Chapter 229: Live Broadcast
Human World, Karakura Town.
The final bell rang through the halls, and the students who belonged to the so called going home club poured out of the school gates in a steady stream.
It was not that they lacked youth of their own. It was just that sometimes, other people's youth unfolded on screens, online, or in places far more spectacular than a normal afternoon in Karakura.
Tatsuki walked beside Orihime as usual.
They had been together for so long that it had become instinct, like breathing. Their steps matched without effort, their silence never awkward.
And yet, lately, Tatsuki kept feeling it.
A thin, invisible wall, growing between them.
Ever since Rukia appeared, that feeling had crept in little by little. Then the man who called himself Aizen showed up, and everything shifted again. At first it was just unfamiliar.
This time, Tatsuki could not even find them.
"Hey, Orihime."
"Hm?"
Tatsuki glanced over. "Don't you think Ichigo's been kind of strange lately?"
"Eh? Has he?" Orihime blinked, genuinely puzzled, as if the thought had never crossed her mind. "If it's Kurosaki kun, he's probably helping someone again. Maybe he's secretly taking care of little animals like last time, hehe."
"No, not that." Tatsuki crossed her arms, frowning as she stared down the road. "Before, we all walked together. Even if he slipped off, he did it clean. But these past few days, he's always rushing. I asked him and he wouldn't say anything."
She clicked her tongue, trying to pin the feeling down.
"It doesn't even feel like something bad. It's more like… he gets excited the second school's over. Like he can't wait to leave. Maybe I'm imagining it."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. And it's not just that." Tatsuki's expression turned even more serious. "He keeps giggling in class for no reason. Then he'll suddenly get hyped halfway through walking home."
She paused, remembering, and her eyebrow twitched.
"Last time he even shouted out loud in class. Everyone jumped."
"Eh? That happened?" Orihime's eyes widened, then she smiled softly. "Kurosaki kun sounds so cute."
Tatsuki stared at her. "To you, he's cute no matter what he does, huh…?"
Orihime only smiled brighter.
Tatsuki sighed, but her voice softened. "And that day… he suddenly came over and told me I was his most important friend or something."
She looked away, pretending it was nothing.
"It seriously made my heart flutter a little."
"Ooh." Orihime's tone changed.
"Tatsuki."
Tatsuki froze.
"Hm? Why are you calling me like that all formal?" Tatsuki spun toward her, then instantly panicked when she saw Orihime's face. "Hey, hey, hey, why do you look so scary all of a sudden? It's nothing, okay, nothing! There's nothing between us! We're just close friends! True friends!"
She waved her hands like she was trying to swat away a ghost.
"There's no way anything could happen between me and that guy!"
"…Really?" Orihime asked, still smiling.
Tatsuki stiffened. "Of course."
Orihime's smile did not change. "Tatsuki, don't underestimate yourself. You'll regret it for life if some two dimensional character snatches away your crush, you know?"
"Crush or whatever, Kurosaki kun and I aren't at that stage yet…" Orihime giggled, cheeks warming.
Tatsuki groaned. "Ugh. That expression is supposed to be on the guy's face, not yours."
How lucky could one idiot be, to have a girl like Orihime looking at him like that?
Tatsuki swallowed the rest of her thoughts and buried them deep. She was good at that. She had been practicing for years.
Maybe this was what growing up meant.
She had gone from Little Dragon to Tatsuki. And Orihime would probably go from Inoue to Orihime soon enough.
A princess with a prince.
A knight and minister standing guard.
There were no stories where a knight walked off with the prince. And if there were, it was usually two men.
There were no female knights with princes.
"However," Orihime said softly, "I don't actually like just staying there and being a princess."
Tatsuki blinked, caught off guard. "Orihime? What are you saying all of a sudden?"
Orihime walked a step ahead, her voice calm, but firm in a way Tatsuki rarely heard.
"You always call me gentle, and you treat me like I'll just accept whatever happens. But Tatsuki…" She turned back slightly. "Are you really okay living like this?"
"What's okay or not okay?" Tatsuki snapped, too quickly. "I already told you I don't have feelings for that guy."
Orihime tilted her head, still smiling. "I didn't say who."
"…" "…"
Tatsuki's eyes shifted away.
Then warmth wrapped around her.
Orihime hugged her from the side, gentle and steady, like sunlight. In that simple embrace, the strange wall Tatsuki had been sensing, the one that had made everything feel distant, melted like it had never existed.
"No matter what other people think," Orihime said quietly, "you're still a girl, Tatsuki. Girls have the right to fight for their own happiness."
Tatsuki's throat tightened.
"If you tell yourself you can't, or you shouldn't, that isn't the Tatsuki I know. The Tatsuki I know is a lovable girl who used to get mad when her nickname sounded too boyish. Growing up with you is the most precious thing to me."
Tatsuki did not answer.
Orihime's arms loosened, but her words stayed sharp.
"So even if people call it foolish, even if they call it ignorant, I want you to stop being afraid of your own feelings. Say them out loud. Kurosaki kun isn't just mine. Everyone has the right to like him, even Rukia."
Orihime's smile was gentle.
Her eyes were not.
"I won't give up. And neither should you."
"N no, no, no, I already said…"
Orihime leaned in a little, voice still soft.
"Then I'm going to take him. The most special place beside Kurosaki kun. The Kurosaki kun who called you Tatsu chan might never show up again. Are you really okay with that?"
Tatsuki opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
She could not compare to her.
Not in gentleness, not in strength, not in that quiet courage that looked like warmth until you realized it was iron.
Tatsuki stared at Orihime for a long moment, then finally let out a breath and smiled, real and helpless at the same time.
"…I'm telling you, you're impossible."
Orihime only laughed.
Unfortunately, the man both girls were talking about had no idea any of this was happening.
The moment school ended, Ichigo bolted like a wild dog that had slipped its leash. He jogged all the way home, shoved the door open, and charged into the living room.
He flicked on the lights.
"Aizen! Aizen!" Ichigo panted, eyes bright with impatient excitement. "How is it? Where's the plot now?"
Aizen sat on the couch as if he owned the place, perfectly composed, as though this was the most normal thing in the world. He gestured toward the television screen, smiling faintly.
"We are already inside the Wandenreich," Aizen said. "Your clone is cautious. He has not exposed our alliance. Yes, the acting training was effective."
Ichigo leaned forward, staring at the screen like he was watching a live broadcast.
.....
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