"You were sleeping again?" Rukia Kuchiki looked up from a pile of documents and accepted the hot tea Muten Natsu handed her.
"When do I not sleep?" Muten Natsu rubbed his eyes, sat down beside Rukia Kuchiki, picked up a document, and began handling it with practiced ease.
Rukia Kuchiki held the tea in both hands and sipped it slowly.
If Muten Natsu had come here, it meant her workload had just dropped by a lot. "Did you sleep with the Captain?"
Muten Natsu's pen paused. "Her condition is worse than I expected. She's been very weak lately."
Rukia Kuchiki frowned slightly. "Your Soul Essence Stealing only takes away power. Under normal circumstances, it shouldn't cause consequences that severe."
Rukia Kuchiki had experienced it herself. Although the Shinigami powers taken from her had required quite a long time to recover, her spiritual body itself had not suffered any serious damage.
"If it were just ordinary Soul Essence Stealing, that would be true." Muten Natsu sighed. "But Captain Unohana gave me all of her power. If I hadn't forcibly stopped the Soul Essence Stealing, I'm afraid..."
Retsu Unohana had fought at high intensity while healing Muten Natsu's body, and in the end, she had even handed her Zanpakutō over to him.
If ordinary Soul Essence Stealing was like a blood transfusion, then what Retsu Unohana had done was closer to a heart transplant.
Muten Natsu took the documents Rukia Kuchiki handed him, processed them quickly, stamped them with the Captain's seal, and even mimicked Retsu Unohana's handwriting to finish the notes. Then he suddenly realized something was off. "Why are you suddenly asking about this?"
It wasn't as if he and Retsu Unohana had only started sleeping together yesterday or today. Rukia Kuchiki had never asked him that before.
"I... I'm worried about the Captain getting enough rest." Rukia Kuchiki avoided Muten Natsu's gaze. "I'm worried you keep clinging to her all day and stop her from resting properly."
"She sleeps pretty soundly while holding me." Muten Natsu tilted his head and thought back. "Maybe my Soul Essence Stealing helps with her recovery. You should know that better than anyone."
"I've only been sleeping with you for a few days recently... weeks... not even a month!" Rukia Kuchiki's face turned stern. "Anyway, as long as you're not disturbing the Captain's rest."
Her pink cheeks puffed out slightly as she huffed and sorted the documents into categories before shoving them toward Muten Natsu.
That guy, Muten Natsu, seemed to have no special awareness of what sleeping together meant.
It had been one thing before, but why was he still like this now?
Rukia Kuchiki's gaze lingered on Muten Natsu's lips for an instant, then slipped away without a trace before he noticed. "Muten..."
"Mm?"
"There's something..." Rukia Kuchiki had only just begun when she heard a squad member report from outside.
"Lady Kuchiki is here to visit."
"Leave the rest to me." Muten Natsu waved a hand. "It won't take long."
"Yes, yes, you're the best." Rukia Kuchiki handed Muten Natsu her half-finished tea and walked out.
Muten Natsu casually picked up the cup and took a sip. Maybe it was his imagination, but the tea seemed a little sweeter than usual.
His gaze lingered on the rim of the cup for a moment. Then he shook his head and went back to handling the documents.
When Rukia Kuchiki saw Hisana Kuchiki in the reception room, she called out, "Sis!"
"Rukia." Hisana Kuchiki took Rukia Kuchiki's hand and patted it gently. "Congratulations on becoming Lieutenant."
"It's all thanks to everyone looking after me." Rukia Kuchiki still felt undeserving of it. For a Shinigami who had not even been a Seated Officer to be promoted directly to Lieutenant was an exception among exceptions.
"The Captain and Lieutenants with the authority to decide had no objections. This is the result of your own efforts." Hisana Kuchiki pushed the white wooden box on the table toward Rukia Kuchiki. "This is a gift to celebrate your appointment. See if you like it."
Rukia Kuchiki opened the lid, lifted the thin paper on top, and saw the pure white gloves inside.
The gloves were covered from the back of the hand all the way to the elbow. It was sewn from lustrous pure white fabric, giving off a delicate shimmer like fine snow beneath the sun.
"Wow..." Rukia Kuchiki picked up the gloves and ran her fingertips over it. She immediately realized that such thin fabric was not merely decorative. It also had strong defensive power. Ordinary blades would have difficulty doing any real damage, and even blunt attacks could be blocked by infusing Reiatsu into it. "It's beautiful..."
"Now that you've become Lieutenant, you'll have more chances to use your sword than before." Seeing the delight in Rukia Kuchiki's eyes, Hisana Kuchiki's lips curved upward as well. "Your Zanpakutō is ice-based. Although you have a certain resistance yourself, it's still hard to avoid being harmed by the cold. This can give you some help. Keep doing your best in your new position."
Rukia Kuchiki's hand tightened slightly around the gloves, as though she had made some sort of decision. "Sis, I... I've been thinking about something lately."
"Hm?" Hisana Kuchiki blinked. With years of experience dealing with Kuchiki Byakuya, that proud tsundere who said one thing and meant another, her brief confusion quickly gave way to a guess at what Rukia Kuchiki was thinking. "You want to stay in Soul Society?"
"When I went to the World of the Living before, it was because of the threat from Hueco Mundo, so I continued my previous guard duty," Rukia Kuchiki explained. "Now that the threat from Hueco Mundo has been resolved and I've become Lieutenant, I should stay in Soul Society and shoulder my responsibilities."
Hisana Kuchiki nodded. "And?"
"I've already found the direction for my Bankai. I want to master Bankai as soon as possible."
"You can't do that in the World of the Living?"
"Mm..." Rukia Kuchiki inexplicably thought of the warmth of Muten Natsu's lips. "I can't concentrate..."
"Have you talked to Muten Natsu about this?"
"Not yet." That was exactly what Rukia Kuchiki had just been about to tell Muten Natsu.
"Knowing Muten's personality, if you've made your decision, he won't stop you." Hisana Kuchiki thought for a moment. "Does he have no intention of staying in Soul Society?"
"He really likes life in the World of the Living." Rukia Kuchiki thought of those noisy classmates. "Actually, I like it a lot too."
There, no one would become nervous because of her noble status.
Compared to Soul Society, life in the World of the Living was much simpler.
"I see..." Hisana Kuchiki's gaze shifted. "That girl, Orihime, is Muten's friend in the World of the Living, isn't she?"
"Yeah." Rukia Kuchiki did not know why her sister had suddenly brought up Orihime. "What about her?"
"How is your relationship with her?"
"We're good friends too." Rukia Kuchiki could not help smiling. "When I was in the World of the Living..."
Rukia Kuchiki began telling Hisana Kuchiki how she had met Orihime Inoue, sharing with her sister the joy of having made a friend.
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