A small hum echoed through the quiet place, a constant but gentle noise. It was the only thing they managed to cling to but the buzzing remained steady.
"…Are we dead?"
The buzzing continued, the only response to their inquiry.
"If we are, then it's…it's for the best isn't it? We've done awful things. We hurt them, we can't go back."
The quiet place was their sanctuary, it wouldn't be so bad to stay here.
"We helped destroy the jewel though, didn't we? And Naraku? Didn't we save them?"
There was a slight shift, a dissonance within. It was an odd thing to disagree with oneself.
"No, Kagome saved them, we only helped her. That hardly atones for what we've done."
"Nothing will make up for what we did."
It was also an odd thing to agree with oneself. It was an odd thing to be one self that consisted of two selves, but the lines were so worn out and blurred, they were too weak to find the distinction.
The hum continued, the buzzing keeping them together.
"At least we know that they're safe…right?"
"Maybe…if they survived. Did Kagome survive? What happened to everyone?"
They couldn't tell, they were in the quiet place, all they knew of was the hum.
"We might never know…but. The jewel, Naraku, they didn't win. That's what's important…right?"
"…No. No it's not enough. We need to see them, we need to make sure they're okay. That's why we set out to find this stupid power in the first place isn't it? It wasn't to be heroes and save the day, it was to protect them."
"We might never know…if…if they died then will they be here?"
"…It doesn't seem like it. It's too quiet here, they'd be somewhere more lively…not here…"
"Wherever they are, we need to be with them."
"Then we'll have to let go. We can't stay here if we want to follow them into the afterlife."
The buzzing weakened, almost to the point of fading out, before suddenly flaring up again.
"Wait. No. Not like this."
The self, the single entity shuddered and shifted.
"If…if we let go now we'll be stuck…we can't do that."
The entity shuddered again, the buzzing sound growing stronger.
"Protecting our loved ones brought us unison but…but…"
Suddenly the entity tilted, off balance, and a single unique voice shouted.
"Ronuku, if I'm going to die I want to die as myself!"
The line had been blurred for so long, but suddenly there it was.
"…I agree. We can't let go unless we're ourselves."
The buzzing grew and grew, almost deafening, and the line grew stronger. The snag that trapped their souls together, if only they could pull it apart.
"Sesshomaru, Futeki, Rin…wherever they are I need to go to them, they're my priority."
"And Sango is mine."
They held the snag between them.
"It's time. Let's do this."
It was a soft pop. One suddenly became two, and the buzzing died. The sibling bond, the power forged by Tsuneo and Hisae had come undone, leaving Ronuku as Ronuku and Kohana as Kohana.
The bond would most likely never be connected again.
Just as the buzzing had faded, each felt themselves falling into separate lonesome darkness. With the last echoes of the bond evaporating from them they had just enough to call out to one another.
"Goodbye, my brother."
"Goodbye sister."
Their last thought happened to be the same, but it never reached the other.
"Thank you."