Nightshift 38: Men's Bathroom (M1-M40)

[tyki_pon]

[From here]

Who would've thought he would meet a lady in a bathroom of all places? A men's bathroom at that? How amusingly inappropriate, or according to most people's views. Ah well, at least there was a fairly low chance of interruptions in this place

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[hajike_tobiume]

[from here]

The bathroom door opened to reveal a short and slight woman dressed in a black hakama, a katana across her back and the muted glow of a flashlight hanging from the white sash at her waist. She stepped inside, her eyes finding the man waiting by the counters. Regardless of the man's night vision, the light made the scarring around her left eye visible as she moved into the bathroom.

A line of crosses along the forehead - just like Rhode. A slight narrowing of her eyes and Momo brought the man's spirit threads into focus. Yes, just like the other Noah's. Relaxing her eyes, the shinigami ignored the dull headache that started and raised her left hand, a cast on that wrist, to her nose to catch the tiny bit of blood that had collected there before it was noticed.

"Tyki, I presume? I am Vice Captain Hinamori Momo." She gestured to the tall knight that entered the room behind her, but did not take her eyes off of the man. "This is Signum."

[blazing_general]

The knight took her place by Momo's side, saying nothing. She'd already been introduced, and this was Momo's show to run. She was insurance, nothing more.

Of course, that didn't mean she was doing nothing. Tyki had been here ahead of them; that meant time to prepare if he intended to fight. While Momo kept her eyes on Tyki, Signum's roamed the room, searching for any sign of treachery or trick he could use to gain the advantage in combat. Signum preferred to face her opponents directly, but she'd been ambushed enough times to know plenty of such tricks.

[tyki_pon]

Ah, finally. Tyki had been growing rather impatient while waiting. After all, waiting wasn't the most exciting activity he could think of and the counter wasn't too comfortable to be leaning against. It certainly seemed like forever before the door opened and Miss Shinigami finally stepped inside.

And she had brought a friend with her.

"Indeed. I'm Tyki Mikk." he answered, glancing at the two women as he inhaled one last time from his cigarette before discarding it on the floor. "I suppose there are more guests than I have expected." Hopefully, Signum wouldn't be here to interrupt his entertainment.

He straightened himself and smiled. "So, Miss Shinigami, what has happened to that pretty eye of yours?"

[hajike_tobiume]

Momo trusted Signum to do what the knight needed to do, so she maintained her focus on Tyki. She didn't say anything when the Noah mentioned extra guests as the shinigami never said she was coming alone. She may have been broken, may been a lot of things, but she wasn't stupid.

"It was claimed by Rhode," Momo replied, her voice even. It was the one thing that had pushed the vice captain to use Hakufuku, but she wasn't going to explain that to Tyki. She was not going to justify the Noah's death to him; she could already tell he wasn't going to care if her death was warranted or not.

[blazing_general]

Satisfied with the room, Signum turned her attention to Tyki himself. He was calm, wasn't he? No tension. Not what Signum would have expected from a would-be avenger. Could be a sociopath. She was vaguely curious as to where he'd gotten the cigarette, too, but that really didn't matter right now.

None of it did, really. Only whether this came to a fight.

[tyki_pon]

"Rhode, hmmm?" Tyki answered. It wasn't too surprising that the other Noah had managed to cause some injuries to the lady in front of her. She had probably enjoyed it too, knowing her.

"So what'd you fight about, anyway? Was it typical girl stuff?" Women could be so scary when they wanted to, especially when fighting among one another.

[hajike_tobiume]

"You could say that, but the specifics are between Rhode and myself," Momo replied. To the shinigami, honor, death threats and claiming of Hitsugaya all fell into the realm of typical girl stuff. Okay, maybe not the death threats, but that hadn't helped Rhode any.

[blazing_general]

Signum was getting a bad feeling about this. Where there was no show of emotion there was nothing to talk down or to satisfy. For him to be discussing this so casually... he'd already made up his mind, and like this it was hard to tell which way.

She shifted slightly closer to Momo. Hard, too, to predict when he would act.

[tyki_pon]

"That's too bad." Tyki answered. "After all, she was family. Do you have family yourself, Miss Shinigami?" The tone of his voice wasn't hateful, despite of what he had just said or what he was about to do. He simply wasn't a hateful person despite what had happened.

He'd just kill her and the friend she had brought with him, and he'd enjoy it. It was the least he could do with someone that had killed Rhode.

The Noah snatched a playing card from his pocket, twirling it between his fingers. It was the Ace of Spades, otherwise known as the Death Card. Maybe a cliche, but he guessed it got his point across.

"I suppose I have been waiting long enough." Whether that was indeed all that long was up for debate. Tyki didn't like waiting for his excitement, even despite his lazy tendencies. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

[hajike_tobiume]

"All of my family is already dead," Momo replied. They had been dead for well over a century.

When the Noah drew a card from his pocket, the shinigami's stance did not change at all. She wasn't sure what he could do with a playing card, but she wasn't about to put anything past him.

"I have no intention of fighting you, Tyki-san," the shinigami stated. "I suggest you heed my warning and stand down. Rhode made her own decisions and there are always consequences. I am not absolving myself from bringing about her death, but she was the one who threw down the gauntlet."

She lifted her head a little. "Leave now and I give you my word that nothing further will come from this matter."

[blazing_general]

So that was how it was going to be. A matter of honor. The older, tribal kind, where the death of kin was repaid a a matter of course. She didn't think Momo was well-equipped to deal with that kind of outlook...

No, definitely not. Talk of personal responsibility wouldn't change his mind, if he was thinking the way she thought he was. Not that she was particularly sure anything would. Blood ran thick.

"If there is anything you will accept in place of a fight let us hear it first," she said, stepping out ahead of Momo. As much as she liked fighting, this was business, duty. Subordinate to Hinamori or not she couldn't let things go at just that.

[tyki_pon]

Tyki was somewhat surprised. Not at the fact that Miss Shinigami attempted to talk her way out of the whole situation. No, he had dealt with plenty that had tried to outrun him - a certain Exorcist in particular. Suman Dark was that guy's name, right? How ironic that he had ended up dying anyway

[hajike_tobiume]

Momo didn't like the emphasis the Noah placed on the word friend. Not one bit. It was also a hard question to answer as, in a way, Signum was taking on the responsibility that a bodyguard would. Yet, the shinigami did not want Signum to fight for her; she was there as backup.

Momo put a hand on Signum's arm and drew abreast of the knight. "She is not my bodyguard," Momo replied. "I will not draw my sword on you, Tyki. I beseech you once more; leave now."

Momo was far from helpless without her sword bared. She was already running the incantation for a binding spell slowly under her breath. Perhaps Signum would hear it, but not the Noah.

[blazing_general]

Signum was of a very different opinion. She was backup in the sense that she was plan B, not in the sense that she would be backing Momo up in a fight. If it came to that, it was her show.

"Hinamori," she said. "Don't."

For the most part, she was trying to protect Momo like this because she was injured, but there was more to it than that. She did not want the responsibility for a fight between patients to fall on Momo a second time. Better that this dishonor belong to her, who had failed to stop her friend the first time.

[tyki_pon]

No bodyguard, but a friend then. Interesting...

"You'd better draw your sword, Miss Shinigami." Tyki answered with a wide grin. So wide that it might even be considered unnatural. Inhuman, even. "You might be a woman, but I'm not gonna go easy on you. At least be a little fun to fight before I kill you."

And without another pause, he ran forward, a glint of silver in his hand which was the knife he carried. Figures he'd be bringing a knife to a sword fight. Though he preferred the Tease, this would do. All he needed was to be a little creative.

[blazing_general]

[[Switching posting order by agreement.]]

The knight answered his words with only a harsh glare and surged forward to meet him. A knife was a faster weapon than her broadsword by far, but Tyki had underestimated her, she thought, to rush her straight on like this. The distance between them gave her plenty of time to strike and made the reach of her blade a far bigger advantage than the lightness of his.

With a precision that seemed at odds with the brute strength behind the attack she swung at the knife bearing hand. Remove that and she removed the weapon... and probably his ability to fight.