Cherry on Top

by Spunky0ne

On the eve of his birthday, a broken-hearted Tetsuya is comforted by a little white fox, who intrudes in his hiding place. When Gin also offers Tetsuya comfort, their tryst has some unexpected consequences...MxM, mpreg...Gin/Tetsuya, Renji/Byakuya

Cherry on Top

By Spunky0ne

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Thanks and credit to Wolfie for letting me borrow her sweet little fox OC, Cherry! Love you, Wolfie!

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(On the eve of his birthday, a broken-hearted Tetsuya is comforted by a little white fox, who intrudes in his hiding place. When Gin also offers Tetsuya comfort, their tryst has some unexpected consequences. Cherry appears courtesy of TheDrunkenWerewolf. Thanks to Sesh for encouraging me to write this!...MxM, mpreg Gin/Tetsuya, Renji/Byakuya)

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It was early evening when Kuchiki Tetsuya escaped the noisy banquet in Kuchiki Manor gardens, heading out through the back gate and along the meandering path through the cherry and plum trees. His mouth frowning and his blue eyes sorrowful, he called on the power of his shikai to make the color seep out of his body, hiding him in a barely visible waterform. He clung to the shadows, making his way to the tall cliff and the pretty waterfall that spilled down into a large lake beneath it. Well aware that his cousin and family leader would be likely to look for him there, the young man flash stepped down into the meadow beside the lake, then he followed a little stream that led to a much smaller waterfall, one with a perfect place at the top for him to conceal himself in the brush. When he was sure that he was alone, he let out a long, ragged breath and sat down, burying his face in his arms, atop his bent knees.

Why did I have to be born a half-blood?

His heart ached fiercely as an image formed in his mind of his late parents.

While we were imprisoned together, Mother told me of the compelling love that they shared, and how they ran away so that they could have the happy life they dreamed of. For a short time, they had that life…before their capture. She told me that even if it was only for a short time, it was better than not being able to be together at all. She also told me that even amidst the anguish of our incarceration and my father's execution, every time she looked at me, she could only feel grateful and happy for the time they were given.

I try to understand the kind of love that she described, a love so enthralling that it could make them brave enough to defy the will of the powerful elders, that it could cause them to take actions that resulted in their destruction and in my ongoing struggle to find my place within a family that mostly doesn't want me.

If not for Byakuya-sama…I might turn my back on the noble families, as they did. Some part of me wants to believe that I could be happier that way, but the more sensible part of me know that the noble sons and daughters look down on me for my peasant blood and the commoners look down on me for my noble blood. I am of two worlds that clash…and so, I am loved by neither.

Tears burned in his closed eyes, then began to leak out at the corners. He sniffed softly, feeling grateful for the more cheerful sounds of the little waterfall that hid the sounds of his torment. He felt the gentle brushing of his spirit steed's mind and heard the Arabian stallion's wispy voice in his head.

I am so sorry, Master. Is there anything I can do?

Tetsuya bit at his lips and shook his head.

Please, Arashi, I just want to be alone for a little while. Go back to the manor and keep watch.

The stallion's reiatsu flickered stubbornly for a moment, and he thought that the horse might object, but in the end, he seemed to realize the futility of the gesture, and he turned back, leaving Tetsuya to his misery. The young man continued to shed his tears almost silently, carefully cloaked in his waterform and hidden from everyone.

Except for a curious little white fox who had come to the stream for a drink and sensed the hidden shinigami's distress. The small she-fox paused, mid-drink, lifting her head and blinking several times. She looked around and spotted the pale outline of the young man at the top of the waterfall, and she moved closer, whining sympathetically.

Still engulfed in his misery, Tetsuya failed to notice as the little fox crept away from the edge of the stream, making her way through the long grass, then climbing the rocky edge of the waterfall, carefully avoiding the slippery places. She reached the top and moved on silent feet to where the shinigami sat, then very slowly, she extended her head, touching the tip of her cool, wet nose to Tetsuya's damp cheek, and making him stiffen and catch his breath as his waterform shattered and the fox squeaked in surprise and jumped back.

"Oh!" Tetsuya gasped softly, wiping his wet eyes, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."

He sniffed softly and met the fox's pretty eyes, holding himself still as the little beast tried to decide whether to hold her ground or to run.

"It's okay," Tetsuya reassured her, "You just surprised me. I didn't think that anyone was here."

He extended his hand, the palm upturned, and he loosed a little stream of his gentle reiatsu to wrap around the soft, white creature, coaxing her into moving forward. She hesitated for a moment, breathing in his light, sweet scent, then she hopped onto his lap and curled up there, bringing a genuine smile to Tetsuya's face as he stroked her lovely fur.

"You don't seem wild at all," the young man noticed, "Do you belong to someone?"

Tetsuya startled as a friendly male voice sounded, somewhere beneath the little waterfall he sat atop.

"It's more like I belong to her," the man chuckled, stepping out into the open, "Evening, Tetsuya-chan."

Tetsuya studied the silvery-haired man warily as he smiled and moved closer.

"You're Ichimaru Gin, the taicho of squad three," Tetsuya remembered, "aren't you?"

"That's right," Gin answered, climbing up to the top of the waterfall and plopping down next to the blue-eyed shinigami, "last time I checked."

Tetsuya managed a shy smile at the joke.

"And you are Kuchiki Tetsuya," Gin recalled, "the one that is called Byakuya's right hand. I guess if I was spending so much time with someone that stuffy, I'd be crying too."

"Byakuya-sama is not stuffy," Tetsuya objected, dropping his eyes to look down at the white fox, who was burrowing deeper into his lap and sighing contentedly, "He's been very kind to me. Byakuya-sama is the reason that I am no longer a prisoner. He is the reason that I am still alive."

"That's right," Gin agreed, furrowing his brow as he remembered, "He rescued you from that old prison, years ago."

"It was a hundred years ago today," Tetsuya explained, "The raid took place on my birthday."

"Best gift ever, eh?" Gin said, bumping his shoulder lightly against Tetsuya's as he reached down to tickle the cuddled up fox under the chin.

"It was," Tetsuya replied softly, his blue eyes growing distant, "I had never set foot outside the prison and I had no idea what freedom felt like. There were so many things that I had to learn. I didn't know a thing about living in a civilized household, or using proper manners or knowing my place in the family."

"Hmm, that doesn't sound much like freedom to me," Gin teased gently, "All those stuffy elders telling you what to do. I don't know. If I was you, I mighta headed out into the Rukongai and made a life there."

Tetsuya regarded Gin curiously for a moment.

"You're from the Rukongai, aren't you?" he inquired.

"Yup," Gin affirmed, "not a good part either, so you should probably be careful around me. I'm what your well-bred leader would call a mischief maker."

"So I have heard," Tetsuya answered, looking more amused than concerned as he petted Cherry and the little fox nuzzled his hand, "But, I think if that was completely true, then this one wouldn't want to have anything to do with you."

"Oh?" Gin snickered, "Is that right?"

"Foxes are very intelligent and sensitive creatures," Tetsuya reasoned, "so, if she…"

"Cherry," Gin supplied, tilting his head and smirking, "That's her name."

"So, if Cherry is calm and comfortable around you, then she senses you mean her no harm, and despite the fact that you are known to be very dangerous, you have a special place for her in your heart."

"Is that so?"

Tetsuya nodded.

"And further, if she is showing me affection in your presence, she is signaling to you that I am no threat to you."

"Wise little thing, isn't she?" Gin said appreciatively, "and aren't you a little wise, yourself, Tetsu-chan?"

Tetsuya blinked and looked at Gin in surprise at the shortening of his name.

The silvery-haired man smiled more widely and cracked his slitted eyes open just enough that Tetsuya could see their beautiful icy blue color.

"You're cute, Tetsu-chan."

Tetsuya blushed and his heart pounded strangely as Gin's hand that had been stroking Cherry rose to caress his cheek.

"But, you were sitting up here all by yourself, and crying. You wanna talk about it?"

A little of the flush left Tetsuya's comely face and he sighed and shook his head.

"There isn't much to say," he answered regretfully, "It doesn't seem to matter what I do, there are those in the family who will never accept me."

"Hmm," Gin mused, picking a piece of long grass and sticking it into his mouth to chew on as Tetsuya continued.

"My parents met back when relationships between noble sons and daughters and those of the Rukongai were considered terrible crimes and were punished harshly. My mother was Kiko of the Mid-Rukongai and my father was…"

"Kuchiki Takao," Gin finished.

"You knew him?" Tetsuya asked, looking surprised.

"Oh, not personally, but I knew of him. He was close to Byakuya's father, Soujun, ne?"

"Yes," Tetsuya affirmed, "There is even a rumor that the ones who captured and incarcerated my parents in the illegal noble's prison, were also responsible for the attack that killed Byakuya-sama's father. Soujun always defended his cousin, Takao's actions. He was clear that the way that many of the elders looked down on commoners for no good reason was wrong."

"Oh my. I can see now why they would go after him, but…Ginrei was powerful."

Tetsuya turned an appraising eye on the taller man.

"But wouldn't you, yourself, say that a powerful man can be undone by a more powerful wit?" he asked, tilting his head slightly.

Gin's smirk widened and he leaned close to Tetsuya, breathing his next words into the young man's ear.

"I was right in thinking you were wise, Tetsu-chan," he laughed softly, sliding his arms around Tetsuya, who made a sound of surprise and started to stiffen.

"Gin-san, you must stop!" he objected, "I am…!"

He broke of suddenly, the deep sadness coming back to his face. Gin's smirk faded and he traced Tetsuya's sudden frown with a pale fingertip.

"It ain't right for you to be looking so sad, Tetsu-chan," he said more softly, "and crying too. Why don't you tell me who made you do that? Maybe this mischief maker can cause some trouble for them."

"You don't need to do that," Tetsuya answered, shaking his head and closing his eyes for a moment, "It's just that sometimes I forget that I am not accepted by everyone in the Kuchiki family, and some days, there are people who do their best to remind me of that."

"Tell me what happened," Gin requested, his arms still holding Tetsuya, who paused for a short breath, then settled into them.

"I've been courted by the heir of an influential clan, Saito…"

"Daisuke?" Gin guessed, his eyes opening a little more, "He's very good-looking, very popular."

Fresh agony spread across Tetsuya's face and Gin pulled him closer.

"He hurt you, did he?" Gin asked, his voice growing softer and more determined, "He made you cry?"

Tetsuya nodded wordlessly.

"What did the pretty-boy do?" Gin, "I promise I'll make him suffer for it. Hurting a sweet thing like you…"

"Erm, you don't have to do anything," Tetsuya assured him, "I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, with him being heir to an influential clan that is sometimes at odds with ours."

"But you said that Daisuke was courting you?"

"Yes, for the last three months," Tetsuya explained, "He has been very kind in all of our encounters and he has given me several very expensive gifts. We've had long conversations. Truly, I thought I knew him."

"Hmm, but something tells me that there was more going on than courting," Gin interjected.

"Yes," Tetsuya sighed, his eyes glistening as fresh tears formed, "although Daisuke-sama has been nothing but polite and honorable…well…tonight, at the banquet that was planned to announce our engagement…he…"

Tetsuya stopped and buried his face in Gin's shoulder, making Gin's frown deepen as he rubbed and patted the slighter man's back.

"There now. I don't know what the bastard did, but I'm sure you don't need to be crying over someone like him."

"I just really thought that we connected," Tetsuya reasoned, his eyes brimming with more tears that overflowed onto his cheeks, "He never showed any sign of disrespect…that is…until tonight."

"Tell me what happened."

Tetsuya pulled away from Gin and turned to face him.

My attendant informed me that the time for the announcement had arrived and Daisuke was waiting for me in the gardens. I went out to greet him, but as I was approaching him, I heard him talking to his younger brother, who was with him. Their voices were lowered, so I was waiting for a moment to let them finish talking. I heard Daisuke laugh and I moved closer, just in time to hear him say…"

Tetsuya paused and took a shaky breath, remembering.

"Oh, he'll be no trouble. He could be. He is very intelligent, but Tetsuya is subservient and obedient. I have him eating out of my hand. All he sees is what I want him to see. The rest, well, he doesn't need to know."

"You intend to keep seeing the others as well?" his brother asked, smirking, "How naughty of you."

"Come now, a man like me can't be content with the likes of that trashy little half-blood…as delectable as his body might be."

"You've bedded him already?"

"Oh no, not yet," Daisuke snickered, "I'll deflower him on our wedding night…quite thoroughly!"

"And only wait until he is sleeping to go and spread your seed around elsewhere. How do you live with yourself?" his brother laughed.

The two heard a soft footstep and Tetsuya approached them, wearing a calm, serious expression that belied the turmoil that was happening inside him. Upon seeing him, a wide smile broke out on Daisuke's face and he moved forward and took Tetsuya's hands in his.

"Are you ready?" he asked, leaning forward to kiss Tetsuya on the cheek.

"I didn't want to make a scene," Tetsuya sighed, "and there was no time to speak to my cousin, so I went along with him until everyone was drinking and I could slip away. I feel so stupid…"

"You're not stupid," Gin said in a low, cold voice, his fingertips brushing the younger man's tears away, "You're too good for him and he knows it. That's why he puts you down. I'll tell you something, Tetsu-chan, and you probably already know. Money doesn't make one man better than another and who you got your blood from doesn't either."

"I don't know what to do," Tetsuya said miserably, "If I tell Byakuya-sama what I heard, then of course, he'll call the wedding off and he will cease to show Daisuke's family favor."

"Heh, if I know Byakuya, he'll do more than that," Gin chuckled, "He'll probably challenge the idiot to a duel and slay him honorably."

"I don't want there to be a fight."

"Now, if it were me, I'd find better ways to make that man suffer."

Gin paused, opening his paler blue eyes wide and looking deeply into Tetsuya's widened sapphire ones.

"Gin-san…what are you…?" Tetsuya stammered, his breath leaving him completely as Gin's mouth found his and delivered a knee-weakening kiss, "Gin-s-san! I am engaged to…!"

"Not anymore, you're not," Gin snorted, "Byakuya'll find out and I think he'll take care of Daisuke. But right now, I wanna take care of you."

He nudged Cherry off of Tetsuya's lap and the little fox gave a disapproving growl, then she nuzzled Tetsuya before melting away into the bushes. Gin coaxed Tetsuya down onto his back, sinking into his mouth again and loosening their clothes.

"I'm not really worthy of you. Byakuya doesn't like me, and he's right not to. I'm not a good person, Tetsu-chan. The Rukongai made me sly and sarcastic. But…I have a weak spot for someone like you, someone who knows how shitty and wicked people are, and he could use his power to do wicked things back to them…but he doesn't."

Tetsuya's eyes rounded, but he gave no resistance as Gin's hand slid down between their partially clothed bodies to prepare him.

"I'm not like you. I see what they do and I hate it. Worse than that, I hate all of them. And I will take advantage of any chance to hurt them back."

He slid a gentle palm along Tetsuya's creamy inner thigh, separating his legs, then he positioned himself between them and gazed down at the younger man.

"I won't do it if you tell me to stop, and I promise that I'll never ever hurt you, Tetsu-chan. Maybe…I just want, for a moment, to be good like you…to pretend that the Rukongai and all of the bad people I got mixed up with didn't ruin me. I want to be able to be better than revenge, but that just ain't me, so I'm getting as close to that as I can by being with you. I can't promise you anything."

"I won't ask you for anything," Tetsuya whispered, flinching as the silver-haired man began a series of slow thrusts that joined their bodies.

He reached up and touched Gin's face, admiring the lovely, dangerously icy blue eyes that he was sure that only Gin's lovers and his greatest enemies got to see.

His lovers when they are being loved and his enemies when he is about to kill them…

The thought made arousal shoot through the younger man's untried body and his hips rose to meet a harder, deeper thrust that struck a place inside Tetsuya that no one had ever reached before. He gasped and arched his back, moving with each of Gin's deep, powerful thrusts. And as they moved, the words whispered into Tetsuya's ear only made the experience more enthralling.

When I cum inside you, it's a promise. I'm putting my mark on you and after this, no one will hurt you unless they want to be killed by me.

"Gin-san!" Tetsuya gasped, writhing.

Gin's fingers laced together with Tetsuya's and he thrust harder and faster, pushing their bodies to a dizzying pinnacle. They plunged over together, groaning with bliss as pleasure flooded their still thrusting forms from end to end.

Maybe it's wrong.

I know from Byakuya-sama that Gin is a dangerous man, but… there is a side to him that not everyone sees. He's shown this side to Rangiku-san and now he has shown that side to me. It feels beautiful and true in a way that nothing ever has to me. These are Gin's true colors and I can't help but be drawn to him.

The two men finished their coupling in a flurry of hard, open-mouthed kisses, then Tetsuya curled into the silver-haired man's arms. A little giggle escaped Gin as Cherry returned and burrowed into their entangled clothing. The three laid quietly under the stars, surrounded in flowers and listening to the soothing waterfall. Tetsuya drifted off to sleep, knowing full well that Gin would be gone when he woke.

But he did not wake alone. He felt Cherry's reassuring weight pressed up against him and he opened his eyes and smiled at the furry invader.

"Your Gin is a complicated person," he sighed, "but there is a softness to him that he doesn't let everyone see."

Tetsuya sat up and hugged Cherry to his bare chest, looking off into the direction he sensed the silver-haired man had gone.

"Everything happened so quickly, and I was so distracted by him, I didn't have the will to stop him…or to tell him that we should have used some kind of protection."

Cherry looked up at him curiously, cocking her head and waiting as Tetsuya smiled and laughed softly to himself.

"Maybe, even if he had known, he would have taken me without it. It seems like something he would do."

Cherry gave him a confused look and Tetsuya laughed again, laying a palm on his own slim belly.

"I am a breeder male, the only one known to be alive," Tetsuya explained, "When Gin-san laid with me, he probably impregnated me."

He was surprised at the look of shock that the little fox managed and the yip that escaped her.

"Don't worry, Cherry," Tetsuya said, smoothing the fox's white fur, "It's fine. I promise you that Gin's child will know just what kind of man their father is. He is a scoundrel and a snake, but not so dark of one as my wicked cousin, Orochi. Gin-san tries to be ruthless, but he can only really be ruthless with his enemies. If you find his heart, then he will love and protect you, just as he does for you and Rangiku-san."

Tetsuya sighed and stood, dressing slowly as he sensed his cousin's reiatsu reaching out to find him. He left the waterfall area and flash stepped back to meet Byakuya in the green meadow where they often trained together.

"Tetsuya, where have you been?" the clan leader said worriedly, "We've been looking all over for you. Are you all right? Did you and Daisuke have a quarrel? He said that you hadn't, but…"

"I am fine," Tetsuya answered calmly, meeting his cousin's grey eyes steadily, "but you must know that Daisuke-sama is a snake. I overheard him talking to his brother in the gardens. He admitted he was using me and he had no intention of being faithful to me in our marriage."

Byakuya's reiatsu darkened and swelled.

"I had a feeling," he said angrily, "I should have listened to my instincts."

"You were trying to calm the tension between our families," Tetsuya assured him, "You couldn't have known."

"I should have been more careful," Byakuya steamed, "I am just glad we learned this now, before he got his hands on you."

The clan leader paused, looking more closely at Tetsuya's slightly rumpled clothing.

"Oh, it's all right," Tetsuya assured him, "Daisuke was not with me tonight."

Byakuya moved closer to Tetsuya, studying him more closely, then making a little inhale as he realized.

"But…someone was?"

"Yes," Tetsuya said, smiling, "someone was."

The Kuchiki leader slipped an arm around his slighter cousin's shoulders, letting out a little, soft sigh of approval.

"Then, if this makes you happy, Tetsuya, I am happy for you."

Byakuya blinked curiously at the little chuckle that escaped Tetsuya as his cousin's pretty blue eyes met his.

"I think mostly it makes me relieved I don't have to marry Saito Daisuke," he confessed, "but yes, Byakuya-sama, I am happy."

"Very well. Then, I am indebted to the one who comforted you tonight."