Muten Natsu watched Rukia Kuchiki leave, then lay back down beside Orihime Inoue and reached out to smooth the strands of hair stuck to her face.
Ririn watched the scene, and the more she looked at it, the more it felt off. "Muten."
"Hm?"
"What exactly..." Ririn paused. "What exactly are you thinking?"
"What do you mean, what am I thinking?"
"I mean... um... this situation right now..." Ririn glanced at Orihime Inoue. Seemingly aware that Muten Natsu was beside her, the girl shifted in her sleep and hugged his arm. "And what are you going to do from here on out? You can't keep this up forever."
The three of them ate together, slept together, lived together... For now, there were no major problems, but as their relationship grew closer, the conflicts between them would only become sharper.
By the time the problem absolutely had to be dealt with, it would probably already have become impossible to fix.
Muten Natsu looked at Orihime Inoue's peaceful profile. "You're right."
"Huh?" Ririn had expected him to brush it off with something vague, not answer her head-on.
"This can't keep going. I can't stay passive forever. I should take the initiative."
"Mm..." Ririn nodded. "That makes sense."
As a man, he ought to take responsibility. When it was time to act, he had to act. When it was time to decide, he had to decide. Even if the outcome turned out to be wrong, he still had to face the consequences instead of running from them forever.
Better a short pain than a long one. Cut the knot cleanly.
But...
"You still need to be careful..." Ririn looked toward the kitchen, as if seeing through the wall to Rukia Kuchiki busy inside. "If you handle it badly, they could both get hurt."
"That's what worries me most. It's what I least want to see." Not wanting to wake Orihime Inoue, he spoke very softly, almost in a murmur. "I've worked so hard to keep them from being hurt, but if they end up hurt because of me..."
Muten Natsu's eyes trembled, and those mangled corpses rose before him again.
Worked so hard?!
Ririn couldn't remember ever seeing Muten Natsu put in any effort when it came to romance... Wait.
If he was clear on everything and only pretending to be clueless, then the current situation really was the result of his efforts.
It wasn't easy getting the two girls by his side to live together in peace.
Ririn looked at Muten Natsu for a long moment and felt that this man was a little frightening.
He was an expert at playing dumb.
"Actually, I don't think you need to carry everything by yourself," Ririn said, remembering the lonely look on Orihime Inoue's face earlier. If Rangiku Matsumoto hadn't talked her through it, Orihime Inoue probably would have stayed downcast for a long time. "They've probably been prepared for this for a while now."
"I know..." Muten Natsu's gaze was complicated. "So when I make my decision, I can't ignore theirs."
The process of choosing was also the process of being chosen... Just thinking about it made Ririn's head hurt. All of a sudden, she even felt a little sorry for Muten Natsu.
Orihime Inoue and Rukia Kuchiki were both wonderful girls. Losing either one would hurt. Hurting either one would hurt too.
How had things ended up like this?
If only he'd been with Rukia Kuchiki from the very beginning... no, that wouldn't have worked either. Back then, Muten Natsu had no choice but to leave Soul Society, pretend he was dead, and completely cut off contact with Rukia Kuchiki.
Everything that happened afterward had proven that his decision was the right one.
But if Muten Natsu had Rukia Kuchiki in his heart, then he should have kept his distance from Orihime Inoue... and in the beginning, he really had done exactly that, until Orihime Inoue fell into trouble and he stepped in to help.
Then after cutting ties with Rukia Kuchiki and beginning something new with Orihime Inoue, when he met Rukia Kuchiki again, he should have let go of the past, said goodbye to it, and tried not to get too entangled with her again...
That wouldn't work either.
If someone wanted to harm Rukia Kuchiki, there was no way Muten Natsu could stand by and watch her die.
Ririn stared blankly ahead. She simply could not think of any way this situation could have been avoided.
Because this wasn't the result of any mistake on Muten Natsu's part. It was because he had done too well that things had turned out this way.
"So what's your plan?" In any case, Ririn couldn't think of a perfect solution.
"First, I need to get stronger. That's the foundation for everything." Muten Natsu's thoughts were clear. "Then... I need to confirm Aizen's objective and make a plan around it. And finally... I can't just sit and wait. If necessary, we'll invade Hueco Mundo, so the Arrancar can't escape again with Negación like they did before. At the same time, Soul Society should send several Captains with us. More people means more fighting strength on our side, and the danger can be reduced as much as possible."
"Ah, so that's what you mean... Wait!" Ririn's eyes widened. "That's your plan?"
"Did you notice a problem?"
"There's a huge problem!" Ririn couldn't quite put it into words for a moment. "It's just... um... that..."
This plan had absolutely nothing to do with his love life!
How had they suddenly gotten onto this topic... Huh?
Ririn quickly replayed what Muten Natsu had just said in her head.
["This can't keep going. I can't stay passive forever. I should take the initiative."] - He meant the Arrancar.
["That's what worries me most. It's what I least want to see. I've worked so hard to keep them from being hurt, but if they end up hurt because of me..."] - He meant fighting the Arrancar.
["I know... So when I make my decision, I can't ignore theirs."] - He meant that if he decided to invade Hueco Mundo, there was a very high chance Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue would choose to go with him.
The conversation had flowed smoothly, but they had been talking about completely different things.
Ririn had never faced the Arrancar directly. She had only sensed that overwhelming Reiatsu, then seen Muten Natsu heavily injured and unconscious. She didn't have a very clear sense of just how dangerous the Arrancar were or how much destruction they could cause.
Besides, Muten Natsu passed out pretty often.
But Ririn had seen the way the three of them lived together with her own eyes, so naturally that was what she had been talking about.
And what Muten Natsu had in mind was that this was the second large-scale attack from the Espada, and the second time the Arrancar had escaped right in front of him using Negación. Since he had witnessed it himself, naturally that was what he had been talking about.
Now that Ririn had finally sorted through the mess in her head, her feelings only grew more complicated.
So... was Muten Natsu clear on everything and only pretending to be confused, or was he really so confused that he still hadn't figured it out?