“And here’s Karakura!”

Kisuke came to a stop next to Mami and stared across the bridge at Karakura, relief coiling through him at the sight of it; he’d never quite known how much the town had come to mean to him over the decades until he’d not been able to return immediately. For somewhere that had started as just a place to lay low until he could work out how to defeat Aizen, he’d become… oddly fond of it.

And even though he couldn’t sense the shoten, or Tessai or the children, he wasn’t worried.

(That just meant that his protections were still active.)

(Which was certainly a good thing.)

Still… he couldn’t wait to get within the bounds of his wards at last, even if it meant enduring Tessai’s fussing; he had so much he needed to think about and look up, and being able to do it in familiar surroundings would help.

Fingers brushed lightly across the back of his hand, and he tore his gaze away from Karakura to arch an eyebrow at Mami in response.

She smiled up at him, soft-warm-kind the way people rarely were after spending days around him, and said, “Do you want us to come with you, or would you rather make your way back home on your own?”

“Maa… I suppose I could introduce some of my rescuers!” Kisuke couldn’t resist saying; their presence would deflect a bit of Tessai’s fussing and disapproval, at least until they left.

Ren chuckled and stepped past him, nodding towards the town proper as they said, “Lead on then.”

Kisuke flashed Ren a grin and set out, wending his way through the town to the shoten, soaking up the bustle of the Living World as he did; it was so different from Soul Society — and from Ren and Mami’s isolated home — that he couldn’t help but relax at the indication that he was almost home.

The shoten looked exactly like usual, complete with Jinta goofing off in the front yard, and he stepped across the ward boundaries in relief, finally, finally feeling like he was home.

“You’re back!” Jinta exclaimed as he dropped his broom and bolted across the yard, shouting, “Tessai! Ururu! Kisuke’s back!” as he did.

Mami chuckled softly, her gentle amusement radiating through her reiatsu presence as she stepped up to his side and smiled down at Jinta. “Hello there.”

Jinta scowled up at her for a moment, then wrinkled his nose and looked away when Kisuke cleared his throat and arched an eyebrow at him. “Hello,” Jinta muttered sullenly, inching closer to Kisuke as he did.

“Don’t mind him,” Kisuke told Mami as he settled a hand on Jinta’s shoulder, inwardly pleased by the way Jinta leaned into the touch. “He’s—”

“A young boy whose guardian went missing,” Mami interrupted him with a touch of amusement. “He’s fine.”

“I didn’t care,” Jinta mumbled in protest, even as he leaned harder into Kisuke’s grip and kicked at the ground. “I knew he’d be back.”

Kisuke opened his mouth to respond — inwardly hoping that the right words would just appear in the next few seconds — only to stumble a step backwards and let out a gasp as something small slammed into his midriff and sent pain jangling across his nerves. He swallowed back any further reactions and reached out with his free hand, ruffling Ururu’s hair as he said, “Hello there, Ururu-chan.”

“You’re back,” she whispered into his stomach, her arms tightening around him and sending another harsh spike of pain through him in the process. “Tessai said you would be but… but…”

“Hey now, it’s alright. I’m fine thanks to the people who found me,” Kisuke attempted to reassure her, hoping it would convince her to let him go—

A few wordless lines of song drifted through the air, carrying power with it that settled into his mostly-healed wounds and dulled the pain back to a manageable level; he sent Ren a thankful look for the save, then turned back to Ururu and ran his hand gently through her hair a few times.

Ururu sniffled but pulled back a bit, sending a watery look at first Mami and then Ren. “Th-thank you,” she mumbled.

“It was our pleasure,” Ren answered with a gently smile. “He’s been a breath of fresh air, to be honest.”

Kisuke laughed awkwardly and looked away, still unsure how they could feel that way about him; he knew his own faults intimately at this point, thank you very much, and few people considered him a ‘breath of fresh air’. That these strange maybe-Quincy did was… strange. Nice, but strange.

(And oh, how he wanted…)

He froze a moment later, mouth going dry at the sight of Tessai standing in the door of the shoten, expression flat and arms crossed over his chest.

(Tessai was… not happy with him.)

(Not that he could blame his friend, but…)

(He hadn’t meant to disappoint him, hadn’t meant to worry him—)

“Welcome back,” Tessai said calmly, evenly, as he stepped from the doorway and crossed the courtyard. His reiatsu reached out to brush inquiringly against Kisuke’s presence even as his gaze swept over Kisuke; his reiatsu was pure concern-worry-relief, but what he sensed from Kisuke seemed to relax him… at least for the moment.

(He had no doubt that Tessai would badger him into a check up as soon as they were in private.)

(He was definitely looking forward to being back to full strength soon.)

Kisuke grinned brightly at Tessai, patted Ururu’s head one last time, then lifted his hand and gestured towards Ren and Mami. “Everyone, this is Ren-san and Mami-san. Ren-san, Mami-san, this is Tsukabish Tessai, Jinta-kun, and Ururu-chan.”

“Nice to meet you,” Mami said with a cheerful smile and a small bow.

Tessai nodded in response and said, “Nice to meet you as well. Would you care to stay for dinner?”

Ren and Mami shared a look, then Ren said, “If we aren’t imposing, we would love to, thank you. It’s a long walk into town.”

“Then please, come in and sit down, dinner will be done shortly,” Tessai said as he turned around and gestured for everyone to follow him. “It’s the least I can do after what you’ve done for Kisuke-san.”

Ren chuckled and followed Tessai in, Mami a few steps behind them, leaving Kisuke alone in the courtyard with Jinta and Ururu.

Kisuke nudged Ururu slightly until her grip on him loosened, then carefully knelt in front of her and tugged her back into a proper hug. “Everything’s alright, Ururu-chan,” he murmured gently. “I’m just fine, and I found some brand new friends in the process.”

She sniffled and nodded against his shoulder, clearly soaking up his presence after the few days he’d been missing.

Jinta grumbled but inched closer until he was practically pressed against Kisuke’s side, arms crossed over his chest and one foot scuffing at the ground, not meeting Kisuke’s gaze even when he looked over to check on the boy.

(Well… he hadn’t expected much else.)

(Jinta wasn’t one for displays like Ururu’s, but he’d clearly been worried the same as she’d been.)

(It was… nice.)

(He’d have to be more careful from now on.)

(He didn’t want to worry them again.)

(Never again.)