Chapter 1: Death
Himura Shinta slowly staggered down the winding road to the home of his life. He had journeyed far, enduring great pain as the new disease consumed his body bit by excruciating bit. His duty was done, his mind at peace. Now there was just one thing left to do: he had to see her again: his wife, his love, his redemption.
"Kaoru . . . Kaoru . . ." Shinta mumbled out loud, reminding himself why he persevered.
Justkeep moving! Just keep moving!He shouted this in his mind repeatedly, his will to live unwavering, forcing his numb limbs on. He had felt as if he was rotting from the inside out, but he was beyond pain now. As he dragged his trembling limbs forward the pain had given way to an overwhelming sense of lethargy. His mind clouded with dark fog. He was drunk, on the verge of delirium, in his death throes.
Just . . . keep moving . . . Just a few more . . . few more steps . . . please. . . just give me a few more steps. . .
His thoughts were getting harder to string together. But then the walls of the dojo came into view between the cherry trees. Finally. No other thought existed in his mind, no memories or feelings but the desire to see her just one last time. He owed her that.
Shinta was but a few yards from the building when she appeared. Whether she had sensed his approach or had been waiting there for all this time; all that mattered to him was on the path before him. Kaoru was pale and her hair was down, and parts of her body were wrapped in bandages much like his, but her beauty was undiminished to him. In Shinta's eyes he saw her as he had met her: young, beautiful and full of vigor, and always wearing a ribbon in her hair.
She saw him, a hand raised to her mouth as she caught her breath. She ran to him, and he quickened his pace as much as he could manage. Her arms extended and Shinta happily collapsed into them.
"I came for you." He whispered, "I came back for you . . . Kaoru." his voice trailed off.
"Welcome back Shinta." she whispered back with a sigh. Holding him firmly by the arm, she half led him, half dragged him to the side of the path. They settled into the shade of the trees where she set him down with his head in her lap.
Kaoru stroked his hair for a time and looked at the boughs above them, petals drifting down on the wind all around.
"I wonder how long the cherry blossoms will last," she said, "Kenji, Yahiko, Tsubame, Megumi-san; I want to have a cherry blossom party and invite everyone!"
Shinta did not reply.
"We'll have one next year too," She went on, not ready to face the reality that lay in her lap, "And the year after. Who knows? By then Yahiko may be a father." She giggled at the thought. Kaoru looked down at his face,"Shinta?"
He lay there, unresponsive and unmoving, the truth clear for any to see.
"You're so tired, aren't you?" said Karou, her voice trembling.
She brushed the hair off of his face and gasped; the cross-shaped scar which had marked him for so long as the legendary manslayer, the symbol of all that had tormented him for as long as she had known him, had completely vanished. Tears began to flow, and dripped on to his face, in which a strange beauty had been revealed. All the pain and worry previously etched into his face was now gone, all that remained was serenity.
Shinta opened his eyes, the weariness having lifted, the haze in his mind gone. As he sat up, Shinta felt better than he had in years. No bodily pain weighed him down anymore and he undid the bandages that had completely covered his chest. Where before there had been a mass of bloody, rotten flesh, the result of the disease he had contracted so long ago, there was now naught but smooth, albeit pale, skin. Was this a miracle?
He was in the middle of the path leading around the dojo. Distantly he heard the sound of someone sobbing. It was Kaoru! He was on his feet in an instant, faster than he had been capable of in a very long time, looking around wildly for her.
Under the shade of the trees she sat, holding something in her arms. Shinta started to run to her, but then the ground seemed to give way beneath him. The air was so thin now that he could barely breathe. He stumbled forward a few more paces, then collapsed. Shinta caught his breath as best he could and raised himself up on his hands and knees, and found himself inches from his own pale, lifeless face. Startled, Shinta jerked away from it.
"What the hell was this!?"
Still on his knees, he looked from his own face to Kaoru's.
"Kaoru?"
She didn't look at him.
"Kaoru!" Shinta called to her louder, but she still didn't acknowledge him. For the first time Shinta noticed a long chain attached to his chest, the broken end of which lay near the other Shinta. The realization began to dawn on him that his missing wounds were no miracle.
The very last vestiges of his will had carried the ruined body into the grass, but Himura Shinta had in truth passed away in the middle of the road where he had fallen.
"Kaoru, I'm here!" Shinta called to her. He tried to grab her shoulders, only for his hands to pass right through her. He jerked back again. He couldn't feel anything, but the sight of his hands in Kaoru's chest unnerved him.
"So this is how it ends." Shinta muttered helplessly, with no one to hear him but the ether.
But the ether had a response for him.
This is not the end.
The voice shook Shinta to his core. The weight, the power, the voice commanded made him tremble in his sandals. Alarmed, he sprang up once more to find the mysterious speaker.
He did not have to wonder for long.
A figure cloaked in black and white descended from the sky. Shinta gaped at the stranger that had appeared. He looked like an old man, an old war veteran more like- his face and arms were laced with scars. He held a large, knobby staff.
"Who . . .? What are you?" Shinta stuttered.
Do you really want to know? Isn't it obvious what I'm here for?
The man's eyes where closed, as if Shinta wasn't even worth looking at.
The pressure given off by the apparition's aura was beating down upon Shinta as if the force of gravity had doubled. He fell down to one knee. "Wha- what is this feeling!?" Shinta gasped.
You are still conscious? Impressive.
Never before had Shinta felt so vulnerable as he did here, as if his very soul would shatter into tiny pieces at this man's whim.
"Who are you?" Shinta demanded, trying to sound like more of a threat than he felt.
I am a Shinigami.
"A death god!?" Shinta exclaimed in wonderment. He finally managed to get back to his feet as he said this.
Yes. Now stay where you are so we can get this over with quickly.
Shinta's eyes narrowed. What did he mean? Shinta slowly started to back away, ready to fight if need be.
The "Shinigami" half opened one eye and sized him up. He scoffed.
Please.
Then the old man disappeared. There one second, then gone.
Suddenly Shinta had his face in the dirt. No one other than his old master had ever gotten the jump on him like that. Angry and humiliated, he got up and turned to face the Shinigami again.
But the death god raised a hand to stop him.
You need not fear me. What you must fear are the Hollows that will seek you out and consume your soul.
'Hollow,' another new word, "What do you mean?" Shinta asked warily.
The fallen souls of the dead will be drawn to you now. But if not, then by the mere passing of time you will fall into darkness and return as a Hollow. As a Hollow you will be tormented by the aching hole where your heart once resided and you will consume the souls of those who were closest to you in life in a vain effort to soothe your suffering.
"You mean, staying here would put my family at risk?!"
No. You will be far more than a risk. You will be their certain demise.
"No, I would never do such a thing. I will NOT become this 'Hollow,' or whatever else!"
If you stay here, it is inevitable. Look at yourself; the encroachment has already begun!
The Shinigami pointed at the chain connected to Shinta's chest. At first he didn't know what he was looking at, but then dozens of tiny mouths opened along the bottom three links. The chain curled like a snake as the mouths threw themselves upon each other and feasted.
Shinta had barely processed what he was looking at when his entire body was engulfed in the most horrendous pain he had ever felt. He doubled over, fell to the ground, and screamed in agony. His entire body was on fire! A section of chain broke free and disintegrated. The pain ended as abruptly as it had come.
His face pulled back in a grimace, Shinta attempted to get back up, only to be pinned back to the ground, held in place by the old man's staff on his forehead.
When that chain disappears, you will become a Hollow. Such is the fate of all who are left to wander the twilight realm between life and death.
Shinta's eyes widened with fear.
Fear not, I have now prevented that.
The Shinigami lifted his walking stick from Shinta's forehead, leaving behind a glowing white symbol. Shinta scrambled back to his feet, but a soft white light had begun to engulf him.
Say your good-byes while you can. In a moment you will be on your way to a new plane of existence. It is unlikely that you will ever return here again.
With that, the Shinigami vanished and Shinta was left to ponder the enormity of the world he had once thought he knew. Hollows? Shinigami? It was scary to conceive of, but also awe-inspiring.
But as the glow around him intensified, Shinta did not give it another thought. Instead he turned back to Kaoru, who was still cradling the face of her late husband.
"Kaoru. I . . ." Shinta began. What could he say that would reach her? He knelt down in front of her. For the first time he noticed the absence of the scar on his body's left cheek and instinctively raised a hand to his own. The skin there was smooth, unblemished but for the lines of wetness that had begun to flow in that moment. His work in this world was done. Whatever words between them left unsaid, she knew he was at peace.
The light surrounding him became blinding and he knew his time was up. Unthinkingly he caressed his wife's face with intangible fingers and placed one last gentle kiss on her lips.
He knew she could not hear him, but it had to be said. "I love you Kaoru. Good-bye."
Before he knew it, Shinta was high in the air, floating away into the sky. Shinta's last glimpse of the material world was of his now widowed wife still holding his body in a tight embrace. As Shinta rose higher and higher into the sky, Kaoru looked up, a strange, almost quizzical expression on her face and Shinta knew that, on some level, he had reached her.
"I'll be waiting." He whispered as he closed his eyes and did not struggle as the invisible current drew him further from Earth.
On the ground, Kaoru had indeed felt something, like the echo of a sensation brushing on her lips. She looked around, trying figure out whether she had imagined it or not. But there was nothing to see, nothing but the cold corpse her husband had left behind and a black butterfly soaring into the sunset.
