Day 24: Courtyard (Shift 2)

[stray_shinigami]

Renji's quasi-peaceful mood from breakfast was well and gone by the time he got out to the courtyard. Rather than dwell on the all-new problems with Rukia - and the fact that he had absolutely no idea how to deal with any of it - he tried to occupy himself with a mental checklist of the things he needed to do today. Meet with Roy Mustang at lunch,

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[whiteychan]

Hitsugaya nodded. It had only been a couple of hours, and already the oppressive and time distorting sensation of the place was taking hold on him. two hours might as well have been two weeks...and he hadn't even been through a single night yet

[whiteychan]

"There has to be some kind of connection," Hitsugaya commented. "I know that our unit, at least, has some very dangerous adversaries. Everyone could have someone who wants them taken care of...and if those people had found a way to unite..."

He shook his head in frustration. "It's a possibility. There has to be some answer, something we're not seeing. They have to have a purpose, even if it's simple and petty."

[daddyslilkiller]

This whole thing was giving him a headache. "I agree there has to be a purpose, but... I don't know. It doesn't make sense. Even if everyone here had enemies that powerful, and I don't think we do at least, why the different timelines? And how'd they start working together in the first place?"

He sighed. "Besides, who just gets rid of some of their enemies? If you had the power to put someone in another world entirely, wouldn't you just get rid of everyone who got in your way?"

[whiteychan]

Hitsugaya sighed. So many questions, so few answers. "I don't know. But I know who does have the answers: The head doctor."

He hadn't even met the man yet, and already he knew he was not to be trusted. Renji saw something dark in him, and whatever he was doing, whether he was the true head or just an illusory figure, he knew more about what was going on than any of them could get at by mere guesswork.

[daddyslilkiller]

"You'll have to find him before you can ask him, though." And he was never going to make that easy.

He settled back against the tree, watching the other people in the courtyard. Even though they spent their days planning to escape and their nights trying to implement their plans, they still didn't get anywhere.

[whiteychan]

Hitsugaya nodded. Omi was right about that. All of their planning wasn't going to amount to anything if they couldn't find this doctor. All the more reason to make as many allies as possible.

"Right," he said, leaving it at that. He didn't know Omi well enough to trust him, especially after Aizen, a man whom everyone trusted and respected, just betrayed him and hurt the one person in this world he valued above duty.

"So where do you come from in your 'world'?" Hitsugaya asked after a moment, changing the subject. "You come from Earth, right?"

[daddyslilkiller]

Omi wasn't going to argue with a subject change. You could only reinforce how powerless you were for so long before it got... old.

"An Earth, anyway, yeah. I'm from Tokyo. Japan. What about you?" He stretched, ending with his arms draped across his knees. He actually seemed interested in the answer, too.

[whiteychan]

Of course, telling him where he actually came from wouldn't likely make a lot of sense, so he went with the easiest option, instead. Technically he had been sleeping outside of Orihime's house.

"Work keeps me moving a lot. My last assignment was in Karakura Town, just west of Naruki City." Sure, he was dodging, but some people really weren't ready to know the full story.

[daddyslilkiller]

Dodging, perhaps, but Omi figured it wasn't really his business anyway, unless Hitsugaya decided to tell him, so it wasn't a big deal.

"That must be nice, getting to see lots of places. All I get is school and the flowershop every day. Except holidays, then it's just the flowershop." Really, that was true enough. They didn't travel much for jobs, after all. And he didn't exactly get to enjoy the scenery during an assassination.

[whiteychan]

"You work in a Flower Shop?" Hitsugaya asked, looking somewhat surprised. No wonder Omi talked about how everything didn't seem to fit. People who worked in flower shops didn't typically generate a lot of enemies, unless you counted dissatisfied customers or spurned lovers.

This meant that, quite possibly, his entire theory since arriving here was a failure.

[daddyslilkiller]

Omi almost felt kind of bad, except.. not. The flowershop was their cover for a reason. One simply didn't go around telling people one was an assassin. It wasn't exactly a topic for polite conversation.

He nodded, ignoring the slight twinge of guilt at the lie of omission. "Mmhm. The Kitten in the House. Yohji-kun and Aya-kun work there, too. Well, and Ken-kun, but he's not here. Although Aya-kun's the only one that really works, sometimes."

He smiled slightly, inviting Hitsugaya into the joke. It looked like Kurama wasn't the only one who didn't think working in a flowershop was sufficient reason to end up here. Hopefully this wouldn't lead to as much trouble as that had.

[whiteychan]

Hitsugaya wasn't often one to smile, and while he appreciated the joke, he had more things on his mind. "Why would they bother taking you, then?" Maybe he had a strong concentration of reiatsu. He opened his senses, trying to perceive the spiritual energy around Omi and...nothing. The other might as well have been a soulless shell. Something wasn't right about this. Opening his mind around him, he noticed the red spiritual threads of the other shinigami, and could definitely sense them, but no one else in the courtyard gave off any reiatsu at all, not even the alchemist Renji had pointed out earlier; in fact, he couldn't sense any of them

[daddyslilkiller]

Omi watched him curiously. Something was taking Hitsugaya's attention away from the conversation, but he couldn't tell what. Odd. He didn't ask, though, not wanting to pry.

Yet.

He shook his head. "No reason to be sorry. Like I said, things don't add up. We're not exactly prime targets, and I know that none of us have.. well.. powers or anything. Our world just doesn't have anything like that." A fact which Kurama had found strange and worrying, until Omi had proved he could actually fight without any help. He could only hope Hitsugaya wouldn't press the issue of self-defense like Kurama had.

[whiteychan]

Humans in his world didn't have 'powers' either, unless you excuse the very few people in the know about how the spirit world beyond. Still, it was never a good idea to tell someone else that they might be ignorant, especially when he didn't have all of the information himself

[daddyslilkiller]

Omi smiled confidently. Sure, he probably couldn't stand up to someone with superpowers, but he knew what he was doing. He could definitely handle reconnaissance.

"I might not have powers, but I can take care of myself." He bit his lip, glancing again at Kurama and his teammates. It felt weird making plans that didn't involve them, but... "Yeah. I'm in. My room's M34. Where are you at?"

[whiteychan]

Powers were relevant in soul society, because without them one couldn't even begin to fight. If he were able to let his reiatsu flow naturally, most humans wouldn't be able to stand, much less fight him. Here, it was a different story altogether. "Room M23," he said. "I have Abarai-fukutaicho setting up the teams, I'll let him know you'll be on mine."

He had a good feeling about Omi, but he learned long ago not to rely entirely on instinct. Still, it was a good sign. "Is Omi your given name or family name?" he asked politely.