Renji? Gone? Hokuto stayed silent and kneeling where she was; she'd never gotten to speak to him, but even seeing him around, she knew enough to like him. And now, hearing he'd been killed... she bowed her eyes, closing her eyes for a moment. I'm sorry. Wherever you're going... I hope you're all right.

She didn't know what happened to a shinigami when their gigai was destroyed, but Momo's reaction was more than enough to tell her that it wasn't anything trivial.

For a lot of reasons, this might not be goodbye forever, for anyone--this place could and did bring back the dead, after all. But for now, all they knew was that he was gone, and so he would be mourned.