"Going by what you said..." Orihime Inoue thought back to the times they had slept together. "When the three of us slept together with Muten, were you actually unhappy?"
"Hmm..." Rukia Kuchiki searched her memory. "I don't think... I don't think I was unhappy."
In fact, Rukia Kuchiki felt more relaxed when the three of them were together than when she slept alone with Muten Natsu.
Orihime Inoue pressed further. "Then would you be unhappy if we all slept together again in the future?"
"I..." Rukia Kuchiki imagined the scene, but it did not stir any particular emotion in her. "I... don't know."
Who could say what might happen in the future?
"Then that exclusivity you mentioned doesn't seem to exist at all," Orihime Inoue said in confusion. "You like Muten, I like Muten, and we're still good friends. We can eat together, sleep together, and do the things we enjoy together. Isn't that nice?"
Rukia Kuchiki looked into Orihime Inoue's eyes. "Then what if Muten and I did something even more intimate?"
"I could do it too." Orihime Inoue came up with what she thought was a good solution. "Or I could do something even more intimate. Then it would be your turn to decide what to do."
...
"Rukia has never done anything like this for you, has she?" Retsu Unohana embraced Muten Natsu from behind, wrapping her legs around him and gently pressing against him with her foot. "I know you really like this feeling, don't you?"
Behind him was Retsu Unohana's warm embrace. In front of him was her gentle touch, and beside his ear was her hot, damp breath. Muten Natsu opened his mouth to answer, but only a muffled sound escaped.
"You haven't said anything, but I already understand." Retsu Unohana breathed softly against his ear. "Because we're doing something so intimate, this close contact lets me sense your thoughts directly."
"You need to remember that too." Retsu Unohana kissed Muten Natsu's reddened earlobe, using it to restrain her own increasingly rapid breathing. "Don't lose yourself in the pleasure of taking control. Pay close attention to the other person's slightest reactions and adjust your rhythm accordingly. A little slower... then faster... faster still... a little harder... and when necessary..."
Retsu Unohana tightened her arms slightly, holding the trembling Muten Natsu in place. A simple kiss was no longer enough to calm her.
She watched the curve of Muten Natsu's neck as he tilted his head back, breathed out a warm sigh, and parted her lips.
...
Rukia Kuchiki opened her mouth. How had the question ended up being turned back on her?
Something even more intimate...
Images of her intense sparring with Muten Natsu the night before surfaced uncontrollably in her mind, and her palm immediately seemed to burn all over again.
And it had not happened only once. Because she had refused to lose to him, Rukia Kuchiki had gone at it again and again...
"Your face is so red." Orihime Inoue leaned closer to inspect her. "Were you thinking about... doing something intimate with Muten?"
"I wasn't..." Rukia Kuchiki denied it instinctively. "I... I was thinking about... about the Captain! Yes, Captain Unohana!"
"What about Unohana-san?"
Rukia Kuchiki silently apologized to Retsu Unohana. "I was thinking... Suppose Captain Unohana was doing something intimate with Muten right now. Something very, very intimate. How would you feel?"
"By very, very intimate, do you mean..." Orihime Inoue pressed her fingers into the fullness of her chest. "Like this?"
Her fingers could actually sink in?
Rukia Kuchiki stared at the astonishing sight, struck both emotionally and by just how unfairly different people could be.
Muten Natsu's hand could never sink into hers like that... No!
"I mean something even more intimate than that." Rukia Kuchiki restrained her own hand, which was itching to reach out. "What would you do?"
Orihime Inoue looked confused. "Would Unohana-san really do that kind of thing with Muten? Why would she?"
"It's just a hypothetical..." Rukia Kuchiki casually invented a reason. "As for why... Maybe she's teaching him about those things so he can get along with you better."
What kind of ridiculous excuse was that?
"If what you're saying is true," Orihime Inoue said, sitting up with a serious expression, "then we can't keep lying here chatting."
"I already told you it was hypothetical." Rukia Kuchiki held Orihime Inoue down. There was no possible way Captain Unohana was doing that sort of thing with Muten Natsu right now. "Wait... What do you mean, 'we'?"
"If Unohana-san is teaching Muten how to get along with us, then we should sit in on the lesson too." Orihime Inoue finally remembered that Rukia Kuchiki had only been speaking hypothetically and obediently lay back down. "We should all work hard together..."
"This isn't something we can do together..." Rukia Kuchiki felt utterly exhausted.
Orihime Inoue gazed at Rukia Kuchiki's helpless expression. "Isn't this what it means to like someone?"
"...Huh?" Rukia Kuchiki had no idea why Orihime Inoue had suddenly said that. "What do you mean?"
"In my eyes, Rukia, you've always been someone who knows exactly what she wants and what she should do." Orihime Inoue looked at her with admiration. "No matter how complicated the situation is or what obstacles stand in your way, you always find the right direction and keep moving toward it. You say what you want to say and do what you want to do."
Rukia Kuchiki froze. She had never imagined that Orihime Inoue saw her as someone so remarkable.
"And you don't only do that for yourself. You help other people too. You use your sensitivity to notice their troubles and your strength of heart to guide them in the right direction," Orihime Inoue continued. "You did it during the Konsō in the World of the Living, in Hueco Mundo, and when we faced the Reigai. When I didn't know how to get along with Muten, you were the one who pushed me into his room and made us sleep together."
Rukia Kuchiki fell silent. She had not expected the two of them to actually sleep together either.
"But whenever it comes to Muten... you become a completely different person. You aren't as decisive as you usually are. It's as though you don't know what to do or even what you want, yet you're constantly afraid of losing something." Orihime Inoue took Rukia Kuchiki's hand. "I think that's what liking someone looks like, because I've felt the same way before. Back then, you were there to help me. But now that I'm the one beside you, I don't know how to help."