Salvaje Amor

By Spunky0ne

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(This one is a new version of a fic I began for Shima-taicho31, but has been reworked and the plot slightly altered. Pairings for the story are Gin/Byakuya and Kurushimi/Tetsuya with some Aizen/Gin later.)

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Chapter 1: Uncaged

Twenty-year-old Shima Kurushimi moved on silent feet through the woods on the edges of Rukongai East Fifty-Third District, avoiding the open spaces and extending his senses carefully. He picked up immediately the touches of hidden reiatsu, markers left to guide him to the assigned meeting place. His turquoise eyes scanned the area around him carefully as he moved forward. But as careful as he was, he almost missed the presence of the concealed Kuchiki heir. The eighteen-year-old Kuchiki prince, scowled as Kuri joined him.

"You're late," he hissed softly, "We have received word that my cousin has been scheduled for execution in the morning. We are out of time. We have to extract him now."

"We should have gotten him and the others out weeks ago," Kuri complained softly, crouching down in the bushes at Byakuya's side and peering ahead of them to where he sensed the hidden prison, just ahead of them, "I don't trust that immoral snake you used to infiltrate."

"I do not completely trust Orochi either," Byakuya agreed, "but he comes from a family that has a reputation for opposing inclusion of mixed bloods in the family. He was credible enough to be accepted by the ones running the hidden prison."

"He is also a little beast!" Kuri said, shaking his head in disapproval, "Are you sure he won't give us away?"

"He won't give us away," Byakuya assured the young Shima leader, "but he may make some shifty moves, so be on your guard."

"I would never lower my guard while ten feet from that snake!"

"Hmm," Byakuya said thoughtfully, "That's the thing about snakes. What makes them deadly is how they sneak up on you. Be cautious."

"You as well," Kuri answered, moving off to his right and focusing his attention on the dark stone fortress that loomed ahead of them.

For a time, the only sounds were light breezes that moved the tree limbs overhead, and the soft occasional scrape of sandal on the dirt. The rescue team waited in tense silence until, in the distance, a light flared in one of the windows and was covered and uncovered three times in quick succession.

"That is the signal!" Byakuya hissed, "Everyone remember your assignments. Archers will take out the guards in the towers now. Go!"

A group of men hurried forward into the darkness.

"As soon as the guards are down, kido group, destroy the gates!"

A group of men moved forward, breathing soft chants and building their power. The soft hissing of arrows sounded in front of the assault group, then heavy blasts rocked the fortress, shattering the front gates and making screams and shouts sound from within.

"Get to the prisoners, quickly!" Byakuya shouted, drawing his sword and flash stepping forward with Kuri at his side. The two burst into the courtyard, watching for a moment as a group engaged the guards that had responded to the explosions, then flash stepping past them and breaking into the main entry of the stone prison. Byakuya and Kuri loosed heavy blasts of kido, then slashed at the guards blocking the entrances to the two large cell blocks.

"You take the right! I'll go to the left!" Byakuya shouted, taking several men with him as Kuri shot forward with several behind him. Screams and explosions filled the cell block, emanating from the far end as Kuri and the others raced forward.

"Bastardos!" Kuri exclaimed, "They are killing the prisoners! Get them!"

Echoing grunts and shouts mingled with sounds of collision and intermittent explosions that rocked the area, sending pebbles and dust raining down on the rescuers and the guards. Kuri spotted a dark-haired guard about to fire a blast into one of the cells, and he flash stepped wildly, taking the man down and ending his assault with a heavy slash of his sword that separated the guard's head from his body. He turned and broke the lock on the cell, noting that the other rescuers were herding prisoners out of the cells a short distance back, and leading them along the safe corridor that had been created. Turning his head back, he saw a small movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Look out, sir!" a youthful voice warned him, "Behind you!"

Kuri put his sword through the attacker, then looked around and found himself alone with the two prisoners that were still locked in their cell. One looked to be a teen boy with a mess of matted black hair who leaned over a second, collapsed teen with brown hair.

"Naoki!" the black haired boy howled, "Naoki, please get up! I smell fire!"

Kuri bent over the fallen boy, his breath freezing as he realized that the youth was already dead. He looked up to speak to the boy's companion, then froze as he encountered a pair of large, dark sapphire eyes that were disbelieving and filling with tears.

"Naoki?" he repeated in a shaky voice.

"Lo siento," Kuri said sadly, "There is nothing that can be done. Your friend has passed."

"No!" the blue-eyed boy sobbed, shaking the dead boy desperately, "No, he can't be…N-Naoki?"

"Come," Kuri said softly, moving closer and wrapping an arm around the teen, "It isn't safe here anymore. We must meet with Byakurai and the others."

The teen took two gulping breaths and shook his head.

"I won't leave without Naoki! He is…he was…married to me!"

Kuri looked more closely as he helped the boy to his feet, and his eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the teen's enlarged abdomen.

"Y-you are…one of the breeder males?" he asked.

The sobbing youth nodded.

"They found out," he explained, wiping his eyes, "and I was going to be killed in the morning. If you hadn't come, Naoki would be alive and I would be the one dead!"

"Don't think that way," Kuri chided him, slipping the cloak off of his shoulders and wrapping it around the teen, "Now, what is your name?"

"T-tetsuya," the youth answered, "Kuchiki Tetsuya. But I am not allowed to use my father's surname. So, it is just Tetsuya."

Kuri gave him a gentle smile.

"And I am Shima Kurushimi, leader of the Shima clan. Come with me, Kuchiki Tetsuya," he said kindly, "I will bring your husband."

He lifted Naoki into his arms and started to lead Tetsuya in the direction that the others had gone. Just as they reached the doorway leading out of the cell block, a huge blast rumbled through the area, shaking the floor under them and sending heavy rock crashing down in front of them. Kuri turned and shielded Tetsuya carefully, backing him away from the blocked exit.

"Is there another way out?" Kuri asked hastily.

"N-no, we are trapped!" Tetsuya said frantically, panting and gasping softly as a pain radiated through his abdomen.

Kuri read the look on his face and inhaled sharply.

"Dìos mio, can anything else go wrong?" he muttered, holding Naoki over his shoulder and wrapping the other arm around Tetsuya. They backed away as more of the area began to collapse.

"What can we do?" Tetsuya cried, "There is no way out and the fire is coming in!"

"We will do what we must, Tetsu-hana!" Kuri said, laying Naoki down and extending a hand, "Get behind me!"

Tetsuya pressed up against Kuri's back, hiding his face in the back of the young man's shoulder as Kuri sent a destructive kido ball flying at the nearby wall, then pulled Tetsuya down, covering the teen's body with his own. Tetsuya screamed as more rock fell all around them, crashing down so closely that he could feel the breeze the stone made as it fell. As soon as he spotted an opening, Kuri gathered up Naoki's body and pulled Tetsuya to his feet.

"Run!"

Tetsuya stumbled forward, holding onto Kuri's hand and looking around fearfully for any sign of the guards. They broke free of the prison area and took cover in the woods, at the side of a little brook. Tetsuya shivered and his blue eyes continued to dart around as he pressed up against his caramel skinned rescuer. Kuri extended his senses, scanning the area carefully before setting Naoki's body down under a tree and taking a closer look at Tetsuya.

"Are you hurt, Tetsu-hana?" he asked, lifting the cloak he had given Tetsuya and looking him over.

"I d-don't think so," Tetsuya said shakily, "B-but my stomach hurts. I have been having pains all day. K-kurushimi-sama, I…I think I am…in labor!"

"Oh no," Kuri chided him, "You cannot do that here. It is just…preliminary pains, no? You don't mean you are going to have the baby right here. I haven't even finished rescuing you!"

"W-well, it doesn't look like the baby is going to wait! It hurts, Kurushimi-sama! Please, help me!"

Kuri looked around anxiously, swallowing hard as a sudden memory flashed in his mind.

"It hurts, Kuri!" Hideaki panted harshly, "It hurts so much I c-can't breathe!"

"Kurushimi-sama?" Tetsuya said, his teeth chattering, "I feel dizzy."

"Ah…come and lie down," Kuri directed him, helping to ease him onto his back.

He knelt at Tetsuya's side, leaning over him to lay hands on the pronounced bump on his abdomen. A more powerful memory returned as he felt the presence and strength of the baby's reiatsu.

"Breathe, my love!" he sobbed, squeezing Hideaki's ominously limp hand as his sister delivered a shock of kido to the younger man's stilled heart, "Hideaki!"

"Just try to breathe slowly," Kuri said, holding Tetsuya's icy and horribly thin and bony hand, "The baby is coming now. You see?"

He motioned to where a bright golden light was beginning to emanate from Tetsuya's swollen belly, then moved into position to capture the baby's reiatsu.

"I d-don't feel s-so well, Kurushimi-s-sama," Tetsuya said weakly.

He has been underfed for a long time, and kept in a cold, dark cell. The poor thing is in no condition for this, and I am sure he knows it.

"Kurush-shimi-s-sama," Tetsuya said haltingly, "I…I don't th-think I'm going to…"

"Don't talk like that, Tetsu-hana," Kuri scolded him gently, "Hold onto my hand and think only of what it will be like to hold your baby."

"But, I…Kurushimi-sama, I…I cannot breathe very well. Please, if I am not…if I don't…please call my baby after his father…and-and please t-take care of my child!"

"Stop talking like that!" Kuri snapped, reeling as Tetsuya's face began to confuse itself with Hideaki's in his anxious mind, "You must concentrate on our baby, Hideaki!"

Tetsuya blinked in confusion and Kuri caught his mistake.

"T-tetsu-hana," he corrected himself, "You must focus only on your baby. Don't leave your baby. Don't leave me alone, okay? Just stay here with me!"

Tetsuya panted harder, moaning in distress as the light in his belly grew more powerful, and very slowly, a large ball of golden reiatsu began to emerge.

"Here comes your baby, Tetsu-hana!" Kuri breathed, staring.

This is what never happened for Hideaki and me, Kuri mused inwardly, Hideaki died as he gave birth, and our child was lost. I never thought I would be here, watching this joven hermosa who has been locked away and abused give birth like this. This is…

He captured the baby's reiatsu in his hands, tears leaking onto his face as the infant's body resolved into a tiny pink bundle with a shock of wild brown hair and Tetsuya's large, gentle sapphire eyes.

"Tetsu-hana!" he managed in a choked whisper, "Tetsu-hana, he is beautiful! You have a lovely baby boy! Congratulations!"

Happy tears ran down Tetsuya's face, and his expression remained serene, even as he quivered oddly and began to close his damp eyes.

"Tetsu-hana!" Kuri cried, "Tetsu-hana, don't do this! Do not leave your baby alone! Tetsu-hana, you must breathe!"

He quickly removed his black top and used it to warmly swaddle the infant, then he set the baby carefully next to the tree and leaned over Tetsuya again, placing one hand over his heart and one on the side of his body.

"Tetsu-hana!" he shouted, "You are not leaving!"

He shocked the teen's body with a swift release of kido, striking once and waiting for a moment, then feeding him a few quick breaths before trying again.

"Tetsu-hana!" he cried, massaging his chest and giving him more breaths, "Tetsu-hana, stay with me!"

He heard running feet approaching and raised his hand defensively, preparing to employ a destructive kido.

"Wait! Don't attack us! We're here to help," Byakuya's voice called out.

The Kuchiki heir flash stepped to where Kuri leaned over Tetsuya and dropped onto his knees at the teen's side.

"This is him," Kuri said with certainty, "This is the cousin you told me about. I found him in a cell. He and his husband were attacked and the dead boy over there lost his life protecting your Tetsu-hana."

"He was married to that boy?" Byakuya asked, frowning, "Well, he was said to be eighteen. It is old enough for marriage."

"I doubt it was an official marriage," Kuri surmised, "but it was real to him. They made this baby together. Will you hold him? Tetsu-hana asked me to name him Naoki, after his husband."

Byakuya picked up the weakly crying baby boy and held him against a warm shoulder.

"There now," he said soothingly, "Tetsuya will be all right."

"I have a heartbeat now and he is breathing again," Kuri said shakily, "But he almost died during the birth."

Byakuya watched as Kuri looked down at Tetsuya's filthy, tormented face and brushed several tangled strands of black hair away from his face.

"What he must have gone through…and pregnant…"

"We will take care of him now," Byakuya promised, "Bring him. I will carry his child."

He glanced over his shoulder, where several other men had arrived.

"Sadao, will you please bring Tetsuya's husband?" he asked, "We will need to arrange for his burial."

"S-sir, are you sure?" Sadao asked, "A family burial?"

"Tetsuya is the son of my father's favored cousin, Takao," Byakuya insisted, "and this boy was witnessed by Shima Kurushimi, saving Tetsuya's life, as well as this baby's. He is to be honored with a family burial. I know that my grandfather will approve."

"That is…very kind of you, Byakuya-sama," Sadao said, studying Tetsuya's face sympathetically, "Poor thing. He must have been terrified."

"We will take him to Kuchiki Manor," Byakuya decided, "I will have Unohana taicho meet us there."

Sadao lifted Naoki carefully, looking down at the deceased youth regretfully as he joined Byakuya and Kurushimi, and the group headed back to Kuchiki Manor.

"What happened inside that caused you to be separated from us?" Byakuya asked Kuri, "It took us a long time to find you."

"I was carrying his Naoki out and Tetsu-hana was on foot and struggling to walk. There was an explosion and we were trapped inside. I broke the wall with Kido and we forced our way out. When we got outside and to the trees, Tetsu-hana went into labor and the baby was born. Tetsu-hana was in distress."

"He is fortunate that you were with him," Byakuya said, sounding relieved, "Shima Kurushimi, I am indebted to you for saving my cousin and his child."

"It was nothing," Kuri sighed wearily, "I wanted badly to save him."

"Yes," Byakuya said solemnly, "This has to have hit close to home for you."

"Yes," Kuri agreed.

They proceeded more quietly, carrying their charges through the Rukongai and into the Seireitei, where Byakuya turned them towards his home. They hurried to the manor gates and were waved on by the house guards. Byakuya handed the baby off to an aged clan healer, calling for several more to accompany him to a guest room that was near his own chamber.

"Put him in here," Byakuya told Kuri, "And the rest of you, I want a full assessment of his condition and start any treatment that he needs.

Kuri laid Tetsuya in the bed and stood back, watching as the healers tended him. Byakuya read the anxious look on the Shima leader's face and stood back with him as the healers worked.

"You know, you do not have to stay, Shima Kurushimi," he said bracingly, "This must be distressing to you, given your recent loss. I assure you, Tetsuya will receive the best of care here. I will be happy to update you on his condition as he progresses."

"Thank you, but…I think I will stay," Kuri decided, "At very least, I should see how the baby is doing. Tetsu-hana asked me to look after him…to make sure he is named after his father, and if anything happens to Tetsu-hana, he asked me to care for the child."

"You know you do not have to do that," Byakuya assured him, "Tetsuya and his child are in good hands. You know our healers are among the best in the Seireitei."

"Yes," Kuri agreed, "But I think I will only sleep better if I am sure that Tetsu-hana and his child are all right."

Byakuya couldn't quite hold back a curious smile.

"You become attached very quickly, Shima Kurushimi," he commented, "You have only met Tetsuya today."

"I know," Kuri agreed, "But…I feel as though we have known each other for a long time."