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“ The time is near when all things will end. So think clearly and control yourselves so you will be able to pray. Most importantly, love each other deeply, because love will cause many sins to be forgiven. “ (Peter 4: 7-8)
“Fuck…” Kensei cursed and gave one last shove to the iron door. He had been trying with all his might to shut the rusty thing and finally it gave in, sliding forward and locking in place. Panting softly, Kensei bent down onto his knees, balancing himself as he blew on his own hands. Though he had a pair of gloves on, there were too many holes to actually keep him warm.
“...Think that will hold them back?” Shuhei asked softly, breaking the silence by shifting forward. He was in worse shape than Kensei. While the older male was covered in bruises and oozing cuts that were probably infected, Shuhei had dried blood from a cut on his forehead and his cracked lips were tinged blue. Hypothermia was probably kicking in and dammit, Kensei had found this bunker in the first place in an attempt to find a sheltered, safe space. But, again his plans were collapsing before his very eyes. They had no access to food or water...and the only way out was the very door holding back the zombies.
“......for the time being.”
“Figured,” Shuhei whispered without any heat, only acknowledgment, and sat down in front of Kensei. His head slowly dropped to rest against Kensei’s broad shoulder. It was the best thing he could find that could act as a pillow these days. “How long do you think it’ll hold?”
“A few hours at best…” The older male whispered and let his head fall back against the door. It was probably best if he moved them over to the other side of the shelter, but at this point, his limbs were refusing to move properly. It was almost like even his body was giving in to the inevitable. Their protection was going to be their downfall. Even with that knowledge though, he felt more relaxed than ever. At least he knew the end was here now. No more need to run away, but...his eyes locked on Shuhei’s head of black hair. He could bear the thought of his own death, but not Shuhei’s. Not Shuhei…
Shakily, Kensei clasped his arm around the teenager to support him as best as he could and pressed a tender kiss to the top of his head. The fact that Shuhei was so silent just showed that he was thinking something similar.
“Remember when Tousen would always carry his bible with him? The one Aizen gave him?” Shuhei whispered, and bent his head up to rest his forehead against Kensei’s. “What was that one passage he always spoke of?”
“Eh, something like...“The time is near when all things will end.”. Kensei muttered, unsure where this was going, but honestly, he didn’t care one bit about Tousen or Aizen. Everyone, friends and even foes were dead. Even Mashiro had been killed years ago by a zombie bite.
Shuhei shook his head slightly, bottom lip trembling faintly. Not from fear, but rather from the cold. Just seeing it made Kensei’s chest hurt and he quickly brushed his lips against the boy’s. He could taste a ting of copper, probably from the dried blood on Shuhei’s cut lip. The kid wasn’t having it though. He broke the kiss only to whisper shakily, “So think clearly and control yourselves so you will be able to pray. Most importantly, love each other deeply, because love will cause many sins to be forgiven. “
“...you trying to say we sinned?” Kensei groaned out. Fuck, could Shuhei just drop the subject and let them both die in peace?
“Maybe...maybe not, but the love each other deeply... “ Shuhei’s eyes flickered down to Kensei’s lips right before he leaned in again, reconnecting them together. The kiss might appear as passionate, but it was far from it. Rather it was desperate, as Shuhei was trying to mold and tangle their frozen forms together. But of course, all he could do was press their forms together at best.
“We’re going to die.” Kensei choked out after pulling away to catch his breath. “This is my fault, if I had known that this was a dead-end I would have-”
Hisagi silenced the man again with another kiss as he stumbled into his lap, cupping the back of Kensei’s head to keep the kiss going. “I know...it’s okay. We were running out of time and well, if they don’t end up killing us..” Hisagi chuckled weakly. “Hypothermia will probably get us…”
“You’re not scared of death?” Kensei raised an eyebrow only to stiffen when he heard snarling and the creatures prowling behind the door. Time for doom was ticking…
“Yes...I don’t think I have been for a while.” Hisagi whispered. “I think I’m honestly more scared of being separated from each other.” The admission hung in the air between them before Kensei coughed and bit out, “Yeah...I...don’t think I could bear to see that.”
“We could change fate. We could take our endings into our own hands.” Shuhei added, as if it was just an afterthought, but clearly he had put a lot of time and thought into it. “We both have our guns...at the same time we could-” Hisagi’s throat felt dry and so he swallowed a bit of salvia before continuing. “If we do it to each other, it’s not a sin. It’s mercy.” Though he hesitated repeatedly as he spoke, it wasn’t because he was actually unsure. Rather, he had planned this for a while and knew by heart every word he had planned to utter, but for Kensei’s sake...he softened the harshness of the blow by speaking in this manner.
Kensei stiffened, his arms tightening around the boy’s slender waist. “That’s...wrong.”
“What is wrong? What’s right?” Hisagi whispered, cupping his lover’s face in his hands so he couldn’t turn his gaze away. “We say God is good, and yet he allows such tragedy to occur. Isn’t this mess around us, wrong? And yet, once again...God is good...but yet he allows this to continue.”
“Tch, like I give a shit what he thinks, but if I gotta talk on this...maybe this is just his punishment?” Kensei’s head was already hurting from all this banter. He should have burnt that notebook of Tousen’s that Hisagi had held onto.
“Perhaps, but Kensei...you know just as well as I do that what lies behind those doors...what they can do. The damage they will cause to us.” Hisagi whispered, only to tighten his grip when Kensei’s eyes started to flicker, forecasting his nervousness.
“I refuse to die without you and while we still have these few moments left….I wish to plan my own ending.”
“You...fuck…” Kensei swallowed. “You’re playing God.”
“I’m merely taking a note from his book.” Shuhei chuckled weakly and kissed Kensei again, this time sweeter and tame in regard to speed. “Kensei, please-”
“Yeah, yeah I got it. I got it kid.” He groaned and hugged Hisagi closer against his chest before letting his arms fall to his sides. “The guns are already loaded.” He grabbed his own, handing it to Shuhei before grabbing their extra.
“Shu...do something for me.” Kensei uttered as he placed the muzzle of the gun right up against the boy's chin as Hisagi copied the action. Now that he had agreed to this, he felt more confident. Hisagi was right...if they wished to stay together until the end with the least amount of pain, this was the only way. As tragic as that was, this was the cold truth.
“Yes?” Hisagi whispered, eyes steady including his own hand as he removed the safety, letting the cold metal of his muzzle press against underneath Kensei’s chin as well.
“Don’t look away.” Kensei swallowed once more and watched as Shuhei nodded, pressing their foreheads together so their eyes were at the same level. It was terrifying in a way. He could see everything in that gaze. He could see life radiating with an occasional flicker… “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Hey, if there’s an afterlife….we’ll get married finally?”
“We can try. Might be a bit of a middle finger to God.” Kensei snickered, his sound echoed by Hisagi’s faint chuckle. But soon Hisagi’s expression grew tight and closed off. “On the count of three.”
“One.”
“Two.” Kensei couldn’t even afford to blink, and neither seemingly could Hisagi. All he could focus on was Shuhei. Adorable, loveable, precious Shuhei.
“Thre-”
- 30 years later -
“ Eh?” The first man to arrive tapped the skeleton leg with the end of his boot. “Damn, how do you think they did it? Doesn’t look like the zombies got to them-”
The male that followed behind him just shrugged. “Look man, I don’t care. Shot, bitten, or overdose, however they did it I don’t care. We’re here to clean up a mess and try to bring things back to normal now that we can finally medically treat those fucking zombies.”
“Yeah...fair enough.” The first male uttered only to sigh, forcing the two skeletons apart from each other. There was a story here...he knew it and yet...his coworker was right. They had a job to finish.
“Put them in the body bags and carry them out. We’ll bury them with the rest we find.”
“Right.” Nodding in confirmation, the first man grabbed the smaller of the two and started the journey out of the shelter, stepping past dead zombies littered all about and headed straight towards the light.