It is now a month after Zikinoru woke up and he has not had any other outbursts and has gotten over his "Hollow Sickness." He has sunk into a state of melancholy and the nightmares came every day.
Mayuri's jaw has healed and has become obsessed with Zikinoru's negative, what Zikinoru calls his "Hatred." He beats Nemu less but has not stopped. He usually does this when he wants Zikinoru to do something for a test. Zikinoru didn't like these tests, but he liked seeing a girl getting hurt even less.
Shuuhei visited everyday to see how Zikinoru was doing and usually brought him some kind of food. Since Zikinoru was from Greece, eating this new food was always interesting. Mayuri found out new thing about Zikinoru's past life through the recorded conversations so he let Shuuhei visit. Renji was usually dragged to these visits even though Zikinoru told Shuuhei that Renji hated him. He told Shuuhei about most of his life except he never told them about the day he died or about those 3 days.
Renji's and Shuuhei's relationship stayed at an awkward stage considering that neither wanted to be the uke. They both began to like Zikinoru in their own way. Shuuhei liked his calm demeanor and pacifistic ways. Renji appreciated his strength and will-power. They had argued for a complete hour in the past and Zikinoru won.
One crazy drunken night Zikinoru told them what had been bothering him for the past month. Renji had just told a very crude joke and they were laughing hard. Shuuhei had his hand on Renji's leg and Zikinoru was on the other side of Renji with his head on his shoulder.
"He…hey Ziki-chan?" Shuuhei asked.
"Yes Shuuy-san?" Zikinoru answered.
"How d-did you…you know, die?"
Zikinoru looked at the floor in a daze. He began his story starting with his engagement to his killer. It was an arranged marriage, but he had learned to love her, and he thought she loved him back. As his story came to a close he began to cry, and when the story was over Renji pulled him into his arms and Shuuhei hugged them both. Renji kissed Zikinoru's forehead and whispered that it was ok. Zikinoru was too drunk to push them away, and instead he kissed Renji's collar and held Shuuhei's fingers to his chest. Shuuhei and Renji looked at each other over him and kissed lightly. As they deepened the kiss they pressed tighter together and Zikinoru peered up watching them. "Are you g-guys…gay?" he asked. Shuuhei and Renji parted and looked down at his curious form and answered truthfully. He nodded and kissed both of them on the cheek. They looked at him with a question in their eyes. "I accept you as you are. I'm not into that stuff, but I don't think I like girls anymore." He stated. The tears began to fill his eyes again and they kissed the tears away. "We won't force you into anything Zik-san. We promise." Shuuhei whispered into his ear. Renji nodded in agreement and hugged to other two. Zikinoru smiled at the two and whispered," You are my only friends you know that? I love you guys. And you two love each other so it's even more awesome." He smiled more and fell asleep between the two, still smiling. They left him in his bed and went back to their room, where they slept soundly.