Disclaimer: Don't own it, Bleach is the property of Tite Kubo.

Prologue:

He'd known that he'd missed them. He would have to be some kind of total moron not to have realised that he was missing them. They were his friends, his comrades in arms. But the feeling of loss had been eclipsed by the new gap inside his soul, the space where his zanpakuto and hollow had used to reside.

So it wasn't until that gaping void in his soul had suddenly been filled and he saw the line of Shinigami standing behind him, some strange sort of pride shining out of their eyes, that he realised how much he had missed the part of his life that he had often cursed. And when he saw Renji, standing there with a new bandana wrapped around his head, his red hair falling in its usual crimson glory, that he realised just how much he had missed him.

And then he pushed this new realisation to the back of his mind because he had some arses to kick. And sissy introspection was for girls, and Yumichika, and possibly Ishida, but he was too wary of the uptight Quincy to ask.

But if someone had plied him with a lot of alcohol, which didn't seem likely, he might have been forced to admit that the reason his first getsuga tenshou in months missed was because he was trying very hard not to look at Renji out of the corner of his eye, and failing miserably.

Stupid tattooed layabout.

A/N: The beginning of a plot bunny for a new story. Maybe I should give myself a challenge – write at least 30,000 words on this before Nanowrimo eats my soul in November. I think it could be done... only this story is rather current, so I will have to wait for Tite Kubo to draw some more! XD