"Orihime..." Even though Rukia Kuchiki had used "Orihime and I have something to talk about" as an excuse to share a room with her, she remained silent for a long time. Only when the silence had grown almost unsettling did she finally speak. "I..."
Rukia Kuchiki still hadn't figured out how to say it.
But she had to say something.
No matter how complicated her feelings were, no matter how many times she turned them over in her mind, no one else could understand them if she never put them into words.
"Rukia." Orihime Inoue took Rukia Kuchiki's hand. "There's something I want to tell you too. Can I go first?"
Feeling the warmth of Orihime Inoue's palm, Rukia Kuchiki's tangled emotions inexplicably began to settle.
Truthfully, she wasn't even sure what she was worried about.
Orihime Inoue had already talked to her about Muten Natsu before.
And after spending so much time together, Rukia Kuchiki knew Orihime Inoue's personality all too well.
Kindhearted Orihime Inoue didn't want to hurt anyone. Rukia Kuchiki had no reason to fear that the two of them would come into conflict.
And yet...
What was this faint uneasiness she felt?
Where had it come from?
"Congratulations. You finally don't have to keep tormenting yourself like you used to." Orihime Inoue squeezed her hand gently. "We're good friends, you know. When I see you hurting, I worry about you too."
Rukia Kuchiki's gaze shifted slightly. "If it weren't for you, I probably never would've been able to say it."
If Orihime Inoue hadn't gradually shown Muten Natsu that change could lead to something good, if she hadn't helped Rukia Kuchiki slowly close the distance between herself and Muten Natsu, if not for Orihime Inoue's encouragement and acceptance... then no matter how many times Sode no Shirayuki materialized, Rukia Kuchiki would have struggled to face her own feelings, much less confess them to Muten Natsu.
"That makes it sound like I helped a lot..." Orihime Inoue giggled. "Then... Rukia, could you do me a favor too?"
"Of course!" Rukia Kuchiki answered immediately. "Whatever it is, I'll do everything I can!"
In fact, she had been struggling to think of a suitable way to repay Orihime Inoue for everything she had done.
If Orihime Inoue brought something up herself, all the better.
"I want..." Orihime Inoue paused. "I want you to help me take care of Muten."
"No prob... Huh?" Rukia Kuchiki agreed instinctively, only to realize something was wrong. "Wait. What do you mean, help you take care of him? You..."
"I want to leave him." Orihime Inoue answered seriously. There was a trace of sadness on her cute face, but even more determination. "I've thought about it carefully, and in the end... you and Muten are the ones who are alike. You've been together since long before I came along. You're both Shinigami, while I'm human. All I do is spoil Muten, but you can make him better. Compared to me, the two of you are the ones who should be together."
"What nonsense are you talking about?!" Rukia Kuchiki grabbed Orihime Inoue's hand as though Orihime might run away the moment she let go. "If we're going by that, you two made your relationship official before he and I did! Don't think I didn't notice. Before you got together, that guy only dared to sneak glances at your feet. Afterward, he started staring at your... chest. Of course a Shinigami and a human can be together. You've already lived together for four years! And that whole thing about you spoiling Muten was just a joke. Why are you taking it seriously? You were the one who said before that you wanted us both to be with him, so why are you suddenly..."
"Because before, I hadn't felt it. I didn't really understand any of the things you were talking about." Orihime Inoue pursed her lips. "But this time, I did feel it..." She lowered her eyes and began explaining quietly. "After you left, Muten and I started kissing..."
"Huh?" Rukia Kuchiki blinked.
Wasn't that normal for them?
"Then he caught the button here between his teeth..." Orihime Inoue blushed and touched a fingertip to her chest. "One button after another... He kissed me here, and here... and here too... Then he put a towel down on the sofa and..."
"H-Huh?"
Rukia Kuchiki's eyes involuntarily followed Orihime Inoue's explanation, drifting over each place she indicated.
Wait.
What was happening here?
Why was Orihime Inoue telling her all of this...?
That one place was already enough, but even there too...?
Rukia Kuchiki suddenly felt her mouth go dry. Vivid images began forming in her mind against her will. Orihime Inoue and Muten Natsu, right there on the sofa at home, the very sofa she sat on all the time...
"It took me quite a while to come back to my senses. Afterward, he held me and we curled up under a blanket and slept for a long time." Orihime Inoue's face grew even redder. "When we woke up, we made dinner together. After we ate, we took a bath together. Muten gave me a massage, and I helped him too... Then I accidentally got some in my hair, so he washed my hair for me..."
Come back to her senses?
Rukia Kuchiki was starting to lose hers.
When Orihime Inoue said she had come back to her senses, did that mean Muten Natsu had made her so... overwhelmed that she hadn't been entirely aware of herself?
Making dinner together was one thing, but bathing together meant they had seen everything... Then the massage... and helping him...
Rukia Kuchiki's gaze fell on the deep cleavage made even more pronounced by Orihime Inoue lying on her side, and she unconsciously held her breath.
Orihime Inoue's eyes shimmered. "After we finished bathing and dried our hair, we didn't even need to put on pajamas. We just cuddled together and slept until morning. And then, in the morning, I..."
Rukia Kuchiki pressed her lips tightly together.
That kind of thing...
She had thought she and Orihime Inoue were at about the same point, but she had only used her hand, while Orihime Inoue had already...
"After breakfast, we went out shopping together. We were planning to have wine-steamed oyster pasta for dinner..." Orihime Inoue paused. "And then we sensed your Reiatsu."
You two can do whatever you want. What does that have to do with me...
Wait.
The instant the thought crossed her mind, Rukia Kuchiki understood what Orihime Inoue meant.
"I'd already decided what I wanted to do. After dinner, I wanted Muten to do what he did before again..." Orihime Inoue's voice grew quieter. "But because of you, we couldn't keep going the way we had before. I finally felt that 'exclusivity' you talked about."
Rukia Kuchiki's breath caught.
At last, she understood exactly where that nagging uneasiness had come from.
"So I thought..." Orihime Inoue forced a strained smile, trying to make her voice sound cheerful. "If I'm the one who steps away, everything will be fine~"
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