Uryuu did his best to ignore his classmates for the rest of the day. Even when Orange attempted to get his attention, Uryuu pretended not to see it, staring determinedly out the window until the other gave up. He wanted nothing to do with them or their pity.

He took his third dose of the day before school ended, ignored Orange’s piercing look and Arisawa’s thoughtful one, and tuned out the droning voice of the teacher.

(Urahara would explain things if he needed the help.)

(Listening to teachers was… annoying.)

He went home, made himself food, and slogged through the homework he’d been assigned in order to get it out of the way. Took his last dose of the day and went to sleep early.

(There was nothing else to do. He knew no one except Urahara and had no desire to speak with the man.)

(Besides, being unenhanced was… tiring.)

The next day was the same: wake up, take his pill, go to school. Ignore the ramblings of the teachers and the looks of his classmates. Take his second dose and count the hours until he was once more free.

Two days in and the monotony was killing him. He wanted to move, wanted to fly, wanted to visit Harribel and let Grimmjow goad him into a fight and—

“Want to eat lunch with us?” Arisawa asked as soon as the bell rang.

Uryuu stared up at her blankly, then scowled as his mind finally caught up with what she’d said. “No.”

“It’ll just be me’n Orihime and Ichigo and Chad today,” she said as if he hadn’t spoken. “No one else.”

“I told you yesterday, I don’t eat with anyone else.”

Arisawa nodded, one hand on her hip and a small smile pulling at the corners of her lips. “Yeah, I know. But if you ever want to, you’re free to join us whenever.”

“I won’t, but thank you for the offer,” Uryuu said with as much politeness as he could muster. He had no idea why she was smiling at him; he didn’t get the sense that she was mocking him, just… she was amused by something and he couldn’t puzzle out what it could be.

Still, being polite would cause less trouble in the long run. Especially if Benihime had taken a shine to them and was keeping an eye on them; she wouldn’t take kindly to Uryuu being overtly rude to people she liked.

(Covertly rude was another matter entirely.)

(She might even be amused by his efforts if he did it right.)

Arisawa left after that, the other three following her out the door, and Uryuu relaxed. With luck, that would be the last time she asked him. With even more luck, that would be the last time he ever had to deal with them.

(He doubted he had that much luck.)

The rest of the day passed as the day before did, complete with droning teachers and more concerned looks when he took this third dose.

(He was getting sick of Orange’s concern. He hated those looks! There was nothing to be concerned about!)

Another night in the silence of his little apartment. Another morning of his usual routine. Another dull-boring-mind numbing day of school ahead—

Uryuu stopped a few steps from his desk. Stared at the bottle of water sitting innocently on the corner. Clenched his fists and breathed out and scanned the classroom to figure out—

Orange was watching him.

Orange had given him concerned looks every time he dry-swallowed one of Urahara’s pills.

Orange had put the bottle there.

Uryuu snatched the bottle from his desk and stalked over to Orange, glaring at his classmate. “I don’t need anything from you,” he hissed, slamming the bottle on Orange’s desk. “Not your concern, not your pity, and certainly not this.”

Orange’s hand settled over his own, preventing him from letting go of the bottom with a gentle, firm grip. “I grew up around a clinic,” he said, voice low and even. “Swallowing pills without water can be more dangerous than you’d think.”

“I’m not going to choke—”

“Choking is the least of your worries,” Orange cut him off, hand tightening just a bit around Uryuu’s and his gaze steady, intent. “You shouldn’t punish yourself for things outside of your control.”

Uryuu jerked back, senses buzzing and his hand tingling everywhere Orange had touched. It felt like pins and needles across his skin, like his hand was waking up from being numb, and he… he didn’t understand, didn’t know why, couldn’t make it stop—

Orange let him go without a fuss, scowl still in place but everything about him radiating concern and it was… it was too much.

“Leave me alone!” Uryuu snapped, the thin plastic of the water bottle crinkling as his hand flexed in an attempt to make the tingling stop. “I don’t need anything from you and I don’t want it even if I did need it!”

He retreated to his desk before Orange could say anything, realizing too late that he still had hold of the water bottle. Unwilling to approach Orange a second time — not with the entire class staring and Ochi watching him with concern and his hand still tingling — Uryuu pointedly set the bottle beneath his chair and slumped in his seat, arms crossed over his chest and head turned to stare out the window.

Ochi cleared her throat and began her daily announcements, pulling his classmates’ attentions away from him, and Uryuu let her voice wash over him. He didn’t care what was going on in the next few weeks; as soon as Urahara let him, he planned on returning to his sentai duties.

(School was just a waste of time.)

Uryuu absently rubbed at his hand, massaging away the last of the odd tingles, and tried to put Orange’s words out of his mind. He wasn’t punishing himself. He wasn’t. It was just too much bother to fetch water every time he needed to take one of Urahara’s pills, especially since he had to take two of them during the school day.

He didn’t have any problem swallowing them.

It wasn’t self-punishment.

It wasn’t.