He refused to acknowledge that he was sick. This wasn't a fever; the house was just too damned hot. And he wasn't dizzy; the world just lurched uncomfortably every now and then. Really, that was it. Nothing wrong with him at all. External factors, all of them.

And the world lurched again when he was a few stairs from the bottom, sending him stumbling down three of them before his hands gripped the railing and halted his forward momentum. Stupid world. Quit doing that.

He sure as hell hoped that neither Kuchiki or especially Hinamori had seen that. If Kuchiki had, it would merely be a little embarrassing. But Hinamori? She would fret. He didn't want that. He was fine. Completely. Really, he was.