NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11: Retorta chapter 5
It's a little difficult, controlling a reiatsu-guided flashstep through an area he hasn't been through before, but Ichigo manages. Benihime is howling at him, no doubt demanding to be released and returned to Kisuke, and Ichigo takes her with all due reverence before flashing back to Kisuke's side. The entire enterprise takes less than a second before he's presenting her to Kisuke with both hands. Kisuke manages a shadow of a grateful smile and immediately discards the wakizashi in favor of returning Benihime to his side.
Yamamoto's face twists in fury and his own reiatsu begins to rise in challenge.
"You dare disrespect me to my face, boy? This is a matter among Shinigami, and you continue to interfere. I will issue no further warning. Stand down, or be destroyed."
At his side, Unohana winces, but says nothing. Tiny Gin glances back and forth between them and Yamamoto, slitted eyes wider than usual. The rest of the Gotei 13 shuffles backwards uncertainly, attempting to put distance between themselves and the angry Soutaicho.
Ichigo...laughs. He can't help it. None of his swords have materialized, he still can't manage a kido or bakudo below fifty, and Kisuke is busy rebooting from assassin to person again. All of those disadvantages, though? They mean nothing. Less than nothing.
Compared to future Aizen, even the Soutaicho is a negligible threat. For one, he probably has less reiatsu than Ichigo, even were he to use his Bankai. For another, Ichigo is used to fighting an opponent so far out of his league that each instant of combat has to be flawless, because otherwise he'll die. Yamamoto hardly counts as out of his league. Maybe once, as a naive young Ryouka invading Seireitei to free a friend. But not after almost ten years of war, of fighting and training every spare instant, constantly in danger. No, Yamamoto is hardly even a threat in comparison.
He is, however, becoming an impressive nuisance. Ichigo stops laughing abruptly to fix the old man with a hard look, letting Shiro bleed into his eyes for a glare he knows is terrifying. The soutaicho jerks back, shock and horror seepng into his reiatsu, followed closely by rage and well-concealed fear.
Ichigo clamps down with his own reiatsu, focusing it on Yamamoto with as much control as he can manage, staggering the man.
"No. Here's my counteroffer. Don't follow us, and I'll let your organization stand."
He turns to Kisuke, offering his arm for support. His shunpo is faster, and he can get them to the training area where Yoruichi and the others will be waiting. The assassin looks a little dazed, honestly, but he takes Ichigo's arm without hesitation. The show of unwavering trust warms Ichigo to his core, but now isn't the time for that. He reaches out with his senses, feeling for Yoruichi's distinctly feline signature, and then he moves, ignoring the strangled shout from behind him.
He drops out of shunpo in the entrance of the grounds and everything immediately goes haywire.
It's only his years of training with Yoruichi and Kisuke that allows him to dodge the foot that would have taken off his head. He's about to try to explain when a snarl that sounds only barely human rips through the air. Ichigo himself is yanked backwards, left to watch Kisuke's back as the man plants himself between Ichigo and the perceived threat.
"Nake, Benihime!"
Yoruichi stops dead, staring uncomprehendingly at the crimson shield that's sprung up between her and Kisuke. Ichigo can't see Kisuke's face, but it must be terrifying, because Yoruichi sounds uncharacteristically hesitant as she queries,
"Kisuke?"
He doesn't answer her, breathing perfectly even, Benihime a steady line aimed at her throat. Ichigo knows what's happening, though, and presumably so does Yoruichi; she drops her hands and retreats to a safer distance, murmuring quiet reassurances as she does so. Ichigo creeps a little closer, shuffling his footsteps so as not to startle Kisuke. Carefully, he lays a hand on the man's shoulder, feeling the wire-taut muscles there, ready to strike.
"Hey, Kisuke. It's okay. We're safe. That's Yoruichi, remember, she's not a threat. We're in a safe place. I'm here. We're both okay. There's no threat here. It's safe. Kisuke, c'mon, look at me. We're okay, we've got this, we're safe."
Ichigo lets his reiatsu seep into the air, wrapping it around Kisuke like a cloak. The assassin shudders, some of the tension dropping out of him, but he doesn't lower his sword. Ichigo takes it as his cue to continue, wrapping both arms around Kisuke's waist and resting his head against Kisuke's shoulder blade. Finally, Benihime's point wavers and lowers. Awareness blinks back into his eyes, and Ichigo can feel the horror that tinges his reiatsu as he sheaths her. Carefully, he smooths it away with his own, and Kisuke turns toward him fully, burying his face in Ichigo's shoulder. Together, they sink to the ground, and Ichigo pulls Kisuke toward him until the assassin is almost resting in his lap. He meets Yoruichi's wide eyes over Kisuke's shoulder and signs carefully in Onmi code,
"Talk later. Cover now."
It's a language built for assassins, but the werecat seems to understand his meaning nevertheless. She leaves the blanket just outside of their safe zone, and Ichigo pulls it over Kisuke, who has started to shiver. Carefully, he tears off a strip of it to bandage Kisuke's hand with, at least until Kisuke can manage the Kaido himself, and the assassin lets him, as docile as a lamb.
For a long time, they just sit there, curled into each other, and Ichigo has to admit that he needed this nearly as much as Kisuke. Seeing him be swallowed by the Dangai, grey eyes wide and terrified-- not for himself, but for Ichigo-- had been wrenching, and Ichigo had promptly thrown himself at where Kisuke had disappeared, hoping they'd come out together.
Honestly, as often as their plans went horribly wrong, Ichigo should be glad they're even alive, much less in the same century.
He buries his face in Kisuke's soft, ash-blond hair and tries not to think of what might have happened had the traitorous plot succeeded.