Black-and-Red Conflict

~~~Nine~~~
Desire


With one sharp knock and a single flash of spirit energy, Byakuya announced his presence before Renji's door.

Inside, the redhead who had been sitting cross-legged on the floor, carefully polishing Zabimaru as if stroking a cat, jerked and was standing upright in another second, sword in hand, his eyes flashing towards Senbonzakura, which rested on a spare sword stand against one wall. After waiting for his captain for two days he had finally allowed himself a few minutes of peace, just to be caught in exactly that moment. He cursed silently and then stepped up to the door, extremely nervous and his mind a mess as he tried to think of all the things he would finally want to say and ask and demand. He opened it.

Both froze in surprise, staring at each other.

Renji stood bare to the waist, the white kimono with pink flowers that he usually wore in his free time shrugged off his shoulders and hanging down loosely from his hips, held only by his obi. Only the upper half of his hair was tied back, the rest of it flowing freely over his neck and shoulders, here and there forming a net of black and red together with the stark lines of his tattoos.

Byakuya swallowed. He was caught a bit off guard by this, but concentrating on the presence of Senbonzakura in the room made it possible for him to stay in control for now. Also, the look on Renji's face was something to hold onto. He would have laughed, had he been somebody else, and hadn't the redhead taken his sword. His Fukutaichou's eyes were wide open and he was staring at his opposite as if he'd never met him before.

Byakuya wore the black Shinigami uniform, but not his haori, which Renji had seldom seen his captain without. The noble wasn't wearing
his Kenseikan either and the sight of the black hair open and free, softly framing the pale, even features of the other, suddenly seemed to make breathing slightly more difficult for the redhead. Byakuya's hands were bare as well, slender, smooth, but so strong, white against the dark cloth.

Then the captain broke their silence with his usual cold tone that carried a hint of anger in it now as well.
“I believe you took something that does not belong to you.”

With that, he simply stepped forward and into the room, making Renji stagger back, then closed the door behind them, his gaze shifting immediately to the far wall where it came to rest on his Zanpakutou. Passing Renji by, hardly heeding the sharp blade in the other's hand, Byakuya stepped up to Senbonzakura and, with a posture that spoke of absolute relief, lay both his hands down onto her sheath.

Only moments later he hissed and his head shot around toward Renji, who could imagine perfectly well what kind of shock must have seared the hands of his captain at that moment. At Byakuya's menacing gaze the redhead retreated two more steps until he caught himself. He lifted Zabimaru a few centimeters higher in automatic defense, then spoke.
“I didn't do nothing more than carry it 'round. Really,” he added as his captain continued to glare, “Didn't draw or anythin'!”

Byakuya turned back to his sword, his hands never leaving its sheath and slowly, as the sharp tingling under his fingers subsided, his eyes grew softer again. He could understand her anger very well. He had been mad enough at himself for leaving her, but he knew she would not deceive him, though it would probably take a few nights until she would be fully and gladly his once more. But there was something else he needed to deal with now. Byakuya ran his hand one more time gently over the sheath and hilt and then he turned.

Renji stood still, suspicion clear in his posture as he lifted Zabimaru even higher as his captain stepped closer. He felt insecure and wasn't happy with the situation at all. He had expected the noble to be as vulnerable as two days before and wasn't sure how to deal with the icy resolve and confidence the other exhibited now. This was not how it was supposed to work. Renji was the one who should have the upper hand now, should be cornering his captain and clearing things up once and for all. How exactly that would have been happening, so far he had never actually imagined the whole thing, but this certainly was not it. And under the gaze of the man who approached him like a wolf would approach a lamb, Renji felt himself shiver.

On the first look Byakuya's eyes appeared calm now, their bluish-gray color darker than normally. Beautiful they were, but something was off. Something more seemed to lie behind them, something dark and only half hidden in shadows, but trying to make out what that was, the redhead lost himself in them until suddenly, he found Byakuya standing directly before him. He gasped and wanted to step back further, but the firm grip of the noble's hand was already around Renji's upper arm. His eyes flashed back and forth between his captain's hand and face and he tried to clear his throat.

“What...,“ he croaked, but faltered under Byakuya's stare. That look was so different from anything else he had received from his Taichou so far, that he just stood unmoving, a small part of him despairing at his inability to do anything at all. Those eyes seemed so much more alive than they had before, and somehow Renji really liked to be looked at in this way by the otherwise so stoic man. But at the same time it made him feel uneasy. It made his breath hitch and his heart beat faster.

“Your sword.”
Byakuya's voice broke the moment and Renji felt himself starting to obey without even thinking about it. Then he frowned.
“What... is going on,” he finally brought out and slowly stepped past his captain to put Zabimaru back in its sheath and onto its stand.

But Byakuya didn't answer. As his Fukutaichou had turned around he followed the other's motions with his eyes, watching the well developed muscles move under the bold tattoos and couldn't help but marvel. Renji's skin shone softly under a thin layer of sweat. It was tempting enough on its own, but still underneath it, the body spoke of fierceness, of instinct and untamable passion. The beauty of its muscles was that of raw strength, honed by skill for the sake of the fight. Shaped and controlled, but so easily freed from those restraints.

Byakuya breathed deeply. Warmth was spreading fast through his body and that feeling which he had only had a glimpse of before was growing fast. This desire was something real, something to hold onto. In fact one of the very, very few things Byakuya had left right now to hold onto at all. He hesitated for only a moment and then the dark-haired man finally passed the boundaries of his own walls on free will.

As he stepped up to Renji, laying the palm of one hand flat against the others lower back, his lips barely touching the red hair that covered his Fukutaichou's neck, the redhead first stirred and then froze. He stood with his eyes wide open and a breath caught in his throat, as Byakuya's other hand sneaked around his waist and was placed firmly against his exposed abdomen. He shivered and as Byakuya felt the muscles twitch under his fingers, between his hands, he inhaled deeply, smelling the obviously just freshly washed hair.

It felt brilliant. Perfect.

Focusing on this he would be able to finally forget everything else, the insecurity, fear, the torture he'd been through all those hours before. For now his mind would be able to rest. There Renji moved, tried to turn around, took a deep breath that announced he would try to speak as well. But that wasn't what Byakuya wanted. Nothing was allowed to break this moment, to oppose this need. The heat in his loins, ever growing, growling, howling for being set free, it was stronger, much stronger than he had expected, but there was no room left for fear anymore. That part of him, as well as his otherwise ever-present self-control had been left behind in the stronghold that the noble had abandoned for now and that he could not turn back to until he had fed the reborn, raging desire that was stronger than ever in his life before. This was different from the deep but calm love he had felt for Hisana. This demanded. It had to be obeyed and could not be silenced any other way.

Renji was confused and anxious. The hands on his body felt good, way too good and he had to keep himself from leaning into either of them to try and get more of that touch, but another part of his mind pointed out that something was very wrong with this whole situation. This wasn't how Byakuya was supposed to act, this wasn't something the other should do. Nothing between them was certain, how could he be like this, it was all wrong. It was as if the old Kuchiki-Taichou had been left behind at some point and someone else had turned up. Someone very tempting, but also extremely dangerous.

As Renji tried to turn and speak, the pressure of those hands on his skin increased and a hiss beneath his ear sent goosebumps crawling over his skin. The hand on his abdomen moved higher, fingers spread wide as if to cover as much of his skin as possible. As they grazed one of his nipples he trembled, but lifted his own hand to cover Byakuya's and stop it in its tracks. But as he tried to pry the fingers from his skin he found them fixed there, and unmovable. His captain refused to let go, just increasing the pressure with the hand on Renji's back as well, which started to move dangerously close to were his kimono clung to his hips.

Renji was fighting a battle with himself. This was what all those damn dreams had been about: to be with Byakuya, close to him, feel him, touch him. But seeing it come true like this was just too strange. The stoic, cold man, who Renji thought would never ever change, had turned into something absolutely and dangerously unpredictable, into something the redhead desired, but suddenly also feared. As the hand in his back tugged at his kimono he finally snapped out of it.

“N-now wait...”
His voice didn't sound as confident as he would have liked at all, but he took a determined step forward, or at least tried to.

In the next second, without even grasping how, he found himself brought to his knees, head pushed backwards by a pale hand holding his jaw. As the captain knelt directly behind him, Renji saw Byakuya's profile out of the corner of his eye and could not restrain another tremble.

The noble's face would have seemed blank, hadn't it been for the deep, dark gray pools his irises had turned into. They almost seemed to be alive on their own, like rolling storm clouds or a churned sea. And they demanded and would not let anything stand in the path of what they wanted to receive.

They wanted him, Abarai Renji, and once more he tried to fight against something his body had been actively craving for a long time, but his reason denied and saw happening with dread. But his weak attempts to put up a fight were not enough to stop the smaller, more slender body behind him that housed such impossible power. He should have been able to free himself, he knew. Byakuya was strong, but Renji matched him, if only in physical strength. But he'd been caught off guard and confused, and the fact that the dreams of his captain had been in his head for several nights and days meant that he'd practically been aroused from the very moment he had seen Byakuya on his doorstep.

Reluctantly, with his mind still wanting to resist but slowly being dimmed out of the picture, he began to give in. The grip on his jaw loosened but Byakuya did not take his hand away in case the redhead would change his mind. But he removed his hand from Renji's back and started to caress the tattoos from the other's ribcage on downward, pressing firmly against the skin as if to absorb its texture. Then he moved to the Renji's abdomen again, enthralled at how his Fukutaichou arched his back slightly into the touch, muscles twitching harder the lower the pale fingers moved. As they descended on the prominent bulge under the cloth over Renji's groin, the redhead moaned and arched his back, but before he could get the closer contact he sought, he felt himself being pushed over onto all four.

He didn't realize in what particular position he was in until one of his arms was already tightly secured behind his back, Byakuya's grip firm and not to be loosened. Renji growled but was pushed forward suddenly so he had to lower himself onto his forearm if not to collide his forehead with the floor. He struggled and started to protest, but everything that came out of his mouth was a surprised yelp as the obi around his waist was loosened in seconds, the cloth pushed apart and Byakuya's hand finally came into contact with the redhead's erection. As that hand began stroking him, first teasingly, then with increasing pressure and pace, Renji's whole body shook in response and he had to lower his head onto his arm and bite his lower lip not to cry out.

All control left in his limbs as he was being driven further and further towards climax, completely at the mercy of the person behind him whom he did not recognize anymore. His breath hitched in his throat and even though this didn't seem right, it still nonetheless felt so good that he could barely hold back his moans.

He was close and as Byakuya leaned forwards and over him, the nobles breath hot between Renji's shoulder blades, the other's erection pressing against his behind, the redhead felt the typical, almost painful contraction of muscles taking hold of his abdomen and groin. One more firm stroke and he was over the edge, moaning into his arm. Byakuya continued stroking him for a few moments, his hand covered in semen, until his Fukutaichou had ridden out his orgasm and was breathing heavily beneath him, exhausted and more confused than ever before. Then the noble let go of Renji's arm for a few seconds, untied his obi and pushed the cloth of kimono and hakama aside, freeing his own straining erection.

The exhausted Renji barely realized how the garment still covering his rear was pulled away, and as Byakuya leaned forwards again, the lieutenant almost enjoyed the closeness, until in the next moment he understood, what it meant. But it was already too late. One arm wrapped firmly around his lieutenants hips, the other pinning the hand that had been restrained on Renji's back before now to the ground beside his head, Byakuya pushed forwards and in.

His decision to bring Renji to completion before, had been a random one then, but now he was pleased he had done it, even as exhausted as the redhead was, it wasn't easy to take him against his will. The roar that ripped from Renji's throat was that of anger, shock and pain. But the grip on his hips was relentless and just grew stronger the more he struggled. His hand might as well have been fused with the ground and there was not enough strength left in him to push himself up by just one arm, while Byakuya pressed him down, his chest hot against Renji's back. The redhead couldn't move, and as he was about to use his Reiatsu to increase his strength, a short but searing wave of Byakuya's own spirit energy washed over him with a force that made clear that he could match that power in no way.

It hurt. It hurt physically but maybe even more so, it hurt his pride. It shattered even the last thing he thought he had known about Byakuya. After a while his struggles weakened and his angry growls turned quiet as the questions took hold of his mind. Why? Why was Byakuya doing this to him? Why like this? Was that his revenge? What had happened to the icy, controlled, seemingly unfeeling captain he had known? But of course there were no answers, there was only the wish for it to be over.

Byakuya had covered himself partly in Renji's semen before, but his own need had been too great and his experience of having sex with another man non-existent, so he hadn't prepared the redhead or himself any more than that. Also had Renji been clenching his anus as furiously as he struggled otherwise, which in the first moments had made it painful even for Byakuya himself. Only now, as the redhead under him finally ceased to struggle and leaned his forehead onto his arm, his breathing strained and irregular, was the noble able to move properly. He loosened his grip around Renji's hip and put his hand back against the other's abdomen, seeking again the contact with those well defined muscles as he thrust deep, his lips moving in silent moans. His lips only millimeters from Renji's back he sought the tanned skin's heat, scent and taste, gathering off drops of sweat with a fast flick of his tongue.

The fire that burnt deep in his loins made him forget everything else around him and he bathed in it, relishing it, drowning in it. For the first moment since a long time he felt save, here, like this, having Renji, being close to him. Byakuya's mind seemed completely shut off as to the way he had acquired it. He lived, he felt and this time he was not afraid of it, that was the only thing important right now.

The world itself seemed to near its end, vanishing in bliss with every further thrust and he forgot his hand on top of Renji's, forgot the arm that still at least partly secured the redhead's waist. He was near, so near, drops of sweat making their way down his face, chest, legs, down his back under the black robes that seemed way too heavy now, too warm. In the last seconds before everything dissipated into nothing but pleasure for a few moments, he wrapped his arms tightly around Renji, not constraining the redhead anymore, but holding onto him as if for dear life. His face buried between the tattooed shoulder blades Byakuya could not suppress the throaty cry that escaped his lips, the only sound he made during all of this, as he finally came, pushing deep, pulling the body under him so tightly against his own that he thought they would melt together in the heat.

Then, it was over.

He held onto Renji for some more moments, breathing deep, trembling breaths, feeling as if he could never ever get enough air back into his lungs. The redhead did not move. He had pushed himself up onto his hands as soon as Byakuya had let them go and still before the noble had come, but as Renji finally would have had the possibility to shake the other off, he had been unable to. The way his captain's arms had then encircled him in that embrace, seemed like so much more. Like a lover's embrace. And the redhead's mind was now blank even of rage and he did not know what to do other than waiting. Waiting for his captain to leave, for the pain to subside, for his mind to put forth all the questions that he knew would come, that he knew he had no answers for, that he knew would drive him close to despair. His only hope was that his rage would return before that.

He felt Byakuya slowly let go and stand up. He felt the other hesitate, but then heard the ruffle of the black kimono and hakama being straightened out and readjusted. Obviously the noble didn't care about the sticky mess on everything and why should he, he could probably afford to just through this uniform away and buy fifty new ones when he was already at it.

Slowly, Renji sat back, covering his legs and groin with his kimono, not turning, not speaking, just frowning and staring at the floor.

He heard how the noble took a deep breath as if to say something but in the end he stayed silent. After a few more moments Byakuya stepped past the redhead to take Senbonzakura and hesitated once more as he turned back towards the door. But Renji turned his head away from his captain, could not look at him. Eventually he heard the other move again and then the sound of the door being opened and shortly thereafter closed again quietly.

Renji lay down on one side, pulling the stained kimono over himself and curling a fist into one of the sleeves. After a few more seconds his lips were pulled back in a snarl and a low growl rumbled in his throat. One of his fists thumbed into a tatami mat.

Fortunately, his anger had indeed returned before the questions did.


~~~