damned_institute | Day 25: Sun Room (Fourth Shift)

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Day 25: Sun Room (Fourth Shift)

The concept of gardening in the greenhouse was not one that Hitsugaya was particularly fond of. It was likely exceptionally warm inside, whereas the young captain had a preference for cold climates. He also needed to make himself available for anyone who happened to want to speak with him. The sun room overall seemed the best choice.

As a warm and cheerful nurse led him into the sunroom, he glanced around. At the moment he was the first one there, which was good, as it meant he could keep an eye out for one of the many individuals who had expressed curiosity about the 'arts and crafts' division. It also meant he could watch out for Omi or this Hellsing woman. He excused himself from the nurse and proceeded to a seat that gave him a good view of the entrance. If not for the fact that he was being held here against his will, he might have felt happy. Real rice. He hadn't had time to eat as much as he had hoped, what with his meeting with Mustang, but he still ate a lot more than he'd had the opportunity previously. Even Momo seemed to be acting more like normal.

As unpleasant as the day had begun, it was turning out to be a good day.

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Renji was a late arrival; he came in leaning heavily against an orderly, which was no surprise, since he looked like hell. Pale, both of his eyes still bloody, and with a small amount of dried blood still crusted on his nose and lips. The orderly helped him lay down on a couch; he seemed perfectly content to lay on his back with his eyes closed.

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/143962.html?thread=9747290#t9747290)]]

Miku found her way to Renji's couch quite easily, the ghost stories still fresh in her mind. Abarai-san scared her, but... with him so pale ~~and helpless~~ she still concerned herself. Doing her darndest not to disturb him, she knelt next to the red-haired man on the floor by the couch.

"Abarai-san... what happened to you...?" His spiritual sense was weak, but she easily attributed it to her abilities beginning to fade for the night.

Renji cracked one eye open, to see who was speaking. It took a moment for a look of recognition to cross his face. "Hinasaki," he said. His voice was slurred; they'd given him some very powerful painkillers, and he didn't really mind, for once. It meant that his head didn't hurt. "Healed someone," he said, slowly. "Made for a good distraction."

Miku raised an eyebrow, and her lips thinned in an expression of worry. "I'm not so sure that this was... a good idea... you've blood... all over," her own injury was safely below the level of the couch. "It looks painful, overly painful, really."

His presence wasn't so suffocating, it felt like, and the photographer breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "Will you be all right tonight, or will you be sleeping, Abarai-san?" He seemed like the type to have lots of people dependent on him - she hoped that he wouldn't been letting them down. But sleeping might do him good. Maybe. Sleeping did everyone good!

He snorted. "Had to be done," he said. "She needed to be able to use my sword." He wasn't keeping track of what he was saying all that well; it was difficult to concentrate when he was like this. "Nah, 'm gonna be teaching tonight. 's fine. What're you up to?"

"Telling ghost stories," she murmured. Sword? Oh, right, the item that Edward-san had made... the night she nearly broke Renji's nose with a door. The memory made her flush in embarrassment. "To Larsa-kun... he didn't know any."

Miku wondered who the mysterious 'she' was. The girl he'd been sitting and snuggling with while she, Ritsuka and Alfons wondered over finding protection for the night? Maybe. "Quietly planning things with Ritsuka-kun and Alfons-kun. Nothing very important, I'm afraid, and maybe even a bit selfish."

Though, finding the Camera Obscura was important. Washu had said it was here! They had it!

"...Maybe she has it," she murmured to herself.

"Dunno Larsa," Renji said. "Ghost stories... kinda silly fun, eh?" He smiled slightly. "What're you planning?" he asked. "Not goin' out by yourself, right? Kids gotta be careful. Should go with one of my people or somethin'."

Miku nodded slightly. "They are... I think. No... they're really... nevermind." Folklore was Mafuyu's job, was Yuu's job. She only knew things in passing ~~and those passing things made her skin crawl~~. "

"We're trying to find my camera, Ritsuka-kun's camera and Alfons... he's helping us out of the goodness of his heart." Her stomach did a little flipflop down in her knees somewhere. Alfons was a really good person, wasn't he?

"We decided we won't be going out alone tonight... because we had some difficulties last night." Miku looked at her bandaged arm and then at the incoherent Renji. "And... how many of your people... are like you...?" She ventured quietly.

More than ten like Renji? No way. She'd die!

"Good," he said. "You're all... good kids. Wouldn't want to see somethin' happen to you." He cracked one eye open again, looking at her. "Kinda depends on what you mean," he said, slowly. "If you ask Rukia, no one's like me, and that's a good thing. But if you mean... kind like in spirit? We're all like me, to a certain degree. Some're stronger than others."

Miku made a noise, somewhere between a moan and a squeak. "Yes, like in spirit. Right now... it's bearable, but... it's probably because you're unwell." She paused and resisted the urge to stick out her tongue at him.

"'Strong' is relative, right...? I hope. I told you my ability is useless - I don't want to be clinging to a wall..." she asked quietly and played with a long lock of her own hair in her good hand. "Or being a burden to your fellows."

Renji snorted. "I'm a Vice-Captain," he said, as if that answered everything. "And... I got the final release." He yawned quietly, not even bothering to hide it behind a hand. He was just too tired for that. "You shouldn't be scared. We're always around. Just can't see us most of the time. Never fear death." He shook his head slowly. "No ability's useless. Just gotta find the strength in it."

"I'm only useful with my camera... and sometimes," she thought of her brother, and that fake picture of him and Kirie. "Sometimes not even then." She gave him a half-exasperated look. "And I don't fear death - but I'm not going to run into... into its arms either. I just... fear ghosts not being sealed."

Wasn't that what she'd done over and over? The Camera had absorbed them dutifully, and sent them on to... something. Peace, maybe. "And what does being a... Vice-Captain with a..." Jeez, he was so strange. "'Final Release', mean? Educate me, Abarai-san."

If there was one thing she could do, it was soak up knowledge like a sponge! ~~And figure out a mean puzzle, but that was neither here nor there.~~

Renji shook his head, an odd, somewhat loopy smile on his lips. While he managed to enunciate fairly clearly, there was a slight slur to his speech, a tired tone that was indicative of the strong painkillers he'd been put on.

"So negative," he chided. "You've got two hands, and you're on your feet. I think you're stronger than you give yourself credit for, Hinasaki." He closed his eyes again. It was just too much effort to keep them open right now. "And camera... camera... is that some kind of modern thing? You kids and your toys..."

Ghost... right. "We seal ghosts, too," he said. "Send 'em on and the like. Guess we do the same sort of thing. Ah..." He had to stop and think for a moment. That was right, Miku wouldn't know about Shinigami, about any of it. "The Gotei 13," he said. "Shinigami. 'm a Vice-Captain... so there's just the Captains, and Soutaichou above me, right? Means... I'm pretty damn strong." He grinned; the expression was open and amused. "The final release... it's the swords. Zanpakuto. Most people just never get that far. Means you know your zanpakuto well, right?" The grin faded to an almost wistful smile. "Zabimaru is mine. I miss him."

Miku shook her head, "I think you're giving me too much credit - my first instinct is to run away. Right now...?" she nodded to where Hitsugaya sat with Matsumoto. "We're away from one another, but all my nerves are pleading for me to run away and hide somewhere, a closet, an attic, under one of those terrible little beds... and I know that the lady over there is a nice one. But... she's... dead too."

The photographer rested her head on the couch cushion, exhausted. Monsters, and dead people and monsters and worrying over Alfons and Ritsuka were taking their toll on her, "I need to start meeting more people who are alive, Abarai-san. All these dead people are skewing my senses."

She was quiet a moment before speaking again

"My camera's actually... pretty old. It... belonged to my great-grandmother, a century ago? More or less. I just don't want someone to pick it up. It sounds a little selfish, but... it was strongest with me..." it felt nice, for once, to talk about her weird ability.

"Do you think that you'll find him soon?" she questioned. Miku only had some indication from Washu that her camera was on the premises, what was the chance that the hospital would be keeping swords on hand?

"But you're not runnin', are you," Renji pointed out. He smiled. "Dunno... most of the dead people I know are pretty nice, but I guess if you're just runnin' across the nasty ghosts, I can see why you'd be edgy. You don't have to worry 'bout my people at least." He sighed. "Ah, kiddo, there's a lot more live ones than dead ones here. Just need to hang out with people your own age." He opened one eye against and patted her gently on the head; it was a rough, brotherly gesture.

He was confused about her talk of cameras, but he could at least understand the urge to keep an heirloom. "I understand that," he said. "Maybe we can find it some time..." They had to be keeping everyone's stuff somewhere, after all.

"Zabimaru? Dunno. I should always know where he is. Like he's part of me. And I can't even feel him, so who knows..." He fell silent, half out of confusion and half because he spotted orderlies approaching them.

"Okay, Kyle, you've had a little rest," one of the orderlies said. "Time to go see your doctor."

Renji was still feeling rather unsteady; they had to basically drag him up off the couch. He didn't mind leaning on them more than was strictly necessary. He gave Miku an apologetic, crooked smile. "Maybe we can talk more some other time..." he said, before the orderlies took him out of the room.

(Off for the bad touch!)

"Maybe," Miku watched the orderlies take Renji away, holding her breath as they passed her.

Her stomach flopped. Maybe he would get someone like Washu. Her doctor had been nice... a little weird, but nice. The photographer didn't make an effort to move from the floor onto the couch, looking thoughtful, and just a little sleepy.

She hummed the song from her dream, quietly.

Byakko was slightly subdued when he entered the Sun Room after lunch. He hadn't eaten as much as he'd have liked, and he still worried about Tsuzuki. The other shinigami seemed had suggested a military organisation, and really, that didn't suit Tsuzuki at all. And he didn't like the talk about splitting into groups for different things. He wouldn't be seperated from Tsuzuki, no matter what.

He approached a young looking girl sitting on a couch and gave her a bow. "Mind if I sit here?" The room was a little full after all and he wanted to sit and stretch out for a while.

Miku snapped out of her humming and looked up at the newcomer, brown eyes wide and surprised.

"Ah..! Um... no, go ahead," she murmured and shifted her position on the floor, sitting on her knees. Oh... what kind of person had dropped into her lap this time? ~~Would she have to remember his name too?~~

Byakko blinked and looked concerned at her apparent shock. "Ah, I didn't mean to startle you." He went over to the couch and flopped down on it, stretching cat-like across it. He glanced down at the girl. "You want to sit up here? There's enough room for two and the floor can't be so comfortable."

He paused for a moment and then gave her a bashful look. "Sorry. I'm Byakko. Pleased to meet you."

"I-it's fine, I'm okay on the floor, Byakko-san," Miku replied and rested her head on the cushion again. It was firm under her head. "It's... nice to meet you too. My name is Hinasaki Miku."

She should have noticed before, but his eyes... they were... pink, like a rabbit's! And his ears were... just kind of pointed, weren't they?

Was... was he not human...? she thought wildly.

"If you're sure," Byakko said with a shrug, stretching out full length aclong the couch, his cheek resting against the arm of it. More room for him he supposed, although he wished that Tsuzuki were here. Maybe a catnap before tonight?

"Hinasaki-san, then," he said with a grin. "How long have you been here? I only arrived yesterday but there's a lot of people I know from my own world."

Miku counted back on her fingers. "Today would be my... fourth day. Though, it admittedly feels much, much longer." With her good hand, she rubbed out the goosebumps on her bad arm.

"I'm the only one from my world," she replied quietly. People were lucky to have someone they knew to lean on. She had... Alfons and Ritsuka, but even they had, or use to have, people from their own worlds to lean on and go to. "What kind of world... is it that you're from?"

Ow. Four days. That was harsh and Byakko hadn't even been here that long. "Yeah. Seems like things take much longer here, although I lose track of human time pretty easily," he said, giving a sheepish smile. He didn't much keep track of the years that passed. They had very little meaning to beings who were nearly immortal, after all.

"You could come with us tonight if you want!" He offered genuinely, giving her a smile. "Tsuzuki's really nice so he wouldn't mind." And he didn't want to think of someone wandering around alone.

"It's called Gensoukai, the Imaginary World. It's sort of parallel to the human world and I'm one of the rulers of the part that mirrors Japan along with Sohryuu, Suzaku and Genbu. But I'm the only one here. It's nice. Lots of forests and grass and streams."

Wait.

What?! Just how many things did they connect to Japan?! She perked up and looked at him. He could help her too? "But... my friends, I have to make sure they're okay." Alfons would appreciate help, maybe more if they could all split up with different groups.

"Actually..." she said, and looked thoughtfully at the grinning ~~kitty man~~ Byakko. "Let me leave a note for my friend, and let him know, and see if he agrees."

Byakko nodded encouragingly. "Yeah. Friends are important. I worry when I don't know that Tsuzuki is safe." And he woried near constantly about Tsuzuki's mental state. He'd seemed to be getting better with Hisoka's help and then that bastard...

"Sure! I'd be glad to meet your friends!" he said, eyes crinkling as he smiled. He was always happy to meet new people after all and he could help to look after them even if his full attention was always on Tsuzuki.

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