Chapter 7: The Captive

Renji waited until the king gave him a long kiss of parting and left him alone in the royal bedroom, then he stepped out onto the balcony and looked around curiously.

"Hey," he called softly, keeping his voice low to avoid attracting the attention of any nearby guards, "are you still here, shinigami?"

He noticed a shimmer of movement in the shadows a short distance away and the young man from before stepped out into the open. Strangely, even though Renji could make out his pale form, it looked almost translucent.

"What is that? What are you doing?" Renji asked.

"This is my power," the young man explained, "I use waterforms to conceal myself. This is how I got close to the palace to find you."

"Yeah, well you should stay in that form until we're inside. Come with me."

"Thank you, Renji."

Renji led the man inside, where he shed his watery form and solidified into the shinigami he had seen. Renji moved closer, studying him with darkly curious eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, "You're shaking."

"It was cold outside," the young man explained, "and although the cold won't kill me, I do become uncomfortable if exposed for too long. I will be fine. I just need to get warm."

"Then, come and we'll shower," Renji instructed him, "I was going to anyway, and if, like you said, you're pregnant like me and I'm the father, then we can help each other, right?"

"You really are pregnant, Renji?" Tetsuya asked, managing a smile, "But you said you need my help. Does that mean...?"

"The king added his reiatsu and semen to what was already there when he brought me to the palace," Renji explained, "He's a father, but he's a hollow. The baby and me are vizards, so I need infusions from one of the shinigami fathers. I thought you were dead. I thought that I killed you."

"I am fine," Tetsuya assured him, following him to the shower and undressing as Renji did the same.

The two stepped in under the hot spray and Renji watched closely as the young man gave a relieved sigh, then looked up at him.

"Maybe we need to start over," he suggested, "It doesn't seem you remember me very well, but I am Kuchiki Tetsuya. Before you were made into a hollow, you were married to Kuchiki Byakuya and me."

"I wasn't made into a hollow," Renji corrected him, "I was only awakened by the king. I didn't know what I was, and now that he brought me here and awakened me, I don't remember much about being a shinigami. What I do remember is hazy. I think it's the king's doing. But, first things first, we need the infusions."

"Of course," Tetsuya agreed, reaching out cautiously and laying his hands on Renji's small baby bump.

Renji watched warily as Tetsuya's reiatsu seeped into his belly, and he felt the heavy tension and the feeling of nausea slowly fade.

"How can you smile like that?" he asked, "I almost killed you. And right now, if you are found here, you could be executed. What's to smile about?"

"Well, you're alive," Tetsuya answered, rubbing Renji's bare belly gently and continuing the infusion, "and even if you don't remember very well, you and I are helping each other. You will help me too, won't you, Renji?"

"Yeah, it seems fair. You are keeping me from losing my baby. I'll help stabilize yours."

"This baby is ours, yours and mine," Tetsuya corrected him, "Just before you disappeared, you and I were together and we made this baby."

Renji said nothing in reply, but moved in close to Tetsuya and slid a hand down to begin the infusion. Tetsuya flinched at the unusual feel of the hollow reiatsu, but after several moments, the discomfort faded. Tetsuya sighed in relief.

"I wasn't sure if you were still able to infuse me, but if, as you say, you weren't transformed, but your hollow side was just awakened, then there is still enough shinigami in you to stabilize our child."

"Looks that way," Renji agreed.

He made a sound of discomfort at the swell of arousal their bonding caused in his loins. Tetsuya gave him a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry. Arousal is a side effect of the bonding. I can leave you alone if you..."

"I don't think so," Renji said, pushing Tetsuya back against the wall of the shower, "You made me hungry for you and you're gonna feed that hunger."

Tetsuya stared back at him through frightened blue eyes.

"Wh-what are you going to do to me?" he asked worriedly, "Are you...?"

"I won't make you into a hollow," Renji said, glaring down at him through glinting golden eyes, "but you're going to fix what you caused."

"Of...of course, Renji," Tetsuya answered, nodding and relaxing as Renji's hand curved around his bottom and slid down to lift one slender leg.

He hastily prepared Tetsuya, then joined their bodies with impatience enough to make Tetsuya gasp softly as his body was roughly breached.

"Renji!" Tetsuya gasped, reeling as his body was invaded and possessed.

Panting almost desperately, Renji began thrusting, hard and fast, holding Tetsuya against the wall and devouring the little sounds of mingled pain and arousal he made with deep, penetrating kisses. And to his surprise, as he joined with Tetsuya, a dim memory began to return to him.

"Bite your tongue, you!" Renji laughed, "Or better yet, let me bite it for you."

He dragged Tetsuya up to his lips for another deep, wet kiss, then pushed him down again. As Tetsuya slid down Renji's sweat dampened body, making a line of scathing kisses as he went, he caught a small movement out of the corner of his eye and realized that Byakuya had entered the room through the garden doors, and now stood quietly watching them. A hard throb of mingled self-consciousness and arousal rocketed through him at the sight of his other husband's dangerously lusty expression and he felt distracted enough from his own desperate needs to put on a proper show for their spouse. He lowered himself again and stimulated the redhead with a deliciously wicked tongue. Renji groaned and leaned back on his hands, tilting his hips to allow the younger man better access. Tetsuya attacked enthusiastically, watching the flare of reaction in Byakuya's flickering eyes and feeling a shiver move swiftly down his spine. Renji growled in pleasure, rubbing the back of Tetsuya's neck with one hand and letting his head fall back and his eyes close.

"Fuck, that's so good!" he moaned, still oblivious to Byakuya's presence.

He groaned and panted harshly at the continuation of the lovely stimulation.

"Gods, you mad about the punishment thing?" Renji panted, flinching as Tetsuya nipped him, then assaulted his flesh with tormenting sweeps of his devilishly warm tongue.

"Fuck...fuck...FUCK!" Renji moaned, tightening his fingers in Tetsuya's hair as the younger man finally yielded the longed for, deeper contact, "Oh! Gods, Tetsuya! S-so damned g-good!"

The growing intensity of the erotic memory made him thrust more forcefully and the feelings in his undulating body swiftly blossomed into a storm of fiery passions.

I don't feel anything like this when I am with the king, Renji mused inwardly, So, this man is telling me the truth about my life before. I feel it. I was in love with them. But that love didn't really die when the king awakened me. It was just...

His thoughts disappeared into a deep, beautiful haze as Tetsuya moaned and thrashed wildly, loosing his release onto their soaked flesh. Renji's head bowed slightly as his own body stiffened, then he surrendered to the gripping shudders of a powerful climax.

"Is that better?" Tetsuya asked, reaching up to touch Renji's damp face and tracing the golden lines with curious fingertips.

"Why are you doing that? Stop," Renji said sternly.

"I love you," Tetsuya answered, pressing up against him and resting his head on Renji's muscular shoulder, "Even though your hollow side has been awakened, you haven't become any less beautiful to me. And from the way you made love to me, I would say that you still feel connected to me."

The two heard the bathroom door open and Tetsuya instantly slipped into a waterform and shrank back against the shower wall. Renji hastily turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, starting to dry himself as he faced the returned king.

"You look much more comfortable, all of a sudden," Yutaka commented, "I was concerned before that you would soon lose the child you carry, but you seem to be handling things better."

"I suppose," Renji said quietly, continuing to dry off as the king watched with growing arousal in his eyes.

"I should stabilize you."

"Actually, I'm fine for now," Renji assured him, "I am really hungry...the pregnancy, you know."

"Yes, of course. I will have food brought."

The king stepped out of the bathroom and Renji moved closer to where Tetsuya was concealed.

"You have to get out of here. He's going to sense you."

"My reiatsu conceals itself while I'm in this form. I just need to stay in the shadows."

"I'll leave the bathroom door open and you can slip into the closet. It's really big. You should be able to make a little place for yourself there," Renji whispered.

He walked out of the bathroom, turning the lights off and leaving Tetsuya alone. Tetsuya slipped out of the shower and dried off hastily, then crept to the doorway, listening. He bit his lip gently as sounds of erotic pleasure reached him and peeked out to see the king on top of Renji's freshly washed body, fully entrenched in and wholly focused on his consort. He left the bathroom and cautiously made his way along the wall to the closet that Renji had indicated.

The inside turned out to be as large as Renji had promised and was so deep with rich, fancy clothing that it was easy to find a deeply recessed corner to line with some of the softer clothes to make a small bed for himself. Weary from being out in the cold all night and forced to remain concealed, he finally relaxed, closing his eyes and drifting off as the sounds of the royal couple's vigorous lovemaking leaked in from outside the closed door. He wasn't sure how long he slept, but he felt well rested by the time the closet door opened and Renji called out to him. Tetsuya crawled out of his protected corner and met Renji with a relieved kiss.

"Are you all right?" he asked, reaching down to heal a bruise the king had left on Renji's white flesh, "He was pretty rough with you."

"I was kind of rough with you," Renji said, looking Tetsuya over, "Did I hurt you before?"

"Oh...no, I am fine," Tetsuya assured him, "You didn't hurt me."

"Well, you should come out now and eat while you can. They always bring too much for me, so there's plenty."

Tetsuya followed him out to where they sat down at the small table in a corner of the suite and both began to devour their meal eagerly. Renji watched as Tetsuya wolfed down his food with an almost pained urgency and a twinge of discomfort passed through him.

I don't like him being hurt or sad. I feel bad that I hurt him before. I wonder if him being here is making me feel more of my shinigami side.

Tetsuya noticed him staring and smiled up at him, not slowing a bit in his eating. The two finished consuming everything that had been left, then they adjourned to the balcony, where they stood together, looking up at the stars and crescent moon.

"I don't know how long we can get away with this," Renji said holding him from behind, "But I think you need to stay so that we can stabilize each other. I think you'll have to leave once we're far enough along that we won't need infusions."

"I don't know what we'll do then," Tetsuya mused, "I can't have my baby here. If the king finds me, he will probably have me killed, if he doesn't kill me himself."

"He'd probably let you finish the infusions, but yeah, he would likely kill you as soon as I have this kid."

Renji stiffened slightly as another thought occurred to him.

"I wonder if he'll even let my vizard kid live."

"I don't know," Tetsuya reasoned, "He's very possessive. From what I've overheard, it seems like he's only interested in making sure that this pregnancy is successful so that he can get you pregnant with just his child. You may be right that he isn't planning to let the baby live."

"But if we go back with me like this, won't the shinigamis kill me?" asked Renji.

"I think I can convince them not to," Tetsuya answered, "But we have to form an escape plan. You can't just walk out of here with me. I will have to explore a little and plan the way out, then we can escape, perhaps into the living world. We have a friend there who can help us. He knows more than anyone about hollowfication. He will know what to do."

"That's our plan then," Renji agreed, "When you've got it set up, tell me and we'll leave here together."

Tetsuya smiled.

"This is going to work," he assured Renji, "In no time, you will be home again with Byakuya and me, and forgetting all about..."

"Forgetting all about what?" the king's voice asked from behind them.

Renji and Tetsuya whirled around to find the king standing in the doorway, his arms crossed and his eyes glowing dangerously.

"You!" he exclaimed, pointing at Tetsuya, "I thought you were dead."

"I...I was badly injured," Tetsuya corrected him.

"And after being so lucky in that, you came here to throw your life away?" Yutaka asked icily, "You fool! You should not have come here."

"He had to," Renji argued, "He's pregnant with my kid. We were just stabilizing each other. That's the reason I am getting better today."

"He arrived today?"

"Yes," Renji lied, "I was going to tell you when you came back. I was hoping that you would let him stay so that we would be able to keep stabilizing each other. You said you want this baby to live. If Tetsuya stays, the baby will be all right."

"Hmm, so it seems that you have an equal exchange," the king said, studying Tetsuya more closely.

Tetsuya blushed and swallowed anxiously as Yutaka moved closer and slid a hand under his chin.

"Hey uh, be careful with him," Renji warned him, "Remember, I need him alive."

"Yes," Yutaka agreed, and he will be left alive, "I was just wondering what he'll do for me to compensate me for housing him and letting him play with my consort. I deserve something in the exchange too, don't I?"

Tetsuya shivered under the king's powerful glare.

"Well, if you're going to stay, go get comfortable in our bed," Yutaka ordered him.

Tetsuya glanced warily at Renji, then backed up to the bed and climbed onto it. The king motioned for Renji to join him, and the redhead obeyed, settling next to Tetsuya and waiting as the king settled in.

"I am thinking it would be interesting to have a shinigami concubine," Yutaka decided, "I want to see you pleasure my mate."

Tetsuya sucked in a surprised breath and shrank back against Renji.

"You won't...hurt my baby?" he asked cautiously.

"Not if you serve me well. Now, pleasure my mate."

Tetsuya took a steadying breath and turned to face Renji. The redhead gazed back at him blankly and said nothing as Tetsuya lowered himself and began the ordered stimulation. Very quickly, Renji's composure began to slip, and he started to pant softly in reaction. The king licked his lips, looking down at Tetsuya's lowered body, then reaching out to deprive him of the yukata he wore.

Tetsuya gave a frightened cry and sought Renji's arms, only to find them stiffened and the redhead's eyes empty of emotion.

"You wanted to stay," Yutaka chided him, "This is how you will repay me for not killing you. Now, continue as you were."

His heart pounding, Tetsuya turned back and complied with the king's order. He closed his eyes tightly, tears burning at the corners as Yutaka positioned himself and invaded Tetsuya's body roughly. Tears leaked onto his face as Yutaka and Renji alternated their movements, looking into each others' eyes as they used the shinigami between them.

"I see why you enjoy him," the king commented, thrusting harder, "He is soft and has a lovely scent. He is quite beautiful for a shinigami."

Renji gave no answer, only continuing as he had been instructed until he and Yutaka had climaxed and left their seed in Tetsuya's surrendered body. He watched as the king gave a contented sigh and left the bed, heading out of the suite, then he looked down at Tetsuya, frowning and feeling twinges of guilt at the fact Tetsuya was crying silently.

"I knew he was horrible, but..." Tetsuya managed, sitting up and resting his shaking body against Renji.

"We were stupid to think we could get anything past him," Renji sighed, "We're going to have to be careful. He will probably expect we're going to try to escape."

"And my own efforts will be hampered because he knows I am here. I am sure he will watch us closely."

Renji examined Tetsuya carefully and healed the bruises that the rough contact had caused. Tetsuya laid down in the bed and started to drift off, only to jump awake as Yutaka returned to the room and joined them in bed. He captured Tetsuya's hand and slipped a limiter onto his wrist.

"This should keep you from becoming troublesome. It is set so that only I can remove it." He trapped Tetsuya's body between Renji's and his and sighed contentedly. He brought his lips to Tetsuya's ear and his words sent a chill down the shinigami's spine.

"Sleep well, pretty thing...you will need the rest."