Orihime Inoue's breath caught.
No matter how he put it, surely they were not his life.
But...
Because Muten Natsu was always staring at her feet, Orihime Inoue had thought he disliked that part of her.
If they were his life...
"Mm..." Orihime Inoue originally wanted to remind Muten Natsu not to use too much force, but considering his personality, he would probably be very gentle the first time. So she only answered softly and closed her eyes.
Muten Natsu's fingertips touched the hairpins on Orihime Inoue's head. His perception was weak, but at such a close distance, with the help of Myōki's Soul Essence Stealing, he could still accurately judge the strength of Shun Shun Rikka by analyzing the Reishi he absorbed.
"Mm..." Muten Natsu looked at the results Myōki generated before his eyes. "Judging from the Reishi they're giving off, they have indeed improved significantly. The high-intensity, high-frequency healing from before greatly promoted Shun Shun Rikka's growth. The change in their external size reflects the increase in their inner power. Once you're used to controlling their improved strength, you should be able to control the size of Shun Shun Rikka too."
"I-is that so..." Orihime Inoue curled up under the blanket. "I'll do my best..."
Muten Natsu noticed her flushed face. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing..." Orihime Inoue avoided Muten Natsu's gaze.
Although Muten Natsu had not touched that place, Orihime Inoue, who had mistakenly thought he wanted to touch that place, had already agreed to let him touch it.
Even though Muten Natsu's hand had only touched her hairpins, to Orihime Inoue, that place had already been touched by him.
In a way, it was even more embarrassing than if he had really touched it.
What am I thinking...
Even with the ring on, that level of intimacy was still too fast.
...
Compared to the warm reaction everyone had when Orihime Inoue returned to school, Muten Natsu's return was rather quiet.
Then again, not many people talked to him normally, and he spent most of his time at school sleeping, so this was expected.
Aside from Rukia Kuchiki, who remained in Soul Society, life in the World of the Living seemed to have returned to the original, familiar state Muten Natsu wanted.
As if nothing had ever happened.
There were still some differences, though. For example, Orihime Inoue had been in an excellent mood lately. For example, "good night" before bed had become a goodnight kiss. And for example, the visitor who came falling from the sky on the way home from school.
A black crack opened in the sky, and a small figure threw herself down while shouting, "Muten~~~!"
Nell, dressed in white, spread her arms wide. Spiritual light shone from the eye sockets of the broken skull mask on her head. "Chōkasoku!"
With a whoosh, Nell's speed suddenly increased. She dragged a trail of spiritual light as she rapidly drew closer, her short lake-green hair flying in the wind.
Muten Natsu opened his arms and caught Nell. "Long time no see, Nell."
"Muten!" Nell raised her little face in Muten Natsu's arms. "Nell came to play with you!"
"We were just discussing what to eat tonight." Orihime Inoue looked at Nell with nothing but affection. "Is there anything you want to eat, Nell?"
"Nell doesn't know what's good in the World of the Living..." Nell blinked in confusion. "Nell wants to eat anything Orihime makes!"
Orihime Inoue patted Nell's head. "Then I'll make lots and lots of delicious food, and we can see who eats more!"
"Okay~"
After entering Muten Natsu's house, Nell showed great interest in all kinds of things she had never seen before.
But in the end, all that interest was swallowed up by the delicious food Orihime Inoue had carefully prepared.
The thrilling match ultimately ended in a draw.
Nell, her belly full, nestled against Orihime Inoue and Muten Natsu on the sofa, watching the little people on TV while dipping fries into ice cream as an after-dinner dessert. "After Harribel-sama returned to Hueco Mundo, she began repairing the heavily damaged Las Noches..."
During the battle in Karakura Town, most of the Arrancar had already died. The only ones left were No. 1, Coyote Starrk, who had left during the battle and vanished without a trace, and No. 3, Tier Harribel, who had been severely wounded by Sōsuke Aizen.
When Mayuri Kurotsuchi activated the Tenkai Ketchū (World-Inverting Boundary Pillars) and swapped the Karakura Town in Soul Society with the fake Karakura Town in the World of the Living, the severely injured, unconscious Arrancar were also sent to Soul Society along with the fake Karakura Town.
At the time, Harribel was on the verge of death, and her three Fracciones had been injured by Sajin Komamura's Bankai. Their condition was equally grim.
The one who treated them under Retsu Unohana's instructions was none other than Orihime Inoue.
Compared to the deaths of the Arrancar in Hueco Mundo, Soul Society had suffered almost no loss in strength.
To maintain the balance of the Three Worlds, they either had to kill a large number of souls in Rukongai, or preserve Harribel's life to maintain Hueco Mundo's strength.
Under those circumstances, even if Harribel fully recovered, there was no way she could cause any trouble in Soul Society.
["I've caused you trouble... I'll repay this debt sooner or later."]
And that was exactly what happened. After her life was saved, Harribel left those words behind and returned to Hueco Mundo with her three Fracciones.
According to Nell, after returning to Hueco Mundo, Harribel quickly gathered the remaining Arrancar, cleaned up the Menos that had taken advantage of the chaos to cause trouble, and began establishing a new order starting from Las Noches.
Overall, she continued Sōsuke Aizen's model, gathering the strong in Las Noches and assigning them different regions to manage in order to maintain basic stability and avoid unnecessary large-scale conflict.
Although establishing order in the chaotic Hueco Mundo sounded like pure fantasy, Sōsuke Aizen had already done it once. Harribel followed the same method, and while some resistance was inevitable, progress was fairly smooth.
After all, among the current Arrancar, the only one stronger than Harribel was the missing Starrk. Without the Hōgyoku, it would also be difficult for Hueco Mundo to give birth to an even stronger existence.
Only...
When Harribel became the true queen of Hueco Mundo through her strength, she suddenly thought that if the Espada had been powerful enough to follow Sōsuke Aizen and defeat every enemy, then perhaps they really could have established true order across the Three Worlds, just as she was now establishing order in Hueco Mundo.
So the blade he swung down had not been a betrayal meant to end the deception. It had simply been disappointment.
What Sōsuke Aizen had given Harribel was false hope, but he had also pointed her toward a path, giving her seemingly impossible dream of a world without sacrifice a relatively clear outline.
He had brought Harribel more than deception and exploitation.
Harribel did not forgive Sōsuke Aizen, and Sōsuke Aizen likely had no interest in her forgiveness either.
It was just that...
Sitting on the throne of Hueco Mundo, Harribel understood Sōsuke Aizen's thoughts a little better.
And she warned herself that even if she was doing the same thing, she could never become like him.
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