"La la la la la~" Orihime Inoue hummed as she got up early, deftly packing three lunchboxes and setting out breakfast for three on the table.
She opened the door to Muten Natsu's room and walked over to his bed. "Muten You're going to be late"
"Mmm..." Muten Natsu squirmed under the covers. "You two go on ahead. I'll get up... later..."
"Get up!" Rukia Kuchiki had somehow followed her in. She yanked the blanket off him in one swift motion. "Orihime's breakfast is going to get cold!"
Muten Natsu sat up groggily, yawned, and stretched his arms wide. "Mmm... morning."
With heavy eyelids, he dragged himself to wash up, changed clothes, then ate breakfast in a daze. "How are you still so energetic? You were up messing around so late last night..."
Orihime Inoue tilted her head toward Rukia Kuchiki. "Huh?"
"Last night, an order suddenly came from Soul Society, so we went out for a bit." Rukia Kuchiki studied Muten Natsu, curious about his condition. "Aren't your injuries already healed? You should be doing better than before. Why do you still look so tired?"
"My injuries are healed," Muten Natsu said. "So I diverted more of my power to Myōki to boost its computational capacity."
Rukia Kuchiki: "...That's so like you."
"Speaking of which..." Orihime Inoue held her chopsticks to her lips. "From what you said before, if you're lazy, your Zanpakutō should be lazy too. So why does it do so much for you?"
"They're two different kinds of lazy." Muten Natsu separated his chopsticks with a small flick. "I'm lazy about thinking. Myōki is lazy about moving. For someone like me who can't be bothered to think, as long as I'm living well, I don't need to do complicated calculations or overthink things. For Myōki, which can't be bothered to act, it only needs to run the calculations and thought processes it's been set up for, and it doesn't have to deal with anything else."
"I get it~" Ririn nodded hard in agreement. "This kind of state is way more relaxing."
In doll form, she could learn whatever she liked without worrying about socializing, didn't have to pay tuition, and even had someone carry her to school.
If she were in human form, it would be way more complicated.
"Oh, right~" Orihime Inoue suddenly remembered that Rukia Kuchiki was a Shinigami too. "Rukia, what does your Zanpakutō look like?"
"I... I didn't bring my Zanpakutō. I'm using an Asauchi right now."
"Huh?" Muten Natsu looked up. "Why aren't you using it?"
"I'm the one who stabbed you with that blade," Rukia Kuchiki shot back, glaring at him. "How do you expect me to use it?"
Every time she touched her original Zanpakutō, Rukia Kuchiki was dragged back to that day.
Forget fighting with it, even drawing the blade had become difficult.
So she put her original Zanpakutō away and switched to a standard Asauchi.
Besides, guarding the World of the Living wasn't supposed to be especially dangerous. An Asauchi should've been enough.
She just hadn't expected things to turn out this dangerous.
"As the guy who got stabbed, I'm the one with the most say here." A trace of memory flickered in Muten Natsu's eyes. "That Zanpakutō is so beautiful that even getting stabbed with it doesn't stop me from liking it."
Rukia Kuchiki stared at him for a long moment. "Let's talk about it after I go back to Soul Society to report in."
Things she once couldn't bear to face could now be spoken of easily.
With Orihime Inoue's help, Muten Natsu and Rukia Kuchiki finally untied the knot in their hearts.
Their relationship had changed a little, and yet, in some ways, it hadn't changed at all.
It was hard to put into words.
But one thing was certain.
It felt so, so much lighter than before.
"Beautiful?" Orihime Inoue leaned forward in curiosity, almost crushing the sandwich on her plate.
Luckily, Muten Natsu reacted quickly and slid the plate aside. "Rukia's Zanpakutō is called Sode no Shirayuki. It's known as the most beautiful Zanpakutō in Soul Society."
Orihime Inoue's big eyes sparkled. "That's amazing!"
"When I go back to Soul Society to report in," Rukia Kuchiki said a little shyly, "I'll bring it and show you."
"Okay~"
After breakfast and a quick cleanup, the three of them... plus Ririn, making four, headed to school together.
...
"Tatsuki," Michiru Ogawa said in the classroom, looking troubled, "you're taking the art elective too, right?"
"Yeah?" Tatsuki Arisawa turned her head from chatting with Orihime Inoue. "What's wrong?"
"Did you do the assignment? The one themed 'Future Me.'"
"I did." Tatsuki Arisawa pulled out her work. "You didn't?"
"I did, but I'm not very confident." Michiru Ogawa glanced at Tatsuki Arisawa's piece. "Wow! This is amazing!"
Tatsuki Arisawa crossed her arms and closed her eyes, picturing the scene in the drawing.
"My dream is to become the women's no-holds-barred fighting champion!"
In the lower-left corner of the page lay a fallen opponent. In the center stood Tatsuki Arisawa's upright figure from behind, holding a golden championship belt high as bright lights cast a glorious glow over her.
"You draw so well..." Michiru Ogawa sighed, still looking at the picture. "Mine really can't compare. With skills like this, why don't you become a painter?"
"Painters can't fight!"
"Then why are you so obsessed with fighting?" Michiru Ogawa noticed Orihime Inoue staring at her and turned to meet her eager gaze.
Orihime Inoue looked at her with wide eyes, one hand holding her bag open while the other hovered inside, ready to pull something out at any moment.
At this point, Michiru Ogawa felt it would be rude not to ask. "Um... Orihime, what did you draw?"
"Hehe... right? It was about time you asked." Orihime Inoue happily took out her drawing. "I'm super confident about this one!"
"What... is that?" Michiru Ogawa's voice jumped an octave the moment she saw it.
In the futuristic city on the page stood a robot that looked remarkably like Orihime Inoue herself.
Orihime Inoue launched into an excited explanation. "Top speed is 380 kilometers per hour! With tracks, it can handle any terrain. It can spit 20,000-degree flames from its mouth, shoot destructive beams from its eyes, and the Gatling gun on the right side—"
"No, no, no! That won't work!" Michiru Ogawa hurriedly cut her off. "That's way too futuristic!"
A question mark practically popped up over Orihime Inoue's head. "Isn't that perfectly on theme?"
"Well... uh..." Tatsuki Arisawa wisely chose not to dig deeper into the topic. "Rukia, what about you?"