Day 29: Courtyard

[deathbymidget]

Hiei easily grew sick of the same walls--not to mention the same idiots always within those walls--and while not perfect, the chance to go outside was better than lingering in the boundaries of that damned prison. So when the chance came, the demon was quick to leap on it, heading outside almost quick enough to make a nurse wonder if he was

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[whiteychan]

[waiting for Momo]

As the nurses called his companion away, Hitsugaya took the opportunity to lie back down on the bench and take a little nap. The air was nice and crisp and cool, and the chill relaxed him. It had been a while since he had the opportunity to truly relax, and perhaps this shift he might actually have the opportunity.

A sleeping boy is a growing boy, his grandmother had always told him.

[hajike_tobiume]

After her visit from Aizen, Momo had been taken to get the stitches she'd ripped replaced, fresh bandages and a new shirt. She did not resist the nurses at all. In fact, she didn't even seem to register their presence or what was being done to her. She just moved when they wanted her to and stayed still otherwise. Her coat had been discarded as the buttons had been popped off and the nurse tried to engage the shinigami in conversation as she refit a new sling on her right arm. Momo did not respond

[whiteychan]

He heard the nurse approaching long before she addressed him, and one eye opened in irritation at being disturbed from his nap. That was until he saw it was Momo, and saw that something didn't seem quite right about her. She seemed quieter than normal, her expression strangely distant and unlike the normal bright and cheerful shinigami

[hajike_tobiume]

Momo did not move upon hearing Hitsugaya's voice. She was hearing voices of familiar people again. Was she just manifesting thoughts of the people close to her as her mind coped with the dying of her body?

Her eyes moved a couple times from side to side, though her gaze was still unfocused and toward the ground. Maybe she was dead, just as she'd originally thought. They didn't know what happened between reincarnation and birth.

It was better she not contemplate these things.

[fyeonly]

(waiting for Sheska)

Being outside was slightly better than being inside. Naomi had spent a good bit of time working out, using the exercise to clear her mind. It tended to help. But afterwards she was sore and worn out and headed to the courtyard to rest.

Maybe someone out there would have a cigarette she could bum.

At least she was feeling more calm and rational now. She wasn't sure if she was compartmentalizing or if her brain had just decided to stop being shocked as a defense mechanism. Either way, she was at least in a better place than she had been.

She found an empty bench - the courtyard was blissfully near empty as it was - and sank down onto it.

[verbatim_worm]

Sheska had argued with herself for a long time, but finally put the books away and left the Library. She wanted to take them with her, but nobody had said it was allowed and, well, she had something else she needed to do.

Only... she forgot to ask Hideki where to find him! The only reply she'd received was 'yes' and that wasn't helpful. She should have thought it out better. But, instead of sitting around the board, hoping he'd appear, she went to find him herself. It was supposed to be easy since he was rather odd looking. But she wasn't having any luck.

Until she saw his friend! The lady she'd spoken too who had also rescued him from the bus (making a way out for Sheska too).

"Excuse me!" she called out, jogging to the woman. "You're Hideki Ryuga's friend, aren't you? Do you remember me, we spoke once?"

[fyeonly]

Oh. It was her 'friend'. Naomi forced herself to smile, politely, and scooted over on the bench to give the girl room.

"Yes, you're Sheska. The girl who likes paper and books." And had a computer memory inside of her little skull. "I remember. Please, sit down."

[verbatim_worm]

"That's...that's right," Sheska nodded, surprised she'd been remembered. She sat down, smiling eagerly. "How have you been? You were so brave last night!"
Sheska really had been impressed. The woman seemed so gentle and...demure. But last night she'd become something else. Something wonderful and strong and intelligent. Sheska wanted to be like that.

"Mister Hideki said he might be able to get me paper...but I can't find him...."

[icy_demise]

[[Hi Hiei! Have an ice warrior!]]

It was partly relieving to be away from Ami, though at the same time he felt as if he was missing something about her. She asked a lot of questions, though, and SubZero was tired of satisfying curiosity, even if it did give him a chance to boast about his abilities.

It was nice to be outside, there weren't many people out yet. He looked suspiciously at the short person leaning against the tree with his eyes closed. Another kid, probably a kid with some kind of ability.

Ami hadn't claimed to have one, but SubZero was sure that she did, just like Haku. Normal kids wouldn't stand a chance of surviving in this place.

[deathbymidget]

Maybe the only thing potentially more annoying to Hiei at the moment than a pesky human bothering him with an endless amount of nonsense was a pesky human just staring at him without bothering to start the nonsense so it could be over with that much faster. Either way, the demon did not appreciate the stare, and opened his eyes to tell this stranger just that.

"I don't know what interest you have in me, but you can take it elsewhere." Hiei didn't move beyond giving SubZero a scowl, and crossing his arms firmly over his chest to signify that no, the ice warrior wasn't welcome there.

[icy_demise]

"Don't flatter yourself, kid. You're not that interesting," Except that perhaps he was, but SubZero just gave the kid a glare and then turned his attention partially back to the other people in the courtyard.

He did, however, keep an eye on the kid with the attitude out of the corner of his eye.

[deathbymidget]

Flattery? Hiei scoffed at the idea; he wasn't the type of person who needed to make false claims to bolster his own ego. SubZero mistook him as a child, but the demon had enough experience to recognize that he was still being watched, if only on the edges of the man's vision.

"If I'm so uninteresting, then why don't you find someone else to observe?" Hiei couldn't let himself relax when there was someone there actively spying on him, after all. It made him long for the simpler days when he could merely draw his sword and dispatch with this annoyance within a matter of moments.

It'd be so much easier if he still could.

[sword_and_demon]

Sparda really did not feel like getting up from where he was sitting beneath the shade of one of the trees.

It was pleasant, and peaceful, and peace was very hard to find in this place. There were things to be done but he still had time to do them before night arrived.

He glanced up towards the sun to note it's position in the sky before relaxing once more.

[dragon_lady_m]

There was a certain advantage to being, to all intents and purposes, just another old woman, if one possessed of copious amounts of what her fussy next-door neighbour back home sanitized to 'vinegar'.

The advantage lay in that there were certain behaviors that one expected of the old. Slow and shuffling walks in the sunshine were one of them.

M, despite the nascent arthritis she kept resolutely ignoring, did not have to shuffle. But the pace suited her need for slow and methodical study, and the attention she was turning on the grounds and the walls and the gardens could easily be interpreted as some old Englishwoman's dotty fascination with gladioli.

Coming upon one of the trees, and spotting That Young Chap With The Sword, she lifted one liver-spotted hand in a wave to him, and called over a "Mr. Sparda." of greeting.

[sword_and_demon]

There were a great number of people in the courtyard that Sparda did not recognize now, but at least one that he did.

"Lady Emma," He returned, waving to her as well. Sparda stood, deciding that he had spent enough time relaxing beneath the tree.

[dragon_lady_m]

M's answer to the title was a snort, and the assurance that "I'm hardly a member of the Peerage, Mr. Sparda."

After all, unlike a large majority of the modern aristocracy, M actually did something.

But, eyes settling briefly on him before they returned to her slow survey of the grounds, she reflected casually that "I think I should like to take a walk along the walls while the daylight holds. Would you care to join me in it?"

[daddyslilkiller]

Omi wasn't really surprised when Aya finally left to go... wherever he went. Not like they'd been doing much beside sitting there, so he couldn't exactly blame Aya for le-

they left him alone

He clenched his eyes shut against the memory, feeling sick again. And this time there was no Aya to force him to think of something else. He jerked up out of the chair, shivering, and headed for...

Well, actually, he wasn't really headed anywhere, but he eventually found himself in the courtyard. Good enough, and he didn't see anyone who was likely to stop him from wandering off on his own for a while. Good enough.

[black_ageha]

Perhaps it was the mark of a true sociopath, to be able to remember none of the faces of the people he had killed. They were too numerous, meaningless. Dissociated from anything that merited a pause in Kikyo's mind, like guilt or sorrow.

What he could remember was the thirst for the kill, and the way the hilt of his sword seemed to throb in his fingers from the pulsing heat of his blade. Of all the heirlooms his father could have left behind, that sword was the only one that passed to him. It was a survivor, like Kikyo was.

Sometimes when he walked the grounds during the daylight hours, he could almost smell the scent of blood still lingering in the air. Maybe it was just imagined, though surely this very same air had been saturated with it the night before.

He walked with silent footsteps through the courtyard, breathing in that crisp autumn breeze. He paused to admire the waves rippling over the pond when he noticed he was not alone.

"Good afternoon," he murmured, giving a pale smile at the young stranger.

[daddyslilkiller]

He'd only been paying just enough attention to his surroundings to make sure he didn't walk into any trees or anything, so he was more than a bit startled when someone spoke to him. Then he kicked himself for getting so complacent. Omi or not, it just wouldn't do to be letting people get the better of him like that while he was still here.

He eyed the stranger warily, trying to figure out why the older man looked almost familiar. His eyes narrowed after a moment as it finally came to him- it was the person Aya'd punched during lunch a few days ago. "Hello."

[black_ageha]

A pair of calm amber eyes gazed down at the child. If Kikyo noticed the wariness in the other's demeanor, his own expression did not betray it. Kikyo had seen some young people in this place, but had no occasion to speak with one before. It seemed that their keeper had no discriminating taste in his victims.

The smile on his face still detached, he spoke again with an elegant arch in his brow.

"Perhaps it is closer to evening. Time seems to pass rather differently in here. Or maybe it is I who have not paid it attention."