He loves them, with all his heart.

That was obvious from the way he looked at them, Karin after she fell off her skateboard, Yuzu after she burnt herself cooking, or Isshin after he tried, and failed, to surprise attack him for the billionth time.

It was for them, to save them, to protect them, that he had taken her sword in the first place. he had placed his life in the hands of a complete stranger, who he wasn't even sure was real, just so that he might save them.

His resolve to put them before him was amazing, he would die a hundred times over just so that they didn't.

When Aizen was threatening them, and the rest of Karakura, he stepped right in, sacrificing both his powers and possibly his life for them.

Karin was a pain in his ass, no denying that, and although her bitter attitude just fuels his urge to punch her, he never would, she was his little sister, he raised her, and he would never let her go.

Yuzu was now the mother of the house, cooking, cleaning, and caring for Ichigo when he came home bloody after a fight. She never stopped caring for him, and he never stopped caring for her, she was the only innocent one in the house, getting hurt so easily, but he does everything he can, and then some, to keep her safe.

Isshin raised him, he was the one who taught him everything, and he was the reason that Ichigo was fighting the way he was today.

Without these guys in his life, I don't know how he could possibly keep living, for they are the reason he does what he does, they are his entire life. Nothing more. Nothing less

He loves them, with all his heart.