When Rin woke up he was alone. His clothing was damp and the sun had finally emerged from the clouds. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. As far as he could see there was no one around. He stood up slowly. The pain in his chest was still there, just not as prominent. All of his limbs felt heavy and worn. He wanted to lie back down, to close his eyes and go back to sleep without ever waking up again. But he had to see his brother again. He had get Yukio back.

He realized that his sword was gone as soon as he was standing. Only the empty sheath remained. Rin looked for it frantically, thinking that he threw it while tossing and turning in his sleep.

"You won't find it," a voice said behind him. Rin whirled around to face the speaker. His breath hitched and he reached for his non-existent blade. Lucifer stared at him, his face a mask of no expressions.

"What did you do with my sword?" Rin growled.

"Nothing," Lucifer shrugged, "your friend activated it before he passed through the gate to the afterlife."

Rin shook his head, "Activated my sword? You aren't making any sense."

The entire forest remained still, knowing, somehow, what events were about to occur.

 Something felt off to Rin, his hand slithered to his chest unconsciously.

"Did you bring my brother here or something?" he demanded, "What do you want with me?"

Peacefully, Lucifer lifted up his right hand. Cuffed to the wrist was a thick metal chain. It made a loud and final sound as it moved. Strange, Rin thought, that I didn't hear it.

"So, you just have one of the chains that Taro had. Wait," Rin creased his eyebrows, "Does this mean you're dead? That shouldn't be possible, you're a demon."

"I'm not real, Rin." Lucifer's voice was sympathetic, "I am something from your memory."

"What are you talking about?" there was panic rising in Rin's voice. Something was beginning to make sense.

"Can you see it now?" Lucifer asked, "The place that the chain leads?"

Rin shook his head, tears began to fill his eyes.

"You could feel it, couldn't you?" Lucifer tugged on the chain lightly, "it's pulling your heart out."

Rin clutched at his chest. The pain had suddenly increased immensely. He looked at his chest, the sight that greeted him was unwelcome, but not unexpected. There was a chain hooked to his chest, exactly like the one that Taro had.

The truth did not register with Rin at first. When it did, he remained in denial. Shaking his head and muttering to himself.

"That isn't true. You're lying, using some sort of magic to make me see things.''

"You're dead, Rin" Lucifer took a step forward, "you died a long time ago, when your brother shot you in the head."

"That's not true!" Rin roared, "I stood back up and fought."

Lucifer did not raise his voice in compliance with Rin's. Instead he stayed quiet and placid, "Rin, do you honestly think that anyone would be able to survive that? Not only did you get shot in the head, but Yukio used a blessed round. Even being the son of Satan, there is no way you could have survived."

"Then why am I still here?" Rin screamed, the fear and panic in his voice continuing to rise.

"The same thing that Taro was," Lucifer remained calm, "there is something keeping you here."

"What?" Rin staggered closer, "I don't see where that chain leads."

Lucifer took a step away from Rin, who was getting in his face. He could sense fear in the young boy.

"You aren't like most souls, you got chained to a memory."

Rin laughed forcefully, "Please, a memory? There is no memory that I have that would make me stay here. Everyone I care about is still alive."

Lucifer looked to the ground, unable to make eye contact with Rin.

"That is incorrect, Rin, have you looked closely at the tombstones? The names, particularly?"

Rin's eyes drifted dreadfully to the names of the overworn tombstones. The ones he could make out were all familiar, all belonging to those he went to the cram school.

"But," his voice dropped to a whimper, "I just saw them... I don't remember. Was it yesterday? The day before that? They can't be dead, none of them would have been old enough."

"Again, that is not necessarily true. You, Rin, have been dead for a very long time."

Rin did not listen to what Lucifer was saying. He fell to his knees and began searching for the dates on the tombstones. He looked at the names they were attached to, and he cried a little bit harder every time he realized how young one of his friends was when they died.

Twenty,

Twenty three,

Thirty six,

Twenty two,

Nineteen,

Twenty,

Seventeen,

The last date was the one that he dreaded seeing the most. The last date was so young. The last date was the date his brother died. Rin allowed his head to rest on the stone. It was cool, and rough. His sobs, at first, were quiet, but they grew louder and louder. They were an atrocity in the deep silence of the woods. Tears streamed down Rin's face. He doubled over and screamed, yelled, wailed, all for the lives of his friends, ended so quickly. His mind held the image of his brother, six, crying as Rin stood inbetween him and bullies. Why, when it was so important, had Rin been unable to help Yukio?

"You hate me, Rin," Lucifer stated, "you hate me so much that you want to kill me, and you can't. Please, if you ever want to leave this place, you have to let me go. You cannot kill me, Rin, give up."

Rin stood up and faced Lucifer. Tears spilled out of his eyes and he continued to cry. He looked at Lucifer and his heart was so laden and so broken that he could not find any more malice in it for the demon who stole his brother. He hiccupped and opened his mouth to speak,

"Alright," he said quietly, "I give up. I give up."

Lucifer smiled sweetly as his form turned back into stars. Rin turned and saw the sheet. There was something different about it this time, though. It seemed more grounded, as if something was under it this time.

"I suppose you're here to take me to the land of the dead like you did with Taro, aren't you?"

The ghost stood there for a moment, and then it began to lift the sheet, revealing a body underneath. By the time the sheet was released from the face of the man, Rin had already realized who it was.

"Hey Rin," Father Fujimoto smiled. Rin stared at him and started to weep again. He ran to Fujimoto's arms and stayed there for a moment.

"Hey, come on, this isn't like you. You were always the tough child," Fujimoto joked. He held Rin tightly, though.

"I'm sorry," Rin cried, "it was my fault, all of it."

Father Fujimoto spoke quietly, "No, it wasn't. Don't blame yourself, Rin. Come on, we should go. Yukio is waiting on you."

He pulled away and took Rin by the shoulders to lead him. They walked for a moment while Rin cried, before he calmed down.

"Where are we going, anyway?"

Fujimoto shrugged, "I don't know, it's around here somewhere."

"You mean you don't remember where this mysterious gate is? That's just like you, Old Man." Rin was beginning to revert back to his old self. He didn't realize it, he barely realized that he had stopped crying.

"Yeah well, a little walking won't hurt you."

Rin looked at his shoes, "Does Yukio blame me? For being so focused on myself?"

Father Fujimoto shook his head, "No, and he never will. Would you look at that, we're here already."

He gestured to a pair of white doors, as tall as a house, standing in the middle of the woods. They lead to nothing and, as far as Rin could tell, would get them nowhere. He took a few cautious steps towards the doors. There was laughter coming from within, laughter and shouting, and other sounds of utter bliss and happiness. He looked up at Father Fujimoto, who gestured to him to open the doors. Rin placed his hands on the doorknobs and pressed, throwing his whole weight into opening the heavy, heavy doors.

His eyes took in the most amazing scene he could ever have hoped for. He grinned and threw himself past the doors, past his life. Father Fujimoto followed him.

The sound of the doors closing was final, and unnerving, but Rin did not hear it. No one heard it. They were all too busy smiling.

Ichigo and Rukia approached the gravesite warily. They had sensed Grimmjow's spiritual pressure from the school. The two-tailed cat that Ichigo picked up at the school peeked over his shoulder. It jumped down and ran to a blue zanpakuto that rested on one of the stones.

Rin! Rin! This is Rin's!

"What is it saying, Ichigo?" Rukia surveyed their surroundings, being vigilant for Ichigo as well.

"I don't know, something about someone named Rin."

Rukia bent down to examine a tombstone, "Well, it's right, at least. This stone belongs to someone named Rin who died fifty years ago."

"Huh," Ichigo examined the zanpakuto, "hey, Rukia, what should we do with this zanpakuto? You think Mayuri would want it?"

Rukia looked at the sword, examined it. Something about it made her feel sorrowful. She turned away, "No, Ichigo, leave it there. It belongs to someone."

"Alright." the two of them headed away, leaving the site of pain and sorrow. The two-tailed cat sniffed at the stone and the blue sword.

Rin?