Feeling the warmth of Orihime Inoue's palm, Rukia Kuchiki briefly lost herself in thought.
No wonder she had felt so helpless while talking to Orihime Inoue, as though nothing she said could make Orihime understand.
Of course she could not make Orihime Inoue understand.
She did not even understand it herself.
She did not understand her own feelings.
She did not understand what she wanted.
She did not understand what she should do.
"No..." Rukia Kuchiki pursed her lips. "You've already helped me a great deal."
"Huh?" Orihime Inoue clasped Rukia Kuchiki's hand more tightly, delighted. "Really?"
Rukia Kuchiki let out a soft breath. "Of course. You helped me realize what my problem is."
When Rukia Kuchiki had raised those questions, it was not Orihime Inoue's answer she wanted to know. It was her own.
Orihime Inoue had already made her answer perfectly clear.
She liked Muten Natsu.
She wanted to be with Muten Natsu.
She wanted to care for Muten Natsu just as he cared for her, and to help Rukia Kuchiki just as Rukia Kuchiki had helped her.
They were happy together, and she wanted everyone to remain together from now on.
It was that simple.
Orihime Inoue knew exactly what she wanted. She did not need a confused Rukia Kuchiki to explain anything to her.
But Rukia Kuchiki did not understand.
She did not understand why she liked Muten Natsu yet had never truly established a relationship with him.
She did not understand why, despite never establishing that relationship, she had done so many intimate things with him.
She did not understand why, after doing so many intimate things with him, she felt no objection to Muten Natsu being intimate with other people.
She did not understand why, despite having no objection herself, she kept asking whether Orihime Inoue would object.
What answer had she wanted to hear?
Orihime Inoue had already said she did not mind, yet Rukia Kuchiki had continued asking.
She had even dragged the innocent Captain Unohana into it.
Did she really want Orihime Inoue to say that she minded?
Why did she want to hear that so badly?
As her thoughts turned into something close to a self-interrogation, Rukia Kuchiki arrived at the answer.
If Orihime Inoue clearly said she objected, then as Orihime Inoue's good friend, Rukia Kuchiki would have to keep her distance from Muten Natsu.
So...
She wanted a suitable reason to distance herself from Muten Natsu.
Just as she had once wanted a suitable reason to leave Soul Society and come to Muten Natsu's side.
Part of her wanted to draw closer, while another part wanted to pull away.
What was wrong with her?
...
"It's perfectly normal to have thoughts that contradict an emotion when that emotion becomes too intense." Retsu Unohana kissed the bite mark on Muten Natsu's neck. "You'll have similar thoughts in the future, so I thought I'd let you experience it beforehand."
A faint glow appeared at her fingertips. With a wave of her hand, Retsu Unohana erased the mark she had left behind.
"I..." Muten Natsu nestled against Retsu Unohana, his entire body languid and unwilling to move. "Will I have thoughts like that too?"
"Yes. It's a form of self-protection." Retsu Unohana gently stroked Muten Natsu's head, playing with his soft black hair. "When you feel extremely good, all you can think about is making yourself feel even better. What you do next makes you feel better still, which only strengthens your desire for more. Eventually, you become completely lost in it and can no longer pull yourself free. To prevent that, your body creates a destructive impulse and gives you frightening thoughts. Once you realize how frightening those thoughts are, they help bring you back to your senses."
Muten Natsu's body was exhausted, but his mind was clearer than usual.
As soon as Retsu Unohana explained it, he thought of [Cute Attack].
As the name suggested, a Cute Attack was the aggressive impulse produced by seeing something adorable, such as the urge to squeeze it to death.
The underlying reason was that seeing a cute animal triggered positive emotions in the brain. When those positive emotions became too strong and exceeded what rational thought could handle, someone overwhelmed by excitement could no longer calm down enough to care for the animal properly. Negative emotions would then arise to restore balance, allowing the adorable creature before them to receive better care.
Those somewhat frightening thoughts were essentially a dual expression of emotion. Positive emotions appeared alongside negative ones, much like crying from happiness.
It was a means of emotional regulation. The negative emotion helped people restrain their unbridled positive feelings and escape more quickly from being consumed by a single emotional state.
Having such contradictory thoughts did not mean someone truly wanted to cause harm. It meant their affection had grown so intense that they were close to losing their reason.
"Still don't understand?" Noticing that Muten Natsu had not responded, Retsu Unohana blinked. "Well... I suppose it would be better for you to experience it yourself."
"Experience it myself?"
"You can." Retsu Unohana whispered beside his ear. "Consider it repayment for what I did earlier. You can bite a little harder..."
Muten Natsu hesitated for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.
"Mmm..." Retsu Unohana cradled Muten Natsu's head in her arms. "You're barely biting at all... You really are such a gentle boy~"
Muten Natsu tightened his arms around Retsu Unohana, holding her even closer.
...
The graduation ceremony for the highest grade was held in March, but when the second semester ended in December, the school also held a closing ceremony.
Its purpose was to recognize the students' hard work and accomplishments, strengthen their confidence and sense of belonging, provide fresh motivation and goals for the new semester, reinforce the bond between teachers and students, and foster a positive school culture.
In the school auditorium, Student Council President Mizuho Asano was reading out the precautions for winter break and the notices from each committee.
Although she stood onstage, her thoughts had already drifted elsewhere.
That monk... It had been a long time since she had last seen him.
Through an unexpected chain of events, her younger brother, Keigo Asano, had brought a man named Ikkaku Madarame and his companions into their home.
Fate was a strange thing. It arrived without warning, then vanished just as suddenly.
Perhaps that was simply life.
Mizuho Asano swept her gaze across the students below.
One bald man had once dazzled her, and ever since then, everyone else had seemed dull by comparison.
Too much hair...
"Why does Asano's older sister seem to be looking at everyone so strangely?" Tatsuki Arisawa muttered, then turned toward Orihime Inoue beside her. "Also... what's going on here?"
Orihime Inoue sat perfectly upright. Rukia Kuchiki and Muten Natsu sat on either side of her, sleeping soundly with their heads resting on her shoulders.
"Well..." Orihime Inoue smiled. "They didn't sleep well last night."
Had they slept poorly... or far too well?
Tatsuki Arisawa had serious doubts.
Suddenly, a faint vibration came from Muten Natsu.
Muten Natsu, who had appeared to be sound asleep, snapped his eyes open like a corpse returning to life and pulled out his phone to check the message.
Tatsuki Arisawa knew it was information from Soul Society concerning a Hollow. Muten Natsu needed to deal with it as soon as possible.
Uryū Ishida sighed. "Muten, ask the teacher for leave on my behalf."
"Hm?" Muten Natsu had been about to ask for leave himself.
"Even after a bad night's sleep, you should still be capable of handling something as simple as that." Without waiting for Muten Natsu to answer, Uryū Ishida picked up his schoolbag and walked out.
"He..." Tatsuki Arisawa pointed at Uryū Ishida as he strode away. "He wants Muten to get some proper rest, right?"
"That's just how tsunderes are." Orihime Inoue stroked Muten Natsu's head. "There, there. Everything's fine. Go back to sleep."
Muten Natsu tilted his head and immediately fell asleep against Orihime Inoue's shoulder again.
With sleep that deep, how had he failed to sleep well last night?
Tatsuki Arisawa fell silent.
When she had first met Orihime Inoue, Orihime had still been a young girl who had only just entered middle school.
But now...
Tatsuki Arisawa glanced at Rukia Kuchiki and Muten Natsu sleeping against Orihime Inoue's shoulders, then noticed the gentle expression on Orihime's face.
She felt as though Orihime Inoue had already become a mother of two.
Elsewhere, Mizuho Asano had been scanning the students in search of a bald head when Uryū Ishida suddenly rose and left his seat, drawing her attention.
She was instantly stunned.
What was with that extraordinary student council president aura?
He was not a monk, though.
That stern expression, those lips pressed into a tight line, and the cold gleam above his glasses. He looked as though a god had sent him into the world specifically to become a student council president!
Unfortunately, he was not a monk.
Compared with him, the current vice president was utterly unqualified to inherit the position. She felt sorry for saying it, but the difference in both appearance and presence was simply too great. This boy was undoubtedly a natural-born student council president!
Even though he was not a monk.
Using every privilege available to her as president, Mizuho Asano quickly found Uryū Ishida's information. After confirming that he was not merely a long-haired monk, she still decided to pass her position on to him.
"You'll be the next student council president! I leave Karakura First High in your hands!"
Uryū Ishida stared at the armband that had been thrust into his hands. The words [Karakura First High Student Council President] were embroidered across it in elegant calligraphy.
He stood frozen for quite some time before realizing that he had become entangled in serious trouble.
"Wait! I have no intention of taking over!" Uryū Ishida hurried after Mizuho Asano as she walked away without a care. "And why me? I have absolutely nothing to do with the Student Council!"
"Are you seriously asking me that?" Mizuho Asano looked both astonished and exasperated as she challenged him with complete confidence. "You're a natural-born student council president. You were born looking exactly like one, yet you still have the nerve to ask?"
"What...?" Uryū Ishida had never heard anything like this before. "You chose me solely because I look like a student council president? As the current president, what exactly do you think a student council president is?"
"A figurehead," Mizuho Asano replied succinctly.
Uryū Ishida stared at her in confusion.
"Listen carefully. A student council president is nothing more than a figurehead. Do you understand what that means? Looking the part is enough. The actual work is delegated to subordinates, so saying that appearance is everything would not be an exaggeration!" Mizuho Asano continued. "In fact, looking like a student council president is the hardest and most important responsibility of the entire position!"
"That is absolutely an exaggeration..." Uryū Ishida had no desire to argue with her. He pushed up his glasses and declared righteously, "In any case, I refuse!"
"Very well..." Mizuho Asano wore an expression that said, [I didn't want to do this either]. "Ishida, I hear you frequently slip out halfway through class."
Uryū Ishida's expression stiffened. "...I only go to the infirmary because I'm in poor health. I'll make adjustments soon."
Now that both Muten Natsu and Rukia Kuchiki were in the World of the Living, there would be fewer situations requiring him to eliminate Hollows.
"Oh my~ Is that so? I asked the school nurse to show me the infirmary records, but your name never appeared even once, Ishida. I wonder where you've really... been running off to~"
Mizuho Asano advanced toward him step by step, then abruptly stopped and straightened.
"But I'm not trying to investigate where you've been. I merely wanted to tell you that once you become student council president, the faculty will turn a blind eye even if you occasionally act out. That would be convenient for you too, wouldn't it? So... you won't refuse, will you?"
Faced with Mizuho Asano's smiling expression, Uryū Ishida turned away to avoid her gaze. "Everything I've done was something I needed to do. Even if it causes the teachers to watch me more closely, I don't care."
"That didn't work either..." Mizuho Asano muttered as she studied his resolute profile. "Then did you know that Student Council members receive a thirty-percent discount on every item in the school store? It's a privilege reserved for those who rule over others~"
Uryū Ishida whipped his head around. "Wh-what!?"
"And once you become president, the discount gets even better..." Mizuho Asano grinned and pointed at the armband as she revealed the answer. "Fifty percent! Become student council president, and every single item in the school store, no matter what it is, will be half price!"
Uryū Ishida's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the crumpled armband in his hand.
Could something like this... truly possess such power?
Come to think of it, the calligraphy really was beautiful...
With that thought, Uryū Ishida carefully smoothed the wrinkles from the armband and gradually began to feel the weight of the responsibility it represented.
"Thank you for your hard work, President." Uryū Ishida bowed with utmost respect. "Leave everything from here on to me. You may step down without any worries."
"I knew I hadn't misjudged you!" Mizuho Asano now saw even more potential in Uryū Ishida than his appearance alone suggested. "By the way, have you ever considered becoming a monk?"
Uryū Ishida stared at her blankly.
Watching Uryū Ishida walk away, Mizuho Asano noticed that his steps had become considerably lighter.
"Could the rumor really be true?" she muttered. "That the only son of a family that owns a major hospital is actually poor..."