Kisuke drifted awake, mind fuzzy but body more rested than he expected it to be, given that the sun was already beginning to rise by the time he crawled into bed; the previous night had been more of a delight than he’d expected it to be, the simple ‘walk around the lake’ that Erich had suggested turning into /hours/ of discussion on how the man’s magic actually worked. He had so many ideas, so many things he wanted to test—

(Especially if he got to watch Erich—)

He cut that train of thought off with a soft groan, pressing the heels of his hands just below his eyes; bad enough he’d overheard them talking about potentially courting him, he didn’t need to start daydreaming about the way Erich’s expression would light up as he explained things, or the intensity of his gaze as he puzzled through a question, or—

(Stop!)

(He didn’t even know if they were actually interested.)

(They were probably Quincy!)

(Wait, if they were Quincy, what about Shiba — no, it was Kurosaki now — Kurosaki Isshin’s wife…?)

(Could she do the same song magic?)

(Could her child?)

(Did Kurosaki know?)

Kisuke rolled over with another groan and dragged his pillow up to cover his head, trying desperately to shove the tumbling tangle of questions aside.

Not that it helped.

(Why couldn’t he ever get his brain to shut up?!)

He lay there for a moment, eyes closed and body buried beneath the blankets and pillow, before he finally sighed and untangled himself in order to sit up; there wasn’t any point in trying to laze about, especially since he’d been all but promised the chance to return home today.

(If spending the whole night awake hadn’t changed that.)

(What if it was too late in the day now?)

(Wait, how late /had/ he slept anyway?!)

Kisuke stumbled to his feet and tugged on his borrowed clothing, then moved to the window and squinted up at the sky in an attempt to gauge the hour. It looked like it was a bit past noon, but how far past he couldn’t quite pin down; so not that late in the day, but if the walk to Karakura took almost five hours…

Well, he’d just have to see what they said.

He had a ran through his hair with a grimace, glanced once at Benihime where she was laying next to his futon, then slipped out of his room and towards the common room. From what he could sense, that was where Alexis and Erich were, and since they seemed to be in charge despite the house apparently belonging to Ren and Mami…

(It was an interesting dynamic, he had to admit.)

(Were Alexis and Erich staying here merely because of him, or did they actually live here?)

(And come to think of it, he hadn’t spotted a single sign of anyone else living out here, despite meeting Uryuu and Kanae and being told that others were around.)

(Were they farther back in the woods or… or something else?)

(Could they be somehow avoiding his senses?)

(But how?)

Kisuke shook his head, trying to shake his roving thoughts free; it really didn’t matter where the other people were, not at the moment at least. Besides, he’d probably figure it out later, given the invitation he had to return.

“I see sleeping beauty is finally awake,” Alexis said teasingly as he slipped into the common room. She smiled up at him from her seat in front of the low table, a book in front of her and…

And Erich’s head resting on her lap, the man’s eyes closed and his breathing even in sleep.

Kisuke froze at the sight of Erich asleep, taking in the soft, peaceful look on the man’s face and how fluffy his hair appeared, clearly ruffled by Alexis’ hand combing through it repeatedly, and—

Alexis chuckled, snapping his gaze away from her husband and to her, then grinned at him and said, “I sang him to sleep a few hours ago, instead of letting him bite people’s heads off from lack of sleep. Don’t worry about waking him, either, I added a muffling spell to keep him from being bothered.”

“I… as you say,” Kisuke agreed faintly, unable to help the way he lightened his steps more than usual as he crossed the room to take a seat at the table opposite Alexis. “I apologize for keeping him up so late.”

“Don’t,” Alexis said with a small shake of her head. “He woke me up when he came to bed because he was so pleased about whatever the two of you had been discussing. I haven’t seen him like that in… years,” she murmured wistfully, smiling down at Erich’s sleeping face as she did. “You’ve been good for him.”

Kisuke swallowed at that, uncertain how to react to her words; the idea that he’d ‘been good’ for someone was… weird. Different.

Alexis’ reiatsu reached out, brushing past him and nudging gently at Mami’s presence to draw her attention to them. “Mami will bring you some food out, since I’m a bit trapped right now,” Alexis told him with amusement. “How are you feeling today?”

“Better,” Kisuke said as he brushed his fingers against his side, pleased when only a dull ache resulted from the touch. “It didn’t bother me much at all last night while we were walking.”

“Good, it sounds like you can probably make it home without too much trouble then.” Alexis tucked a bookmark into her book and then set it aside, giving him a once over as she did. “I’ll ask Ren and Mami if they’re willing to show you the way today.”

“Er… isn’t it a bit late in the day for that?” Kisuke asked with a frown, glancing at the window to make sure he hadn’t estimated the time wrong. “Isn’t it already past noon?”

Alexis shrugged and nodded at Mami as the woman came into the room carrying a tray of food. “Mami, is it too late in the day to head to Karakura?” she asked with a small grin.

“No,” Mami immediately answered as she knelt and moved dishes off the tray and onto the table in front of Kisuke. She gave Kisuke a cheeky smile as she added, “This is when we /usually/ leave to head into town.”

“But—”

Mami laughed and set the tray aside. “Urahara-san, we’ve lived out here for years, trust us to know what we’re about, please? Ren and I usually handle the daily chores in the morning, then walk to town, get a hotel room for the night, then do our shopping in the morning and then either walk back when we’re done or spend another night in Karakura if we want to. It works out well for us, and means we can take our time instead of hurrying.”

Kisuke blinked at her explanation, then huffed and rubbed at the back of his head. “Maa, I suppose that would be a better plan than trying to do it all in one day. Sorry, Mami-san.”

“Don’t worry about it, I don’t expect you to know everything,” she told him kindly.

Kisuke forced himself to look down at the food she’d placed in front of him, trying not to react to her words. Frankly, he had no idea how to react to her words; so many people either expected him to simply know everything or to just figure things out because of his intelligence that he was used to fumbling along as best he could in the rare scenarios where he couldn’t.

(He… liked these people.)

(Oh dear…)

“Well, if that’s taken care of, would you like to leave today?” Alexis asked.

Kisuke looked up to arch an eyebrow at her and asked, “Giving me the choice, Alexis-san?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, something dangerous flickering in her gaze that… didn’t actually seem to be directed at him. Strange. “If you’d like to stay another day or two, that’s fine by me,” she told him seriously. “You don’t have to leave just because you’re finally well enough to walk the distance.”

“Ah, well…” Kisuke hesitated over his next words, weighing his options; on one hand, staying longer to learn more about these people would be nice, but on the other hand he wanted his clothing and bed and Tessai’s fussing and Jinta’s scowl and Ururu’s shy smile and…

Well, perhaps the choice really wasn’t much of one, was it?

“I think I’d like to go home today,” he murmured awkwardly. “Sorry, I just—”

“You can always come visit us, so long as you remember the way,” Alexis interrupted his apology, giving him a firm look as she did. “I think we of all people can understand wanting to be home.”

Mami nodded her agreement, then rose to her feet and said, “I’ll go tell Ren that we’ll be heading out in an hour or two.”

Kisuke watched her go, then sent a questioning look at Alexis. “You’ve said that a few times now: ‘so long as you remember the way’… is there something I’m missing?”

Alexis’ smile was a secretive one, her reiatsu shading with hints of challenge as she said, “Well, it is five hours away from town, and off the beaten track. I certainly wouldn’t leave it too long before you came to visit, just in case.”

He frowned at her but nodded slowly, willing to let the subject drop for the moment; based on what he was sensing from her, finding his way back was going to be the challenge and there was potentially a time limit involved, though he had no idea what sort of time limit.

There was definitely something he was missing here, something that would unravel all the other mysteries around these people, and honestly he was looking forward to figuring the answer out.

(At least it would give him something to do.)