Disclaimer: Same as every time
Note: Today you get a new chappy and next weak there will be a new chappy for "The Monkay that reaches the Moon" :)
berty05: thank you I'm glad that you liked it and in further chappys there will be more ^^ here is a new chappy :)
DieRedPineapple: your thoughts always give me new ideas xD So actually I wasn't planning on giving them (Ren and Kenny) a sexual history but you made me reconsider this plan ^^ and now you will see who threatened Ichi ;)
sakurayuri89: well IF someone in this story will get pregnant and it is a man there will be no protruding stomach... that just disgusts me... and if you want pregnant Renji check out my mentioned other story ;)
Special Thanks to PaulaGay for beta-reading!
Chap 3: Back Together
Shortly after Ichigo warned those strangers, while pointing his sword at them, he felt the sharp edge of a dagger pressed against the delicate skin of his throat. Who would be able to sneak up on him and threaten him so suddenly? There was no one that skillful…. Except…. Maybe it was really him; Red.
"Ya shoul' put that sword a yours down alreddy," was whispered into his ear and that voice could only belong to one person; it was indeed Red.
"The fuck is wrong with you? Why should I do that?" he asked rather loudly and irritated.
"Because I told ya ta do it; 's that simple really. Ya know, ya would be dead before yer friends had time ta attack me," and it was true. The blade was already pressed against his skin, it would be too easy to kill him now in one swift move of the hand. To emphasize Red's growing annoyance, he pressed the blade harder against his skin, making a small line of blood appear where the sharp dagger directly cut into it.
Ichigo knew it was critical now, whether the cut was intentional or a mistake was not important at this point. He had to get rid of the man now. Sure he was supposed to bring him back and truth be told he had hoped it would go more smoothly…. They weren't the best friends; that was for sure, but they got along when they had to. However, now was one of those moments when Red would not negotiate or discuss things; no. Steeling his resolve to escape this unfortunate situation he slowly put his sword down, pretending to cooperate. He hoped Red would get careless, giving him an opportunity to get away. Although that moment never came, he thrust his elbow back hoping to hit him in the guts. Unfortunately he didn't succeed, because the other seemed to have anticipated the move.
Red simply jumped backwards, out of harm's way. He came to a stop in a crouched position, like a cat he was ready to leap on his prey at any time. Ichigo saw the determination shining in those red-brown orbs; Red was ready to attack.
Renji didn't know what Ichigo was doing here in his territory, but the red-line running down the orange-head's neck was driving him crazy. For the second time that day he was about to lose control over his bloodlust. He'd cut too deep it seemed and now he had difficulties denying his body the satisfaction of spraying Ichigo's blood all over the place. Again he had to breathe to calm down, damn that bloodlust.… He still didn't have it under control…
Soujun couldn't believe what had just now happened. One second there was that… boy threatening them and a rather strange looking red-head came along, nearly killing the boy. But the most irritating thing was that they seemed to know each other.
"Fuck Red! Stop it already! What the hell is wrong with you? We're supposed to fight together, not against each other!" the boy yelled at the top of lungs and Soujun became even more curious…. If his suspicion was right then the boy's group were the rednecks they were searching for and that meant that the red-head was one too. He even seemed to be more skillful seeing as his appearance had even surprised his colleagues.
"So wha'? I tol ya to let them be and yet ya still want ta fight 'em. Why? They didn't do anythin' wrong an' ya shoul' do wha' I tell ya. I'm of higher rank than ya after all," he heard him say in a calm voice and the assumption he and his father had that they lived in some kind of organization proved to be true, why else should the red-head speak of ranks?
"Tsk. Now you're playing that card? What do you plan on doing with them anyway, hm? You want to take them with you?"
"Yeah, why no'?"
It was one single question, and if the red-head's gesture to cross his arms over his chest as he stood upright again was any indication, he left no room for argument. But how could he just assume they wanted to go with him? Had he come across Byakuya? That seemed to be the only reason that would explain his behavior…
"Why would we go with you?! We don't even know you!"
Soujun had totally forgotten about the spitfire of his daughter. "Rukia. Calm down," he reprimanded her with a stern voice and look, narrowing his eyes into two slits; something the girl didn't see often.
Turning again to the red-headed male he gave him a once over. Yes he looked very dangerous and wild. He wasn't completely armored and only had two daggers with him, but Soujun figured that the fire they saw early belonged to him and Byakuya, thus his son and the rest of the red-head's equipment would be at their camp.
"You are a redneck, you know Byakuya and you can bring us to your boss. We will accompany you under one condition. You will help protect my children from Aizen's men and other threats and that includes any medicine you might have to help Hisana get rid of her growing illness."
Red-brown met steel-grey with a hint of purple, everyone else was silent. Soujun's stern look never wavered, holding the eye contact and showing no fear in front of the man. He knew that as soon as he showed any sign of weakness or that he was faking his resolve everything would be in vain and they could kiss their chance for help goodbye. They simply had to get to the red-head's boss.
Nearly 5 minutes went by and still nothing changed. Renji had to admit that the man had guts and now he knew where Byakuya got his looks. Yes, despite his age, the man was still attractive but he was a bit too old for Renji. The son on the other hand… He had to scold himself… his thoughts were drifting to places they didn't belong right now, but nevertheless he was impressed.
"Good. I will do tha'. Come with me and ya can meet up with yer son," not soon after his last word was uttered he could see the relief written in the man's face. The reactions of the girls were different though… one of them, he guessed she was Hisana, was smiling a happy smile, probably anticipating seeing her big brother again. The other, Rukia, was not so amused. She glared daggers at him, luckily looks couldn't kill. She was very suspicious of him, something that didn't come as a surprise to him.
"Why should we believe you? What do you hope to gain? No one offers help without a price," and although her words leaked with venom he had to admit that she was right.
"Yer a very smart gal aren't ya? Yeah, I hope ta gain somethin' from this bargain. I hope that ya will join forces wit us," he could see the sudden confusion in the girl's eyes and the disdain in Ichigo's but that didn't matter. The boss would have the last say in this anyway…
"Come now or tha meal with get col'." And everyone, including Ichigo's small party, followed him to the camp he and Byakuya had made.
Byakuya really didn't know what was going on…
One moment Renji was very seriously speaking of helping him with his family at any cost and the next he jumped to his feet, put on his leather armor pants and boots and was on his way to god knew where, telling him to keep an eye on the camp, because he would come back soon. Just like everything else, soon too was relative, because soon was already an imagined eternity ago…
Exhaling a breath of exhaustion Byakuya dropped his chin onto his palm; the elbow propped on one knee. Hopefully the red-head would be fine wherever he was and whatever he was doing… He didn't know what it was but something about the man intrigued him and at the same time something seemed off with him… He couldn't explain exactly what it was, but the man's senses didn't seem human at all, even though he definitely looked human.
That thought made Byakuya blush, remembering the red-head's body; his muscles, the toned and tattooed skin. Yes, the man was very attractive; he couldn't deny that, no one in his or her right mind could…
But he didn't know anything about the red-head, so first he had to take care of that, and soon. Now that he thought about it… Renji was quick in changing his mind after he heard Byakuya's story; from killing him to helping him. What was the red-head's story? He had the feeling that the man had one and that that story might include Aizen's men. That was something he would only ask later, when they got along better and were comfortable around each other, just like the issue with his tattoos.
He was sitting so that he faced the direction Renji had run off to, hoping he would come back soon. He became bored and there were no topics to think about anymore. He thought everything through to points where he needed more input, which was out of the question for now.
Gazing into the distance he saw a red spot suddenly coming into view. With every approaching step the red dot became more and more distinct, revealing Renji who was followed by several other people. In fact he was followed by 8 persons… Not quite believing what he was seeing, after all the man left alone, Byakuya rubbed his eyes hoping that the strange hallucination would vanish but somehow that didn't really work out… the other 8 people were still there…
Resigned to his fate he tried to see it in the most positive way. More people meant that there were more who could help him find his family. That is until a white head, who was walking to Renji's right, caught his attention. The long hair was a mixture of white and gray, a sign of old age. He walked gracefully and after taking a closer look Byakuya recognized the man as his grandfather. A sudden epiphany hit him. If that was his grandfather than three of the other people was the rest of his family! He instantly came to his feet, anticipating their arrival and he didn't have to wait long. As soon as he stood up both of his sisters came rushing towards him, and they crashed into him.
"Hisana, Rukia. I am glad that the two of you are alright," he said and knelt down so he would be on eye level with them. Although his sisters were both adults, 18 years old, their physical height was nowhere near that of an adult. They reached only to his chest.
"And we are glad that you are alright too brother," suddenly Hisana had a rather hard coughing fit, causing Byakuya to worry.
"Hisana! What is wrong?" he started to panic. Hisana was always the one more vulnerable for illnesses. It wouldn't have been a problem had they the needed herbs to brew a tea or a potion to help her.
"Don' panic. I got somethin' for her."
He hadn't realized that the other people had already reached them so Renji's statement came rather surprisingly. Byakuya saw the red-head fish through his belongings but he didn't know what the man was searching for.
"Gotcha!" Renji suddenly exclaimed, holding a vial with some liquid in the air. "Here take it, it'll help ya get well agin."
"Why should we believe you?" he heard Rukia ask, not trusting the red-head one bit.
"Drink it Hisana. You can trust him. Without him I probably would already be dead," Byakuya knew that his sisters needed this information or else they would be in a lot of trouble.
"Um, should I drink all of it?" she asked, uncertain if there would be side effects if she drank too much of the potion.
"Yeah drink all o' it, better than if ya drink no' 'nough," the red-head replied still rummaging through his belongings.
When Hisana was done with drinking everything, a green light surrounded her for a moment, and when it vanished she felt refreshed and healed of everything that may have ever affected her.
In the meantime Renji was searching for enough furs for everyone to sit on and one more that the sick girl could use as a blanket to cover herself with while they stayed here.
"HAH! Good thin' I got so many furs…" he exclaimed startling almost everyone.
"The hell is wrong with you? And what are you searching for?" Ichigo asked him standing now beside him. Their earlier quarrel forgotten, they fell into a comradely friendship, how long that would last no one really knew with those two…
"Jus' searching fo' 'nough fur for everyone ta sit on; help me ta give 'em out," without even bothering to wait for acceptance he shoved 4 furs into the orange-head's chest while he took 5 more.
While Ichigo handed everyone of his group a blanket Renji gave Byakuya's family the others and when Hisana sat down on hers he draped the last fur around her shoulders.
They sat around the campfire bathing in the warmth and waiting for the meat to get done.
"Why are you helping us?" Rukia suddenly asked the red-head with narrowed eyes.
"Why no'? Ya guys lost yer home didn' ya?"
"Yes we did and I want revenge. Aizen's men shall pay for what they did," just the memory of the streets, littered with dead bodies made Byakuya furious and he wanted to take his revenge…
"Yeah ya will get tha'. Yer father an' I made an agreement. Ya will join us and together we will fight 'em," their eyes met and Byakuya felt his resolve steeling. They would fight side by side, that was the unspoken agreement in their eye contact.
"Fuck I still don't see why we should take them with us Red…" Ichigo was still irritated with him.… True Red was of higher rank thus he had no other choice but to listen to his wishes, but that didn't mean that he had to like them…
"'Cause they can be of good use ta us. We can use every fighter we can git and here we have 3 sorcerers. You mean ta tell me tha' we should give up on them? Ya know even if they cain't fight they could be of other use. Like brewing potions or enchanting our weapons and armor."
"Red is right Ichigo. When we look at it from this point they would be an enrichment for us," a young man, well rather boy, with short dark-blue hair gave his own opinion on the matter and Ichigo didn't like that one bit.
"So you're on his side Uryuu? I thought we were friends!" Ichigo became angered again.
"We are, but you have to see it rati-"
"Ya know Ichi… ya were fast in beggin' fer our help and now ya want ta refuse the same treatment? No' really fair is it?" Renji interrupted Uryuu's would be reply, casting a meaningful look at the orange-head, who only scoffed and looked away clearly defeated.
"Anywa'wha' brings ya here Ichi? Ya don' usually leave our place."
"Yeah… the boss ordered me to bring you back. I don't know what's gotten into him, he even yelled at me," the orange-haired boy combed through his hair with his hand, remembering the morning the huge giant yelled at him in the dimly lit room, the booming voice.
"Ah yeah he can be like tha'. Seems ta be purty serious if he even yelled at ya… Oh well we will jus eat and rest a lil' more and then we'll be on our way." With those words he let his body drop completely onto the fur and immediately fell into a peaceful slumber.
Byakuya got up and made his way to Renji's belongings, fully aware of the stares he received. He really couldn't believe how much the man was able to carry… There were several potions, alchemical ingredients, the bow, arrows, several daggers, an axe to cut wood, a pickaxe to search for several ores, spare armor, leather in varying forms and finally furs. Picking one that looked rather huge he unrolled it and let it drop onto the red-head's body, covering his entire frame and making him warm.
No sooner had the fur fallen on him, Renji began to turn and got into a comfortable position. Although the red-head had gotten lots of sleep last night, Byakuya had the slight feeling that the encounter with the tiger and the orange-haired boy had exhausted him, not on a physical level but rather mentally. He remembered the changed eye-color and the difficulties the man had after that. Byakuya wondered what secrets were laying beneath the surface of bronze tattooed skin and what was going on behind those red-brown orbs.
"Your men were successful in conquering the town Lord Aizen, but unfortunately they didn't find any of those that are opposing you," a black man with dark-purple nearly black hair that was done in cornrows said while going into the main hall of what once was the main hall of the king.
"That is not important. They have nowhere to go as of yet, so it won't be long until we find them."
"Are ya sure 'bout tha'?" Aizen's counselor, a man with silver-white hair and the overall appearance of a fox, said coming out of the dark.
"Yes I am positive and even if they find shelter somewhere, it won't be long until every town housing supporters of Yamamoto is in ruins. Yes it won't be long and nothing will stand in my way."
Kind looking brown eyes opened, but there was something dark beneath those eyes no one wanted to experience. What his eyes didn't reveal, his smirk showed clearly that whoever dared to mess with him would regret doing so. But he hoped that someone would be foolish enough in doing that. It certainly wouldn't be as boring if someone really tried to fight him. His smirk became wicked and cruel and both Gin and Kaname hoped that neither of them would be on the receiving end of it…
End of chap 3!
So Bya and his family are together again and even agreed on going with Renji.
What may come later?
Leave a review and tell me how you liked it :)