Chapter Text
Everyone has to die one day, and Byakuya knew as such. He had just fallen to the frozen water, where he could see the stars reflected upon the surface. His strength was leaving, his body felt cold, he closed his eyes as he thought of his son. It hurt to breathe, his heartbeat was slowing down. And then it stopped. His lungs weren't filling with air any more, his heart was no longer pumping blood. His body went numb slowly, beginning with his extremities and then his torso. His brain was the last thing to shut down, making him fall unconscious.
Byakuya didn't expect anything else to happen. But then, he opened his eyes slowly, greeted by light. Byakuya was lying down in the ground, looking at the sky. He couldn't feel his body, nor his heartbeat. He was breathing, but couldn't feel the airflow, almost as it only was a reflex. He didn't feel the wind or the heat from the sun or anything, but he was conscious.
What happened to him? He slowly sat down, looking at himself. He was wearing his usual clothes, but he looked semi-transparent and could see things through his fingers as he raised his hands in front of them.
He didn't feel the rocky ground beneath him, and making a quick test, his hand passed right through it. He wasn't corporeal anymore, but it seemed like he could control his ability to pass through solid objects.
He looked behind him and saw the row of tombstones of his friends, with a new one added to it. It had a strange shape and no name, but Byakuya knew his body was buried under it. Just the thought made him shiver. He traced a finger to the tombstone and was surprised to discover he could feel the rock. He could touch it, feel it, interact with it.
Weird.
He couldn't seem to interact with anything else, but maybe he could interact with things related to death? He made the test with the rest of tombstones, and sure enough, he could feel all of them, tracing his fingers to the names written on it. Then, he began to question his situation: If he was dead, why was he still here? Why was he still on Earth and not on the other side with his friends? He tried to think, resting his back to Lillian's grave.
Suddenly, he heard a voice: "You still have unfinished business"
Byakuya let out a scream as he violently turned around, trying to identify the source of the voice. But nobody was there. He looked to the grave and felt a shiver through his spine. It couldn't be. He touched the gravestone again, leaning his head against it as he closed his eyes.
"L-Lillian?" He asked, confused. He could hear the female giggle.
"Correct!" Said Lillian's voice. What a weird feeling it was. He could hear Lillian's voice inside his brain, he could feel her presence, and he could almost picture her smiling to him.
"What is going on?" Byakuya asked.
"I told you. Unfinished business. You can't cross unless you finish what you have to do." Lillian answered. Byakuya stayed silent, trying to understand the situation.
"Unfinished business...what could it be?" Byakuya thought. Lillian sighed.
"I can hear your thoughts too, you know? I don't know what it is either, it is something you have to figure out by yourself"
Byakuya opened his eyes, shocked to find Lillian could hear his thoughts. How did this...weird phone call even work?
"I see...thanks, Lillian. I think I have to figure this out on my own. Looks like you will have to wait until I'm there with you" Byakuya smiled, as he stood up and looked over the horizon.
He began to have an idea of what his unfinished business could be when he saw the pale silhouette of the Moon in the sky.
How much time had it been? He didn't know. Byakuya had learn a few things over the passage of time about his new condition.
Normal people didn't seem to hear or see him, but it seemed like children under 3 and animals could. People that were on the verge of death could also interact with him, and the ability didn't seem to fade away even if they ended up surviving.
Byakuya had discovered a useful ability: when someone died, Byakuya could touch the body and make their souls come out. Usual souls seemed to get more transparent over an hour, eventually fading out entirely into the afterlife. Byakuya liked to talk with the deceased as they made their way to the other side, it made him feel useful.
He tried usual ghost stuff and sure, if he put his mind on it he could float away, but he could never float more than 12000 meters, where clouds stopped to form. He could sink into the ground, even to the Earth's very core (it was one time and it was super cool). He tried to possess things, but it didn't seem to work, no matter how much he tried.
He made a few trips over the Earth while being dead, admiring the way civilization collapsed. It was on one of the trips when he discovered another useful ability.
The poor statue had been broken beyond repair, it seemed to belong to a young girl, maybe at the same age as his son.
"Poor thing..." Byakuya tried to touch the statue's head, severed from the rest of her body and he could. He could touch the statues, interact with them just like the tombstones. Byakuya was shocked, and then, he tried to run a quick experiment. He closed his eyes, putting his forehead on the statue.
"Can you hear me?" He said out loud. There was no response, but he could feel the conscience of the girl inside the stone. He could hear her breathing, feel her heartbeat...he could feel her fear. It was weird, he could feel tears on his face, slowly opening his eyes as he offered a warm smile to the statue.
"Don't worry, I'm sure my son will save everyone eventually, including you. So please, be strong until then, I know you can do it." Byakuya didn't know why, but it was like he got a glimpse of this girl's life, at least of her feelings, the way she missed her family, the way she was terrified of being alone, the way she tried to hold to life because she also had unfinished business, just like him.
He understood. He understood she was a fighter, that she had suffered but kept fighting nevertheless, he understood when he connected with her. All he could do is let this girl know that everything will be ok.
He kissed the statue's forehead, putting some distance to clean his tears away. Why was he crying? He didn't know this girl, but still...he could feel the girl smiling, and he knew she would be okay.
If he could interact with the statues, maybe...
Good news: yes, he could travel wherever he wanted. Bad news: he still had the speed limitations of a human. He didn't get tired and didn't need to eat or sleep, but he couldn't go more than 45km/h wherever he was walking or floating.
He eventually made it to Japan, and he knew searching for him would be a nightmare since his statue could be anywhere. It had been a few decades, maybe longer, since he died and the landscape arround him had change beyond recognition, he could still find where Senku's school was located and him with it.
It took a few days, but he finally arrived to the place. Of course, nothing remained of the building. Some statues were buried in the rock walls or the ground, some of them broken or smashed into bits.
A few hours later, there still was no sign of him. Had he been washed away by the rain? Or maybe his statue was broken beyond recognition. Byakuya shook that thought away, even if that was the case, he would find every single piece of him and find a way to put him back. He wasn't going to give up that easily.
It took 2 days to finally find him. Half-buried in the ground, under a pile of moss, laid the statue of his son. Byakuya felt all sort of feelings inside him: pride, relief, sorrow… he couldn’t feel the tears falling down his face. He positioned himself behind it, kneeling down to the statue. He made a motion to cup his son’s face, but then he stopped. He knew that as soon as he touched the statue, he would be able to speak with his son once more, so why was he hesitating?
Deep down, he knew. He knew his son was conscious, he could feel his conscience being this close to him. He wasn’t like the other statues, he was fully conscious, fighting alone in the darkness. He took a deep breath. He wouldn’t talk, he wouldn’t let Senku know he was there. He reached for the statue, putting their foreheads together as he cupped his son’s face.
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15.779.070.000.000.000...500 years since I was petrified. It’s been half a millennia already, huh?”
"He’s...counting?" Byakuya opened his eyes in retaliation as he broke the connection, looking at his son with shock. “You counted...all this time? Ever since you were petrified… you counted every second?” Byakuya didn’t understand, why was his son counting that ridiculous amount of time? To see how long he spent white petrified? Or maybe…
“The date! Of course!” Byakuya smiled “If you’re gonna wake up, you have to start in spring if you want to survive, so you’re counting to tell the date!” Byakuya laughed loudly, not like nobody could hear. “Well done, Senku!” But then, Byakuya looked at his son with melancholy and nostalgia “500 years...huh? It’s been a long time...”
Deep inside, Byakuya wondered how much time had passed since he died. How many seconds had he spent in this state, trying to figure out a way to go to the afterlife. But seeing his son, knowing he was gonna wake up and re-start civilization...Byakuya knew intermediately what his unfinished business was.
He had to take Senku to the Moon.