She didn't pause, only noting that the halls were empty for once. It seemed that she was one of the first out. It didn't matter in the long run. She was focused on her tasks; nothing else registered.
Momo trailed her fingers along the wall as she paused to see if Sora had made it to the hallway yet. No, it seemed not. Unsurprising, considering how far some of the men's blocks were. He may be in one of the further ones for all the shinigami knew.
There she was. "Hinamori-fukutaichou," Hokuto said, bowing slightly. "Good evening." When she was really uncertain, she tended to fall back on just being polite and waiting, lately.
So what's the plan? She knew where they were going, and that their third was someone she didn't know, but tonight that didn't say much.
Momo gave Hokuto a warm smile, her mannerisms much more friendly and bright than the girl had ever seen from the shinigami. "Ah, Hokuto-chan," she said, "I was expecting to retrieve you from your room. This works well, though, since we're meeting Sora here."
The shinigami stepped further into the hallway, motioning for Hokuto to follow along, making themselves more visible to anyone entering the door. "Have you met Sora yet?"
Hokuto smiled back, glad to see her so happy. "Not yet." Once again, she would probably be the least experienced fighter of the group, but hopefully this Sora (hmmm... another girl?) wouldn't mind. She could hold her own, at least, and she was getting better.
Hokuto managed not to giggle. Somehow. "I got crushed in a game of Risk against Alita-kun, and then I fell asleep on her." So, a good end to the day.
"No visitors this week, either," she added, a slight wistful note coming into her voice. It wouldn't be for real, but there were still a lot of people that she missed.
"I'm glad you take losing to your... princess as well as you have," Momo replied, tripping a bit over what exactly to call the girl Hokuto was involved with. A very soft, content smile teased it's way onto the shinigami's face. "And yes... the comfort of another does lead to peaceful resting."
Though at the mention of visitors and the tone of Hoktuos' voice, the smile faded a bit. "Hokuto-chan... please trust me on this; you don't want a visitor from this place."
"I guess not, but..." Hokuto looked up at the ceiling. "I know it wouldn't really be them, but I still want to tell them I'm sorry... especially my grandmother and Kakyou. It wouldn't change anything, but it still feels like it would be better than nothing."
She had left her grandmother a note, and apologized there, and the last time she saw Kakyou she said her apologies along with her goodbyes. It just--didn't feel like enough.
"Maybe," she murmured. If she saw Kakyou in anything like his real situation and couldn't help... well, no doubt.
She smiled at the question, doing her best to snap herself out of the melancholy. "A strategy game with the goal of world domination. I'm just not very good at deciding troop moves."
The mental image of Hokuto as an empress of the world with how horribly gaudy and sparkly her robes would be made the vice captain cover her mouth as a torret of giggles found their way out. She got herself under control, her hand going to rub her stomach as the laughter had pulled on her stitches.
"Sorry... I just..." She snickered again. "Perhaps you're just not meant to rule the world and your... princess is."
There were a lot more people still lingering in this hallway, such as a larger group of four that included the young girl he had met a few days ago. He wasn't sure what her caretakers were doing, but hopefully they were taking care of her.
Looking past the solo patients and searching for his companions for the night, Sora saw a pair who seemed to be trying to stand out and recognized Hitsugaya's and Renji's friend. They hadn't really spoken at length, but he still knew who she was.
The other girl was a stranger (it was kind of weird that he was going to be working with two girls), but that didn't mean they couldn't get to know each other!
He moved over to them, nodding a quick greeting. "Sorry for making you guys wait!" He turned to the girl he hadn't yet met (Hokuto, right?) and extended a hand. "Hey there, I'm Sora." They might as well get introductions out of the way fast so that they could get going.
Hokuto grinned and said "Good evening," reaching out to shake his hand in greeting and not bothering to bow. "I'm Hokuto--pleased to meet you." He went straight to business, but he looked like the type to smile more than frown; they should get along.
She was tempted to ask Momo So what's the plan, Fearless Leader? but now that they were all here, she figured she should at least act like a real warrior.
Momo gave Sora a warm smile when he arrived. It was good to see he was still doing well. At least he looked as well as he had when she saw him last - a week ago or maybe two?
"Hello, Sora-san. We haven't been waiting long," she said. "Tonight, we're to explore the area outside the walls to the north. We're going to head to the rec field and scale the western wall, proceeding north once we're on the other side. I hope to avoid any possibly conflict in the rec field if we can."
She shot a quick glance at Hokuto before looking back at Sora. "I am injured, Sora-san, and have little access to my... magic tonight, but I'll be fine." She smiled again. 'I'll just need a little help over the wall. Unfortunately, I'm too short and this," she gestured to the cast on her left wrist adorned with a red, yellow and orange fire bird drawing, "makes it hard for me to climb it on my own."
Sora made sure to smile back at Hokuto as he pulled his hand away and then turned his attention to Momo.
So north was in the direction of the recreational field? Well, that made things easy! He had scaled the wall over there once before, even though he and Kairi hadn't gotten much further than that. He hoped things went a little better tonight; he was sure Kairi would be curious to hear about what was out there, after all.
Frowning when Momo pointed out that she was injured, Sora directed his flashlight to her wrist and then glanced up to give the girl a concerned look. "Are you sure you'll be all right?" he asked. It didn't seem like a good idea for her to be risking herself like this, though at least she would have two people to back her up.
"I'll do my best to help you, though," he added, figuring that she wasn't going to lose her determination just because he was dubious. He would just have to work that much harder to make sure she didn't sustain any more injuries. Hopefully Hokuto had a few tricks up her sleeve as well.
He's never seen someone throw up blood and keep going, has he? Some nights Hokuto thought she was going to come out of this with a very odd concept of what made an injury qualify as severe. "We both will."
Before they could get moving, she asked Sora, "Do you have any magic? I'm more of a fighter--I can put up shields, but they're usually not strong enough to do much good." The fact that her weapon was a shovel probably didn't tell him much (and her outfit gave away even less--so to speak), but he was welcome to ask anything he wanted to know.
Momo trailed her fingers along the wall as she paused to see if Sora had made it to the hallway yet. No, it seemed not. Unsurprising, considering how far some of the men's blocks were. He may be in one of the further ones for all the shinigami knew.
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There she was. "Hinamori-fukutaichou," Hokuto said, bowing slightly. "Good evening." When she was really uncertain, she tended to fall back on just being polite and waiting, lately.
So what's the plan? She knew where they were going, and that their third was someone she didn't know, but tonight that didn't say much.
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The shinigami stepped further into the hallway, motioning for Hokuto to follow along, making themselves more visible to anyone entering the door. "Have you met Sora yet?"
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"So, had a good day?" she winked.
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"You could say that," she replied, folding her hands in her sleeves. "What about yourself?"
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"No visitors this week, either," she added, a slight wistful note coming into her voice. It wouldn't be for real, but there were still a lot of people that she missed.
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Though at the mention of visitors and the tone of Hoktuos' voice, the smile faded a bit. "Hokuto-chan... please trust me on this; you don't want a visitor from this place."
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She had left her grandmother a note, and apologized there, and the last time she saw Kakyou she said her apologies along with her goodbyes. It just--didn't feel like enough.
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Something dawned on her then. "What is Risk? I am unfamiliar with that game."
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She smiled at the question, doing her best to snap herself out of the melancholy. "A strategy game with the goal of world domination. I'm just not very good at deciding troop moves."
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"Sorry... I just..." She snickered again. "Perhaps you're just not meant to rule the world and your... princess is."
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There were a lot more people still lingering in this hallway, such as a larger group of four that included the young girl he had met a few days ago. He wasn't sure what her caretakers were doing, but hopefully they were taking care of her.
Looking past the solo patients and searching for his companions for the night, Sora saw a pair who seemed to be trying to stand out and recognized Hitsugaya's and Renji's friend. They hadn't really spoken at length, but he still knew who she was.
The other girl was a stranger (it was kind of weird that he was going to be working with two girls), but that didn't mean they couldn't get to know each other!
He moved over to them, nodding a quick greeting. "Sorry for making you guys wait!" He turned to the girl he hadn't yet met (Hokuto, right?) and extended a hand. "Hey there, I'm Sora." They might as well get introductions out of the way fast so that they could get going.
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She was tempted to ask Momo So what's the plan, Fearless Leader? but now that they were all here, she figured she should at least act like a real warrior.
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"Hello, Sora-san. We haven't been waiting long," she said. "Tonight, we're to explore the area outside the walls to the north. We're going to head to the rec field and scale the western wall, proceeding north once we're on the other side. I hope to avoid any possibly conflict in the rec field if we can."
She shot a quick glance at Hokuto before looking back at Sora. "I am injured, Sora-san, and have little access to my... magic tonight, but I'll be fine." She smiled again. 'I'll just need a little help over the wall. Unfortunately, I'm too short and this," she gestured to the cast on her left wrist adorned with a red, yellow and orange fire bird drawing, "makes it hard for me to climb it on my own."
"Any questions?"
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So north was in the direction of the recreational field? Well, that made things easy! He had scaled the wall over there once before, even though he and Kairi hadn't gotten much further than that. He hoped things went a little better tonight; he was sure Kairi would be curious to hear about what was out there, after all.
Frowning when Momo pointed out that she was injured, Sora directed his flashlight to her wrist and then glanced up to give the girl a concerned look. "Are you sure you'll be all right?" he asked. It didn't seem like a good idea for her to be risking herself like this, though at least she would have two people to back her up.
"I'll do my best to help you, though," he added, figuring that she wasn't going to lose her determination just because he was dubious. He would just have to work that much harder to make sure she didn't sustain any more injuries. Hopefully Hokuto had a few tricks up her sleeve as well.
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Before they could get moving, she asked Sora, "Do you have any magic? I'm more of a fighter--I can put up shields, but they're usually not strong enough to do much good." The fact that her weapon was a shovel probably didn't tell him much (and her outfit gave away even less--so to speak), but he was welcome to ask anything he wanted to know.
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