Day 22: Shift 3, Sun Room

[stray_shinigami]

Renji probably would have just kept sleeping at the table in the cafeteria if someone had let him. He was just so tired (thanks to the drugs) and really didn't feel good either (thanks to the drugs?). But, as was inevitable, a nurse showed up and shook him, none-too-gently, into a state that resembled wakefulness if not closely inspected

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[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia followed the young nurse down a few hallways, taking careful note of her surroundings. There were a number of other people dressed as she was, which was quite disconcerting. Shortly they arrived in a large room full of couches and chairs. The nurse turned to her, saying, "This is the sun room, so you're free to take a rest in here, makes some new friends. You can also go to--"

The rest of the nurse's words faded away, though, as Rukia caught sight of a bright red shock of hair. Renji? Ignoring the nurse, she ran over to where he was laying on a couch and squatted down next to him. He looked terrible! How could he have gotten so injured in such a short time? What had happened? Rukia reached up to shake his shoulder. "Renji. Wake up."

[stray_shinigami]

It took longer for Renji to wake up than it really should have. For someone that tended to be as on edge as him, the fact that someone had even gotten so close was rather odd.

After a few shakes, Renji managed to pry his eyes open, if only so he could tell whoever it was to go away. Their shaking him was just making him feel sick and even dizzier.

He looked at Rukia for a moment; he knew her, he knew that he knew her, but thinking was like trying to walk through thick mud, and this time it really pissed him off because he knew this was important

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia was really starting to get concerned when Renji didn't wake immediately. That wasn't like him at all. As kids in Rukongai they'd had to live by their wits alone, and the same was often true of Shinigami. She started to smile when he opened his eyes, but the look of confusion in them, added to the faint bruising (had his nose been broken?), had her eyebrows knitted together. What the hell was going on??

She started to jerk away when he took her hand, but his skin felt too cool, and he just looked so miserable that she let him. His voice sounded about as bad as the rest of him, gravelly and a little wet. She could barely even feel his reiatsu, even from here.

Something was very wrong.

Fixing her features into a scowl, Rukia nudged him with the hand he was holding. "What do you mean, you miss me? Renji, what happened to you?" There were a few other people around, including the nurse who had brought her here, but no real clues as to what was going on.

[stray_shinigami]

She was asking too many questions for this to be just the product of his imagination. Which also meant he'd just done something very stupid. Renji made himself let go of her hand - why had he thought he could do that, to begin with? - and slowly sat up. He leaned against the arm of the couch, one hand pressed on the ache on his side...

Oh yeah. Ichimaru had hit him there. Really hard.

"You... shouldn't be here," he said, enunciating carefully so that he wouldn't slur. The fact that she was here left him feeling shaken and ill. I don't want you to be here... "Had a bad night," he offered, as an answer to her question. "Then... got in a fight with the... traitor." Yes. The traitor. Good, he was making sense. At least more than he had before his nap. He hoped. "They..." He paused, slogging back through his recent memory, through the fight with Gin, then the nurses, then, ah, yes. The swift prick of a needle. "They drugged me

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia almost laughed at Renji's attempt to speak clearly. In any other situation it would have been funny, and she probably would have given him a friendly slap upside the head. She didn't laugh, though. She listened intently to what he managed to say, her scowl growing. Traitor? Does he mean...? Drugged him?? Well, that explains the slur and slow reflexes.

Rukia stood up from where she had been crouched, and looked around her with contempt. What kind of place was this? Why had Renji been drugged, and how did he get into such a pitiful state? She didn't think she'd ever seen her friend look so utterly miserable. Even when he'd nearly been killed by Aizen, he'd had a fighting spirit to the end.

Rukia crossed her arms, looking at Renji again. She figured she would address the more immediate concern first. "Who drugged you? Why?"

[stray_shinigami]

Renji thought back over what he'd said, because he thought he'd already answered the question. Oh, apparently not. Or not very well. Time to try again. He took his time getting his thoughts organized. He was starting to get very frustrated with this whole process, and he imagined he looked like a complete fucking moron, which just frustrated him more.

"The nurses. Drugged me," he said. "Because I tried to kill Ichimaru." He grinned briefly. "And I bit him." And there was so much more that had gone wrong with just the morning, and then the previous night, and fuck, he just didn't want to think about it. Which was just as well, because he was having a hell of a time just staying mostly upright.

And Rukia was here. "I'm... really glad you're okay," he said. "I..." ...miss you. Because even when you were nearby, we were still far apart. He shut his mouth with an audible click.

Shut up, moron. He was going to kill those nurses, for this. Oh yeah.

[haiiro_no_chou]

At Renji's mention of the nurses, Rukia directed a withering at the nearest one, tempted to go throttle the woman then and there. Renji's next statement knocked that thought right out of her mind. She stared at Renji in horror.

"Ichimaru??" she hissed, looking around as though he might slither up right then. How could he be here? Had they really been captured by Aizen? And Renji bit Ichimaru??

He continued for a moment, though, and she was again confused by his next statement. In a more gentle tone, she said, "Of course I'm all right. I was just with you before I found myself here. Don't you remember?"

This was starting to feel like some horrible nightmare, and made about as little sense as one.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji shook his head. He wondered if this was like with Ichigo... she was somehow further ahead than him? That thought was unpleasant. He felt like he was the only one that didn't know what was going on. And it felt unfair. But yeah, life was goddamn unfair.

"No." He said. "No. Last I remember... Aizen. The..." He shut his mouth again, clenching his fists a little tighter. When I failed you. When I betrayed you. When they beat me down and I couldn't do anything but watch. "The execution."

He didn't want to look at her any longer, so he stared at his knees. "Ichimaru is a prisoner, too. Showed up at breakfast."

Maybe it was just the thought of what passed for breakfast here, but he kind of felt like throwing up. "I..." I'm sorry. Forgive me.

[haiiro_no_chou]

How could that be the last thing he remembered?? So much had happened since then, so much time had passed. Did he have amnesia? Her blood ran cold again when he confirmed her fears. Ichimaru was here. She had to suppress a shiver.

"Well, it's been a while since... the execution. I'm safe now, thanks to you, and Ichigo, and... my brother. Before I woke up here, I was with you, and we were going back to Soul Society from the real world."

For the third or fourth time since she had found him lying here, Renji stuttered out an, "I..." What was his problem? He was acting like Ichigo after the first Arrancar attack. Well, I'll worry about Ichimaru, and figuring out what exactly is going on, later.

Fixing her features into a stern glare again, Rukia tried to find a spot on Renji that didn't look too bruised or bandaged. She settled for his left foot, stomping on it with her own slippered foot. "Anyway, since when do you mope around like this, huh?

[dead_draven]

Eric had spent the entirety of Brunch sitting by himself and staring off into space.

He'd always kind of hated drugs.

Now, however, his healing was really kicking in and moving the toxins out. By the time the shift change came, he was much more coherent, and a slight sway to his walk was really one of the only indications that he'd been drugged at all. Thus, when he spotted Renji, he recognized him and walked over, noting the state he was in and the woman he was with. He vaguely remembered a fight during Brunch...which would certainly explain the glazed look in his friend's eye.

"Hello," he said, to them both, rather amiable considering his mood only an hour or so before. "Enjoying the house cocktail, Renji?" To the new woman beside him, he gave a friendly, if slightly over-the-top wave. Oh hooray for drugs. "Don't abuse him, he's been fighting already today. Nice to meet you, though. Eric Draven, and you are?"

[stray_shinigami]

Renji glared at her and tucked his left foot behind his right, so make it a harder target. "Ichimaru is also a prisoner," he repeated. "There's more of us than him." He collected his thoughts for a moment. "And he's as... weak as the rest of us. Kurosaki is here. Ran is here." That was the important stuff.

What the hell did she want from him, anyway? He felt like shit, he could barely see straight, and the fact that she was even here officially made this the fourth or fifth worst day of his life. He didn't have the energy to put on a good face. But he did his best to smile, since that was what she wanted, and... squashing that thought, too. The smile came out a bit bitter and half-assed, but it worked

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia expected the usual squawk of indignation when she stomped his foot, but instead got a glare from Renji. He really must be having a bad day, she thought.

The appearance of the other man was somewhat irritating, as she wanted to ask Renji more about what was going on. She attempted to be civil though, taking in his very odd appearance. After Renji introduced her, she nodded her head at Eric. "And how is it you know Renji?" she asked

[dead_draven]

"Good plan," he approved. "I think there's a couple handy. Wait until they get close."

"How do I know him? Oh, he's a card-carrying member of our little 'Dead People Club' we've got running around here. I suppose 'People Who've Died' is more accurate, but..." he waved a hand dismissively. Then, rather belatedly, he added, "Am I interrupting anything?"

[stray_shinigami]

"Scored one this morning," Renji mumbled, before he remembered that gee, he really hadn't wanted to talk about that, at all. In fact, he'd been planning to pretend the throwing up on the nurse thing just hadn't happened at all. He rubbed his eyes again.

"We've talked about a... bunch of stuff," he said. "Little about the sort of police stuff you'n'me do." He figured Rukia would pick up that hint. That was about as subtle as he was currently equipped to get. "And his spirit thread looks real... weird." He stopped. There'd been something else he wanted to say, but it was gone. "Yeah, Eric... Rukia's from where I'm from."

He stared at the arm of the couch for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. Because there was stuff Rukia needed to know. Finally, in frustration, he smacked his hand against the couch arm. He looked at Eric. "Could you tell her about the night... thingy." He pinched the bridge of his nose, his frown becoming more frustrated. "Having a hard time thinking right now."

[haiiro_no_chou]

So apparently Renji was vomiting on nurses? That was... odd. And now this Eric fellow was talking about being dead, and Renji was saying that they were police. Okay, so he probably hadn't told Eric the whole truth about what they do, but the pale-skinned man at least knew that they were not alive. At any rate, they seemed rather friendly with each other. For some reason Rukia found herself irritated by that

[dead_draven]

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, one you, zero nurses, I guess