damned_institute | Day 26 Nightshift: F11-20 Hallway

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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.

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Ami stepped out into the dark hallway, standing for a minute to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. Thankfully she knew where to go to meet Usagi, but even so, wandering the halls in the dark with the possibility of monsters around any given corner was not an appealing thought. She breathed deeply again, listening for any thing out of the ordinary. It was still quiet. For now. Who knows how long that will last, Ami thought grimly as she made her way down the hallway towards the meeting point, one hand gripping the flashlight tightly, the other with uncapped pens splayed between her fingers.

[Cautiously moving to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/183796.html)]

Miranda had taken a moment to lay down in her bed, wondering if pretending at sleep would earn her an illusion of rest to match the illusion she carried with her name during the day. When the bell chimed and the doctor taunted, however, it was River Tam's eyes that were opened, not Miranda Fenwick's. And River Tam had a mission.

It took only a minute, exactly a minute at that, to gather her supplies in the form of radio and a handful of deadly pens; flashlights clearly weren't needed, not for those who could see without her eyes. Vice Captain had given an order, and it seemed her mission wouldn't lay where she'd thought it would. Technicalities. There would only be need for a few moments. Just a few, and she was hardly amateur.

Stepping into the hallway where one other girl stood, oh how ironic that it would be her, River broke into a quick, silent run, sprinting along to the destination with feet that were trained to meet solid ground soundlessly. Proper assassin's trick, it was.

Sakura stood up and stretched, hardly feeling the gashes that had covered her arms and body anymore. Sure, they stung a little, but it wasn't nearly as bad as some of the beatings she'd endured under Tsunade-sensei's tutelage. As she loaded up on flashlight, pens, and radio for the evening, the pink-haired kunoichi wondered what she'd end up doing this shift. She rarely got much done, save a bit of mapping here and there, and she was really looking forward to whatever new level of this place that jackass of a Head Doctor had been talking about anyway.

Useless as she felt sometimes and much as she wanted to get something really accomplished, Sakura sighed, knowing that she wouldn't be able to focus on a single thing before checking to make sure that Sasuke would be safe for the evening. As she opened the door, the girl waited, looking back at Relena.

"You have plans tonight with your friends?" she asked casually, not wanting to leave the other girl to wander alone if it could be helped.

So this was what the place looked like at night? Well, it didn't look like much of anything, in the thick darkness. Anise turned her flashlight on, and pointed it around. What a handy little device.

This was no time to be impressed, though. She knew where she needed to go--and she had to get there quickly!

[To here!]

Well, that turned to be much more fun than she would've thought. Larxene could tell that her roommate enjoyed the new haircut. There was no need to thank her, as she already had things to do, like meeting Allen in front of the Sun Room. The Nobody took her scalpels, map, and flashlight. The first two were stored in her pockets, while the latter was pointed down the hall.

People were already up and about…

In a hurry, Larxene made her way to the Sun Room. After all, keeping her “date” waiting would’ve been rude.

So very rude.

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/189165.html?view=12796141#t12796141).]

Relena, too, gathered what she would need for the night. The notebook she would carry in her arms. She had wanted to sketch out some maps, but eating took up more time than she realized.

She looked up when Sakura spoke to her and nodded in answer to her question. "We're meeting outside this block," the ex-queen explained. "Perhaps we can walk together?" She had traveled this route alone already, but if they were headed to the same place - at least partway - it wouldn't hurt.

"Sure. I'm heading over to the boys' side of things to see a friend anyway," Sakura agreed. It would be nice to have a little company for the short trip. She'd found that most things didn't attack right in the halls. At least not at first.

"Have everything?" she asked, double-checking to make sure the other girl was prepared for the night. Relena seemed a lot more self-sufficient than Sakura might've given her credit for, though, now that she thought about. "Just don't let those boys boss you around or anything. Remember, you've been here longer than they have."

Girl power. And what not.

[[From here ().]]

Okay. Hokuto slowed, looking at the room numbers once she was in the right hallway. F12 should be... there! It helped that someone was waiting just outside it; Hokuto didn't recognize her, but she hadn't met many people yet.

She walked up to the woman and bowed respectfully; she wasn't sure who her immediate superior was, but either way. "Hi... I'm the new Arts and Crafts recruit, Sumeragi Hokuto. Dozo yoroshiku!"

[[OOC: Sorry for the random Japanese, but "nice to meet you" sounded weird under the circumstances and "please treat me kindly" just sounded dumb.]]

"I've already dealt with Quatre's over-protectiveness." Relena rolled her eyes. While she wasn't the most competent fighter - as in, she couldn't fight worth anything - she did have common sense.

Clicking on her flashlight, she looked down to where they were headed. "Shall we?"

"All set on this end!" Sakura replied with a somewhat comical salute as she tucked her own flashlight into the waistband of her sweatpants; they'd only need one light source of they were going to travel part of the way together. Remembering the way to M-Block clearly by now, she set off to lead the way.

Dinner had been uneventful, though Jean had been on the edge of her seat, waiting for the lights to go out and the doors to unlock. She was slightly nervous about being a team leader, especially in a place she'd only been for two to three days. On the other hand, she was honored Hitsugaya-taicho had selected her for such a task.

The others had responded to her message, and she knew who to look for. But first, she needed to return the metal bar to Rena. Removing that from under her bed, along with the scalpel, she took her map and some pens with her, exiting her room.

Somehow, though, there was a bad feeling she had, for no reason whatsoever...

[Jean goes here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/183796.html).]

Momo had been watching the hallway, an unsettled feeling in her stomach as the first figure after her had left her room and seemed to pause a moment before leaving, when Hokuto arrived. When she came into few, Momo bowed back, not nearly as deep knowing proper customs, and then smiled at her. The girl was young.

"Well met, Sumeragi-san. I am Vice Captain Hinamori Momo," she said pleasantly. The girl had been prompt and the shinigami wondered how much longer Signum would be. Her eyes traveled down the hall searching for the familiar form of the taller pink-haired woman, but didn't see her. her attention returned to Hokuto.

"Welcome to Arts & Crafts," she said. "Our mission tonight is what is called basket weaving upon the bulletin board." Her smile grew a little. "The translates into requisitions. We are to raid the Gardener's Shed for any potential weapons or other useful items. Our current goal is to arm as many people as we can."

"You are skilled in hakuda, hand-to-hand combat, yes?" Momo reached behind her and extracted the cymbal from where she'd placed it in the band of the back of her pants. She held it out to Hokuto with an apologetic smile. "At the moment, this is the best weapon I have to offer you," she said.

"If you aren't sure the best technique to wield it with, I can show you." one more thing before she forgot. "I would also like your permission to examine your spirit threads, your aura basically, so I know what your normal spiritual state is, just in case we encounter monsters capable of dealing damage to the spirit. Your choice - spirit threads are somewhat personal things and I don't want you to be uncomfortable with me."

"Yeah," Hokuto smiled. "Sorry about being so cryptic on the board--I'm not used to talking in code. I know a little kendo, and I can fight with a bo, but I'm best at hand-to-hand." She examined the cymbal curiously. "It's been a while since I tried to use projectiles, but I'll try."

Monsters that dealt damage to the spirit...? Yikes. "Oh, sure." Wait a minute. Hinamori Momo... "Say... were you the HM I was talking to on the board? If you are, I don't have to tell you I died a while ago--not really sure what that does to auras." Why couldn't her onmyouji training gone on longer? She couldn't use any of the techniques, but the knowledge would really have been useful!

Momo smiled softly as Hokuto assumed the cymbal was to be used as a projectile. It certainly could but that wasn't its best purpose here. "I meant for it to be used as a melee weapon, Sumeragi-san."

The shinigami drew in a deep breath and brought Hokuto's spirit threads into view. She nodded to herself as they clearly spoke of Hokuto as a living human girl. She memorized their pattern and how they felt in case she needed to track the girl at a later date. She then let the threads drift out of focus.

"Thank you," Momo said, switching to her native Japanese language with the girl. "And yes, I am the HM from the boards. Though, my dear, you may have died, but here you are very much alive. If you were dead, I'd be able to see it."

"Either way, I'd feel better if it was sharpened!" She'd seen stranger things used in movies, but that was a little different.

Being informed yet again that she was still alive here made her smile, just a little sadly. "Yeah... I just thought something that major would leave a mark," she said dryly. Finding none on her body and none on her soul confused her a little.

Momo put a warm hand on Hokuto's shoulder and met the sad smile with one of her own. She knew she should be sporting a scar from Aizen's sword but unless she could extract herself from the damnable gigai she was trapped in, she wouldn't be able to tell.

"This place does not follow any form of real structure and our captors are powerful," she said quietly. "I am shinigami and they have managed to trap me in a body of flesh and limited my reiatsu to less than 10%. What you have known cannot really apply here. I am sorry you awoke here after experiencing your death." She rubbed the girl's arm a little. "I wish your konso had been pleasant."

Hokuto tried to brighten her smile a little; she didn't want to worry anyone, and she was okay, really. "I told you--at least I get to hold onto myself here, and I don't think it's the same hell everyone else does. I miss my brother, but..." Okay, no more of that topic. Nighttime was not the time to give into the tears she did still want to shed.

Especially since if she really got going, she was kind of afraid she'd never stop crying.

"So, I know we're not from the same world, but--once we're out of here, how could I became a shinigami?" Of course she wasn't just changing the subject! "I was planning on something else, but that's probably going to have to wait." If she was a shinigami, she could wait for Subaru instead of moving on before he could join her. And after he did--if he wasn't too powerful for it to work, maybe they could be partners. It wouldn't be peaceful, but it would give them more time together. She wanted that more than anything.

"Shh..." Momo said, her caring nature coming out as it was clear Hokuto needed someone. The shinigami may be young by the standards of Soul Society, but she was practically ancient to the wonderful short-lived humans. She put a hand to Hokuto's cheek and stroked her thumb gently across it as the girl seemed like she was going to cry.

So young and human, yet so much like the broken shinigami that cared too much.

"Should you find yourself in Rukongai, you can apply to the shinigami academy once your reiatsu reaches a certain strength. The time that takes varies for each spirit. The academy lasts six years and once you graduate, you are placed in one of the divisions of the Gotei 13. I am vice captain of the 5th Division," she replied. "The shinigami academy is very, very hard. Few ever reach their fourth year."

The shinigami gave Hokuto a smile. "When this place has finally been destroyed, I will venture to Rukongai and look for you."

Hokuto closed her eyes for a second, clearing her mind as best she could while staying alert, to keep herself calm. "I'm not afraid of hard work," she said softly. Learning all she had about the Sakurazukamori to track Sei-chan down had taken a lot of effort, and for reasons beyond that was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do--or ever would do.

Looking at Momo again, she said lightly, "Then I'll have to prepare as much as I can while I wait. If any library on Earth would have anything to study..." While she was here, she could keep studying martial arts, at least, and gain at least some kind of power that way.

She needed to keep busy, and she could at least occupy herself with things that would help her along the path she was on now.

Momo's smiled fondly; she liked the girl. "Libraries will not help you, Hokuto-chan. Meditation, self-awareness and knowing your heart," the shinigami said as she moved her hand from the girl's cheek to lightly point to the girl's heart, "are what you need. Find a sense of balance and you will be all the more stronger for it."

Momo dropped her hand and smiled. "But have fun while you're at it. Experience all you can. No matter what anyone tells you, emotion should never be curbed. It just needs to be directed where it is useful."

Hokuto smiled back, more genuinely this time. "I know. I couldn't meditate all the time, anyway--being completely and utterly at peace gets boring after a few days. Give me a mall any day." She shook her head ruefully. "I'm gonna go crazy for real just staring at the same walls day after day for months or years on end!"

She really did feel better--it sounded like the path to her new goal was pretty much the one she was already on. Reading up on various legends might not even help; who knew how much got distorted over the centuries?

She wasn't all that powerful, but--then again, look at who she'd been comparing herself to. Subaru. Their grandmother. Seishirou. Compared to the average person, she might not have that far to go before she qualified for shinigami training.

I wonder what the student uniform looks like?

Momo tilted her head a moment. "Mall?" What was a mall? Then she thought better of it. "Umm... never mind. It's not important," she added on.

She listened a bit longer to what Hokuto was saying and her smile disappeared. She gently, but firmly, took the girl's chin in her hand to stop her from shaking it. "Look at me," she commanded, leaning forward a little to get a better lock on the girl's eyes, not really noticing the girl being taller than her.

"We will not be here months or years. You will not be staring at the same walls for that long. It will not happen," she said with a powerfully quiet voice. "You will be released from here, even if it brings about my death. Do you understand?"

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Day 26 Nightshift: F11-20 Hallway

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