The only sound in the room was the quiet snore of the sleeping Shinigami in his chair. Waiting for the others to return, Shuuhei had been lulled into restful repose by the window fans moving the warm summer air about the room.

As he slept, his mind wandered back to a nearly-forgotten time, a time unsettled in his soul, a time of vague shadows behind a veil where only impressions, not actual events, existed. He felt warmth, perhaps the warmth of another body, lying next to him on a soft palette. He basked in that warmth, the security of that other being next to him, at once at peace, yet oddly disturbed, a slight fear shivering its way into his spine.

The fear grew.

He tried to reason with his dream. This isn't real; there's nothing to be afraid of, but the dream wasn't satisfied.

Yes there is, it whispered hoarsely at him from the back of his head. Wake up, wake up!

But the overwhelming feelings of warmth and security prevailed, and he settled back into a cozy dream reality that he couldn't explain. The warm body next to him enveloped him in her softness. Her scent drifted through his nostrils like a summer breeze. Somehow, he could hear a voice calling his name, only it wasn't his name. It was the name of who he used to be. And the voice wasn't calling any more. It had become shrill and harsh, like a woman betrayed.

The pain came as a surprise, jolting him upright in his dream, away from the warmth, into the screaming night air. He jerked in his sleep. Had someone been watching the sleeping man, he would have thought that Shuuhei was having convulsions based on the violent movements of his head and torso.

In his dream world, the sudden pain brought by the flash of searing light was accompanied by the roaring percussion of sound. Not a storm. A betrayal. Emotions unleashed. The fiery light and deafening noise flashed in rapid succession. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Acrid smoke replaced the welcoming scent of his lover. A scream died in his ear. The comfortable warmth of his body turned sticky, wet and cold as he collapsed back onto the bed. He could feel no bodily pain, only the vague pain of agony recalled in a wisp of memory. It was enough to wake him.

He sat up in the chair, willing himself to wake up and leave that dream world behind.

"It was only a dream," he chided himself, "same damn dream, but it was only a dream. Dammit, Isane, I wish I didn't know. I need some coffee."

He stood and walked over to the coffee pot, hoping the action would serve as a distraction to his waking mind.

"Isane."

Things had not been right between them in a very long time. The uneasiness that he felt around her was magnified by her seeming distaste for him. It hadn't always been that way. Once, there had been tenderness and caring, but after the hypnosis, their relationship had dissolved into anger and hurt. If he had one regret about his past life, it was that it had reared its ugly head in his present life.

"Sorry, Isane."

He was roused from his melancholia by the raucous approach of Shinigami down the walkway. The laughing voices and footsteps grew louder. Renji was the first in the door, followed by Kira, Ikkaku and Iba bringing up the rear. Renji threw a friendly punch in Shuuhei's direction, then proceeded to box with an unseen opponent. Iba took a seat on the sofa, hands folded in his lap, smiling.

"Hey, hey, Gym Teacher, guess what?" yelled Ikkaku into Shuuhei's face. "Kira's a rock star!"

"I wasn't a rock star. I was an Olympic figure skater, you idiot." Kira reached for the cold cup of coffee that he had left behind.

"Congrats, Izuru," Shuuhei intoned quietly. "More exciting than being a gym teacher." The memory of his dream settled back into the recesses of his mind.

"I won a medal, you know." He warmed the contents of the cup with hot coffee from the pot. "Silver, but still, it's an Olympic medal." His eyes smiled happily over the rim of the cup as he drank.

"Second best in the world. Not bad," Shuuhei smiled.

"Thanks." The blond pulled the cup down from his lips. Ruefully, he sighed, "I could have done so much more if I hadn't been killed by that drunk driver." He paused a moment to let that sink in. "I was just crossing the street, Shuuhei, minding my own business, when WHAM!" He slammed the cup on the counter. "Out of nowhere…a promising career cut short…"

"Yea, yea, and your sister's the king of the Shinigami." Ikkaku cut Kira off. "Quit complaining, Kira. You're an idiot if you think it makes any difference here."

"You're making fun of my death, you heartless…"

"It's not like you have a connection to it any more." He poked at the blond with a pool cue. "So shut up already."

"I was in a coma…"

"Big deal." Poke.

"For four months…"

"You died. Get over it." Poke. Poke. Poke.

Kira knocked the stick from Ikkaku's hand. "Bastard."

"That's all you've been talking about since we left Isane's place," Ikkaku covered his ears with his hands and shook his head. "Coma this, potential that. Big deal."

"It is a big deal to me!" Kira protested, "I could have been really great. First place, not second. Endorsements, fans, a gold medal, maybe two."

"Hey, Kira," called Renji, having lost his battle to the shadows. "Telephone. It's the Ice Capades. They want their costume back. Oh, wait, that's not a costume, that's your hair."

"Like you should talk, you freak. You're addicted to tattoos, Mr. Never-Met-A-Tattoo-I-Didn't-Like. You need help," Kira sneered at Renji, willing him to continue.

"Hey, at least I'd never get one like Hisagi's, let alone on my face."

"Wait a minute. How'd I get involved in this little lover's quarrel of yours?"

"A three-way. Figured that was your style, Hisagi," Ikkaku raised an eyebrow, answered by a hard punch in the arm.

"Sorry, Shu," Kira glanced at his perplexed friend, "but Tattoo-You Boy over there just got on my last nerve. I couldn't fulfill my potential; I was in a coma, for Pete's sake, and he's ragging on me."

"You want a piece of me, Kira? Come on, Blondie, let's go. Three rounds. Hisagi, you're the referee."

"Moron, you're a Shinigami now, not a boxer." Ikkaku cuffed Renji on the ear. Renji swung around wildly, letting the punches fall where they may, connecting with nothing. "Face it, you were a lousy boxer then, Abarai, and you're not much better now."

"Renji? A boxer? Should have figured that one out by the way he's been taking jabs at everything in sight," Shuuhei grinned and raised his coffee cup.

"Yea, just call me the Renjinator…or Hulk Renji…the Renj. Yea, the Renj!"

"Personally, I like Mr. Boxer-Who-Never-Won-A-Bout," Kira said bitterly.

"What do you know, Kira? My last fight was a big one. I was going up against the old heavy-weight champ. After ten years, he was making his come-back. I almost had him too." He threw a few jabs in the air. "They wanted me to take a dive, but man! I could taste victory. It would have been so easy just to lie down and let the champ have that fight. I told 'em before hand that I didn't want to do it. I thought I could win."

"Sure you did, Renji," humored Hisagi nonchalantly, between sips.

"Yea, I wasn't going to let them ruin my career. If I could knock out the champ, I'd show 'em what I was made of."

"Turned out to be pudding," Ikkaku whispered out of the side of his mouth as he walked past Hisagi. Hisagi choked on his coffee.

"So I'm in the ring, see. Fourth round, things are going my way. Champ is getting winded…wasn't even trying very hard…did get a couple of licks in though, when I wasn't looking. So I knew I had him…bell rang…went to my corner. My manager says, 'Killer, you gotta take a dive.' 'I can't, Morty, I've got him on the ropes,' says me. 'Yer makin' a big mistake, kid,' says Morty, and he holds this cloth over my face like he's dabbing blood, 'cept I can't breathe. The cloth smells funny like it has something on it. Anastasia or something."

"Anesthesia?"

"Yea, but it was more like a fast-acting poison or something. I never found out what it was; they don't tell dead people anything."

"I can't believe he said that…"

Renji paused and drew in a deep breath. "So, anyways, the bell rings and Morty pushes me back into the ring. I can't catch my breath, see, and Morty says, 'Sorry, Kid, you made the wrong choice.' My eyes are getting blurry, I'm hardly breathin.' An' I see the champ comin' at me, swingin' and I go down before he even lays a hand on me. The last thing I see is white mat rushing up to meet my face. Never woke up."

"At least, you didn't linger," Kira sniffed.

"No, Kira, I liked licking the mat as my last act on earth," Renji sneered.

"Like I said, at least, it was quick."

"Not like the way you're going to die now. Com'ere, you skating fruit loop. I've got your coma right here."

Kira deftly dodged the red-head's left hook. "You're all talk, Boxer Wanna-Be."

"Let it go, Izuru." Hisagi put his hand on the blonde's thin shoulder. "You know how Renji can get." The blond Shinigami nodded sullenly, crossing the room to the dart board.

"Don't take his side, Hisagi, 'cause I got one for you too!" Renji blustered.

Hisagi laughed and joined Ikkaku at the coffee pot for his fifth cup of coffee.

"Planning to sleep tonight, Gym Teacher? Better slow down on the caffeine."

Absently slapping Madarame on the back of the head, he shrugged, "I told you not to call me that." Maybe he was counting on not sleeping tonight. If he slept, he'd dream, and he told himself he couldn't chance having that dream again. It meant he was still connected to the world of the living, and it was a connection he was desperate to sever. Now, he wanted coffee, coffee black and strong, hold the cream.

Kira, still smoldering from lack of empathy, pulled the darts from the dartboard, staring over his shoulder at Renji in anger.

"Quit staring at me, Kira. It's stupid," Renji ordered.

"Why would I look at you? You're too stupid to look at."

"Am not."

"Am too."

"Then I'll stare at you. How stupid does that feel, huh?"

"Stupid is as stupid does," Kira shot back.

"What does that mean?" Renji scanned the faces of the amused Shinigami. Madarame muffled his laughter in Shuuhei's back; Shuuhei struggled to keep a straight face. Iba, still smiling, blinked. Settling his eyes on Shuuhei, Renji asked, "Does anyone know what the hell that means?"

A dart flew perilously close to his head.

Two more chapters…