Chapter 27

Ichigo's mask slowly dissolved, showing his unreadable expression staring at Ginjo's form which was sprawled on the floor. The man was still breathing, but barely. He was having his last breath.

"…You're truly strong… No wonder… you're a Taichou…" Ginjo voiced quietly as he smiled. "I wonder… If you were on my shoes… would you also…" But then his eyes had lost their light as his heart had stopped.

Ichigo stood there for a long, long time, staring at his enemy's lifeless body. If he were in Ginjo's shoes huh… "Then I'm sure, someone like Byakuya or Kenpachi would stop me too." He knelt on one knee before he closed Ginjo's eyes. "You're very strong too… Ginjo." He said just as he coughed up so much blood that he really had to hold his chest.

"King!!" He heard Shiro's worried voice. Muramasa and Zangetsu were also voicing their own comments. His three spirits seemed to be very worried about him.

"I'm fine." He smiled as he said the words quietly. "I'm fine…" He sat on one of the rubbles as he watched Byakuya and Kariya's fight. He knew he would not be able to take on another fight anymore, much less a fight against Kariya so he sincerely hoped that he didn't have to help Byakuya win against the Bounto.

On the other hand, Byakuya could feel Kariya's overwhelming strength even though he was not admitting it. The man was surely the epitome of revenge. When they both felt Ginjo's reiatsu drop, Kariya must have felt the need to win more than anything. His attacks had become more serious and his expression and demeanor had changed as well.

"I won't let you interfere with our plans any further." Kariya voiced as he started his continuous attacks from every direction.

At the start of their battle, Kariya had used Messer for both defense and offense. But now, he had abandoned all defenses and at least powered up his offense tenfold. Byakuya was starting to have a hard time dodging his attacks since he was still using Senbonzakura as both a form of defense and offense. He would have to abandon defense too if he wanted to catch up to his enemy's current speed and power. However, that would be too reckless even for him. He was not a man who fought his opponents with reckless abandon, especially since he was known as a cool and calculating Taichou.

He needed to think things carefully.

"Master, there's no need to hold back." Senbonzakura voiced inside his mind. "You've been unconsciously holding back for a while now."

Byakuya's eyes widened at that. He's unconsciously holding himself back? He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. There was no need to hold back against Kariya. So what was the reason? His eyes then darted towards Ichigo's direction and he immediately knew why. He wanted to reserve his strength because he wanted to protect the other Taichou in case more opponents appeared. There was also the fact that he felt the need to use his healing kidou once again and treat Ichigo's wounds.

He clenched his fists tightly. He did not want Ichigo to be his weakness nor would he want to be the teen's flaw. He wanted to serve as the other Taichou's strength, just like how Ichigo was to him. "I'll finish this." He voiced coldly towards his enemy.

Kariya simply smirked at Byakuya. "I see that your heart is not here in our fight." He commented just as he looked at Ichigo, concentrating a quiet but massive attack towards the younger man. "Maybe killing that other one will make you more inclined to be serious?"

Byakuya's eyes widened. "You bastard…!!" He immediately shunpod towards Ichigo just as Kariya appeared right before the younger Taichou.

Ichigo could feel the intense pain accompanied by using too much reiatsu. He really needed to rest or he would lose consciousness again. Sitting would normally be considered as resting but his body was still in so much pain even though he was keeping his movements to a minimum. Damn, he really needed to rest… He could feel his vision blacking out from too much fatigue. Unohana-taichou would surely scold him again. But there's no way he could actually rest while Byakuya was still fighting. He wanted to watch the fight until the end. Or maybe he would try to sleep while they were fighting...? That sounded like a really nice idea… except he would be utterly vulnerable.

The orange-haired teen suddenly felt like he was about to be attacked. He looked at Kariya and realized that the man was looking at him, readying to do something. Half a second was all it took for Kariya to attack. Before Ichigo could even blink and defend himself, he suddenly found Byakuya standing with the noble's back in front of him.

"Byakuya!!" Ichigo shouted in so much dread when he realized that the older Taichou took all the attack for him. A horizontal tornado-like attack had managed to wound Byakuya terribly. The raven was out of breath as blood poured down from his chest and abdomen. He was also filled with scrapes and gashes all over his face and arms.

However, at that same moment, Kariya also screamed in so much pain. Byakuya's eyes looked relieved. It seemed his stealth attack worked. He initially wanted to go to Ichigo's side immediately and defend both of them from the immense attack using Senbonzakura. However, at the last minute, he had decided to use his mere body as defense while the petals aimed for Kariya's blind spot. Just as Messer released the attack, thousands of petals immediately rained down upon the Bounto and had practically shredded his body into tiny million pieces. Or at least, tried to.

Byakuya knew that Kariya used defense at the last minute so he was at least able to block some of the petals. The raven closed his eyes, knowing full well that the fight was over. There was no way Kariya would survive that, even if he were a supposedly immortal Bounto.

After the dust and debris had settled down, they both saw Kariya sprawled on the ground. He was still trying to stand up but in futility. His whole body was severely wounded by Senbonzakura and he was barely breathing. It seemed he was not able to totally block the attack seeing that he had long forsaken his defense. He used his last remaining strength to look at the man who had managed to defeat him.

He saw Byakuya looking at him with a cold, indifferent gaze just before the man fell down on his knees too. The younger Taichou immediately caught him before he fell on the ground. Somehow, he found that he was envying the scene before him. Byakuya had someone who would worry for him, someone he could lean on, and someone he could trust with his life. However, Kariya had no one like that… At least not anymore since Soul Society had destroyed everything dear to him. How pitiful for him to die like a stray dog… "I…" He tried to voice out but he found out that his throat was also destroyed and he could not help but form a tired smile. He really was defeated. He closed his eyes just as he held his last breath.

Ichigo was surprised when Byakuya suddenly fell on his knees. "Byakuya!!" He shouted in worry just as he caught the man before the latter falls on the ground. His earlier pain and fatigue were momentarily forgotten in the face of a more seriously wounded raven. He immediately tried to make the noble sit down and lean on the rubbles.

"I'm fine…" Byakuya voiced quietly. He was heavily wounded and his vision was starting to turn black. But Ichigo's trembling hands as the Taichou tried to perform a sloppy healing kidou kept the noble from passing out. Ichigo was afraid… He wanted to ease Ichigo's fear and pain. "Ichigo…" He initially voiced but was surprised when the orange-haired teen suddenly knelt in front of him and locked him in a warm and tight embrace. His face was buried in the younger male's chest and he could feel the fast beating of Ichigo's heart.

Ichigo felt his whole body turn cold when Byakuya received the attack for him. He knew he was not good at healing kidou and he was already panicking because the noble seemed too out of it to hear anything he was saying. "Byakuya, you idiot…" He kept on mumbling as he tried his best to keep the trembling of his body to a minimum. He was so scared… So scared that Byakuya would leave him behind as well… "Don't you dare lose consciousness, Byakuya…" But it was no use. His puny way of healing had no effect whatsoever to the other Taichou's deep and still bleeding wounds.

In the end, he hugged Byakuya tightly as he tried to make his reiatsu fluctuate heavily to call out their other companions. He knew Toshirou and the others were already finished in their fights. They could use healing kidou. He was visibly trembling from too much fear and before he knew it, his tears were falling down his cheeks in rapid succession.

Byakuya's eyes widened when he felt hot tears falling down his face. He knew it was not his. There was no way he would cry from physical pain, no matter how painful it was. So it must be Ichigo's… "Ichigo, I'm fine." He tried to voice louder. His mind had cleared a bit thanks to the sloppy but strong healing kidou used on him and he could finally hear what the other Taichou kept on murmuring.

"Please, don't leave me…" Ichigo voiced as he sobbed. "Byakuya… don't leave me…"

"Don't cry. I'm not dead yet." Byakuya sighed as he tried to return the hug even though he was still in pain. Hearing those broken sobs was a lot more painful than any wound Kariya could inflict him. "Ichigo, I won't leave. Stop crying." He voiced firmly.

Ichigo pulled away a little from the hug when he heard those words. Byakuya looked up at him just as he looked down, face still tear-streaked. The raven slowly raised his still wounded hand to cup the teen's face. He wiped the teen's tears and did his best to smile even though he was still hurting a lot.

"I'm fine. I won't go anywhere, Ichigo." He said before he used his own remaining reiatsu to perform a healing kidou on himself. However, his words seemed to have an opposite effect because Ichigo sobbed harder and hugged him tighter.

"Byakuya, I thought…" Ichigo trembled just as he felt the raven return his embrace.

This time, Byakuya was the one who locked the other teen in a warm embrace. He kissed Ichigo's hair, knowing full well that Ichigo didn't want to be left behind by people who were dear to him. That thought was enough to give him strength. To know that he was this important to Ichigo was enough for him.

"I think you should use this opportunity to kiss him, Master." Byakuya's eyes widened when his zanpakutou suddenly said those words. "I mean, he's still very much shocked so he definitely won't resist. That's what I believe." The raven did his best to tune out his zanpakutou's voice.

It took some minutes to finally calm Ichigo down. When the orange-haired Taichou looked up at him again, Byakuya cupped his face and kissed his forehead, immediately earning him a bright blush from Ichigo. "B-Byakuya…" He stuttered as he felt his whole body tremble for an entirely different reason.

"I'm glad you're alright." Byakuya voiced as he pulled Ichigo to his chest once again. He wanted to lock the younger male in his embrace even though his Shihakusho was bloodied. He just realized it now but both of them weren't wearing their haori anymore. The piece of clothing probably got torn off at some point during their fights.

"I should be the one saying that!" Ichigo pushed the noble a bit to look at Byakuya's face. He was clearly worried but he was also a bit angry. "Why did you do that!? You didn't have to take that attack for me! I could've dodged that!" Although he knew there was no way he would have been able to dodge that attack at the time because he was still in so much pain from fatigue.

Byakuya looked at Ichigo's expression coolly before he had decided to be as honest as he could. There was no need to lie to Ichigo. He wanted to tell everything to the man now that he had a chance. He didn't want to have regrets anymore. "...Because I don't want to feel the same agony and despair anymore, just like when Hisana left me." Ichigo's eyes widened at that. He was speechless since it was the first time Byakuya openly said those words to him. "When she died, I thought I wouldn't be able to live on anymore. I wanted to die so badly and be reunited with her. The pain and anguish were too much for my heart to bear. I've lived having those feelings for a long, long time. But now… now that I've managed to overcome the pain because of your presence… I never, never want to feel it again. I love you too much, Ichigo. I can't live without you."

Ichigo could feel his whole body getting warm just from those words. For Byakuya to say those words so bluntly… He didn't know what to say. He felt so overwhelmed and yet so awed he felt like wanting to cry again. Several emotions were muddled up inside his heart, making him unable to form any coherent thought. He didn't know the noble loved him that much… His initial anger was suddenly replaced with a sweet and fluffy feeling at the pit of his stomach. He could hear his heart thumping really fast inside his chest even though he knew he had already rested for a while now. Was it because of Byakuya too...?

He used to be so afraid of getting close to another soul because he felt that they would never be with him for a long time. He was still a little scared of it, especially with what happened earlier. But with Byakuya… The man was afraid too but he chose to love anyway… He did not let fear grip his heart and instead decided to let his feelings grow… He had… decided to love Ichigo anyway…

Ichigo wished he could also be like that. He wished to love someone so much to the point where he could not control his feelings. Perhaps, if it was Byakuya, then he… "Byakuya, actually I…" And he stopped. His eyes widened just as he stared at those gray orbs. What was he about to say...? He felt his cheeks color up at the thought.

"Ichigo...?" Byakuya voiced in worry when the tears suddenly fell down Ichigo's flushed cheeks.

"Byakuya, I…" Ichigo voiced as he chuckled while he cried. "I'm happy… I'm so happy I can't stop crying…" He could feel his heart brimming with so much happiness he literally did not know what to do with it.

He tried to wipe his tears but Byakuya took his hand and kissed it, making him blush even more. The noble kissed each and every finger in his hand and Ichigo watched the noble with wide eyes and wildly beating heart. Byakuya took his other hand and did the same before finally pulling him down and kissing his forehead again. He closed his eyes when Byakuya kissed them too, preventing him from crying any further… then the raven kissed his nose and both of his cheeks… before looking at Ichigo with those sharp gray orbs of his.

The teen was already blushing madly and yet he just couldn't help but look at Byakuya's eyes directly. He didn't want to look anywhere else. No, he couldn't look anywhere else… Slowly, Byakuya leaned closer to him while angling their faces. Ichigo's breath hitched just as he gulped, knowing full well what the noble was about to do. He could feel Byakuya's cool breath on his face and inhale his scent, a mix of Sakura petals and tea. Slowly, he closed his eyes as well.

Both of them were totally distracted when someone cleared their throat quite loudly not too far away from them. They both looked and saw Shunsui and the others watching them with different sizes of grins on their faces. Shunsui looked like he was enjoying the scene quite thoroughly while Toshirou was the one who looked embarrassed watching them. Kenpachi looked like he just found out something terribly fun and wanted to tell everyone about it. Shinji was looking at both of them with a teasing grin.

"Sorry about that interruption just now. My throat was just a little bit itchy." Shunsui tried to appear innocent as he grinned. "You may continue where you left off."

Ichigo immediately turned bright red just as he stepped away from the noble. He looked so embarrassed but he still wanted to tell them that Byakuya needed their help, despite how it looked like. "B-Byakuya is wounded…" He voiced, cursing inwardly when he stuttered.

Byakuya inhaled deeply to compose himself once more. He had quite forgotten they weren't alone in Hueco Mundo. That damn Shunsui… if only they didn't arrive so early…

"Wounded, huh...?" Shinji crossed his arms over his chest, his grin not ceasing in the least. "Yeah, I can see that. Definitely wounded." Shunsui laughed out loud at that.

Toshirou sighed just as he shunpod over towards the two to have a look at Byakuya's condition. Both the silver-haired Taichou and Shunsui had almost lost to their fight with the Bounto and it was only due to Kenpachi and Shinji's arrival that they had managed to finally defeat their enemies. And knowing full well that Byakuya and Ichigo's enemies were the leaders, it was not unnatural for them to suffer severe wounds.

The silver-haired Taichou knelt in front of Byakuya to examine the wounds. His eyes widened when he saw that it was far more severe than how it looked. He immediately used his healing kidou to treat the noble.

Shinji shunpod towards Ichigo and made the latter sit on one of the large chunks of the ceiling that had fallen. He started using his own healing kidou to treat the younger male. "Really, considering the depths of your wounds, I'm amazed how you two could still do that kind of thing." He voiced seriously as he realized that Ichigo was terribly wounded despite how he looked. Moreover, from the immense reiatsu Toshirou kept on exerting, the blonde was sure Byakuya was in no better condition.

"I-It's not what you're thinking." Ichigo scowled at Shinji, though he was still blushing. The blonde arched an eyebrow at him, obviously indicating he was not at all convinced.

"But really," Shunsui said before he sighed. "We kind of panicked when we felt your fluctuating reiatsu, Ichigo." The other Taichous couldn't help but agree. They had just finished their fight when they suddenly felt Ichigo's reiatsu fluctuating wildly. They knew full well that the teen was trying to call out to them and that made the situation even scarier, especially since his reiatsu was filled with utter fear and pain. They did their best to save up as much reiatsu as they could before they decided to help the two Taichou. However, when they got to the place and found both enemies dead while Ichigo and Byakuya were in one another's embrace, they realized they were a little too late. Or rather, they should have come a little bit later.

"That's because…" Ichigo looked down, expression getting pained again. "I'm not skilled in healing kidou." Shinji scowled and immediately smacked him on the head. "Ow!" The teen looked up at the blonde who's still healing him, confused as to why Shinji did that.

"He'll be fine." Shinji muttered. Ichigo looked at Byakuya's calm expression as Toshirou was healing him and the teen couldn't help but nod. It was Byakuya after all… Of course, he would definitely be okay.

Ichigo smiled at the blonde. "Thank you."

"You worry too easily." Shinji reprimanded lightly. "You keep forgetting that Kuchiki-taichou is a much experienced Taichou than you are. I'm sure he had survived far worse situations than this." Ichigo nodded in understanding.

The blonde couldn't help but feel that Ichigo's wounds were far too serious than how they appeared. It was true that the enemies were very strong and powerful. However, the teen was not the strongest Vaizard by name only. He was so sure Ichigo could have defeated them without receiving such serious damage to his body and internal organs. Now he's very curious. "Ichigo, tell me the truth."

Ichigo's attention perked up once again when Shinji called his attention. He was previously looking at Kenpachi and Shunsui who were inspecting the corpses of their enemies. "What is it?" He asked in curiosity.

Shinji looked at him seriously. "These wounds… they're not just from the fight here in Hueco Mundo, are they?"

Ichigo's eyes widened at that. Even Byakuya and Toshirou looked in their direction. Shunsui and Kenpachi pretended to be busy looking somewhere else. Ichigo sighed as he scratched his head, knowing full well that an explanation was needed.

"Well, you see…" The teen readied himself before he started explaining what exactly happened in his fight with Aizen. He knew there was a huge chance Shinji might get angry at him not only for receiving such a huge weakness from the fight despite the intensive training he went through but also because of the fact that he had hidden it from his Vaizard companions for so long. He did not know if he could appease the blonde after everything was said and done but he still wanted to finally say it out loud once and for all. That he was not a person suited for fighting anymore… that he was a person who could die from extraneous activities… and that he was a person who could never understand why despite all his current weaknesses, he was still appointed as a Taichou…

Shinji stared at him with an unreadable expression for some more seconds before finally sighing. He remembered the worried gazes Toshirou, Kenpachi, and Shunsui kept on giving the teen all throughout the mission and now he finally understood. "So that's what it was all about."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Ichigo voiced quietly. "I just don't want… to be a burden to anyone in this mission." Someone patted his head and Ichigo looked up in time to see Shunsui smiling at him.

"Well, everything is over now." The Taichou said kindly. "Should we all go back home?" Ichigo and the others smiled at him in return and nodded.

"W-Wait!!" They all readied themselves as they felt a presence of an Arrancar nearby. From a distance, they could see three figures running towards them at full speed.

"N-Nel?!" Ichigo stood up just in time for Nel to attack, or rather, hug him at full speed.

"Who is that!?" Toshirou readied his zanpakutou but Byakuya merely held its tip to prevent the other Taichou from pointing it at Nel.

"Itsygo!! Nel thought Itsygo and Bakuya will not return anymore!!" Nel clung to the orange-haired teen's shihakusho tightly while bawling her eyes out. "Nel was waiting and waiting but Itsygo and Bakuya still did not return!!" Ichigo was doing his best to appease the crying child while her two companions were still a little bit far away. Their shouts of 'Nel-sama' could be heard from the distance.

Byakuya sighed in exasperation just as he glared at Nel. "We told you we'll come back. You should have waited patiently."

"B-But…" Nel had already ceased crying but her lips were still pouting.

Shunsui looked at the pouty child and then at Ichigo who was carrying her before he looked at Byakuya who was glaring at the child. "So you two can produce a child just by being with each other for one day?" Shinji snickered at that. Kenpachi couldn't see anything wrong simply because Yachiru was also always climbing on his back.

Ichigo's whole face reddened. "N-No, of course not!!" But he returned Nel's hug warmly anyway. "She's an Arrancar we met along the way here."

It took several more minutes before Nel stopped from strangling, or rather, hugging the teen and several more hours had passed before everyone was already busy again. The 12th Squad Taichou Kurotsuchi could not help but investigate the place together with his subordinates. They were also the ones who took the bodies of the strong Bountos and Fullbringers who died during the battles. The whole place was searched and almost turned upside down by Kurotsuchi in order to find more experimental subjects.

"I assure you I'll make her my most favorite test subject." He kept pleading Ichigo to just give him Nel. Both the teen and Byakuya gave him a really deadly glare and the 12th Squad Taichou had no choice but to look for other Arrancars instead. It seemed, however, that he was not at all interested in the likes of Pekche and Dondochakka who kept on volunteering for something they did not entirely understand.

"Instead of volunteering to be slaughtered, I'll be happy to kill you instead." Byakuya voiced when he was already so irked at the constant noise they kept on creating. The two of them behaved themselves well after that.

After some more hours, they already said their goodbyes to Nel and her two subjects before finally entering the Garganta.

Shunsui sighed as he anticipated his relaxing moments once again. "Wait for me, Nanao-chan! I'll be there in a moment~!"

"Time for more sparring!" Shinji and Kenpachi voiced in unison as they grinned. Then Shinji looked at Ichigo and smirked. "I'll definitely destroy the wall of your barracks again, Ichigo." Byakuya and Toshirou kept their silence, knowing full well that they wanted their own barracks intact, while Ichigo couldn't help but smile at the two fighting maniacs.

The teen thought that Shinji and even Byakuya would treat him like a delicate person if ever he voiced his weakness out. But he was wrong. He could not thank them enough…

And then his thoughts drifted once again to Byakuya just when he'd finally managed to stop thinking about the noble. They got so busy earlier to the point where they couldn't even talk anymore. And somehow, the intimate moment was momentarily forgotten by everyone.

Ichigo couldn't help but blush deeply when he remembered what happened between him and the noble. What was that about...? He knew it was natural for Byakuya to do that because the noble loved him deeply. But for him to not only anticipate the kiss but to feel disappointed when it didn't happen… He shook his head immediately. He shouldn't be thinking that. It was just a spur of the moment. He sighed as he tried his best to calm his fast-beating heart.

Just… a spur of the moment… He could feel his ears turning pink again.

But really, he didn't realize Byakuya smelled so good when up close… His blush deepened before he sighed and smiled to himself.

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.tbc.

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