"30 Minutes"
Ukitake coughed. Blood spattered the ground and awaiting handkerchief, creating a scarlet puddle at his feet that grew in size as the coughs continued to wrack his slender body. After 10 minutes or so the fit passed, leaving him robbed of breath and needing a nearby wall for support.
His breath recovered slowly and he stood straight, wincing at the pain in his chest. Certain that he could walk the remainder of the distance home without another episode he set off, tucking the bllodied hankerchief away on his person.
Out of sight
Out of mind
It was getting worse Shunsui could tell. His friend was having to stay longer and longer in bed to recover from each passing attack of his dreaded illness.
Out of time
To decide
He often wondered if time was running out for them as the condition of his lungs continued to deteriorate over the years. Shunsui became frantic; spending every day like it was their last.
Do we run?
Should I hide?
He was jerked awake as pain seared through his chest and threw him forward into the chest of Shunsui who had felt the attack coming as his body shook with the intensity of the bloody coughs.
For the rest
Of my life
Jyuushiro's body felt lifeless as he sped to the fourth division. For a `useless, lazy drunkard' he could flash-step when the health of his best friend and lover of over two millennia, were concerned. It pained him terribly to see him like this, time after time, year after year, decade after decade.
Can we fly?
Do I stay?
He lay there sleeping as still and as pale as death it' self, the only sign of life was his irregular breathing as he struggled to fight the demon that was his enemy.
We could lose
We could fail
Shunsui knew that he had delayed asking Jyuushiro for his hand long enough. It was unclear how much longer the frail man's body could hold out against the desease as it became closer and closer to its goal.
In the moment
That it takes
Shunsui shamelessly piggybacked Jyuushiro up the steep hill to their picnic destination. Placing his lover firmly on his feet Shunsui knelt down on one knee and asked the question that had eaten away at him for the last 50 years. `My dearest Jyuushiro' he began, `will you marry me?' Tears were streaming down Ukitake's pale face as he accepted and bent down to kiss Shunsui's grinning face.
To make plans
Or mistakes
The kiss broke with them both needing air, Shunsui wrapped his lover firmly in his arms. Ukitake suddenly stiffened; Shunsui was caught unawares as his fiancé struggled to escape the tight hold the larger man had on his chest. The ailed man fell heavily onto his hands and knees as bout after bout of precious, scarlet blood stained the grass. Shunsui watched in horror, choking back a sob as he tried in vain to help the man through the severe attack.
30 minutes, a blink of an eye
30 minutes,to alter our lives
After 15 minutes the attack still hadn't passed. Shunsui was holding Jyuushiro up now, the man was simply too weak to do all but try not to choke on the blood his lungs were so desperately trying to dispose of. Unohana arrived and surveyed the scene quickly before rushing to the ailed man's side in an attempt to ease his pain and aid Shunsui in taking him to the fourth division.
30 minutes,to make up my mind
30 minutes,to finally decide
`Oh Jyuushiro,' he whispered through sobs, `why did it have to end this way'. For it had. By the time they had reached the fourth division it was all over. In the span of just half an hour his entire world was shattered. He held onto his lover's cold hand as he wept for what he had lost, the dead man's name on his lips.
30 minutes,to whisper your name
30 minutes,to shoulder the blame
The entire sereitei had been thrown into a uproar with the death of one of their oldest, strongest and warmest Captains. It had been a whole year and yet none of the Captains could choose someone else to fill the role. It remained empty as the void the white-haired taichou had left in the hearts of all. Ever since that day, Shunsui had retreated into himself, he talked when spoken to and ate when he was forced to, shedding all emories of his white-haired lover. Sometimes he would just disappear for days on end and return, knew that he was depressed and grieving, yet they could do nothing for the normally flamboyany Captain. When he needed a release he sought, sluts, whores and whatever trash he could find to try and rid himself of the hole in his chest.
30 minutes,of bliss, thirty lies
30 minutes,to finally decide
He was dreaming, that he was sure of. Was it the effect of the large sum of sake he had drunk? Or was this something that his mind had conjured up all on its own?
Carousels
In the sky
Was that a pair of warm brown eyes he could see? Is Jyuushiro hiding behind that bush? Ready to jump out and scold him for evading Nanao and the mountain of paperwork again that he had no intension of doing?
That we shape
With our eyes
There! He was sitting under that large tree, waiting for him like he so often did. Tears of what he hoped was happiness ran down Shunsui's unshaved cheeks and he slowly and carefully walked towards the beauty that was his fiancé, he felt that if he walked too fast Jyuushiro would disappear again.
Under shade
Silhouettes
It felt like an age before he stood before the man that he had grieved for. He sat down beside Jushiro and reached out a trembling hand to touch a soft, pale cheek. Choking back sobs he gazed into the dead man's eyes, one glance was all it took before he threw himself into the arms of his lover as all the pent up emotion exploded from his chest.
Casting shade
Crying rain
Jushiro held him as he cried, rubbing the larger man's back in slow, gentle circles as he comforted the grieving man. Slowly the tears ceased and Shunsui's breathing became rhythmic as he fell asleep, Jushiro smiled as he bent his head slightly to press a soft kiss to the now sleeping man's chapped lips murmuring, ``don't worry Shun, it'll be over soon.''
Can we fly?
Do I stay?
Shunsui was admitted to the squad four barracks by Lieutenant Nanao Ise herself, concerned for her Captain's health she felt that it was the best option. He slipped into a coma and his dream progressed as his mind wandered while his body suffered, Unohana said that if he didn't wake up soon they would have no choice but to turn off his life support.
We could lose
We could fail
Shunsui floated in and out of dreams spent with his deceased love Jushiro, so close to consciousness but not reaching for it, never wanting to go back to the world without his love.
Either way
Options change
There was no chance that Shunsui's body would survive if the support was turned off, they gave him two days but Nanao knew that her beloved flamboyant Captain would nenver ever return to their world, at least not in this lifetime and for the first time in years, she cried.
Chances fail
Trains derail
Unohana approached Nanao in her office as she slaved mindlessly over the mountain of paperwork that had fallen to her when the Captain was admitted. She knew what the healer was going to say before she said it, ``itt is time.''
30 minutes, a blink of an eye
30 minutes,to alter our lives
It tore Nanao apart when the responsibility fell to her to sign the forms that gave the time and date of which Unohana would flick the switch and let nature, take its course.
30 minutes,to make up my mind
30 minutes,to finally decide
It was over. Nanao sank to her knees as the line on the heart monitor stopped beating, Unohana held her as she again mourned for someone she loved.
30 minutes,to whisper your name
30 minutes,to shoulder the blame
Nanao refused to let anyone but those closest to her see how weak she was. It took only the mention of either of the men's names for her to lose all control and break down from the inside out, it felt like her heart was being torn brutally from her chest. Rare times when she let herself enjoy the beuties of the world with her remaining friends Nanao still felt alone.
30 minutes,of bliss, thirty lies
30 minutes,to finally decide
Nanao felt herself slipping, the darkness be conned to her and without a second thought she let go of the pain that the deaths of Jushiro Ukitake and her beloved Captain Shunsui Kyoraku had bestowed upon her.
To decide
To decide, to decide, to decide
To decide
To decide, to decide, to decide
To decide