Kisuke is more vigilant about remaining out of Erich’s sight from then on. He doesn’t want to risk the man’s fury, doesn’t want to have to see what Benihime has done—
(Even if he should, at least to make sure she hasn’t done something terrible to Erich, no matter how much she insists otherwise.)
(Still, he can’t bring himself to check.)
(Coward…)
Avoiding Erich is made easier by the strange, half-felt connection stretched between them; whether it’s a result of Benihime’s scheming or just an accident from how she was interrupted, it’s still there in his head, an unerring compass pointing directly to Erich. He can’t tell anything else from it — not Erich’s mood or his health or anything — but he can tell direction and can sort of tell nearness as well: the connection gets a touch stronger the closer they are, but it’s a subtle effect.
He suspects Erich can feel it as well, given his recent brushes with the man. It’s as if every time he takes a moment to rest, Erich manages to almost catch him, no matter how out of the way or hidden Kisuke is.
It would be more entertaining if it wasn’t so damn heart-stopping.
(Why is Erich hunting him down?)
(What does the man want?!)
Their chase comes to a close on yet another battlefield.
Kisuke is fighting a Grand Behemoth, a beast larger than any he’s ever encountered before, when a shining emerald arrow suddenly pierces its head, followed shortly thereafter by a second, then a third. The Grand Behemoth shrieks and topples to the side, slamming into the ground hard enough to shake the earth. It takes out a whole swath of smaller monsters in the process and scatters the rest, leaving Kisuke with some breathing room at last.
Breathing room he uses to immediately turn towards Erich, taking a moment to assess the man.
Erich looks… good. He looks powerful, striding across the torn battlefield like a conquering general, a black bow in one hand and emerald power limning his other. Kisuke’s never seen Erich use a Quincy’s traditional weapon before — the man tends to fight like a swordsman more than an archer, focusing on close in combat rather than area combat — but the toppled Behemoth behind him is evidence enough that Erich is not unskilled.
Erich’s gaze settles on Kisuke and something cold-tense-uneasy twists in Kisuke’s stomach.
(He can’t read anything from Erich’s look.)
(Doesn’t know why the man has intervened, or what he wants, or even if—)
Erich’s eyes narrow sharply, bow coming up and emerald arrow rippling into existence as he aims—
(Or even if Erich’s about to use that bow on him!)
Kisuke drops with a muffled yelp as arrows sing past—
(Wait—)
(Those hadn’t been close enough to hit him even if he hadn’t moved.)
Cautiously, he glances behind him and swallows at the sight of several monsters pierced through, their bodies still twitching.
(An ambush.)
(He’d almost been—)
“Eyes front, Kisuke,” Erich orders as he strides closer, a small scowl on his face as he sweeps his gaze over Kisuke. “You’re usually more alert than that.”
“Maa, just, uh… surprised, is all,” Kisuke tries, hoping Erich will let the topic go.
Erich purses his lips, frustration flickering across his expression, then looks away and raises his bow again, taking aim at the last few monsters that haven’t yet fled back through the Tear. He shoots them down and then scans the battlefield, body poised and power focused, searching for any stragglers as the Tear begins to slowly close.
Kisuke takes the opportunity provided. Turns to run—
A power-bright hand slams into his shoulder, sending him spinning as his feet are swept out from under him. He topples to the ground. Lands on his back with a thump that drives the air from his lungs, and then— and then—
Erich pins him in place, one foot resting on Kisuke’s chest and the tip of his bow pressing down on Kisuke’s right palm. “I don’t think I’m going to let you do that,” Erich growls as he leans a bit more of his weight onto Kisuke.
“Sorry?” Kisuke asks awkwardly, already gathering himself to move. It won’t take much to dislodge Erich, not like this. He just needs to—
“If you try to run from me again, I will bring you down and tie you up properly,” Erich bites out, eyes dark with some emotion that Kisuke can’t pin down. “We are going to have an actual conversation now that I’ve finally caught up with you. No more running. No more deflecting. Understand?”
Kisuke laughs weakly and lets his body go lax. “Well, when you put it like that…” he says with a sheepish smile, figuring that playing ‘caught’ will give him a better chance to escape later.
Erich frowns down at him and says, “Promise you won’t run and I’ll let you up so we can go somewhere more comfortable.”
“More comfortable, you say?” Kisuke can’t resist teasing. “And this after promising to tie me up properly?”
“To talk,” Erich forces out, then sighs and reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “No. I know what you’re trying to do. Promise me that you won’t run, or else I’m going to pin you down right here and we’ll have this talk out here.”
“Maa, I promise, I promise,” Kisuke says, giving into the inevitable; there are plenty of ways he can slip away from Erich on the walk back — so long as he doesn’t mind going back on his word — but if Erich makes good on his threat, then he loses any chance he had.
Erich snorts but takes his foot off of Kisuke’s chest and lets his bow fade away, then leans over to offer his hand.
Kisuke eyes it for a moment, wondering if he dares allow the contact, then hesitantly reaches up, hoping desperately that Benihime won’t react like she did before.
Erich’s hand closes around his wrist, wisps of still fading power brushing against Kisuke’s skin, as rough and warm as a cat’s tongue. Erich’s fingers are strong-steady-warm as his grip tightens and his body braces to take Kisuke’s weight, but—
Suddenly, it isn’t Erich’s hand around his wrist, it’s cold-unyielding-bitingmetal. Forcing his power inside his body. Forcing his connection to Benihime dim. Forcing him to kneel—
The pressure on his wrist vanishes.
He gasps. Rocks forward. Lets his head come to rest against the warm-safe-steadychest in front of him. Shivers as fingertips brush gently over his hair and a voice murmurs soothing sounds he can’t parse.
(He can’t.)
(He can’t, he can’t, he can’t…!)
(No more!)
Kisuke takes one last breath of almost-familiar scent, then tears himself away. Away from— from something. Someone. He can’t remember. Can’t focus. Needs to get away. Get safe. Reassess.
He flees.
By the time Kisuke is aware of himself once more, he’s tucked away in a corner of his own room, Benihime across his lap and his right hand locked around her hilt; he must have run for hours to reach the shoten, but he can’t remember more than a few flashes of sight-sound-emotion from the past… however long its been.
(He remembers some of the battle, remembers the Behemoth’s fall and Erich’s arrival, but after that his memory is patchy and distorted.)
(Damn!)
He breathes a shaky sigh and slumps, carefully prying his seized hand from her hilt and working some feeling back into his fingers. “What a mess,” he murmurs to the empty room, then drags a hand over his face. “When the hell did that become an issue?”
(*When Aizen bound us. When he forced us to kneel, lying about our guilt, our betrayal,*) Benihime hisses in his mind, her power trailing like gentle fingers across his shoulders, with just the smallest trace of her knife-sharp nails as counterpoint. (*We will kill him for it.*)
“That doesn’t help us right now,” Kisuke grumbles in frustration. “And as satisfying as it’ll be, you know these things don’t just… resolve that politely.”
Benihime huffs at him but doesn’t argue. They both know the truth of his words, know that they can’t just will his reaction away, but now that they know it exists, they can work on it.
(It won’t do for an enemy to grab him in combat and incapacitate him so easily.)
(Not that grabbing him is easy, precisely, but a weakness like that is exploitable.)
(And something he can’t afford to have.)
Kisuke sighs and sets Benihime’s blade aside, then carefully stretches out his legs to work some feeling back into them. He’ll take a few days to rest in safety, and use that time to refine his calculations a bit more; that last Grand Behemoth hadn’t been part of his predictions — nor had a few other recent battles — and he needs to work out why they had happened.
If Aizen is beginning to figure out how to control the Otherworld Tears…
Well. No matter. Kisuke will hunt the man down soon enough.
Until then, he has other matters to attend to.
(Time to get to work.)