It was only ten in the morning and Shuuhei was tired, but already he had an overwhelming urge to see Renji. To convince himself everything was okay and that nothing had changed between them. So, after a quick shower, he headed towards the 6th division, hoping he could find Renji quickly. To his delight, as soon as he turned the corner and arrived in the division, he spotted Renji talking to his 3rd seat. After waiting until he was through, Shuuhei walked quickly up to him. Renji smiled when he saw him, but his eyes didn't seem to light up the way they used to. Determined to ignore this, Shuuhei smiled back and kissed him softly in greeting.

"Have you eaten yet?" Renji asked, and when Shuuhei shook his head, Renji grabbed his hand and began pulling him in the direction of the division exit. "Come on, Matsumoto was telling me about a great new breakfast place the other day. Let's go check it out."

Nodding, Shuuhei followed Renji to the center of the Soul Society where the streets were lined with shops and restaurants. Near the end of the street there was a larger diner painted a putrid shade of yellow. They entered this, and to Shuuhei's relief the walls inside were snow white. The place was actually pretty nice looking, though really busy. It took a couple of minutes to find a table far at the back of the room and sit down at it.

Shuuhei grinned to himself the whole time they were waiting for their food, glad that Renji still wanted to spend time with him.

"What are you smiling about?" Renji asked, raising his eyebrows as he took a bite of roll.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just glad that we're here together. It seems we haven't had much time to be with each other lately."

Renji nodded but didn't respond.

"I really love you, you know," Shuuhei said softly, taking Renji's hand.

Renji smiled and squeezed Shuuhei's hand, but the brunette couldn't help but notice the far away expression in his lover's eyes.

It was three in the afternoon and Renji was sitting in the 6th division office doing paperwork. Well actually, he was really just staring at a blank sheet of paper, pen in hand. He had to write the monthly division report and was completely stuck. Usually Byakuya was the one to write the reports, but he had been called to an emergency captain's meeting a little while earlier and Renji got stuck with the job.

With an aggravated sigh, the redhead stared hard at the paper as if that would make words appear. He tried to remember what Byakuya had told him to write, but the only thing he remembered was the deep gray color of his captain's eyes. Dammit! It was always impossible to focus on a conversation when Byakuya was there. He had to write something though, or else Byakuya would be mad. Often Renji found his captain's anger sexy- but not when it was directed at him. Well actually, that was kind of sexy too, but it scared him to death.

Think, Renji, think! Okay, so if they're division reports, that means I should write about the kinds of things that happen in my division, right? Well, Rikichi and Kayori got completely drunk the other night….

Renji dipped his pen into the bottle of ink and began writing. Unfortunately though, he hadn't gotten very far when there was a knock on his door. Before he could say "come in," the door opened and Rukia walked in like she owned the place, closing the door behind her.

"What do you need?" Renji demanded, exasperated.

"You don't have to be so rude," Rukia replied, standing in front of Renji's desk, arms crossed against her chest.

"Sorry," Renji muttered, sighing. "It's just that I have to finish this division report soon and I haven't gotten very far."

"What's going on between you and my brother?" Rukia asked, completely ignoring what Renji had just said.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know very well what I'm talking about! I'm not stupid you know. I've seen the way you stare at him! Like he's a bowl of chocolate pudding with whipped cream and tomatoes!"

"Huh? Who puts tomatoes in chocolate pudding?"

"Inoue does. I had some when I stayed with her a couple of months ago. It's actually really good."

"Whatever.

"Anyway, the point is that you look at him like you want him. Bad. Like you're in love with him or something. So spill. What gives?"

Renji looked down at the desk. Should he tell her? Oh, why not? He didn't think he could bear keeping it a secret much longer.

"Okay, fine. I may like him… a lot… more than a lot…" he glanced at Rukia who was staring down at him, eyes wide, a look of disbelief on her face. Renji suspected she hadn't thought he would give in that easily.

"But… what about Shuuhei?" Rukia asked when she got her voice back.

"I don't know," Renji muttered, shaking his head. "I still like Shuuhei, and I don't want to hurt him, but," he shrugged helplessly, "I can't help it. I really like your brother."

Rukia let out a sigh, but she was smiling slightly. "Well, I think you two would make a great couple! Nii-sama has been alone for a while. It's time he had someone. Whatever you decide to do though, you should decide soon. Anyway, I got to go. I promised Captain Ukitake I'd help with paperwork. See ya." She started for the door then turned back. "Oh, by the way, I don't think writing about people getting drunk in the division report is what's expected."

With a wave, Rukia shut the door behind her, leaving Renji staring at his division report, wondering what the hell he was going to do.

It had been about half an hour since the emergency captain's meeting had been called, but still not everyone was there. Kira looked toward the door and sighed softly. His feet were getting tired, and he feared they would fall off if he had to wait much longer. Though he, Shuuhei, and Momo weren't captains, they attended the meetings since they were in charge of their divisions.

"Sorry I'm late," Shunsui's voice rung out as the 8th division captain quickly walked in and took his place. "I had a splitting headache." Probably a hangover, Kira though, shaking his head.

"Now, I need to bring up a very important issue," the captain commander began, his eyes falling on each shinigami. "There have been reports of a very strong type of hollow in the human world. Three officers tried to fight it and were injured severely. We need to deal with this new threat, and quickly. There's no telling what might happen if they're not taken care of as soon as possible." He paused for a moment, thinking. "Lieutenant Hinamori, please find Lieutenant Abarai and Lieutenant Matsumoto."

Momo nodded and ran out of the room, and Kira stifled another sigh. He knew this issue was important, but his mind kept returning to Shuuhei. The other lieutenant stood stiff and serious across the room from him, and Kira wanted to stand next to him, to touch him, to kiss him… No, stop! He's Renji's boyfriend, not mine! I need to stop thinking about this!

Luckily, a few seconds later, Momo returned with Renji and Rangiku, who looked completely bewildered. The captain commander quickly explained the situation to them, then said that they, accompanied by Kira, Shuuhei, and Byakuya would travel to the human world tomorrow and stay until the hollows were taken care of.

"The reason I'm having so many of you go is because I don't want to take any chances. I have a feeling Aizen is behind this, and if he is, this may be more dangerous than we think." He turned to Byakuya. "You will send weekly reports back and tell us immediately if any problem occurs." Byakuya nodded, and the captain commander turned to the rest of them. "That is all. Dismissed."

It took a minute for Kira's mind to comprehend this. He would be on a mission in the human world with Renji, Shuuhei, Rangiku, and Captain Kuchiki. He would be with Shuuhei. And Renji. The three would be together. Kira swallowed hard and forced his feet to start walking out. On the way he passed Renji, whose face was white as a sheet. This was going to be one hell of a mission, that was for sure.