She sounds unhappy. For a moment it brings him to falter, looking back at her and unravelling just a little.

"Mom, I..." But he has nothing more than that. His mouth shuts and he goes silent again. He turns just a little more from her.

Then with enough time, "I'm the only one who's not on board for... anything. When you go back, you're not going to find some splintered family or anything. Everyone's fine with each other. And everyone else is fine with them. No more shinigami war, no business with hueco mundo, none of that. Everything's..." Painfully, horribly empty. "... quiet. So you don't have to worry."

He wishes he had his mask, he thinks for the thousandth time. And right on it's trail is the thought that maybe... maybe he should leave.