Nightshift 40: East Wing, Hall A (2nd Floor)

[oftemptation]

[from here]Endrance rounded the corner slowly, looking ahead to see if anything was there. He was reminded all too easily of what had happened here the night before - the false Mia attacking, trying to talk her out of it...everything

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[onefellbeast]

[ From here ]This hallway was unfamiliar to him, leaving him on slightly on edge as he crept forward. Only the sounds of footsteps nearby reached his ear, a few of them signaling others who were exploring the same areas as he was. It wasn't anything to concern himself with, so he kept on, eyes falling on the multitude of doors and the seemingly endless stretch of walls. They weren't distinguishable from the rest, which meant that Takasugi would have to open them up one by one to see was inside. Whether or not they would even be locked was also something he'd have to check, but he had enough time to cover this whole area before morning

[mayomanoflove]

[From here.]

Hijikata thought he'd been mistaken for a moment when he turned the corner and saw not a solitary figure but several different scatterings of people throughout this last hall: men and women, some entering rooms and others speaking in hushed, steady voices. Too smart and not stupid enough to discount his instincts so easily, however, Hijikata kept still and silent as he sorted through the shadows, filtering out the voices to concentrate only on that tell-tale silence all hunters learned to hear.

Their prey, as well.

.........there. There was one man standing alone, right in front of one of the farthest doors. Expression unreadable, Hijikata began to walk slowly towards the man, advancing silently and blending himself into the background of other footsteps and noises, confirming and seeing and thanking and resolving with each step that--

--unarmed. Good.

SLAMWithout warning, a hand wrapped itself around Takasugi's, bruising the terrorist's palm against the doorknob as a body slammed itself into Takasugi's. Pinning

[onefellbeast]

Pain lanced through his arm before he could even register what was going on. His assailant -and judging by the voice, it appeared the Vice Commander had found him, after all- had lucked out on grabbing the arm attached to the shoulder that had been stabbed through the day before. Takasugi had to grit his teeth to keep from making any noise, inwardly displeased he had let his guard down enough to allow someone to sneak up behind him, having too quickly dismissed the surrounding foot steps as those of other wanderers. Now he had to deal with an unwanted enemy at his back when he was only inches from the supplies he required

[mayomanoflove]

There were bandages where Hijikata'd had grabbed Takasugi, all the evidence Hijikata needed to confirm the yorozuya girl's assertion that she'd fought by Takasugi's side last night. He supposed that he needed to investigate that further--the yorozuya had never been cleared completely of suspicions regarding his "intimate past" with various terrorist factions, after all--but here in the Institute Hijikata frankly had better things to do. For all his words, Hijikata had no real grudge against the yorozuya.

Too bad the same didn't apply for the man he had here.

Kill him?

"If you beg for it," Hijikata said with an equally fierce smirk, twisting the injured arm back even more.

"And by the time I'm done, you will."

[onefellbeast]

Blood seeped through his patient's uniform as his wounds reopened from the movement, soaking the fabric red. Takasugi paid it no mind, even as the pain lanced through his shoulder blades and made his vision blur at the edges. He was definitely in a tight spot, but surrender and defeat weren't ever options that appealed much to him. Neither was reasoning with the Shinsengumi. If he hoped to escape from the Vice Commander's grip, he would have to do more than just endure it.

He'd have to bite back.

"Always the tenacious one, are we?" he teased with a grin, "I've always admired that about you, Vice Commander, but I'm afraid not all of us learned to sit and roll over on command as you have."

There was a sickening pop as he twisted his body free, putting enough distance between them by slamming his elbow hard into Hijikata's stomach. He was almost certain his shoulder had been dislocated, but the other arm remained strong and mobile. It would be enough.

[mayomanoflove]

Hijikata made no reply to the "sit and roll over" comment, nor did he need to. A low grunt was forced out of his throat when Takasugi's elbow jabbed straight into his stomach, causing him to let the man go by reflex and back off a few steps. It was almost satisfying, in a way, that the man got free: he could see Takasugi's face clearly now, and scanned quickly the man's injuries before smirking.

It took only a moment for him to cross that distance again; he barely gave the terrorist enough time to breathe before slamming his heel into the man's abdomen, hoping to get him cornered once more.

[onefellbeast]

Pain exploded from his midsection, leaving Takasugi clutching at his stomach as his knees hit the floor too quickly. He could barely breathe past the pain and nausea that suddenly welled up from his gut, but his body refused to give out completely. His own will to live and fight was etched into every nerve ending, keeping him moving though he was about to reach his capacity