damned_institute | Day 26 Nightshift: F11-20 Hallway

Entry tags:

Day 26 Nightshift: F11-20 Hallway

Momo had once again thoroughly cleaned her katana and was set for the night mission when the intercom clicked on. She listened to the announcement and sighed. So this was what Hitsugaya had meant by Special Counseling. One of the patients turned temporary enemy for the night was right in in the way of her mission and this time she had a young girl with her and Signum. She sighed again and slid the cymbal into the back of her pants and her katana into the sheet-belt at her side. She was even happier that she'd come across Kimbley this morning than she'd been earlier. She was going to need Signum properly equipped.

Stepping out into the hallway, Momo put her back to the wall after checking the small bit of the hall to the left before the wall. Sumeragi-san and Signum will hopefully be moving rapidly. They needed to move.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She snapped off a salute. "Understood!" Hokuto wasn't surprised at all to be told the other person had more experience; she hoped they wouldn't end up feeling like they were baby-sitting the new recruit. Well, she was technically new, but she'd been fighting for years--even if it was never anything as serious as this, until recently.

She knew more than enough to hope they didn't see battle tonight--but if they did, she would prove herself. And they didn't have to worry--she knew better than to question orders, and now she knew better than to try giving them.

Of course, when they finally did have a battle--and it would happen, sooner or later--they'd see how she really reacted under fire. When she'd gone up against Seishirou, she'd been alone, and she had not been intending to walk away afterwards.

Momo giggled and ruffled Hokuto's hair. Anyone in the hallway might ahve found that sight terribly amusing or bizarre, but the thought never crossed the shinigami's mind.

"Signum should be here any moment," she said and leaned back against the wall.

And that's when it happened. The sudden pressure that swept over her. She was thankful she was leaning against the wall as she might have been dropped to her knees when it rolled over her.

"Ichimaru," Momo suddenly said in a barely audible tone that failed to cover for the way she'd said it - pure, unabashed and unchallenged hatred.

She adjusted to the presence of Gin's full reiatsu quickly and immunized herself to the crushing feeling of despair; it was nothing compared to what she'd felt when Aizen's sword pierced her. Ichimaru would die. She'd see him to his death, not caring one bit that her own life would be taken as well. And in here, Kira wasn't around to stop her.

It was as if Hokuto didn't exist anymore - Momo had forgotten about her in the rush of the reiatsu. Her face became that of Death as she drew her katana and looked down the hall where she concentrated on the Ichimaru's spirit threads. She was almost positive he was in the Sun Room, going off of the intercom, but she wanted to be certain.

Hokuto had been in a reasonably good mood, so when the air started pressing down on them so much it was almost hard to breathe, she was almost sure it wasn't her own depression. "What the--?" she muttered, shaking her head and trying to clear it. This was new...

Her first thought when she saw Momo's reaction was to grab her arm, but managed to remember the whole "commanding officer" thing. "Hinamori-fukutaicho! What's going on?" This was bad... she had little doubt the Institute was behind this, and was fully expecting to pass out shortly. Not good.

He was most certainly in the Sun Room. Momo had traced Ichimaru's threads far enough to know that was where they headed. And the intercom's words were so crystal clear now that she knew they meant Gin. How had she not figured it out sooner? Now she knew where their deaths would be.

The shinigami took a step down the hall when Hokuto's voice reached her, calling out to her for guidance and help. She stopped suddenly and turned to look at the girl. Seeing the state she was in shattered the mask of death she'd been wearing.

Her eyes widened and she returned the katana to her side. She moved to support Hokuto who was obviously having a hard time with the spiritual pressure. Momo had forgotten her and that was inexcusable. if it had almost dropped her to her knees and she knew that reiatsu having been in the same division with Gin for many years, she could only imagine what it felt like to a human.

Momo allowed the girl to use her as she needed to keep upright. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I... have no excuse."

She'd just been about to leave the human alone in these halls at night, disregard her duty and orders to go kill Ichimaru, to satisfy her desire to rip his life from him just as her's had been taken. Momo did not normally think thoughts of vengeance and murder, except when it came to Gin.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she shot a look down the hall wondering just where Signum was. As she waited for a response from Hokuto, Momo searched out Hitsugaya's spirit threads as well as Rangiku and Renji. All three were in route to the Sun Room.

With a shuttering breath and the intense desire to beat them there and rend Ichimaru into pieces, tasing sweet, sweet revenge, her muscles coiled and her body shook slightly as she held herself back.

Lead with your head for once, Momo, ad not with your heart, she told herself. Don't be dumb.

[[From F21-F30 Hall. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/186235.html?view=12939387#t12939387)]]

"Hinamori." Signum's voice cut through the tense air as she approached the two. If she'd been cautious leaving her room, the impression was doubled now; her stride was slow and careful and her eyes tracked carefully from side to side. The air itself felt charged, alive... and hostile, like it was trying to tear down her will. It was nothing compared to what had happened last night, but...

"Do you know what that is?" she asked, feeling the 'what' in this case to be completely obvious. The field she was sensing wasn't just affecting her. The other girl with Hinamori- Hokuto, she assumed- looked like she was on the verge of collapse, and Momo...

Looked angry. Signum's eye's sharpened, anticipating the answer to her question.

Hokuto forced herself to be as calm as she could be; no matter how it felt, she was getting plenty of air. She accepted the support from her vice-captain for a moment (what a great first impression I must be giving), but then stepped away to stand on her own; she was okay. She was okay. She had to be. "I'm fine." She was at least glad that her voice came out strong.

She looked over when she heard a new voice; that would be Signum. "Good evening," she said, just a little dryly. "Signum...dono?" She wasn't certain which honorific she should use. Technically none, she supposed, since the woman clearly wasn't Japanese, but even with her magical English fluency she didn't know what other title to use. "I'm Sumeragi Hokuto. Pleased to meet you." She bowed, as politely as she knew how; if she was supposed to go down on one knee instead of this, well, they'd have to tell her that.

The shinigami was glad Hokuto seemed to be adjusting to the reiatsu, finally standing on her own, but Momo kept a hand lightly on the girl just in case and snapped her eyes over at Signum.

"You're late," she said very quietly and very unlike her, the desire to deal death visible in her eyes.

As Hokuto took it upon herself for introductions, Momo's gaze moved to look at the east wall, in the direction of the Sun Room. She was paying attention to the various reiatsu she could sense, so when Renji went down, she felt his disappear. The muscle along Momo's jaw twitched and her eyes hardened with the hatred. He took Renji from her, who would be next?

She decided to finally answer Signum's question since Hokuto had finished speaking. "What you are feeling is the reiatsu of a shinigami no longer bound by the restrictions this prison puts on us," she said in a deadly quiet voice, though her body still quaked with anger. She looked over at Signum.

"It's Ichimaru," she snarled. The shinigami stalked past the knight, heading down the hall, and then forced herself to stop. She clenched her fists and stood there, back to her team, as she tried to control herself.

Lead with your head, idiot.

"My apologies," Signum replied, somewhat less-than-contritely. She hadn't hurried, but she hadn't been dawdling either. She would apologize for the others' inconvenience, but not for her own actions. Besides, she was more interested in the reply.

But Hokuto spoke first, paying her awkward respects. What had Momo told her? "Signum is fine." She had none of her authority as an officer of the TSA here... and as a knight the respect owed to her wasn't one that required titles and obeisances from civilians.

That was all the reply the girl got; Momo's answer took priority. The betrayer she'd mentioned, with all his powers... she was a bit curious to see them, but the source of the oppressive power that filled the air around them wasn't something she wanted to go up against without Laevateinn. Momo though, she became convinced as the girl drove past her and then drew to a rigid halt, wasn't thinking so clearly.

She drew drew up behind the girl and spoke, low enough that Hokuto should not be able to hear. "I won't tell you what to do, but I demand that you decide. I won't follow while you are ruled by indecision. And I expect that you will remember where you are and what you are doing."

"Hinamori-fukutaicho..." Hokuto hesitated, still unsure of her place. She wasn't allowed to give orders, but were suggestions allowed? Well, she didn't see why not. "I don't think we have time for that. The nights are only so long, and we've got supplies to collect. The gardener's shed isn't very close to here, I don't think, and there's probably going to be a lot of monsters in the way."

She stopped just short of saying that they had to remember their priorities, but the implication was probably clear enough. She'd spoken as respectfully as possible, and simply stated her opinion. If Momo insisted on taking a detour... well, she'd have to obey her commanding officer.

She understood why taking a vote was beyond impractical in battle situations, but this was the downside of obeying a single leader...

Momo ignored Hokuto's words as she stared down the hallway. They were things she already knew, but were being overpowered by her want for Ichimaru's blood. Rukia's reiatsu dropped to a dangerous level and the shinigami tensed up even more. They were all being taken down and here she was staying in place while Ichimaru continued what he'd been doing in Soul Society.

Signum's words, though, pushed through the red the shinigami was seeing. She wasn't sure what exactly it was about the knight's words that struck her so. Perhaps it was due to the memory of their first conversation about commanders and soldiers. Maybe it was the implication that if the shinigami went to carry out her vengeance, Signum would be there right beside her. And find her death there.

Slowly, Momo's hands relaxed and she drew in a deep breath. "A commander's personal vendetta does nothing but get him and his men killed," she said in a matching low tone to Signum, reciting words she'd been taught to remember when she'd first become a seated officer. "If I start to lead us to the Sun Room or you see red death in my eyes, please remind me of what I just said."

She took another deep breath. "I'm sorry I snapped at you," she said apologetically.

One moment longer as the shinigami rolled her shoulders to release some of the tension before she turned around. She was collected and under control, barely, and she'd stopped shaking with anger. She tried to soften her expression, achieving it everywhere but her eyes which still held a hard edge though no longer seeking death.

"We are continuing with our mission," she said without a waver in her voice. "First we must make a quick stop in the Men's Block."

"I am at your service." She deadpanned, and spun a frying pan up to rest on her shoulder with a casualness she couldn't quite feel in the heavy atmosphere. She supposed it did feel good to offer guidance, as much as she tended to distance herself from her trainees. And more importantly, she would get through the night without a fight with her closest ally here.

She wasn't sure why they were heading to the men's block, but with her confidence in her ersatz commander restored she was willing to go without an explanation. A last-minute addition to their team, perhaps? "Lead on."

Curious... "Are we picking someone up?" Hokuto asked. She knew she probably wasn't supposed to ask questions, just obey, but she wasn't military, therefore still uncertain of the rules, and so on her first night with them she figured a few breaches of protocol were tolerable.

The chill in the air wasn't going away either, and she didn't like how it felt exactly like she was scared. She wasn't, dammit--she had nothing to lose anymore.

Although, honestly, she intended on being here for a long while, and the idea of getting taken down after only a few days... worried her. She wouldn't admit to more than that, but it did.

Momo lightly touched Signum's elbow after she'd hoisted the frying pan up. "Thank you," she whispered and gave the woman something that could have been a smile. She then addressed Hokuto.

"No," she said with a shake of her head. "An asset." For a brief moment Momo's eyes took on that mischievous glint she'd had earlier before Ichimaru had been released. "You'll see."

"Let's move. Sumeragi-san, take up center position," she said, taking a moment to meet the girl's eyes to make sure she was understood. She then headed quickly down the hall toward the M-Block.

[To here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/183909.html?thread=13010533#t13010533")]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Day 26 Nightshift: F11-20 Hallway

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject