A/N: Thank you all for indulging me in my attempts to write fantastical explanations. Please keep indulging me for a bit more on that. Last chapter was by far the hardest to write, but it is my favorite. This chapter is slowly heading for the top, though. Anyways, keep reading, enjoying, and reviewing! (Holiday's coming up, but I'll try to write when I have time.)

I've been watching her so intently that I know the exact moment she starts to wake up, but I don't get up from my spot. I don't want to crowd her, nor do I want to surprise her by my close presence because she needs to stay still to prevent any harmful movements. So I remain seated against the wall as I watch her eyes flutter open and close. I just sit and stare at her until her eyes find mine.

She breathes my name, and she starts to smile, but she looks at me, really looks at me despite the darkness of the room, and that smile retreats. Something she sees, something about my expression causes her to glance away.

What does she see?

"How are you feeling?" My question is low and quiet. It's already night, and I don't want to risk waking anyone up.

"I'm okay, Kurosaki-kun," she whispers while she avoids eye contact. Is she telling me the truth, or is she lying to me? From looks alone, it's a lie. Even if it's the moonlight playing tricks on me, she's more pale than she usually is, and there are dark bags beneath her eyes. And she looks so small as she lays on her side, looks so tiny underneath the blanket that covers her. "Really." She turns her head back so she can look me in the eyes. She's trying to make me believe her.

I don't.

But I nod because I shouldn't argue with her. She's in recovery, and her reiatsu is still weak, and I shouldn't press the issue more. I should just accept her lie. Accept it even though everything in me is violently protesting it.

The silence starts to grow more and more, encompassing the entire room, and it reminds me so much of the time when Yammy had hit her. Because like then, I had failed to protect her. And I want to apologize for it, but I know that's not what she wants to hear. Just like how she doesn't say those words to me because she knows that I don't want to hear them, either. But even when we keep those words to ourselves, it's in the air, and it's suffocating. This meaningful silence is suffocating.

"You know, Kurosaki-kun, it's…it's not your job to protect everyone." I can hear what she really wants to say, what she hints at. She wants me to know that it's not my job to protect her. And it's obvious what she's doing. She's doing what she did then: she's relieving me of the blame.

I tilt my head back to glare at ceiling. Glare because she doesn't understand. No one understands that it is my job, my duty, my want and need to protect her. And she probably won't ever understand it. Won't understand it because I'm not entirely sure that I understand it. Understand this phenomenon.

She also doesn't understand that I don't want to be blameless. I want to feel this guilt, feel this horrible because it's a reminder of my failure, an indicator of how much worse it will be if I fail to protect her in the future.

She doesn't understand, so I lie.

"I know."

"You don't." She gives a soft, watery chuckle, and I'm instantly by her side.

"What's wrong? Should I go get Tessai?" She shakes her head, making the tears on her cheeks more noticeable.

"I don't want you to protect me," she whispers. My breath catches in my throat, and I ache. Not because I'm releasing too much reiatsu, but because her words hurt me. Hurt me so deeply.

"Why?" I hope the quietness of my voice masks the pain.

"Because it's lonely." Her voice breaks.

"Lonely? I don't…Inoue?" Her eyes close, and they don't open again. "Inoue!"

Tessai enters the room, and he ushers me out, saying that she needs rest and that I can see her tomorrow. And I would see her tomorrow because I have to make sure she's okay and to find out what she meant, but I don't get the chance to ask because when I show up to see her in the morning, Tatsuki and Chad are there. Apparently, they had stopped by to see Inoue yesterday when I wasn't there, but due to how severe her condition was, Urahara-san sent them home. Now they seem to be stuck to her side, which means that there isn't a moment when it's just Inoue and me.

She seems more than happy with the company, and she's even happier when Yuzu and Karin drop by to see her. She even seems happy with me. She's smiling at me the same, but I still want to know what she meant because it's hurting her. Something about me protecting her is hurting her, and though the thought that she doesn't want me to protect her is painful, I would rather it be me who's the one in pain.

Although I keep trying to find an opportunity to ask her, it seems everyone is getting in my way. Call me paranoid, but it really seems that I can't find a moment with her alone. It's like they are all conspiring against me, so that's why I decide to skip afternoon classes on Monday to go see her. I'm positive that no one will be in my way, but I'm so focused on seeing her that I don't notice that she's not even at Urahara's until I slide open the door to the shop.

"Where is she?"

Urahara-san laughs. "Well, hello to you, too." I scowl. "She decided to recuperate at her home. And before you get yourself worked up, she's mostly healed. She has some soreness, and she'll have faint scar lines—"

"Scars?!" I interrupt him.

"Until she replenishes her reiryoku, and then she can reject them herself."

"Oh."

He laughs as if my reactions amuse him, and I can feel my lip curl in annoyance.

"I'm assuming that you haven't told anyone what I've told you," he announces, all humor gone.

I scoff. "Of course not."

"Good. It seems the increased hollow activity is not only here but also in Soul Society. They had their own invasion around the same time. And though you reiatsu was documented as unsafe, the reports were…lost."

"Lost? What do you mean?"

"Lieutenant Akon seems to have taken a liking to disregarding protocol."

I grin. "So we're all good?"

"For now. We still have obstacles in our way, Kurosaki-san." I nod as I turn to leave. "Forgetful me almost let you leave without this," I hear him, and I look back in time to catch something: it's my badge.

"But you said…"

"It's not for that," he says. "I've modified it so that you will not be able to separate your soul from your body." I wait for him to continue. "I've also eliminated the surveillance that was installed in it."

"Then what is it for?"

"You once used this badge as a Fullbring. Well, I've made it so that it acts in the same way. The badge will absorb you reiatsu before it has a chance to exit your body, and the badge will transform into a simple sword. You'll be able to fight, but you will not have the powers you had when you had your Fullbring. Your attacks will be powerful, but your speed will remain the same as they are now, and thee badge itself does have limitations. Once your reiatsu comes close to reaching dangerous levels, you will be signaled to restrict yourself. If you do not…well, let's just not get to that point, okay?"

"So I can fight?" I don't know which I feel more: excitement or relief.

"Yes, you can. I do advise that if you can avoid fighting, you should. We shouldn't push our luck, but if you must fight, you now have a way to."

I sigh as the heaviness I've felt in my heart lightens a bit. "So that's what you meant when you said you were inspired?"

He nods. "I've been so focused on suppressing your reiryoku that I hadn't thought of a way to use your spiritual energy to our advantage. When you told me about your hollow, it gave me a different perspective. A different problem to solve."

I look down at my badge. "Can you still train Inoue?"

"Oh? I thought you would be satisfied with that."

I keep my head lowered. "I am, but she…she doesn't want me to protect her anymore. She said it makes her lonely."

It's his turn to sigh. "I was going to keep this to myself in the hopes that you would figure it out by yourself. I think Inoue-san would appreciate it more if you did, but…" I look up at him as he places his hat on the table. "Do you know why hollows devour souls?"

"Rukia told me that it's to fill the void that they have."

He nods. "That's right, but more than that, it is to survive. You could say hollows devour souls for power, and they want power to survive. Survival is priority. You said it yourself that Zangetsu wants to protect you and only you. A part of that desire stems from the hollow, does it not?" I think back, and his statement rings true. I remember Zangetsu saying that he would keep me alive because if I died so would he. "He wants you to survive so that he can survive."

"Then why would he threaten to come out if it'll kill me?" I ask in confusion.

His smile is wry. "You are missing the point, Kurosaki-san. You are asking the wrong question." He sighs again. "Why would your hollow threaten to come out to protect Inoue-san?"

"I don't know," I answer honestly.

"If hollows hold survival as the greatest importance, why does your hollow want to protect her?" I shrug my shoulders, still not getting what he's trying to tell me. "I don't think I've ever felt this sympathetic towards Inoue-san."

"Just spit it out already!"

He shakes his head. "I've lead you to the answer. All you have to do is embrace it." He puts his hat back on. "Weren't you on your way to see Inoue-san?"

I glare at him for a second before smoothing my eyebrows. "Thanks, Urahara-san." I hold out the badge. "This is really a comfort."

"You're welcome, but please make sure to keep your emotions under control. I've yet to find a solution for your reiryoku." I nod and start to leave. I stop when his voice calls me back. "Every part of you is screaming the answer, Kurosaki-san. You just need to listen. Just listen, Kurosaki-san, before it's too late." With a cheerier voice, he says for me to tell Inoue to take it easy.

When I start to walk towards Inoue's apartment, I think hard about his cryptic message. Matter of fact, why is everyone so cryptic lately?! How difficult is it to just say what you mean?! I feel that it takes more energy being subtle and ambiguous than to be straightforward. Why couldn't he just tell me what he meant?!

It's when I'm knocking on her door, feeling her soft reiatsu through the door, when she opens the door, smiling up at me, when I notice that she's looking so much better than before, when my body relaxes as she says my name that I realize he's right. Every part of me is screaming the answer. I think every part of me has been screaming it for a while. All I needed to do was to just listen.
.

.
.

I'm listening now.