I just think it's wrong leaving him out of the loop right now. How is he going to feel when he arrives at the hospital and finds I am gone? He'll be worried."
"I have that taken care of," Aizen assured him, "Tetsuya, everything will be taken care of. Go with Edrad, now. He will take you to the shooting range and begin your training."
Aizen watched quietly as the bodyguard arrived and escorted Tetsuya out of his office, then he picked up his glass of wine and turned to look out the window. Several minutes passed in uneasy silence, then he heard a familiar step in the doorway.
Aizen smiled and closed his eyes for a moment, then turned to greet the lovely sight of Byakuya standing in his doorway, looking back at him with dark, unreadable eyes.
"You arrived even more quickly than I had expected you would. Are you angry with me, Byakuya?"
Byakuya moved forward in slow, measured steps and stopped in front of Aizen.
"Sousuke," he said solemnly, "we may have been separated for many years, but I have not forgotten what kind of man you are. If you have taken our son out of the hospital early, you had a compelling belief that there was something more important that had to be done for his safety."
"You are wise to see that, my love," Aizen said, curling an arm around his raven-haired spouse and indulging in several long, slow kisses before continuing, "I will be sure that Tetsuya rests and cares for himself sufficiently and that he is, at all times, well protected. The next few weeks will be critical."
"And one wrong move could end in his death," Byakuya said softly.
"Or yours," Aizen breathed warningly.
"Or yours, Sousuke," Byakuya added, "Did you really think that you couldn't just tell me that? Why did you feel that you had to go around me? My eyes are opened to my family's treachery now. And while I do want to resolve our issues peacefully, if it comes down to having to harm them to save our family, I will do what needs to be done."
"Byakuya, you are the peaceful one, the diplomat, the negotiator. I wouldn't have you be forced to use violence, except as a last resort. That, you should leave to me and think about as little as possible. It is an unpleasant thing, but it is also necessary. But let me carry that on my shoulders. I am the kind of person best suited to that. I want you and Tetsuya to be able to give you full focus to sharing your musical gifts with the world. While you do that, I will shield you from the people and things that would seek to harm you. I know that I failed you when you became pregnant with our son, but I will not fail in your protection again."
"I know you won't," Byakuya said, recovering a genuine smile, "And be assured that I will not fail to do what I must to protect our family either."
Aizen's smile warmed and he brought a hand to Byakuya's porcelain cheek, caressing gently as they kissed more amorously.
"Soujun would have been so proud of you," Aizen whispered against his lips, "And you will do him full honor when you loose your talents on the world."
"I wouldn't be able to do that if not for you," Byakuya acknowledged, "If not for you, Tetsuya and I would have forever been silenced and my father's legacy would have died. It only has a chance to continue because you returned to me. I know that you did so with the intent of taking over Kuchiki Studios, but I see now that I was always your main goal, wasn't I?"
"Yes," Aizen confessed, holding him more tightly as they kissed again, "You have been my obsession since I first saw your face. I tried to let go, but eventually, I realized that was not an option. I had to have you back. And when Ginrei died, I knew that you be left vulnerable...not that you hadn't made yourself strong enough to fight back, but that you shouldn't have to fight that battle alone. I am the reason for much of the pain in your life, and now I will be the resolution."
"Be careful, Sousuke," Byakuya whispered.
Aizen gave him a sly smile.
"I will be fine," he assured his comely mate, "As you were born into high society and diplomacy, I was born into taking care of myself."
"But you have liabilities that you didn't have before," Byakuya pointed out, "It is harder to protect yourself when you are protecting others."
"You leave that to me," Aizen said, sliding a hand down to caress Byakuya's awakening nether region, "Now then, while things are quiet and we are all safe, let us indulge in each other."
The two shared several more penetrating kisses, then Aizen's hand captured Byakuya's and he led his spouse to his desk, where the Kuchiki heir sat down on the desktop and sighed in acceptance as Aizen pressed in between his thighs, leaning over him and kissing him more hungrily. His hands peeled away Byakuya's finely tailored suit jacket and it fell onto the desk, then he loosened and removed his husband's tie and worked his way down the row of buttons on his shirt. That too, fell away and Aizen's hands moved more insistently, baring Byakuya to the waist, then teasing his sensitive nipples with stroking fingertips as he ducked beneath his husband's chin and fed on the soft, flushed skin of his throat. The erotic contact excited a flustered moan from between Byakuya's parted lips and he moved his hips impatiently, seeking friction against his spouse's warm body.
The fingers of one hand slid through the silken lengths of Byakuya's hair, then Aizen lowered him onto his back and ran his fingers teasingly down the half-bared man's torso, making his back arch and his eyes haze over lustily. Even more slowly, he bared Byakuya below the waist, then glared down at his lovely naked body with undisguised hunger. He leaned over the desk, teasing Byakuya's aroused nether region with his own as he explored the soft expanses of revealed flesh, kissing his way down the long, slender torso, then pausing to breathe his sweet scent in deeply before continuing.
Byakuya closed his eyes as Aizen's mouth attacked his vulnerable privates, and he panted and writhed, sweat misting on his skin. He groaned impatiently as his husband's fingers and tongue prepared him, then Aizen straightened and adjusted his clothing enough to permit their joining. He leaned over Byakuya again, coaxing him into opening his deeply hazed eyes and keeping them locked as he made his unhurried entry. He paused to meet Byakuya's smoldering eyes again, then began to move.
Byakuya's slender legs wrapped around his hips and tightened. His hips ground urgently against his husband's seeking heavier friction and teasing Aizen into increasingly more fervent undulations. Aizen's dark, voracious eyes fixed on him and his fingers traced Byakuya's parted, moaning lips as the two neared climax. Aizen's mouth reclaimed Byakuya's and their fingers laced together tightly as they strained against each other seeking the lovely explosion of completion. They reached it together, lingering on the precipice for a long, breathless moment, before succumbing to the hard, raking shudders of complete bliss.
For several long minutes, both men went silent, exchanging slow kisses and lighter caresses. Aizen's eyes sought his husband's and found Byakuya's looking back at him with love and trust. He blinked slowly, trying to fathom the intense warmth of that connection, his mind still spinning with the pleasant lassitude of post-coital satiety.
"I love you, Sousuke," Byakuya said quietly, "and if you think it is best, then have Tetsuya trained your way. He has been raised like me, but he is your child also. He has always had a restlessness beneath the surface, a rebelliousness that he could sometimes barely hold back. He was forced to be submissive to the family for his survival, but he does not have to do that anymore and I am glad. He deserves to be free of their interference. He deserves to come into full bloom and shine."
Aizen smiled and slowly eased his sated body free of Byakuya's, then slid into his chair, eyeing Byakuya's beautiful and still naked body appreciatively. He moved forward and rested his cheek against the other man's soft belly, closing his eyes and feeling the close presence of the little life that grew beneath the surface.
"You deserve to come into full bloom and shine as well," he said softly, "And you will, Byakuya. I promise you that you will...both in giving our new child life and in bringing your beauty to the world in the way your family always has."
"You should just focus on Tetsuya's career," Byakuya said, looking away, "I don't..."
"No," Aizen said, capturing Byakuya's chin and looking deeply into his spouse's dark grey eyes, "You have been concealed in the darkness for too long...Aizen Byakuya. I am going to bring you out of that darkness...forever!"