Blood pooled across the front of his shihakusho just as Ukitake felt the push of a fist against the inside of his ribcage. He knew this was no medical ailment of his, but that he had finally lost, in the heat of battle. He knew for sure that this was how he and Shunsui would go; he just didn't expect a mere child to do it.
"Are you Shunsui?"
He didn't have a chance to feel pain as his body slipped backwards, joints giving out in time for him to fall back to earth.
"Yeah, what's it to ya?"
He glanced past Shunsui, who was wide eyed and diving towards the blonde boy just as the older Espada came up from behind. Ukitake tried to warn him, but only found blood from his chest forming instead of words.
"I guess we're roommates from now on."
Ukitake had also hoped to have found pleasure in his last moments by reliving his life before his eyes, but only saw the look of horror in Shunsui's eyes instead. The sound of a gunshot split his ears and the smell of burning hair filled the air as his friends spiritual pressure too began to fade.
"Really? Then I hope we can get to know each other better."
"Shunsui! Juushiro!" His master's faded voice also became apparent in the moment. Funny, the last time he had heard words like that was back at the Shinigami Academy.
"Shunsui! Juushiro! The two of you, start running laps! I'll have none of your shenanigans today!"
Even in the midst of it all, Ukitake could still smile. Yes, the burning sensation in his chest and the broken flashbacks did make for his less-than-pleasant end, but something about them was endearing to him. He did die in battle, and next to his best friend no less, protecting a town in which a boy lived whom Ukitake had lived long enough to meet, to his pleasure.
"Think about it, Juushiro. We could be Captains! And then we could do anything we wanted!"
Something different than a skipped beat of his pierced heart awoke Ukitake from his flashback this time. A spiritual pressure drifted towards him like a light breeze. It was familiar, but whose was it? Matsumoto's? Tosen's? Kaien's?
No. None of them. And just as sights blended with sounds blended with colors blended with thoughts, Ukitake remembered.
"Thank God," he whispered, eyes closing as the world shut itself off from his consciousness.
