The Shun Shun Rikka returned to the form of hairpins. Full of joy, Orihime Inoue started toward Muten Natsu, but stopped in front of the ruined Shijū Saimon.
Rukia Kuchiki had thrown herself into Muten Natsu's arms.
After holding out for a full hour, Hachigen Ushōda was finally able to rest a little, and he dispelled the Shijū Saimon.
But Orihime Inoue was still standing there.
"I've already taken down the barrier..." Hachigen Ushōda reminded her. "Go ahead. Though it looks like you could've gone through even with the barrier still up."
"I can't go over there..." Orihime Inoue kept both hands behind her back, her gaze flickering slightly. "The barrier... is still there."
Rukia Kuchiki clung tightly to Muten Natsu's neck, afraid that in the very next moment he might disappear right in front of her eyes. "Idiot... what took you so long to come back..."
"I turned out to be even more troublesome than I expected. If it weren't for you..." Muten Natsu paused, then raised his head as if sensing something, only to meet Orihime Inoue's slightly lonely gaze.
The moment her eyes met his, that loneliness vanished into the depths of her eyes.
She tipped her face up toward Muten Natsu and gave him a bright, happy smile, her glossy lips moving slightly.
No sound came out, but from the shape of her lips it was easy to tell what she wanted to say:
"Welcome back."
Rukia Kuchiki did not hear the rest of Muten Natsu's sentence and looked up in confusion. "Hm?"
"If it weren't for your help, it probably would have taken even longer." Muten Natsu noticed how red Rukia Kuchiki's eyes were and reached out to wipe away the glistening tears on her face.
Rukia Kuchiki instinctively tilted her head up to make it easier for him to wipe them away, then immediately realized something was off and shoved him away. "I-idiot!"
She took two steps back to pull away, lifted her head to stare at him, then remembered her eyes were still red. So she stepped forward again and lowered her head to bump into his chest, using the motion to bolster her own momentum, and buried her face right back in his arms. "You knew from the beginning how dangerous this was, didn't you?"
That whole little combo was smooth and practiced. Muten Natsu cooperatively wrapped his arms around the small Rukia Kuchiki again, letting her lean against him. "A lot of things carry risks, but Hollowfication is the kind where the longer you drag it out, the worse the risk gets."
Once he learned that Hollowfication was caused by the Hollow inside him, Muten Natsu had realized he could not put it off.
The stronger he became, the greater the destruction he would cause if he lost his mind after Hollowfying.
So the problem had to be dealt with as early as possible to make sure he would not cause too much damage.
"Next time, at the very least..." Rukia Kuchiki started, then changed it midway. "There is no next time!"
"Mm." Muten Natsu rubbed her on the head. "Next time, I'll tell you first."
Rukia Kuchiki pressed her lips together and did not say anything else.
She knew perfectly well that when it was necessary, Muten Natsu would still do exactly what he did today and risk himself to solve the problem completely.
No next time... that was nothing more than wishful thinking.
"Everyone..." Muten Natsu looked toward the Visored. Compared to before, they were all visibly battered now. "Thanks for your hard work."
Hiyori Sarugaki let out a cold snort. "Oh, so we're still here, huh~"
With the way Muten Natsu and Rukia Kuchiki were acting like no one else existed, she had almost thought she'd turned invisible.
Shinji Hirako looked utterly disgusted. "You really deserve to die..."
Actually making a girl that cute cry for him. The jealousy in Shinji Hirako's eyes was not hidden in the slightest.
Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi flicked his wavy blond hair. "I'm fine. My hair is the one that suffered."
"Hahahahaha!" Love Aikawa slapped Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi on the back. "Rose, want to try my hairstyle?"
Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi refused on the spot. "Not a chance."
"Don't get happy too early. This is only the beginning." Kensei Muguruma reminded him. "Mastering Hollowfication isn't enough. You still have to learn how to maintain the Hollowfied state."
"There goes Kensei again. That stuff is easy..." Mashiro Kuna muttered. "We can worry about that later. Right now's the time to be happy, so stop ruining the mood."
Kensei Muguruma corrected her irritably, "It's only easy for you!"
"See?" Mashiro Kuna stuck out her tongue. "You're getting worked up again."
Veins bulged on Kensei Muguruma's forehead. "You little brat!"
"Calm down... calm down..." Hachigen Ushōda stepped in to stop him.
As they were talking, Rukia Kuchiki had already noticed the teasing from the Visored. She pulled herself out of Muten Natsu's arms, and when she saw Orihime Inoue walking over, her eyes shifted slightly. Then she gave Muten Natsu a slap on the back.
Orihime Inoue carefully looked over Muten Natsu's bare upper body, now uncovered by any clothing. "The injuries on your body have already healed... Looks like you don't need my treatment anymore."
"If it weren't for your treatment just now," Muten Natsu said with a light laugh, "I'd probably have already given up on treatment by now."
"Don't say weird things like that..." Orihime Inoue took half a step forward. The hands behind her back twitched slightly. She lowered her head, and in the end only took that half step. "It's enough that you're okay."
Muten Natsu had already been prepared to hug her, but now he could only stop there.
"Idiot..." Rukia Kuchiki's soft voice came from behind him, followed by a pair of small hands pushing against his back.
With that push from Rukia Kuchiki, Muten Natsu involuntarily took a step forward, closing the distance between himself and Orihime Inoue even more.
Sensing him suddenly come closer, Orihime Inoue looked up, and in the next moment she was gathered into a warm embrace.
"Muten..." Feeling the strong beat of Muten Natsu's heart, Orihime Inoue's eyes reddened uncontrollably. "You're okay... that's... really wonderful..."
As he rubbed Orihime Inoue's head, Muten Natsu became even more certain that his choice had been the right one.
Power was his ability, not his goal.
He needed power, but he did not need to be controlled by it.
Lisa Yadōmaru pushed up her glasses, a blush spreading across her face as she muttered under her breath, "Three people... one on top and one below... one left and one right... one front and one back... hss—~"
"Get a hold of yourself," Love Aikawa reminded her.
Shinji Hirako, so jealous his teeth were itching, broke the warm mood on purpose. "So how does it feel to have mastered Hollowfication?"
Orihime Inoue gave a small struggle or two, and Muten Natsu let go of her along with the motion. "Better than I expected."
Curling his fingers, Muten Natsu lifted a hand and scratched at his face. Surging black mist condensed into a bone-white mask that covered his cheek, with ink patterns moving across it. "It feels like..."
"Idiot!" Shinji Hirako's expression changed. "Don't..."
Before he could finish, the mask on Muten Natsu's face dispersed. His whole body went slack, and he pitched forward.
From the very beginning, he had already exhausted his spiritual power by producing spiritual ink. During the battle afterward, his Hollowfied self had released his power without holding back in the slightest. Even his mind had been worn down by the fight within his inner world.
With body and mind both completely exhausted, Hollowfication became the last straw that broke the camel's back and dropped him straight into a self-protective faint.
"It's nothing too serious," Hachigen Ushōda explained simply. "Go home and get some proper rest. Just sleep until you wake up naturally."
Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue were both immediately relieved.
Just as they were preparing to take Muten Natsu home, Hachigen Ushōda spoke again. "Inoue-san, your power is very similar to mine, but also different. Though both are forms of healing, my healing is closer to spatial restoration, while yours... is neither spatial restoration nor time reversal."
Orihime Inoue blinked blankly. "Then what is it?"
"I'm not entirely sure either..." Hachigen Ushōda had a vague guess, but he was not certain. To avoid leading Orihime Inoue in the wrong direction, he chose not to say it aloud. "In any case, when you use your power, what matters is not 'what it should be,' but 'what you want it to be.'"
Orihime Inoue froze for a moment, then nodded hard. "I'll remember that. Thank you!"
I... can still do more!
As she helped Rukia Kuchiki support Muten Natsu, the loneliness in Orihime Inoue's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a firmer light.
"Welcome back~" When Rangiku Matsumoto saw the unconscious Muten Natsu at home, she blinked. "What happened...?"
"He overdid it." Together, Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue carried Muten Natsu onto the bed in his room. "He'll be fine after some rest."
"And the Hollowfication...?"
"It succeeded." Orihime Inoue took a wet towel and wiped Muten Natsu's face. "The Visored said this is only the beginning, but it's still a very good beginning."
"That sounds like him." Rangiku Matsumoto was not especially surprised. "He's lazy most of the time, but once he decides he wants to solve a problem, he becomes incredibly reliable."
Rangiku Matsumoto left Muten Natsu's room, opened the door, and shouted toward the rooftop, "Captain, Muten's okay now."
Tōshirō Hitsugaya let out a cold snort from the rooftop.
Why was she telling him? It wasn't like he'd been worried about Muten Natsu.
...
"Hah... hah..." Uryū Ishida was breathing hard, his face drenched in sweat. Several arrows were closing in on him, and he reached out to pull out two silver tubes. "Tilt the goblet to the west! Wolke!"
Reishi poured out and abruptly burst, swallowing several incoming Reishi arrows.
"So you still have Gintōs left..." Ryūken Ishida's voice was cold. "Still clinging to these useless little tricks."
Uryū Ishida steadied himself. "This is one of the Quincy combat techniques."
"That only applies... if you're a Quincy." Ryūken Ishida waved a hand and released several more Reishi arrows. "Your speed's gotten even slower. And you still want to recover your Quincy powers like this?"
"Wasn't this your method to begin with?" Uryū Ishida ran quickly, dodging the tracking arrows chasing after him. "So far, I haven't seen any effect from your method at all."
"You have no method of your own, yet you still question mine." Ryūken Ishida narrowed his eyes. "I've met plenty of people like you."
"Someone like you... I've only met one." Uryū Ishida pulled out his final silver tube. "A silver rod strikes the five-fingered stone bed. Gritz!"
Uryū Ishida took the initiative and attacked, throwing out the silver tube to release Reishi. It formed a barrier in front of Ryūken Ishida marked by a pentagram, and the five points of the star wrapped inward, trying to seal him inside.
"My deepest apologies."
Gritz lasted only an instant before the gathered spiritual particles crushed it. The short bow in Ryūken Ishida's left hand had already become a longbow, and his right hand, which had been in his pocket the whole time, drew the bowstring as he aimed at his own son. "This ends now."
A flash of blue light passed by. Uryū Ishida's pupils widened, and his body fell backward out of his control.
Am I about to die?
"The sinoatrial node is the heart's primary pacemaker. It automatically and rhythmically generates electrical impulses. Under normal conditions, it produces sixty to one hundred impulses per minute, conducting them throughout the heart and controlling the contraction and relaxation of the myocardium." Ryūken Ishida walked toward the fallen Uryū Ishida. "Push both mind and body to their limits. In that state, strike a point nineteen millimeters to the right of the heart's sinoatrial node with a Reishi arrow. That is the only way to regain lost Quincy powers while in the Quincy Final Form."
There was no wound on Uryū Ishida's chest where he lay on the ground. Instead, a black pentagram surfaced on his skin, autonomously absorbing the surrounding Reishi.
"If you had used Heizen instead of Gritz, then even if you couldn't beat me, at least you wouldn't have gotten hurt." Ryūken Ishida looked down at the unconscious Uryū Ishida. "That's why I say you're an idiot. You make me sick."
His gaze shifted slightly, and Ryūken Ishida put away his Reishi bow. "Still... I won't hold it against you today."
...
"El... Directo!" Yasutora Sado let out a low growl. The patterns on the armor covering his right arm shifted, and surging spiritual energy poured out.
"Good!" Kūgo Ginjō swung the two-handed greatsword in his hands and split the spiritual energy in two.
Light flickered under his feet as he appeared directly in front of Yasutora Sado and brought his sword down.
Yasutora Sado raised his right arm. The shield on his forearm blocked the greatsword, and the patterns on it shifted as spiritual energy flowed off its edges.
By adjusting the patterns on the shield, Yasutora Sado could perform simple manipulation of spiritual energy.
First he gathered spiritual energy to block Kūgo Ginjō's attack, then dispersed that energy to shed the force behind the greatsword.
The five fingers of his left hand curled like claws. Yasutora Sado's left arm trembled as something began to surge out from his fingertips.
Kūgo Ginjō gripped the hilt with both hands, twisted his body to knock Yasutora Sado back, then swung again.
Whoosh!
A sharp wind grazed Yasutora Sado's cheek, and the blade stopped beside his ear. Kūgo Ginjō glanced at Yasutora Sado's left hand. "Still just a little short."
"...Yeah." Yasutora Sado curled and relaxed the fingers of his left hand. He could feel the power inside it on the verge of bursting out, yet he still could not control it. "Ginjō."
"What?"
"You all... aren't going to fight the Arrancar?"
"When it's necessary, we will." Kūgo Ginjō put away the greatsword. "But not now."