Allen shook his head slowly. Why did they have to be so nice? Didn't they know how much harder that made things? "Not hungry," he said in reply to Rukia. It wasn't an outright lie. He didn't know if he could really stomach anything at the moment, whether his body needed it or not.

He could feel Bridget's hand moving across the bandages that still covered his arms. Allen scrunched his eyes shut. Why couldn't he just forget? Why were they trying to get involved? He would just end up hurting them... he wasn't strong enough.