Shuuhei figured that Urahara must have finished his research in the time they were away, or at least have come pretty close. The small building looked to be functioning as normal with the two kids outside sweeping, Ururu doing the majority of actual work while Jinta seemed to be fighting just to stay awake as he leant his weight against the room with his eyes drooping lazily.

Cracking open an eyelid, the redheaded youth noticed the four soul reaper's arrival in front of the shop with his usual sour-faced scowl. "Oh, the usual weirdoes and 69-face are back. It's about time, Boss has been waiting for you slackers!"

"Is that code for 'Welcome, we finally have some straight answers for you'? Because we could really use them right about now." Ichigo said, sharing the same impatient and frustrated glower shared by Rukia, Renji and Shuuhei.

Before Jinta could respond with a rude snap, Ururu stepped in with a modest bow of her head. "Yes, the boss is prepared to see you. You can go inside- We're very sorry for the delay."

"No we're not! Stop apologizing!"

Little mind was paid to the disquiet siblings as the four soul reapers gave them a wide birth to sneak around to the back of the shop. If Urahara had finished with the spirit particle samples, perhaps some shadowy mystery regarding the appearances of the portals in Huenco Mundo could be uncovered at long last.

Urahara and Yoruichi were waiting for them when they returned to the shop, sitting at the low table and automatically stopping in their hushed discussion when they noted that they were intruded on.

"So how'd it goooooo?" The mysterious storekeeper asked, seeming to ignore the sling wrapped purposefully around Shuuhei's person.

"Oh, fabulous." Renji grumbled as he shuffled in along with the other three. Shuuhei gave Renji an inquisitive look as the red-head had appeared to fluctuate in his moods wildly throughout the day, currently thoughtlessly frowning in a troubled way. Shuuhei debated whether or not he should talk to Renji later- if Renji wanted Shuuhei to know something, he'd just come out and say it. Probably. Sometimes it was hard to know for sure. For as outspoken a man Renji was, he did a good job of holding certain things close to his chest and away from his friends.

Taking quick inventory of the room, Shuuhei noticed the living area that served as headquarters was thrown from its usual austere setting into disarray, with various papers of numbers and scientific jargon spread about the table. Devices that appeared as if they could be used to take some sort of measurements (or alternatively, a challenging tool for torture) that looked as if they had been uncovered from Urahara's private laboratory itself were haphazardly piled into a messy little mound on the floor.

Shuuhei noticed that the rogue scientist himself even seemed rather disheveled. His blond hair seemed ruffled under his hat, heavy dark bags hanging under his eyes. Yoruichi, elusive and bright-eyed as ever, subtly edged a cup of hot tea in his direction, which he picked up gratefully before making to address the younger reapers in the room.

"I take it you all happen to be curious as to what I've found out." He began, pausing to take a sip from the cup, "But before I answer your question, how about a pop quiz of my own?"

Renji groaned and Shuuhei elbowed him in the ribs on impulse. The taller shinigami doubled over, and Shuuhei realized that he had received not one but two jabs to the middle, one from him and one from Rukia at exactly the same time. Ichigo snickered while Renji shot glares at all three of them.

"First off," Urahara continued, happily ignoring the frenzy, "What's between here in the world of the living and in Soul Society?"

All four fell silent, wondering if perhaps they were being lured into a trick question. Shuuhei couldn't say he knew Urahara even remotely well, but rumors traveled fast about a man in a bucket hat with a penchant for being manipulative and mischievous.

"The Precipice World." Rukia answered, a little uneasily. "It's the only way to get from here back to Soul Society without a Hell Butterfly."

Urahara jovially swat the air, "Correct! Lieutant Kuchiki, you continue to be the brains of the operation! The Precipice World is the go-between of the two worlds, but it also serves as Soul Society's primary defense against intruders- including hollows. The Kouyu traps hollows who attempt to traverse the Dangai, and the Koutotsu comes regularly and kills whatever has been ensnared. It's a handy-dandy little cycle of a firewall to keep nine out of ten hollows out of Soul Society. But then you have the Garganta."

"But we already know that the portals aren't Garganta." Shuuhei pointed out- or at least tried to point out. The sling was proving to be an obstacle in physical gestures.

"Yes, that's true." Urahara, "Also, as we can be sure from what little research we have on the subject, Garganta work very much like senkaimon. The main difference between the two being that while senkaimon uses the Precipice world as an interface, neatly clearing aside a path between the two dimensions, a Garganta doesn't have that option. It simply rips apart whatever world it is opening up in, and while the physical damage to each plane seems to heal itself well enough, it actually takes massive amounts of spiritual energy being activated to close those doors so neatly.

"Now with Aizen and his forces coming into the world of the living out of the picture the Garganta have opening less frequently, only a miniscule fraction compared to how many were activated during the Winter War. The effect of opening up so many doorways and then suddenly closing them all off in on Huenco Mundo is potentially disastrous to its structure as a dimension, similar to heating up a metal frame to melting point and then blasting it with ice. The dimension has no choice but to release some of its excess energy in the portals. Do you understand?"

Shuuhei looked to the three stationed soul reapers, who all looked just as overwhelmed by this new influx of information as he felt. Fortunately it was Rukia who spoke up.

"So how do we stop them?"

"Ah, now that is a question." Urahara mused, stroking his chin, "Spirit energy being what it is, it's entirely possible that such a massive build-up will gather in one place in a physical manifestation. If that can be destroyed, then by proxy the portals would stop appearing instantly."

"Vice-Captain Hisagi, you said that when you saw into Huenco Mundo the hollows were digging up portals, didn't you?" Rukia intoned, casting several pairs of eyes on the dark-haired lieutenant.

Shuuhei nodded in confirmation, "Yes, the portals seemed to be appearing mostly underground, and the hollows were digging them up from under the sand."

"Then that's where the energy is going to be then, right?" Ichigo asked, looking from Shuuhei back to Urahara, "We only have to find it and destroy it."

"That's the gist of it, yes." Urahara nodded.

Renji's mouth settled in an uncharacteristic grim line, his attitude improving little with the new task set before him. "Well alright, then. The three of us go to Huenco Mundo and shut down the portals for good."

To Shuuhei that sounded like enough of a plan- waitaminute.

"Three?" Shuuhei echoed, looking at Renj in surprise.

Renji turned his head to look at him, but his eyes didn't seem to hold any weight. They were fixed on a point on the wall, looking through Shuuhei as if he were invisible. "Sorry Shuuhei, but you won't be coming on this one."

"Says who? You don't exactly own the right to any situation in Huenco Mundo, you know! You went there once."

"Yeah." Renji said, his gruff voice reflecting absolute severity, "But you're injured and you're short one zanpakuto. If you came you'd only be more likely to get hurt!"

Shuuhei gaped in indignation, "Okay, first off-" He began, struggling to keep his voice composed, "-I was hardly even injured at all! I won't even feel any discomfort by tomorrow morning. Secondly, my zanpakuto is in Huenco Mundo, Renji! I know I saw it!"

"I believe you. I'm gonna find Kazeshini and bring it back to you in Soul Society," Renji said, his own voice steadily rising, "After I get Kira and Matsumoto to come and escort you back!"

Escort him back. Wow.

"Who said I needed an escort?" Shuuhei demanded, "Who said I needed to be escorted at all? This is my mission just as well as it is yours!"

At the reminder of their pact to investigate together, Renji's frown exaggerated into a snarl, "Then you can be the one to explain it to the captains, but you're not coming with. You'll only get in the way like this!"

Shuuhei felt as if he had been physically struck. He seethed at Renji, all concern for the other's mood emptied and hollowed out and replaced with bile and betrayal. "How dare you! How dare you think you can treat me like a fucking defenseless child, you arrogant, condescending-"

A light cough came from the side, and Shuuhei and Renji both whipped around to find Ichigo, Rukia, Urahara and Yoruichi all pointedly looking anywhere but at the two furious men.

A hot flash of mortification pierced Shuuhei's mind. He felt the image of himself being the mature and responsible vice-captain in the minds of his audience shatter, broken by the echo of a voice whining about being left behind for his own good. Not only was Renji denying him the right to do his job, he had also made Shuuhei look like the unreasonable one in the process!

"Fine." Shuuhei grit his teeth, his feet moving without thinking of where he was going down the hall. "Whatever. You want to do and get yourself killed without me, be my guest! Please do pardon my uselessness."

"Shuu-" but the end of Renji's call had been muffled by the slamming of the guest room door.

Shuuhei stood in the guest room, leaning back against the wall. His privacy was only relative under the roof of someone else's hospitality and if he was quiet he could make out the muffled voices of the others outside, but he willed himself not to hear them. Okay, Shuuhei, what's wrong with this picture? Renji had no right to deny him to come to Huenco Mundo. He had proven earlier that day that even without his weapon, Shuuhei was more than capable of taking out a few hollows with his kidou skills. Okay, so frankly he was far better and swordsmanship and his kidou wasn't worth much as an exchange, but…

Shuuhei buried his face in his hands. Who was he kidding? He would have surely been killed by those hollows if Renji and the others hadn't appeared just in time to save his ungrateful ass. Shuuhei was a vice-captain, dammit, so shouldn't it be that he would have been able to defend himself in the world of the living without needing someone to hold his hand for three days? Maybe if he was better at fighting with kido like Momo or Izuru they would at least let him come along for back-up and maybe some healing spells. But he wasn't as good as them, and he couldn't do healing kidou at all, and he didn't even like Kazeshini but right now he really wished to have it back at his side and feel secure knowing he was at his full ability and in his element.

Renji had been right to tell him no. Right to think about Shuuhei's safety above his honor. Shuuhei sighed, and ran his unslung hand through his spikey hair. Frustration welled up inside him like boiling water, threatening to bubble to the top and overflow.

Now looking around the guestroom, Shuuhei huffed an irritated breath at the realization that this was probably the worst possible place of all places to storm off too. Partially due to the fact that A) now he looked like an overdramatic child throwing a fit after stomping off to his (borrowed) room, but mostly because B) reminders of Renji, the man he was trying to stay mad at, were now striking him in the face with extreme prejudice.

Renji's night robe, cold and abandoned carelessly on the floor. The blanket that, despite Shuuhei's efforts at covering him the previous night, had been kicked once again to the floor. Rumpled sheets on an unmade futon. Everything of Renji's here had been mussed up and fumbled with in a trademark Renji way and Shuuhei felt that he fit right in. Inexplicably drawn to do so, he walked to Renji's futon and sank down onto it, perhaps hoping to develop a deep, spiritual connection to the bed sheets which would obviously not return the sentiments.

His arm, the recovery process merrily pushed along by his high spiritual pressure healing his sprit particle body, didn't hurt anymore. It was merely a dull throb starting from his collarbone and reverberating down his arm. In few hours that would be gone, too. Shuuhei's hand fumbled for the knot of the bed sheet-sling and it fell free of his person, sliding to the floor to lie there forlornly.

He stretched out his arm, cautious of the joints. Flexing his muscles a little, Shuuhei wondered what he'd do when he got back to Soul Society. What even happened to Soul Reapers who lost their zanpakuto? Would they still allow him to be a vice-captain? The chances were unlikely. As previously indicated, he was no kidou master like Nanao but his skills were still noteworthy, as well as his battle prowess. At the very least, he would still be a seated officer, probably. That is, if his inevitable demotion didn't come with punishment for jeopardizing the safety of Soul Society by withholding information from them for not reporting a noted anomaly the second he left the Sixth Division's filing room with Renji.

Shuuhei grimaced at the thought. If he managed to escape with devaluation and a loud lecture from Captain Mugumura instead of a call to trial from Central Forty-six, he'd be a lucky man.

"I'm gonna find Kazeshini and bring it back to you in Soul Society." Renji had promised that. Shuuhei hated that he believed him. If Renji marched defiantly back into Soul Society, the safety of the living world and the spirit world back in balance, serving up a hundred fresh hollow heads to be taxidermy and carrying back Shuuhei's sword on top of all that, Shuuhei would announce it a miracle right then and there.

He also might just kill himself, because if those events actually transpired Renji's ego would swell to massive proportions and Shuuhei would never have peace from it again. Miracles be damned.

With a sigh, Shuuhei lay down on Renji's futon. It felt softer than Shuuhei's own guest bed had felt. Most likely just from being slept in more often, Renji being a guest of the home as often as Renji was. He wondered if he should pack up his belongings before he realized that he had nothing to pack. He had been thrown, violently and unexpectedly, into the material world with no luggage to speak of and now he would return with his load even lighter than when he had entered. Didn't they say that was how you knew when the army had lost the war, when they set out to gain and instead they returned with fewer resources than when they started?

Just as well. Shuuhei never had much of patience for war games anyhow. He rolled to the edge of the futon, sitting up before standing.

In the living room, Renji faced possible execution at the hands of the lieutenant Kuchiki.

"What the hot, sweaty hell is actually wrong with you?" She hissed, throwing her tiny fist into Renji's arm, "What the fuck did I just say before we got here? Didn't I say to be nice? Didn't I say to behave? What part was confusing to you, you imbecilic-"

"Oh, come on! You know I was right! I should have dumped him back in Soul Society the second we got back here." Renji protested, half-heartedly raising an arm to block Rukia's punches.

He looked to Ichigo on the other side of Rukia for support, knowing Ichigo was hardly new to protecting people by putting them out of harm's way, but Ichigo just sat back on the heels of his feet and gave Renji a judgmental look. Sadly for Renji, Ichigo was also known for developing sympathetic attachments to people quickly, and it was clear that Renji wasn't in a very sympathetic position right now. Stupid popular Shuuhei.

"I'm not saying it would be nice to have the one guy who's actually seen the portals and where they come from up close and personal, buuut…"

"Why. Couldn't. You. Just. Leave. That. Poor. Man. Be?" Rukia demanded, emphasizing each word with another slap.

Renji caught her hands in his own and pushed them away, "I know, okay, I know! But without a weapon he's not exactly in fighting shape, and he'll be safer back in Soul Society! He's already gotten hurt here."

Rukia stopped trying to strike at him, but her face was still fixed in a frown. Ichigo pretended to be very interested in one of Urahara's documents of theories about the portal phenomena. Urahara himself was buried nose-deep in a manila folder off the table as Yoruichi inspected her nails.

Inspecting his audience, Renji deflated with a sigh. "I'll talk to him, okay? You guys just work out how we're getting in and out of that hollow's nest of crazy without me."

He released his grip on Rukia's hands, who let them fall into her lap and give Renji an unreadable look. Renji shook the gaze off his mind and stood up, pointedly setting his gaze forward as he marched in the direction of the guest room.

Renji walked down the hall, trying very hard to think of what he would say. How was he supposed to say, to even begin explaining that he just didn't want Shuuhei in danger, that he wanted Shuuhei to be safe and that-

That he would worry about Shuuhei too much. Renji ground his teeth together, and the urge to physically take his anger out on something gripped him but not as hard as the dread of seeing Shuuhei's face again, full of anger and betrayal with his lips drawn back in a snarl that seemed to make his scars go uneven and jagged like a fresher wound than they really were.

Renji stopped at the guest room, considering the door. Shuuhei was in there, probably thinking about how much of an asshole Renji was but so was everybody else right now. Renji raised his fist, preparing to gently rap against the door, but instead his hand hung in the air a second longer, frozen in time.

A scowl deepened on Renji's face. This wasn't supposed to be this hard, was it? Just knock on the door, and-

Before his fist could make contact, the door swung open and Shuuhei barely escaped getting accidentally punched in the face. Mortified, Renji withdrew his hand and pinned it to his side, where it awkwardly opened and closed its clutch like it wasn't sure what it wanted to do.

"Shuuhei-"

"I'm sorry."

Frozen again. He mentally checked himself; no, Renji was pretty sure Shuuhei hadn't broken his nose and he had just failed to pay attention. Hadn't hit Renji or done anything that he could have done to warrant an apology. In fact, Renji was pretty sure he was here to apologize to Shuuhei, not the other way around.

Renji opened his mouth to speak, although he couldn't think of what he would possibly say. Luckily, Shuuhei cut him off with a raised hand, palm forward in a "cease and desist" motion.

"Let me finish- You were absolutely right. You were the one thinking smart, for once, and I overreacted. It was petty and foolish of me, throwing a temper tantrum, and I apologize for that."

Shuuhei lowered his hand and his eyes followed, fixing on the floor. "You don't need to call me an escort- I can return through the Precipice World on my own. I should at least be able to handle that." He chuckled, and Renji felt a fist wrap around his heart.

"You- you don't actually have to, if you don't want to." Renji said, his voice catching embarrassingly. This wasn't right. Renji was supposed to be convincing Shuuhei to go back, and now somehow the tables had been turned. What went wrong?

"Actually I do." Shuuhei countered, folding his arms over his chest in a casual gesture, "Someone's got to tell people that you, Kurosaki and Kuchiki are running headfirst into danger again. You and I have been AWOL for a bit longer than we planned on being."

Running headfirst into danger. Putting himself in harm's way. Taking a beating for the team. Making Shuuhei sit on the sidelines and wait to see if Renji would be okay like that night by the river.

"I'm going to talk to Urahara. Borrow his senkaimon to head back. I'll report to Captain Kuchiki as soon as I can to let him know you weren't playing hookie so he doesn't slice you into little, bite-sized Renji-pieces when you come back." Shuuhei continued, and he shifted on his feet, angling to get around the living doorblock, Renji.

Shuuhei's hand pressed against the doorframe for leverage. And even though it didn't need to, Renji's palm found the back of that hand. It just sort of floated there, not holding Shuuhei's hand but just sort of extending the moment, as if this one gesture froze everything around them and as soon as Renji moved he knew the world would be set into motion again. Shuuhei's skin wasn't as warm as he imagined it would be like it was the morning they'd woken up in the forest, but Renji didn't mind that. It was sort of nice the way it was.

Shuuhei looked up at him, eyes flickering with slight impatience and curiosity and something Renji didn't think he'd ever be able to understand about Shuuhei.

"Renji?"

Renji mentally struggled for words, but his mouth moved faster than his mind. "Thank you. For everything, Shuuhei." He matched Shuuhei's look with one of determination, because what he wanted to say needed to be more true that anything else. "And I promise I'm not going to die out there. I have to stay alive so I can bring you back Kazeshini."

Shuuhei blinked at him, looking shocked before his mouth curled up at the corners. He smiled a wide, crooked kind of grin, the kind people do sometimes like they've only just relearned how to smile with their whole face. Renji's heart did that weird fluttery-thing again, but he forgot to kick himself.

"Good." Shuuhei announced.

Renji watched from the next room as Shuuhei approached Urahara. He didn't hear them exchange words but he saw them nod at something in agreement. He saw Shuuhei let himself be lead to the back room where he'd decent to the basement and training area of Urahara's, where the senkaimon would be opened, and then closed.

He didn't stop looking down that hall until a hand shook his shoulder. "-Ji. Hey, Renji!"

Renji shook his head, as if waking from a daydream before looking at the owner of the hand shaking his shoulder. Ichigo looked at him, an intense, thoughtful kind of frown planted on his face because in order to know Ichigo one had to be well-versed in the many flavors of frowns.

"Hey, Rukia wants to talk about a plan about tomorrow with us. I don't see the point, seeing as how a plan's never really helped up before. Humor her and maybe she'll give up."

"Hmm?" Renji seemed to process the words slower than they happened, eyes still flicking back down that hall. "Oh. Yeah, sounds good."

Renji let Ichigo lead him in the opposite direction.