Rukia Kuchiki bit her lower lip. "You..."
"Rukia, you know I've always been lazy," Muten Natsu said quietly. "So I only do what I feel like doing."
The strength drained from Rukia Kuchiki's grip on his hand. Fighting back the tears in her eyes, she circulated Kaidō and began healing the wounds on Muten Natsu's body.
The burn marks faded rapidly. Muten Natsu moved his arm slightly. "Tha—"
Before he could finish, Rukia Kuchiki shot him a fierce glare with tear-bright eyes, then turned and walked away without looking back.
Muten Natsu opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't call out to stop her.
He walked over to the parakeet. "Now I'm sending you to Soul Society."
After smoothly explaining a few things to watch out for, Muten Natsu paused. "Is there anything else you want to say?"
"Thank you, big brother." The parakeet looked over at Yasutora Sado, who had already been healed by Rukia Kuchiki. "And uncle, thank you too. Really."
Yasutora Sado leaned against the wall. "Mm... it was nothing."
"Thanks to you taking me around to hide, I didn't get hurt at all..."
"Mm... it was nothing."
With Muten Natsu's help, Yūichi Shibata's soul gradually separated from the parakeet's body. "I'm leaving now... I'm really... very grateful..."
"Yūichi," Yasutora Sado called out. "When I die someday and go over there too, will I still be able to... carry you around like before?"
The boy froze for a moment, then smiled warmly. "Of course, Uncle."
"I'm only fifteen..."
The black Jigokuchō fluttered its wings and quietly vanished together with Yūichi Shibata.
Muten Natsu deftly took out the Kikanshinki. With a sharp click, Yasutora Sado immediately fell into a deep sleep.
"This is the Kikanshinki," Muten Natsu explained to Ichigo Kurosaki. "It makes people without Reiryoku forget things they're not meant to remember."
"Natsu!" Ichigo Kurosaki frowned deeply. "I... can I have power like yours too?"
He was sick of being powerless.
Muten Natsu looked at the unwillingness written all over Ichigo Kurosaki's face. "It's better if you don't have power like mine."
"Why?!"
"When you have no power, all you feel is helplessness," Muten Natsu said, his gaze complicated. "But once you gain power, what you'll face is even more pain."
"More pain?" Ichigo Kurosaki shouted. "Then I'll just get stronger!"
"What, you think this is some game where you can just turn on cheats and power up whenever you want?" Muten Natsu rolled his eyes at him. "Still, you're not wrong."
Leaving Yasutora Sado in Ichigo Kurosaki's care, Muten Natsu headed home alone.
Three years of peaceful life passed in the blink of an eye. As his strength gradually returned, the calm before the storm began to grow restless.
What should I do...
I just need to become stronger.
And the way to do that was simple.
Defeat more enemies and reclaim my lost power.
And when necessary, return to Soul Society to retrieve my other Zanpakutō.
"Rukia, you're back~" Not long after Tatsuki Arisawa left, Orihime Inoue spotted Rukia Kuchiki returning on her own. "Huh? Where's Muten?"
"He..." Rukia Kuchiki pressed her lips together lightly. "He'll be back a bit later."
"Oh, okay then. I made something tasty."
"I don't really have an appetite... sorry." Rukia Kuchiki forced a small smile. "I'm going to lie down for a while."
Back in her room, Rukia Kuchiki threw herself onto the bed.
...
Back then, she and Muten Natsu had been brought to Seireitei by Retsu Unohana, entered the Shin'ō Academy, graduated smoothly as Shinigami, and watched their lives steadily improve.
Rukia Kuchiki had naturally believed that things would only keep getting better...
Then the Central 46 Division accused Muten Natsu of murdering his comrades and locked him away in the Fourth Underground Prison, Scream.
Takuma Tsunayashiro, his close friend and classmate at the Shin'ō Academy.
Kaien Shiba, the lieutenant who helped Muten Natsu master his Shikai.
Even when all the evidence pointed to Muten Natsu, Rukia Kuchiki refused to believe he was guilty.
She investigated everywhere she could, until she encountered a powerful Hollow on the plains at the outskirts of Rukongai.
At the moment of crisis, Muten Natsu, who should have been imprisoned, appeared and cut the Hollow down in a single strike of his katana.
That was the first time Rukia Kuchiki had seen the eye on Muten Natsu's forehead.
He said it was proof that his power had grown, evidence of a new breakthrough.
Only now did Rukia Kuchiki understand just how great a price Muten Natsu had paid to save her.
If she hadn't seen the Gates of Hell today, he probably would never have told her any of this.
"Always like this..." Rukia Kuchiki hugged the blanket tightly. "It's always like this..."
...
Orihime Inoue stood worriedly outside Rukia Kuchiki's door. Even though Rukia hadn't said a word, Orihime could still see how much she was hurting.
That kind of forced composure was something Orihime knew all too well.
The door opened, and Muten Natsu walked in.
"Muten!" Seeing his torn and battered Shihakushō, Orihime Inoue immediately realized he'd just been in another fight. "Are you okay?"
"Rukia already healed me." Muten Natsu glanced toward Rukia Kuchiki's door. "She..."
"She hasn't come out since she got back," Orihime Inoue said quietly. "She looks really sad..."
"I see..." Muten Natsu scratched his ear. "Is there anything to eat? I'm kind of hungry."
"There is" Orihime Inoue brought over the dinner she'd prepared. "Go on, eat"
"Time to eat!" Muten Natsu ate noisily, smacking his lips as loud as he could. He finished quickly, then let out a sigh. "Didn't work."
Orihime Inoue tilted her head. "Were you trying to lure Rukia out with the sound of eating?"
"So it really didn't work?"
Orihime Inoue stared at him. "...Why did you think that would work?"
Click.
Rukia Kuchiki opened her door. "Orihime, is there anything left to eat?"
"There is~" Orihime Inoue replied, sounding almost disbelieving.
It actually worked.
Well, sort of.
After finishing her food, Rukia Kuchiki shut herself back in her room again.
Orihime Inoue looked over at Muten Natsu.
What were they supposed to do next?
"Hmm..." Muten Natsu stood up. "I'm going to wash up."
"Wait~" Orihime Inoue grabbed him. "You're just going to leave it like this?"
"Isn't this fine?"
"How is this fine?" Orihime Inoue warned him seriously. "Rukia might die!"
"Huh?"
"Rabbits die if they get too lonely!" Orihime Inoue declared, her logic airtight. "Rukia loves rabbits so much. If she gets too lonely, she might die just like one!"