On A Dark Path, He Walks

Disclaimer: I DON’T OWN THEM! I do however own the rights to Ichimaru’s dirty little fantasies. They’re ones that I’ve harboured myself one time or another, imagining little Izuru spread-eagled on my bed with only his fundoshi on… Oops. Off on a tangent there…

Warnings: Adult language. Possibly disturbing, if only because of Ichimaru’s lopsided love. Mentions of a past relationship between Ichimaru and Ukitake. Read my other fic ‘Drawn and Inked’ for the full smutty reference points. Angst.

Notes: Hmm, nothing to note really. I haven’t had as many readers of this fic yet so it’s too new to speculate anything. I just seem to get the chapters out too fast for people to start the ‘OMGZorz!!11shiftone updat soone plz!!1’. It’s hilarity at its finest hour, really. And also, please forgive me Uchiha Yumi-kun. I didn’t mean to make myself sound bad by calling my fics ‘filthy ramblings’ because in truth, they are. My filthy (dirty) mind thinks these things up without the benefit of coherence or a beta-reader. I’m simply the host to an unwilling, perverted consciousness. –laughs-

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Renji angrily tossed aside the sheets on Kira’s bed and snarled, too worried about his friend and angered at his sudden disappearance to care about the mess and destruction he had left behind once arriving at the blond’s quarters, garnering stares from his fellow division members and not a few whispers. They all knew that the redhead considered the third division fukutaichou to be a close friend but to act like a barbarian and needlessly destroy things seemed beyond them.

“Moriyama!”

“Hai, Abarai-fukutaichou?”

“Take the others and report Kira-fukutaichou’s disappearance to the third squad. Then return to the sixth and wait for further instructions.”

The short haired fourth seat nodded and took off, calling out orders to the other men, who disappeared immediately, hurrying across the Court to the third division headquarters. Renji had little to go on but something was definitely amiss, the immaculate rooms marred by a broken cup and stains on the hardwood where water had surely dried within the last few hours. He gritted his teeth and sighed. Nothing was going to get done if he simply sat and brooded.

Turning suddenly, Zabimaru’s master whirled on the closest wall, punching a whole into it and coughing suddenly from the dust and wood splinters that puffed from the broken surface. He left the small chambers and ran back to his own division, catching his captain just as the regal young shinigami was leaving the office area. The look on Byakuya’s face made the younger man’s heart sink and he stopped abruptly.

“Taichou?”

“Genryuusai-dono has ordered an investigation into Kira-fukutaichou’s disappearance.”

“And?”

The sakura blossom wielder flared his eyes for a second before answering, his own irritation with his ignored intuition feeding the flames inside.

“It’s Ichimaru.”

Renji stared before turning away and snarling loudly, nearly crying with anger as he again faced the dark haired captain.
“They’re not here anymore then, are they?”

The nobleman shook his head and stepped forward as the redhead’s knees stopped bothering to hold him up, catching him and holding him up enough to seem dignified and not pathetic. Though they were lovers, Byakuya knew that his vice captain loved the blond as a dear friend and possibly more, and it ached deep in his gut, the idea that his vibrant lover was pained by the sudden situation.

“Renji. They’ve gone back to Hueco Mundo. Ichimaru’s reiatsu was noticed by Shobantai-taichou. It was weak, as if he were masking it, but it was unmistakably his.”

He was loathe to mention that he too had felt it, his skills with spirit energy recognition better than most, deciding that keeping the little secret to himself would hardly hurt the tattooed swordsman any more than he already was.

“Twelfth division is working on the gateway. We’ll go after them there or drag them back here where it’s much safer to deal with them without the added threat of being within the Hollow world.”

Renji only nodded and stood himself back up, staggering a bit but managing a tiny smile from the elder man’s compassion. So Byakuya loved him enough to feel bad over his friend’s disappearance hmm? It was a small win for Renji’s heart. Little bits of undying devotion and love slowly forming a larger picture.

“Taichou. I’m goin’ after them when the gateway’s opened. I don’t care if you don’t want me to. I’m not leavin’ Kira alone again. I shouldn’t have fuckin’ left him this mornin’ even…”

Ahh, so that’s where his fukutaichou had been overnight. Byakuya couldn’t help but feel a slight pang of jealousy over the redhead’s protectiveness over the skinny shinigami. Still, it was rewarding to have friends in the end.

“I won’t give you orders otherwise, Renji. Genryuusai-dono has asked that you join the assembled party, along with Ukitake and myself. The reasoning will be explained to you before we depart.”

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From the floor of Aizen’s throne room, Kira watched his captain approach him with something akin to malice in his eyes, the red of them a mesmerizing colour, resembling blood even more now that the blond had realized his mistake in joining the silver haired shinigami.

There was little excitement in Gin’s mind as he hunkered down on his haunches and ran a hand through Kira’s hair soothingly, smoothing the blond locks back from his face, even though the lengthy bangs slid back to their comfortable place, again hiding an entire half of the boy’s youthful looks.

“Do you know why you’re here, Izuru?” Ichimaru asked with a lick of his thin lips. “Loyalty aside. Tell me why you think I’ve brought you here.”

The bonds immediately loosened so the boy could shift over to a kneeling position instead of lying on his side, stretching his thighs a bit as he kept his head down ashamedly, still nervous in the presence of the former fifth division captain.

“Ano, taichou-“

“Yes, Izuru?”

“I’m here…because you wanted me to be. You said that you came back especially for me.”

Ichimaru was on him in an instant, one hand cupping his chin and reclining his head to a near painful angle, forcing the dark eyed boy to stare him in the face.
“Loyalty aside, Izuru. Since when did you disobey orders?”

Kira almost choked on the assumption that he had disobeyed his captain, an absolutely unheard of idea.

“Iie, taichou! What I meant to say was…I’m here because you and Aizen-taichou wanted me here.”

“Yatta! Good boy, Izuru!” The happiness returned to the silver haired shinigami’s face and he hopped to his feet and fairly skipped back to the towering chair, leaning against Aizen’s right leg and wrapping an arm around it, another of the possessive gestures the blond would have liked to ignore.

“He’s ready, Sousuke. Can I take him to my room now?” He was back in full excitement mode and the brunet leader nodded with a pleasant smile, chuckling softly as his lover left him to collect the boy into his arms, releasing the binding spell on him and watching as Kira slumped in his former fukutaichou’s arms.

“Be careful with him, Gin. If he’s to be useful to us, he can’t be broken.”

“Hai, hai, Sousuke! I’ll be good!”

Kira didn’t struggle as he was carried, instantly soothed by the elder man’s arms around him, his body and mind conflicting ideas on whether or not he’d ever make it out of the brightly lit world alive.

He couldn’t help but think that he wouldn’t.

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“He sounds very pretty, Ulquiorra. Better make sure that he doesn’t take your place beside Aizen-sama.”

Grimmjow Jaggerjack, sixth Espada in Aizen’s army. Irritance to Ulquiorra and a thorn in the sides of the other arrancar. He was worthless. Only a pawn. But oddly enough, Aizen favoured him.

“He’s probably better in bed than you are too.”

The blue haired Espada chuckled to himself as he jumped down from the windowsill in Ulquiorra’s chambers, having been invited to discuss the arrival of Ichimaru’s new toy. Neither creature liked him but he was plain in their eyes. Boring hair and a weak mind. The depth of his loyalty however, pleased both arrancar, as they too knew the level of dedication it took to become wanted by their lords.

“Be quiet. You don’t know what you’re taking about.”

The young part-Hollow barked back, irritated with the change in conversation and noticing right away that the elder creature seemed to be hitting the nail on the mark each time.
“Aizen-sama trusts me and values me above all others. A pathetic shinigami will never take my place. If Ichimaru-sama wants him for himself, he can have him. It will keep him out of our lord’s bed at least.”

Nothing was secret within Hueco Mundo it seemed, the relationship between the two ruling lords notwithstanding as they had nearly announced it upon their arrival, Aizen telling the others where Gin stood and what they could do with their blind associate, the corn-rowed captain locked away until such time as they needed his expertise.

“Yeah, betcha he fucks like a wild animal. That’s why Ichimaru-sama likes him.”

Both arrancar could hear the conversation going on behind the double doors to the throne room, every word echoing throughout the building as if it had been purposely made to do just that. After all, Aizen wasn’t as outwardly friendly as he once was and when one creature made a mistake, they were all expected to learn from it.

“As I said, Grimmjow. Shut up.”

Hardly able to contain his anger at being talked down to by the younger Espada, the blue haired arrancar stalked off, slamming the sliding door closed behind him and allowing it to echo, letting his lord know that someone was walking through the hall. He was just as tolerant of what went on within the shinigami’s quarters but having new ones arriving made him somewhat edgy.

He was just about to enter his own rooms when the double doors opened and out came the silver haired shinigami, the smile on his face unmistakable as one of extreme excitement, the lanky bundle in his arms turning its head until he focused upon the large arrancar, dark eyes widening, followed by a light gasp. So, the boy has never seen one of us before, he thought. Hilarious.

Ichimaru looked to the creature and nodded his head in acknowledgement before turning his back, barely bothering to say anything as he padded his way to the largest of the secondary quarters. The facially tattooed Espada member had never seen the inside but he was sure it would be as white as the others, but most certainly decorated in red.

“Grimmjow.”

He stood at attention once he was recognized and addressed. “Hai, Ichimaru-sama?”

“He’s beautiful isn’t he? Regardless of what Ulquiorra-kun says, Izuru will never keep me from Sousuke’s bed. Remember that.”

The arrancar was nearly struck speechless as he merely nodded and bowed to the sneaky shinigami, noticing the cringe in the carried body at the elder man’s words, waiting until the sliding doors had closed before retreating into his own rooms and again slamming the screens, whispering angrily to himself because of his sudden realization.

“He heard all of it?! Fuck if that isn’t a kick in the teeth…”

Grimmjow lifted a hand to gently finger what remained of his Hollow mask, grinning broadly at the mention of teeth, calloused fingertips tracing each of the molars still attached to the broken covering.

“It’s getting too fucking crowded around here…”

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In the depths of the twelfth division’s laboratories, Kurotsuchi Mayuri worked diligently in his newly refurbished form, again back to the scary sight he once was and damned proud of it as he grinned maliciously at his daughter.

“Nemu. Bring me the exchanger for the soul particles. And hurry up about it. You’re so slow that time itself could beat you.”

“Hai, Mayuri-sama.”

The delicate girl fetched the aforementioned item, an odd contraption that only a member of the engineering division would even find interesting and useful, placing it on the table next to her father and waiting quietly for further instructions. It had been tense for the last few hours but already they were closer to gaining entry into Hueco Mundo.

“The randomizer. Now, girl!” Yellow eyes flashed angrily as the slim figure moved again to fetch the item, hitching in a deep breath as it was seized from her violently, earning her a backhand and a growled threat. Such was the life of Kurotsuchi Nemu. Not an argument. Not a complaint. So loyal, yet not.

Light banging and hammering followed the last insult before it because deathly quiet, Mayuri reading his paperwork to make sure he had installed everything properly so far, pondering over the placement of this and that. It would be days before he could finish. Being rude to your skilled subordinates certainly made for long, tiring hours working alone.

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“Throughout my career as Captain Commander, I have never had to organize a team of my own subordinates to travel into the world of the Hollow’s, but because of the current situation, there is little else I can do.”

The voice of Yamamoto Genryuusai echoed in the grand meeting hall of the Court, the reverberations seemingly worse now that the gathered souls only consisted of four people. Renji shifted uncomfortably, unsure of an audience with the Shobantai-taichou and somewhat uncomfortable around Ukitake. The white haired man had never appealed to his tastes as someone he could particularly trust but given the situation and the thirteenth division captain’s loyalty to Soul Society, he could have done worse.

“Ukitake-taichou. Kuchiki-taichou. Abarai-fukutaichou. The three of you will make up the team I have decided upon. The sixth division’s record of successful missions to the out world has ranked you the best for this job.”

The aging man turned to Jyuushiro and cleared his throat somewhat, knowing that his favourite captain was less likely a good choice for the job but given the man’s past with Ichimaru, it seemed proper.

“Ukitake-taichou. Your relationship with Ichimaru Gin in the past was noteworthy to a point. He was often calmed by your presence and was even tolerable when in the same room as yourself. Can I count on your cooperation in this endeavor?”

The noble-but-not-quite shinigami bowed low before straightening and smiling warmly.

“Of course, Genryuusai-dono. I appreciate your tolerance of our relationship. It meant a lot to me then and it does now, if only to bring him back for his punishment.”

Satisfied with this answer, the eldest of the shinigami waved his hand to end the meeting, turning his back and padding back to his own quarters within the heart of Seireitei, leaving the three men to their own devices as they excitedly waited for the chance to leave Soul Society.

Afraid of having to carry on a conversation with the ailing captain, Renji excused himself and headed home to pack a few things he’d need, salves and whatnot that could be tucked into his obi and sleeves, and he planned on having a long bath before they left. There never seemed to be time to bathe during missions and feeling dirty really hampered his spirits.

Free of the younger man, Byakuya smiled slightly at his companion and walked close to him as they headed back towards the division buildings, never having been friends before but knowledgeable of each other’s habits and practices.

“Genryuusai-dono knew about Ichimaru and yourself, Ukitake?”

A light blush crept up over the bridge of the elder man’s nose. “Hai. He caught us twice in the gardens before we swore we would only engage in such activities within the privacy of our own homes.”

The noble Kuchiki heir laughed softly and looked sideways at the longhaired captain, admiring his grace even though his body was so broken.
“What about yourself and Abarai-fukutaichou? It’s hardly a secret any longer, Byakuya.”

“Genryuusai-dono doesn’t seem to have anything to say about it, nor has he caught us unawares out in the open, Jyuushiro.”

Both men had instantly fallen into companionable comfort with each other, changing to given names as opposed to their formal ones, enjoying the friendliness it conveyed. Byakuya, though old, was still Ukitake’s junior by way of centuries, but they acted as if they had known each other as long, if not longer. Ukitake attributed it to the knowledge that both men were of noble blood to an extent. Byakuya, to the other man’s outward kindness.

Privately, Byakuya didn’t hate the other man any longer for the death of Shiba Kaien, but he still harboured anger over it, simply choosing to let it sit for the time being. The current situation hardly warranted an argument. It also forbade the now-teammates from arguing and forced them to work together properly. Rukia’s return to Soul Society and her safe release from the death sentence had softened the diamond hard resolve of the elder Kuchiki and he was mildly thankful for it.

“My third seats have the formal seals ready for the capture, should we need them. They are merely hand seals instead of large objects to carry with us. It seems the Shihouin family had more secrets than I had previously thought.”

In truth, the noble family had many secrets, most of which still remained hidden from the rest of the immortal world, but Ukitake had taken it upon himself to unbind three new ones, each with a power greater than what he had dealt with before, a realization that nearly frightened the delicate taichou.

“In one hour, we’ll meet on Soukyou’s grounds and proceed with the mission.”

Byakuya turned to his left and was gone, Ukitake’s haori fluttering telling him that the younger shinigami had been working on his shunpo, barely a flicker of the regal form appeared against the sky as the ailing captain made his own, much slower way, home. Walking was sufficient and with Sentarou and Kiyone gathering his things, he had plenty of time to relax before the deadline crept up.

Rustling to his right had the white haired man peeking off to the side, immediately noticing the reiatsu of his female third seat, Kiyone’s trademark steps giving her away almost as if she wanted to be caught, Sentarou’s heavier thumps matching her’s, still in competition even when following their captain to his ‘invitation only’ meeting.

“We’re leaving in an hour-”

“We heard taichou!” They chorused together. “Everything’s prepared!”

Ukitake smiled and shifted his pace to move somewhat faster, now eager to get their job finished as his body ached terribly from the center outwards, a cough tickling in the back of his throat that he managed to fight down. He didn’t need this now. His skills must be at their peak for such a dangerous mission. He grimaced and coughed anyway, right away attended to by the third seats, each of whom he brushed off with a few polite words as he wiped his mouth with a cloth, which he tucked back under his obi for next time.

Next time.

The idea of each wrenching pain and subsequent coughing fit ripped at his mind.

How much could he be counted on during the trip? Would the sickness hold back until they had at least saved Kira?

Sighing, Ukitake stepped into his home and padded upstairs to his bedroom, slowly lowering himself to the plush window bench he and Ichimaru had shared so many times in the past. It hurt to even think of him and how evil he had become. He pulled his zanpakutou from his belt and set it beside the seat, eyeing it with a heavy heart, knowing that if things came to an end, it would be Gin who tasted Sôgyo no Kotowari’s steel.

“Kami save us. We’re heading right into a den of snakes…”