My breaths came in heavy gasps, each one feeling like a struggle as Sora pressed down on my chest with his right foot.

Every attempt to move my arms or kick him away proved futile. My body was failing me, and my strength was slowly abandoning me.

He smiled, peering down at me with that same gaze my mother used to have when she occasionally visited me.

It was a look that saw through me, exposing the lies I used like armor.

I despised that expression. It made me feel rejected, lonely.

“It’s time for you to face the truth, Renato.” Sora admonished me, tapping a finger on his shin, “Where should I start?”

He acted like he was pondering, but it only took him a second to clap his hands as he continued.

“I know, let’s start with your arrival to this world.”

I widened my eyes, trying desperately to move, to stop him from talking.

I didn’t want to remember… It was too painful.

“You've been deceiving yourself for far too long.” He revealed, a twisted smile stretching across his face. “You didn’t arrive here without memories of the trip after dying. “

He paused for a second, making the silence increase the dread that engulfed me. “You actually came through a space tear you stumbled upon in your old world.”

I wanted to scream, but my lungs barely had air, suffocating my voice.

Sora ignored my bloodshot eyes, continuing my darkest memory. “Of course, you died out of shock after crossing it and became a spirit of this world.” He laughed at my misfortune.

As he spoke those words, flashes of that day started to resurface in my mind. I saw my own death, the sheer desperation that gripped me as oxygen slipped away from my grasp.

I had not broken my neck in a simple forest fall. No, that was a lie I told myself.

Instead, I had broken it after going through the spatial tear and falling from the sky and crashing brutally onto the pavement of this new world.

That’s why I wanted to forget, and protect myself.

unwilling to confront the resurfacing memories, I fought against them. Desperation welled up inside me, but my voice was stifled by the lack of air in my lungs.

“That alone is an interesting tale.” He declared, his body leaning closer to mine, as if relishing in my anguish. “Yet, fate had more in store for you as you had the opportunity to glimpse into your future when you became a spirit.”

With each word, Sora continued to inflict deep wounds upon my soul.

That blasted ability, how much I relished having lost it after becoming a hollow.

It was just a nuisance, giving me sporadic glimpses of random future events.

However, on that fateful day, it showed me more than ever before.

Unfortunately, as much as I didn’t want to hear the next words, the remains of this spirit continued retelling my past.

“You witnessed yourself rising as a shinigami under the tutelage of Unohana Retsu, training hard day after day.” Sora paused, drawing a breath, preparing to unveil the final blow that I desperately wished to forget.

“I don’t know how you would accomplish it, but you actually managed to seduce her and her Lieutenant, Isane.” Sora laughed, his hand clutching his deranged face.

“Please… stop.” I finally managed to speak.

Tears streamed down my face as I pleaded, the intensity of his revelations tearing at the very essence of my being.

Ignoring my pleas, Sora insisted on his big reveal. “However, it was all but an illusion. The woman you loved most, Unohana... when the moment demanded it, she did not hesitate to sacrifice you to reawaken the true powers of Kenpachi Zaraki.”

His final words struck my mind like a sledgehammer, shattering my mind’s shield. My vision blurred as the images of that horrific future flooded back into my consciousness.

Visions of the time we would spend holding each other in a bed, flashes of us training together. Her anger when I seduced Isane.

And… her eerie smile as she left me alone in a dark room with Kenpachi…

In that moment, everything inside of me exploded, my self restraint, my humanity.

Opening my eyes, I could see a strong and scorching light being surging forth from my body, akin to a blazing sun, propelling Sora away from me.

I let out a hollow laughter. “You are right. it is time I stop playing around and face this world.”

I clutched my face in the same way Sora just did. “Back then, I was so desperate to change that future I had witnessed that I rushed all over the town, trying to possess Ichigo.” I admitted.

Sora's gaze drifted upward with a nonchalant expression. “But, you couldn’t even get near him without feeling crushed by his spiritual pressure.”

Copying him, I too cast my gaze skyward, locking onto the sun of my mindscape. “Yes. Fortunately, I found you a mere hours later. You were much weaker than him, so taking control over you was easy.”

A long moment of silence descended among us, the only sound being the dry wind of this desert and the rhythmic swaying of tree branches.

“That’s not true.” Sora hesitantly broke the silence. “I could have stopped it if I wished to.”

I opened my mouth, turning my gaze to him, attempting to form words. “Wait… what?”

A smile curved upon Sora's lips. “Back then, you were such a weak spirit. I could have easily pushed you back.” He confessed, his eyes clouded with melancholy. “I allowed the possession to happen because I could feel we were the same kind of person.”

I stood there, gobsmacked once again, my mind rapidly trying to understand the meaning behind his words.

“I wanted us to become one whole being, a new start for us.” He paused, his voice turning sadder. Yet, I failed, and you seized control of our shared body.”

That actually explained why I had always felt that Sora was trying to take over my body.

All this time he was trying to fuse completely with me.

“Gahaha!” I erupted into laughter, not out of happiness, but rather at the bitter irony of it all.

It was then I knew the answer to my worries.

Our voices intertwined as we both acknowledged the truth, speaking in unison: "We allowed it to escape from our shared solitude."

Silence returned back to the golden desert of my mind, only to be disrupted by the smirking Sora.

“I know the wish you are trying to have the Hogyoku to grant you.” Sora declared, his voice cutting through the stillness with a chilling tone. “It’s impossible to expect me to become your Asauchi. I would never allow it.”

“Tsk.” I clicked my tongue in annoyance, the Hogyoku could not grant wishes beyond our own capabilities. If Sora wished to fuse with me and I wished to turn him into my sword spirit, the Hogyoku would end up not granting them.

“You are making this matter harder.” I admonished him. “You know we need strength to punish the ones who dared lay a finger on Orihime.”

Sora’s stare became hard like a plate of steel. “You know the answer. It’s time for you to stop rejecting our full fusion.” He asserted, swiping his hand across his forehead to sweep aside his hair. “Our full form would be many times stronger than anything we possess individually.”

I met his steely gaze with determination, my own eyes mirroring his resolve, before nodding in agreement.

“You are forgetting one crucial factor.” I reminded him. “If I lose you as my shield against mental attacks, Aizen would have control over us again.”

Sora rubbed his head sheepishly with an awkward smile.
Sora responded. “I already had an idea to deal with that.”

An idea flashed through my mind, and understanding dawned upon me. Truly, we have spent so much time half-fused, to the point where our ideas were almost the same.

Without hesitation, I accepted his proposition. It was a bet. A bet I intended to win.

Without a trace of hesitation, Sora reverted to his unreleased stage, his clothes becoming an unnatural white white, while his tail and wings returned to their sealed state within his sword.

The spectacle of light that accompanied his transformation was nothing short of awe-inspiring, a sight I never had the opportunity to witness during my own transformations.

“Ready!” I bellowed out.

Almost immediately, I drew my sword to my hand using a bastardized version of telekinesis. The sound of it impacting my hand was satisfying.

“I have always been ready!” He responded, unsheathing his own sword.

Exchanging determined gazes, we launched against each other, stabbing our swords in each other.

There was no pain, no happiness. We were finally one single being.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aonte

Now, you can go back and understand a lot of what happened during the start of this story.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Omake: Resolve (2)

Orihime embraced her brother's child, Noelle, in a tight hug.

She couldn’t understand why they had to hide into this spatial crack of Hueco Mundo.

Her brother was different, he would no longer try her cooking, instead he would complain about her love life, telling her to never marry.

And now, he was gone to fight against his own allies, all because they had slightly injured her...

In the midst of Orihime's contemplation, a sniffle broke the silence.

“Daddy will get hurt!” her brother's other child, Esmeralda, cried.

Though she had appeared brave before, Esmeralda was just a newborn.

“Hey, calm down!” Cirucci scolded her. “Your dad will definitely return for us.”

“That's right!” Orihime added, clapping her hands around Noelle’s. “Why don't I regale you with the epic tale of how Sora and I outwitted the evil steampunk cat gang when we were younger?”

Orihime couldn’t understand her brother, but at least she could look after his family.