A/N: Hi…Not much to say. Been pretty busy. Umm…this chapter is double meh. Next chapter will be Ichihime. So keep reading, enjoying, and reviewing. Love you all!

I'm going to kill Urahara-san. I don't know how, and I don't know when, but I do know exactly why I'll kill him. And it's not even that he basically stamped me with Inoue's most precious possession. It's because of what happens after the grand reveal.

Akon takes to smirking to himself. Yoruichi-san takes to laughing and insufferable teasing at my expense. Tsubaki takes to screaming the word pervert at me as he buzzes around Inoue protectively. And Inoue…she takes to stuttering and blushing while she covers her face with her hands. I guess that is the only silver-lining to all of this embarrassment.

But the whole situation becomes unbearable when I, without thinking, tell Akon to leave the design as is. I just want to get the whole thing over with as quickly as possible so we can go home and get some sleep before we have to get up for school.

Unfortunately, my intent does not come across to anyone in the right way because Yoruichi-san makes a comment about how it's a little too early to be getting couple tattoos. Tsubaki goes ballistic and tries to gouge out my eyes, and he would've been able to do it if it weren't for Inoue's other spirits holding him back. Rangiku-san, who has finally caught up with us with Hirako by her side, nudges Inoue, trying to persuade her into getting a strawberry tattoo on her lower back or on her upper chest, which she then punctuates by sticking her own chest out to show Inoue what she means. And Hirako complains about how I'm corrupting his blushing princess while trying to place an arm around her shoulders protectively.

That comment and action crosses the line, and I impatiently bark at Akon to strength the Gentei Rein so we can go home already. He does after a snicker, and I ignore all the jabs at me while he works. It pays off because they soon lose interest in my unresponsive reactions.

It doesn't take long, and Inoue and I are finally free to leave. Rangiku-san tells us a quick goodbye and mutters something about paperwork. Hirako tries to give Inoue a goodbye hug, but I stop him. He frowns, and he leans a bit closer to me to tell me that I need to do a better job at protecting Inoue or else. He says this quietly so Inoue can't hear him, but no matter how quiet his voice is, the threat is loud in my head. And completely unnecessary. He doesn't need to tell me something I have already vowed to do.

With goodbyes out of the way, we get ready to pass through the Senkaimon when we are greeted by Kon in my body and Urahara-san.

I eye the duo carefully. I eye Kon for the obvious reasons, and the other I eye in suspicion. If Urahara-san deserves that suspicion, I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out. And soon.

Kon's first action is to hurl himself at Inoue which elicits a yip from her. He never makes contact with her because Urahara-san pushes Kon out with his cane. Yoruichi-san catches the pill in her hand while Inoue opens her arms and scrambles to catch my body before it falls. I give a soft chuckle at the image before flash stepping to intercept my body before it crushes her.

She pouts.

"I would have caught you, Kurosaki-kun!"

I reenter my body before giving her a smirk.

"Unlike you, I'm pretty heavy."

"As I live and breathe! A compliment from Kurosaki-san," Urahara kids as he throws Kon's body to Yoruichi-san.

She snorts.

"And what a compliment," she remarks sarcastically.

I scowl.

"Alright. Enough jokes. Let Inoue and I go home already."

Urahara-san nods his head toward the Senkaimon.

"Ladies first."

Inoue perks up, and she gives Yoruichi-san a quick hug before entering the portal. Urahara-san gives Yoruichi-san a look before following Inoue. I catch up to him, and I'm ready to give him an earful when I realize that I don't even know what to say first. Should I confront him? Accuse him? Guilt him? Or just ignore him?

"You have my deepest apologies, Kurosaki-san. Inoue-san, too."

I look at him as we run. His hat covers his eyes, but from tone alone, I know he's sincere.

I frown, anyways.

"I did not want to involve her," he explains. "I wanted to keep her out of this whole mess if it were possible, but Kyōraku-san had insisted. Unfortunately, it was the only way I could get him to agree to let you remain in Karakura. It was a compromise that I couldn't avoid making."

I mull over his words quietly.

"Why did you send us to Hueco Mundo?"

"A precautionary measure. I knew how you'd react when you found out the real reason why Inoue-san was there, which is why I had Grimmjow-san fight with you. I wanted you to use up your reiatsu in case you couldn't control your anger," I nod at this. Grimmjow and I did fight for a while, and I could feel the drain of my spiritual pressure by the time Yoruichi-san let us stop. "Also, I did promise him a chance to fight with you again in exchange for his cooperation. I figured I would kill two birds with one stone."

"How ingenious," I mock.

"I know you're upset with us, Kurosaki-san. You should be. To use her is despicable. I know this, and I'm sorry that it came to it. You both deserve better than that."

I want to stay mad at him, but I can't. He only did what he thought best at the time.

I shrug.

"Why didn't you tell me the whole truth from the beginning?"

He sighs.

"You would have immediately refused."

I scoff. Of course, I would've. In no universe would I willingly let someone threaten Inoue's safety and wellbeing. Which brings me to my next question.

"Is he…" I trail off as I try to find a right way to word it, but I can't.

Luckily, he is smart enough to anticipate my question.

"She will always be the one he uses to manipulate you," he states. He just confirmed my fear. "You understand why, don't you?"

I nod as I touch the spot below my neck.

"It's the reason why you put this damn mark on me, right?"

He smirks.

"That was just for fun, Kurosaki-san. There's no meaning behind it."

We get to the end of the Senkaimon.

I roll my eyes. He sees this, and he laughs.

"How'd you know, anyways?" How did he know before I did? How did he know that I've been branded by Inoue for longer than I even realized myself?

He smiles as we jump down. Inoue's shield cushions our fall. It lowers us to the ground slowly. And while it does, I look down at her while she looks up, and when our eyes meet, she grins at me and waves like we haven't seen each other in days. It's an overzealous reaction, but my lips, as if they have a mind of their own, involuntarily quirk up a bit at her.

"If you could only see what I see, you'd know, too."

"And what do you see?"

When he doesn't respond, I look over at him, thinking he would be staring at her, but he's not. He's looking straight at me with those knowledgeable, intelligent, omniscient eyes of his without saying one word.

I start to repeat the question when a strong breeze pulls my attention away from him and toward her. Her hair whirls around her, and one of her arms moves up to pull some strands from her face while the other wraps around herself to warm herself up.

I step on the ground, and I move closer to her to block the incoming wind from hitting her.

"Come on, Inoue. It's too cold to be out here." As if to prove my point, a shiver rakes through her. "I'll walk you home."

"You really d—"

I scowl, and she cuts her protest short with a sheepish smile.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun." She looks behind me. "And thank you Urahara-san for coming for us."

"No thanks are necessary, Inoue-san. And if they are, it should be me thanking you and Kurosaki-san for your assistance tonight."

She grins.

"It was no problem! It was nice to see some of our friends, right, Kurosaki-kun?"

"Sure, sure. 'Nice' is a word that one could use. Annoying would be another."

She pouts, and her lips part probably to defend them.

"Well, regardless, I'm grateful to the both of you. Do stop by the store whenever you have free time. I'll give you something as compensation."

"No thanks. Knowing you, you'd probably give us something weird."

"Do you still have that special edition candy from last month? The one with the different flavors?" Inoue asks excitedly, completely ignoring my dismissal to his offer.

"Of course! I'll give you a whole case for free!"

"Yay! Did you hear that, Kurosaki-kun?!" She turns to me. "Free candy!"

I sigh in exasperation. It's just like her to not question a gift.

I give Urahara-san a hard stare.

"It better be just regular candy, got it? Nothing weird."

He grins.

"I can promise you it'll be regular candy by the time she picks it up."
I frown.

"Wait…What the hell does that mea—"

The end of my question goes unheard as he disappears with laughter trailing behind him.

"That bastard," I mutter underneath my breath.

"Kurosaki-kun!" She exclaims with disapproval.

I look at her before shoving my hands into my pockets and stepping around her. I begin to walk toward her apartment's direction.

"I meant to say, 'that bastard-san,'" I stress.

She skips over to my side.

"That wasn't the problem!" She protests with a pout.

"Sure it was," I tell her with a deadpan face.

Her pout breaks out into a smile, and she laughs loudly. She then quickly covers her mouth and stops walking when a random light from a person's house flickers on.

"Whoops," she whispers.

I snort as I stop by her side, and she giggles quietly. And she only starts walking again when the light turns off. I'm about to follow her when a realization has me pausing mid-step.

Urahara-san never answered me. He never told me what he saw, what he sees. How did he know of my feelings? How does anyone? How did they know?

What do they see?

Inoue stops, and for a second, I stare at her back, and I wonder why the view unsettles me. And I wonder why the feeling goes away when she turns slightly to urge me forward with a smile. And I wonder why it feels so comforting when I reach her side.

And I wonder what they see. Because if I could somehow look at the both of us right now, if I could view Inoue and I as a third-party, all I'd be able to see would be her smile.