#rainbow chatter

Anyways, I had left off at -

Kaien expresses that the heart is the bond forged between friends and tells Rukia that she mustn't die alone so that way, her heart will live on with her friends.

And she overcomes Aaroneiro's mind games by remembering that Kaien's heart is with her.

Then, even as she's at the edge of death itself she resolves to continue picking herself up because she refuses to die alone - thus not leaving her heart with her friends.

Even though it shows flashes of all the friends she's made so far, the most prominent ones are with Orihime - the girl who symbolizes the heart the most.

She affirms that she knows what it is like being lonely, not just in terms of not having friends but in terms of being held captive and the joys that come with being saved.

In their own ways, Rukia and Orihime were both alone. During her conversation with Rangiku, Orihime mentions that she doesn't feel jealous or envious until she comes home and is alone. But unlike her other friends, Orihime lives by herself - as the only family member that she had is gone and later in the manga it mentions that she was supported by a distant relative.

The only other person in the karakura gang we can assume lives alone is Chad, but only Orihime gets focus on how lonely she feels outside of school.

Even though he lost his mother, Ichigo still has his father and siblings to come home to. Even though Uryu and Ryuken are not on the best of terms, they still come home to each other.

Between Orihime and Rukia... this is their heart. Their bond. Overcoming being alone. In part 1, I already mentioned how Ukitake said that he was glad that Rukia had found a friend and that she doesn't open up much, and here it reaffirms that Rukia knows what Orihime is going through and feeling.

These were two girls who were alone and yet, their "heart" with one another is what truly helped them overcome it.

As Rukia's spiritual energy fades, we also see this reaction from Orihime. She's banging on the wall demanding to be let out as she feels Rukia growing weaker.

For me, the fact that Kubo chose to show Orihime's reaction to Rukia specifically is also important because it reaffirms that their "heart" is truly between them and isn't one-sided. It further strengthens the feeling of helplessness that both of them have experienced at not being able to save their friends and being held captive, powerless to do anything to change their own situation.

Anyways... Jumping forward a bit more and I hope you all remembered how I mentioned that Orihime is the only person that Rukia seems to be gentle with.

Rukia is about to tease Ichigo back for mentioning that they shouldn't be walking around but then her attention cuts to Orihime.

The look that Rukia gives Orihime here mirrors the one that she gave her during the early parts of the Arrancar arc when Orihime thanked her for getting Ichigo back to normal.

Once again, she's shown being gentle with Orihime - a gentleness she doesn't really show to anyone else. I have to keep the focus on Orihime and Rukia so once again... I must skip ahead.

Further affirmation of their bond, when As Nodt uses his Fear on Rukia, one of the moments she specifically remembers is when she comforted her on the rooftops.

And it shows that Rukia is legitimately afraid of losing Orihime. By this point, it's safe to say that their bond and friendship has been solidified far beyond just knowing each other through Ichigo.

Once again, even as Orihime apologizes for not being able to help repair Ichigo's Tensa Zangetsu, Orihime pulls her into her lap and is the one to comfort her.

Time and time again, it's been shown that Rukia and Orihime care deeply about one another. Remove Ichigo from the equation and both of them would still be good friends on their own because their friendship - their heart - is between the two of them.

And sadly, the depth of this friendship was lost in the OG anime because it removed a foundational piece of their friendship - Orihime being the first to say that they were friends.

Without Orihime being the first to declare that she and Rukia are friends, the parallel between Orihime and Kaien in terms of how they became friends with Rukia by adopting their little introvert is removed.

The meaning of the heart between the two is lessened because their friendship in the OG anime can be read as being one-sided on Rukia's part, even though it was arguably originally one-sided on Orihime's because she's the first to declare Rukia a friend.

The dynamic of what it means to have a heart when it comes to Rukia is switched from being focused on Orihime to Ichigo without the establishment that she and Orihime are friends.

Of the shounen manga I've read, Orihime and Rukia have one of the most beautiful friendships. Their friendship exists outside of Ichigo and there is a heart that exists between the two of them that Rukia doesn't share with anyone else.

Yet all of this - Orihime being Rukia's first female friend, how they both suffer from loneliness, Rukia's empathy for Orihime being captured, Orihime's first breakdown trying to get to Rukia when she feels her spiritual pressure weakening, and on and on are all lost when you remove the foundation of their friendship.

Orihime saying that Rukia is her friend too and that she doesn't want her to die.

Anyways to get started

Even though there was no real reason for Orihime to remember Rukia's name when she joined Ichigo's class, she still does while Rukia doesn't even know who she is.

Even though Rukia is putting on something of an act or character, Orihime goes along with it despite the fact that the two barely even know each other.

But who knew that a bit of an awkward first meeting would have bloomed into a very wonderful and precious friendship? Sadly, we don't get too many more interactions with them beyond this point up until the point where Rukia is taken back to the Soul Society.

That said - Orihime is among one of the people who actually remember that Rukia was part of their class before everyone else suddenly forgot her.

And it would be safe to assume that the two had actually become decently good friends considering...

When Ichigo is doubting whether or not to save her, one of the things Orihime tells him is that she doesn't want her friend Rukia to die either.

Now, when Renji speaks with Rukia while she's awaiting execution, Rukia mentions having been in the human world for two months.

This establishes that within two months, Orihime was at least comfortable enough with Rukia to call her a friend and be aware that she's in a dangerous situation and needs to be helped.

And this is the pivotal moment IMO for their friendship, without it, every other scene involving them loses so much emotional weight and value because it loses a simple but foundational building block.

Now, to jump back to the cover art of Chapter 58 real quick

Rukia is drawn with the other girls in class but as a blank, missing space. It looks like Tatsuki is interacting with Chizuru, with Michiru behind Orihime and another girl with long hair (likely Ryo, but she never had a huge role - but she's the only character I could find with long hair that is part of the Karakura HS) facing away from the group.

Orihime is the only one who looks to be facing Rukia, which also matches with her also being the one who asks Ichigo what happened to her or why she had disappeared so suddenly with everyone else forgetting her.

All of this to say - despite not having a lot of panels of them interacting, it is safe to say that during Rukia's two months, she got the closest to Orihime.

And it also matches with the idea that Orihime is Rukia's first female friend.

Now, someone else has already done a pretty good write-up but I want to do more too with more focus on some of the manga panels.

The only other female character that Rukia seemed to have a close relationship with was Miyako, but even then Rukia describes Miyako as her idol rather than someone who was a friend.

The only other friends Rukia was shown to have were the street rats in Rukongai and they were all boys. However, after just 10 years the other three had passed away and it was just her and Renji left.

So it's safe to assume that up until she met Kaien, after being separated from Renji she didn't really have friends.

And even then, it's less her becoming friends with Kaien and more like an introvert being adopted by an extrovert. That said, regardless it's safe to assume that they had become close.

Kaien's words to Rukia about being her friend for life so long as she's within the 13th division, also mirror how Orihime was the first to establish a sense of friendship between the two of them - something that is lost without that initial scene.

As I mentioned earlier, it seems like all of Rukia's friendships have been with male characters. After all, it makes sense considering that she "grew up" around boys.

But things like that only make her friendship with Orihime more beautiful because she's the first girl that Rukia has actually let her guard down around. Now that I've laid down some of the basis for Rukia's past friendships, let's circle back a bit

Once again, even though they've only known each other for roughly two months at this point, Orihime Is thinking about how much Rukia is going to love the dress that Uryu made after Rukia's execution had been stopped.

When Ichigo had been avoiding Orihime because she was injured by Yammy, the person who drags him to Orihime is Rukia. Even though Chad had also been injured, IMO the reason she drags him to Orihime - outside of the fact that Kubo wanted a scene of Ichigo promising to get stronger to Orihime - is because out of the Karakura gang, Orihime is the one that she is the closest to.

WIthout Orihime having established that she and Rukia are friends, this moment and the gentle looks that they give one another don't have the same emotional weight to them because such a simple, foundational piece removed the bond that they had with one another.

Like - just look at the look that Rukia gives her and for me, this is where their friendship truly starts to get deeper than just knowing each other because of Ichigo.

And because of how Rukia interacts with Ichigo and Renji, without the establishing moment where Orihime considers Rukia a friend, the way that Rukia is so gentle with Orihime gets lost because it can come off like Rukia simply not being "close enough" or "not good friends enough" with Orihime to be that level of rough as opposed to Orihime being a friend that Rukia simply is gentle and vulnerable with.

Fast forward a little bit and a thing I noticed about Orihime when she's talking to Rangiku

The way that she describes Rukia, despite admitting to being jealous, is similar to the way that Rukia had described Miyako. At this point, Orihime's risked her life trying to save someone she had only really known for a couple of months, yet says not a single bad thing about her even when consumed with her own jealousy and insecurity.

Even though Orihime describes Rukia in a way similar to how Rukia describes Miyako, the reason she breaks down in tears is because she feels jealousy and envy towards someone she considers a friend.

Also, how pained she feels also ties back to how the one time she expressed a negative feeling or emotion towards or about someone (Sora), she ended up losing them permanently. Orihime outright says that Rukia is beautiful, and kind and that she loves her for helping to cheer up Ichigo and beats her own self up for how she feels.

Yet, without the establishment that Orihime and Rukia are friends, this scene comes off as if she's jealous of someone that is more like a total stranger who happens to be closer to Ichigo than she is - even though Rangiku states that both of them are important and valuable to Ichigo.

And after Urahara says that Orihime should call it quits because she can't fight and would only hold the others back, the person that she runs into and confines in is Rukia.

Another thing I want to note is that in all the times we've seen Rukia, she's always been fairly rough when it comes to how she handles people. After all, she's been friends with primary boys her entire life and there's only one time when she's "rough" with Orihime.

And it's when she's trying to help cheer up Orihime. But Orihime doesn't "work" the same way that Renji and Ichigo do where you can hit them like they're broken TVs. In this instance, she tries to do what she normally does with Ichigo and Renji but sees that it doesn't work - and not to mention - she's pissed off on Orihime's behalf that Urahara pretty much dismissed her after Orihime had already - from Rukia's perspective - shown that she was willing to fight and protect her friends no matter what.

After all, Orihime had only known Rukia for a couple of months at best but was still willing to risk her life not just going to help protect Ichigo, but to save Rukia as well.

When she sees that Orihime is genuine in her feelings that she'd rather be sad than a burden, this is when Rukia switches to being more gentle - and Orihime is the only person that Rukia is really this gentle with.

I said it earlier but I'm going to emphasize it again - without the establishing moment that Orihime considers Rukia a friend, the level of vulnerability that Rukia shows when she's with Orihime is lost.

Even though she has a close friendship with Ichigo and Renji, Orihime is the only one that she's been shown to express emotional vulnerability with.

And for me, this scene is so important to the value of their friendship. Sadly, because the anime removed the scene where Orihime calls Rukia her friend as well, the emotional weight behind this scene is a lot less than in the manga even though it was a minor change.

Much like how Kaien established that he and Rukia were friends for as long as she was in the division, Orihime is the one who establishes that she's friends with Rukia. While she doesn't directly say it to Rukia, her actions show that she does genuinely care for Rukia as a friend even outside of Ichigo.

This is also one of the few times we see emotional vulnerability from Rukia as well because it was the only way for the two to properly connect with one another.

In the OG anime, this scene comes off as Rukia simply offering advice to someone who is in need as opposed to her being pissed off that someone like Urahara would dismiss her friend and Rukia expressing an emotional vulnerability to someone she considers a friend.

And they resolve to train together.

While watching them train, Ukitake even mentions that Rukia was never particularly good at making friends and that she rarely opens up.

And he even mentions being glad that she's found herself a friend. It's positioned against Hisagi's doubts of "even if that friend is a human?" is it truly a good thing? Because since Orihime is a normal human girl and Rukia is a soul reaper, they'll live very different lives.

Ukitake could have said this about Ichigo, but there's a reason it's positioned with Orihime - because her kindness and compassion is what allow her to properly reach the hearts of others.

Despite the friendship they have, it implies that Rukia hasn't truly opened her heart to Ichigo the same way that she had to Orihime. Yet without the establishment that the two are friends, the friendship between the two comes off as lessened even as Ukitake comments on it.

Even when Orihime can't immediately follow, both girls are confident that they'll see each other on the other side. After all, Rukia already knew of Orihime's insecurities when it came to being left behind or unable to follow her friends, yet here there's neither insecurity or doubt for either of them.

When it is suspected that Orihime is a traitor, Ichigo is ready to call bullshit and throw hands but has to be stopped by Renji - who suggests that they'll go after her.

Here, it's Rukia who questions Yamamoto's decision to abandon Orihime after Ichigo said that there was no way Orihime would have been killed. I think choosing Rukia to question the decision to abandon Rukia as well as having her be the one to say that she can't obey that order is important. Outside of Ichigo, she's also the only one outside of Ichigo who is close to Orihime.

Even though she apologizes to Ichigo as she's taken away, she is also the only one who knows what it is like to be taken away against your will and to have those around you powerless to save you. She's the one who apologizes to Ichigo because she can't do anything to save their friend.

I fully believe that if Yamamoto hadn't taken precautions, Rukia, Renji, and Ichigo would have said to hell with orders and not just because she's Ichigo's friend and wants to help him, but because she's Orihime's friend as well.

All of those shortly after establishing that Orihime is the first friend Orihime's actually made - or at least made in a while and this is further supported by Rukia's fight with Aaroneiro.

Even as he guilts Rukia using Kaien's body, she resolves that no matter how badly he makes her feel, she won't let him kill her until she knows that Orihime is safe. As she laid impaled by Aaroneiro, she recalls a conversation she had with Kaien.

One of the things the Hueco Mundo arc has revolved around was the idea of "The heart" and what it actually means. I'd have to do a separate post on how Orihime specifically represents that, but I'm going to focus on the "heart" between Rukia and Orihime.

Kaien tells her that "The heart" exists outside of the body and that it's the bond forged between friends. All of this going on affirming that Rukia and Orihime have a "heart" AKA a bond between them.

And simply put - what does all of this mean without the establishing moment that Orihime considers Rukia a friend? It makes the care between the two come off as one-sided on Rukia's part even though in the manga, much like how Kaien did - Orihime is the one who adopted our little introvert Rukia.

Just like how Orihime didn't go to the SS just to protect Ichigo, but to save her friend. Rukia didn't come to Hueco Mundo just to support Ichigo, but because she wanted to save her friend. Yet without such a simple, but pivotal moment, it comes off as if she's not truly there for Orihime.