STOP! Zombie Time.

[frozen_railroad]

Who: Izumi, Rhyme, Shiki, Tsuzuki
When: After this cry for help.
Where: It's going all over the place
What: Rhyme and Shiki need a rescue during the zombie madness, so Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder Izumi, along with Tsuzuki's help, go on a rescue mission.
Rating: PG just in case of zombie attack

Comments

[bellsanddreams]

It was amazing the sense of calm that washed over her just by being in Izumi's presence. It hadn't taken long for the girl to dubb him her replacement brother. He was everything Beat would be if he were here; kind, caring, helpful. He was so sweet to her; Rhyme could only hope to repay him for that sweetness another time. Maybe she'd make him a plushie someday...she'd have to find out his favorite animal first.

Izumi would be surprised to know just how accurate an observation he had made about the smell of death on Rhyme. Perhaps he'd ask her about it someday; she would be more than happy to explain it...well, as best anyone could explain a situation like that.

Honestly, she hadn't noticed the wings until he started to move. She remained clutched to him, one hand holding obsessively onto Bubbles. Rhyme looked back at Izumi after gazing at the sky, her pleading ocean blue eyes latched onto Izumi's own. "You mean...you're going to fly us? But what if I'm too heavy!? I might be too heavy for you to carry me!" Sure she was still a little freaked about something unseen happening. What if she slipped out of his grip, fell to the ground, and became zombie chow!?

[frozen_railroad]

The Shinigami had to hold back a laugh. "Trust me, Bell-chan. Me dropping you could easily be considered the least of your worries right now." A petite girl, she really didn't weigh that much. Girls were always worrying about such inconsequential things. Just to reassure the girl, Izumi tightened his grip on her. Nothing was getting out of Izumi's death grip, especially not the Rhyme.

Besides, before the girl knew it, the two were airborne. All that the Shinigami had to focus on was getting to the Mech Building without much complication. He really wasn't worried about Tsuzuki and Shiki...Izumi knew that the other Shinigami would follow through. Tsuzuki was that type of person, after all.

Hey, maybe some conversation would lighten the mood. "What's the name of your friend there." Children usually cooperated better if you distracted from the bad, a useful lesson for a Shinigami from the Pediatrics ward.

[[OOC: Is it me, or is this extremely adorable?]]

[bellsanddreams]

Even if he had laughed at her, Rhyme wouldn't have been upset. She did sound a little frantic right now and if she knew the powers that Izumi had, she probably wouldn't be so worried. But was it was, she clutched close to Izumi, deciding that she would try and name the scent he had. She ended up failing, but at least she got a good memory of what he did smell like and now she could associate that smell with Izumi.

She stayed silent until he started to talk to her, which was good because her mind had no fodder for thought except zombies. Tilting her head a little, she wasn't exactly sure what he meant but she did catch onto his meaning as she gave a small smile. "You mean Bubbles?" If she wasn't holding onto her savior, she would have brought him around so Izumi could see the plushie. "Shiki and I made plushies together a while ago. She has this one plushie that she uses as her psych and his name is Mr. Mew, and even though Bubbles can't move around or attack things, I like him just the same."

Now seemed like a perfect time to assess what would be a good animal for Izumi. "Do you have a favorite animal?" She asked, finally starting to notice how his hat looked a little like dog ears from the side.

[[ It's soooo adorable! I love this relationship, they're so cute! Rhyme needs a big brother. ]]

[frozen_railroad]

A child and her stuffed animal. Such a familiar scene if not old already. Same story every time. You would attempt to remove the child's soul, only for the ghost to start grabbing their most treasured toy. Something secure. Something to hold them to life, before they die well before their time.

The scythe was a useful tool in eliminating that tie.

"Bubbles eh?" A fish...Bubbles...he gets it. Good one Rhyme. Little kids were never good at naming things, just taking the obvious choice. Seemed a little artless, but kids are kids. Nothing much you could do with them. They were a little more than halfway there now. Just hold on. Izumi won't let you down Rhyme.

"My favorite animal?" Well this took a little thought. The obvious assumption would be a dog, just by looking at his ears. But. "A rabbit." Just like Meroko.

[bellsanddreams]

"I tried out a few different names, but Bubbles seemed to fit best. I don't know, I know it's not all that original...but I thought it was cute." She looked at Bubbles, smiling a little, before turning back up to Izumi. "It's not a bad name, is it?"

Certainly his admission of a rabbit surprised her. "Really..A rabbit? Oh...Ok! That's interesting. Why a rabbit?" She didn't know how loaded a question that was, because all she really was trying to do was get more information so she could make him a rabbit plushie.

She hoped they were getting closer to safety and figured the must be. Izumi knew what he was doing. She couldn't hear the zombies anymore and that was always a good sign. Zombies would always make some sort of noise, they weren't really intelligent enough to be stealthy.

[frozen_railroad]

A familiar smile shone before Rhyme. "Not a bad name at all. Actually pretty clever." It was a cute name, and it was expected of Rhyme. After all, she was a cute girl, so naturally she'd come up with something...well cute. "Why a rabbit? Well it just so happens my old partner was much like a rabbit herself. So naturally, I came to prefer rabbits." It was half the truth. All that Rhyme needed to know at least. For instance, Meroko wasn't like a rabbit, she was a rabbit Shinigami.

The Mech Building came into sight. "Ya see that Bell-chan?" We're going to be fine now." There were no zombies around this area, so Izumi took a landing right outside the building.

[bellsanddreams]

"Your old partner?" She asked, tilting her head to the side a little as she brought one hand up to her mouth. "You had a partner? Do you mean like a girlfriend or like a business partner? What do you do, anyway, Izumi?" Surely these questions would sprout up sometime; why not now?

Her heart raced upon hearing the news and she brightened a bit more. "Oh, good! I was getting worried with you having to fly all the time. It's good that you can rest and I can walk now."

[frozen_railroad]

"Hmmmm Kinda both." It was the truth in one aspect. Meroko's and Izumi's partnership in Milmake was for business...but there were some feelings there. Of course, Izumi still loved Meroko, but her feelings changed. Why wouldn't they?

What was an appropriate way to phrase it for Rhyme. Of course Izumi couldn't just tell the girl that his job included taking the souls of dead children. If this zombie thing didn't give her nightmares...that would. "I work in Pediatrics." Simple answer.

Izumi felt a little down since the girl was so excited to walk again. "You really do worry too much, Bell-chan." Oh well. Putting Rhyme back on her feet, Izumi took another look around. Just to make sure no unexpected company came.

[bellsanddreams]

"Awe...that's really cute, Izumi! I hope you get back to her when you go home!" As sad as it was for Rhyme to believe that Izumi would leave, she knew that he couldn't stay with her forever. At least she could take comfort in the fact that Izumi still had someone waiting for him, right?

"I knew it was something with children, it's obvious to see. You're so good at calming me down, surely you'd be really, really good at handling children."

Rhyme turned her attention to the ground and stepped onto it when he placed her there. Had she known he still wanted to carry her (and had he truly convinced her that she wasn't heavy at all), she would have let him carry her around. It was honestly a little sad for her to leave his arms, but she felt like she was being a nuisance while he held her. However, she did reach up for his hand.

[frozen_railroad]

Home huh....you gotta wonder how close that goal actually is. Sure he was going to have to leave someday, but how many days, or months, will that be? "Yeah. It certainly isn't as much fun without Me-chan around." Not meant to come off as mean, Rhyme. Izumi does have fun with Rhyme, but Meroko was special to him...the first girl who ever cried for the Shinigami.

Well, worrying about that isn't going to lead anywhere. Meroko wasn't here, and Izumi was just going to have to make the best of it. "Handling them is one way to put it..." Mumble mumble.

Taking the hint from the small girl, Izumi graciously grabbed Rhyme's hand. After all, she was just a defenseless little girl. There was no way she could know that she was reaching for someone who, on an order, could easily take her life. It was probably better of that way.

[bellsanddreams]

Rhyme knew that Izumi must have special people to him back home. She did too, but right now, Izumi was one of the most precious people Rhyme had in her life. She had come to believe in him so much in the short time that she had known him. He had become a protector in her mind, someone she could count on through thick and thin.

Relief washed over her as he took her hand, but mostly Rhyme was happy to be close to a safe place like the Mech Building. "Izumi, I trust you and all but how do you know the zombies aren't here too?"

[frozen_railroad]

A small chuckle erupted from Izumi. Thie girl really did worry too much. But such behavior was expected, considering all the trouble she just had to go through. "Let's just say a little birdie known as Li-chan gave this dog a heads up." Linali had really been helpful with the information on the Mech Building. Otherwise, the small girl would have ended up in a tree somewhere. No problem with a fear of heights here. "'Sides, I'm not sensing anything here. Well, nothing that resembles the undead at least." A little bit of a lie, Izumi could sense Tsuzuki heading their way.

Leading the way inside, Izumi kept a firm grip on the small girl's hand.