Muten Natsu turned around, lazily resting the scabbard across the back of his neck. The tip of the long katana in his right hand settled against the mouth of the scabbard at his nape.
As the blade slowly slid back inside, the Hollow's corpse behind him collapsed into dust. The scattered remnants drifted along with the blade and vanished into the scabbard.
Orihime Inoue could hardly believe her eyes. She called out hesitantly, "Mu… Muten?"
"Orihime," Muten Natsu said as he slid the scabbard back into his belt. "Are you okay?"
"It really is you! I'm fine~ But how did you…" She stopped halfway, suddenly remembering the person in her arms. "Rukia looks badly hurt… huh?"
When Orihime Inoue looked down, she found Rukia Kuchiki staring straight at Muten Natsu with an expression so complicated it was impossible to read.
Rukia Kuchiki bit her lower lip. "Why are you here?"
"Well…" Muten Natsu rubbed his earlobe and glanced aside. "Socks… You are not wearing any. Actually… I'm not the real me."
The Shinigami power inside her had been absorbed by Muten Natsu, and the black robes covering Rukia Kuchiki vanished with it, leaving only a thin white garment clinging to her body.
Rukia Kuchiki's deep violet eyes locked onto him. "Muten Unohana!"
Muten Natsu corrected her irritably, "It's Muten Natsu!"
Rukia Kuchiki grew even angrier. "Say again that you're not the real one!"
"Well…" Orihime Inoue cut in, "If he's not the real one, who else could he be?"
Ah, this…
That single sentence left both of them speechless.
Muten Natsu sighed. "Come on. I have a spare Gigai at home."
He brought a bandage-wrapped humanoid figure up from the basement and set it in the living room. After laying out a clean set of pajamas, Muten Natsu turned and went upstairs.
Orihime Inoue watched wide-eyed as Rukia Kuchiki sank into the human-shaped body. It slowly transformed, shrinking down into a 144-centimeter, 33-kilogram form.
The bandages split apart. Rukia Kuchiki rose from within, now dressed in Muten Natsu's pajamas.
They were far too big for her. The hem of the top hung down to her knees, and the sleeves were so long they completely covered her hands, with extra fabric drooping down.
Rukia Kuchiki tried to roll the sleeves up, but her fingers wouldn't quite cooperate.
When Muten Natsu came back downstairs in his loungewear, he handed her a tube-shaped container. "Good thing I still had some left."
Rukia Kuchiki drank the liquid in one gulp. Her fingers immediately felt more responsive, and in two or three quick motions she rolled the sleeves up neatly.
Orihime Inoue stared in amazement. "That's incredible!"
"Gigai are emergency bodies for Shinigami," Rukia Kuchiki explained. "When we're extremely weakened, we use them to recover our strength. Unlike spirit bodies, Gigai can be seen by ordinary humans, which makes it easier for us to hide our identities."
"Then what was that just now…?"
"A soul-binding agent. It strengthens the connection between the spirit and the Gigai."
Orihime Inoue recalled the clothes Muten Natsu had been wearing earlier, the same as Rukia Kuchiki's. "So… what exactly are Shinigami?"
"Well…" Rukia Kuchiki patted herself, then glanced around. "How should I explain this?"
Muten Natsu handed her a sketchpad and a brush. "Here."
"…Mm." Rukia Kuchiki took them and began to draw and write. "There are two kinds of souls in this world. One is called [Plus]. They're ordinary spirits, what people usually call ghosts, and they generally don't cause any harm."
On the page, a little yellow rabbit smiled cutely, surrounded by small pink hearts.
"The other type is the Hollow you just saw," she continued. "It attacks anyone it encounters, dead or alive, feeding on souls. That's what people call malevolent spirits."
The adorable blue bear wore a cold, mocking grin, sharp yellow lightning crackling around it, looking anything but friendly.
"A Shinigami has two duties," Rukia Kuchiki said, drawing a big X over the blue bear. "First, to purify and eliminate Hollows, like what you just witnessed. Second, to guide Souls to Soul Society."
"That's so cute… wait, no." Orihime Inoue snapped out of her daze at Rukia's childlike doodle and focused on the part she didn't understand. "Soul Society?"
"Soul Society is where Souls live," Rukia Kuchiki replied.
"So there really is an afterlife…" Orihime Inoue murmured. "I wonder what it's like."
"In Soul Society, most Souls survive by absorbing Reishi and drinking water. It's a fairly laid-back place."
"That actually sounds pretty nice~"
"Because Souls live far longer than those in the World of the Living, and because individuals can be extremely powerful," Muten Natsu said, sprawled lazily on the couch, "Soul Society's architecture, lifestyle, and social systems largely retain an ancient feel. It's relaxed, sure, but it's also genuinely boring."
"I see." Orihime Inoue's soft lips moved slightly as her gaze shifted between Rukia Kuchiki and Muten Natsu. "Ah… I should head home and tidy up. You two keep talking."
She was curious, with countless questions she wanted to ask.
But she wasn't just curious, so she didn't press further.
Muten Natsu looked up. "Orihime."
"Hm?"
"Have you eaten tonight?"
"I only got halfway through…" Orihime Inoue rubbed her stomach with a pitiful expression.
"Perfect. I haven't eaten either," Muten Natsu said as he stood and walked into the kitchen. "Eat first, then go clean up."
"Okay~"
Soon, only Orihime Inoue and Rukia Kuchiki were left in the living room.
"Um…" Orihime Inoue hesitated as she looked at Rukia Kuchiki's complicated expression. "Are your injuries any better?"
"A Gigai can stabilize injuries to a Soul to a certain extent," Rukia Kuchiki said, moving her arms slightly. "Don't worry."
"Thank you for saving me earlier," Orihime Inoue said, still shaken when she thought about it. "If it weren't for you…"
"You saved me later too," Rukia Kuchiki said, glancing toward the kitchen. "And even without me, he would've saved you."
"Without you, I wouldn't have handled it so easily either," Muten Natsu added from the kitchen. "And the reason Orihime was targeted by the Hollow was because of me."
"Huh?" Orihime Inoue tilted her head in confusion. "You?"
Muten Natsu leaned against the kitchen doorway. "For certain reasons, I've been slowly absorbing Reishi. Some of it was probably absorbed by you instead, which caused your Reiryoku to awaken."
Rukia Kuchiki finally understood why she hadn't sensed the Hollow earlier. All the spiritual energy it released had been absorbed by Muten Natsu.
"So…" Rukia Kuchiki bit her lower lip lightly. "What exactly happened back then?"
All records related to Muten Natsu had been destroyed, completely erased from Soul Society, but Rukia Kuchiki remembered it clearly:
Muten Natsu had been personally executed by Retsu Unohana, the captain of the 4th Division, for the murder of forty sages and six judges of the Central 46.