Jun 24, 2007 15:10
Kuja was, in fact, quite surprised to suddenly find himself in bed. An odd turn of events, as he previously remembered investigating the contents of a closet. If the genome hadn't known any better, he would have thought he hadn't even left the room. However, the items he was still holding obviously proved such thoughts untrue; he had left his room
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raine,
naruto,
qui-gon jinn,
nel,
rock lee,
suigintou,
waka,
naoya,
allen,
larxene,
rufus,
naminé,
asch,
light,
miku,
luke fon fabre,
amaterasu,
zex,
tsuzuki,
tamaki,
ginji,
hakkai,
basch,
luxord,
signum,
artemis,
hikaru,
xemnas,
aya,
subzero,
fuu,
usopp,
ken,
integra,
lord recluse,
yohji,
elena (ffvii),
ritsuka,
yuffie,
simon,
fox,
farfarello,
cliff,
okita,
takaya,
masaru,
kurikara,
hitsugaya,
gabranth,
kadaj,
haku,
alec,
renji,
kurama,
jack horner,
kenshin,
obi-wan kenobi,
adelheid,
naoe,
momo (xenosaga),
luffy,
reinforce,
ashton,
river,
reno,
albel,
kyouya,
elfangor,
rukia,
roland,
max,
zabuza,
dean winchester,
hughes,
byakko,
rabastan,
hk-47,
alucard,
ren,
kenren,
sakura,
yuber,
sheska,
kairi,
hinamori momo,
gaara,
envy,
kazuo,
bradley,
wesker,
kuja,
valyn,
george,
lyta,
riku,
snape,
sai,
relena,
sasuke,
schuldig,
aidou,
riku replica,
kaoru,
eddie brock,
hisoka,
gin,
omi,
james,
penelo,
tatsumi,
captain jack
"Momo..." he said, his voice soft and filled with disbelief as well, too shocked to worry about etiquette. "No...no...you're not supposed to be here." No one really was, but the thought that Momo would be taken here had been a thought he was more than happy to push into the back of his mind and forget about. Feeling her behind him, her breaking voice so filled with anger and sorrow, was almost too much to take.
Almost. He couldn't let her see him break down. He had to be strong for her, if for no other reason. He tried and failed to relax. He had to show her confidence, but he couldn't stop trembling. "The force behind this is more powerful than anything we've faced before," he spoke in a stronger, more confident voice. "We have a plan, though. We will stop this."
He paused, still fighting back the urge to break down and show her how terrified he really was that she was here. And still, there was a greater fear. Did she know about Aizen's betrayal? And even if, did she still think that he was being controlled by Gin? "What's...what's the last thing you remember, Hinamori? Before coming here?"
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Momo slid her hands from his shoulders down over his chest, effectively hugging him from behind. She grabbed at the front of his shirt, knuckles standing out white if she was holding on for dear life, and pulled him back against her.
Head still bowed, eyes closed, she drew in a shuttering breath. “We're dead, Toshiro. Dead. Me by zanpakuto and you... What possibly could have killed you?”
“I... I deserve to be in this place of horrors, but not you.” Another tear slipped down her face and pattered onto Hitsugaya's neck. “Not you...”
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It was difficult to focus on these things, though, as Momo wrapped her arms around him and pulled him tight. He could feel the warm wetness of her tears as she did so, giving him all the more reason to be strong. It had always been this way. When bad things happened, he was there to be strong for her. When she was guilt-ridden for attacking him, the only way to make her feel better was to tell her he didn't care and to stop being an idiot. Even if she got angry with him, seeing her angry was better than feeling the tears fall from her eyes.
"We're not dead, Momo," he corrected in an annoyed tone. "I was passing through from Karakura town to Soul Society, and I woke up here. I didn't die, I just woke up here instead of in the Sereitei. I remember, Unohana healed both of us after...what happened in the Central 46 chambers." He didn't want to talk about Aizen's betrayal with her. Not yet. He didn't want to have to deal with her apologizing for his betrayal again and her actions.
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She brought an arm up and tightened her grip around Hitsugaya's neck, squeezing hard enough to cut off his air. "You really know how to comfort a girl, Shiro-chan," Momo said through gritted teeth in a voice only he could hear.
A moment later and she released her chokehold and abruptly left the table and Histugaya. Wiping away her tears, the shinigami headed back to the line where she'd left her tray.
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Forcing herself up, Rukia couldn't even manage much of a greeting for the nurse who bustled in, urging Rukia to be more careful from now now. Something about falling down, or some nonsense. Rukia ignored her as she was led to the cafeteria; it irritated her how quickly this was all becoming routine.
Stepping into the large room, Rukia looked around. She had been hoping to talk to Vice Captain Hinamori about Renji's katana, but the other female Shinigami was sitting with, of all people, Ichimaru. Suppressing a shiver, Rukia decided that conversation could wait until later. She just hoped that Hinamori had held onto the katana, and hidden it away somewhere in her room when she woke up.
Renji - he certainly looked like he'd seen better days - was talking to Allen, so both of them were relatively okay. Good. Not sure if Renji saw her or not, she raised her good hand, offering a tiny hello. Noticing Captain Hitsugaya sitting by himself, Rukia realized that she should report to him first. As much as she wanted to sit with Renji and stew in her own misery, she got some cereal and fruit for breakfast, then carried her tray over to the young captain.
The tray was a little difficult to manage with one hand, but she held it propped against the hip that wasn't wounded. "Good morning, Captain Hitsugaya," she said, unfortunately unable to offer more than a nod in place of a true bow. Which was probably a good thing, since even the small movement made her want to shut her eyes and crawl into a dark hole. "May I make my report now, sir?"
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She was mad, but he didn't exactly understand why. Momo was a conundrum within a conundrum, and he feared he would never fully understand her, or the way she made him act. He was both terrified and ecstatic that she was here, and ultimately he wished the doctor had not pulled her here. If she weren't here, he wouldn't have to think about these things, and she would be safe behind the walls of the sereitei.
His thoughts were interrupted as Kuchiki Rukia stood next to him. "Kuchiki..." he said, pulling himself back into the present and lowering the hand that had, until then, been massaging his neck. "Sit." Work was good. Work forced his mind to think of other things and not Momo..
...who was sitting with Ichimaru?
His eyes widened for a moment as he saw her walk over to him, and his body tensed again. No...it was time to focus on work. He could kill Ichimaru later.
"Make your report."
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Clearing her throat, Rukia began. "Valyn, Allen, and I set out immediately to meet Colonel Mustang outside of room M12. He was apparently inside the room speaking with some other people, but they all came out after a short time. Valyn seemed... irritated, though I cannot comment as to why. He is a friend of Ren-Vice Captain Abarai; perhaps he knows what was wrong. In any case, the four of us left and went straight to the entry room, where I met," Rukia paused, but only for a heart beat. "Vice Captain Hinamori. I spoke with her briefly, but deemed it best to stick with the Colonel. He used a key to open the door, but it was stuck; something was blocking it from the other side. The Colonel made a comment to the effect that we weren't meant to get through the door last night, but I didn't have a chance to ask him to elaborate..."
It was actually strangely relaxing, reporting the events of the previous night. Perhaps doing so allowed Rukia to slip into a more familiar role for a while. Shifting slightly in her seat to take some pressure off her bandaged side, she continued. "Allen used a strange power to transform his arm into a huge, claw-like weapon, and began to pound on the door. I took a position off t one side, in case anything was drawn to the noise. Valyn cast a fire spell of some kind, though it wasn't kidou as far as I could tell. Allen hit the door a few more times, then the whole building seemed to shake. The door got ripped off the hinges, and some... creature came through. It stopped in the doorway." Rukia paused again, trying to remember what it had looked like. She couldn't remember much aside from the smell, though. Everything had happened very quickly.
"It was very large, with clawed feet, or... paws. And wings. As with other creatures I have encountered here, it smelled," She cleared her throat again, trying to forget the stench. "Very bad. At that point, Valyn somehow transferred the fire spell into his weapon, and Allen collapsed, but not from any attack. It seemed to me that something was wrong with his arm, but I cannot be sure. I attacked the creature with Vice Captain Abarai's katana. I landed a hit, but the creature was too fast, and hit me into the wall." Rukia's voice remained dispassionate, but she couldn't help feeling embarrassed at her own weakness. If she'd had Sode no Shirayuki with her, she could have destroyed that monster in the blink of an eye...
"After that, my memory is spotty, but I remember Colonel Mustang yelling something, and Valyn attacked the creature and was hit as well. I couldn't wield the katana, so I used Hadou Thirty-Three on the creature. Before I lost consciousness, Vice Captain Hinamori called out to me, asking for the katana. I threw it to her, and that's all I remember, sir. I'm sorry we were unable to open the door." Rukia bowed as much as her injuries, and her seated position, would allow.
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The report was vital, still. He looked back to Rukia. "You did very well, Kuchiki-san. You protected the Colonel, which was your primary objective. We know the door can be opened, even if it is obstructed. We know what to expect next time, which means we will need to prepare a larger force and make sure that all of our team, including Colonel Mustang, are well rested and prepared."
He glanced to her broken arm. In a time like this, it would have been particularly useful for the fourth division to be present. Without them, that left the other shinigami to pick up their slack...which was good. The more he had to cover for, the less he had to think about Momo. "Did you need to be healed?"
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She glanced down at the sling on her left arm. "Oh, no thank you sir," she said, automatically. "I'm sure this will heal quickly."
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Again he glanced over at the other table, to note another individual talking to Momo and...winking. Was he flirting? With a deep breath, he forced himself to look again to the matters at hand. This was more important.
"If you're certain you arm is fine," Hitsugaya said. "Then that is fine, but if you need healing before tonight, come speak with me. As for your team, are there any that you would like to be assigned with again tonight?" She was the first to report, she deserved first priority. "Or were there any others you would prefer?"
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Her arm certainly wasn't fine, but everyone's wounds seemed to heal quickly here. If she really did need it healed up before night, she would do as he said. "Yes, sir."
The Captain's question was a lot harder to address, though. She wanted to be with Renji, Of course she wanted to be with him. Then she wouldn't have that lingering paranoia in the back of her mind that he was going to get hurt, or worse, just not show up at breakfast in the morning. But the Captain would almost certainly disapprove, and Rukia had to admit that while both she and Renji were very much devoted to their duty, there was the distinct possibility that they might be distracted by their feelings. Life just wasn't fair.
"I... I don't have any particular preferences, sir. If Allen is working with us tonight, then, I wouldn't mind working with him again." She glanced in Allen and Renji's direction. "Though he and Vice Captain Abarai seem to be getting along better now."
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"I'll keep that in mind when we plan our schedules for tonight," he answered. "Was there anything else?" Please let there be something else. Please let there be something else. Although his plate still sat, untouched in front of him, the thought of being left alone to watch Hinamori's warm reactions with this...this human, with Gin's taunting face smiling back at him, was not something he wanted to do.
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She was about to stand and excuse herself, but the unusual pitch of Captain Hitsugayas voice, and the glances he kept throwing to Ichimaru's table held her in her place. "Ah, no, sir," she began, "But if you like, I could get Vice Captain Abarai's report for you. He doesn't seem as though he is feeling well." She couldn't quite hide the soft smile on her lips when she looked across the cafeteria at him. He would no doubt be in a foul mood this morning, if he was looking that terrible.
Rukia also hoped that her suggestion might be taken in the way she meant it, and not the way she said it. Perhaps Captain Hitsugaya would come with her to sit with Renji, instead of sitting her by himself and brooding.
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...the other man was kissing her hand.
Hitsugaya stood, but calmed himself. Hyorinmaru would tell him, duty came first. Renji had a report to make. Get that done first. Find Rangiku and get her report. Then kill Ichimaru's friend. "Let us go speak with Abarai-fukutaicho." He clenched and unclenched his fist, then grabbed the tray full of his food, looking over to where Renji sat.
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"Yes, sir," she said, standing and picking up her tray with one hand. Wondering what on earth Vice Captain Hinamori could be doing talking to Ichimaru - and not wanting to think about why - Rukia walked with Captain Hitsugaya to Renji's table.
[Going here.]
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