Kindhearted Orihime Inoue didn't want to hurt anyone, so Rukia Kuchiki wasn't worried that the two of them would come into conflict.
And yet, Rukia Kuchiki still felt uneasy.
Because Orihime Inoue was too kind. When conflict became unavoidable, she would rather hurt herself than hurt Rukia Kuchiki.
That was exactly what Rukia Kuchiki was afraid of.
"When we learned something had happened in Soul Society, and I was about to step into the Senkaimon, I should've been worried about everyone's safety, but..." Orihime Inoue sniffled. "Instead, I suddenly thought about how I wouldn't get to eat oysters with Muten that night. Everyone was in danger, but I was selfishly thinking about myself... I'm awful."
As though admitting her true thoughts had used up all her courage, Orihime Inoue couldn't bring herself to meet Rukia Kuchiki's eyes.
"I don't want to become someone so unpleasant." The tremor in Orihime Inoue's voice gradually became impossible to hide. "But I can't lie to myself either. It's a thought I shouldn't have had, but it really was what I thought."
"If you think that I would never have thoughts like that, and that I'd just take Muten with me and firmly do what was right..." Rukia Kuchiki squeezed Orihime Inoue's hand tightly, trying to give her strength through the gesture. "Then you're completely wrong!"
Orihime Inoue looked up in surprise, her tear-filled eyes meeting Rukia Kuchiki's at close range.
"Because... Muten would definitely think the same way you did." Rukia Kuchiki gently stroked Orihime Inoue's cheek. "Compared to being with me, Muten can truly stay away from all these conflicts when he's with you. I'm the one who should leave."
"No." Orihime Inoue shook her head hard enough to send tears flying from her eyes. "I'm the one who should leave. Muten came to Soul Society with you without the slightest hesitation."
"Orihime." Rukia Kuchiki cupped Orihime Inoue's face in both hands. "You did exactly the same thing. You came here without hesitation too, and you healed so many wounded people."
Orihime Inoue stared at her blankly.
"No matter what thoughts crossed your mind, the fact that you healed those people doesn't change. What you thought doesn't erase what you did." Rukia Kuchiki smiled. "Think about Muten's personality. When he heard that something had happened in Soul Society, do you think his first thought was, 'I have to save everyone,' or, 'Which bastard is ruining my peaceful life this time'?"
"I think..." Orihime Inoue considered it. "Probably both."
Rukia Kuchiki continued patiently, "But whichever thought came first, what did he actually do? He came here and saved people. Would the people he saved refuse his help just because saving everyone wasn't the only thing on his mind?"
"No..."
"Then would the people you healed refuse your treatment just because you briefly regretted not being able to eat oysters?"
"...No."
"Having thoughts like that doesn't define who you are. What matters is that you can control them and still choose what's right." Rukia Kuchiki gently wiped away Orihime Inoue's tears. "Everyone has thoughts like that. You do, Muten does, and so do I. But not everyone can face those thoughts as honestly as you can. That's something really admirable about you."
"Rukia..." Orihime Inoue's tears spilled even faster. "Uu..."
Rukia Kuchiki opened her arms, and Orihime Inoue immediately threw herself into her embrace.
Her soft body pressed fully against Rukia Kuchiki, warm tears soaking into her chest.
Rukia Kuchiki gently patted Orihime Inoue's back. "So the one who should leave isn't you, someone who can honestly face her own feelings. It should be me, the one who can't."
"Rukia?" Orihime Inoue stopped sobbing at once and lifted her head from Rukia Kuchiki's arms. "You can't..."
"Of course I can't." Rukia Kuchiki chuckled. "I'm not leaving, and you're not allowed to leave either."
"But..." Orihime Inoue pursed her lips. "Exclusivity..."
"I don't only like Muten. I also like the Muten who's with you." Rukia Kuchiki blinked. "If you really want to call it exclusivity, then what I reject is a Muten without you."
Orihime Inoue blinked her large, watery eyes. "Can it really work like that?"
"That's how it's always been." Rukia Kuchiki continued earnestly, "Look, I liked Muten before too, but I never entered a relationship with him. Back then, I didn't like him as much as I do now. It was still the kind of feeling I could control. But Muten changed after getting together with you, and then my feelings became completely impossible to suppress. That's why I..."
Rukia Kuchiki's face flushed bright red. For Orihime Inoue's sake, she forced herself past her embarrassment and said aloud the thoughts she had never been able to admit before.
"If that's hard to understand, think of it this way." Rukia Kuchiki held up two fingers. "Which do you prefer, the Muten who abandons me or the Muten who stays with me?"
Orihime Inoue answered without hesitation, "I like the Muten who's with Rukia!"
"So... don't talk about leaving anymore." Rukia Kuchiki spoke seriously. "I'm not leaving, and you're not allowed to either."
"Mm!" Orihime Inoue nodded firmly. "It's a promise!"
"It's a promise."
Rukia Kuchiki stroked Orihime Inoue's head, and Orihime Inoue narrowed her eyes contentedly as she nuzzled against her palm.
Rukia Kuchiki's gaze softened. The girl in front of her was almost unfairly adorable.
As Orihime Inoue continued nuzzling against her hand, she suddenly remembered that Rukia Kuchiki had wanted to say something earlier.
"Oh, right, Rukia. What were you going to tell me before?"
"I... I wanted to say..." Rukia Kuchiki had originally planned to talk with Orihime Inoue about how the three of them should get along in the future, but that was no longer a problem. "I already told you everything I wanted to say."
"Then we were thinking the same thing." Orihime Inoue hugged Rukia Kuchiki's arm. "Once everything here is over, let's go have wine-steamed oyster pasta together!"
"Sure." Rukia Kuchiki readily agreed, then looked slightly concerned. "But if there's wine in it, won't you get drunk?"
Rukia Kuchiki still remembered what had happened when Orihime Inoue ate Dori Monaka and when she drank mulled wine.
"And you said Muten thinks the same way I do." Orihime Inoue giggled. "You're clearly the one who's most like Muten. Even your reactions are exactly the same."
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