Day 25: Breakfast

[uncage]

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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[blood_and_pocky]

Aidou, ever the wily conversationalist, promptly ignored Gin's inquiry when an unfamiliar approached the table, one obviously familiar with Ichimaru. That, and she'd been talking to the young boy who was also familiar with Ichimaru. It seemed it was a broad circle of acquaintances.

Captain? That was kind of funny, though.

"Hello," he echoed pleasantly. "My name's Aidou Hanabusa. What's yours?" A quick and simple approach. Aidou didn't see the point in being extra diligent when he wouldn't be seeing anyone of these people again once he escaped.

But his was not the only introduction. He knew the exact moment Jack moved his arm - because gods, like hadn't ever had that move pulled on him, his overly touchy Vice President notwithstanding - and caught Jack's wrist, twisting it violently, all under the table where it couldn't be seen. He kept up his warm smile for the girl's benefit. (Girls, of course, were worth smiling for!)

Still, he had grabbed Jack with the wrong arm for the job. The movement jarred his injury, and he let go quickly enough, although he didn't let the discomfort show on his face. He didn't bring his arm back up onto the table, instead leaving his hand on his knee.

Cretin! That had hurt more than the insult behind trying to pinch his rear end.

[hajike_tobiume]

"Thank you, Captain," Momo said and sat down.

She smiled at Aidou. "I'm Hinamori Momo." Aidou looked young, but Momo knew better than to treat someone differently because of how they looked. She opened her mouth to say more when another man walked up. it seemed Ichimaru had found a friend.

Her smile warmed at the his greeting; he seemed quite charming. "We haven't. Vice Captain Hinamori Momo," she replied with a slight bow of her head.

[traitors_smile]

Even Tousen would have caught the glare Hitsugaya sent his direction as Momo seated herself at Gin's table. That, at least, was amusing. He was more than a little surprised, however, to see another person he'd presumed dead just last night. Must be the day for it.

Gin's smile never faltered. "An' you too Jack." Jack, thankfully, seemed content to pester Aidou with whatever strange game of footsie they were playing. He focused his attention instead, on Momo. The sooner this was dealt with, the better. "To what do I owe this lil' visit Momo-chan?" he asked sweetly.

[killing_suzie]

Aidou seemed to want to keep things under the table; Jack, on the other hand, had no sense of shame. He brought his hand up, wiggling his fingers. "Unfriendly, humorless little thing this morning, aren't you," he commented to Aidou. "Did someone have a rough night?"

He gave Momo another dazzling smile. She seemed very sweet. But he also noted Gin's tone when he spoke to her. Another one with some history. That was always interesting. "A Vice-Captain with a lovely smile," he said. "I wish you were part of my organization. Maybe I can talk you in to signing up some time." He threw in a wink, as well. Considering that she seemed to know Gin - and what he knew of Gin, and of Rukia, he knew that was a very, very silly statement. But no one at this table knew what he knew, and he was happy to play the part of the innocent bystander.

[blood_and_pocky]

Aidou couldn't help the expression of mild incredulity that skated across his features at Jack's supposed observation. It seemed he was just trying to blame Aidou for his own lack of tact, and turn it into another round of shallow teasing. Didn't he ever get sick of that nonsense?

"I'd expect you'd find my adventures a dull story, no doubt," came the blank response. He had no desire to rehash prior events. Although he had no tangible apprehensions about his current company to urge him to leave, he had not had gainful relations with either Jack, or Gin, and what little he knew of Hinamori Momo, he could attribute to her being involved with Abarai and his circle.

As he was not a part of it, he said nothing to interrupt the conversation.

[hajike_tobiume]

Momo couldn't help it; she giggled lightly at Jack's flirting. It was rather refreshing to be treated well by a man. "Now that is a tempting offer, Harkness-taichou," she replied, her smile widening. A tiny bit of color touched her cheeks. "I'll keep it in mind, though I'm not sure I could properly work with such a man as yourself."

Her attention moved to the other shinigami. "Now, Captain, you know we are not on such familiar terms. Please do not call me 'Momo-chan'." She glanced over at Aidou and offered him a small smile, he was certainly being quiet, before looking back to Gin.

"I simply had a horrible night with people I've never met, in a place I didn't know. I come in here this morning and Hitsugaya has nothing but harsh words for me, and I wasn't about to sit there and listen to him lecture me over things I do not understand." She smiled. "You were the first familiar face I saw after that."

She paused for a moment looking worried. "I can leave if you'd prefer so."

[traitors_smile]

Curious, curious, he thought. Jack's innocent offer was amusing enough, though the human captain probably didn't see the humor in it. He wasn't really certain how much the man knew, only that he'd met with Kuchiki in the not so distant past. "Isn't she?" Gin added, since they were all playing pretend. "Her captain's a lucky one, ne? My vice, Izuru isn't near as cute as she is."

He nearly replied that he found almost every aspect of Aidou very dull, not just whatever story he was going to spin, but thought better of it. For now at least, the boy was being fairly quiet.

Gin neglected to mention to Momo that it was also improper to correct a captain, but it was almost cute how she tried. She'd never had the courage to say more than a few words to him in the past. "Maa~ Jus' playin'. I'm allowed, aren't I?" He said teasingly.

[killing_suzie]

Since Aidou wasn't being any fun, Jack ignored him. He and Gin seemed to have an unspoken strategy for dealing with the kid, and he liked it, a lot. And Momo was definitely more fun. "My second in command certainly isn't as cute, either. And an alien entity convinced him to shoot me." Jack said. "Unpleasant business." He smiled at Momo. "I think I'm jealous of your Captain, Ms. Hinamori."

As if Aidou wasn't there, he half stood, reaching in front of the boy to take Momo's hand and and place a chivalrous kiss on her knuckles. He'd spent a couple months in the French courts. He knew how to do it with just the right amount of flirt.

[blood_and_pocky]

Second in commands, huh? Aidou tapped his cheek listlessly with his index finger. How would Akatsuki be handling things? No doubt Seiren would step up in his place; her reliability was not in question in that regard.

"My, isn't this a puerile show," Aidou couldn't help but point out. The girl's responses were no different then when any member of the Night Class plied their trade, but this ill-bred human wasn't something to be compared. He eyed the display blandly. "And in this situation, no less. Do rational women really accept this as anything other than shallow drivel?" His gaze pointedly slid to Hinamori as he said it, and despite resisting the urge to quirk a brow, the lofty question was still written there.

Anyone charmed by either Jack or Ichimaru Gin deserved a well-earned question mark when it came to intellect.

Then Jack leaned over him to kiss her hand, and Aidou came close to wishing for a barnyard, just so he could kick Jack back to the life he belonged in (come on, a lack of class couldn't have been more evident), but froze stock-still.

That scent...

He immediately turned his head, dropping his hand and searching the room. It was too strong. His frigid gaze cut the room - he didn't like idea of his lingering scent on another person - and didn't find Count D, the only being present who could possibly be carrying that scent. D wasn't there, but it was too strong.

"That... " he hissed under his breath. That bastard. That's impossible. There was no one else, only the one who had made him bleed in the first place. He elbowed Jack aside without regard so he could rise from his chair with an almost frightening single-mindedness. Only briefly did he address Hinamori with a mindless courtesy: "Forgive me, Hinamori-san. Well met, however abruptly."

[vacating the sideshow over to here]

[hajike_tobiume]

Momo's smile faltered as Gin made reference to Aizen-sama. "He was," she said quietly. She felt a little sick to her stomach when she realized Gin might be flirting with her as well. SAhe really hoped he wasn't flirting with her.

Then something new happened. Jack had taken her hand and... kissed it? This must be one of those Western customs she wasn't particularly familiar with. Her eyes widened in pleasant surprise at the gesture. Her cheeks colored a little as she felt his breath on her hand and a soft smile touched her lips once again. She wasn't sure what to think of it all.

Momo chuckled and gently withdrew her hand. "You intrigue me, Harkness-taichou," she said with a small smile.

That was when Aidou decided to talk. She didn't appreciate his insinuation that she was a bubble-headed, lovesick girl (at least not with Jack) and it became evident that either he didn't understand why women were attracted to those they were, or he simply thought his good-looks were enough to draw women in. She wasn't sure he had the capacity to grab her attention like Jack had done.

Aidou's next action drew Momo's attention, though, like a beacon. He completely changed his focus from the group and what he was satying to something else. Obviously, the young man had sensed something. The shinigami wasn't sure what it was nor how he sensed it, but she watche dhim closely. His hiss to no one in particular and the way he searched the room with his eyes, made Momo curious, but she wasn't going to ask Aidou what was up. At least not yet.

Momo nodded in response to Aidou's departure. "Perhaps we'll cross paths again, Aidou-san. I hope you find what you're looking for."

She watched Aidou leave for a moment before tilting her head in contemplation. "He's an odd one." She looked over at Gin. "Friend of yours?" It was obvious he wasn't Jack's friend.

[traitors_smile]

Finally, a reaction. He had wondered if perhaps she just didn't remember. But this told him plenty. It was odd then, that she would refer to him in past tense and yet still speak with him so easily, still call him by his old rank.

His obvious exit was almost laughable. He watched the boy leave and kept track of who he had ducked out to meet, but other than that showed no sign of being ruffled by Aidou in the slightest.

He did give a short laugh, however, at Momo's insinuation that he was friends with the boy. "We've met before, but I wouldn't call us friends," Gin said honestly.

[killing_suzie]

Jack was highly amused, by both Aidou and Momo. It was nice to know he hadn't lost his edge for getting under the little vampire's skin, and he was happy to finally have someone to flirt with. It was also really funny that Momo apparently thought that Gin was more Aidou's friend than he was.

Another smile for Momo. "I intrigue a lot of people," he said. "I try to keep it that way. Makes life interesting." He sat back down, though he kept a light hold on her hand. "And you're certainly intriguing, as well. You have lovely eyes, and far more grace and maturity than your apparent age would allow." He looked down at her palm, lightly tracing her calluses with his fingers; it was more another excuse to be flirty than anything else. "And no stranger to combat. Sword, right?" He grinned at her. "I like being around people that can kick some ass."

He didn't let go of her hand, but his touch was light enough that she'd be able to gracefully pull back herself without any protest from him, if she chose.

He snorted at Gin's comment on Aidou. "Aidou's an immature young tick," he said, cheerfully. "A little fish that doesn't realize he's in a big pond. And I'm even something of an ally, to him." He grinned. "He's just fun to tease because he takes himself far too seriously."

[hajike_tobiume]

“No... I suppose you wouldn't be friends,” Momo said in response to Gin.

The shinigami was distracted again by Jack and the way he was caressing her hand. Damnit, but he was actually starting to get to her now, reminding her that it had been decades since she last...

Clearing her throat a little, Momo smiled to Jack. “Katana,” she clarified when he mentioned her weapon of choice. It was very interesting that he could read the marks a warrior's weapon left upon its bearer's hands. An average person simply couldn't do that.

She turned his hand over and gently ran her hand over his palm. She smiled knowingly. “You are not a swordsman, Harkness-taichou. Your talents must lie elsewhere,” she said coyly, her smile growing a little. She deiced to withdraw her hand from Jack's grasp and rest her chin on it.

Momo glanced between the two men. “You two seem like friends. How long have both of you been here?”

[traitors_smile]

Watching how Momo giggled and cooed back to Jack was only further evidence as to why Aizen had chosen her for his vice captain. She was easy to play. Maybe not as trusting as she'd once been, but that didn't say much.

Then there was the other captain, Hitsugaya, still glaring from his corner of the cafeteria. Honestly, the boy had no right to be upset. He'd let Momo walk over here. In spite of Gin's multiple warnings in Soul Society to watch over her, it still hadn't sunk in. He'd tried subtlety, veiled threats, not-so-veiled threats, and even endangering her life and still the boy didn't learn.

"We work pretty well t'gether," Gin explained, matching Jack's smile. That much came naturally. "A few days now I think?"

[killing_suzie]

"I'm a man of many talents," Jack said; he left it at that for now.

"Sounds about right," he said, in answer to Gin's statement. "Days just start running together here... and a lot faster than you'd think." He shrugged. "But hey, it's a vacation. I can't complain. The chow's decent and some of the company is downright grand." Another sparkling grin at Momo.

Hitsugaya's glaring had finally reached such fiery proportions that Jack could about feel it boring holes in his back. He leaned back a little, catching a glance of him with his peripheral vision so he wouldn't do anything so obvious as look directly at the kid.

"If you don't mind me asking," he said to Momo, "who's your little friend, and why does he look like he's about ready to leap up and eat my face?"

[hajike_tobiume]

Unfortunately for Jack, Momo's opinion of him dropped when Gin told her the two of them worked well together. Anyone who the traitorous captain worked well with couldn't be trusted. The female shinigami did not let her outward demeanor change with her opinion, though. She returned the smile.

"I wouldn't be so sure about the food," she said.

Now that Jack brought it up, Momo decided to stop blatantly ignoring Hitsugaya's existence and looked over at him. He was sitting at a table with Rukia, the one boy from last night and... Renji? She suspected he was here given the design of the katana she has stashed in her room, but she had hoped he'd managed to survive. He certainly looked like he'd been run over by a pack of menos grande, though, and Momo made a note to go talk to him soon.

Perferrably when Hitsugaya wasn't there nor was he practically on the verge of imploding. She set her jaw as she made eye contact with the 10th captain and shot him a glare, her eye flashing a warning for him to back off. Hopefully, he'd get the point. Deep in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but feel a little smug; she wanted to piss him off and it had worked - perhaps a bit too well.

She turned back to Jack and rolled her eyes. "That would be one of the other captains. He hates him," she said with a gesture toward Gin. "I'm sure he's rather angry I'm sitting here." She shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure why his anger would be directed at you. Perhaps he's making you guilty by association."

Momo shot another glare at Hitsugaya. "He needs to get over himself."