I Want All of You 10 - Loss of Control

As Byakuya and Renji approached Rukia, they saw her leave her tent and turn back towards the forest. Briefly reassured, Byakuya was still uncertain as to why her reiatsu was so disturbed. Although she seemed confused, she didn’t appear to be injured. But when she turned towards them, Renji took a step back and said her name. Byakuya was shaken to see the panic that spread across his fukutaichou’s face.
Eyes wide, Renji was nevertheless mute. He had never before seen that look on Rukia’s face, save for, perhaps once, at the death of Shiba Kaien. Then Rukia had been silent. But she had been without hope then. Her whole being had seemed to cry out with pain. Now, they saw Rukia fall to her knees and start to weep. Then, through her tears, they heard her speak:
“Renji, I didn’t want….. I’ve….. Oh Kami, I’ve killed him…… Byakuya-nii-sama, forgive me! Don’t leave me alone…..”
Byakuya’s eyes widened when he heard Rukia say his name. She never said his name. She only ever said ‘nii-sama,’ polite and respectful, but never his forename. Byakuya was ashamed to admit, in that moment, that he loved the way his sister’s voice pronounced the syllables of his name.
Suddenly, hollow’s cries could be heard and the alarm sounded. All the men of sixth division came to attention with a start, reaching to grip their zanpakuto and forming a line. Renji could see, on the edge of the forest, innumerable pairs of red eyes, appearing from amongst the trees. Hollows! In greater number than they had seen all day! Why? It was as if they were being attracted by something. Renji swallowed hard. And Kenpachi wouldn’t arrive with his men until tomorrow.
“Fuck!”
“Renji!”
The grave voice of his captain made him start and he turned towards Byakuya whose eyes had never left Rukia. And he understood, in that moment, why all the hollow in the forest of Inuzuri were attacking at once. Rukia’s reiatsu was spilling out around her as if  from a cup that was already too full, but to which liquid was being constantly added. As if she were overflowing.  But her reiatsu, which was growing stronger too, was a bait that no hollow could resist. At this rate, if Rukia couldn’t take back control, they were all going to die.
“Renji, what’s happening here?” demanded Byakuya: “I’ve never seen her….. lose contol!”
The voice of his captain was no longer calm and his eyes were anything but impassive now.
“Taichou, Rukia’s always had a fear of storms. I’m sure she’s had a nightmare, but this….. It’s never been this desperate or powerful. It’s not normal, Taichou. That’s not her reiatsu. It’s impossible!”
Renji took several steps towards Rukia, going to console her. At that moment, Byakuya saw Rukia tip back her head and give a cry that merged with those of the hollow. His fukutaichou recoiled. Rukia’s reiatsu was no longer merely spreading out from her; she literally exploded. Her body was surrounded by an aura of white light. She remained unmoving. Impossible! Rukia had never released so much reiatsu with such force.
When he saw Renji stagger and bend slightly before the immensity of that energy, Byakuya was shocked. The reiatsu that Rukia was releasing was so fierce that it made fukutaichou bow and rivalled the power of captains. Furthermore, Renji had greater power than most lieutenants. The power that she had released was not yet strong enough to force him to bend, but that did not mean he could not sense the beast that had been unleashed before them.
When Byakuya saw that Renji was being pushed to the ground, he moved rapidly into shunpo and placed himself in front of him, giving his fukutaichou a chance to regain his breath. At the moment when he perceived the full force of the reiatsu though, he perceived something was different.
“Renji, step down.”
“Taichou,” said Renji, confused and out of breath: “Fuck, what’s happening? Rukia’s never been this strong; it feels as if she’s trying to release several bankai at once.”
“Renji, that power is hers, but completely beyond her control. I sense a strange reiatsu in her; it could be the source of that surcharge.”
“We have to do something, Taichou. Her body won’t support that for long.”
“I’ll take care of Rukia. You should aid the men. They must keep the line.”
“But Taichou…..”
“Abarai-fukutaichou, don’t make me repeat myself. If we lose the line, given how many we are, the hollow will swallow Inuzuri in its entirety, and us at the time. You have to protect us.”
With a low groan Renji obeyed and the captain watched his lieutenant organise the troops and reform the line. Returning his attention to his sister, Byakuya swallowed hard. He had never been the best person at consoling others: not least a woman in tears. Yet seeing Rukia in this state was unbearable. He had to act. He could still sense a frail reiatsu through the power that Rukia was projecting at which threatened to overwhelm it.
He took several steps towards her and Rukia looked up suddenly. Fear and pain had contorted her features, tearing into Byakua’s heart. She regarded him directly, but gave no sign of recognition, as if she hadn’t seen him. He took another step towards her, extending his hand.
“No!” cried Rukia suddenly: “Don’t come near me! Leave me alone!”
The little shinigami took the opportunity to step into the air, trying to escape the thing that pursued her. Byakuya followed. He trapped her with a sudden shunpo. She was kneeling in space, suspended, her head in her hands, grimacing in pain. Byakuya reached out with his reiatsu and, all at once, Rukia lifted her head.
He froze where he was. She was looking at him again and now it was clear that she knew he was there, but this wasn’t Rukia. She rolled her eyes and her fine mouth curled into a malicious smile. The mysterious reiatsu had resurfaced with force. Byakuya sensed that it was mingling with that of Rukia, like a poison; a parasite.
“You cannot have her,” said Rukia in a voice that was no longer her own: “She’s with me now.”
“Let her go at once!”
“Ah, no. Certainly not. She is too easy to possess and her dreams are too exciting. She dreams of you, Captain.  Has she already told you of her dreams?  Ah, they still make me shiver! And her nightmares? Hmmm, delicious.”
“Who are you, Hollow?” asked Byakuya, gritting his teeth.
“My name has no more significance than the body I’m in.”
Byakuya tried to remain cool but inside he was boiling. Of a sudden, Rukia’s face took on a malicious expression that he’d never seen before: “But no, I’m wrong. On the contrary, this body is very precious to you, isn’t it? I have seen you with her. I’ve seen how you look at her and how she looks at you.”
The power of the enemy, Byakuya could sense now, was stronger than that of a hollow and even than that of an adjuchas. It was stronger still. It was at the level of an arrancar. The creature gave a demented laugh. Byakuya touched Senbonsakura’s guard:
“You are mad to choose to oppose the Gotei Thirteen with the force that you possess. Surely you realise this is suicide and, even in your numbers, you stand no chance of breaking the seireitei’s defences,” Byakuya said.
“Don’t believe it, Captain. We hollow have found a new source of power. We just need to acquire it.”
Byakuya was silent for a moment. What was it talking about? Since Aizen, no-one had really taken power in Hueco Mundo; there had been only a series of small reigns without any real direction, ending always in a bloodbath. It had given the shinigami a break, until now. The strange voice that came out of Rukia’s mouth stopped his thoughts in their tracks. “The hollow are on the march, Captain; the seireitei will fall and the fault will be with those who were meant to defend it.”
“I challenge you to do so. You will get no further than this!”
“You want to fight me, Captain?” it asked.
Rukia’s hand reached for the zanpakuto on her hip. No, he would never be able to fight the enemy while it was in her body. Suddenly, Rukia’s body convulsed and Byakuya heard the little shinigami let out an agonised cry. The noble couldn’t stop himself from taking a step towards her. But the thing that was controlling her had already regained possession of her.
“Pff. Perhaps I overdid it a little. Poor thing, I think she has lost her self. A pity; I thought she would have been able to withstand more. Worse, I will need to find someone else once she has faded.”
Suddenly Byakuya noticed that Rukia’s appearance had begun to change. All at once her hair was longer, reaching to the middle of her back. It floated on the cold wind.  The sleeves of her shihakusho lengthened and, in their place, the black material she was clothed in began to fade to grey, growing steadily paler. Kami, what was happening?
Byakuya felt his heart speed up. He could see Rukia releasing still more reiatsu with ever more force, but, at this rate, her energy centres would soon be burnt out; she would fall into a coma that would quickly lead to her death. Yet despite that she seemed to want to empty herself of reiatsu, as if she suddenly foun it repugnant. It was then that Byakuya understood: Rukia was trying to expel the arrancar that had seized control of her. But her determination was going to kill her. “I have fused with her energy, Captain. She cannot find me, despite her efforts.”
“But I can.”
Effectively Byakuya was able to see the two reiatsu. It was as if water was mixing with oil. The two had become one, but, after a time, it became possible to differentiate. He could wait no longer. Still, the pressure this could exert on the body of the little shinigami could prove fatal.
Byakuya extended his arms out before him and released the force of his reiatsu. Rather than trying to find the monster, Byakuya wound his energy around that of the creature, creating an imagined line between its reiatsu and Rukia’s. Carefully, he started to separate it from its host. The energy around him increased in power. He heard Renji’s voice a little way away:
“Taichou, you have to hurry,” said his fukutaichou: “We can’t hold them back for much longer.”
Byakuya glanced around him quickly and saw that they were almost surrounded. It was only by the efforts of the men of Sixth Division that he and Rukia had not been submerged amidst the hollow. As soon as he thought he had fully delimited the energy of the creature, Byakuya tried to move it. He could not afford to take a false step now because it would be Rukia who paid the price. He used his senka.
This would allow him, with a rapid shunpo, to appear behind his enemy and pierce its back with his sword at the two points that were vital for a shinigami. Praying that he would not make a mistake, Byakuya forced his sword into Rukia’s back. The little shinigami’s back arched suddenly in shock and pain. No, Byakuya had not lost his mind.
A vague, translucent silhouette seemed to detach itself from her body and give a howl of pain. The face of the apparition turned slowly towards the nobleman. With one hand, Byakuya caught the hollow and pushed it brutally, forcing it out of Rukia’s body; then he pulled it, dragging it further from its host, until it was no longer inside her. The arrancar was now only connected to Rukia at a few points and even they were beginning to thin.
“H-how?” begged the arrancar.
“I chose not to touch Rukia’s energy centres. I aimed for the links that connected you to her.”
In a single movement, he cut the remaining links. The arrancars body was seized with tremors and its scream rose into the air. Grimacing, it stretched out its arms towards Byakuya’s throat. He saw its ashen gaze literally burst into flame.
“You have no power! You have none of the strength of a warrior. You are only a pale imitation. It is only with the strength of those you possess that you are strong. Without her, you are nothing,” he said, seemingly calm, though he made no effort to hide the fury inside him. And, in possessing her, you have meddled with someone far stronger than you.
Byakuya thrust Senbonsakura into its rib cage up to the hilt, putting an end to to the arrancar’s menace. And it was as the arrancar took its last breath and at last began to disappear that a white light exploded out of Rukia’s body. A scream followed and the only thing that Byakuya could think was:
Rukia…..