TO AKIRA

[A song filters in from somewhere...

Akira will find, once he gets back to the mattress store, a letter sticking out from under the mattress they both used the day before. The feather is tucked inside of it, but perhaps that's not as important as the letter itself, which is...

Ichigo's final thoughts towards his partner.]

If you're reading this, then...I'm dead. I thought this might happen, so I asked Max for some paper and a pen. You've probably already found the note I took with me on my body, however bad it looks - I'm sorry for revealing I was a Reaper, but...no point in lying about it when I've died.

...I don't - have a lot of regrets. No...that's a lie. I have a lot of regrets, but very few about this Game, and how it all ended up. I knew I'd die someday, because I've taken so many lives, but...

Is it selfish of me for wanting a little more time? Just a little. With Undine, Lenka, Mary, Alex...

...And with you.

I don't mind dying. I really don't - my only fear is that instead of being erased, I'll end up back in that crystal, but -

I'm not innocent. I'm not someone who should be mourned over, and I hope you're able to move past my death and keep going. I know you can bring this game to the right ending, and You don't need me-

I'm not worth it-

I'm-

[There are tearstains on the paper, and the writing devolves into just a line for a moment. There's a bit of a gap, and then...the writing starts again.]

I can't - I can't do this. I can't lie again, not now.

Truth is, I'm...scared. I'm so goddamn scared. I don't - I don't want to die. I might go back to that crystal, I don't know what's going to happen, and I - I-

...It's funny, but I've wanted to die for so long, just staying alive to take down Szayel, and now that the end's coming?

I finally...want to live again.

Because of you.

You - made me feel hope, after such a long time. I felt...like I wasn't just a killer, just someone so empty inside, waiting to die. That I could protect and help others, after everything I've done.

You made me feel love again, after I thought I never would again. Even finding out you were a Reaper just - made me feel a little better, because I hated myself for getting so attached to a player, even after killing so many.

I still - feel like I didn't deserve your kindness, your compassion, your understanding - there's so much I can't repay you for.

I wanted to be by your side in breaking this game. I wanted to stay close to you as much as I could, to support you like how you've supported me, but -

I guess...That's just not my fate after all. See what I mean? Funny.

[The paper is blotched with tearstains at this point.]

...Akira, I love you. I always will, no matter what. No matter what happens, I...I'm so glad, at the end, that I got to meet you. I'm sure - I must have been a big hassle, so...thank you for putting up with me and my stupid love for you for so long.

I-

[The next sentence is scratched out entirely, so much so that it's almost hard to tell what the original sentence was, yet...if Akira looks hard enough, he'll find it.

'I wish that you had loved me back too, but I never deserved it anyway.']

Please - don't forget me. Please - keep being the amazing person you are, full of hope and fight and everything that I've lost.

Because...that's the Akira I love the most - my beloved partner.

Goodbye.

[And at the bottom, his signature.]

Week 5 - thursday

[Ichigo seeks out Akira this time, after a week of keeping to himself - His partner might have noticed that Ichigo was making more of an effort to reach out to people this week, to talk to them then he has before.

He's finally starting to live more, to smile more, to trust others again -

But that doesn't take away from what has to happen this week - the weekly murder that Akira's team has to do, and honestly?

He knows it's Akira's turn.

So when he finally pulls Akira aside to talk, it's in the mattress store, in an area away from where most everyone else has claimed beds, to talk about that night.

And the first things out of his mouth?]

Let me help you tonight, Akira.