"What do you mean, 'I alone am not enough'?" Rukia Kuchiki slapped the table in protest, her little face set in a stern pout as she reminded him, "I defeated an Arrancar too, you know!"
"It's not enough with any single Shinigami. He wasn't singling you out." Muten Natsu rubbed Rukia Kuchiki's head, then looked at Renji Abarai. "Why are you guys the ones who came?"
"Oh, sorry for taking Unohana Captain's slot, I guess." Renji Abarai caught the implication in Muten Natsu's words and shot back irritably before explaining in earnest, "This was decided after careful consideration. Since we're relatively close, they sent me."
Muten Natsu looked him up and down. "That's debatable."
"Believe it or not, I'll cry right in front of you." Renji Abarai ground out through clenched teeth. "I'll cry so hard you won't be able to stand it."
"Fine, let's say we're close." Muten Natsu motioned for him to continue. "Then what?"
"Then I had to pick the fighter I trust most besides a Captain, so I asked Ikkaku Madarame to come with me."
Back when Renji Abarai was in the 11th Division, he had trained under Ikkaku Madarame for quite a long time.
Muten Natsu glanced at Yumichika Ayasegawa. "Wherever Ikkaku goes, you go too, right?"
Yumichika Ayasegawa smiled happily. "Of course."
Renji Abarai already looked a little worn out. "Then Rangiku-san heard about it, thought it sounded fun, and came along too."
Rangiku Matsumoto wrapped herself around Orihime Inoue with a clingy hug. "I'm here to play with Orihime!"
Tōshirō Hitsugaya shot her a glare. "The mission should come first!"
"As you can see..." Renji Abarai spread his hands. "We needed at least one reliable person, so Captain Hitsugaya had no choice but to come lead the group."
Why does this feel like a teacher taking a bunch of grade schoolers on a field trip... Muten Natsu looked at Tōshirō Hitsugaya's youthful face.
No, more like a grade schooler leading other grade schoolers.
"There are some seriously rude thoughts in that look of yours." Tōshirō Hitsugaya sharply caught the subtle meaning in Muten Natsu's eyes.
"You can't really blame Muten Natsu for that," Rangiku Matsumoto said righteously. "Captain really does look better suited to an elementary school uniform."
"I even prepared one specially." Yumichika Ayasegawa cupped his cheeks in delight. "It would be adorable~"
"Once we get back to Soul Society, you're all dead." Tōshirō Hitsugaya, with that kindergarten, no, elementary school look, turned icy-eyed. "I don't know why Aizen is researching things related to Hell, but he definitely won't let you go."
When Tōshirō Hitsugaya looked at Muten Natsu again, his expression was much more serious. "If you could go to Soul Society..."
"Muten Natsu can still protect the people around him here," Rukia Kuchiki said, frowning slightly. "If he goes to Soul Society, then what happens to the people here? Even if everyone went to Soul Society, we couldn't stay there forever."
"And Soul Society can't just ignore the World of the Living either," Renji Abarai added. "Since Arrancar have appeared in the World of the Living, then as a matter of duty, Shinigami have to stay on guard here too."
"I'm not criticizing his choice. I'm just explaining how serious the situation is." Tōshirō Hitsugaya closed his eyes and let out a long breath. "What I mean is, no matter how peaceful your life in the World of the Living used to be, that's over now."
Orihime Inoue bit her lower lip and lowered her head.
Rangiku Matsumoto's gaze shifted slightly, catching the complicated look on Orihime Inoue's face.
"It's not a big deal." Muten Natsu smiled. "I'm used to it already."
Rukia Kuchiki parted her lips, but in the end said nothing.
"That's basically the situation." Renji Abarai slapped his thigh with exaggerated force. "I'm going to find somewhere to stay first. See you at school tomorrow."
Muten Natsu looked curious. "Where are you planning to go?"
"I want to find that Urahara-san. Ichigo told me about him before." Back in Soul Society, Renji Abarai had sparred with Ichigo Kurosaki for a while. "If he could train Ichigo to that level in such a short time, then he should be able to help me get more used to Bankai too."
"We should get going as well." Ikkaku Madarame stood up with his wooden sword in hand. "If anything happens, just release your Reiatsu."
"Do you guys have somewhere to stay?" Muten Natsu suggested. "Want me to book a place for you?"
"No need to worry." Yumichika Ayasegawa waved a hand. "We'll handle it ourselves."
"You're adults, after all. See you later." Muten Natsu turned to Tōshirō Hitsugaya. "You..."
"I'm an adult too!" Tōshirō Hitsugaya jumped straight out the window.
"Bye bye" Rangiku Matsumoto waved from the window. "Captain don't take candy from strangers! Make sure to protect yourself! And don't hide under trees when it rains..."
From far away came Tōshirō Hitsugaya's exasperated shout. "Shut up!"
"Captain, honestly..." Rangiku Matsumoto muttered.
"Wait..." Muten Natsu turned back to her. "What about you?"
"Huh?" Rangiku Matsumoto blinked. "What about me?"
"...Fine." Muten Natsu sighed. "You can sleep in my room."
"Isn't that the kind of thing you're supposed to say quietly?" Rangiku Matsumoto shot Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue astonished looks. "Are none of you going to do anything about him?"
"Muten means he'll sleep on the sofa." Rukia Kuchiki's gaze paused for a moment on Rangiku Matsumoto's already overburdened uniform collar.
Why... why does the exact same uniform look completely different on different people?
After living together day in and day out, Rukia Kuchiki had already gotten used to Orihime Inoue's size.
Besides, most of the time it was covered, with several layers of fabric in the way, so the visual impact was not quite so strong.
But now that Rangiku Matsumoto had shown up, completely outside that usual context, Rukia Kuchiki immediately and viscerally understood just how different people could be.
A blinding visual assault.
"Ah, it's fine, it's fine. I'll sleep with Orihime. That way we can whisper about girl stuff~" Rangiku Matsumoto noticed where Rukia Kuchiki was looking. "Want to bury your face in them for a second?"
"Want to what?" Rukia Kuchiki took a nervous step back. "What are you even saying!"
"Well... you have been staring this whole time, and you don't have any yourself..." Rangiku Matsumoto spread her arms. "So if you want to bury your face in them, that's totally allowed."
"I, I, I was not staring!" Rukia Kuchiki protested, blushing furiously. "Don't make me sound like Muten!"
Muten Natsu looked completely innocent. "...How did this turn into being about me too?"
"Oh?" A smile spread across Rangiku Matsumoto's face. "So Muten Natsu likes staring too? I didn't even notice you were looking."