Chapter Two - Cut off Point

"He's only getting worse," Unohana said as she obsessively cleaned her surgery instruments. She was fighting the urge to cry so hard that her reiatsu snapped the scalpel in half. Isane stood with her captain, listening. "Nothing I do could possibly help him now, and.... Dammit!"

Isane looked shocked. Unohana never swore. Not even close. And the look on her face.... She was trying so hard to fight back the tears that it was actually hurting her.

"Why in the Hell did it have to be him? I could care less if it were Byakuya, though I do love him.... One of Byakuya's death couldn't even come close to rivaling Jyuushiro. Not a thousand!" Finally, she let go and back up to a wall, tears pouring like rivers down her pallid cheeks. She closed her eyes and slid down to the floor, gathering her knees to her chest and making salty oceans out of her shihakusho.

Isane had never seen her captain cry before. Unohana was a stable woman. Nothing could keep her smiling if it wasn't an inappropriate time. Besides that, Unohana had never admitted that she loved Byakuya Kuchiki to anyone. Isane knew her captain better than anyone, and Jyuushiro's dying must have taken quite a blow. Isane frowned, knowing that with her captain crying, it would be near impossible to keep her own tears back.

"C-captain.... Don't cry...." Isane took a deep breath, biting her lip. Her words were almost a whimper. She, like her captain, was usually a stable woman, but Jyuushiro had been important to both of them. No, he was and always would be. "Captain Unohana?"

"Please, Isane," Unohana whispered from her corner. "Please call me Retsu, as Jyuushiro does... and then leave me alone."

Isane nodded hesitantly. "Yes, Ca— Retsu. I'll go and check on him."

xXXx

The hallway outside Jyuushiro and Shunsui's room was packed full. Isane took almost fifteen minutes to shove through the crowd, which did consist of many big men. Isane stood behind one of them, trembling. She had to get through the crowd. She had to see him one last time, and maybe she could find a way to save him. Finally, she decided that she had to take desperate measures.

"Everybody! MOVE!"

The hall was suddenly silent and everyone, even Kenpachi, moved off to the side to let the white-haired lieutenant through. Isane's step was heavy, something unusual to her, and it echoed throughout the silence. She slid open the shoji screen door, letting herself in without looking.

Jyuushiro was laying down now. He looked paler than usual, and his eyes were even more faded than they had been just that morning. The rain had doubled in intensity and took the same brightness from Shunsui's eyes. Isane found it hard to believe that the Seireitei might lose both Jyuushiro and Shunsui all in own day. The very first two captains out of Yamamoto's academy. They were so dear in everybody's hearts.... It was so painful.

"Jyuushiro, how are you feeling?" She stood over him, smoothing the hair out of his face. She looked over him, memorizing each of his features. He glanced up at her, forcing a smile, as if to tell her he felt fine. That he'd be all right and she didn't need to worry. But it was a poor facade; Isane saw right through it. "You're not okay. Don't try to tell me you are; I know you better than you think. Don't you dare give me false hope."

Shunsui chuckled lightly in the corner of the room. Nanao sat next to him, holding his hand. It took two of her tiny mouse hands to come even close to matching one of his. "Yeah, he was always like that. I remember when we were in the academy together, I fell out a window and... and landed on him," He chuckled again. However, it was dry and rough. It almost sounded painful. "We sat there in Fourth just like this. Side by side."

"Ssshh, Shunsui. Quiet; don't speak." Nanao leaned down and kissed his hand gently, then his cheek. He reached up and ran a hand over her hair.

"I'll be fine, just as long as Jyuu is."

"Liar." Nanao huffed, sitting back up straight.

There was a long silence. A long pause. A time-freeze in which the only sound was the slow, steady beeping of both heart monitors. Jyuushiro's heart rate was the steadier beat. He had always been the steadier one, though both were the go-with-the-flow type. They knew that everything happened when it happened, and they couldn't stop it, so they allowed life to continue.

Shunsui had just abandoned that theory when he had heard that Jyuushiro was going to die that time. He decided to take fate into his own hands and he sat himself at the bar with Rangiku at his side. She didn't drink that night. She was too upset to drink alcohol and instead had a specially ordered fudge sundae. What better way to chase away sadness and sorrow than to eat mounds of ice cream and chocolate, right? Either way, it didn't matter. By the time she had finished her sundae, not only was Shunsui laying on the floor half-dead, but he was passed out as well. She had to carry him, all the way to Fourth, which was an unfamiliar to her and she ended up shunpò'ing blindly into Unohana's office, which wasn't so bad. Except that Unohana was on the other side of the building.

"Nanao..." Shunsui finally broke the silence, letting his hand fall to her lap. "Nanao-chan, I— Damn you, Jyuushiro! Why couldn't you die faster! We were supposed to go together!" His hand slipped from Nanao's lap, even though he tried to keep it there. She picked it back up and held it as she had before, cradling it close to her. "Nanao, I love you. I always will."

And he went out. Before she could answer him, he was gone. One of two. Jyuushiro looked over at his dear friend, staring almost in disbelief. He knew it would happen this way. He knew it all along. Neither of them could live without the other. And now, Jyuushiro knew that he would soon leave as well, and that Shunsui would be waiting for him. They would travel back to Rukongai together and it would happen all over again.

Jyuushiro would've sighed if he dared to, but held it back. Along with leaving Nanao, Shunsui was leaving his parents and older brother. His family had been one of the higher nobility and had sent him away because he was lazy and irresponsible. It was one of those things where the parents would criticize the younger son, trying to coax him into being like his older brother. However, nothing works and in an attempt to straighten him out, they send him away. A typical story.

Jyuushiro, when he died, he felt he was hurting a lot more people; not that everyone wouldn't miss Shunsui as well. For Jyuushiro, he left his parents, his five brothers and two sisters, and all his relatives, including Rukia. He felt so vial and cruel. He was the one that supported them, and they relied on him to survive. They were of lesser nobility. They were poor. He was sure, though, that Rukia would be okay.

He had finally told her that he was in love with her and that no matter what, she would become his lieutenant. To his relief, she had loved him as well, though she felt that she also was in love with Ichigo. Her affection toward Ichigo was soon found to be one-sided, and she turned directly to her captain for help. He got her back on her feet and eventually, they were married. It was commented on so often about how beautiful they were together, and for several decades he'd been happy. They had a son who had just gone into the academy, and an older daughter who had already become a Shinigami. He would miss both so terribly, and it would be worth it to stay for them.

However, he couldn't because that would be a betrayal to Shunsui. The man would've died for nothing.

The room was silent again, and this time, it was Jyuushiro who broke it. "I...Isane.... Get... Ruki...a.... " Isane nodded, walking out to the hallway.

"Someone, go get Rukia! NOW!" The chatter in the hall stopped again, and it was Byakuya who stepped out from them. He nodded, looking more solemn than usual and disappeared instantly. If he could find her, she would be here in only a few minutes, and so Isane returned to Jyuushiro's side, satisfied. "She'll be here soon."

"I...san...e...." Jyuushiro reached up, grabbing her sleeve. It startled her, and she nearly flew backwards. Looking down on him, she saw a sadness she thought she'd never see, one she didn't want to see. But it was all replaced with pain in a split second. "I-I can't.... breathe."