Muten Natsu lazily lifted his eyes toward the source of the voice.
"Hm?"
Several upperclassmen in school uniforms stared at him with open hostility. The one in front, a guy with a nose ring, barked loudly.
"Hm my ass! Don't you know you're supposed to greet your seniors?"
The others chimed in from the side.
"Act like a high schooler now that you're in high school!"
"Hurry up and say hello, idiot!"
"What, you think this is still middle school?"
Just as Muten Natsu was about to speak, Orihime Inoue grabbed his sleeve first.
Turning to see the worry in her eyes, Muten Natsu took a deep breath.
"Sen—"
The nose-ringed guy slapped the cake out of Muten Natsu's hand, sending it crashing to the ground.
"Don't you have any manners at all? Greeting people while holding a cake?" he shouted.
"Hands to your trouser seams and bow, you bastard!"
"Can't bow? Then kneel!"
"Hand over your money too!"
Muten Natsu's restraint only made them bolder.
"Don't make us remind you again next time!"
"What are you dragging your feet for?"
"Hurry up, hurry up!"
Completely ignoring their noise, Muten Natsu bent down and picked up the cake.
"That was close."
Orihime Inoue bit her lower lip.
"Muten..."
"It's fine," Muten Natsu said, shaking his head. "It hasn't been three seconds yet."
"Muten?" The nose-ringed guy sneered. "What kind of weird name is that?"
He raised his hand and slapped toward Muten Natsu's face again.
"Did you forget to greet us? What are you even thinking?!"
Smack.
"I was thinking..."
Muten Natsu caught the man's wrist mid-swing with one hand, while calmly passing the cake to Orihime Inoue with the other.
"You really don't seem to know me very well."
"You idiot—!"
The nose-ringed man struggled furiously but couldn't break free, his face growing uglier by the second.
"Let go!"
"Muten Natsu is the name of a flower," Muten Natsu said unhurriedly. His lazy eyes slowly opened wider, the light within them sinking into a deep, unfathomable darkness. "It blooms early, then stops flowering after the start of summer. That's why it's called Muten Natsu."
"The dried tuber promotes blood circulation, unblocks the meridians, regulates qi, relieves pain, dispels wind, and removes dampness."
"What the hell are you talking about..."
The nose-ringed man faintly heard the sound of bones cracking in his wrist. Shocked and enraged, he lashed out with a horizontal kick.
"I said let go!"
Muten Natsu was faster.
He kicked the man squarely in the knee. As the nose-ringed man lost his balance, Muten Natsu raised his knee, grabbed his hair, and yanked downward.
Bang!
"Just a self-introduction," Muten Natsu said, hauling him up by the collar. "So tell me, whose name did you just say was weird?"
"AAAAH!"
Blood poured from the man's nose as his voice slurred. "You... you actually dare..."
"Boss!"
"Damn it!"
"Kill him!"
The rest rushed forward all at once. Two of them even slipped on brass knuckles.
"You're dead, kid!"
"How dare you fight back!"
"Let him go!"
Orihime Inoue calmly dialed the emergency number.
"We need an ambulance at the front entrance of the Sunflower Tailor Karakura branch. Yes. Let me count... one..."
Muten Natsu swung his arm, throwing the nose-ringed man straight at the one charging the fastest. The instant that person caught him, a front kick followed, sending both of them flying.
"My name is Muten Natsu," he continued evenly. "I'm sixteen years old."
"Two..."
He tilted his head to dodge a straight punch reinforced with brass knuckles, stepped in close, braced his shoulder under the attacker's armpit, seized his neck, and swept his legs out from under him, slamming him hard into the ground.
"My hobbies are sleeping and swimming."
"Three..."
Twisting his waist, he caught a side kick, pinned the knee with one hand to stop it from exerting force, then kicked out the opponent's other leg, flipping him to the ground.
"I like sweets and fruit."
"Four..."
Crackling sounds rang out as a man with an electric baton approached with ill intent. Muten Natsu slid aside, grabbed his wrist, and crushed down, forcing him to drop the weapon.
Then a punch smashed into his face.
"Very..."
Another punch.
"Very..."
One more punch.
"Very..."
Muten Natsu released his grip and watched the man with the electric baton collapse to the ground.
"I hate school violence very much."
"Five." Seeing the last two flee in panic, Orihime Inoue stopped counting. "Five injured in total."
Muten Natsu glanced at the two who had escaped and couldn't be bothered to chase them.
"You're clearly using violence..." The nose-ringed man, still sprawled on the ground and unable to get up, glared at Muten Natsu with resentment. "Yet you say you hate it..."
"If you can't put an end to an enemy's violence once and for all," Muten Natsu said with a gentle smile, revealing neat, stark-white teeth. Paired with his sunken eye sockets, it looked like the grin of a skull. "Doesn't that kind of thing get so boring it becomes unbearable?"
An invisible pressure descended. The nose-ringed man's breath hitched, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out.
Muten Natsu patted his face, returning to his usual languid expression. He leaned closer to Orihime Inoue and took a bite off the pointed tip of the preserved egg cheese cake.
"Mmm."
Wasting food was the most shameful thing. As long as it hadn't been on the ground for more than three seconds, it was still edible.
Muten Natsu chewed slowly, his expression gradually going blank.
Orihime Inoue blinked.
"Is it not good?"
"I was prepared for it to taste bad," Muten Natsu said, taking another bite. "But it turned out unexpectedly good. So good it's hard to believe."
"Really?"
"Of course." Muten Natsu finished the cake in two or three bites, still wanting more. "When will you make it again?"
"Hmm~" Orihime Inoue clasped her hands behind her back. "I'll think about it."
"You still have to think about it..."
"You took so long to decide whether to eat it, so I'll take just as long to decide when to make it again..."
As they talked, they crossed the intersection, and Karakura High School came into view.
It was cherry blossom season, and students were gathered around the campus in small groups, chatting animatedly.
Muten Natsu and Orihime Inoue checked the directions, found the class assignment list posted on the bulletin board, and located both their names in Class 1-3.
"Tatsuki-chan is here too!" Orihime Inoue pointed at Tatsuki Arisawa on the list. "She should already be in the classroom."
"Sigh..." Muten Natsu let out a long sigh and followed Orihime Inoue toward the classroom.
"A weakness!"
The moment Orihime Inoue reached the classroom door, a sharp shout rang out. She reacted instinctively, crossing her arms to block the incoming punch.
"Mm." The short-haired girl with dark blue hair withdrew her fist in satisfaction and patted Orihime Inoue on the shoulder. "Pass. Your reflexes have improved."
"That's because your teaching methods are amazing, Tatsuki-chan~"
"If they were really that amazing..." Tatsuki Arisawa shot a fierce glare at Muten Natsu. "Then why would someone only train for three days?"