"Say that again and I really will cry," Muten Natsu threatened. "I can tank the mood in one second and leave you completely at a loss."
"Sure. Go on, cry. Let me hear it." Rukia Kuchiki reached for the collar of Muten Natsu's Shihakushō, trying to check whether he'd been hurt anywhere besides his shoulder.
Muten Natsu caught her pale wrist. "Thanks. I feel a lot better now."
Rukia Kuchiki sensed something was off. "Let go."
"I'm fine."
Rukia Kuchiki narrowed her eyes and caught a glimpse of twisted black veins beneath the skin of Muten Natsu's chest. "I said let go."
"I said I'm fine." Muten Natsu tugged his collar higher, covering the ugly veins.
Rukia Kuchiki didn't back off. She just stared at him, stubborn as ever.
Muten Natsu kept his grip on her wrist, refusing to let her pull his clothes aside.
Their eyes met. Neither of them budged.
"Rukia…" Orihime Inoue called softly. "How are Muten's injuries?"
Rukia Kuchiki yanked her hand free with a sharp flick. "He's not going to die."
Muten Natsu released her wrist as if it had been his idea. "All thanks to your healing."
They stopped glaring at each other and turned their heads away in opposite directions.
"Then what I'm doing…" Orihime Inoue spread her arms and pulled both of them into a hug. "That means it's okay now, right?"
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Rukia Kuchiki was still annoyed, and she got shoved right up against Orihime Inoue and Muten Natsu before she could react.
"Don't mess around…" Muten Natsu tried to pull away, but then he heard Orihime Inoue's trembling voice, thick with tears.
"Thank you…" Orihime Inoue held them tightly. "Thank you for being with me…"
What was there to thank them for?
Too much, really.
Without Rukia Kuchiki's healing, she and Tatsuki might have died here.
Without Muten Natsu's efforts, she probably would have never understood her Nii-san's pain.
If it had been only her… everything might have ended differently.
"Idiot…" Rukia Kuchiki's eyes softened. "We've been through life and death together."
Muten Natsu gently ruffled Orihime Inoue's beautiful hair.
A broken home. School bullying. Losing family.
At the beginning, what Muten Natsu felt for Orihime Inoue came from sympathy, because he understood.
They'd both suffered. They'd both been alone.
But that sympathy quickly became admiration.
Even after everything she'd been through, Orihime Inoue was still bright and optimistic.
It wasn't naïveté, not some clueless cheerfulness. It was stubborn strength, a love of life that endured even after she'd seen how cruel it could be.
Muten Natsu couldn't live with that same kind of lightness.
But being moved by her, he was willing to do everything he could to protect her happiness.
...
When Tatsuki Arisawa woke up, she found herself already at Muten Natsu's place.
Scratching her messy hair, she remembered chatting with Orihime Inoue by the river and somehow falling asleep. Worried she might catch a cold, Orihime had carried her all the way here.
Was the training really that exhausting…?
Tatsuki Arisawa noticed the teddy bear by her pillow. It was the one Muten Natsu had given to Orihime Inoue.
She reached out and touched the bear's head, her thoughts drifting back to Muten Natsu from three years ago.
Back then, he carried a kind of restlessness Tatsuki Arisawa knew all too well.
She had seen it on many aging karate masters.
It was the frustration and bitterness of a soul that still wanted to fight, trapped in a body growing weaker by the day.
If it were the Muten Natsu from back then, Tatsuki Arisawa would never have agreed to let Orihime Inoue live here.
But now…
She pushed open the door and saw Muten Natsu sprawled across the living room sofa.
Like a lazy cat that had eaten its fill and had nothing better to do.
"Ahhh~" Hearing the door open, Muten Natsu lay there yawning and stretching exaggeratedly. He grabbed the back of the sofa and hauled himself upright with effort, rubbed his face, blinked a few times, then stared at Tatsuki Arisawa for a long moment. He tilted his head, thought for a second, then suddenly brightened. "Oh, you're awake."
It took him a good while after being startled by the noise to fully wake up, and even longer to remember to greet her.
Eight whole seconds.
Tatsuki Arisawa mentally took back her earlier thoughts.
Muten Natsu was just a huge lazy cat.
How did this guy even turn into this…?
"Dinner's ready! It's curry today, and it's really good. Muten , go wash your hands." Orihime Inoue leaned out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. "Tatsuki, you're awake! Do you feel okay? I called your mom and told her you'd go back after eating. Oh, right. Muten and Rukia both like it a little sweeter, so I made it sweeter than usual. Is that okay for you?"
Tatsuki: "…I'm fine with anything."
So that's the reason.
Orihime Inoue was absolutely the type to spoil people into uselessness.
"Aizawa-san," Rukia Kuchiki said as she followed Orihime Inoue out, lifting a corner of her skirt and giving an elegant bow. "Good day~"
"Ah… um…" Tatsuki Arisawa was wearing pants, so she could only awkwardly pinch the seam and bow back stiffly. "G-good day…"
So people really do greet others like that.
"She went to a different kind of school than we did," Muten Natsu explained.
Tatsuki Arisawa immediately imagined one of those elite schools with ridiculously complicated etiquette. "That explains it…"
Hot curry was poured over rice that had cooled just enough. After a quick stir with the spoon, the temperature was perfect.
One big bite filled her mouth with a rich, fragrant aroma.
"Cough, cough!" Completely unprepared, Rukia Kuchiki was hit by the spices and teared up. "That's… strong…"
Orihime Inoue handed her a tissue. "You never had curry back there…?"
"No, I've never even seen it." Rukia Kuchiki wiped her eyes and braced herself for another bite. Spicy, with a hint of sweetness, the flavor was complex and hard to describe, but… "It's really good!"
Tatsuki Arisawa became even more convinced that Rukia Kuchiki must have gone to a high-class school.
"It really is delicious," Tatsuki Arisawa said after tasting it herself. "I didn't know you could make curry."
"Muten kept saying he wanted to eat it, so I tried learning," Orihime Inoue said, happily swinging her legs. "Before this, only Muten had tried it, and I was worried he was just humoring me. But since you all say it's good, I guess he really wasn't lying."
Tatsuki Arisawa shot Muten Natsu a glare. "If you wanted it so badly, why didn't you learn how to make it yourself?"
Muten Natsu answered honestly, "Because I'm lazy."
Tatsuki Arisawa: "…"
Arguing back felt like a guaranteed loss.