Somehow, it feels Good to tell someone this, to get it all off of his chest. The terror and fear he'd felt when he woke up still hung over him a little, even now - and there's only a small amount left to his story, anyway.]
I was - barely hanging on, at that point. I couldn't even scream anymore - and my vision was becoming hazy, but I knew if I passed out...I wouldn't wake up again.
But by then, I knew I wasn't getting out of there alive.
Ichibei came closer, still chanting - his hand was glowing, I don't know what he did - and he reached into my chest. There wasn't any extra pain, no blood...but then his hand came back up.
[He touches his chest, softly.]
...My heart was in his hand. Still beating, still attached to me - everything. And even though I'd gone through all of that, seeing my goddamn heart in his hand...
I was...terrified.
[...]
But it didn't matter what I felt, because the Soul King had to be created. So -
[Ichigo swallows, clenching his teeth and looking away.]
- He cut my heart out. And I tried to hang on, but then, I...died.
...And I woke up here, when you grabbed my shoulder.
[He falls silent, looking...drained, after that recounting. But more than that, he looks just as alone as he did the first time Akira met him, just as closed off and pressed into himself, but with added pain, guilt, and sorrow.]
...And...That's it, I guess. My body's probably encased in crystal by now in the royal realm, because....they never needed an alive soul king.
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Somehow, it feels Good to tell someone this, to get it all off of his chest. The terror and fear he'd felt when he woke up still hung over him a little, even now - and there's only a small amount left to his story, anyway.]
I was - barely hanging on, at that point. I couldn't even scream anymore - and my vision was becoming hazy, but I knew if I passed out...I wouldn't wake up again.
But by then, I knew I wasn't getting out of there alive.
Ichibei came closer, still chanting - his hand was glowing, I don't know what he did - and he reached into my chest. There wasn't any extra pain, no blood...but then his hand came back up.
[He touches his chest, softly.]
...My heart was in his hand. Still beating, still attached to me - everything. And even though I'd gone through all of that, seeing my goddamn heart in his hand...
I was...terrified.
[...]
But it didn't matter what I felt, because the Soul King had to be created. So -
[Ichigo swallows, clenching his teeth and looking away.]
- He cut my heart out. And I tried to hang on, but then, I...died.
...And I woke up here, when you grabbed my shoulder.
[He falls silent, looking...drained, after that recounting. But more than that, he looks just as alone as he did the first time Akira met him, just as closed off and pressed into himself, but with added pain, guilt, and sorrow.]
...And...That's it, I guess. My body's probably encased in crystal by now in the royal realm, because....they never needed an alive soul king.