Wow, last chapter! I am so amazed how quickly time went by from the point when I actually begun writing. Thank you for all the love and cookies, and thank you for your inspiring ideas. Enjoy!

Warnings: yaoi, some angst, some wild lovemaking, definitely a lemon.

Disclaimer: Bleach world and characters belong to Tite Kubo

Chapter 10 – Strategy and Tactics

He awoke again, helpless in his pursuit of elusive sleep. Rest was denied him, his mind turning over and over like a grand, churning machine. He could not stop himself from evaluating every single variable once again. New outcomes varied only slightly from previous assessments. His final conclusion remained the same.

Well then. How can we push the variables around to change the final conclusion?

His mind was a large, charted game-board extending into fourth dimensions. Variables moved upon it languidly, at his command. The game-board layout undulated with each change, each action affecting everything else. His variables were dressed in their distinctive uniforms, driven by forces primal as well as political, each a discrete value system ensconced within the person with their own history, their own ethos.

Hours passed; permutations kept dying slow, gradual deaths in his mind. He felt surprisingly alert, lying on his back with is eyes closed, listening to the easy breath of the man next to him, warmed by his proximity. He was down to only two possible pathways when it occurred to him that he felt like a youth again. Suddenly, he could see it, just like he saw a way to beat his grandfather in a game of strategy long time ago. Kuchiki Ginrei never gave his grandson a strategic advantage and Byakuya knew that his first victory was an honest one. The memory warmed him. He wondered what Kuchiki Ginrei would have thought of his current plan, and of the man next to him, and of them together. As it stood, there were only three people qualified for the strategic analysis of this kind: one was dead – that would be his grandfather. The other was unavailable – that would be Aizen. He was the third one, and the decisions to set the game in motion rested in his deceptively slender hands.

He was the 28th head of the Kuchiki clan and captain of the 6th division. The assessment of his assets and liabilities identified Abarai Renji to be an asset he could not do without. He stirred under the blankets.

Two blankets?

Impossible. How did he end up with both of their covers? He was awake most of the night. Byakuya propped himself up on his elbow and redistributed the warm fabric to keep Renji from catching a chill and as he did so, he allowed his eyes to rest on the handsome, tattooed form of his fukutaichou. The red hair was braided in a plait for the night and his face seemed gentle, relaxed, young.

So much life. There was no way Kuchiki would resign his fate to a suicide mission. His analysis has shown that even if he locked Renji up to protect him, he'd lose him. Rukia would go to Orihime's rescue with the ryoka and he'd lose her, too. His analysis has also indicated that even though their odds would be improved by Renji's presence, their individual odds of returning were frighteningly slim.

Frighteningly.

He rolled the word around in his mind for awhile for he was unaccustomed to it. A scene from not far back popped to his mind.

"You treat me like a girl."

Byakuya's accusation of Renji could now be easily turned around, for he felt a fierce wave of protectiveness toward him. Yet Renji was not Hisana. Renji was strong and resourceful and unafraid. Renji was a shinigami. Renji, most of all, needed to remain unfettered.

Pale hands ran up the sleeping yukata as he embraced him, his head on the broad chest. He felt the pain of closeness and the pain of fear, of separation and suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, a powerful feeling of want washed over him. He wanted Renji one more time, for this could well be their last time together.

XXXXXXX

Renji stirred in his sleep, aware of the impending dawn. He didn't want to wake up, not from this dream. No…this was too good. So sweet his toes curled and his teeth ached as he fought to keep his eyes closed and not wake. His hand eased toward his groin slowly and unconsciously only to have his fingers bury themselves in strands of soft, black silk spilling over his abdomen.

His eyes opened, yet the feeling of delicious warmth and softness did not abate.

"Byakuya," he whispered, threading his fingers through the smooth, black hair.

"Mmmm." The sound of Byakuya's mouth made Renji clench and jerk his hips in an involuntary thrust forward. Firm hands held his hips down and not much later he was looking into deep, grey eyes.

Renji embraced the slighter man and their lips met in a desperate kiss and it suddenly dawned on Byakuya that Renji also ran the odds, albeit in his own way and Renji was also aware of the most likely outcome. He ground his hips against the body beneath him.

"I want you, Renji." He paused to trace a jagged tattoo up his lover's neck, tasting the remnants of salt from yesterday and that indefinable, spicy flavor that evoked red and orange and…Renji. Soft tip of the slender tongue cherished the tender base of Renji's neck and slithered down to his hollow, reducing his words to ragged, unintelligible gasps. He felt his heat and his passion in each lavish caress, Byakuya's hands outlining the ridges and dips of his well-formed muscles, dragging just a touch of nails along his flat abdomen to fire the nerves along the way.

Byakuya felt the muscular thighs under him part. He met the flame-licked, indomitable eyes of his lover and nuzzled his lips to the corner of the firm, set mouth , determined to kiss the stubborn desperation into softness and warmth again. When they came up for air, his voice was a light, breathy whisper:

"No. I want you inside me, Renji."

For a moment he wasn't sure he heard right and then their eyes met again, the steely gaze melting into warm, silver pools and the stern lips softening into a hint of a smile. Renji felt Byakuya's smooth, sinewy thighs straddle his hips as their hard lengths brushed against one another in breathtaking promise. He felt two fingers pressed against his lips and, having been instructed in the theory of these things, he sucked. He felt, rather than heard, a gasp as his tongue whirled around the finger pads, running from the tender webbing to the nail in a slow, sensuous spiral and his teeth grazed the sensitive ends.

He watched his captain prepare himself and realized he hasn't seen anything as sexy as that in a very long time and an urge to posses his lover seized him. Renji bit his lip to regain control as he fought to keep notionless, like he was asked their first time.

Was that what Byakuya wanted?

His thought was all but stopped by feeling his lover's entrance poised against the blunt head of his swollen shaft. His eyes darkened with desire and he fought to keep them open, to see every little bit of his arousal disappear inside his lover's body. Tight, hot softness enveloped him and it took all he had to remain painfully still, his eyes on Byakuya's flushed, rapturous face.

"You're…so beautiful."

Renji's choked words triggered a movement of the pale, slender hips and he barely stifled his moan of pleasure as he met the movement halfway. And yet, as he felt Byakuya ride him there was a desperate quality to that cool, tightly leashed reiatsu, the pale expression still bearing marks of vestigial control. And that would never do.

Renji flipped them. Byakyua was incredulous with shock, his back now on the cold tatami.

"This is not the end of the world." Renji's voice was a hiss against his neck. "I won't allow it." He looked at his captain, pinned underneath him with his legs splayed wide, expression rather uncertain in the wide grey eyes.

"You'll just have to trust me."

The strong words were full of conviction and Byakuya slowly felt them sink into his mind. They were like a key opening a tight lock rusted with disuse and he could feel his control ease, his reiatsu slip and merge with Renji's in breathtaking togetheress, his legs wrapped securely around Renji's waist.

He could feel his hips being lifted inexpertly, the way a student paints his first lines in a heavy calligraphy brush and he smiled, suddenly grateful to Ayasegawa-san.

"Renji." Their eyes locked.

I will never let you go.

The unspoken words met their assent when Renji slid his hands up his arms, all the way to his hands. He felt the strong, willful redhead pin his limbs down by his head, the pressure on his wrists delicious and soothing as he felt every powerful thrust drive his back into the mat. He was being held down…him, with all his positions and titles and accomplishments and he was being pinned, restrained and driven into the tatami hard enough to imprint their pattern all over his back but – he couldn't think much, let alone analyze his motivations and feelings at that time but a corner of his mind registered a flash of surprise – being held like that made him feel inexplicably secure.

Renji did not know what to expect at his possessive, dominant gesture but he sure didn't expect Byakuya's expression soften, didn't expect his tension to drain and his hips meet him in fervent response. Barriers falling, he felt his craving for feeling Byakuya's reiatsu satisfied as they merged in a smooth, ageless rhythm. Their voices whispered barely audible, fragmented syllables between sharp inhales and quiet moans, broken terms of endearment which they feared to speak aloud, together yet apart, oblivious to their symphony.

He could barely hold on any longer as he felt Byakuya gasp at his deep thrusts and he buried himself in the searing, tight heat of his lover's body again and again. Byakuya's silky arousal rubbed hard against his smooth abdomen and Renji rolled his hips to feel the weeping, hard length caress his sensitive skin. He pulled back slowly, teasingly only to thrust one last time and felt the tightness grip him even harder as he peaked, his strong fingers clenching the slender wrists in a scintillating, mind-numbing release. Renji heard Byakuya's sharp inhale on the very cusp and grinned, turning his head to sink his teeth into the alabaster neck, his sensuous mouth eagerly sucking on the imprint of his teeth. He felt Byakuya's legs loosen from his waist and brace against the floor as he gathered himself beneath him and thrust upward, choking back a moan only to feel a wild keening sound ripped from his unwilling throat and his white, hot essence suddenly punctuated the black ink on Renji's chest.

They remained melted into one another for some time, regaining their breath and the use of their limbs. Renji lightened himself over his lover and kissed him with exquisite tenderness.

"I'm never lettin' you go."

I love you.

"That's hardly practical, Renji-chan." Satisfied at the shock his term of endearment elicited in the melting eyes and flushed face of his brash, brazen fukutaichou, he savored the sensation of the exquisitely warm body still pinning him to the cold tatami, and smiled.

And I love you.

XXXXXXX

"You sent for me, Nii-sama." Rukia bowed, her wild, violet eyes full of passionate disapproval. She wanted to be there, with her friends, helping. Not here, a prized songbird in her gilded cage.

"How are you doing, Rukia?"

She didn't know what to say; the question was unexpected.

"My well-being is unimportant."

My friends matter more. You matter more.

"It is…important to me. Rukia." Byakuya took in the shocked expression in her eyes.

Good.

"Have a seat. Renji will bring breakfast shortly."

They ate their rice and fish in silence. Renji put the mess hall tray away and made tea.

"I sent some butterflies out," Byakuya said after a long silence. "There are some things I have to take care of. In the meanwhile, I need you to stay here, Rukia, and help Renji with some work." He noted her alarmed expression. "Ukitake-taichou knows."

Byakuya walked over to the large filing cabinet and pulled out a veritable armful of files.

"Your task is to read these mission reports. The third-seat is doing your routine paperwork today, Abarai."

Byakuya breezed out the door, his long scarf fluttering in the air of his passing, not bothering to wait for their shocked expressions. For he knew they would be shocked once they saw mission reports older than himself; old statements of shinigami both alive and long gone, their carefully penned sentences littered with casualties from past missions to Hueco Mundo.

XXXXXXX

The distasteful, blue-painted man across from him was but a carved and painted figure on a great, four-dimensional game board of his mind. Byakuya lifted his teacup to sip the inferior brew.

"A rare opportunity for a man such as yourself, Kurotsuchi- taichou."

The 12th division captain examined the tactical analysis once again. He reached for another stack of papers to compare figures and sat in silence for some time.

"Nemu. Bring me the AH201 remote data."

"Yes, taichou." Nemu's voice was almost as silent as her footsteps as she glided out of the room, returning with a stack of printouts. He grasped them in his taloned, bony hands and leafed carefully to find a specific table of figures.

"There seems to be a correlation, Kuchiki-taichou. How very interesting." He turned to his fukutaichou.

"Nemu, process this data immediately."

Kurotsutchi-taichou lifted his golden eyes to Byakuya's veiled gaze.

"There is logic to what you suggest. Of course, it makes no sense for me to go if I don't get to gather any experimental specimen. And…I would need somebody to come with me. I cannot carry out proper scientific analysis under such extreme field conditions and fight hollow at the same time."

XXXXXXX

The familiar spiked hair shook with laughter, making the red bells ring.

"So what is it you really want, princess?"

Byakuya looked at him archly and knocked back a cup of sake to keep pace. This particular variable seemed more of an absolute value and less prone to manipulation.

"There will interesting fights. Kurotsutchi wants to study some new, advanced kind of hollows – apparently his remote readings yielded useful data. Advanced hollows mean a better fight for you."

The golden eye measured Byakuya carefully. He grinned, his canines gleaming.

"I am glad your buddy the 12th division captain you love so much is asking me to be his bodyguard. Ah heck, I'll come along. I didn't live through all this damn drama just to let you pine away for my old 6th seat."

Byakuya let his mask slip just the tiniest bit as he met Kenpachi's yellow gaze with steely determination. His voice was level, uninflected.

"I appreciate your support of scientific effort to help us in this war, Zaraki-taichou."

Kenpachi threw his head back and laughed.

XXXXXXX

Lucky for Rukia to have invited her old childhood friend to their home for lunch. What a lovely coincidence that Kuchiki-taichou happened to forget an item at home and chose to retrieve it at that time. Their timing couldn't have been better if they planned it.

Byakuya looked his sister and her friend up and down carefully. They were as ready as they were going to be, considering their destination.

"Follow me."

The three walked the long corridors to Byakuya's quarters. Two bundles rested on his futon. He gave the smaller one to Rukia, the larger one to Renji.

"You will need these to keep the sand away."

He wanted to grasp his fukutaichou's collar and kiss him senseless. He wanted to run his hands through his hair one more time. He wanted to feel the secure, warm promise of his embrace, to inhale his spicy scent.

"Nii-sama?"

Byakuya tore his eyes from Renji's heated gaze and shifted to Rukia.

"Don't worry, Nii-sama." Rukia stepped forward and her short arms embraced him around his waist quickly, hesitantly. He placed his hands on her shoulders and took a deep breath.

"Take good care of one another. Rukia. Renji."

Rukia's eyes shot up in shock. His usual words of parting have changed. It used to be,

"Renji, take good care of Rukia."

Byakuya's voice was impassive.

"I have every confidence in both of you. Report to me immediately upon your return. I will not accept failure."

Rukia stood by Renji then, both of them clad in their tan cloaks, their zanpakuto securely wedged in their obi. The private Kuchiki senkaimon was in the next room and Byakuya knew Rukia had the password memorized.

Renji looked back as they bowed out the door. Kuchiki-taichou stood in the middle of his bedroom, looking strangely forlorn. Their eyes met one last time and Renji saw Byakuya's right hand envelop his other wrist, his fingers wrapped around it the way Renji's were earlier that day. Not breaking eye contact, Byakuya rubbed the developing bruise. The two men nodded to one another briefly and then Byakuya stood there, alone, only the faint distended feeling of his wrists anchoring him to reality as he felt Rukia and Renji's reiatsu disappear.

XXXXXXX

"Strategic analysis indicates that we need to find out more about our enemy's potential before we set our plan into action, Soutaichou." The bold, sly voice emanated from the painted mouth as feelings of both satisfaction and revulsion warred under Byakuya's impassive mask.

"We cannot remove our powerful captains from Seireitei just to rescue two misguided officers," the soutaichou rumbled.

"Of course, soutaichou. I don't care about them either, but if we consider that all the ryoka, even the Quincy, join Kurosaki Ichigo on their mission to rescue Inoue Orihime, the analysis indicates they are likely to fall into Aizen's trap and be turned into powerful weapons against us."

Other captains processed the information presented during this emergency meeting carefully. Large part of Seireitei still bore physical signs of the ryoka invasion. Nobody wanted them to invade again, this time in a hollowfied form. Their strange powers would undoubtedly become even harder to counter.

"Che, let's just take the fight to the enemy. At least we will have some momentum." Kenpachi's gravelly voice resonated through the chamber and he drew curious looks, for this time he was both present and fully alert. It was not often that Zaraki-taichou professed an opinion.

Kenpachi's unexpected comment was a catalyst to a heated, protracted battle of wills between two factions. The gameboard in Byakuya's mind adjusted to new opinions and influences. The chits realigned their positions. He knew what would happen approximately two hours from now, and his eyes slid down half-mast, his impassive Kuchiki mask a foil behind which he could retreat into his inner world. His mind slipped into a relaxed meditative state while he kept adjusting his game-pieces, focused on the here and now, forcibly removing his mind from idle speculations on his sister's and his lover's whereabouts.

XXXXXXX

Only two days later he observed Kurotsutchi Mayuri create a Garganta with the aid of his instruments.

Gravelly voice next to him chuckled. Byakuya looked at Kenpachi, his eyebrow slightly elevated.

Kenpachi lowered his voice for his hearing only. "It's not every day you see a prissy princess with a girly shikai rush to the rescue of her handsome hero."

The gaping maw in the sky ready, they stepped through.

This marks the end of "Strategy and Tactics". Keep posted for various related one-shots. Thank you for reading, everyone!