Chapter 5: Our Demons
"So tell me, Kuchiki Tetsuya," Aizen said, turning his head to study the blue-eyed noble more closely, "what made you take such a desperate and dangerous action? Freeing me from those bonds and allowing the reiatsu escaping around my body to keep their eyes from seeing us as we wander about the gardens? Either you have developed a crush on me or you sense that the situation here is about to spiral out of control."
"I suspected you have insight into what is happening," Tetsuya explained.
"I do," Aizen confirmed, "but are you wise to seek my input or are you reckless to risk me breaking free and leaving you?"
"No," Tetsuya answered, shaking his head, "you aren't going anywhere."
"You have that much faith in your ability to restrain me?" Aizen teased him, "That is foolish, Tetsuya."
"I saw it in your eyes," Tetsuya countered, "You know something very wrong is going on here. Whether it is that the zero division and upper ranks of the Gotei 13 have been corrupted or that something bad has..."
Tetsuya paused and swallowed hard as Aizen's smile widened.
"So, you sense it as well?" Aizen asked, "You know where the prism probably is?"
"Do you?" Tetsuya asked, narrowing his eyes aggressively, "I think you do. And I believe because of that, you will want to stay close to my cousin and to Ichigo."
Aizen went quiet for a moment, then gave Tetsuya a brief nod.
"Very astute. But I would caution you not to speak of it to anyone."
"Anyone but you?" Tetsuya inquired, frowning.
"You need me," Aizen said firmly, "You will not be able to protect your cousin without my help."
"But you would just as easily stab all of us in the back as help us, if the inclination struck," Tetsuya countered, "Still, we can help each other."
"Oh?" Aizen mused, smirking, "How?"
Tetsuya extended a hand, palm down and touched the back with two fingertips. At his touch, a sakura blossom shaped marking glowed on the back of his hand. At the sight of the marking, Aizen's eyes widened with interest.
"You know what this is?" he asked the traitor.
"That is Byakuya's mark," Aizen answered breathlessly, "It is given only to those he most trusts...and...it allows you entrance into the Kuchiki Family Archive, the greatest store of historical knowledge in our worlds, outside of the king's own library. I don't know about the exact workings or content because of the careful protections around it. But, are you offering to allow me into that place? Can you?"
Tetsuya nodded.
"As bearer of his mark, he trusts me to only bring someone in if it is in the best interests of the clan. I believe that I must allow you inside if I am to learn what I need to know to help my cousin."
"And I am sure that you have measures of some sort in place so that I won't just learn what I, myself, want to know and escape without assisting you at all?"
"I wouldn't have freed you from that room if I did not," Tetsuya assured him, "So, do we have a deal, Aizen Sousuke? I will allow you entry into the archive and ability to access information about the king's prism and rebirth ritual, and you will help me to make sure that Byakuya-sama and Ichigo-san come out of this alive?"
Tetsuya flinched and drew back, his eyes darkening as Aizen's hand moved, then he relaxed slightly as the hand was simply offered to him. He accepted and returned the gesture, breathing a sigh of relief.
"You do realize, don't you, that you are stepping outside the boundaries of what is considered law here?"
Tetsuya bit his lip gently and shook his head again.
There is no law in Soul Society right now," he answered regretfully, "That is why I must agree to this."
"Very well," Aizen acknowledged, "Remove the limiters holding back my powers."
"No," Tetsuya said sternly, "I will do no such thing until you have delivered on your promises. I will let you into the archive and we will search for information together."
"And why should I trust you to release me later when I was just stabbed in the back after making the same kind of deal with Kyoraku Shunsui?" Aizen asked.
"You went into the deal expecting there would be resistance to letting you go even if you succeeded. But you were cornered because you also didn't want the worlds to end, so you took a chance. Your chances are much better trusting me. If, as you profess, you know so much about me, then you know I am a man of my word."
"Well," Aizen sighed, "it did seem to trouble you that they kept me bound after making that promise and me delivering. And it is true that I know you to be a man of your word, Kuchiki Tetsuya. But I was wrong about a few things I thought I knew about you."
"Oh?" Tetsuya queried, blinking.
"Yes," Aizen said, his smirk returning, "You are less naive and far more beautiful in person than I expected."
"I won't be flattered into complacency," Tetsuya warned the prisoner.
Aizen lifted Tetsuya's hand and brought it to his lips, making the young man blush instantly.
"You are very wise, Kuchiki Tetsuya."
Tetsuya gave no reply, but retracted his hand, then guided Aizen to the archive door and reached out to open it. As he did, he suddenly frowned and stopped, turning his head to look back in the direction of Byakuya's bedroom.
"What is it? What is that reiatsu?"
Tetsuya gave him a mystified look.
"I don't know, but we're going to find out!" he exclaimed, taking the prisoner by the arm and flash stepping away with him.
XXXXXXXXXX
Byakuya woke to the feel of a familiar hand touching his cheek and opened his eyes. He turned his head slightly and his heart began to race as he spotted Ichigo standing at his bedside and looking down at him through shaded eyes. The Kuchiki leader raised himself onto his knees and watched silently as Ichigo sat down on the bed and looked into his eyes appraisingly.
"You look frightened," the Shiba heir said in the king's voice, "Why is that? I told you that I don't want you to be afraid of me. You look as though you think I will hurt you."
"I...was unsettled by your reiatsu, my lord," Byakuya answered honestly, "It feels...a bit different this time. And as I think of it, it has seemed to be changing ever since we arrived here. What is happening, Reio-sama?"
"Don't look so worried," the king said soothingly, wrapping Ichigo's arm around him and leaning in to kiss him, "You are just sensing the exchange of power passing between the developing heir and me. It is nothing to worry about. But you need another infusion."
"But I don't...?" Byakuya began.
He went silent as Ichigo's eyes glowed for a moment, sending a throb of sedative power through the noble and making him start to drop onto his back. Ichigo's hands caught him and laid him down, then bared him. The still glowing eyes gazed raptly down at Byakuya's lovely, naked form as he laid Ichigo's hands on the Kuchiki leader's slightly rounded belly and began the infusion.
Byakuya stared blankly up at the ceiling, unable to move and his mind fighting for cognizance. He registered the warmth of Ichigo's hands and the reiatsu that seeped into his body, but felt the chilling weight of those glaring, inwardly lit eyes raking over his immobilized body. He closed his eyes, trying to force his doubts into submission, only to have them rear up again as the infusion ended, but Ichigo's hands continued to touch and caress him.
"Wh-what are you...?" he panted weakly.
"Shh," the king hissed softly, "the infusions are riling me as well as you. Your shinigami body teases Ichigo's, but he is unconscious and I am not accustomed to feeling these more lively desires. You are my servant, ne?"
"Y-yes, but...you s-said that after the mating, we w-wouldn't have to..."
He trailed off as Ichigo's hand parted his thighs and oddly invasive fingers began to prepare him.
"R-Reio-sama, what are you...?"
Byakuya stiffened and began to struggle as the king positioned Ichigo's body to enter him. The golden, glowing eyes took on a more furious glare and the Ichigo's fingers laced tightly together with Byakuya's to hold the Kuchiki heir's hands above his head.
"S-stop!" Byakuya objected dizzily, "I c-can't do this!"
"Of course you can," the king corrected him in a low, warning voice, "You have sworn to me your obedience."
"I h-have and I will…but I…"
Byakuya stared disbelievingly into Ichigo's possessed eyes as the king claimed him.
Something is wrong? his tormented mind registered, I don't know much about the rebirth ritual, but there wasn't anything in what I read that described this! The king is said to possess the bodies of the bearers only for the mating. After, there was no mention of him having carnal desires!
His mind spun as furiously as Ichigo's blind, rough movements.
Could something be wrong with Reio?
He looked more deeply into the glowing eyes and felt the king's shattering power. He sensed Ichigo's faint life signs, then the edges of something more sinister.
"Wh-what is this?" he panted, "Who is that? Ichigo! Ichigo, wake up!"
"He can't hear you."
"ICHIGO!"
Reiatsu exploded around the two and the reiatsu case that had held Ichigo's unconscious body suddenly shattered and broke apart. The harsh glow went out of the Shiba heir's eyes and Ichigo blinked slowly and tried to focus. Shock registered on his face as cognizance seemed to return, and he realized that he was lying on top of Byakuya and still engaged in the Kuchiki leader's body. A hard, guttural sound escaped him and he pulled free of Byakuya and backed away, reeling from the suddenness of his return.
"Ichigo!" Byakuya gasped, hastily closing his yukata.
"Byakuya," the Shiba heir managed in a soft, choked voice, "what's happening?"
The two looked up in surprise as flash steps sounded and a barrier snapped into place around the room. A moment later, Kuchiki Tetsuya stepped into view with a barrier enshrouded Aizen Sousuke at his side.
"Tetsuya!" Byakuya breathed, "what is that man doing here? He is supposed to be restrained in his room. Why would you bring him here?"
"He brought me here because he sensed something happening that he had no dream of being able to handle," Aizen answered, matter-of-factly, "You have begun the king's rebirth ritual."
"What are you talking about?" Byakuya demanded.
"Byakuya, Tetsuya and I both know that we felt something that was not right. You may have begun the ritual properly, but something has gone wrong! You are going to need help."
"I don't need you!" Byakuya hissed angrily.
"Byakuya, what are they talking about?" Ichigo asked, looking down at himself, "Why was I...doing that to you? Was that part of the ritual he was talking about?"
"No," Aizen interjected, "What Tetsuya and I witnessed was not any part of the ritual. You were sexually assaulting him."
"No!" Byakuya insisted, "He wasn't!"
"Actually, you are right," Aizen went on, "The manifestation of the soul king was sexually assaulting you, using Ichigo's body."
"What?" Ichigo gasped, going white-faced and clawing at the bedding, "What the hell is going on here? Someone needs to tell me why I was doing that!"
"Get out!" Byakuya shouted, "Tetsuya, take him back and confine him!"
"I will," Tetsuya promised, "but I cannot remove the barrier I placed around the room until you are ready to face questions from the ones watching all of us. Byakuya-sama, something is very wrong with all of this. We don't know exactly why, but something has gone wrong. We need information and we need to escape the ones watching us! I will use the escape form in my room to return there. Keep the barrier around Ichigo and you until you have come up with something to say to the ones who will come to ask questions of you."
Byakuya watched in silence as Tetsuya laid a hand on Aizen's arm and the two disappeared.
"I am sorry, Ichigo," he apologized when he was sure they were alone, "I am sure you have a lot of questions. I will...tell you everything."
"First, tell me this," Ichigo said in a low, serious tone, "Did I hurt you?"
Byakuya gazed back at him wordlessly.
"I did, didn't I?" he went on, intense guilt registering on his features.
"N-no, I am fine," Byakuya assured him.
"That's bullshit," the Shiba heir said, shaking his head and fighting tears, "Aizen said I...I was...!"
"And I told you I am fine," Byakuya insisted, "Ichigo, what Aizen said about the ritual was correct. After we were brought back from the soul king's palace, the king spoke to me through you. He told me that because of the damage from the battle with Ywach, he would need to go through a rebirth. And because you and I were the ones to reach and defend him in the palace, he entrusted that ritual to us."
"But...I wasn't even conscious!" Ichigo exclaimed, "You mean, the two of you...?"
"The king possessed your body and initiated the ritual by taking me sexually, impregnating my body with power from the king's prism, semen from your body and his own reiatsu."
"I feel kinda sick," the Shiba heir said, paling and holding a hand to his stomach, "I don't know if I can hear this."
"I am sorry," Byakuya said penitently, "but the king said that I could not tell anyone but you what was happening. He said that it was dangerous because word might get to our enemies that power was in flux and...and if the wrong people find out, they could interfere with his rebirth."
"But...Aizen knows!"
"I don't know how he and Tetsuya discovered it," Byakuya went on, "But Ichigo, we cannot just tell everyone. But, when we let that barrier down, there will be questions. I need to make sure you understand that everything is on the line here! If we do the wrong thing, the king will not be reborn and the world will begin to break apart!"
Ichigo stared back at him silently for several minutes.
"Where is the prism?" he asked finally.
"The prism?" Byakuya repeated.
"If you want me to believe you, then tell me where the prism is," Ichigo said sternly.
Byakuya remained silent, but opened his yukata, exposing his slightly rounded abdomen. he touched his fingers to his chest and the area seemed to lose its solidity for a moment, exposing the presence of the prism, where it had fused with his body inside.
"Sh-shit!" Ichigo breathed, his eyes rounding as he reached out and touched the device, then watched silently as Byakuya closed his yukata again.
"The zero division is suspicious. They tried to have you moved to the fourth division, where they could control who could see you. I could not allow you to be taken away from me now that the ritual has commenced. I must stay with you for periodic infusions of reiatsu that I can only receive from you. If you do not complete the infusions, the king's rebirth will fail. Because you were unconscious and I saw no other way, I summoned your father and had him confirm that your reiatsu was present in the heir I carry. I didn't tell him about the ritual. I told him that I was carrying your child, so that he would marry us."
"Y-you what?" Ichigo asked, wide-eyed.
"It was that...or let the others take you away. They already suspect something is going on."
"But why is it bad if the Gotei 13 and zero division know? Aren't we on the same side?"
"We should be," Byakuya said, looking confused, "but the king warned me that I should tell only who I must. Ichigo, I don't want to reveal this to the wrong person and have it fail! Everything we fought to save will be lost if we are not successful!"
"Well, according to Aizen, something has already gone wrong."
"I don't know," Byakuya said, shaking his head, "I've thought, up to this point, that it was just the strangeness of being with a man...you...of the king controlling you, but I don't know. He was growing more and more desirous. He said that my body was teasing yours and he wasn't used to handling carnal desires. It struck me as strange at the time, but I had no one to turn to. You were unconscious and I was not supposed to tell anyone who didn't have to know."
"Did it ever occur to you that he was lying?" Ichigo asked.
Byakuya sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.
"It was the king's voice. It was his reiatsu...except that it seemed to change as the ritual progressed. He became rougher...and more interested in me physically. And I wondered, but I could not ask you...Ichigo, what happened in the throne room?"
Ichigo blinked slowly and looked back at him blankly.
"I don't know," he confessed, "I don't remember. I just remember...looking at the prism."
"You don't remember anything at all?"
Ichigo started to answer, then paused and stared as the barrier around the room shattered and a sea of flash steps sounded. Shunsui and Juushiro appeared in the doorway, surrounded by Onmitsukido.
"Ichigo," Ukitake said, looking surprised and somewhat relieved, "you are awake!"
"That must have been what the disturbance was," Shunsui concluded, "Is that right?"
Ichigo exchanged glances with Byakuya.
"Yeah," he confirmed, "I was just...freaked out when I woke up in that coffin thing. It's okay. Byakuya got me up to speed on everything. I'm okay."
"We're glad to see that," Ukitake said, smiling.
"Look, we have some questions that the zero division wants you to answer. Take it easy for tonight, and we'll come back to talk to you after you've rested. How does that sound?"
"It's fine," Ichigo answered calmly, "I'll tell you whatever I can when I see you tomorrow, then."
The Shiba heir watched as the others left and Tetsuya reappeared and took up a protective position outside the door. He walked back to the bed and sat down next to the now silent and frowning Kuchiki leader.
"Thank you for getting them to leave," Byakuya said gratefully, "You should rest. Would you like me to have Torio make up a room for you?"
"No," Ichigo said, shaking his head, "I'm not leaving you alone."
"Ichigo..."
"Hey, you've had to handle all of this all by yourself up to now. The least I can do as your new fake husband is to make sure you can sleep soundly for a while. Tetsuya's right outside. And I'm going to lie down next to you. We can talk in the morning."
"Ichigo, are you angry with me?" Byakuya asked quietly.
"Why should I be angry at you?" Ichigo inquired, "You were only doing what you had to, right?"
"Yes."
"Then, nothing that happened is your fault."
"And Ichigo," Byakuya replied, "nothing that happened is your fault either. You were unconscious and had no control over what was happening."
"Yeah," the Shiba heir answered, doubt evident in his tone, "I guess you're right."
He settled down next to Byakuya as the Kuchiki leader curled around his pillow and closed his eyes.
"It kinda sucks, though."
"What?"
"Well," Ichigo sighed, "we got married and I didn't even get to kiss you or anything."
"We consummated the marriage, I assure you, and I did kiss you."
"Yeah, but I was unconscious," Ichigo complained.
"Hmmm," Byakuya mused, lifting his head and observing the Shiba heir for a moment.
He leaned forward and surprised his husband with a warm, chaste kiss on the lips.
"Is that better?" he asked, smirking very slightly at Ichigo's instant blush.
"Uh...y-yeah, it's good...I'm good...fine," Ichigo stammered.
"Goodnight then."
"Goodnight, Byakuya."
Damn! Ichigo mused, gazing down at Byakuya's more peaceful face as the Kuchiki leader drifted off, I've never felt anything like that!
I wonder if after the birth of the king, he'll want a divorce.