~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~ (Ichigo's POV) [That Same Morning]

School was even more dull than usual without Uryuu to act the genius among them, and it was driving Ichigo crazy. He couldn't focus on his work, and more times than he could count, he found himself either staring out the window, his imagination running wild, or staring at a blank piece of paper that he'd told himself he was going to write down things to say to Uryuu when he saw him next. His entire brain was a jumbled mess, but he was no closer to figuring out what to do than he had been yesterday, when he'd made his promise to Rukia.

He'd meant the promise when he'd said it; he just didn't know how to accomplish it.

'Oh, I might have almost killed you, but I want to make up for it. Let me take care of you?'

Yeah. That would totally cut it. Ugh.

So the day dragged on, with each second filling Ichigo's mind of stupid things to say that just didn't sound... right. It wasn't as if he had nothing to say, he just... wasn't sure how to say it. How do you help someone you almost killed? What do you say when you can't remember the most traumatic event you took part in?

Forcing himself to gently lay his head on his desk (instead of slamming it down repeatedly like he wanted to,) Ichigo closed his eyes. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, and he was sure he would either be awoken by an angry teacher, or Rukia. Hopefully it was Rukia, so they could talk and figure out where to go from here. At least she would help him.

He could feel his exhaustion nagging at the edges of his mind, and within a few moments, the darkness of sleep overtook him.

~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~

There was something warm and rough on his finger, pulling at his skin as he moved. It was hard to see, like everything was covered in a black veil, but Ichigo was startled when a knocking sound echoed around him. He felt something jump against his finger, and instantly he knew there was something wrong. Why couldn't he see?

"Uryuu?"

That voice... he'd heard it somewhere before. But where...?

"What's going on, I heard loud noises."

There it was again; that too familiar voice that he couldn't quite place his finger on... pun not intended. But before his mind could race to put in place the name of the voice, he felt his middle finger encased in the same feeling as his index finger.

What the...

"N-Nothing."

Ichigo felt his entire body still in shock; that was Uryuu's voice. It sounded... like he was in pain. His heartbeat became erratic even as he heard Uryuu continue.

"I dropped my glasses a-"

Uryuu was cut off, and Ichigo was acutely aware of the tiny whimper in his voice. He was afraid... afraid and in pain. Why...?

"and hit my dresser t-trying to get them."

This time his ring finger felt the sensation along with his other two fingers, and with a sickening dread building in his stomach, Ichigo watched in complete horror as the black veil around him started to lift to the tune of Uryuu's father's voice.

"Whatever. Just stop making such a racket; unlike you, I have things to concentrate on."

This couldn't be happening...! In that instant, his vision was perfect, and Ichigo was staring straight into Uryuu's pain filled eyes as he... as he...

"Good boy." crooned a voice that could only belong to...

~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~

"NO!"

Ichigo shot up, nearly losing his balance and causing the chair that was beneath him to topple over onto the floor behind him. His heart was beating erratically, and it took him a few panicked moments to look around and realize everyone in class was staring at him. The entire room had gone silent, all heads turned in his direction, which only served to make things worse.

He HAD done those things to Uryuu, even if it hadn't been him. He had been the one to hurt Uryuu, because it was his Hollow, his...

Why was everyone still staring at him?!

Ichigo swallowed with a bit of difficulty even as he frantically grabbed for his book bag. There were a few shouts after him as he fled the room, but they didn't matter. How had he been allowed to stay in class after causing Uryuu's near death experience? Didn't they know?

He ran at top speed through the halls of the school building, narrowly missing knocking a few other classmates down on his way out. When he finally reached the courtyard, his legs refused to stop, and his mind was too much of a jumbled mess to tell his body to do anything but operate on auto-pilot. He didn't know where he was headed, and he didn't care, but he knew one thing that needed to be done right away.

The fear and horror at suddenly reliving a memory he had no recollection of was starting to give way to a much more primal anger that was fueling his adrenaline.

No one hurt his friends. Not even part of himself.

~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~ (Rukia's POV)

Ichigo had been dozing on and off all morning, and she could only attribute it to his lack of sleep last night, going over recent events and trying to find solutions. It was no surprise that the moment his mind tried to process something it didn't find relevant, it would shut down, but she never counted on what happened next.

It was just before lunch time, and even her own mind was wandering. The teacher hadn't said anything yet, but she'd made sure to talk to him, in case something did arise. It wasn't an excuse, but more of an explaination that seemed to help the situation. So when Ichigo burst into a standing position out of a dead sleep, it startled everyone in the classroom; especially her. She couldn't quite make out what he said, but it sounded strangled and panicked, like something was closing over his throat.

Rukia stood as Ichigo's eyes darted around the classroom, shocked to see how quickly they had turned from dazed to fearful, a heavy sheen of sweat trying to make its way off his brow. He was breathing heavily, and when he reached down for his book bag, she thought there might have been something he'd forgotten, but with the way he was acting, she wasn't sure that was the case. Only proved right when he darted toward the door at more of a run than a jog, she made the split second decision to grab her own bag and take off after him. She heard the teacher calling after the both of them as she followed Ichigo, but the voice was soon left behind.

Through the halls and out into the courtyard, Rukia followed him, keeping her distance from him in case something was wrong, but trying not to lose sight of him. It became staggeringly difficult the further into town they came. He was running with almost no direction, somehow faster than Rukia could keep up with him. Despite her best efforts, eventually she lost sight of Ichigo. Since he was already gone, and there was no point in continuing to waste her energy, Rukia collapsed to her knees on the ground, trying to get her breath back. Her heart was beating faster than it ever had, mostly because she'd never seen Ichigo act that way.

There had been times when he'd been volatile, and amped up with a lot of energy, but she'd never seen him... spooked. Like someone had just told him an atomic secret.

Or maybe they had.

Rukia's eyes widened, and even though she hadn't caught her breath entirely, she launched herself from the ground, breaking off into a jog toward the hospital.

How could she have missed it? The seven hour gap in memory; that should have been the dead giveaway. That was why Ichigo was so spooked; either he'd had an encounter with his Hollow, or the Hollow must have let something slip to him. Either way, she didn't know where his first destination would be, but she knew exactly where he would end up eventually.

Uryuu's room.

~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~ (Ryuuken's POV)

This would be his fifth cup of coffee, and still his mind felt a little too sluggish to be dealing with matters of 'heart' or 'family'. Still, he filled the black liquid to the brim of the styrofoam cup and dutifully returned to Uryuu's side. He leaned back in the chair, grimacing at the ache in his shoulder that was starting to build into a nuisance, but before he had a chance to give it much more of a thought, he heard the sheets before him shift slightly.

As he looked up, he watched as Uryuu stirred, slowly blinking his eyes open. With a quiet breath, Ryuuken took a long drink of the now luke warm coffee, giving Uryuu time to fully wake up and adjust to his surroundings. With the lack of suppressants in his system, this should be the first time he would be able to stay awake for more than five minutes, and Ryuuken was ready to take advantage of that.

Making sure to focus on his coffee for the moment, he heard when the heart monitor spiked suddenly before returning to a somewhat normal state. Uryuu had seen him; and that was the cue he was waiting for. Lowering the cup to his lap, he focused his gaze directly on the younger male lying in front of him. The gaze that met him, however...

He didn't actually know what it might feel like to take a butcher knife, plunge it into your heart, and twist it, but if the pain in his chest right now was anything like it, he would never wish that experience on anyone again. The look in Uryuu's eyes was... broken. Hopeless, distant, and yet... pleading. All at the same time, and for once... it shook Ryuuken. There was emotion beyond that gaze that he would never be able to recognize, much less treat.

Suddenly, he had no words to say. Everything he'd gone through in his mind: about what happened to him, about the details, about Ichigo... all of it was gone, replaced only by his body's urge to move. Slowly, he set the half empty coffee cup on the table beside him before he stood, towering over the sullen, pained gaze that just continued to stare at him.

Without a single word, Ryuuken carefully placed his arms around Uryuu and brought him into an embrace, careful of the cords and tubes strung out all over his body. It was only after the gaze was broken, and he was hugging Uryuu that his mind decided to catch up to him. What right did he have to hug the boy he'd never referred to as a 'son' until now? What right did he have to pretend he cared about someone he had all but forsaken?

It took a few moments to realize exactly what right he 'did' have, and that was when he felt his shoulder slowly start to become damp. The heart monitor showed Uryuu's change in breathing, even though Ryuuken could feel it just as clearly as he could hear it. For the first time in what felt like a long time, even he could feel tears starting to wet the edges of his eyes, though he refused to let them fall.

No, he had a long way to go, but his start was to figure out how to help his son.

THAT was his right.

A/N: My thanks again to my loyal reviewers! Just a quick shout out to all who reviewed last chapter, as a thank you for helping me continue this story: to Isame Kuroda, who has faithfully supported this story from the start! To LadyGinoza, who has always been excited for each and every chapter, even if it had been a while since my last update! To Axelkin, (Which I'm still waiting on that next installment of Try Me Online, you know!) who has always given me awesome feedback! And to Baerbelhaddrell, who's constructive opinions has helped me to make this story better for all to read!

As an added note, my thanks also go out to: Jazzybella, Adiella, and Gleca, as well as the guests Anna, Hello, and Guest. You're all such a big help in continuing this story and seeing it all the way to the end! Hope you liked this chapter, and I'll see you all soon!