Day 41: Breakfast

[oftemptation]

Endrance turned his head to look at the intercom, giving it a look that would wither an entire rose garden in an instant. He would never get used to ending up in his room again from somewhere else in the Institute

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[noneedforsanity]

Kenpachi did his best to shrug off the drugs that had been injected into his system, but even still the room felt a little fuzzy as he entered the cafeteria. The nurse escorted him to the cafeteria line and instructed him to play nice or he'd get a second helping of whatever they had injected him with. Whatever, it didn't matter. It just meant he'd have to figure out a way to fight one of them when they didn't have those damn needles on them.

The food looked weird, definitely different from the standard noodle meals that he usually ate, but whatever. Food was food, and at least there was enough of it to sate his appetite. He piled his plate high with the eggs and the weird brown things, then grabbed some of the meaty-smelling things for good measure. The salad went ignored.

Once through the line he glanced around at the others like him, dressed in that ridiculous garb with that obnoxious smiley face. Most of them didn't seem terribly happy here, but worse than that they all seemed so damn complacent about the situation. He was going to have to stir up some trouble sooner or later or he'd really be bored out of his mind.

His eyes stopped at a nearby man with silver hair. A man he hadn't expected to see again except perhaps on the field of battle. A man whose bankai he had never seen in spite of his lofty position as former captain of the 3rd division. He wasn't sure if he should be excited or displeased at seeing the snake here. He strode towards the man's table and forcefully dropped his tray onto the table across from him.

"Ichimaru Gin," Kenpachi said, a slight grin on his face.

[traitors_smile]

It was hard to miss the giant of a man that lumbered his way into the cafeteria. If he couldn't sense his reiatsu, his presence alone was impossible to ignore. And just his luck, the shinigami decided to sit with him. Of all the captains in the Gotei 13, Zaraki was the one he'd least like to meet in this sort of situation. Even if it came down to a physical fight, the difference in their builds alone was more than a little intimidating.

None of that, however, showed in the slightest on the fox-like face of the former captain. He greeted the other man with a smile and a wave, much like he would any other.

"Zaraki-taichou," he nodded, not bothering to get out of his seat or show the slightest bit of formality. "Didn' expect t' see you around here. Must be somethin' of a surprise t'you too."

[noneedforsanity]

And there was that sly fox's smile. In any other circumstance, he would have drawn his zanpakuto and challenged the man to a battle to the death. He'd always been curious to see Ichimaru's bankai, and now that the shinigami had turned traitor Kenpachi had the perfect opportunity to see it.

Still, the fact that he wasn't able to beat even the random orderly in his room left him concerned. He was weakened, and it was entirely possible the same was true of Ichimaru. He was dressed in the same attire that Kenpachi had on, and his zanpakuto was nowhere in sight. Also, he couldn't sense even a drop of reiatsu coming from the other shinigami.

The lack of formality didn't bother him. The fact that a possibly excellent fight sat right in front of him that he might not even get to savor did. "Yeah," Kenpachi grunted in response. "What the hell is this place?"

Even Kenpachi knew not to take Gin's words at face value, but it was still worth asking. After all, why lie about something he'd probably find out eventually anyways?

[traitors_smile]

What was the best way to explain this to someone as simple-minded as Zaraki? It was somewhat surprising the man wasn't running around challenging others to fight already, but perhaps he'd already found out about what happened to patients who got out of hand.

"It pretends to be an asylum in the daytime and then at night they let us out and send all kinds of creatures our way. Some kinda game I s'pose," he offered. Would asylum be too big a word? Ah well. It was enough to give him a general idea. He'd no reason to lie about that much. "They got some way of sealin' off everyone's power so it ain't too easy neither."

[noneedforsanity]

Well, shit. "So wait...you don't even have yer bankai?" he asked, ignoring the rest of what Gin had said. Disappointment was plain on his face. Why even bother fighting Ichimaru if the former captain couldn't give it his all?

[traitors_smile]

Itching for a fight already. No surprise there. It would be pointless to mention that he'd had access to his powers here earlier, though he hadn't even needed to use anything stronger than shikai on the opponents.

"'fraid not. Reiatsu gets a lil' stronger at night, but ain't even as strong as when y'get sealed t'come visit Earth. Weak at best." Either Zaraki would be thrilled that everyone was the same level here or sorely disappointed. Most of the enemies, Gin would've been able to dispatch with little or no effort, but with his limited strength and reiatsu, even the easy enemies could be a challenge.

[noneedforsanity]

Damn. "A'ight, then. You and me, soon as we find a way to get our strength back, we're gonna fight. But for now yer off the hook." He glanced down at the food on his tray and began to eat as he thought about what Ichimaru had said. Their strengths were bound, and they sent creatures out at night.

"What kind of creatures are you talkin' about?" Kenpachi asked after some thought, the grin slowly returning to his face. If he couldn't fight Ichimaru, at least he could have fun with these 'not so easy' monsters, right?

[traitors_smile]

For now he was off the hook. Gin had to work very hard not to snort at that, but managed to keep his smile in place. "M'sure we'll have plenty of time f'that when we do. Somethin' to work t'wards, ne?"

Hopefully that was enough to keep the man occupied, or at least out of his way. If he didn't have to worry about the brute coming after him, it sure made his job a lot easier.

"Oh, all kinds," he said, smile widening slightly. "Big old beasties, some with really hard armor, some with lotsa heads, whatever y'like. There's a really tough one 'round here that wears a big ol' metal triangle on his head. I 'spect you'd have fun with him." Whoever won, with how Zaraki fought, it'd get one problem out of his way.

[noneedforsanity]

"Well, gettin' outta here might not be bad, but I'm more interested in this triangle-thing." Kenpachi grinned right back at Gin. He was sure that there was some reason why Gin wanted the triangle-headed monster out of the way--after all, Ichimaru didn't have the same lust for battle as Kenpachi and his division and no reason to direct him to a good fight out of the kindness of his heart--but that didn't matter. Whatever he was guarding, if he was as strong as Gin was suggesting it might be a fun fight.

"Where can I find it?"

[traitors_smile]

"Saaa," Gin sighed, picking idly at his meal.

"Ain't no one too sure on that. Only seen it once m'self. But seems t'be that most of th' strong beasties end up anywhere from that room we came in from, through that one over yonder," he said, pointing from one end of the room to the other and indicating the Sun Room and the Kitchens.

"Things tend t'not stay in one place 'round here."

[noneedforsanity]

Kenpachi glanced towards the sun room, then towards the kitchens. "So the big fights are usually here, eh? Anywhere else?"

And then he heard the screaming from another table...

"...And the rest of you! You yoctograms are all just simplified fractions before my integral might! Stay out of my way or prepare to be derived, got it?"

Kenpachi glanced over at the screaming man, his ears burning at the sound of a challenge. His grin grew ever wider, competing with yet failing to match Gin's. "I don't understand half of what that guy's talkin' about, but I know a challenge when I hear one. Who is that guy?"

[traitors_smile]

"Your guess's good as mine," he shrugged when Zaraki asked him where else the fights might occur. It was fairly random, unless one was going after the radio clues, but frankly, he doubted Zaraki had the attention span to listen to an explanation on something like that, let alone figure out where the clues might suggest he look.

He followed the shinigami's gaze to the new boy who was standing on a table and shouting his lungs out. Soon to be sedated no doubt, Gin watched the nurses approach with only casual interest. There was at always at least one or two every few days. They all ended up learning their lesson the hard way. Not that it bothered him. Most times it was at least entertaining.

"Ain't seen him b'fore," Gin said, though he took note of the boy's appearance and any distinguishing features before looking back at Zaraki. "Must be new."

[noneedforsanity]

The nurse seemed to be occupying the man's attention for now, but Kenpachi knew he'd have to encounter the man sometime that day. He wasn't the kind of man to let a challenge, even an open challenge to a room full of people, go unanswered.

"Huh," he said, then glanced back at Ichimaru. "Any other big movers and shakers around here?" Naturally he suspected Gin would toss him at his enemies. The man was too crafty not to try and use the captain to eliminate his problems, but it gave Kenpachi more information about this place, and just because they were Gin's enemies didn't mean they wouldn't possibly make for entertaining fights.