Could it be... that the Primordial Form is the Hollow inside him?
But wasn't the Primordial Form a memory construct created by Myōki?
How could it possibly be a Hollow?
Wait...
It wasn't completely impossible.
The Primordial Form did resemble a memory construct, but there were also many differences.
It couldn't have its specific parameters adjusted the way other memory constructs could, and it couldn't be destroyed either.
It could only be sealed.
Muten Natsu quickly arrived at a possibility.
Maybe the Primordial Form was a being formed from a Hollow fused with some kind of memory construct.
That would explain why it had traits similar to a memory construct and could be sealed by Myōki.
At the same time, it also had Hollow traits, which was why Myōki couldn't control or destroy it.
"Looks like you've figured something out, but you still haven't realized how serious this is." Hiyori Sarugaki reached back and grabbed the hilt of her Zanpakutō. "But whatever, it doesn't matter. Once I beat you half to death, the Hollow will come out on its own. Then you'll join us whether you like it or not."
"I never said I wouldn't join."
"Huh?" Hiyori Sarugaki froze, then backhanded Shinji Hirako on reflex. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself now?!"
"Hey, wait..." Shinji Hirako looked genuinely aggrieved this time. "Why didn't you say that sooner?!"
Muten Natsu answered as if it were obvious. "Because you didn't ask sooner."
Shinji Hirako: "..."
It seemed he really hadn't asked. He had just been talking to himself this whole time.
Hiyori Sarugaki snapped, "You idiot!"
"Hold on!" Shinji Hirako protested. "He agreed way too easily. Aren't you worried there's something wrong with that?"
Hiyori Sarugaki reacted at once and demanded bluntly, "...What's your scheme?"
"Even if I did have one, I wouldn't tell you." Muten Natsu had no intention of hiding his purpose. "Since the Visored have a way to control Hollowfication, then after I join, I can learn it too. Once I've learned it, I can just leave."
"Are you looking down on us?" Shinji Hirako frowned in displeasure. "Who said we'd teach you?"
"You did."
"I... I guess I really did say that..." Shinji Hirako muttered. "But something still feels off... This isn't how this is supposed to go. So what's wrong here...?"
"What do you think the Visored are?" Hiyori Sarugaki ground her teeth. "You think you can just come and go whenever you want?!"
"Exactly!" Shinji Hirako lit up. "How can you just leave whenever you feel like it?!"
"The Visored don't allow people to leave?"
Shinji Hirako shook his head. "That's not it... If someone wants to leave, they can."
Muten Natsu spread his hands. "There you go."
"We do want to recruit you, but that doesn't mean you get to call the shots!" Hiyori Sarugaki tightened her grip on her sword hilt. "The choice is ours. You don't get to join the Visored just because you feel like it. First we'll see what you can do, and then we'll decide whether to let you join... or let you fend for yourself."
Muten Natsu laughed softly. "So... we're doing this the simple way, then."
"That's right. If you've got the strength, then you're welcome, and we'll tell you how to control the Hollow power inside you." Hiyori Sarugaki drew her Zanpakutō. "But if you don't have what it takes, then too bad... The Visored have no use for trash!"
She raised her blade and pointed it at Muten Natsu. "Be careful. Don't die..."
"Wait." Muten Natsu lifted a hand in a stopping gesture. "Give me an address. I'll come find you tomorrow."
Hiyori Sarugaki had been just about to attack, and stumbled on the spot. "What?"
"It's time for dinner." Muten Natsu picked up the grocery bag again. Earlier, he had set it aside because he was worried the newcomers meant trouble and didn't want the ingredients getting damaged in a fight. "I'm going home to eat."
Hiyori Sarugaki slashed at him with her sword. "You really are looking down on us!"
Clang—!
Ink spread out and blocked her attack.
Muten Natsu narrowed his eyes slightly. "If what you're saying is true, then a fight between us only means something if it happens in front of all the Visored."
"This bastard..." Hiyori Sarugaki gripped her Zanpakutō with both hands.
"I'm terribly sorry!" Shinji Hirako scooped Hiyori Sarugaki up and took off like he was sprinting the hundred-meter dash.
"Shinji, let me go!" Hiyori Sarugaki struggled over his shoulder. "I'm going to kill him!"
"Are you crazy? You can't!" Shinji Hirako ran through the air at full speed. "We're trying to get him to join us, not beat him to death!"
"Who cares about that?! Let go of me!" Hiyori Sarugaki spotted an opening and jabbed one finger toward the lower rear of Shinji Hirako's body.
"Waaaah—!" Shinji Hirako howled, then retaliated in kind with a dark expression.
"Ahwah—!" Hiyori Sarugaki's body went stiff. "Baldy! If you make it so I can't get married, let's see how you're going to make up for it!"
"You're so loud! This is punishment! Disobedient brats need to be taught a lesson!"
"..." Hiyori Sarugaki finally quieted down. "I hate that guy..."
"I know."
"I hate Shinigami too."
"I know."
"I hate humans too."
"That too, I know." Shinji Hirako held Hiyori Sarugaki in his arms. "So... just bear with it a little longer, idiot."
Shinji Hirako looked off into the distance.
Things... had to come to an end eventually.
...
"That's basically what happened," Muten Natsu said, briefly recounting his contact with the Visored. "Tomorrow happens to be a day off, so I'll go take a look."
"Are you sure it's okay to tell me something like that?" Rangiku Matsumoto dug into her ice cream. "The Visored, really? They were convicted criminals back then."
"There's a criminal sentenced to over ten thousand years sitting right in front of you." Muten Natsu let out a cold laugh. "And I killed Central 46. Yet here I am, still eating ice cream with you."
Rukia Kuchiki considered it seriously. "As former captain and lieutenant, even if they didn't have a good opinion of Central 46, they were victims of Aizen too, so they should be possible allies."
"Captain Hitsugaya," Rangiku Matsumoto called out, "what do you think?"
Tōshirō Hitsugaya appeared by the window. "Urahara and Yoruichi have already made contact with Soul Society, and the Visored have already been cleared of their crimes. But it's still best to be careful and proceed cautiously."
Orihime Inoue leaned forward. Even though the fullness of her chest was completely covered by her T-shirt, it still showed a lovely, supple curve. "Then I'll go with you."
"It's better if I go alone." Muten Natsu shook his head. "If anything really happens, no one will be able to stop me anyway."
"I..." Orihime Inoue lowered her eyes. "I see..."
She had been thinking that if there were any danger, she could help heal Muten Natsu.
"Don't listen to him." Rukia Kuchiki pulled Orihime Inoue over to her side. "We'll just sneak after him later."
Muten Natsu: "...Then let's just go together."
"This sounds pretty interesting." Rangiku Matsumoto perked up. "I'm coming too!"
"Behave yourself." Tōshirō Hitsugaya stopped her immediately. "Given our current identities, it's not convenient for us to have contact with the Visored. Better not let them misunderstand. The three of them going is enough."
"All right..." Rangiku Matsumoto lowered her head gloomily, then brightened again. "If Muten and the others are going to see the Visored tomorrow, then that means I can go shopping however I want, right? Captain, let's go together. I saw a children's clothing store before..."
"Not a chance!"
For Tōshirō Hitsugaya, it was yet another blood-pressure-spiking day.
That night, Muten Natsu lay on the bed and closed his eyes.
[After analyzing the Primordial Form]
[It was confirmed that part of it does contain Hollow power.]
"You didn't notice that before?"
[Given your physical state at the time]
[It was impossible to determine the source of the Hollow power.]
Muten Natsu looked through the analysis records and realized he had grown a little too dependent on Myōki.
After all, Myōki was his Zanpakutō, and its analysis was based on his own understanding.
Any conclusion drawn from one's understanding would naturally be limited by that understanding.
Most of the time, Myōki's conclusions were correct.
But Myōki's analysis was only correct within the boundaries of Muten Natsu's own perception.
The truth might not actually be like that.
"Unseal the Primordial Form." Muten Natsu drew his twin blades. "I'll give it a try and see whether I can communicate with it."
He couldn't.
After dying more than a dozen times, Muten Natsu finally gave up on the idea of communicating with the Primordial Form.
He never even got the chance to speak. The moment he opened his mouth, he was cut down.
But that only made Muten Natsu look forward even more to meeting the Visored tomorrow.
If the Visored really could help him master the power of Hollowfication, then the strength the Primordial Form was showing now would become strength that belonged to him.
Muten Natsu opened his eyes tiredly and let out a long breath.
Then he saw Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue beside him.
Muten Natsu: "Hm?"
"Didn't we talk about it this afternoon?" Rukia Kuchiki avoided his gaze. "Controlling variables..."
Rukia Kuchiki had clearly learned from that morning. She was no longer wearing a nightgown, but a matching pajama top and bottoms.
The beige pajamas gave off a warm, cozy feeling, and the orange trim at the cuffs and collar made them especially bright and lively.
Orihime Inoue was wearing pink striped pajamas. She looked like a soft marshmallow. Even with the flat stripes across the fabric, the fullness at her chest still gave them unmistakable depth, and every curve in those stripes showed off the lovely tension of the surface beneath.
She tucked her hair back, looking a little excited. "It's our first time sleeping together, all three of us!"
Muten Natsu had genuinely never experienced a scene like this before, but when he thought about it carefully, it really wasn't a big deal.
He had slept with Orihime Inoue before, and with Rukia Kuchiki too. Now they were just sleeping together at the same time. It was nothing that serious.
The only reason it worked at all was because the bed was big enough. Otherwise, there really wouldn't have been room for three people.
"You'll get used to it soon enough." Muten Natsu got up, turned off the light, then came back and lay down between the two of them.
Still, it was different in the end.
Unlike before, Orihime Inoue and Rukia Kuchiki both lay flat on their backs in silent agreement, neither of them burrowing into Muten Natsu's arms.
The three of them lay side by side on the bed in an atmosphere so solemn it was almost ceremonial.
Maybe because the mood felt a little off, Rukia Kuchiki poked Muten Natsu. "Sing something."
"Okay" Muten Natsu cleared his throat and softly sang, "Sleep now sleep now~ my darling baby..."
There was no patting this time.
Orihime Inoue and Rukia Kuchiki both felt a little disappointed, but when they thought about it, if he started patting one of them in front of the other, they probably would have had an even harder time falling asleep.
Sure enough, sleeping with two people and sleeping with three people really were different.
Muten Natsu's singing gradually faded, and his breathing grew long and even.
In the darkness, Rukia Kuchiki noticed the change in his breathing, and her cheeks puffed out slightly.
The person listening to the lullaby still wasn't asleep, but the one singing it had already gone first.
Still, it was fine if he had fallen asleep.
Rukia Kuchiki carefully shifted under the blanket and leaned against Muten Natsu.
His warmth passed through the fabric of his pajamas, and a sense of security rose naturally in her heart.
Rukia Kuchiki closed her eyes in satisfaction, but then felt that even this wasn't quite enough. So she quietly turned onto her side toward Muten Natsu and reached a hand over to rest it on him.
Then she touched another hand reaching over.
Huh?
Orihime Inoue, lying on Muten Natsu's other side, drew her fingers back for a moment, then reached out again. She caught the hand Rukia Kuchiki had reflexively pulled back and pressed it down onto Muten Natsu.
Orihime Inoue's own hand then moved a little higher, coming to rest on Muten Natsu's chest.
Rukia Kuchiki's eyes moved slightly, but in the end she pretended nothing had happened, leaned against Muten Natsu, and drifted off to sleep.
So this is what it feels like for three people to sleep together...
It really doesn't seem like much.
Muten Natsu didn't feel anything especially unusual either. When he woke up, though, both his arms felt like they had run away from home.
Rukia Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue were using one arm each as a pillow, one on the left and one on the right, while their own arms were draped over him, overlapping on top of his body.
Before falling asleep, people could still control their movements.
After they were asleep, that was another matter.
The petite Rukia Kuchiki leaning against him felt like some adorable little animal, and the thick, unguarded dependence in the way she clung to him stirred a tender protectiveness.
The soft Orihime Inoue felt like a warm plush doll, her body soft and heated where it pressed against him, carrying a comforting sense of gentle acceptance.
Unfortunately, Muten Natsu's arms seemed to have gone numb, so even though he was holding them, he couldn't actually feel much of the specific touch.
But waking up to find the two of them nestled beside him was already happiness enough.
If Captain Unohana were added too...
Where would Captain Unohana even lie?
Muten Natsu shook his head, scattering the strange thought from his mind. He closed his eyes again to rest and quietly waited for the two of them to wake up.
Feeling gradually returned to his arms. Muten Natsu sensed Rukia Kuchiki move slightly. She was probably awake.
Right after that, the rhythm of Orihime Inoue's breathing changed too, and her long eyelashes fluttered gently.
Rukia Kuchiki, though already awake, did not open her eyes. Instead, she shifted and turned away, leaving Muten Natsu's arm behind and settling onto her pillow with her back to him.
Orihime Inoue opened her eyes, and the dazed look in them slowly faded.
She first lifted her head slightly to glance at Muten Natsu. Seeing that his eyes were still closed, she raised her head a little more and looked over at Rukia Kuchiki on the other side.
Her big eyes turned once, then again, and Orihime Inoue quickly confirmed the fact that Rukia Kuchiki was resting on a pillow, while she herself was still using Muten Natsu's arm as one.