The already close distance narrowed even further.
Almost the instant they instinctively leaned toward each other, reason regained control of their bodies and stopped them from moving any closer.
If it had been only one of them leaning in, that belated clarity might still have preserved the delicate distance that had shrunk to its limit.
But they had both moved closer. Reason came a step too late, completely unable to stop the space between them from disappearing.
The soft sensation, along with the exchange of breath, scattered all rational thought. That slight touch grew closer, though neither of them could tell whose impulse had caused it.
Like petals drifting over a hot spring, a faint fragrance spread through the rising mist. With only a touch, it became impossible not to sink into it, dazed by that soft, gentle warmth.
It took Muten Natsu a while to come back to himself. Realizing what he was doing, he opened the eyes he had somehow closed, only to meet Retsu Unohana's warm gaze.
Under her gaze, Muten Natsu felt an inexplicable panic rise in his heart. Compared to Retsu Unohana's clear eyes, his own gaze right now must have been...
"Captain... I..."
Their pressed lips parted, and Muten Natsu instinctively avoided Retsu Unohana's eyes.
Retsu Unohana's voice turned stern. "That won't do."
"I know... Just now, that was..." Muten Natsu wanted to explain, but he did not know where to begin.
Retsu Unohana pinched Muten Natsu's chin and applied a little pressure, forcing him to look at her. "After a kiss, you must not avoid the other person's eyes."
"I'll remember that... Huh?" Muten Natsu froze.
After a kiss, you must not avoid the other person's eyes... so kissing was allowed?
There was no such cause and effect.
"Avoiding their gaze will make them think you regret what you just did." Retsu Unohana's warm breath brushed over Muten Natsu's lips. "Do you want... Rukia to think you regret kissing her?"
"I don't regret it," Muten Natsu argued. "It's just... just..."
Retsu Unohana chuckled softly. "You're just a little at a loss, right?"
"...Mm."
"When you feel that way, you should understand that the other person feels the same." Retsu Unohana leaned closer. "At a time like this, you need to respond even more firmly. You have to look into her eyes. You can't avoid them, and you can't look away. Use your actions to prove that it wasn't a momentary impulse. Use your actions to prove that you don't regret it. Mm..."
Before Retsu Unohana could finish, her slightly parted lips were sealed by Muten Natsu's kiss. The rest of her words never had the chance to leave her mouth, turning into a soft, muffled sound against his lips.
When their lips parted, Muten Natsu gazed into Retsu Unohana's damp eyes. "Is it... like that?"
"Hah..." Retsu Unohana breathed softly. Perhaps because Muten Natsu's body was warming in her arms, she also felt a trace of heat. The flower-like mark at the center of her collarbone grew even redder, so vivid and delicate it looked as if blood might seep from it. "Mm."
The tail end of that soft response rose uncontrollably. Retsu Unohana lightly pressed her lips together, adjusted her voice, then spoke again. "That's it. You learn very quickly."
So what Seireitei Communication wrote was true after all.
Muten Natsu could not help imitating Retsu Unohana, pursing his lips. "That's because you taught me well, Captain."
"As long as you've learned." Retsu Unohana gently patted Muten Natsu's shoulder. "It's late. Go to sleep."
Muten Natsu nestled in her arms and closed his eyes.
"Oh, right..." Retsu Unohana seemed to suddenly remember something. "If Rukia struggles, do you know what to do?"
"...No."
"Like this." Retsu Unohana caught Muten Natsu's slender wrists, crossed them, and pressed them above his head. With her other hand, she lifted Muten Natsu's chin and lowered her head to kiss him.
Muten Natsu tilted his head back cooperatively, but Retsu Unohana only gave him a light peck before letting go. "All right. Sleep."
Muten Natsu stayed quiet for a while, then suddenly lifted his head. "What if Rukia..."
"Then you shouldn't force a kiss on her." Retsu Unohana patted Muten Natsu's head. "You little greedy one."
"Oh..." Muten Natsu could not figure it out. Did what just happened not count as forcing it?
...
Angry shouts from the judges echoed through the Council Chamber.
"Is this your answer? Shūhei Hisagi! Izuru Kira!"
As the Lieutenants of Kaname Tōsen and Gin Ichimaru, the two of them were accused of suspected assistance in the traitor Sōsuke Aizen's rebellion.
Now that Sōsuke Aizen had been imprisoned in Muken, and the vacant captain positions had been filled by members of the Visored, Soul Society had stabilized again. The cases that had been temporarily set aside for the sake of maintaining order had now reached the point where they needed to be settled.
Momo Hinamori, who had been seriously injured twice, was still in the General Medical Center, so naturally there was no need to interrogate her.
As for the interrogation of Shūhei Hisagi and Izuru Kira...
Rather than an interrogation, it was more like a final ruling in practice, meant to clear their suspicions through questioning and bring the whole matter to a close.
Both of them had risked their lives fighting in the previous battle at Karakura Town, so this was originally supposed to be nothing more than a formality.
However...
During this formality, Shūhei Hisagi raised a question that had no direct connection to the trial. "Did Central 46 give an appropriate ruling on the Shinigami who killed former Captain Tōsen's close friend?"
Although Izuru Kira did not question Central 46 directly, he also raised an objection to its ruling. "When I crossed blades with Lieutenant Hinamori and Lieutenant Matsumoto, it was not because former 3rd Division Captain Gin Ichimaru incited me to do so. That was my own responsibility. That was my crime. Can that charge be removed from Captain Ichimaru's list of crimes?"
Because of their attitudes, what should have been a simple formality became complicated.
Originally, Central 46 believed there was nothing wrong with the two of them, but their reactions faintly revealed dissatisfaction with the current system.
In that case, Central 46 would have to examine the matter carefully.
Shūhei Hisagi's question had nothing to do with this case and did not need to be addressed.
Izuru Kira's question, however, required further discussion.
"Izuru Kira." To keep the others' questions from steering Izuru Kira in a bad direction, Nayura Amakado, who had remained quiet until now, spoke. "Gin Ichimaru did indeed protect Seireitei many times during his tenure, and it is also true that, before his death, he became an enemy of Sōsuke Aizen. The hypothesis that he spent years as poison lying in wait in the place closest to Aizen does hold. But in terms of results, the harm he caused is also a fact. Even if you do everything you can to lessen his crimes, his merits cannot cancel out the wrongs he committed."
"I'm not trying to lessen his crimes." Nayura Amakado's voice was so young it was nearly childish, which surprised Izuru Kira a little. But when he thought of Tōshirō Hitsugaya, it did not feel impossible to accept. "Since Central 46 believes that merit cannot erase wrongdoing, then I should bear the sins that belong to me, rather than... handing them over to him."
Since Captain Ichimaru's merits could not cancel out his wrongs, then he, who had no real merits to speak of, had even less reason to avoid the sins that belonged to him.
Izuru Kira thought this, a determined light flashing in his gloomy eyes.
The angry shouts rising and falling around them continued for quite some time before finally falling silent.
"This judgment is hereby delivered. All of your petitions are rejected, but your crimes will not be pursued. This is the final decision. The trial is concluded!"
Although there had been some twists and turns...
"But that matter is over now." Nayura Amakado sipped her hot tea and told Muten Natsu about the trial. "I originally thought there wouldn't be any problems, but in the end, they introduced uncertainty into their review results."
Muten Natsu set down the document he had finished handling. "Review results?"
"The Gotei 13 is the first combat force to bear the brunt when conflict occurs. Ensuring its internal stability is necessary. For everyone qualified to enter the Thirteen Divisions, the information recorded in the Daireishokairō is regularly exported and used for calculation and deduction, in order to determine their psychological stability and the possibility that they may pose a threat in the future." Nayura Amakado raised her eyes. "Although there have been fluctuations, the two of them are still within the permitted range."
"What happens if they exceed it?"
"Haven't you already experienced that?"
Muten Natsu remembered how he had been detained right after escaping Hueco Mundo back then. "The Nest of Maggots."
If the review result was poor, it meant that although the subject had not committed a crime, they were classified as something dangerous.
How dangerous?
Mayuri Kurotsuchi was someone Kisuke Urahara fished out of the Nest of Maggots.
There were plenty of dangerous beings like Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Muten Natsu in the Nest of Maggots.
There was no punishment there, but long-term confinement was more than enough to drive people mad.
What left the deepest impression on Muten Natsu was a green-haired man who had been locked up for so long that he was no different from a plant.
"Come to think of it..." Muten Natsu was a little curious. "What about Sōsuke Aizen's review results?"
"That is the limit of data and records. Add illusions concealing things and the absence of some records, and truly judging a person's mental state..." Nayura Amakado lifted her teacup slightly. "Still requires something like this."
"Then..." Muten Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Now that you're reviewing me, what sort of result have you reached?"
"At first, the records about you only involved sleeping. It was only after Myōki's ability was exposed that your danger level rose sharply to a degree that could no longer be ignored. As for now..." Nayura Amakado glanced at the remaining documents on the table. "Once you finish handling these documents, you plan to return to the World of the Living, don't you?"
Muten Natsu did indeed plan to do that. "How did you know?"
"You are a very lazy person. That is difficult to determine from the records, since during the battle at Karakura Town, you were busier than many others." Nayura Amakado spoke at an unhurried pace. "I came to this conclusion because the driving force behind all of your actions is maintaining everything as it currently is. In a sense, you are just as unwilling to change as Central 46."
Muten Natsu picked up another document. "Is that so?"
"You fear sudden changes, hate leaving familiar environments, are afraid of loneliness, and long to build connections with others." Nayura Amakado set down her teacup, her calm gaze carrying a depth far beyond her appearance. "Most Souls with similar traits experienced sudden upheaval when they were alive, the disappearance of someone important to them, and a long period of living alone. If someone closely related to them by blood committed suicide... the situation becomes even worse."
Muten Natsu's hand paused around the pen. "Why?"
"People generally believe that the closer the blood relation, the more similar two people are. When someone closely related by blood commits suicide, a person may feel that they will also commit suicide. When they encounter problems, thinking that the relative who died by suicide no longer has to face those problems can make suicide feel like a way to solve them. Thinking about the reasons behind a relative's suicide can also encourage suicidal thoughts to grow." Nayura Amakado looked at Muten Natsu's calm profile. "In order to suppress those suicidal thoughts, the survival instinct produces an obsession with forming connections to others, using relationships with other people to tie oneself down. By thinking about the pain their death would bring to others, they dilute the thought of suicide. But simply thinking about it is not enough, so you show self-destructive tendencies. By hurting yourself, you observe the reactions of the people around you, using that to verify that your thinking is correct."
Muten Natsu continued handling the documents. "That sounds pretty reasonable."
"To complete that kind of verification, you need close relatives by your side and familiar surroundings around you. You will not actively change your way of life, but you will do everything you can to preserve your current state. Even if you leave it briefly, you will quickly drag yourself back." Nayura Amakado concluded, "So you will not stay in Soul Society. You will return to the World of the Living and continue your previous life. That is my judgment based on the data and records."
"Hm?" Muten Natsu tilted his head and waved a finger between the two of them. "Didn't you say you needed to judge it in this kind of way?"
"That is why I have now discovered your change and made a new judgment." Nayura Amakado continued, "After returning from the World of the Living, you have shown a sense of initiative different from before. You have started cooperating with others, started changing things of your own accord, and started believing that change is not entirely bad. That is why I can sit here now and talk to you about this. So you will return to the World of the Living, but you will also return to Soul Society again."
"So that's what I was thinking." Muten Natsu finished handling another document. "I do plan to return to the World of the Living, and I have no intention of cutting ties with Soul Society."
"I'm very curious. In the World of the Living, which is not recorded in the Daireishokairō, what was it that changed you?" Nayura Amakado paused. "This kind of change is not easy."
"But it isn't that hard either." Muten Natsu lowered his eyes slightly. "When you see someone who understands suffering and still remains strong and optimistic, it's only natural to be affected by them. The colder your hands are... the easier it is to feel warmth."
"Muten!" Orihime Inoue walked into the office with a huge pile of desserts in her arms. "I brought something tasty! Everyone gave me so, so much!"
***
..
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
[email protected]/PinkSnake (50 Chapters Ahead).
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.
***