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

He wasn't sure when he dozed off, all he remembered was waking up with his body in pain. It was a dull ache, one that came from sleeping in an awkward position on the floor for several hours, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Yawning, his first thought was of where he was, but surprisingly, the strange environment didn't cause him fear; only confusion. It was almost as if he felt... safe.

Warmth flooded his cheeks as he shook his head, trying to get his thoughts in order. Glancing around, his first impression was a study of sorts; there were books lining the shelves everywhere, with a singular desk in the middle of the room, coated with books, both open and closed. The chair itself was empty and the singular door to the room was shut, all lights blazing their warmth toward him. It only took a few moments for him to realize it was his father's library he was laying in.

Sitting up slowly and rubbing tiredly at his eyes behind the glasses he had evidently neglected to remove, he realized that somehow he had fallen asleep in the corner, but why he had done so escaped him. He yawned, blinking rapidly to clear his vision, putting the reasons why out of his mind for now. Instead, his thoughts turned to the miracle that was his undisturbed sleep he had just awoken from. How long had it been since he had woken up without visions of... him lingering from a nightmare? Too long, he thought with a frown. He was due this, that much was certain, but... again, the question plagued him.

Why?

Picking himself up off the floor, Uryuu dusted himself off, listening intently for any sounds from the house and finding none, even as he began checking around the library, glancing at a few of the open books. Passages about psychosis and mental disorders lept out at him, and for a moment, Uryuu stood frozen. His father had never cared to deal with the mental problems of his patients; this much he knew. That man would rather shrug off any disease of the mind as a problem that wasn't his than go out of his way to help someone who needed more than antibiotics or surgery. It just wasn't... him. So why...?

The thought that crossed his mind made his legs go weak, and Uryuu found himself gripping at the chair, sitting down heavily as his eyes widened slightly. What if it was him? What if he was the reason Ryuuken was suddenly going out of his way to -

Impossible. A father wasn't a father unless... Gritting his teeth, Uryuu's hands came to clench at his hair as his breathing quickened. Nothing made sense anymore. It felt like he was losing touch with reality, and suddenly this... it confirmed and denied everything around him. He wasn't sick. He wasn't crazy. Why did any of this have to happen to him? He was best in his class, an over achiever, an -

Class. The thought stuck out to him, making him wonder frantically what day it was. He hadn't been going to class. He needed to go to class. Breathing heavily, Uryuu shot out of the chair, stumbling slightly and cracking his toe against the corner of the desk, causing a couple books to fall from the desk as he cursed loudly. Grinding his teeth together to try and block out the pain, he hurried around the desk toward the door and swung it wide, carving a straight path for the stairs and his book bag. When a figure stepped in front of him, blocking his view to the stairs, his first instinctual reaction was to shrink back, his heart leaping into his throat and making any sound impossible, before he recognized the sight before him.

White hair. Ryuuken. His father, who was holding a glass of water and a granola bar, wearing a frown on his face.

"Uryuu? What's wrong?"

Swallowing, he avoided eye contact as he tried to push past the man, knowing whatever he said in the moment would be considered weakness, but Ryuuken wouldn't let him past. Instead, he found the granola bar shoved into his hands, surprising him enough to stop his motions long enough for his father to actually catch his gaze.

"Uryuu, what are you doing?"

Frustratedly, he ground out his response,

"I need to go to school."

He tried to push past Ryuuken once more, only to have a hand come down on his shoulder, stopping him before he could reach anything.

"It's Saturday; there is no school today, Uryuu."

It took everything he had not to whimper at Ryuuken's statement. It took more than everything he had to not collapse in on himself. How much time had he lost to that monster? How many days, weeks... months? Just how long had it even been? Realizing he still had the granola bar in his hands, he glanced down at it, recognizing a slight shake of the bar that signaled he himself was trembling. Trying to shut out the sight, he closed his eyes tightly, startled again when the hand on his shoulder pulled him forward, into Ryuuken.

By the time his eyes snapped open he was already in an embrace, and that embrace brought his mind back to last night, and the reason why he woke up in Ryuuken's library. It was an embrace like this one that Ryuuken had folded him into last night, after he'd expressed a want to train. They had discussed some of the details, with Uryuu trying desperately to hide the reason behind the want, before his father had stood, saying he was returning back downstairs, and that Uryuu needed sleep. He could almost feel the panic setting in as acutely as it had last night.

"W-wait, don't go!" the words were out of Uryuu's mouth before he could temper them, and instantly he regretted it.

Ryuuken turned slightly to watch Uryuu, something odd shining in the depths of his eyes, something Uryuu had never really seen before; something that startled him almost as much as the words that Ryuuken spoke next.

"... Why don't you come down with me then? If you're not tired, that is."

The idea made Uryuu speechless. Never before had he been invited into Ryuuken's private affairs, especially when it was something that kept the man up all night. He was hard pressed to move, to do anything but stare at Ryuuken, really, until the man held out a hand for him.

Somehow the gesture seemed to strike a chord in him, and though the memory of walking downstairs beside his father was vague, he did remember curling up in the corner, and the intense feeling of being safe with his back to the walls, the lights completely bathing the room in their golden hue, and with his father sitting at the desk in front of him, ready to fight off any evil that came after him.

That feeling carried over to this moment, stilling his trembling body, though it left Uryuu breathless and clutching at his father's shirt. He was sure that Ryuuken would throw him off once he realized, but instead the arms just seemed to pull him closer, causing tears to prickle at the edges of his eyes. How could something so wrong feel so good...? He wasn't supposed to be weak, and yet that was exactly what he was being; the same thing his father had berated him for all his life... but they were hugging.

Uryuu felt his knees give out underneath him, but the arms around him wouldn't let him fall. Instead, he felt a gentle coaxing, and moments later, he lifted his eyes to realize he was being sat softly onto the sofa in the living room, the granola bar crushed into bits in the palm of his hand. He stared at it for a long while, not certain to be angry he had crushed it, or sad that it was in as many pieces as he felt he was. He never heard the footsteps, but when another granola bar entered his vision, he glanced up to see his father offering him an non-crushed one, as well as the glass of water.

Why... why was he being so nice now? And why... why did it make him feel slightly better? He felt like he didn't understand the world anymore, so he just let himself numbly accept both giving Ryuuken back the crushed bar. He didn't know how long he sat there; he wasn't sure if they spoke, or when he'd eaten all of the bar. He barely remembered his father getting up to answer the door, or to announce that 'his female soul reaper friend' was there. He felt like his body was moving of its own accord, not allowing him to feel the confusion that seemed to surround him lately, and honestly... he liked it.

It was like that time with Ichigo... not having to think about what was going on, or having to worry about what would happen next. Not having to feel pain or anger or confusion or... anything. In his world, it was just him. No one could hurt him.

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

She had called half an hour ago, just like Ryuuken had told her to. It wasn't something that she liked having to do, but with Uryuu as he was, she couldn't just leave him in the hands of that horrible doctor who decided he was a dad a few weeks ago, but STILL wasn't acting like it. Grinding her teeth as she walked, she made her way to the Ishida household, and stood on the stoop for a moment before raising her hand and knocking softly.

It took a few moments, but Ryuuken was the one to answer the door, staring at her with a somber look before backing away and granting her entrance. When she was sure his back was turned to her, she shot him a nasty glare before making her way into the living room, where he'd told her Uryuu would be. Though, she had expected a nervous wreck like last night, not... a vegetable. Her brows raised and then furrowed as she hurried to his side, dropping to her knees in front of him, looking him in the eye.

His own eyes were lowered, just staring off into space, with a granola wrapper and an empty glass sat on the floor beside his feet. He looked... almost dead. Like he had back in the hospital right after he'd woken from his coma.

"... What happened to him?" she whispered fiercely; if anything had happened to Uryuu in her absence, so help her she would -

"He had a nightmare last night."

The answer stopped her thoughts in their tracks, making her brows furrow a little more. She had expected some kind of evasive answer, or at least a run-around, and yet -

"So I let him sleep in my study. He probably didn't get much sleep, and with everything going on, it's taking its toll."

"Oh."

Her eyes returned back to Uryuu, only to find his gaze hadn't drifted anywhere. He really seemed out of it, and the look on his face cut straight into Rukia's heart. Gently, she reached up to brush a bit of Uryuu's hair out of his face, behind his ear like he normally used to. Before all of this had happened. That one, normal gesture...

Rukia blinked and stood before her tears could get the best of her, and with a deep breath, she turned around to face Ryuuken once more.

"I don't... know how to bring him out of this state." She had meant her confession to sound more authoritative, but it came out sounding insecure and pitiful, making her cringe inwardly.

Thankfully, either Ryuuken didn't notice, or didn't deem it comment worthy.

"It's just something that will pass with time. According to a multitude of psychological professors, this 'state' is just a coping mechanism. It won't last, and when he comes out of it, we'll be able to reason with him again."

He paused, giving Rukia time to glance back at Uryuu, who still hadn't moved really. With an inward sigh, she wondered exactly how long it would take for him to come back to them, but as soon as she thought to ask, Uryuu's father was already speaking again.

"Now, while you're here, I want to discuss... that boy."

A sudden chill went down her spine at the tone Ryuuken took with his last two words. She knew exactly who he spoke of, but... there was a problem with her answering.

She hadn't seen Ichigo all night.