Uryuu woke to darkness and rolled over with a grumble, fumbling for his phone. He flicked the cover aside and squinted at the screen, trying to make sense of the blurry display. If he was reading it right…

He sighed and dropped it onto his bed, already tired of the day. What the hell was he supposed to do at four in the damn morning, anyway?

(Besides go back to sleep.)

(Except he’d already slept almost eighteen hours.)

(Well, what was a few more anyway?)

Uryuu folded his hands behind his head and stared at the pale ceiling, unable to force himself up. Hunger gnawed at his stomach but there was no point in moving, not with his fridge bare and his pantry almost empty. It was too late — early? — for most restaurants or convenience stores to be open, and he didn’t want to leave his apartment anyway…

His phone buzzed.

Message from Urahara, the screen displayed.

“Go away,” Uryuu muttered in response, dragging an arm over his eyes. “I’m asleep. Stop being a creepy stalker.”

His phone buzzed again.

And again.

And again.

“I hate you,” he said as he snatched up his phone and unlocked it, jabbing at the screen until it was silenced. “There. Jerk.”

The screen lit up with another Message from Urahara alert and Uryuu huffed in annoyance, letting the phone drop back onto his bed. He’d deal with that infuriating man later. At a reasonable hour. Like normal people did.

Uryuu put his arm over his eyes again and tried to relax, hoping that sleep would return despite the odds. He didn’t want to be awake, didn’t want to face Urahara’s concern—

He sighed. Poked at his sternum with his free hand. Ran a thumb over the tiny ridge that was Kingfisher’s influence…

(He needed to let go. Needed to relinquish the power it gave him before that power consumed him from within.)

(Damn his too-Human body!)

It was a struggle to settle his mind, to think ‘release’ and mean it, but eventually he managed. Kingfisher left his body in a swirl of sky-blue power and solidified in the palm of his hand, taking with it the last of his will to move.

His limbs trembled with overuse while lingering shreds of Hollow reiatsu dug jagged claws deep-deep-deep…

Uryuu’s arm slipped aside and he stared dully at the void above him, waiting for his eyes to readjust to human limits and his body to adapt. He breathed through the pain and turned his attention inward, neutralizing the foreign reiatsu and absorbing it into his core before sending his own limited strength back out into his body.

He soothed what damage he could before his strength gave out, trading physical agony for spiritual exhaustion. It would have been better if he just waited for Urahara to invite himself in but… he didn’t want to. He was so tired of being weak, of relying on the man for every little thing, that this small action for himself felt good.

Besides, Urahara was certain to bring up the other members of his set and how Uryuu should reach out and trust them. If Uryuu was still weak and in pain when it was brought up, he might even agree just to silence the man and… he would hate himself for it.

He couldn’t do it.

(His mother’s set didn’t save her.)

(No sentai would ever willingly come to his rescue.)

(Not when he called Hollows allies.)

It was lighter when he pulled himself from his thoughts, the first rays of sunlight tinting the sky blood red. The hand holding Kingfisher’s crystal rose above his head and opened, the crystal slipping between his fingers to dangle from the fine chain attached to it.

Light from his window struck the dark crystal and lit it from within, scattering bright points of sky blue across the walls. Little dancing motes of power, of promise—

Uryuu grimaced and shoved himself up, stumbling from his bed and into the kitchen before he gave in. He dropped the crystal onto the counter and opened his cupboard, eyeing the sparse collection of dried goods thoughtfully. Making something complicated was beyond him, but hadn’t Urahara brought something—

A small, victorious noise escaped his throat as he shoved the flour aside and found two cup ramen hidden in the back. It barely counted as food but it was something.

He fumbled one open and shoved it under the tap and then into the microwave to cook. The coffee maker was next, refilled with water and grounds and turned on by habit, and then the ramen was done and Uryuu barely had the patience to grab some chopsticks before he was bolting it down.

Shoving the second cup ramen into the microwave, Uryuu poured himself a cup of coffee and slumped against the counter to wait.

Someone knocked on his door.

Uryuu scowled and leaned over enough to see his bedroom window, trying to judge the time. Still barely light outside. “Urahara you ass,” he grumbled as he set his coffee down and went to unlock the door.

“Good morning, Ishida-kun!” Urahara greeted him with a bright smile and an energetic wave. “I figured I should stop in to check on you since you weren’t answering your phone!”

“You texted me at four in the morning!” Uryuu snarled, throwing open his door and stalking back into his kitchen and his ramen. “And I bet it’s still ungodly early!” he said between bites.

“Maa, maa, I’m just a landlord concerned for his favorite resident!” Urahara closed the door behind him and walked in, setting a couple bags on the counter by the fridge. “Seeing as you’re eating that, I think my concern was warranted.”

“Do those new teens know you’re like this?” he muttered as he pitched the cup and watched Urahara put food away. A lot of it looked like left-overs — Tsukabishi’s contribution, he was sure — but there were other things like milk and fruit and vegetables in the mix. He swallowed, something fluttering in his chest, and forced out, “I’m not your son, you really don’t have to—”

“Benihime told me you looked like you were dead on your feet, so I knew you wouldn’t feel up to shopping for a few days. And you did tell her you weren’t sure there was anything to eat here.” Urahara smiled and tugged at the brim of his hat to shadow his eyes, bumping the fridge door closed with a hip. “You don’t have to be my son for that to concern me, you know.”

Uryuu scoffed and focused on his coffee, trying to ignore the way Urahara fluttered around the kitchen putting things away. A new bag of his favorite coffee went in the cabinet above his head. A tin of Tsukabishi’s snacks on the counter next to him. Potatoes and onions and curry seasonings and everything else he needed to make his own food for the next few days…

“I hate you,” he muttered without heat. “You don’t need to do all of this.”

“It’s the least I can do for our resident protector,” Urahara countered as he came to a stop in front of Uryuu and gave him a piercing look. When Uryuu began to fidget, the man sighed and stepped aside, gesturing towards the common area. “Go and sit down. Take your shirt off so I can see how badly off you are this time.”

Uryuu went without protest, tugging his shirt over his head and dropping it on the floor in front of him. He closed his eyes and waited, listening to Urahara’s movements as the man paced around him, not wanting to see the disappointment in Urahara’s eyes.

It wasn’t long before Urahara knelt behind him, gentle fingers ghosting down his back and over the feather patterns that covered his torso. “Another day or two and your body would have succumbed to reiryoku poisoning,” he said, voice flat in that way that Uryuu knew meant he was unhappy. “No transformations at all for a week, and nothing, partial or otherwise, lasting longer than an hour for another two weeks after that.”

“Three weeks?” Uryuu twisted around and glared over his shoulder at Urahara. “That’s impossible and you know it! I can’t—”

“Do you want to live to see your next birthday?”

Uryuu flinched back, shoulders hunching as he focused on the floor instead of Urahara. His throat froze and his mind blanked, words refusing to come…

(He was weak and Urahara knew it!)

Urahara’s hand came to rest on Uryuu’s back, fingers bracketing his spine. “A finger’s width of space, Uryuu-kun, that’s how little time you had left,” he murmured sadly. “You toe the line, courting death more and more as the years go on. What else am I supposed to think, when this is what I continue to witness?”

“I’m not… I don’t want to die, but there’s so much to do and I can’t do anything without Kingfisher.” Uryuu protested, hands clenching into fists. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t. If he did, who would help Nelliel? Or Harribel? Or even Grimmjow, the haughty asshole? No one liked or trusted Hollows, and if he died… no. He refused. He just… needed more strength.

“You’re not doing yourself any favors like this, then. Overtaxing your body without rest doesn’t make you stronger, it makes you fatigued and then dead,” Urahara chided as he took his hand away from Uryuu’s back and leaned around Uryuu, the rattle of pills loud in the quiet between them. “You know the drill. One every four hours while you’re awake, starting from the minute you wake up. You’re excused from school until Wednesday and I’ll bring your make up work this afternoon.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Uryuu picked up the small bottle of pills and unscrewed the cap, tipping one out and tossing it into his mouth with a grimace.

“You know, usually people take pills with water,” Urahara said with exasperation.

“Takes effort.”

“You are ridiculous,” Urahara said as he stood and moved back around, expression fond as he looked down at Uryuu. “Get some real food in your stomach and try to get some rest, Uryuu-kun.”

Uryuu shrugged and focused on the bottle of pills in his hand, listening it rattle as he fiddled with it.

Urahara sighed and said softly, “It’s not your responsibility to solve everything on your own, especially now that you’re not alone. Give them a chance to prove themselves, okay?”

“Don’t have much choice, do I?” Uryuu asked with an annoyed glance up at Urahara. “Since you’re grounding me for three weeks.”

“Uryuu…”

“Don’t.” Uryuu ran a hand through his hair and then down over his face, rubbing at his eyes. His annoyance drained away as quickly as it came, exhaustion replacing it. “Just… I’ll see you this afternoon.

Urahara watched him for a long, silent moment, then inclined his head and turned away, leaving Uryuu alone in his little apartment.

Alone with his thoughts. Alone with the siren call of Kingfisher’s promised strength.

Uryuu went back to bed.