Prologue
My world was small, faint, inexistent. My body was still, cold, heavy. I could barely breathe. Excessive pain came from my stomach and contaminating my whole body, my every muscle, my every cell. I didn't have the strength to scream nor cry; only silent tears were rolling down my cheeks mixed with rain drops and blood. In a blur, I saw the hollow who killed me being sliced in two. I had a lonely smirk and my eyelids were too heavy to keep my eyes open. I felt a strong pair of arms surrounding my waist and shoulders. I could only hear the echo of his cry. His hair tickled my cheeks as he was ready to mourn the death of his subordinate. The smell of his sweat filled my nose in my last breathe. My fingers twitched in the last effort I gave to stroke his leg, but my hand fell, heavy, cold, lifeless.
Shinigami corpses turn into light when they die. The lonesome captain who held his subordinate as she died and felt all her weight disappear as his arms closed on himself. He raised his face towards the raining dark sky and screamed.