[He averts his gaze immediately when it's met, finishing up his first aid work and quietly rolling the spare gauze back into little rolls much neater and tidier than Byakuya himself. He won't argue, but it's clear enough in the way he shrugs it off that he isn't changing the way he's thinking. He only ever shrugs something off if he's decided it's not only fixed but acceptable.

In his head, it's clear. His life is a clock counting down to the day the weight becomes too much to carry. He's already discarded everything but fatherhood -- he's not even remotely existing for himself. But really, is that surprising in someone who already leans heavily on the slow suicide of liquor just to function?]