Uryuu stayed next to Inoue like promised, but did his best to keep track of everyone in the group, especially Urahara-senpai. She might not truly need his protection — not right now at least — but it was what his senpai had asked of him. Uryuu doubted the souls of the Rukongai would try to do anything; they were so desperately grateful for her healing, nearly reverent in the way they spoke and acted around her. It left him uncomfortable, and with an unpleasant taste in his mouth.

The worst of it was, looking back on the way his senpai treated her… there were fragments of that same reverence. Urahara-senpai was a brutal task-master during training, unwilling to go easy on any of them, but after the training was over…

After training was over, Urahara-senpai became almost like a different man, acting like he had no right to her time or attention. He praised her shields, encouraged her healing, but otherwise kept his distance and just watched, something almost wistful in his gaze.

Urahara Kaito, Uryuu realized as he watched another Rukongai spirit bow and thank Inoue profusely, was both utterly enamored of her and believed himself unworthy of her regard. If healers were so revered even here, just meters away from Seireitei itself, then how would they be regarded further out?

(Were there even any healers further out? Could his senpai's friend have been saved if there was a healer nearby? How many souls died of things that could be treated, only to have no one to treat them?)

(He didn't think he liked the afterlife.)

Inoue straightened up and the crowd began to disperse. "Is there anyone else?" she asked the gathered souls, craning her neck to look around as if there would be another patient for her just hiding away.

"No, milady," one of the older looking souls responded with a smile. "You've healed all of us who require it. Thank you very much for your generosity."

She blushed a bit and clasped her hands together. "Oh, no, it was my pleasure! I don't like seeing people hurt, so thank you for letting me help!"

The souls around them murmured their thanks once more and began to drift away, back to their friends and families and homes. Uryuu gestured towards where Urahara-senpai was standing, chatting politely with yet another soul, and started to lead the way at Inoue's nod of agreement. On the way, he caught Kurosaki's gaze and motioned towards his senpai again.

They might as well continue on, since Inoue was finished with her self-imposed duty. His senpai had relaxed enough to speak with outsiders, but he was still throwing wary looks towards Seireitei whenever he wasn't being distracted. Uryuu had to wonder if the souls of the Rukongai weren't doing that on purpose, keeping his senpai distracted from his worries as best they could.

(In repayment for Inoue's healing? Or because Urahara-senpai was one of them?)

"Ready to go?" Urahara-senpai asked the minute they came within speaking distance.

"Yep! They're all healed up. Thank you for giving me the opportunity, Kaito-san." Inoue's happy smile faded a bit along the edges, her gaze darting towards the souls around them before she focused on Urahara-senpai again. "How do the Shinigami do it?" she asked quietly, "Just ignore all these people right outside their walls?"

Uryuu carefully clasped his hands behind his back, fingers digging into his wrists in an attempt to beat back the surge of anger at the way his senpai bit his lip and looked away. The man wasn't shy about answering many of their questions, even when about himself, but this was enough to make him uncomfortable?

"The Shinigami are rather self-contained," Yoruichi spoke, deep voice edged with a level of caution that set Uryuu's teeth on edge. The cat shot Urahara-senpai a wary glance where the other man couldn't see, and Uryuu's rage smoldered. "They have many duties that they need to take care of, so what little free time they have is often spent with friends, not out here."

(His grandfather has sworn that Shinigami were good. Were protectors. Were right and just and worthy of respect.)

(The more Uryuu learned, the more he doubted.)

(The only Shinigami he had met that even partially fit those criteria were exiles, and didn't that say all he needed to know about the state of reality?)

There was nothing the common souls of the Rukongai could do about… any of this, Uryuu realized with a sinking sensation. He knew the terror of trying to fight in the face of power so far beyond his own… but this wasn't just a power imbalance. That required there to be some sort of power on both sides to begin with.

The souls of the Rukongai could be crushed with a careless thought by any of them, and they could do nothing but bite their tongues and accept.

Uryuu focused on his senpai, on reading as much from the man as he could. The distant, unhappy cast to his expression lent weight to Uryuu's darker thoughts; whatever the people had to simply accept from their overlords, it wasn't anything good.

(Worse than being unprotected? Worse than never being healed, even right outside the gates?)

(He didn't want to know what worse could be.)

"Let's get moving," Kurosaki spoke up to break the silence that had settled. "You still haven't told us where we're going, Kaito."

It was like Kurosaki's words flipped a switch in his senpai's brain; a self-satisfied smirk spread across Urahara-senpai's expression, wiping away the gloom and darkness from a moment ago.

(How much of the man's mercurial emotions were a result of his nature, and how much was just more masks?)

(Uryuu doubted he'd ever figure it out.)

"That's the fun of it, Kurosaki-kun," Urahara-senpai said.

Kurosaki tipped his head back in completely understandable exasperation. "Does that worry anyone else? Because I think I'm officially worried."

"I am too," Sado agreed.

"Yes," Uryuu agreed without needing to think very hard, his own exasperation bleeding through. "Somehow, I feel like I'm going to be regretting my decisions very soon." Which was more than a bit of a lie, especially after all the training his senpai had put them through together.

He hadn't realized how lonely he'd been, before Urahara-senpai had burst into his life and dragged him into the group. He hadn't realized how much he craved having another Quincy around, to talk with and share tricks and to learn from. Everything that Ryuuken denied him on a daily basis, Urahara-senpai provided as if doing otherwise had never occurred to him.

If he were to lose this now, after finally starting to learn what he'd been missing out on… he'd never be the same again. And maybe it made him weak, but it also made him happy.

"I think it'll be fun! A little mystery never hurt anyone!"

Inoue's words brought Uryuu from his thoughts, and he stared at her in disbelief. Yes, he was unwilling to give this all up, but… he also could not understand her cheerful approach to the world. He sighed and shook his head, sharing a look with Kurosaki as he did.

(He hoped to hell Urahara-senpai never outgrew his awkward reverence of Inoue. The two of them working together would be hell on the world.)

(Why was he sort of looking forward to that day?)

"Well! No one will find out if we don't keep moving," Urahara Kaito agreed with a cheerful grin that sent shivers down Uryuu's back. The man's laughter at their looks wasn't any better; whatever was waiting for them, it was going to be unforgettable.

(But at least Urahara-senpai seemed more cheerful now… hopefully it held.)

(If he had to put up with the man's ridiculous sense humor to do so, then fuck it. He'd put up with it, and know that Kurosaki was right there at his side, suffering just like him.)