I stared at him nervously. His dad wanted to meet me? That was a little unnerving and I was also sure that this was probably not the best time for him to meet me. But judging from the annoyance on Ichigo's face, there wasn't anything to be done about it now, his dad wasn't going to leave. Could I even do this? I wasn't sure if I was really up for it.

"Can't it wait? I'm sore and walking isn't much of an option." I said rather quietly.

"I really wish it could but my dad is going out of town with my sisters for a while tomorrow so it really can't wait." Ichigo sighed.

I put my hands down on the couch and used them to get me to my feet but I swayed and couldn't take a step without nearly falling over. This was horrid timing by his dad, but it was too late now. Ichigo gently grabbed my arm to pull me closer to him, and then put that arm gently around my waist, and helped guide me outside. My legs felt like lead, and didn't want to obey me, but I forced them to, although I stumbled several times. I couldn't even make it to the front door, without losing my footing several more times. Ichigo frowned at that and I could tell he was going to see if he could think of a way of getting me out of this.

I finally sighed. "This is ridiculous. Should I really be this weak?"

Ichigo sighed. "I don't know. I can't really tell you the answer to that. The only one who'd know the answer is…" He said this flatly. "Shinji."

I didn't say a word and Ichigo helped me get out the door, but I nearly fell on the porch, so Ichigo had to basically hold me up. I hated that he had to support me so much, but it really couldn't be helped. I was too weak to support myself at the moment.

I saw a man standing there, he had black hair, and a black beard thing going on. I didn't know what to say to him at the moment.

"Dad, this is Saru…Saru, this is my dad, Isshin." Ichigo said in a quiet voice. "Dad, I can't really let her go to shake hands or hug or whatever, she's kinda injured at the moment."

Isshin just nodded his head at me. "Nice to meet you." There was an odd excited look in his eyes despite his calm demeanor.

"You too." I said, blandly.

Ichigo turned me around and helped me back inside. "I gotta talk to him for a second, so can you wait in here?"

I nodded and he helped me back onto the couch. I sat there silently as he went outside to go talk to his father. I didn't know where Orihime or Urahara went so I just sat there in silence by myself. What else could I do while I was waiting for Ichigo to come back? I heard a vague shouting, none of it I could understand because it wasn't loud enough for me to really make out the words.

I heard stomping after a few minutes and Ichigo entered the room. He looked pretty embarrassed for some reason and for some reason I found it kind of funny. I put a hand over my mouth and started snickering. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow questioningly, but there was still some of the embarrassment there so the odd combination of expressions just made it hilarious. So I just busted up laughing. He just stared at me like I was a crazy person. Maybe the pain was doing this to me, after all there wasn't really anything that funny. I was probably just losing my marbles. That's what it had to be. But eventually I could stop laughing, but not before Urahara came into the room.

"What was so funny?" Urahara looked at me, then at Ichigo.

He shrugged. "Don't ask me, I don't even know."

I snorted. "The expression on your face was funny."

Suddenly his face turned red. "My dad had a weird conversation with me."

My stomach suddenly rumbled. "What time is it?"

"Like, five in the afternoon, why?"

I frowned. "I was out all day?"

"You were out for several days, I'm surprised you weren't out for another one." Ichigo frowned, noticing my expression.

"Can I have food?" I suddenly gave him the puppy dog eyes, seeming childish.

He chuckled and looked at Urahara. Urahara just looked at me. "I'm making dinner right now. Which reminds me…" He trailed off and left the room.

Once he left Ichigo sat down next to me. He didn't say anything and I eventually rested my head on his shoulder, suddenly feeling a little tired. I shouldn't be so tired after being out for several days, but it must just be part of the recovery process, because I really was tired honestly. I ended up falling asleep on his shoulder.

For some reason, I was in my little meadow world, which was happy and thriving. There was no sign of the Hollow, which was good. I went and kneeled next to the creek, which bubbled and gurgled, and I noticed little fish attempting to swim upstream. I smiled. This was a great thing to see. I looked up and noticed random animals appearing. It made sense for animals to be in this world, I loved wildlife afterall.

I turned around and noticed Yoso was standing there, looking pretty pleased. I smiled at her and she approached me.

"Your world has been thriving after you defeated the Hollow. She hasn't reappeared since, probably because she's too weak right now, and so the animals started coming." She smiled at me but it faded. "But you know she will be back, and out for vengeance when she is strong enough."

I nodded, all the joy sucked from the atmosphere. "I know."

"So why aren't you training or anything?" She looked frustrated.

"I can't!" I snapped. "I've been too weak. I can't really move on my own."

"Let's just hope her recovery is a lot slower than yours then." Yoso stomped off, now seeming angry. I sighed and turned back to the creek. Some of the fish jumped, catching flies that were hovering over it. For a mental world, this seemed like it could easily be a real place somewhere out in the world. If it was, I would love it so much.

But now there was a reminder, about if I didn't get stronger. I'd get overwhelmed once the Hollow saw an opportunity to attack. If she recovers faster than I do, then I'm really in deep trouble. Trouble I can't afford to have.

I dipped my fingers into the cool water, and it sent a relaxing sensation up my body. That's how I sat for a while, until there was a shaking somewhere outside my mental world. I started getting sucked out.

I woke up, yawning and stretching. "How long was I napping?"

"Well, it took Urahara about an hour to make dinner so that's how long you were asleep." Ichigo smiled at me, handing me a plate of food.

I scarfed it down before I ever even identified what it was. But before I completely finished, a flash of that reminder from Yoso went through my head and my entire body went ice cold and I lost my appetite. I swallowed hard and sat the plate to the side.

If I didn't start training, even while recovering, I'd lose to my Hollow. I should've understood this before. Her recovery would be nearly the same rate as mine.

I had to win against her again.